Meg Swenson

Our July spotlight is Meg Swenson.  She currently has 2 callings; serving as the Single Adult (31 & older) Representative and as a Wolf Den Leader in the Cub Scouts.

 Meg loves the Hymns and the Scriptures.  It is hard for her to pick a “favorite” as they change constantly, but her favorites as of July, 1^st 2018 are; Hymn #103 Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer and Enos 1:2 “And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.”  She is most grateful for; the Restoration of the Gospel, Family (those living on earth and beyond the veil), Friends, Good Books, Good Music, Children, and Answered Prayers.

If Meg has 30 minutes of free time, she would most likely be found calling a friend, reading a book, or writing.  A couple books she would recommend are; The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede and Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer.  The movie she can never watch enough times is Amazing Grace.  Her favorite smells are her mom’s kitchen, a rose garden, the seaside/coastal air, and rain (especially in the woods).

A chore that she didn’t like doing when she was growing up is vacuuming, but it has now become one of her favorites because she started singing hymns while she was doing it.  She always starts with one in particular and she always thinks of it now as of her vacuuming song.

Some of her hobbies include; writing, baking, cooking, serving, reading, hiking, crocheting, sewing, and playing board games.  We are so happy to have Meg in our ward!

Kaitlyn Barlow

Our June spotlight is Kaitlyn Barlow!  Her calling at the moment is on the additional meetings committee for Relief Society.  Her favorite scripture is: Ether 12:41 "And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen."

Besides living here in Washington, a couple of interesting places she has lived in include China for six months and Nashville for 18 months.  Some of her hobbies are: calligraphy, scrapbooking, dancing, trying new recipes, and reading.  Some talents she would like to develop are: Macramè, embroidery, watercolor, bread making, and the ability to win the handstand contest on Christmas Eve with her family.  If she won a million dollars she would buy the biggest vacation of all vacations to Lake Powell with all her family.  We are so blessed to have Kaitlyn in our ward!

Peggy Hartup

Our February spotlight is Peggy Hartup.  She is currently serving as a Visiting Teaching Coordinator and is most grateful for her family and the church.  She has had many jobs; worked in banking, had her own day care, and most recently retired from the Edmonds School District after 25 years.  She has been married 50 years this June and met her husband when she was 15 years old at a dance!  She has 5 children and 11 grandchildren.  She doesn’t have any pets at the moment but has had horses, cows, goats, chickens, cats, dogs, and  pet rats.  Her favorite pets were the chickens, goats, cat and dogs.

Her family likes to camp and go on vacation together.  Her favorite place is their cabin in California which her parents built and where she learned to walk when she was one.  Her kids and grandkids love it as well.

Peggy likes to sew and do crafts and would like to take some classes to work on watercolor painting.  Her favorite flower is the Pansy and her favorite food is Mild Mexican.

She is not so crazy about yard work and she would love to celebrate her birthday with family and having someone else do the cooking.  We love having Peggy in the ward!  

Jeslene Crenshaw

Our November 2017 spotlight is our Primary President, Jeslene Crenshaw. 

Jeslene’s favorite scripture is Ether 12:4

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

She is most grateful for her husband, John and her 2 children, Emma and Peter.  She met her husband after his mission. His family moved to her family’s area while he was on mission. Their joke is that she technically met him on his mission because she wrote him a letter (that he never replied too, and that she only wrote because his siblings said he would enjoy it). They went on their first date 4 months after he got home and the rest is history. 

As a family they love to travel to new places together.  Her best vacation she ever had was Traveling Europe.  If she won a million dollars, she would go on a few nice vacations, keep a little for spending, and invest the rest.

A couple of her hobbies include crafting (which she loves and is very good at), and visiting with friends.  A talent that she wants to develop some day is Woodworking.

A Chore she absolutely dislikes doing is Dishes and a pet peeve she has is standing water around the sink and dirty laundry area.

It might not surprise you that her favorite smell is the fresh, clean Lemon scent.

If she has 30 minutes of free time she is most likely to RELAX, and if she could have a personal chauffeur, chef, maid, or hair stylist free for a year she would choose to have a chef .  Thanks for sharing with us Jeslene!

Teresa Oppie

Our October 2017 spotlight is Teresa Oppie and here is a little bit about her in her own words (thanks for sharing Teresa!):     
             I joined the church in 1974 becoming a member of Everett First Ward.  Thanks to a caring friend I got very active in the Stake Young Adult program.  Kalani Oppie was the President.  I had all my paperwork ready to go on a mission and the night before my interview with the Stake President, Kalani Oppie asked me to marry him.  We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple in May of 1977. 

            We raised our three children in the house where we still live.  We have been members of at least seven wards as the boundaries have moved around over the years.  Kalani will be retiring this winter and we’ll still be here.  We have five grandchildren that we adore and love to spoil. 

            I enjoy sewing and quilting.  I like to scrapbook, play Scrabble, take pictures, go camping, and travel.  I am also a collector of several things like children’s “Little Golden Books” (about 1,200 now) and dolls, to name a couple.  I have an antique business in Snohomish where I rent a space in an antique mall.  I love nature and working in my yard.   I especially love to write.       My calling in the ward right now is to serve as a ward librarian.  I also prepare the ward bulletin for Sacrament meeting each week. 

            My theme song is “I Am Woman!” and I have two mottos.  One is “save the relationship” which I learned from Sister Hinckley and the other is “treat others the way you want to be treated”.  If I could have a super power it would be to be able to twitch my nose and have the dinner I request appear on the table.   In a little less selfish vein, I would like the power to take away loneliness especially from the elderly. 

            My favorite scripture is Moroni 7:47-48 “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.”

Erika Simburger

Our September spotlight is Erika Simburger.  Her favorite hymn is "I Know That My Redeemer Lives".  She is going to school right now and is most grateful for her husband, family, and friends who help her get to church. Some interesting facts about Erika and her husband are; they met at an airport setting up Hot Air Balloons, he proposed to her on the Christmas Train to Leavenworth, and they got married at Mt. Rainier.  They also love bicycling, hiking, and backpacking together.  If Erika had 30 minutes of free time she would most likely be caught riding her bicycle.  In fact, her perfect day would be spent bicycling 60 - 80 miles, spending time with her husband and doing NO homework.   A talent that she would like to develop some day is Patience.  A pet peeve she has is when someone is sniffling and would rather they just blew their nose :)  A chore she doesn't love is Laundry. Her favorite flower is her mom, Carol Flower and.... The best vacation she has ever had was her honeymoon in New Zealand!  So glad to have you in the ward Erika!

Lauren Underwood

Our August 2017 spotlight is Lauren Underwood.  Her calling is junior nursery leader, which SHE LOVES because the kids are all so sweet and loving and it’s fun for her to see them learn new things.

Lauren is grateful for her husband (Bryan), her son (Sean) and having her family close.  Her son Sean is 5 years old and starting Kindergarten soon! She also has a dog named Jake who is Karelian Bear Dog/ German Shepard mix and is best friends with Sean.

Her family likes to camp, do road trips and take random roads so they can get lost (Lauren gets lost but her husband is like a walking map so they are never really lost). 😊 They have found some really interesting and beautiful places doing that.  They also like to go to the beach and look for creatures.  Lauren loves to go look for rocks and dig for geodes, finding out how pretty some of them are inside. 

Lauren’s hobbies are gardening, crafting and testing out DIY recipes, sometimes with very interesting results.

If she won a million dollars, she would buy a ranch somewhere in the middle of nowhere so she could have lots and lots of animals, have a huge garden patch and watch the wild animals wander through.

Her favorite flower is the dahlia because she thinks they are a happy flower and they are in all different beautiful colors.

Her favorite dinner food is anything Mexican.  She said, “I mean come on-it's Mexican!”

Thanks for sharing and helping us get to know you Lauren!  So glad you’re in our ward!