"No one left out": to Rocky, From Aunt Amber 2018

"No one left out": to Rocky, From Aunt Amber

Rock, when I think of you I think of the guy that isn’t afraid to include people so that they feel welcome and comfortable. I’ve seen it many times where you don’t hold back to talk to someone and think about their feelings of being included. For your service exchange we volunteered for a program called “weekend backpack program”. Eliza, porter and I one day after school went to our food bank that also run this program for kids. How it started were teachers were noticing behavior problems in certain kids and learning problems from lack of ability to focus. It got better throughout the week and with further investigation they realized most of these kids hadn’t eaten all weekend long. Their last meal was Friday at lunchtime at the school. We could not fathom this and decided to donate food and help fill 641 backpacks one Thursday afternoon to be delivered on Friday. We know that these kids are able to “fit in” better at school, be included with the other kids and feel more comfortable at school with a full tummy. 

Each bag contains: 2 granola bars, 1 fruit snack, 1 chef boyardee beefaroni and 1 ravioli, easy Mac, a fruit cup or applesauce, box of cereal, instant oatmeal packet, and 2 boxes of milk.

"Christmas Love to the Homeless"- To Lily, Porter and Wyatt, From Sam, Ainsley and Seattle 2018

So we went down to Salt Lake City and we did service for the homeless people in downtown. We fed them and gave them hot chocolate and we also got Savers to sponsor clothing for them so that we could cloth them, with sweaters, shoes, socks, hoodies, and shirts, blankets, sleeping bags and more we loved doing it in the hands of those that we had chosen for names of that. Lilly, Porter & Wyatt!

Ainsley, Seattle and I were proud to have Dixie, Kristi Ragsdale and lots of other children there to help us we went to the lines and we also offered sizes of shoes, hoodies and make sure everyone was warm for this holiday spirit. There’s almost 500 homeless people that were in line from dinner! It was being supplied for them, so we are so happy to be able to be there, so that we could take care of them and feed them!

Also I went and visited David Ragsdale in prison and gave him a Christmas present and give him some happiness and gave him some information on the family & things going on outside of the world outside of the prison walls.

We are proud to be able to do what Christ did in his ministry, to visit the sick and visit those that are in prison and cloth those in need to be clothed, and feed the hungry! We’re grateful as a family that we had the chance to do all of that! 

It was such a blessing for us. Love Sam, Ainsley and Seattle

"Saying goodbye to friends": to Xanthe from Archer 2018

Saying goodbye to friends: 

to Xanthe from Archer

My friend Parker was moving. I know you moved when you were little too. I thought Parker would feel sad so I planned a sleepover on his last night in Camarillo. Also when his family was packing they packed all their toys so we gathered up toys to take to them to play with for a week. Also I decided to be pen pals with Parker. We are writing letters so he isn't sad to leave his friends and school. Merry Christmas Xanthe. Love Archer

"Moving can be Rough": To Xoe, From Piper 2018

Moving can be Rough

To Xoe, From Piper

There is a family in our ward named the Dahlquists. They have 3 little boys- Parker

(8 years old) Austin (6) and Jackson (3. Jessica, is my singing teacher and the 

Primary music chorister. They moved to Camarillo about 1 ½-2 years ago. We 

heard that they were moving December (beginning). Since you have moved around 

alot, out of different countries even, I decided that i could help them prepare for 

their move, and even more help them feel loved and help them know how much 

we appreciate them (Especially Jessica).  I helped her move out, watch her kids 

for free, and even help box up some stuff for their house. I helped them spend 

extra time with their friends to! And let me tell you. They are hard kids to watch!

They are cute! But DEFINITELY a handful!! 

After doing all this I though it wasn’t enough. And I thought “how can I make her

feel loved”

So… I took another one of YOUR other loves/hobbies, videography, along 

with showing them how much we care about them and created a goodbye video 

from our Primary. She was our Primary Chorister. So here you go. 

https://youtu.be/ahhjiDLuSpw

Merry Christmas- Love Piper

"Family History I am Doing it"- To Mom, Love Nan 2018

Dear Mom-

In Nauvoo I observed 2 things that had an impact on me.

1. I caught a vision of the overwhelming task our Schultz Family History has been on yours and Dads hearts
2. I saw how deeply it affects Dad to participate in his family having their work done in the Temple. (with a touch of giggles and inappropriateness)
3. How quickly I wanted to finish "Ellin Hollenbech" so I didn't sing her Gwen Stefanish name always

So- that led me to my Schultz Service 2019 for YOU- our momma. I have started taking a more active approach in helping to do our Schultz Family History! Wow I have only scratched the surface. I too, now feel the amount of work to be done after only seeing a peek into it all.

But- after our trip with the grandkids to the Nauvoo temple, it sparked in me the desire to dive in to finding information and filling it in for Dad’s family names.

We started by printing and doing all the ordinances currently left in Dad’s family tree. Rock, Piper, Myles and I took a trip to do baptisms. It was Piper’s first time in the LA Temple and it was pretty special. From there it caught like wildfire. I printed the 300 page file Dad sent, and have been combing the green Albright book. I've been adding dates, connecting families, finding children. It's so thrilling and exciting. I had a nice trip to the Temple with Dad to do sealings. Between the cafeteria meatloaf and sealing Grandma Lena to her parents it was a very special day. So Merry Christmas! Your service actually has blessed me more than those serving. Our Ancestors and posterity! And especially helping you and Dad relieve that pressure. I love you. Love, Nan

"A Family Getaway"- To Scott, From Myles 2018

A Family Getaway- 

To Scott, From Myles

In June, we caught wind of some old friends who were going through some pretty heavy things.  Their brother in law had just taken the life of his wife who was their sister.  That in itself was a pretty heavy.  But the hard part was that 6 children were left to pick up the pieces and find a new home.  Our friends Dan and Mandy obviously felt they had to step in and help.  After taking one last trip with their 3 kids, they flew home to a whole new life.  They adopted all 6 kids.  

Nanette and I caught wind of this about a year after all this had happened because we noticed they were always with these kids in each of their Facebook posts.  We called them up and heard the entire story.  We asked them what they needed and how we could help.  Fortunately, they belonged to a great ward who helped out a lot.  But we found out they hadn’t really taken a family trip together.  So we offered for them and their kids to stay at our home in Silverstrand.  They were stoked and took us up on it.  They all drove up a few weeks later from Temecula where they live and said they had a great time just relaxing and hanging out together.  One of the days they were there we all got to go up, bring them dinner and hang out with them.  It was a cool experience for all of us. 

We were impressed with Dan and Mandy for the sacrifice they made for these kids.  But more impressive was the love they all had for each other and willingness to serve each other.  Merry Christmas Scott. Love, Myles

Family Christmas Eve Breakfast Tradition

Our Schultz service activity this year was our family's Christmas Eve Breakfast we threw for all of our friends and loved ones in honor of Harrison.  We started a family tradition we hope to continue every year on Christmas Eve morning where we have a breakfast to serve those we love in our neighborhood, from church, school, family and friends close by.  As I thought about Harrison, I think of the Art show he threw this year and how much he loves people and has many different friends all around him.  As a family, we wanted to show our love for people by serving them.  We planned this as a family and it wasn't just Katie and I, we made it a point to bring Ruby and Lulu into the planning and service process.  Ruby wanted to make it a pancake eating contest and Lulu wanted to do crafts and they planned their own events.

Ruby designed and passed out the flyer and and Ruby and Lulu went shopping with me to Smart & Final, unloaded the food, put it away and cleaned the house and helped setup and cleanup for two days.  We had 80 people come and everyone made comments on how fun this was and what a good idea it was.  We seved pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, fruit, juice, milk and water.  Neighbors like the Brazos came and helped cook and some came to help clean or loaned us linens or equipment.  We definitely got lost in the service and people couldn't stop talking about looking forward to it for the next year.  We had church friends mingling with neighbors and cousins mingling with school friends as well.  We know people felt our love for them and the Savior and we hope to continue to do it.  And if we continue to more of these Christmas Eve Breakfasts we'll know that the first one was dedicated to Harrison Schultz.