UTAH TRIP- Graduation/Last Day of 5th Grade/Cleaning Up

 Just catching my breath after being up in Utah for a week...

It was really so amazing that I got to go up, and such a whirlwind of activity that I am tired just thinking about it.

We started off by meeting on Sunday up at Dad's for a family dinner, which was really great.  Of course, one of the highlights was seeing Daniel (L) and Nathan (R) in person.  They had grown so much and are just ADORABLE in every way!  They are are bright as they come, and obviously have parents who really encourage them in growth and learning.

 Above:  Victoria, Elizabeth, LeAnn with Daniel Amanda with Nathan, Jon and Jennifer...

To the right: Mike, Dad, Carolyn and Cody...Tanner was swinging.


We had a wonderful dinner together and just time to sit and visit.

We watched a DVD about New Zealand which was beautiful

Monday we cleaned up Mom's grave and honored her by being there as a family with fresh flowers.
I love this tradition.  We miss Mom but know she is busy doing things she loves and sharing the Gospel maybe to those that she did extraction work for before her death.
It was a beautiful day, and we loved being together and then having lunch afterwards as a family.

If this works, it will show Carolyn singing a song in Mauri and then in English in honor of Braden's call to serve in New Zealand.  It was really so cute!  Of course, I realized I was filming sideways partway through...Ooops!

Tuesday I went to visit Breanna at school to help with her STORE to help the kids spend dollars they had been earning.

She had some girly tops that a couple boys bought...supposedly to give to their Moms, but we are not so sure.

Breanna choreographed the 5th grade dance for the last day of school and dance festival.  It was so good!  They did a powerful dance to the song "#thatPOWER"
"I'm lovin' every second, minute, hour, bigger, better, stronger, POWER!"   Wish I had it on video!

 WHOOOO is this coming out of our empty hall closet?
Could it be graduation boy?

 It was an honor to be at Braden's Provo High graduation!  This was the main reason I got to come to Utah, and worth it to see him rewarded for doing so much on his own this past year!

We loved seeing many of his friends, including Fanga, who I think this photo of is so good.
The funny story is that those silver cords that Fanga is holding really belong to Braden...and the gold cords that Braden is wearing really belong to Breanna.

Way to go HONOR GRAD!!!

 They showed baby pictures of the grads and Braden was pretty much the cutest baby of them all...we were glad we had one scanned baby photo of his on our computer in AZ that we were able to send up for him to use.

Here he is receiving his diploma from the principal...


 ...and celebrating the victory!

 We loved having Carole and Lori join us at the ceremony.

It was really nice outside just long enough to get some great photos of the grad alone, with Keri and with Mom.
Then it started to rain.





Oh, and Braden had to skip class at BYU to make it to his High School graduation.  He has a full load of class and 2 jobs he is holding down.  He is pretty much amazing!

We went up to Dad's house to have a little party with cake and pizza.
CONGRATULATIONS BRADEN!
He has announcements and photos for all of you in the family...just no time to get them sent out.  We will get to it eventually!

I don't have photos of the rest of the week...it was packed every second that I was not with the kids at activities, CLEANING THE HOUSE AND YARD in preparation for our renters coming the end of June.  HUGE THANKS to Dad, LeAnn and kids, Amanda, Jennifer and Lori for totally coming to the rescue!  There was way more than I could handle and we got an incredible amount of chores done this week!  I feel so much better about having someone come live in our house now that it has been cleaned top to bottom! THANK YOU!!!

CALLED TO SERVE...

We have had a lot of fun the past few weeks taking guesses on where Braden may get called to serve the Lord on his LDS Mission.

There were guesses for all over the United States and the world!

 We expected his call to arrive as early as last Saturday when we found that a friend here in AZ got her call after turning in her papers the same day as Braden.

However, his call did not arrive until Friday April 12.  Scott and I were in two days of training with 18 other Mission Presidents and wives over in Scottsdale.

We had been told that if the postage on your packet was $1.72 it was most likely a call to the US.

A few cents more for foreign due to extra paperwork for passport and Visa.






Braden texted us in the afternoon that his call had arrived and he arranged to drive over to Scottsdale to meet us at the Marriott there.


He looked like an Elder walking in!

We arranged to use the WIFI in the lobby to open the call and after he had dinner with the group of Mission Presidents, Wives and visiting Authorities, we got together to open the call.

It created a bit of a problem trying to get all our family together to webcam...but it was finally all orchestrated.


We had Jenna on the ipad, Keri, Austin and family and Breanna on the laptop.

When everyone was ready, we got the thumbs up!

 It was so exciting!

 He covered up the letter to read down it...but admits now that he thought he saw one telltale word early...













Braden has been called by the Lord to serve Him in the NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND MISSION entering the MTC over on the Island on AUGUST 15.

He will speak English.

He is thrilled!

Braden got to come in and announce to the entire group of Mission Presidents/Wives/Authorities his mission call.
Elder Callister and his wife were thrilled!  They lived in New Zealand for 3 years supervising that area and LOVED IT!  They say if they could move anywhere in the world, that is where they would choose.  HEAVEN ON EARTH!


We are confident that his mission call was inspired, and that it is with purpose that he will serve in this part of the world.




His mission boundaries will be realigned July 1 and include  only the northern part of the north island of New Zealand and the largest island of the Cook Islands, Rarotonga.

CONGRATULATIONS BRADEN!
YOU WILL BE A GREAT MISSIONARY!

BRE AND KELLEN VISIT!!

 We have LOVED having Bre and Kellen here this week!  It is about time!


We took them to a few favorite places this week.

We started with the Sonoran Desert Preserve where we hiked the morning away.

 This is a barren shot...lets just say that we saw flowering cactus and much more pretty scenery.





Our favorite was the great horned owl still nesting in the hawks nest in the saguaro near the start of the trail.  It was patiently sitting inside just like a few weeks ago when we were last there.

 That afternoon we went to the Phoenix Science Museum and it was a blast!



Tons of interactive displays that kept us busy and happy until it closed.

 If you have time when you come see us, we will have to go back, it was worth the time!

 Above they are powering different types of lightbulbs.





Here they are building earthquake proof buildings...well, trying.

 Scott rests on a bed of nails...yes, you can do it.

To the right, you can barely see a photo of Bre and Braden making silly faces...they took it and sent it all over the world and in ended up back together as we explored how the internet works.

We loved the brain game where you try to calm your mind and get the ball to roll towards your opponent.  They were both pretty good at it.









We ended the day stopping to eat at CHINO BANDIDOS for dinner.  We all got something pretty tasty!  It was a winner.

One of our ward members, Sister Powellson sent her kids over with cookies and a surprise for Kellen.  They had gone on a cruise last month and met up with Kellens family...their kids became friends and in the conversation discovered that they knew the mission president whose daughter was dating their son! They knew he was coming to visit;  Hence, they came over to surprise him with photos of Kellens brother and sister on the cruise with their kids.  It was pretty funny!

THANKS FOR THE VISIT KIDS!  WE LOVE YOU!

DAD & CAROLYN VISIT!!

We had some pretty special visitors this past week here in the Mission Home.  My Dad and Stepmom brought Braden down from Utah and spent time with us during the week.

I took them over to meet my friend Dana and her granddaughter Zeah (holding guinea pig named after me- Cheryl)

We had a great week visiting and going to the Desert Botanical Gardens, Mesa Temple Easter Pageant and Celebrating Easter Sunday together.

They had to leave after Church on Sunday to head back home.  We loved having them visit and see a little of what we do here in the Mission.

Our best memory of the week will be when Scott ordained Braden an Elder with the help of my Dad and our two Assistants on Easter morning.

We are so blessed to have Braden here with us for a visit and to know that he has the Priesthood Authority of God to do His work here on earth.

What greater blessing could a Father give his son.

THANK YOU DAD AND CAROLYN FOR THE VISIT!  WE LOVE YOU!

WAITING GAME

The waiting game is on!  Braden's mission application is formally in and we are waiting to hear where he is assigned in the next week or so.


If you would like to guess a state and a country, please text, email or leave a comment!  He promises pizza or a pizza coupon to the winners!

GOOD LUCK!
If only he could come to the Arizona Phoenix Mission!  He will be a great missionary.

Desert Botanical Garden

 PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THE GARDENS

We have enjoyed very much having Dad and Carolyn come visit us here in Phoenix!

We spent an afternoon going to the Desert Botanical Gardens, which we had always wanted to see.

 This time of year there is a Butterfly Pavilion you can go inside of, where butterflies fly free and may land on you if they desire.

 Scott enjoyed taking lots of photos.  Check out the link to see lots more butterflies and desert plantlife!

Carolyn and I tried out being butterflies ourselves!

 We saw so many interesting types of cactus!  This one was really cool...sort of a flower shaped spine.

 And this time of year the cactus are blooming.  It is so pretty!

We had a great visit at the garden before heading over to the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple that evening.


THANK YOU FOR THE VISIT DAD AND CAROLYN!!

He's A COUGAR!

 For months now we have been getting mail from all the colleges and universities around the country...there is a pretty good stack in Braden's room here in AZ.  Not to mention what he is sure to have back in UT.

It is getting tougher and tougher to get into BYU, so he was prepared to go somewhere else for a while...

But the word is back now...and Braden got his email of acceptance into BYU starting SPRING term this year!  He is super excited...well, as excited as Braden gets about anything :)

We found out that if his mission call comes for later than August, he can continue in classes for Summer term.  And, he can defer enrollment while he is on his mission and start right back up when he returns.

CONGRATULATIONS BRADEN!!