OSTRICH FESTIVAL 2012

 Did you know that Chandler AZ is home to the Ostrich Festival?  Well it is...and we have been there.





It was too much like "LlamaFest" in Utah to pass up.

 So, for "Family P-Day" Braden and I spent the day together...Scott had to go up to a stake conference leadership and adult session in Prescott Valley all afternoon so he missed out :(



So, here are some of the races that we saw.
First they let out a bunch of emus and let little kids chase them around the ring to see if they could catch up to them.  That was pretty entertaining.
 

They had kids come out and dance like ostrich.





Then they had chariot races with ostrich pulling riders behind them...that was pretty entertaining as well.

You can sort of see the rider wearing a red cape and helmet in this picture and one in white in the picture above.

 We had someone take a picture of us near the ostrich cage to prove we were really there!

 Ostrich are really strange...just to stop and look at them for a while is very interesting.



















We considered getting a tee shirt...but figured Braden would never really wear it so we didn't...one more tee shirt stuffed into a drawer and never looked at again...

 We spent even longer at "Dock Dogs" watching some competitive swimming dogs leap into the water to retrieve balls etc.



What was really fun were the dogs that got to the edge of the dock and just stopped and would not go near the water.

But some of them loved it and could not get enough.

Good times with Braden at the OSTRICH FESTIVAL.  There were lots of people, food booths, carnival rides, bands, sideshows etc.  It is a fun idea for a community event and we were glad we checked it out just to say we had been there if nothing else!

MORMON PROM 2012

 Braden is growing up.  He is taking girls on dates.










And he is not afraid of color or style.






He and his friend Rylee planned to get matching Vans sneakers to wear to the dance...all the better to dance in?
They were pretty darn cute!

 We did dinner at a friends home...the Inmans hosted and decorated so fun...and the rest of the Moms brought the dinner.

 The flowers were all very beautiful and Braden behaved himself as a gentleman! (Without being coached!!)

 They had questions on cards all over the table to help the conversation if it lagged at all.

This is the entire group.  All the kids are in our stake...most are in our ward.  I will post a better picture once Sister Pace gets me the ones that she took.
Anyways, It looked like a whole lot of fun for the kids...and it was pretty fun for the adults hanging out in the kitchen as well!

Yet More Visitors!!

 WE LOVE VISITORS!!!
This week was a "prep week" for us and we mixed in some visits from mission friends and ward friends!

Sister Weston had arranged to come see us when she was in town photographing a wedding.  Her son, Scott, serves here in our mission.  He is a fantastic missionary!
We had Sister Weston for an entire evening.  It was THERAPY for me :)

We took her to the Phoenix Temple site which is really close to our home here and it was closed, so we just took photos from the outside.

 This did not stop Sister Weston from getting up on a large rock to get a better view.  She is a true photog!

 We brought her back to the house and she helped me make chocolate chip cookies for Zone Leader Council...and to send to her son Scott and his companion.


Sister Weston is a friend.  Wish she lived next door!

 Next we had a visit from Dixon and Alyssa Holmes.  He had meetings here in Peoria and Alyssa stopped to check out a college in Flagstaff on the way down...way to plan ahead Alyssa!


We took them to the temple site as well and then hiking at nearby Thunderbird Recreation Area.


We had a great time talking and hiking and catching up on ward stuff and family stuff and just enjoying the great weather.

Back at the Mission Home, we had dinner and kept them here way too long talking. ( This pic is outside on the patio with our heater in the background.)


It was a great week for visitors.  Next week will be much more busy!

THANKS FOR THE VISITS!

Breakfast on the Run!

Ok, so on Mondays I do a long run, albeit slow.  This past Monday as I was about 3 miles into my run I see a man crouched down on the opposite side of the road by a mailbox.  I see that he is holding something shiny in his hand and sort of turning it in the sun and...looking at me.
I was getting a little nervous at this point, but a car coming towards me passed me shortly before I reached him.  After the car passed, I was alone once more and close enough to see what he was holding.  Luckily it was not the KNIFE I had worried it might be...but it was not much better...it was a FORK!
I have to admit, I backglanced quite a few times to make sure he was not going to chase me and EAT ME!  And I was cursing myself for taking off without my phone that day.
It was so creepy!  He just stared at me and every time I looked back, he was watching me.  I was hoping I would see a police car so I could have them check it out, but no such luck.
Just some FOOD FOR THOUGHT...and glad it was not ME!

MORE VISITORS

We had some visitors at the Mission Home this weekend and it was so fun!

Sue and John Russell were in the area for a family wedding and took time to come over and visit.  It was so great to get caught up on ward news and family updates.  We had a great time venting about some of the mission stresses and sharing the joy of knowing and serving our missionaries!  We would not trade it for ANYTHING!

We had another returned missionary, Landon Bouwhuis stop by with his parents and his friend Michal.  It was so good to see Landon again.  He looked sharp and is very successfully adapting to not being on a mission but still living the Gospel.

THANKS FRIENDS for stopping by, it makes us so happy to share time with you!

RETURNED MISSIONARIES!

We are having to learn an entire new vocabulary...

Missionary FIRST NAMES!

When we hear from Richie and Kenny it just seems strange...but we are ready to get used to it!

We LOVE having our missionaries come back to see us when they are in town!  Makes our day!

 For Braden it is a family reunion of his BROTHERS & SISTERS!

When we see Maureen in jeans, it is just so fun!

The scripture where Alma meets his brethren who have all been serving missions for many years and they rejoice that they are all still BRETHREN & SISTERS IN CHRIST means so much more to us as we see our good returned missionaries looking sharp and acting sharp and supporting their friends who are still serving

IT WARMS OUR HEARTS!

May we always joy in serving our Savior and always be glad to see one another and be worthy to stand in Holy Places together.  Our enduring to the end together is just beginning and we are so grateful for the journey!

WE LOVE OUR RETURNED MISSIONARIES SO VERY MUCH!!!

Love is In the Air...Everywhere

 Tis the season for...MORMON PROM!  Yes.  This is what they have here in Arizona where there is a large enough population of LDS kids to pull it off and a small enough number of LDS kids that they can't sway the traditions of their own high schools to be as modest, alcohol free etc. as they would like.

So, when we got the delivery of the huge box of Justin Beiber cupcakes with our missionary food donation it was just too good to be true.  We talked Braden into using part of them to ask a friend to Prom.  So, how did she answer?  With a Justin Beiber song..."Never Say Never."  "I could Never Say Never to you Braden Jimmer Taylor!"  So, we will be renting a tux, ordering flowers and having the Prom experience.  Pretty awesome!

We enjoyed our Valentines Day very much.  First we received the cutest tiny valentines from Brookies with pictures of her and little Valentine captions.  They are just so SWEET!

Then we got the darling handprint valentine from the Jensen boys...so creative!

We spent Valentines Day at Zone Conference.

We felt love and shared love all day long!

Some of our missionaries had made us valentines for FHE the night before!  Thanks Elders Bruening and Hafoka!!

We finished off the day with the traditional heart shaped pizza!  Thank you Papa Murphys for being in Arizona too!  Add some valentine cookies dropped off by Visiting Teachers and we were set!

HAPPY VALENTINES TO ALL OUR LOVED ONES!

MOTAB

 We had the great privilege of taking Braden to the VIP reception before the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert here in Phoenix on Saturday night.

Arizona celebrates it's Centennial for statehood on Feb 14 so there were multiple events around the city this weekend.

The governor of Arizona (above) spoke to us along with some of the choir directors and Church officials.

As we entered the US Airways Arena, we were also given a set of CDs of the choir as a gift...nice!
Our seats were on the floor so that was nice as well.

We went with our good friends, Dennis and Terri Williams from the Mission Office.  They are the nicest people ever!

We really enjoyed the concert.  It was 2 hours long and full of a huge variety of music from spiritual, to cultural, to stage and screen and of course some classic favorites and some patriotic finale pieces.






I think we all loved a couple of things a lot...first, the 2 solo pieces that featured Alex Boye rocking out a bit, and last, having former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Conner lead the choir in their final number.

She actually did a pretty good job.  You can tell the choir enjoyed it too.  I bet it was fun to see her face from their side.  Anyways, it was a fun evening to do something together as well as get Braden credit for going to a choir performance for his choir class at school!

  

BFF/EFF

Imagine our surprise when after last Sunday's Stake Conference Session up in Prescott Arizona that I was hugged profusely by a beautiful young lady that it took me a while to figure out who she was...



This is because I never imagined that our dear neighbor, Madison Hernandez would be at this stake conference!  TALK ABOUT A SMALL WORLD!

And even more amazing was that she is engaged to a young man, Doug, that is studying with our missionaries up there in Prescott.  She is beautiful and so happy!

And ultimately most amazing is that her Mom, my Bestest Friend as we raised our kids together in Provo, was coming that very week to visit her...and that Scott and I were going back up to Prescott for a Zone Conference that very weekend!


So, after our conference Friday, we met up at the stake center and took them all to dinner and had just the BEST TIME EVER catching up on everything we could!  We both love our children, our grandchildren and the Gospel of Jesus Christ more than anything!  We will be ETERNAL FRIENDS FOREVER!!!

I LOVE YOU CYNDE, MADISON AND DOUG!!!

HAPPY 17!!!

Our little boy turned 17 today.
Yes, this is why his card says BIRTHDAY GIRL.
Actually it is because he has missionaries as friends.

It was a fun day from start to finish.  We had balloons to greet him.

Cupcake cake to treat him.
 Carter, Jenna, Ty and Bennett to sing to him.

 Skype cake with candle to blow out.

 We drove all the way over to Mesa to go to CAFE RIO there...it was SO GOOD!

Then we went to another favorite place, BAHAMA BUCKS for Hawaiian shave ice.  No mission nametags, no discount.  (And we were not about to ask for one!)
Usually they give 50% off to missionaries!  Apparently, so does Cafe Rio!  

Braden was also given posters that were up on the walls in two of his classes.  FUN!!


We love having BRADEN here with us here in Phoenix!  It has been a really growing experience for us to share this together.  He has matured in many ways...and reverted to the true baby in others:)  We treasure the time that we have with him.  He has so many great things going for him.  He is HANDSOME, smart, funny, super nice, patient with the craziness of mission life, and did I say strange? He is a great hiking buddy, confidant and friend to all.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BWADEN!!!

HAPPY VALENTINES MONTH!

I pretty much don't post anything except mission stuff anymore, so I need to let you know that we really do have a life at home...albeit a small one :)
One little pleasure I have is decorating the Mission Home like I would decorate my Provo home...with holiday decor.  It is what I do to unwind after way too many days of straight mission work.
So, it was fun to have Breanna's gingerbread house turn into a Valentine house.  It was the start of the cute valentine decor we have right now in our home.

WE LOVE YOU!!!  HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

YET MORE HIKES

One of the things we love about Phoenix is the multitude of hiking spots. On the day after Christmas, we went up just near our house to SUNRISE MOUNTAIN.  Carter was in a pack part of the way, then wanted to get out. 

  




He was not very happy when we did not go all the way to the top...but it was slow going with a two year old.

Another day we met up with Ty's family, Starr Jensen and her kids, Seneca, Tanner and Braden.  They showed us the very cool WHITE TANK recreation area.  We loved the little visitor center with display of live rattlesnakes and then loved the hike itself.  

The path was wide and pretty smooth, 

 There were beautiful rock formations and lots of cactus in the area, and the weather was beautiful as usual.


We were really entertained by Carter as he discovered the pool of water at the end of the trail...which was perfect for throwing rocks into.  And he had the baseball player stance each time he threw...lifting up one leg.  It was so funny!

This park also had a playground, so it was all around a great place and we will be back!!