1 New edition of family histories

A few months ago I received a telephone call from a cousin of ours, Ramona Batt Marshall, who lives in the Idaho Falls area. Ramona is a daughter of Melvin Batt, who was a son of Morley Batt and Minnie Lee. (Morley was William B Batt's brother, and Minnie was Hazel Jane Lee's sister, a case of two brothers marrying two sisters.)

Ramona was asking if I had any more copies of Batt & Lee Ancestors, the collection of family histories I published back in 2005. She explained that her branch of the family wanted some 30-40 additional copies. Her request started me on a journey that resulted in a new, expanded edition of this collection. I added a couple of new histories that I did not have back then and made some other changes to improve the book.

I mailed a copy of the second edition of Batt & Lee Ancestors as a Christmas gift to each of my siblings (Lyle, Lynda, Jerry, Kay, Gene, Sharae for Ray's family, Dale, and Jackie), to each of Dorothy's siblings (Bill Batt in Spokane, Berniece in Tooele, and Sharon Tovey Moss for Ruth's family), and to each of my married children.

As I wrote in the Christmas letter that accompanied the book, "Your married children and your grandchildren may be interested in a copy of this new volume of some of their ancestors’ histories. You or they can obtain additional copies by going online to lulu.com and ordering copies by simply typing either Batt or Batt & Lee in the search field. Single copies are only $8.12, plus shipping and handling. Ordering multiple copies at the same time slightly reduces the cost per copy."

To go to lulu.com, simply click on this icon.



Between now and mid-January, you can get 15 percent off the book by using the coupon code RESOLUTION305 at checkout. You can only use the code once. This great offer ends on Saturday, January 15, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

2 Quote of the week

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely.

"He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our resume but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God's love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

"What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us."

— Dieter F. Uchtdorf

("The Love of God," Ensign, Nov. 2009, 22-23)

3 This week in our family

Our family's calendar for the next fortnight

Thurs, Dec 30: Rex Sayer's birthday [Jackie]
Fri, Dec 31: New Year's Eve

Sat, Jan 1: New Year's Day
Sun, Jan 2: Fast Sunday
Wed, Jan 5: Shellbi Jane Packwood's birthday [Gene]
Wed, Jan 5: Barbara died 2001 [Lyle]
Fri, Jan 7: JJ's birthday [Lyle]
Sat, Jan 8: Mandy Rankin's birthday [Gail]
Sat, Jan 8: Jason & Gena Tully married 2000 [Gene]
Sun, Jan 9: Marshal McAllister's birthday [Kay]
Sun, Jan 9: Mckenna's birthday [Kay]
Mon, Jan 10: Ethan's birthday [Dean]
Mon, Jan 10: Marta's birthday [Dean]
Wed, Jan 12: Next issue of newsletter

If ever we are missing anyone's birthday or anniversary, please let us know.

4 Bits and tidbits

JerryWe talked on the phone with Jerry on Christmas afternoon. He says he is doing well, has lost 30 pounds, which has brought his blood pressure down, and says he can walk easier, and feels much better. He reported that Jim's sister is really sick and in the hospital, which canceled some of their plans for Christmas day.

Kay's family
Austin Cleverly, son of Kyle and Melissa, received a wonderful gift a few days before Christmas. On Tuesday evening, December 21, he opened his mission call to the Paraguay Asuncion Mission. He enters the MTC on April 13. Austin is the first of Kay's grandsons to be called as a missionary and also the first in the next generation of the entire family.

This week Austin and his family are enjoying a trip to Disneyland.

We also talked on the phone with Kay on Christmas afternoon. He and Karen stayed in southern Utah for the holidays. Christmas afternoon they hosted a dinner at their place for 10 people in their neighborhood who would have otherwise been alone.

Dean's family
Andrew Cleverly, the eight-year-old son of Michael and Shauna, will be baptized and confirmed this coming Saturday in Layton. That is New Year's Day, 1/1/11, a pretty classy date.

Dale's family
We also talked on the phone with Dale on the evening of Christmas day. He reported that Keisha became engaged last Wednesday, just three days before Christmas, to Micah Asay, who is a brother of Kira's husband David.

Dale also mentioned that while working in the Boise Temple on a recent Saturday he met one of my missionary companions in Brazil from more than 40 years ago.

Jackie's family
Jolene Sayer Head graduated from Boise State University on Friday, December 17.

We also talked on the phone with Jackie on Christmas afternoon. She slipped and fell in a store parking lot a couple weeks earlier. Her knee was swollen the day after the accident, but everything seems to be fine now. Nothing broken or sprained.

Relatively speaking
We talked Christmas afternoon with Aunt Berniece Palmer, who lives in Tooele. She turned 87 in late November and says she is doing well and in good health. She has no intention, she said, of living to 99, the age her mother was when she died. She reported that her brother Bill Batt, who lives in Spokane, has been having some health challenges.