Braden Was Here!

We walked into Scott's office in the Mission Office and saw this note...

I wonder who wrote it...

Oh, if we could only leave it up for the next 10 months that we are here.  But I imagine it will be erased sometime, so I thought I better get a picture of it.

We hope that the missionaries don't get wind of the nickname..."Scotters"  They would be all over that!

Every once in a while we use the voice activated auto-call in our mission vehicle just to hear Braden chime in as Scott was recording his name into the bluetooth...you hear Scott say "Braden" and immediately after, you hear Braden yell "Jimmer" from the backseat.

It makes us laugh...but gets us a little emotional as well.
He is away, but not forgotten!

DANA'S TEMPLE TRIP

It has been a year since our dear friend Dana joined the Church.
It has gone SO FAST!
 She has been preparing to attend the temple.


It was very exciting the day she got her recommend!

We then made plans to go the following week.  The goal was to go before Elder Vaoga went home from his mission.  He was one of the special missionaries who taught her.

The day of our temple trip was...well, interesting.  First, when I picked up Dana to take her to the Church Distribution Center before the temple, we got there in perfect time and it was CLOSED!  Not so perfect.

 But, we made it work and in the extra time we had, we stopped to visit Inga, a very special person to Dana who lives very near the temple.  It had been a couple years since they had seen each other, so we had a nice visit.

 Then it was back to the temple and this is Dana outside as she prepared to enter!

We loved our experience with many friends as we served in the temple.
We were surrounded by many, many of our ward family and it was such a special experience.




It was seriously one of the busiest days at the temple we have ever seen.  The temple had been closed the previous two weeks...and there was a new film in the temple instruction that people were excited to see.
It made for everything running very, very late!









While we were doing endowment sessions, Breanna and Aaron were doing baptisms for the dead.  Ed was with Elder King at the Visitor Center and nearby.  We all got together afterwards, it was about 10 by this time.  They had to be very patient waiting for us!



I drove Ed and Dana afterwards and Scott had the rest.  We got a call from Scott partway home telling us they were out of gas and stranded...so we had to find a gas can and then fill it to take to them, taking about 45 minutes or so.  This made it even later!

 We had planned to go to IHOP to celebrate...just not at MIDNIGHT!

 We were all a little stir crazy I think.

But, we will never forget our experiences of this day and night!
GOOD TIMES with people we love!

Braden's Provo Friends 8/13

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL THE PHOTOS OF OUR TIME TOGETHER

 The week before Braden left on his mission, we had some of his Provo friends come down to spend some time in Arizona with him.

First, Aaron drove down with him from Provo.  We took him hiking in the AZ heat and he was a great sport.

 Then a couple days later Fanga flew in and joined us.  We took a different trail so he did not miss out on hiking either.  You can see that it was overcast that day, really nice and unusually cool.

 The boys had fun experimenting with a cholla cactus to see if it would really jump at them.  No luck.

 Men in thought...

 After our hike, we stopped by the Phoenix Temple site to show them our temple.

 Another day we went to downtown Phoenix to the Science Center that is really fun.  We could not resist this shot of Braden by something that had the word "Poop" in it.

 We tried to build some earthquake-proof buildings...but they all fell apart when it really shook.

 They used pressure to puff up some vapor from this vortex thing.

 And they had fun projecting themselves all warped.

 This interesting wall dropped the bits of color and you could stand and "catch" them.  Aaron's hat looked really neat as he held it up.

 And Fanga lay on a "Bed of Nails!"

All the boys tried the mind game where the calmest one could make the marble roll towards the other player.
These two were in a dead tie for a long time!

                                                                                  Good Question!

 Wheelchair races!!!

Take a look at the poster of the Sesame Street characters next to the boys...and they look just like our boys!!

It was really fun having Aaron and Fanga come see us.  Made us feel a bit more normal before Braden left.  We have appreciated good friends over the years.  THANK YOU FRIENDS!  We wish you the best in all you do!

Mission Prep

 We are getting this young man ready to head to New Zealand.





He has his flag...









 He has his car...










He has had experience with missionaries...

 He has his photos...

 He has his suit...(See the new dress and grooming guidelines for Elders and you will see this identical suit)

 He has style!

 Just about 100 things left to do to get him ready!  Wish us luck!
Luckily, he has the most important things under control!
He has a testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives and he is ready to share that with the people of New Zealand!

South Mountain 7/13

 Last Saturday we took the kids way down to South Mountain...which used to be in our mission boundaries, but now belongs to Tempe Mission.  We will miss the hikes with missionaries, but can still go there ourselves.

You can see the great view of the downtown Phoenix area to the north.

We left a little late in the morning so we were so sweaty by the time we made it to the top.

Breanna was so happy, she jumped for joy!

 At the very top there is a stone pavilion that makes for some good photos.

 We have really loved having two kids back home this summer.  It is one of those last-time experiences that we are treasuring.  We know those days are short lived.

Some petroglyphs we found on the way down.

Loving our Phoenix hiking tradition!

FAMILY VACATION- MISSION STYLE

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR A HUGE WEB ALBUM OF ALL OUR PHOTOS. 
Mission Presidents are asked to take a vacation once a year.  It is a wonderful idea!
Last year we got away from Phoenix for three days with Braden.  This year we have all the kids coming (minus Ty, who could not leave work) and have an entire week with them!
We never really get a vacation, because we have meetings and we are only a phone call away from our 217 missionaries.  But, we do try to have some special time with the kids when they come visit.
Tuesday we picked up Jenna and the boys.  They recognize us from skype and that makes us so happy.
The fun began!

Wednesday morning we picked up Austin, Laura and Brooklyn.
The fun continued!



Wednesday evening we picked up Braden and Keri.
The fun was complete!

Wednesday morning we got out on a morning walk with the boys.  Keep in mind that it is close to 100 even early in the morning here, so going out at 6:30 is critical...any later and it just gets too hot!

 We showed Carter and Bennett how the pods on barrel cactus have seeds inside and Carter was really excited.

Braden was excited later on when we brought out the New Zealand flag we got for him.

Brooklyn was excited by all of Auntie B's shoes.  Breanna has about every color of shoe you can imagine. I guess she comes by that naturally...I love colored shoes myself!

 Brooklyn spent a lot of time trying on Bre's shoes, it was pretty cute!

Two pairs of high heels!!  Two B names!
Breanna
+
Brooklyn
=
STYLE












Thursday our main event was going to the MESA TEMPLE for Braden to take out his own Endowment.  He completed his temple prep class in Provo before coming and got his recommend just in time.





It was so great to be in the temple as a family.  This is the desire of our hearts...to always be able to go to the temple together.  It means we are following Jesus Christ and trying to be like Him.
Braden was ready and excited to make promises to God to keep the commandments and to serve Him for eternity.  He is happy and obedient.
I will post photos when the kids send them to me...they were on other people's cameras.

After the temple, we went for shave ice at Bahama Bucks, our favorite post-temple destination!


Friday we had some GIRL TIME!  the five girls went for PEDICURES.  It was so fun to get pampered and visit at the same time!
We all had beautiful toes when we were done too!

Then we went to a new favorite jewelry/accessory store "Charming Charlies" to grab a little BLING.













Friday night the gang went to see a DIAMONDBACKS baseball game.  Bre and I stayed home to watch Brooklyn and Bennett, so we had fun as well!

 Saturday we hiked over at Thunderbird Conservation Area.  Lucky for us it was overcast, so it was cooler even though it was later morning...8:00 (Yes, 8 is late to be out in PHX)
Scott walked with Jenna and the boys and the rest of us did the more strenuous hike.

 And this was our reward...the Phoenix Temple comes to view as you complete this particular hike.  Looking so good now!

Uncle Braden is a favorite with his little nephews.  Bennett was really cute with Braden today!

Hanging around the house was an adventure whenever we were home.  So many bodies and a kitty and FUN!

 Bathtime for boys...

   Anywhere there were rocks, Bennett was sure to be there.
 And Grandpa found a creepy beetle on the patio which became a temporary pet in a jar.

  ...along with the lizards that were also temporary pets.  We caught two of them on walks.

  Our dear friends, the Kings, offered the use of their pool while we had company.  It was a welcome relief from the heat while Scott and I had a meeting with missionaries on Friday morning.

 And it was just cute to see the grandkids interacting.  They were really cute with each other.

 (Yes, there were some nakey times in the wading pool...)

And more time on the piano which was used to play and to be a racetrack for cars.

   

 Sunday night we went up to Flagstaff to stay the night and be ready to head out on Monday.
We started out at Wupatki National Preserve.  They have some great Indian ruins there.

 It is much like an Indian apartment complex built from the red stone of the area and around existing rock structures.

 
 

  

 
 There were two sites that we stopped at.  This is the second.

 

 

 Next we went on up to the South rim of the  Grand Canyon.

 

 

 

 

 

 Bre did a lot of jumping pictures.  Pretty cool!

Keri took this photo for us.

 And we got a stranger to take this one of all of us.

 

 

 
 

 

 

I will post more photos and a link to ALL our photos for family to share when I get them all loaded...so far there are over 400 in the web album.  As I get the others I will add them.
WE LOVE OUR FAMILY!  This is what it is all about...why we are willing to leave them for a while to try to help other families have the blessings of an eternal family.
Here is my advice to all our family.
1. Say your prayers daily.  Let your Heavenly Father know you are aware of who you are and your relationship with Him.  Ask Him to help you with everything! Thank Him for everything!
2. Go to Church weekly.  Being baptized and going through the temple are not the end.  We have to promise weekly that we will follow the example of Jesus Christ.  We need the sacrament in order to really repent and change and grow and become.
3.  Read the scriptures and watch or read conference talks.  These are the words of advice and counsel for us from prophets of all ages...and the advice is still sound.
4. Always be worthy of a temple recommend.  This is the obedience part of it.  Living the commandments frees you to really be happy.  Making covenants with the Lord brings the Holy Ghost so strongly into our lives and the promises of the temple are sure.

It means everything to us to know we can be together forever.  WE LOVE YOU!