The New Bedroom

I'm converting my office back to a bedroom so that Bryan and Kimbra will have a place to sleep when they come to our house in May. Two of our bedrooms are no longer bedrooms - one is a laundry room and one is an office. I don't want to say to them "Thanks for visiting, here's your bed" and point to the couch, therefore the change!

Most of the stuff in the office will be boxed up and put in storage while the things I use will be put in a box and stored in my room (the temporary office.)

After they leave, I will put my office things back in the office but it may remain a bedroom.

Up To Date

Here's the letter we sent with our Christmas cards in 2011:

Dear Family and Friends,

This year has been full of adventure for us.

Bryan is a senior at BYU and will graduate in April with a degree in Advertising. After graduating he wants to move to a big city (LA, Chicago, or NY) to do an internship. Then off to a job where he hopes to use his degree. He started dating his girlfriend, Kimbra, in June and they have been inseparable since then! They met at a water park when a friend said to Bryan that he didn’t think Bryan dared talk to her. I’m sure they are both glad that he did!

On April 26, 2012 we will add another person to our family when Bryan marries Kimbra in Utah. (We’ll  have an open house in Kansas so everyone can say congratulations and meet her.) Her name is Kimbra Robinson and she’s from Heber, UT. She is attending BYU and will graduate at the same time as Bryan with a degree in Human Development. She is a BYU Cheerleader and loves the girls on her cheer team. I met her in July in Utah and thought she was super nice. If truth be told, I loved her the minute we met. I never thought I’d feel that way about anyone else but I did. I never thought about having daughters but when my sons marry I will have two daughters-in-law! Yay – me! Okay, back to Kimbra. She is visiting our family in Kansas starting December 28th and I’m really excited.

Andrew graduates this year too – from High School. He wants to get a degree in filming. He loves editing movies and one day wants to become a director. He is doing well in school and is in the filming program (called e-comm) at his high school (Olathe Northwest.) He went to see his favorite band (M83) perform in Houston and said it’s the best birthday he ever had. Per gave him a free ticket to travel down there and he and two friends stayed at his friends’ mom’s house in Houston.

Per still works for CEM (19 years now) and teaches technicians all over the world to work on CEM’s instruments. His title is Worldwide Technical Manager. He’s been to Germany, India, Canada, Chile, Brazil, Singapore, New Zealand, China, and Japan this year alone. Some of the trips have been for two weeks and some for one week. He’s taken 31 trips, been gone 153 days, traveled 154,316 miles, visited 44 cities and 9 countries this year. He’s traveled a total of almost six months and I’m grateful he has a job. Regardless of the time, I miss him whenever he’s gone.

Can you believe it’s been three years since I was diagnosed with MS?!! I am having fun writing my thoughts on my blog and online journal. I put a story on my blog to see if anyone would read it and to my happiness many people did. I don’t know where my writing will lead but am having fun doing it. I haven’t worked since 2008 and find myself remembering skills I used to have – as if I’d forget! I walk more slowly now and people don’t understand some things I say. I use a cane and my hands seem unsure – especially the right one. I am taking a medicine that the doctor said would stop my disease from progressing. I don’t focus on my current situation but on the things I CAN do. I’m glad for the opportunity to write.

We are happy to have you in our lives! We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
The Lovgrens

Bryan & Kimbra

An Update

I did really good at creating this page but I'm not good at keeping it updated. So many things have happened in our family that I'll catch you up:

Bryan got engaged to Kimbra Robinson on December 9, 2011. They plan to marry in the Salt Lake temple on April 26, 2012. He graduates from BYU with a degree in Advertising on April 21st. Kimbra's birthday is April 22nd. She goes to the temple for the first time on April 23rd. They marry on Thursday the 24th. Wow, what a week!-It will indeed be a busy time for them. Kimbra is from Heber, UT. She is a BYU cheerleader and will also graduate from BYU in April with a degree in Human Development. She is super nice and perfect for Bryan.

Andrew has been creating several movies that he has put on his channel (Unanimous Films) on YouTube. He created an engagement video for Bryan that was really well done. He went to Houston with two friends in November 2011 and attended a concert by his favorite band (M83.) He is making a documentary about skateboarding (the thing he loves to do) that will be released later this year. He graduates from high school in May and hopes to take filming and editing at college.

Per went to Brazil in January 2012 for a week and is getting used to traveling all over the world (although I don't think either one of us will ever get used to his jet lag.) He loves to work with electronics and has an ongoing project of making an electronic part do something when a button is pushed and a computer program sends the part a signal. It's complicated to me, but fun to him. It's for a flight simulator program that he really enjoys. He loves flying airplanes. It's expensive to really learn how to fly, so playing a simulation game is the next best thing for him.

Jade is focusing on writing.