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!

Amy Duvall

Our July 2017 spotlight is Amy Duvall She was just recently called to be the 2nd counselor in the Young Women presidency.  She also works in building maintenance for a school district, maintaining the fire extinguishers and is on the painting crew. 

Amy’s parents live in Brier, her younger brother lives in Marysville and her sister and brother-in-law with her two absolutely adorable nephews (5 years and 2 years old) live in Vermont.

Among the things Amy enjoys doing are reading and rock climbing.  An interesting fact about her is that she did a triathlon a number of years ago and is working to do one again! 

If she could have a personal chauffeur, chef, maid, or hair stylist free for a year, she would choose a chauffeur, as she feels it would be great to not think or worry about driving!!

Some of her favorite things are; Her favorite flowers are dahlias, Favorite Movie is The Four Feathers 2002, Favorite hymn: #99 Nearer Dear Savior to Thee, and one of her many of favorite scriptures is Isaiah 40:28-31.

“Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

           

Here are some books Amy would recommend:

Fictional - In Conquest Born by C. S. Friedman.

Spiritual - Being Enough by Cheiko Okazaki;

Nonfictional - Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham and For Those with Empty Arms by Emily Adams

We are so happy to have Amy in our ward!

Erica Saunders

Erica Saunders is our June 2017 Spotlight.   Erica just received a new calling and is now serving as the 1st counselor in the Relief Society presidency. She is most grateful for her family. She has three children and two grandchildren and loves being a grandma. She is currently working as a competitive gymnastics coach but has many years’ experience as a preschool gymnastics director. Her youngest child was a competitive gymnast for 12 years and was a level 10 gymnast for three years. She started coaching at The Little Gym to get her free gymnastics. Her favorite flower is Hydrangea and her favorite song is "Where Can I Turn for Peace".

Erica and Marv Saunders just celebrated their 3^rd Anniversary.  Below she shares her proposal story in her own words:

“When we dated and knew we would marry, I told him I would want a real proposal with a ring and done in a romantic way that took some thought (In my first marriage it I was proposed to in a rather tacky way and with no ring-I wasn't even really sure I was being proposed to).

Marvin and I looked at rings so that he knew what I liked but we decided that he would choose a ring for me, one that he liked too and that it would be a surprise.

I knew he ordered a ring. I was anxious and nosy and kept asking questions. He told me one day at dinner that he wanted to take me out to breakfast the next day but said the ring hadn't come in yet so it wouldn't be this weekend that he would be proposing. I believed him even though it was suspicious that he wouldn't tell me where we were going and it was a place that took reservations… for breakfast!!!

We were planning to attend the temple after breakfast. As we were driving I had a feeling that we were going to Salish Lodge. I was right. Also unbeknownst to him, as he was driving I noticed a square bulge in his right pants pocket that was unmistakingly a ring box! I can't tell you how excited I was. I didn't say a thing and just waited…wondering when, where, and how he would do it. He reserved the largest private table with the best view of the falls. The weather was beautiful and the falls were breathtaking (there would be a snow storm later that evening!). 

He was so nervous. There were times he started to say something but didn't. Later he told me he never knew when the waitress would come in and didn't want to ruin the moment. He finally slid his chair from the table and got on one knee and pulled out the box and said some beautiful words to me. It was the best day ever!

He kicks himself to this day that it wasn't a complete surprise. But I loved that I knew it was coming. I would not of had it any other way!”

(We're so glad she said yes and moved into our ward!)

Rebekah Ethington

Our May 2017 spotlight sister is Rebekah Ethington.  She has been blessed with many talents, one of which is that she can play the flute. Her favorite hymns to play are Be Still My Soul and I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go.

            Speaking of going places, an interesting place she has visited is Germany, where she got to go visit her Dad for Christmas when she was 12 years old.  She has also lived in an interesting place or two.  When she was 18 she moved to O'Neill, Nebraska, a 1sq mile town. Her Great Grandma had lived there for over 50 years and the Church was a small Branch without a Young Women's program. She was given the choice to go to RS or be Primary President /teacher /activities leader.  She chose the latter and her grandma would help her out when more children came for holidays. 

            She graduated high school in O'Neill and added to the long list of family members to graduate from the town’s alma mater. Later Rebekah continued her education and got her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Master’s Degree in Teaching.

            If she could have any super power it would be that she could be in two places at once.  This superpower would probably help her enjoy, even more, the many hobbies she is interested in.  These hobbies include: crocheting, playing flute, watching old movies, playing Scrabble, dancing, swimming, bowling, volunteering, and recently - Zumba.

            She is going to get her Zumba Basics instructor training in June and will be certified.  Then in September (anniversary month of losing her leg) she will get her Zumba Gold instructor training and get more certification to be an instructor for nursing homes and Adult Family Homes and Senior Centers where she can find interest. 

            When stuck in bed the past few years she decided to put her crocheting skills to use.  She started to crochet things for charity, mostly outfits for stuffed toys and donate to hospitals, shelters, etc.  After about a year she decided to create a nonprofit organization to do it.  That is when she came up with, and developed, Rebekah's Crochet Corner.  

            Rebekah’s favorite flowers are roses and if she had a theme song it would be the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song.  If given the choice to have a maid, chauffeur, or hair dresser free for a year, she would definitely choose a chauffeur. If she won $1 million dollars she would buy a big house with 4 bedrooms, a craft room, a den, an office for herself, a kitchen, living room, an elevator and a system that makes everything capable of voice activation like the doors, lights, curtains etc.   She would also make a dance studio/party room in the basement.  

            She was able to meet a TV Star when she was volunteering for the YWCA in 2011.  She met Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show mom) and spent 5 minutes alone talking with her before anyone else arrived to the VIP meeting.

            Rebekah’s birthday is December 14th so she likes to celebrate by going to a holiday Church dance or holiday Church party - No stress of hosting, sending out thank you cards for gifts etc.  Hehe.  (She might have to celebrate it a little early this year with the ward on Dec. 9^th)

            We feel very blessed to have such a talented sister in our ward, Thanks for helping us get to know you a little better Rebekah!

Amber Funnell

We are glad to have Amber Funnell  in our ward who is currently serving as a ward missionary.  She was born January 21, 1993 in Pocatello, Idaho and moved 25 times in 24 years, all within Idaho and Washington.  Her most recent move (#25) was due to getting married! On October 29, 2016, she was sealed to her best friend, Carl Funnell in the Seattle Washington Temple. She says being married to her best friend is the greatest thing in the world and can’t wait to see where the adventure of marriage will take the two of them! (So far she says it has been pretty gosh darn fantastic!)

Other interesting and/or important things about her -- she has 3 brothers and 3 sisters, she is an Irish twin, she loves playing sports, playing the piano, being with friends, watching movies (especially musicals!), listening to music (She's a HUGE Country fan!), sleeping, eating, cooking/baking and being random. She also likes just having good, clean fun -- and knows how to party...Mormon style! :)

These are a Few of her Favorite Things:

Flower – Stargazer Lily
Color – Pastel Yellow
Food – Orange Chicken from Panda Express
Drink – Water
Sport to Play – Basketball
Sport to Watch – NCAA (College) Basketball
Holiday – Christmas
Season – Spring
Animal – Horse