BROUGH FAMILY UPDATE 2019

Happy Holidays to all! We sure enjoy this time of year and receiving your cards and photos.  If you are reading this it means you received our card this year and are probably one of the few who went to the trouble to go online!   Here is what has been going on with our family in 2019:

In our update last year, we announced that Jordan and Casey were due with their fourth child in June.  Well on Christmas day Zach and Tara announced that they were due in August with their fourth as well. That was followed by Caleb and Mollie announcing that Mollie was pregnant with their first child and they were due in July!  So, we started out this year looking forward to a summer of new grandbabies!

The Mesa (on Plata) Herd

Blair was born in June and is such a sweet and pleasant baby and is loved dearly by us all especially by her two big sisters!  Lindy (5) is in Kindergarten and loves dance and tumbling and is getting very proficient with her backbends.  Jade (3) is in preschool and takes dance and tumbling classes as well.  We unfortunately missed both of their dance recitals this year due to being out of town. We’ll need to plan better next year!  It is such a joy to have these cuties nearby.  Jordan is still working for Go Daddy and he also just completed his fifth year as head coach of the swim team at Gilbert Classical Academy. He teaches the 14 year old Sunday school class in their ward.  Casey styles hair two days a week in her darling salon at their home along with being a busy mom to the girls.  She serves as a counselor in their ward’s Primary and wrote the Primary program this year and did a fabulous job!  And we got a good view of Lindy singing her heart out in the program!  Their family went on a little trip to Albuquerque to visit our niece and family and go to the balloon festival in October.  We love that we get to have this fun family near us in AZ.

The Seattle Herd

Brady was born in August and we are all also in love with this sweet and happy baby!  Beau (2) is a delightful little guy and is talking up a storm.  Piper (5) is in Kindergarten and took a gymnastics class this year.  She is still singing, drawing and painting away!  She can sing songs from many Broadway musicals and this year she and Porter went to see Wicked with Zach and Tara.  Porter (7) is in second grade and is a sweet boy and fun big brother.  He was on a baseball team and also went to a soccer camp in the summer.  Zach works at Amazon as a senior vendor manager.  He is on the grocery team and is over the coffee division which is interesting because he doesn’t even drink coffee!  He and Porter had fun in the summer crabbing and had some success on most of their attempts.  Zach was recently called as a counselor in their ward’s bishopric.  Tara is a busy, fun and talented mom of four and still enjoys vlogging on her youTube channel, Broughington.   She teaches in the Relief Society (women’s organization) in their ward.   We miss them but sure love where they live and love it when we get to visit them.

The Pullman Herd

Theodore (2) is a sweet little boy albeit a little rough and tumble.  He has really started to talk and has the cutest voice.  He loves hanging out with his sister and her friends.  Dora (4) is in preschool and enjoys her gymnastics class.  She loves doing crafts and is very good about getting what she needs for her projects from their craft closet and then putting everything away when she is done.  They both love their very patient and resilient kitties, Ruben and Maple.  Landon has one more semester of classes at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State Universtity and then will be starting his year of rotations. He was chosen for a two week Practice Management externship in Kentucky at the beginning of the summer which he really enjoyed and he fell in love with Kentucky.  Landon is really learning his way around the kitchen and one of his specialties is homemade hamburger buns!  They are beautiful and delicious.  He serves as their ward activities representative.  Ashlin is taking classes online through Arizona State University majoring in Graphic Information Technologies along with being a cute mom to Dora and Theo/Teddy/Bubba and running her Etsy shop, Popsicle Paint.    She has been serving as the Activity Days Leader (bi weekly activities for the girls in the ward ages 8 to 11) but was recently released.  Landon and Ashlin announced this year that Ashlin is pregnant and due next March. So, 2020 will be bringing grandbaby number twelve!

The Lehi Herd

Dalton graduated in April from the Marriott School of Management at BYU with a bachelors degree in Human Resources.  He continues to work for Jolt as a recruiter and really enjoys his job. Sarah is completing her last year at Utah Valley University majoring in Deaf Studies with an emphasis in Interpretation.  She recently started working for Sign Glasses as an account development representative.  She is really enjoying it and the fact that she is able to apply what she is learning at school at her job.  In June, they went to Australia so Dalton could show Sarah around his mission in Adelaide and Darwin and they also got to spend a few days in Sydney.  In October they moved out of their adorable but super tiny first apartment into the over 4000 square foot home of someone Dalton knew from his mission who is serving a mission for the next year or so and wanted a young couple to stay in their home while they are gone.  It’s nice for Dalton because he CAN walk to work (although it’s been cold since they’ve moved in so has been driving).   And it’s nice for us because we have a free bed and bath in the basement now whenever we go up to that part of Utah!  And they are great hosts when we do!  They got a fun ski pass package for this season and have enjoyed that a few times and will continue that through the winter.  Dalton is serving in the Young Men organization and Sarah hasn’t received a calling yet in their new ward.

The Mesa (on Baywood) Herd

Bennett was born in July and it has been so fun and sweet to see Caleb and Mollie as new parents in the home they bought in Mesa and moved into in May.  Baby Benny is a cutie and it is so fun to have him and his cousin, Blair, nearby when we’ve needed that newborn baby fix.  In fact, the two Mesa families live about twenty minutes from us but only about four miles from each other so we have been known on any given night to make our rounds to stop by (we call before, don’t worry) to see our local grandkids.   Caleb works for Voya Financial, located in Tempe, but he gets to work from home a couple days a week.  He recently finished the Pathway Program through Brigham Young University-Idaho and plans to continue his studies online through BYU-I in the new year after taking a semester off as they have been working on projects in their home including paving a sidewalk in their front yard, renovating a bathroom and installing new flooring.  Caleb serves as an advisor in the Young Men organization in their ward.  Mollie received her master’s degree in speech pathology in April from Brigham Young University and will start working part time with clients through Ridge Zeller Therapy in January.  She has done such a great job decorating their new home and is a darling and dedicated mom to baby Benny.  She also worked at Guthrie Mainstream Services working with children with special needs between the time they moved back to AZ in May and when they had Benny in July.  She serves as a Primary teacher in their ward. Their pretty kitty, Peia, has adjusted to the new house and having Benny around!

The Gilbert Herd

Don and Nancy are enjoying the empty nester life to a certain degree but not loving everything about getting older. Don is still working for Wells Fargo. He is grateful for his employment throughout all these years but at this point is dreaming of retirement!  He’s grateful that he can work remotely and tries to work most Fridays from home and has been able to work on some of our trips so he doesn’t always have to use his PTO days.  He only had one quick business trip this year to Concord, CA in April. Don still follows the Diamondbacks but didn’t attend any games this year. He is still serving as the stake executive secretary which keeps him pretty busy on Sundays.  Nancy has had some issues with her hips and legs and is in the process of getting to the bottom of that.  It’s been quite frustrating for her to not be able to be quite as active as she would like. She has enjoyed serving as an ordinance worker in the Gilbert temple for almost three years but will be taking a break this next year to try to get a little healthier.   She plans on still attending the temple each week as a patron and also delving into her family history.  She enjoys piecing quilts and has completed quilts for Blair and Benny and is in the process of finishing Brady’s. She is an adult Sunday School teacher on the first Sunday of each month but with some of our trips she has had to get substitutes quite often.  Don told her that if someone asks her what her calling in the ward is that she should say, “Finding substitutes to teach my Sunday School class”.  She loves the new curriculum, “Come Follow Me”, and has enjoyed studying the New Testament this year, although she is not really comfortable in front of a crowd!   She has also had a small calling in the Young Women’s organization encouraging the girls to complete a program called Personal Progress and she, after serving in the Young Women’s organization off and on for years, finally completed it herself. Just in the nick of time as they are changing the program in 2020.  We have enjoyed having season tickets to Gammage at ASU and seeing some fun traveling Broadway cast musicals this year with another couple from our stake.  We were blessed in the greater Phoenix area in February to have our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson come speak to us at the Cardinal Stadium.  We renovated our master bath room which ended taking up most of the year.  But it’s nice to have it updated.  We love to travel but our travels haven’t taken us to any foreign destinations this year.  Having three of our five families living out of state we have gone on a few visits to see them as well as to see some extended family.

Where We’ve Roamed

(If you haven’t stopped reading by now this is probably where you will want to stop for sure!)

January – We went to St. George to celebrate Don’s dad’s birthday and then up to Provo to spend some time with our Provo kids and while we were there Don went skiing with Dalton, Sarah and Caleb at Sundance again.  Mollie and I had to pass because of my stupid legs and Mollie was pregnant so we just relaxed in the lodge.  Don was able to work from our hotel and we could spend time with the kids in the evenings as well as visit Nancy’s dad at the VA.  At the end of the month Nancy went on a girls’ trip with some dear friends to Disneyland.  She hadn’t been to Disneyland since she was pregnant with Jordan!  It was magical!  Now she needs to get Don to go!

March – Just went to Provo again to watch Mollie defend her thesis, hang with the Provo kids and visit Nancy’s dad.

April – We went on a quick trip to SLC to attend the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We had tickets for the Saturday morning session and Dalton and Sarah went with us. Don and Dalton had tickets to the Priesthood session that night while Mollie and I had dinner and walked around City Creek Mall.  We got to meet up with a dear Australian family from Dalton’s mission for dinner at our hotel one night.  And we got to stop by to see my dad as well.  Later this month we went to Slippery Rock, PA to visit Nancy’s brother, Eric, and family for Easter as well as attend a couple of Diamondback vs Pirates in Pittsburgh.  Then we flew from Pittsburgh to Salt Lake City to be at Dalton’s and Mollie’s BYU graduations.

May into June – Sadly Nancy’s sweet dad passed away on May 22^nd.  When he and his wife moved from Arizona to Utah years ago Nancy remembered thinking that it would be most likely that when he passed away that she might not be able to be at his side when he passed and unfortunately that was the case.  But she takes comfort in the fact that she got to see him every time they went to Utah and she knows that he knows how much she loves him and she knows he loves her.   And she is so comforted to know that he is finally reunited with her sweet mom who passed away 27 years ago.  Fortunately, Dalton and Sarah were able to go to the VA and video the sweet tribute processional complete with the playing of Taps and also facetime us as it was happening.  At the end of the month we flew to Utah for the funeral and all the boys except Dalton (he and Sarah were in Australia) were able to meet us to be there.  It was a beautiful funeral service, followed by a military tribute at the cemetery and then he was laid to rest next to Nancy’s mom in Bountiful.

July – We had an extended Brough family reunion at Holmstead Ranch near St. George over the July 4^thweekend that was really fun and all of our kids were able to join us except Casey and Blair since Blair was just a few weeks old.  Following the reunion, we went up to Provo for a couple of weeks while Don worked remotely and Nancy could help with the settling of her dad’s estate.  We spent some time with Dalton and Sarah in the evenings and while there we got to meet up briefly with Nancy’s brother, Eric, and his family in Holladay while they were in town from PA. We also got to meet up with several dear friends for dinner a couple of evenings as well.

September to October – We finally got to meet baby Brady when we flew to Seattle for several days. While there we got to go to the Amazon Bring Your Parents to Work Day with Zach as well as get to do some of our favorite Seattle things and to also experience a few new things. There are SO many things to do and see and eat in Seattle!  We have a running list of things we need to do whenever we go there.  Later in September we went to West Jordan, UT to stay with Don’s sister while her husband guided a hunting expedition.  After her husband returned we stayed in SLC for a few days and again attended a session of General Conference (this time it was the Sunday afternoon session) and watch the other sessions from our hotel room.  Nancy watched the Saturday evening women’s session with Sarah, her mom and sisters at Sarah’s parents’ house while Don and Dalton went to dinner with Sarah’s dad. At the end of October Nancy’s step-mom passed away so we headed back to Utah for her funeral and several of the boys were able to be there for that.  We got to stay at the room in the basement of the house Dalton and Sarah are staying in that we mentioned before.  Our flight bringing us home was cancelled so we got to stay an extra day!

October to November – At the end of October, Caleb, Mollie and Benny flew with us to visit the Pullman herd!  Caleb was the only brother that hadn’t been to Pullman.  We had a super fun visit and Benny was a super good traveler!  Even though this wasn’t the most beautiful time to see the Palouse it is still beautiful.  We love it there so much!

December – The first weekend this month Don flew to Seattle for a quick last minute trip when Zach was called to be in the bishopric so he could ordain Zach to the office of High Priest. Nancy didn’t get to go because she had to teach her Sunday School lesson.  The next weekend we went on a quick trip to attend the missionary farewell of one of Don’s nephews in Clarkston UT.  We stayed a few nights at Dalton and Sarah’s and one night in Logan to be closer to Clarkston.  We love visiting Clarkston and Don’s brothers’ sweet family.

Almost Done with this TMI Update!

We are grateful for the visitors we got to have this year.  Don’s nephew, Brayden and his wife, Sammi,  stayed here for a couple of nights when they were in town for a wedding in January.  In March, our nephews, Marshall and Emerson, and their mom, Maryclare, stayed a few nights while they were in town to visit their grandfather on their mom’s side. Dalton and Sarah came for a quick Labor Day weekend visit.  Our niece, Kenzee, came for a short visit in July and got to be here when Bennett was born.  In October, some dear friends from our early married days were in town on business and we got to meet them for dinner.  Later that month, after Nancy’s step-mom’s funeral in Utah her brother, Kirby, who had driven to Utah from Georgia, caravanned back to Arizona with us for a nice visit at the beginning of November. We finally have a quest room and would love visitors if you are ever in our neck of the woods!

Our Holiday Greeting

We are grateful for this time of year as we reflect on our many blessings and you are all truly blessings in our lives!  We love our Savior, Jesus Christ and as we celebrate His birth this time of year we pray that we can always remember him in all we do.  We hope you all have a joyous holiday season and a great new year!

Email:  brough7@q.com

Intstagram: @herdofbroughalo