Our First Christmas in Elko

The past week was wonderful. We spent Christmas Eve at a nice party with some friends from our Ward. We had a nice dinner and a Yankee Swap. Nikolas got a new Spider Man action figure, Matthew a GI Joe, Gail some carmel corn and Andy a box of stockings. Thanks to this we will be prepared for next year. We ended up spending Christmas in Elko. It was really nice. We opened presents in the morning, had a nice dinner and then went to the movies and out for dessert afterwards. It turned out to be a wonderful day. Below, Nikolas shows of some new art books he got, which he really enjoyed.


The next day we spent doing some shopping and exploring. We drove out to Battle Mountain, which it turns out has a fireworks store. The store also has a small museum display on fireworks. It was neat. Andy really enjoyed it and will be able to refresh his supply.

Andy had the preliminary hearing on his murder trial on Friday. Below is an article about the case which appeared in our local paper on Saturday. Andy got a bit of press:

http://www.elkodaily.com/articles/2007/12/29/news/breaking_news/breaking1.txt


The other interesting thing to note is the other big story of the day was a local man who was found guilty of cattle rustling. Yes, we do live in the wild west.

That about wraps up our week. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a happy new year. Until next week.

Yes, Elko will have a White Christmas

Another wonderful week has passed in Elko. We continue to make adjustments to our new home. Our biggest news this week was the rain gutter regatta. Essentially, the cub scouts make sailing vessels which are then raced on a track made from rain gutters and filled with water. The boys, using a straw then push the boat along. We have included a few pictures of Matthew participating. Matthew and Andy spent two nights working on the boat and Matthew was very proud of his craft. He won the "Shiver Me Timbers" award. All of which are proudly displayed below.




The boys are now on vacation until January 7. Both are very excited for Christmas. Thanks to a bit of snow this week we will have a white Christmas and the snow makes the desert look very pretty. Nikolas had a milestone week as well. As you can see from the photo below he lost his front tooth. He has been singing "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth." He is as charming as always.

After a bit of sickness Gail is back on her feet and was able to return to work this week. She was down for a few days with bronchitis. Thanks to the miracle of modern day antibiotics she is slowly getting back to normal. Gail is excited about her return to the primary. Andy also had an exciting week. He finally had his first trial and also got his first not guilty verdict. The judge complimented both the district attorney and him for the job done. He was very excited by that and continues to enjoy the criminal defense world more and more. His boss came in to tell him that he also will be assigned more felony cases. He has been assigned to work with another attorney on a homicide case. So the next week will be busy as he prepares for a preliminary hearing next Friday.

We hope each of you are well and have a very Merry Christmas. Until next week.

Christmas is Coming.

Another week has passed in Elko and the Mierins family survives. After boasting of the relatively warm weather here last week, this past week we were hit with some cold days and very chilly evenings, but still no snow. It was a balmy 40 degrees today. We did have a few flurries, but nothing is on the ground.

Matthew and Nikolas continue to do well at school. They are looking forward to the end of this week which begins their Christmas vacation. The kids are out of school for two weeks. Matthew's raingutter regatta is this Wednesday and the master boat maker must get his first mate motivated to get the vessel completed. A Raingutter Regatta is the wintertime pinewood derby. The kids make boats which are then raced on a raingutter lke track. Hopefully we will have some pictures on next week's post. Nikolas went to a birthday party Friday evening for a clasmate of his. We feel he is getting to know people quite well and making fast friends.

Our past week was relatively quiet. Despite much anticipation, not one of the four trials Andy was suppose to do went forward. The first settled literally as the trial began, the next was dismissed completely, the third was continued because a witness for the State which was under subpoena did not appear and the final was given a defered prosecution, which means if the person keeps clean, the case will be dismissed in 6 months. He did get to do a preliminary hearing which he did not win, but was complimented on the job done.

Gail continues her labors at the daycare center. An unfortunate side effect is she has already picked up one nasty cold which took her out of commission Friday. We had a nice evening out last night. Our ward had an adult Christmas Party with a yankee swap. A bit of New England has now made its way into the Elko culture.

Wednesday evening we attended a Christmas Concert and yes it was a Christmas Concert, not holiday concert, done by the local high school choirs, including the one who came and sang at our Ward last Sunday. The concert was great. We learned that the honors choir which is the Choraliers are going to perform at a competition in Hawaii next year.

Andy and Gail both received new callings at Church today. Gail is the new primary pianist. Finally, after 13 years of fasting and prayer she has gotten the one calling she has always wanted. Andy on the other hand has wondered what he did wrong. He had a master plan to stay out of serious callings. That all came to a halt today as he was sustained as the High Priest Group Leader, so much for the primary lesson with dolls.

As Christmas nears, we continue to appriciate the wonderfully blessing each of our family and friends are to us. We hope you all are well.

December-"Oh Snow where are thou"

Since arriving in Elko we have been told to prepare for long cold winters, of course many people do not know what New Hampshire winters can be like. It has yet to get below freezing during the day and while the mountains have much snow we have none to show for yet. We also have been told that spring arrives in March. I think we will be able to endure.

As you can see Nikolas' disposition has improved greatly over the past week. He enjoys being Dad's assistant in the kitchen. This week Chez Mierins served Braised Chicken Breasts and Leeks and Sous Chef Nikolas did a great job.





Our past week was great. Last Sunday we attended a Creche Festival put on by our Stake. That evening a local hand bell choir performed and there was a community Messiah sing-a-long. We decided to venture out for all of the above. We made it through the hand bell choir, but by the time the Messiah sing-a-long began, Nikolas and Matthew decided a pencil fight was more appealing. Gail did stay for the singing, but the XY chromosomal portion of the family departed within 15 minutes. Gail said she had a good time.

Gail began her job this past week at the daycare center. When asked what she thinks her response is "I get to be home with the boys when they get out of school." I am not sure if it is the chorus of 25 preschoolers greeting her each morning or the fact she has to be up, out of bed and functional by 7am which has led to the positive disposition, but the consensus is the latter. We will keep you posted.

Matthew continues to make his adjustments to school and being in Nevada and for the most part he is doing well. He really enjoys his cub scout troop and is looking forward to the Raingutter Regatta.

Andy continues to enjoy his job and feeling like he is using his education to help those around him. Hopefully this week will be his first trial, which he is looking forward to. It is best for those of you reading to take a seat for a moment, but he attended the opening of Hillary Clinton's campaign office in Elko. Now for those of you who know him well enough, once you have gotten yourself up off the floor, he did so mostly because her office is below his and they were giving away pizza and soda. Terry McAuliffe attended and after touting all the great promises of Ms. Clinton he took questions. Andy was tempted to ask him what about Ms. Clinton's promise to the people of New York that she would not run for President. Fortunately or unfortunately the veggie pizza box came by and food overcame interesting discourse. (By the way Hilary orders from Domino's.)

Gail and Andy had a nice date night this week. Wednesday evening the young woman of our ward watched the kids from 6-8pm so the parents could go out. We enjoyed a nice dinner.

We enjoyed a brief concert today by the local honors choir from the high school which was very nice. What was interesting was hearing the choir singing about the birth of Jesus Christ as part of their Christmas repertoire. I am glad to be in a place which is neither afraid nor prevented from performing music which reflects the real reason we have Christmas.

Our Christmas tree went up this afternoon. It brought back memories of our first Christmas. This tree (unlike our first one) is not held up by thread and weights. On Friday evening some new made friends brought the tree over to us. I am not sure what type of tree it is but it was cut from local BLM land and the price was right. The branches are not very strong and we were sad to learn 95% of our ornaments were too heavy for the branches. None the less, we were able to get some of our ornaments up. We are going to try and figure out a way to get the remaining on. We are grateful to have a tree.



We hope you are all doing well and during this wonderful time of year there is joy and happiness in your lives. Until next week.

Our Arrival to Present

Well, in the event you have not heard we have made it to Nevada. Matthew and I had a great trip across the country and for the most part we have settled into a routine here. The boys attend Northside School and are enjoying themselves, despite the enthusiasm displayed on Nikolas' face.


It took quite a bit of effort but we were able to get all of our stuff into our two bedroom apartment and a storage unit. The boys decided to pose infront of our building. I am not sure how we got it done, but perhaps watching all of the Harry Potter movies taught us enough magic that we were able to get it all in.

Andy is enjoying his job and thinks he may finally found his niche in the practice of law. He thought he was going to have his first trial last week but thanks to an alibi witness the case was dropped. December 11, 2007 should be the first trial. Gail will begin work this week at a daycare center which will allow her to be home with the boys when they are not in school. It really is a blessing and an answer to many prayers on the subject.

We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving with Gail's family. We are only 4 hours from them and it will be nice to spend time with them. This past week we took a ride up to Lamoille Canyon which is located in the Ruby Mountains. The canyon has the potential to be very gorgeous and probably in the spring will look very nice. At this point all we could see were some frozen waterfalls. Gail commented it may be her chance to actually see trees again.


Yesterday (12/1/07) Matthew and Nikolas had the opportunity to ride horses at the home of a colleague of Andy's. Unfortunately Andy did not bring the camera, so we do not have any pictures to share. The boys had a great time. Matthew even got into a wrestling match with a large goat and despite what he says the goat got the better of him.

Below are a few photos of the area, including some of the finer establishments in town. Elko is a real cowboy town with a Main Street, various casinos (the Commercial is across the street from Andy's office and has been there since 1869) and the brothels (we are particularly fond of the sign in front of Inez's). Yes, prostitution is legal in Elko County.

We hope you are all well and if I get my act together hopefully each week there will be an update. Until then best wishes and we hope you are all well.

As we travelled cross country Matthew and I stopped off at the salt flats. In the background is the area where the speed tests are done. This was on the last day of our cross country trip.