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!

How to Be an 8 Cow Woman Enrichment

Thanks to all of those who helped to make our Relief Society Birthday Luau a success and for all those who came! It was a wonderful evening! We enjoyed the colorful, tropical atmosphere, delicious food, a wonderful feeling of sisterhood, and timely reminders of our amazing potential as women and daughters of God. As our leaders have said:

"Much of what we accomplish in the Church is due to the selfless service of women. Whether in the Church or in the home, it is a beautiful thing to see the priesthood and the Relief Society work in perfect harmony. Such a relationship is like a well-tuned orchestra, and the resulting symphony inspires all of us . . . Dear sisters, we love and admire you. We appreciate your service in the Lord's kindgdom. You are incredible! -- Quentil L. Cook, April 2011 General Conference

"You sisters are the real builders of the nation wherever you live, for you have created homes of strength and peace and security. These become the very sinew of any nation." -- President Gordon B. Hinkley, October 1996 General Conference

"You should cultivate and employ generously your noble, womanly instincts of care and mercy, first to your family and then to others. May you always hunger and thirst after righteousness within the framework of the revealed gospel of Jesus Christ. May you have an eternal perspective as you go about your angelic cause of doing good so that it will not only lead you to become great women but ultimately to become queens in the eternities." -- James E. Faust, March 1999 New Era

"As you let the knowledge that you are a daughter of God settle deep into your soul, it will comfort you, strengthen your faith, and influence your conduct. If you let this virtuous truth garnish your thoughts unceasingly, you will have confidence in the presence of God . . ." Susan B. Tanner, April 2007 General Conference

(Be sure to check the recipe blog for recipes for the Hawaiian Haystacks, the coconut macaroons, and the tropical slush!)

Getting To Know Me!

My name is Karen G. and I am a native Houstonian. Yep, that’s right…born and raised right here in Houston, Texas! I’ve been a member of the church all my life. I grew up near the Hobby Airport and lived in the same house all through childhood. I attended one Elementary (Alcott), one Jr. High (Hartman) and one High School (Jones). I grew up in the Broadway Ward in the Houston East Stake.

Tim and I worked at K-Mart and dated our Jr. and Sr. years of high school. Tim was not a member of the church at the time. My father said, “Either Tim starts going to church with us or you will have to stop dating him.” Luckily, Tim did start going to church with me and later took the missionary discussions. He even went to seminary with me on Fridays, but I think it was mainly for the pancake breakfast! In June of 1972, after graduating from high school, Tim decided to be baptized. In June of 1973, I graduated from Jones High School. A few weeks later, on Friday, July 13^th, 1973, we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Provo Temple. So much for being superstitious! We’ve been married for 37 ½ years.

After graduation, Tim got a job with Southwestern Bell, which is now AT&T. He has worked for “Ma Bell” for 38 ½ years. We rented our first apartment near Hobby Airport. For the first few years of our marriage, I worked for Texas International Airlines. I had never even flown on an airplane until I got a job with the airlines. After Wendy, our first child, was born, I quit my job to be a stay-at-home mom and enjoyed every minute of it! I must admit…some moments were better than others!

Tim and I have 3 children. Wendy (33), Tim, II (31), and Holly (27). Each of them holds a very special place in our hearts. All three were miracle babies. I had fertility issues which prevented me from getting pregnant. For several years I was very frustrated. All my friends were having babies and I couldn’t conceive. Luckily I was referred to a great physician at Texas Women’s Hospital who was able to detect and correct the problem. Within six weeks I was pregnant with Wendy. The Lord knew that I needed a little more time to mature before having children. He made a very wise decision!

In 1980, after torrential rains almost flooded our home in Pasadena, TX, we decided to move west to Katy. We attended the Katy Ward. We have watched the Katy area grow from a single ward in 1980 to what it is today…an entire stake!

We have 4 adorable grandchildren and another one the way. Two of them are in Orofino, ID and two in Round Rock, TX. Kylie and Hunter (ages 6 and 3) live in Idaho with their parents Wendy and Jeff. Kylie is my only granddaughter. Needless to say, I have spoiled her rotten! Girls are just so much fun to shop for, what can I say! Chase and Tyson (ages 4 and 2), live in Round Rock with their parents, Holly and Brad. Holly is expecting her third child (predicted to be a girl) on July 17^th. I spend a lot of time traveling back and forth between Katy and Round Rock these days. I love spoiling my grandchildren. I sure wish Kylie and Hunter lived a little closer to Nana and Papa too!! Kylie was 3 years old when they moved all the way to Alaska and I still haven’t recovered! At least now they live in Idaho which is a little closer to home.

Our son, Tim II, “the middle child”, works downtown for Wells Fargo as a financial analyst. He served his mission in Boise, ID. He’s very athletic, an Eagle Scout, and one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. He lives near downtown and loves being “where the action is”. He recently proposed to his girlfriend, Lucia, and announced that they are planning to wed on June 3^rd in the San Antonio Temple. We are very excited Lucia said “yes” and will soon be joining the Gebauer family! I see more grandchildren in the not too distant future! Yeah!

I have worked in education for the last sixteen years. I started working full-time when my last child, Holly, was in third grade. I am currently the Administrative Assistant to the CIO at Katy ISD. I hope to retire in the next 4-5 years so I can be a stay-at-home Nana!

Tim and I have traveled a lot over the last 37 years, mostly in the states. We’ve also been to Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Alaska. My favorite mode of travel is on a cruise ship! We have taken several cruises over the years. I love cruising… you don’t have to cook or make the bed, plus there’s shopping on board! And then when you get off the ship…more shopping and restaurants await you! What else could a girl want?

Do we have any pets?? Does McDonald’s sell hamburgers!! Is Tim still involved in Boy Scouting? Of course we have pets! We have 2 dogs, Chloe-a 3 pound Yorkie, and Daisy, a Yorkie/Shihtzu. Chloe, all three pounds of her, rules the roost! She and I share the “prima donna” title according to Tim. We have several (I’ve lost count) snakes and turtles, thanks to my husband. We also have a huge aquarium full of fish. Needless to say, between the dogs, snakes, turtles and fish…the grandkids love to come and visit Nana and Papa and all the critters.

Do I have any hobbies? I guess I’d have to say that my favorite hobby is shopping! I am a great bargain shopper, if I do say so myself! I also like to read and take vacations, either by plane or by sea. Driving cross country…not so much! I like to exercise, especially if dancing is involved. I also like to play word games such as, Scrabble and Words with Friends. My dislikes include cheese, milk products, sauerkraut, and other weird looking vegetables. My favorite foods are fried shrimp, steak and summer fruits! My favorite dessert…almost anything sweet!

If I had a million dollars what would I do? First, I’d pay off all our bills, then take our children on a cruise and then move everyone to the Hill Country after we retire. My most prized possession would be my family. I love them more than anything…especially my adorable grandchildren!

I love the Savior and the atoning sacrifice He made for each and every one of us. I am grateful for my testimony of the gospel and the blessing of attending such a wonderful ward. We could not have raised our children without the love and support of our Ward family. You will always hold a special place in our hearts!

My favorite quote: “Anyone who says money can’t buy happiness doesn’t know where to shop!”

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