Getting To Know Me!

My name is Lesley H. I grew up in Baton Rouge, LA, the oldest of 7. I was born in Mexico City, Mexico and have a twin brother. I am truly blessed to have a real close family and love going home and eating good Cajun food. Boiled crawfish, crabs and fried oysters are my favorite foods. It seems like we not only eat at the table but we sit there for hours and visit. I have a sweet tooth and love anything that is pure sugar – Cotton candy, red hots, jaw breakers, red vines, Swedish fish and the list goes on. I have never liked chocolate and my mom jokes that I could not possibly be hers. I grew up catholic but have been in the church 19 years this October. I credit my mom and how she raised us for my membership in the church.

She taught correct principles. I have lived in Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana and California before coming to Houston. I met my husband at church and have been married to my best friend for 19 years this January. I have 3 children and Bill has 4 so that makes 7. We have 3 granddaughters that we love to watch. We have two dogs at home and one grand dog. I enjoy going to our farm in the country and just sitting and enjoying Mother Nature. There are plenty of turkeys, deer, hogs and birds to enjoy. And I better not leave out the cows. Bird watching is a hobby of mine and this past year we had baby pileated woodpeckers at our ranch. What a treat to see. The babies are still hanging around and are one of the largest woodpeckers coming in at 16-19 inches.

I have worked since I was 15. I currently work at Willis as a benefits consultant. Consulting with companies about their employee benefit options. I love to exercise and started when I turned 40 running my first marathon with my twin brother. I have run several marathons and half marathons. The St. George marathon will always be my favorite. I enjoy jazzercise and performed at half time for the Houston rockets and the Houston Texans with my friend Karen Gebauer.

Bill and I love to travel and cruising is one of our favorites. We have traveled to Italy, Argentina, Spain, France, Mexico, Jamaica and many more places. Besides birding, I love to cook, go to Mardi Gras, work out in the yard, travel the back Texas country roads and attend Texas festivals like the Luling Watermelon festival. Oh I forgot to mention watermelon is a favorite food too. On the other side- one of my faults would be asking non- stop questions. I have been curious about anything and everything since I was a kid. I always wanted to know why? When I found the church it answered all my questions and still does. One time Bill said something and I asked where is says that and he said “that is the way it has always been” and I said sorry I left that life behind me at the other church.

I did not have a great conversion to the church but I feel that was my first test of my faith. I have had many trials in my life and believe with all my heart that I am here because of my choice to join this church. It has given me more strength and faith than I could have ever gotten on my own. Relief Society was the anchor that kept me at the church for 3 hours the first time I visited the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love my sisters that love me for who I am. Coming a close second is Young Women. I served in Young Women for over 10 years and have been to girls camp just as many times. I will always treasure my young women. They were angels sent to me for a season in my life. I have three callings in the church- peanut butter operator, church public affairs member working with our community leaders and working at the temple with my husband. I love them all but the temple by far is my favorite. I love our Tuesday night group. Come on out and visit us on Tuesday.

Getting To Know Me!

[Mary P. J.] I was born in Walnut Creek, CA (about an hour outside of San Francisco) but grew up mostly in Provo, right next to the Provo Temple. I am one of seven children, dead center, and now I can't get enough of being around people! I just love everything outdoorsy! I met my husband, Greg Jones before my mission, he was my home teacher, and later became friends with my sister and that is how we hooked up. We really got to know each other when we went on a backpacking trip as a group of friends, down the Grand Canyon to the Havasupai falls. After dating for two years, my threats of breaking up if we weren't going to get married intensified, and Greg finally proposed! We have been married two years now and just had our first child, Madison Claire Jones.

Greg started working in Houston, as a civil engineer in February, while I finished my Masters in Environmental Science at BYU in Provo. I finished my thesis just in time to have Madison (in May), where Greg flew overnight to get there in time for the last hour of delivery (the nurses all called it a miracle that he got there). After Madison and I recovered and packed all our belongings, we moved to Houston in July and finally joined Greg. We were looking for a house, but ended up getting an apartment that we will move into in November.

Some other things that may be interesting to know about me; I worked at a radioactive waste facility doing environmental monitoring, I have done an internship in Hawaii propagating plants for BYU Hawaii, I served a mission in Washington D.C. and received my undergrad in Soil Science (agronomy) and a minor in Landscape management. My hobbies include; gardening, hiking, rock climbing, photography, cooking, flower arranging, etc. Currently I am learning how to be a mom, which has been quite the adventure!!

We have loved being in the ward, with all the warm friendships we have gained, thanks so much for you love and support!

Getting To Know Me!

My name is Kay and I was born right here in Houston. I am the oldest of four kids. All my siblings (two sisters and a brother) live in The Woodlands with their families and my parents (who are the greatest ever) aren’t too far away either. It is a wonderful thing being so close to all my best friends. We are always looking for ways to be together. Even though I grew up in Houston, I am still part country girl. My daddy’s family is from East Texas and we had a small house and land there where we ran cattle. I learned to shoot when I was five years old by hitting Coke cans off the barb-wire fence posts.

My dad taught me to hunt, fish, drive a tractor, ride a horse, herd cattle, plant a garden and basically appreciate the great outdoors. For this, I will always be grateful! Some of my best memories as a youth include sitting in deer stands with my dad on cold winter evenings, fishing from his boat (whether we caught something or not), shelling peas with Mamma and the women-folk on those long, hot summer days as they told family stories on the front porch of my Great Aunt’s house, taking my turn sitting on the hand-cranked ice-cream maker so daddy could turn it faster, swimming in the lake, hearing ghost stories in the back of the pick-up truck in the middle of the dark pasture, and dancing at the lodge in “town”. The good country life will always have a special place in my heart.

Fast forward to city life - I am married to the bishop and we celebrated our 24rd wedding anniversary this year. We are both CPA’s and met at work. We have 3 children: Sarah is 18 (off to BYU in the fall), David is 17 (a senior) and Grace is 12. Sarah and David were born in Singapore as we were living in Jakarta, Indonesia during 1991 to 1995. Those years of expat life were some of the best! I love, love, to travel and have been to Norway, Sweden, France, Scotland, Hungary, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Hawaii, The Cayman Islands and Costa Rica to name a few. I haven’t been able to travel as much lately, though. Now, most of my time revolves around my children and their church, school and sporting activities. Over the years, we have had more soccer, volleyball, basketball, track, swimming, football and baseball games/practices/meets that I can count. Bill and I do get a lot of enjoyment watching them compete. The one sport our whole family enjoys doing together is snow skiing. Our favorite place to go is Park City.

I went back to work part-time two years ago for a small CPA firm, so now I basically have no free time. Any spare moment I have I spend reading, scrapbooking or in the gym trying to stay healthy. Other things that make me happy include: sleeping in late, York mint patties, Chinese food, walking along the beach, my puppies Bella and Sadie, family game night, listening to 70’s music (huge Eagles, Styx, Foreigner, and Rod Stewart fan), floating in my pool, dancing in the kitchen when no one is watching, and helping out a friend.
I have been in this ward for 15 years of which 11 have been spent serving in the Primary. I currently serve as a Sunday School teacher for the 12-13 year olds. I truly love teaching the youth of our ward and have enjoyed seeing their testimonies grow along with their faith in Jesus Christ.

Getting to Know Me!

Hi! My name is Debbie. I grew up in Bountiful, UT where my parents still live today so visiting there brings such wonderful memories. I grew up playing the piano, soccer, and running hurdles in track. I still love to roll down those grassy hills. I come from a family of 5 brothers and no sisters so I can hold my own. :)

I was heavily involved in both arts and athletics in High School, (OK, academics a little, too) and when it came time for college I received a vocal scholarship at BYU. Oddly enough, I did not want to major in Voice, but in order to keep the scholarship from the department I had to declare Voice as my major, so thus was the accidental road to opera singing. (I think all of my colleagues I've spoken to about this subject did not aspire to be an opera singer in the beginning!) It turned out to be a wonderful and fruitful experience that lead me to many things paving the road of adult life ahead. One of the most important is meeting my best friend, buddy and pal, Jim in the chamber choir BYU Singers where we toured together as a choir. (There's a more interesting story about our miraculous union that I won't post here.) :)

After our wedding during the "reading days" just before finals, (which was April 1st), we moved (thus squeezing in the wedding) to Corpus Christi for Jim's first job as a meteorologist. After a short 9 month stint, the next city for weather reporting was Waco, TX--just after the Branch Dividian scare--causing lots of explanations to friends and family from UT that life was going on as normal for Waco-ites. While residing in Waco, I was unable get pregnant and start the family, so I jumped in to get a Master's Degree with Jim at Baylor University. Mormons at a Baptist school! The interesting part was we got to know our friends and colleagues there BEFORE they found out we were Mormon, which led to many trusting discussions. I met many wonderful people and lasting relationships there, and had a wonderful education. In Waco is also where I was employed by other churches as the organist/keyboardist/vocalist. I was able to attend our ward in the afternoon, and work in the mornings at other Christian churches: once at the Presbyterian church, and another time with the Methodist church. A different feeling getting a large check in the mail monthly for providing music for worship services!

After graduating with our Masters, Jim was offered a job at Albuquerque, NM where we lived for three years. Here is where I began professional opera singing and traveling. However it was time to seek help to start our family. With the help of fertility drugs we had our first child... after which we couldn't make it stop. :) We then moved to Las Vegas where we finished having our four kids in five years. Ashley, Grant, Emmie, and Dallin. I was able to pursue my doctorate degree in music at UNLV where I also taught courses. Jim worked in the afternoons and evenings, so I attended and taught school in the mornings. After three years in Vegas, changes were made at the station there, and Jim's contract was not renewed which left him without a job. After many possibilities, almosts, and turning down a job that wasn't right, we moved to Utah for other pursuits to support our family until the right job came. After three (rough) years of looking for a job in his field he was offered a meterologist position here in Houston with "Weather Insight" which offeres an online product of weather forecasting for energy traders. The company began to go under and we were devasted for having moved across the country for the company to fail, especially after the employment hardship beforehand. This was also a very difficult stage in raising our children since they were close in age, and two were diagnosed with autism related disorders. Though the symptoms are mild, when they were toddlers, they had no sense of boundaries, and would take off at any given moment. And developmentally they needed more attention and effort with therapies, etc. Nursing Dallin (infant), chasing Grant (2), while holding Emmie (1)! That's my image of that stage. :) At this point we received so much love and support from our Nottingham Country Ward family, as well as the Katy ISD school system and interventions. Kind of a miracle that Jim was offered the job at Fox 26 because: We were looking for jobs again and what are the odds to find a TV weather job where you live? I was exhausted with moving so it was a blessing to continue our lives here in Katy. We have now been here 6 years. And at this point, if Jim and I could freeze our children in this stage we would. They are so much fun and a total blast! (No tots, and no teens.... HEAVEN!)

I have always enjoyed nature, mountains, views and sunsets, and being outside. So moving to the Houston area was difficult in that respect. Show me a mountain or give me a view, I say! However we have found so much joy living here raising our family. I have turned inward to my children so the operatic pursuits have faded somewhat, however I'm always involved in projects, events, and this and that here and there. I have my own teaching studio and am willing to serve in any way I can. And at this point, I enjoy being inspired by all of you. God bless.

Getting to Know Me!

Hi, I’m Darla. My family moved here just over a year ago from Chicago, Illinois. We have enjoyed the friendships we have made here and hope to get to know more of you over the next year.

A few facts about me that seem to surprise those I tell:

1. I am a twin. My sister is named Gayla and she is living in Arizona with her husband and 5 kids. I have 5 other siblings.

2. I was a HUGE tomboy growing up. I cracke
d that rough shell sometime in high school but still went on to major in Physical Education. I taught jr. high PE for a year in Orem before getting married.

3. I served a mission in Tokyo, Japan. I loved the culture and the people but the language was pretty difficult to catch on to.

4. I married “the boy across the street”. Shad moved into my neighborhood when we were both 7 years old. We were friends through childhood but didn’t start “dating” until after our missions. It was a long courtship but he never exited the emotional rollercoaster I put him through and I finally came to my senses in 1996 when we got married in the Mesa, Arizona temple.

5. Shad retaliated by putting me on a rollercoaster of his own our first year of marriage. In looking for steady employment, we found ourselves living in 3 different countries, 4 different states, and staying the night in over 20 different places!

6. The hardest trial in my life to date has been losing my 62 year old Mom to a heart attack three years ago. She was my greatest supporter and confidant. I look forward to seeing her again and find peace in the message of the restoration.

7. My most exciting accomplishment in the past year has been running a 5k obstacle course in mud. It almost ended too quickly as I had friends from the ward making it so enjoyable!

Getting To Know Me!

My name is Heather G. We recently moved into the Nottingham Country Ward for the second time in December. I was born in Utah while my dad was still going to school at BYU. I lived there until I was seven and moved to Temple, TX in July of 1995. We lived there for several years and midway through my freshman year of high school we moved to Lockhart, TX. We stayed there for two years and then moved back to Temple in the middle of my Junior year. I come from a family of seven. I have an older sister, two younger brothers and another younger sister. My mom had all of us within 8 years so needless to say we are all very close.

I graduated from Temple High School in May of 2006 and started attending Texas A&M University that fall. That fall is when I met Brian, my husband. Our first meeting was far from “love at first sight” but after about 3 dates I knew he was the one I was going to marry. We got engaged in January and were married in the San Antonio Temple in May. We will be celebrating our four year wedding anniversary May 12.

After we got married we lived in Portland, TX for a summer, and Brian finished school at TAMU in the fall. Brian got a job with Mustang Engineering and that is when we moved into the ward the first time. We moved into Westlake ward a year later, and I graduated from University of Houston-Victoria with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies (teaching) and had our first son, Travis.

I never entered the workforce and have been lucky enough to stay home with Travis (15 months). He brings such joy (and exhaustion) to our home. I am currently pregnant with our second little boy. He is expected to make his entrance in early August. Right now I am very much enjoying being a stay at home mom and have been busy trying to get our house ready for another child. We still have a long way to go. I love reading, finding new recipes to try, learning how to sew, and going on walks with Travis. We both love being outside when the weather is nice. We don’t have any pets yet, but Santa may have to bring the boys a puppy this Christmas or next.

I am currently serving as the Young Women’s Beehive advisor. I LOVE my calling. This group of young women is so special and I am grateful to be a part of their journey. I am so grateful for the ward and for the many friends that we have made and the people that have helped our family. I am also so grateful for our Savior and the restored gospel. I know that by living it’s principles we can be happier, better people.

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Getting To Know Me!

Hi! My name is Tonia and my family and I have lived in the Nottingham Country ward for almost 3 years. I was born in Utah but my family moved in with my grandparents in Southern California when I was 6. I then spent 11 years at the beach, raising bees in the backyard, and visiting the Hollywood movie lots my Dad did special effects for. In high school we decided to brave the cold and moved back up to Utah. I traded rollerblading for hiking and camping and loved the autumn colors and big bonfires up the canyons. I also did cross country running and graduated as the first Senior class in a new high school called Lone Peak. Having too many different ideas about what career I wanted I decided to get the basics out of the way at Utah Valley State College (which I'm pretty sure is called something else now).

While working a full time job at Borders Books and Music and attending school I had most of my big life plans altered by one skinny returned missionary from Texas in worn out shoes and 70's jeans. Ben Davis (not that one, the other one) and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 2000 and immediately took all our hard earned savings out in order to ditch school for a semester and backpack Europe. (Highly recommended). We then returned eight countries later to live with his parents (not quite as highly recommended) in order to save up money again for school. We returned to Utah and both went to the University of Utah (sorry BYU fans), worked, had two daughters, lived in the tiniest of apartments, and had a blast. In 2004 Ben got his undergrad in geology and was accepted at the University of Texas in Austin. We packed up our things, traded our red shirts for burnt orange and moved into another tiny apartment on the hottest day of the year.

Austin was quite a culture shock for me but after getting use to big bugs, ants that bite, and sweating while you run I had a great time being a graduate widow with the other stay at home moms of student life. On the rare occasion we did see Ben we spent the time at the many music and art festivals, taking trips to the San Antonio Zoo, and getting lectured on why the Alamo was the greatest historical event of all time. After three years I agreed with it all and to prove it had another little girl who could officially declare herself a Texan.

While I could have stayed in Austin for years to come our life was altered again when Ben graduated with a Master's in Geology and accepted a job offer in Houston Texas. We moved to The Woodlands for a year, had another daughter, and finally decided to do a very adult thing and buy a house in Katy, Texas. Perhaps through all of this I read Pride and Prejudice one too many times because six months ago we decided to seal our fate as the Bennet family and have a fifth daughter who hopefully will turn out nothing like Miss Lydia Bennet.

Now that life has gotten a little less mobile I spend a lot of time devising lesson plans for my home-schooled children, trying to cook spectacular and interesting food, trying to lose weight from the spectacular food, reading, attempting to write on our blog, and attempting to keep a clean house. Both my husband and I love to get together with friends for geo-caching, potlucks, and football games so if anyone is ever interested give us a call!