DEEM HILL TRAIL

 We  have a tradition of taking our Assistants on a hike at some point of their service with us and this preparation day was the day.  It worked out well that former assistant Tye Barrett was along for the hike with Elders Griffin and Pollmeier.

It was actually pretty cold out on Monday.  We bundled up for the hike, and were lucky it did not rain while we were out.

Last Saturday we had hiked Deem Trail for the first time and took a really long trail all along the upper ridge and behind the big hill.

Today we took "Water Tank Trail" which did lead to a water storage place that was not interesting, but a side trail proved to be really interesting.

 It was a really beautiful trail over here at Deem Park.  Lots of pretty varieties of cactus...and a very pretty sunrise.

 We are overlooking part of our mission in the northwest metro area.

 We enjoyed seeing lots of neat natural wonders including "Death of a Cactus" as I like to call it.

This photo shows where a cactus arm has fallen over and disintegrated leaving just a pattern of spines.  Looked so cool!

And here is what we call "Snakewood" with all the holes intricately through it that looks like snakeskin but is actually the center core of a cactus.  

As we came down the trail, we met a couple of women who asked us if we had seen any javelina (wild boar) along the trail.  I was sad to report we had not.  I am dying to see one!  So, maybe I need to come back here more often just to see what kind of "species" may be present.

Deem Park Trail is a keeper.  We will be back.

HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY BRADEN!

 We tried something new for Braden's Birthday video chat...a group chat on Google +


IT WAS AWESOME!
Not only could we get 4 family groups on at the same time, but there were entertaining effects you could play with as you chatted, using hats, cakes, etc.  The grandkids especially had fun seeing those, but the big people had fun trying them all out.

 Braden the Birthday Boy, was sent all over the house in Provo with 18 clues that Breanna had made and hidden.  He was up and down and all over...GOOD JOB BRE!  Meanwhile we could all be entertaining each other.

And...at the end of the treasure hunt was Braden's birthday gift...his own GUITAR!  I can foresee some video guitar lessons and jam sessions with Austin!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADEN!
You are the most amazing 18 year old we know!  WE LOVE YOU!

Date to the TEMPLE and CHINO BANDIDOS

 I have three great reasons to smile for this picture.

1 and 2 are that Scott and I were with ED and DANA.

3 is that I got to wear a RAINCOAT.

It was the most amazing, rainy day ever and we just loved getting to go out together.
Our first stop was the Phoenix Temple site where we went through the trailer there to see what LDS temples are like and to see how this one is coming along.

Our next stop was a place we had wanted to try.

The famous Chino Bandidos...a mix of Mexican and Chinese that was fascinating!

 If you cannot tell...Dana really likes the giant Mexican Panda...














...I knew she was going to kiss him!

 We had a really good time, and loved the food as well!  I had a veggie quesadilla and some fresh chicken and rice and beans.  Great mix of flavors and such.

We will be back!  And we may not wait for a rainy day!

CHUTES AND LADDERS

Me and my bright ideas...the tradition is that every quarter in interview session, I have a GAME to teach something practical to our missionaries.  It has been a lot of fun since our arrival.  We have had SOCKBALL...CLEANING RELAY...NUTRITION JEOPARDY...CELEBRITY SQUARES...and now...
LIFESIZE CHUTES AND LADDERS.  After all, they are just big kids!  So, I dragged the family along at Christmas time to the gym to create the gameboard including yes...chutes and ladders.
This meant, that every interview day, the whole gameboard had to be set up on the gym floor where we were meeting.  Time consuming but it went great...until one day.

About the third day we played, (I would do half the zone at a time) I went to give out prizes...ramen noodles as a boobie prize to the lowest on the gameboard and a treat pack to the winner.  I was on the stage taking photos to get a good view, and I somehow stepped right off the stage as I threw or right after...just forgot where I was. Strangest out of body experience ever!!!
I went down hard!  I was wearing boots and scraped my shin deeply down the front of the stage right through the boots.  I landed on my right ribs, left hand took a good force, right forearm, but miraculously did not hit my head.  I could not breathe.
I laid there trying to breathe, was able to, tried to assess how badly I was hurt.  My shin hurt like CRAZY, my left palm stung and was bright red.  I said "Well, this will make a great object lesson someday."  But I could not get up for a while.  Finally I realized I did not have punctured lungs, and raised up.  One of our new, but older elders had been an EMT for a while and he looked into my eyes to check for a concussion.  I told him "I did not hit my head." No one believed it, but I didn't.  I think I got whiplash because I did not allow my head to hit, but somehow I did not hit it.
I was able to get up, but as the afternoon progressed, I could tell I was really hurt.  My right ribs and left shin hurt like crazy and my left leg felt twisted when I walked.  I had plans to go out teaching with the Sister Missionaries after the interviews, and by the end of the night, I was pretty stiff and limping.  I had iced my shin the rest of the afternoon session.
Monday we went to a member chiropractor with an xray and my ribs are fine.  He said that is a good sign that my bones are pretty good.
Saturday we stopped over at our Mission Doctors home and he said my MCL is not torn, just strained.  In other words, I have pretty good angels watching over me.  It could have been so much worse!
I am really sore and stiff still.  I am going crazy not being able to run.  My insides feel 100 years old.
I am not sure what I am supposed to learn from this, but the object lesson will come, I am sure.
Anyways, pray that my insides will feel better soon so I can have the energy to run and not be weary and walk and not faint...and maybe get some better sleep at night too :)

Gotta Love this Missionary Work!

I am accepting game ideas for the future...anything that does not require me to set up 64 squares on the floor or climb up onto the stage!!

Baa-ket-bah

 My camera was on some strange setting so it did not do well with motion at all in these...hoping Austin takes pity on me and sends me some replacement pics!



We took a little hoop over to where the boys were playing basketball with a missionary zone and it was fun to see Brooklyn get the idea of a hoop and what to do with it!

 It took a lot of practice, but she caught on really well!

Braden was doing well too!  He was having a good time with the missionaries.

So glad Braden gets to interact with these great kids when he is here with us!



So glad Austin and Laura and Brooklyn are patient with us and our interactions with these great kids when they are here with us.



We love meshing our mission with our family!
Good day of Baa-ket-bah!!

PIZZA PRO COOKOFF!

THIS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS...Two Pizza Masters in one house over Christmas Break means...
A PIZZA COOK-OFF!
On your left, wearing a white shirt and blue tie, is the Papa Murphy's chef with his veggie, pepperoni in a red sauce.
On your right, wearing a sweater, is the Redmond Washington chef with his bacon, chicken BBQ pizza.
And as judges we had---two returning home missionaries who were impartial judges, not knowing who made what.
The result????  IT WAS A TIE...yes, they were wearing TIES.  And no one could decide which they liked better because they were so differently amazing!  But it was very fun to try to decide!
GREAT JOB CHEFS!

Elmo Had 4 Ducks...and then some

Grandpa has warped yet another grandchild and is proud of it.
If you say "Elma had four ducks..." Brooklyn will say "quack, quack, quack, quack."

This is because she has watched this video SEVERAL times with Grandpa while she visited.  It was really so darling and I think maybe we need to get her an Elmo very soon!



Somebody we know also likes to wear hats...
so it was pretty cute that she would wear the Santa hat.


Brooklyn was with us a week and finally the last couple of days got interested in the large ceramic nativity set in the living room.

 She was very gentle though, just touching and moving things a very little bit.  It was really sweet to watch her.

After we dropped off Braden at the airport, we came back to feed the real ducks at a park on the way home.

The ducks had been chasing a girl with her bag of bread, and when they saw us, and saw Scott throwing bread into the water, they made a beeline...or should I say "duckline" right for us.

 We were very entertained by their waddling as they came!

Brooklyn liked to hear all the quacking and watch them eat the bread.









Alright, this is a stock photo, but it identifies the American Coot that we saw so many of and did not know what they were.  They have really interesting feet and literally run on the water when you throw bread for them.  It was so fun to watch!

 Brooklyn was interested, not too scared, but not really wanting to get down and run with the ducks...plus with all those ducks and coots, there was lots of duck and coot mess!

How great in January to be out feeding the ducks with our Granddaughter! She has the sweetest disposition and is so smart!
We were so glad to have her and her parents visit!!!

18 month anniversary!

Does this photo look familiar?  It represents something amazing that we embarked on 18 months ago as a family.  We realized this as we were at the Phoenix Zoo with Braden, Austin, Laura and Brooklyn.  Braden suggested that we take a photo similar to the one on temple square.  

 
 I think we look older...and we deserve to after 18 months doing what we are doing.  I hope we look even happier though...because we deserve to after 18 months doing what we are doing.  We could look tired...and we deserve to after 18 months doing what we are doing.

You get the drift!  We are older, happier and more tired!
Braden...he is just more and more HANDSOME!!!

But, we STILL LOVE our Savior, our Family and our Neighbors.




We started the morning with a hike over at Thunderbird with the boys.  Laura and Brooklyn were home so Brookies could nap.

 We finished the day going to the Phoenix Zoo which was super fun.  We will maybe add some more photos when we get some from Austin.  They were the real photographers for the day.

Brooklyn was a really great traveler!  She was happy the whole time we were there!  She was interested in all the animals and we could get her to make many of the animal sounds as we saw them.

This little girl can make the sounds of about anything...and do it fast, hardly thinking!  What does a cat say? a dog, a lamb, a goat, a cow, a bee, a snake, a duck, a lion or tiger, a chicken...     ...good thing we finally found the farm section of this big zoo!  We have been there about 4-5 times now and this is the first time we made it to that part of the zoo.

It was a great halfway point in our mission to be with family.  This is the purpose of why we are here in the first place.  We are trying to bring families, including our missionaries, to their Savior through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, Baptism and all other covenants we make including the sacrament and temple ordinances, receiving and using the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end...in other words, LIVING & LOVING THE GOSPEL FOREVER. We know that this is the way to have eternal families!

Set goals to live the Gospel more fully this year.  Pray for us as we try to do the same.  And know how deeply we love and admire our own family and appreciate their sacrifice for us to be here away from them.  WE LOVE YOU!!!

ZOOLIGHTS WITH BIG PEOPLE

 BRE, CLICK ON THIS LINE TO SEE AND DOWNLOAD ALL PHOTOS OF THIS VISIT!



We had tickets to go to ZOOLIGHTS again with the big kids.

 We were not sure how excited they would be to go after taking Jenna and the boys, who really liked all the lights etc.
When we got to the parking area, we were shocked how many people were there!  We had to park in baseball complex parking and walk just to get there.  Apparently those preview member days before Thanksgiving were really a bonus!

But, we did get 3-D glasses so the lights could look like THIS

...but believe me, you cannot walk around with those glasses on and all those lights!!!
...and DRIVING IN THEM IS NOT OK!!!

How about his big creepy praying mantis?

Our favorite multicolor tree from last time...favorite photo op.

I am seeing more Christmas card possibilities than ever!!

So good to be out as a family doing things!  We miss the kids so very much.  We are just too busy to remember how much we miss them most of the time.  I guess that is a blessing in disguise!