Up Date Jan 4, 2008

Sorry It has been so long since I last updated. A lot has happened since July. Roy Started College, I started my senior year of High School, Ashlee is a freshmen at Bonneville with me, Aaron is in seventh grade at Rocky Mountain Middle School and Timothy is fourth grade at Iona Elementary. It is kind of crazy and cool having someone in each school. Mom has been working at McDonald's doing Prep from 5am-1pm Tuesday - Thursday until the Charter school opens this week, then she will be running the kitchen there. Dad has been working a few days a week and getting a lot of reading in.
As most of you probably know Uncle Pat (Dad's brother) was in a serious car accident in October. He fell asleep at the wheel and rolled his truck. After being trapped for several hours and experiences multiple strokes the doctors didn't think he was going to make it. But Pat surprised everyone. The first few weeks after the accident were crazy with Pat in such critical and unpredictable condition and all of the family staying at our house things got Little Topsy-turvey. Thanks to millions of prayers and some amazing Relief Society ladies we were able to get through it.
It has been amazing to see the Lords hand in our life the past few months. Pat is doing amazingly better and is actually getting ready to go to Salt Lake for rehab. Things are finally starting to calm down around here (like that's gonna last.)
Dad continues to get sicker and the tension seems to grow every day as we wait for the call. I have to say I am scared to death for that call. I got a small taste of what it is going to be like when Mom and Dad are in Salt Lake for the Transplant that first week after Pat's accident. It was not fun trying to play mom and dad. For some unknown reason Aaron and Timothy aren't as good at doing what I ask of them as they are with Mom. Anyway I discovered even with the Relief Society providing meals I still couldn't handle it and maintain my sanity. So Mom and Dad talked with the Bishop and they have developed a game plan for when the call comes. Aaron and Timothy will be staying with the Rockwoods who live just four houses down. (Sis Rockwood was Aaron's fourth grade teacher so she knows how to handle him.) And Ashlee and I will be staying with the Bishop and his Wife next door (awkward). I fill a lot better about this plan of action but it will still be hard.
Well Roy has finished his first semester and was home for a few weeks for Christmas. He left to go Back to USU after church today, man I miss him. We start back to school tomorrow and nobody is very excited. It has been nice having two weeks off for Christmas. I honestly hopped Dad would have had his transplant by now so I wouldn't have to worry about that during school but it looks like that is how it is going to be. With my luck it will happen right in the middle of finals.
We had a great Christmas It seemed as if every time we opened the front door there was some sort of goody waiting for us. It was a lot of fun but kind of weird not being the ones serving this year. The holidays seemed to fly by . we barley got any Christmas lights up but we set up the Village and it was a hit with the neighbors and cub scouts. I will have to remember to post the pictures of the village.
Well I hope I haven't bored you too much. And I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year.
* Annie

Christmas letter 2008

24, Dec 2008

Dear Friends and Family (sounds Like an MCI add)

Merry Christmas, Here it is Christmas Eve and I am finally getting a letter started. I will try to give a rundown of the family.

Jeff –continues to struggle with his liver ailment. In August he was finally sick enough to be put on the list for a Liver transplant. We are so blessed by the support we get from his coworkers and our ward is always making sure that we are taken care of.

Roy- Graduated from High school in May and earned his Eagle Scout award. At the end of August he started his first semester of college at Utah State University in Logan Utah. He is majoring in biological engineering. He finished his first semester and came home to us for the holidays. He decided that High School was a lot easier than he thought. He will return to school in January.

RaeAnn- Is a senior in high school some times she is so sick of school and preparing for college she wishes she had another year. She is our Right hand around here. Since Jeff is not allowed to drive RaeAnn is called upon to be the taxi driver a lot around here. She is working at the BLM office as a Procurement Clerk and she is loved by those in the office she works with. She is still heavily involved in her Band classes. She will Graduate from high school in May and will be working full time for the BLM through the summer.

Ashlee- is a 9^th Grader. She is in all honors classes and has decided she wants to be the Valedictorian when she graduates; she has put a lot of pressure on her self keeping a 4.0. She plays the clarinet and piano. She has gotten very good on both instruments. She keeps busy playing in the Pep Band and with the National Honor Society activities. She gets lots of offers to babysit and has to turn a lot down due to her busy schedule.

Aaron- is 12 and is in Jr. High School. He played football this past fall and really enjoyed it. His voice is changing and he has lots of girls that are friends. He plays the trombone and tuba. He has shot up to 5’7” and still growing and loves to call his mother short. We don’t know if we can afford for his feet to get any larger.

Timothy- is 9 years old and our baby. It is hard for us to remember how young he is. He is the only one left in elementary school. He is in the 4^th grade and doing great. He is excited about swimming on the swim team again this year. And is waiting to find out if he has been accepted to the Charter School Beth will be working at starting January.

Beth- Well as most of you know she was working as a lunch lady at Timothy’s school. They would not give her a full time job with benefits and she was offered a Kitchen Manager position at a new Charter School 2 blocks from our house. She agreed to take the Kitchen Manager potion but because of delays in construction they won’t open the new building until January. She got a job at McDonald to keep her occupied until her kitchen opens. She goes in at 5 am and works till 1 pm, getting home before the kids get home from school; she does prep work and does not have to work with customers. They love her and have given her three raises already and are upset about her leaving to start here new job. She is very excited about running her own kitchen. She is also excited about having all the same days off as the kids.

We had the big accident of Pat’s in October. Now he is doing amazingly well. We are just keeping the prayer line open to the Lord. We believe he has a whole group of angles assigned to our family.

We are keeping faith that a new liver will come our way for Jeff. We have been so blessed this last year by our friends and family. Your thoughts, prayers, and help have been so appreciated. We anxiously await getting back on the other side of this receiving thing. We feel much better giving then receiving. As I sit here typing this up our door bell has rung several times with unknown people dropping off presents and gifts for us. We have been so abundantly blessed and hope we are worthy of these blessings.

We pray that each of you have a joyous and healthy New Year. We love you all and hope you had a Very Merry Christmas.

Love,

Jeff, Beth, Roy, RaeAnn, Ashlee, Aaron, & Timothy Long.

ON THE LIST TOMOROW!

DAD IS BEING PUT ON THE LIST TOMORROW. THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!
Check out Dad's Blog for more information.
Annie

Just a few minuets ago Timothy came to Mom with this shirt he had ironed, he was so excited to have done such a great job. I guess he didn't no how to use the starch correctly.
*Annie

June 7, 2008

Debbie's Wedding and Dad's SLC Visit.

We have recently returned home from Debbie's (Dad's oldest sister) wedding. It was held at Somewhere Inn Time, a Bed and Breakfast in Lindon Utah on Saturday the 7Th. It was a lot of fun we finally got some new family pictures that I will add to the Blog as soon as I get them downloaded onto the computer. Also this week Dad had a visit with the transplant team in Salt Lake. His MELD score is now a 13 and he will be getting tissue tests in a few months so he can officially be put on the transplant list.
I will not be doing allot on the family Blog tonight because I have been setting up a new blog just for my dad. This blog will be kept up-to-date with his transplant information. I encourage you to check it out. there is a link on the right side of the screen that should take you directly there. It is still a work in progress like everything else in our lives but hopefully it will answer a few questions you might have. Please feel free to leave messages for us on the blogs. Thank you to everyone who has helped with this weekend.
Love y'all-Annie