Trujillo Temple

Elder Gavin Wood, one of our missionaries still serving

in Trujillo... sent us these pictures of the 

progress of the Trujillo Temple.

It looks fantastic!  The other building behind the Temple is the 

hostal for overnight visitors.  It has progressed a lot 

since we left.  This makes my heart so happy.

This Temple will add so much to the missionary work of the Lord

and be a beautiful light to all the people in Trujillo.

EXCITING!

Thank you Elder Wood for thinking of us.

Quick Trip to Utah....

We flew up to Utah for the weekend to prepare a few things

for the mission reunion and to see

City Creek in downtown Salt Lake

and of course we went to the BYU game.

 My son Parker and his wife Hali went with us....

Salt Lake ...  City Creek is beautiful.

 We got a little shopping in...

We also met my two nephews...  Ben and Adam Ashby

and had a great dinner....

 Ben and Adam's wives are expecting babies....

Their wives, Lauren and Vianca, are darling... we are so excited for both of them.

 Then we were off to the game...

We always meet people at the cougar statue...

can you see some of our missionaries in this picture below?

 Yep..  a few of them were there...

Elder Massey, Anderson, Northcott and Mecham.

Evidently Elder Elmer had been at the cougar statue a little earlier 

proudly wearing his red clothing...

and sent us this picture.

We never found Elder Elmer... but congrats on the win!

We also ran into Hermana Bond and met her fiancé.

We are excited for all of the missionaries to meet him

in a couple of weeks at the reunion.

Oh look who else showed up.... Elder Cook.

 Parker and Hali were excited to be back at their alma mater... 

 Beautiful stadium...  Sad little game

but we move on quickly...

Our nephew Riley was also at the game with us with a couple of his friends

... love you Riley...

 We had dinner with the Walkers on Friday night.

This was a really quick trip that was 

impromptu and so fun.

Great to see a few of you 

We can't wait to see the rest of you in a couple of weeks.

We love Utah!

Elder Ralph is Growing Up....

Yesterday we went to a baby blessing for Elder Ralph's 

little baby girl... Khloe Ann Ralph.

They had it at home on Saturday because of 

out of town guests.

We got to meet his in-laws and his father and his wife

from Idaho Falls.

He gave Khloe a beautiful blessing.

Elder Ralph is growing up and doing it very well.

Congratulations Jason Jay and Rachel!

By the way... Khloe is beautiful!

 Thanks so much for including us....

We loved it!

Of course we made time for the ASU game last night.

 This is our daughter Molly and Landon

and our niece Brittany and her husband John

Weird game but we love the win!

EVERYBODY....  FEAR THE FORK!

6 months ago.....

Molly, my daughter, asked me to take a few pictures of Bridget

her daughter... because she is 6 months old today.

I can't believe it's been six months...

I came home from Peru for my father's funeral

and she was born a day later.

Perfect timing!

But I am so confused with time...

It feels like yesterday that I was here for the funeral

And it also feels like it was soooooo long ago.

It feels like yesterday that I was in Peru

and then it sometimes feels like Trujillo was a dream.

We have been home from our mission for two months now.

I can cry on a dime if I am reminded of my sweet Peru

It's like seeing the date on the penny in the movie "Somewhere in Time"

Certain things throw me right back into my Peruvian life

that I miss so much.

But overall we are transitioning very well.

Especially because of faces like this that make us so happy.

Happy six months to our baby Bridget.

Life is Wonderful.. We are so Blessed!

We are movin' on!

Tie and Ice Cream Party

This is my sister Bonnie and her family.

Her oldest son, Rock is going on a mission.

He is called to El Salvador.

He leaves next week.

Tonight our family had our traditional 

Tie and Ice Cream Party

Me and my brothers and sisters... all 12 of us...

buy a new tie for the missionary...

Or if it is a girl missionary we have

Skirts and Desserts!

It turns into a competition of course.

Who bought the best tie!

It looks like purple man will head to El Salvador for 

a couple of years with Rock.

He has never been there... that's for sure.

 As part of the program tonight...

My sister Jill put this sweet video together of

Rock and his story.

Rock is quite the athlete.

When he was 14 years old he contracted

a virus that could have taken it all away...

but instead it gave him so much more.

Enjoy!

We love you Rock...

You are soooooo lucky to be leaving

on the greatest time in your life so far.

Best Wishes!

The Family at the Cabin!

There is nothing better than being all together as a family.

We spent a week up at the cabin.

The weather was absolutely perfect

and the company was even better.

There were 6 little ones and 6 adults.

The odds were perfect.

The activities were a little different than usual...

there were a lot of scavenger hunts

role playing, hiking, fort making, treasure hunts

basketball, frisbee golf, riding the ranger, yummy food,

card games, board games, dice games,

playing on the swing sets, long walks, 

crawdad catching, bike riding, diaper changing,  etc....

Here are a ton of pictures....

  

My life is all about these people...

I LOVE THEM TO PIECES!