Mission Post #2

One nice thing about getting to serve a mission in North Carolina is that we got to spend Easter with grandchildren. On Friday before Easter, we went to Maren's (she's an hour away from us). She and I went shopping for a little while and left the dad and grandpa there to help the little ones dye the eggs.


Obviously Will and Hyde had a great time, and were well-pleased with the finished product. Aren't they just two too cute boys?!


When Maren and I got back, we gathered everyone up and went to a fun park nearby. I thought this was the best idea for a teeter-totter. Why didn't someone think of this in my day. Remember how the person on the other end would get distracted and run off to do something else when you were the one up in the air. Maybe they did it on purpose, but regardless, it hurt. Seems like you'd just come down too fast to react. No more, though. With this one--you just bounce a little. Great idea!

And these were the best swings ever. Here's Maren showing Dad how it's done.

Then it was my turn to give it a try. Why is it that old people look so uncoordinated. Or maybe I've been that way all my life. Now I just have something to blame it on. Nevertheless, it was fun.

Back at Maren's, Casey and Tim and their girls arrived, and we had the Traditional Easter Egg Hunt and BBQ. Here's little Nate with his find.

McKenna was pretty proud of her basketfull.

And Livie had some good stuff in hers, too.

The grown-ups, on the other hand, helped out by eating some of the goodies while we sat around and solved the problems of the world. Here we are with Casey sitting next to me and Tim's dad, Terry sitting next to Stan. Terry and Lynn were in NC for a week, vacationing at the Outer Banks with Tim and Casey, and stopped by Garner for the festivities on their way back to Casey's in Clemmons.

Nate and Grandpa. . . . Aren't they cute?!

All this fun while Andrew slaved over the hamburgers and hot dogs. Yum!

Easter Sunday, Maren fed us all a wonderful breakfast and then Nate decided to try out his little watering can that came in his Easter basket.

I guess, Ivy could see that he needed help and was there to show how much better her can worked.

Naturally we enjoyed church and the fine dinner that Maren prepared--ham, potatoes, etc. It was all yummy, and I especially loved the container with the "Easter" grass for the centerpiece. Clever.

Life as a Southerner

So I was with my girls a few days ago, and they told me that I should be updating my blog to keep everyone updated on our mission. I suspect it was their way of saying that I really should get with it, so being the obedient mom that I am, here goes.

As you probably already know, we are serving a temporal affairs mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at a campground in Dudley, North Carolina. When we first started the process of submitting our papers, we had decided we would ask for a farmland reserve mission assignment and were told that based on the timing and the needs, we would probably be sent to Florida or Texas. About that same time, we learned that Eagles Nest Camp had just been approved for a senior missionary couple to help in the renovation of an old Boy Scout camp the Church had purchased, and were told that we could be sent there if we would like. Since Casey and Maren both live in North Carolina, we decided that was where we wanted to go. Long story short, we arrived at Eagles Nest on Feb 1, and as you can see, there was snow all over the camp. This is the dogwood tree outside our front door. Notice the road just behind the sign on the left. That was the first thing I had to get used to. You can tell that it's just a small country road--one lane of traffic each way. And, since most of the houses face the road, and are set back just a little ways, with all the mailboxes on the side of the road, I was thinking that 35 should be the ultimate speed limit. Wrong! You have to go at least 50 or you could have a line of cars backed up behind you. I'm not sure what the real speed limit is, but I do know that they have some curves that say 45, so I guess that they anticipate you'll be going a little faster than that on the straightaways.

The next thing I learned was how to dispose of things you don't want. This pile of stuff was in the field right behind our little cottage. It was a real eyesore, but I looked out one day, and saw someone with a backhoe and the next thing I knew . . .
things were beginning to disappear. You'll notice all the cuttings in the center of the picture--they're gone too. That's the burn pile.


And here's a burn pile in action down by the lodge. We have them all over, and as long as there's no burn ban, we can just "fire" away.

After we'd been here a couple of weeks, Maren and her family came to spend the day. The boys wanted a ride on the bobcat and loved it. Ivy thought it looked like a lot of fun too, until Grandpa turned it on, and then she had a change of heart.
A few days later, we had a work crew of volunteers from the stake come in to work on the dam. It has been a major headache. Without it we have no lake, so we were anxious to have it repaired in time for the camping season.

Finally in March, we closed the gate and it began to fill up. Sand was brought in to make a little beach; we put a trampoline in the middle; ropes to designate swimming areas; got six canoes, twelve life jackets, and we were in business.
Spring was beautiful! For some reason this is one of my favorite pictures. I was walking from the lodge up to our cottage one afternoon and glanced over to my right and there was this lone dogwood in the midst of all those other trees.
Back home, the same dogwood that I began with. All the plants have since been planted and are now somewhat larger. That's my job--constantly trying to keep everything alive and flourishing. Wish I had a greener thumb!

And the Tradition Goes On!

Since the early 80's our family has gone to Newport Beach in the summer. We've missed a few, but not many. We used to stay here and loved the summers when we could rent the upstairs. Here's Maren looking out the window. It wasn't a glamorous place, but we loved it.
Now we stay at the Marriott villas--much nicer and roomier, but I think we all miss the "good ole days" on 14th Street. So, this past August, we made our almost yearly trek to the beach, and Dave's family (they're the only ones close enough to go now) went, too. It was lots of fun, and especially memorable, because Brenden will be leaving on his mission soon, and it was good to have some time with him.

Here's Dave and Hayden keeping close to shore.

The "big boys" (Brenden and Landon) on the other hand, kept going out far enough to catch the big waves. I really had to zoom in on them, so picturewise, this is the best I could do.


After all the fun it was time to pack up and go back. Here's Landon and Grandpa--NOT helping Hayden with his boogie board, but obviously doing a good job of overseeing.

Dave, wondering why I'm taking THIS picture.
Back at the villas, we spent a lot of time going back and forth between th hot tub and the pool.

An action shot of Hayden being tossed in the water by one of his big brothers.

I'm definitely not a very good photographer--where was Carson in all of this? Was he avoiding the camera? Out of the whole week, these are the only two days I took pictures, and he is nowhere to be found. And he is so darn cute! For sure, I'll get him next time.

Cute Kids!

In July (can I be that far behind?) I had an end-of-summer pizza party for my Primary class. Aren't these cute kids? They are really good kids, too which certainly makes my job a lot more enjoyable. Unfortunately, I didn't remember to get the camera out until some of them had gone home.
They kind of drifted between the Wii and pickleball. Here's Katelyn and Samantha. I had a hard time catching them when they were still enough for a picture.
Payton, Aubrey, and Ryan. It was fun for me because they were all having such a good time.
I should have taken a picture of the pulley that Stan made and attached to the upstairs deck. The kids think it's the greatest, and loved being able to put the ice cream, etc., in the bucket and let it down to the patio below.

Visitors

I love to have visitors, so we were really excited when we got a call from Bart saying that they were coming down from Utah to spend a few days with us. Unfortunately, I always get so involved in what is going on that I forget to take the all important "blog photos." We got to celebrate Jarom's 5th birthday on June 28 while they were here, so I did get a few pictures of that. Here he is opening his presents with Kerina looking just as excited as he is. On the right is his cousin--Uncle Jason's son. They came up from Phoenix for the "big" party.Porter very concerned about the presents, Hannah sharing something fun with her mom.
I had to add this picture of Uncle Jason's daughter. Isn't she just the cutest little thing? That's her mom with her.


All Jarom wanted to do for his birthday was go swimming, so we found this fun little water park down in Prescott Valley, and off we went. The kids all had a great time. Some of those people belong to us.


Porter and Emma waiting their turn to go down the slide.

Porter--someday he's going to "love" this picture. He is such a little charmer.
Hannah and Emma. That Hannah is getting sooo pretty, and is such a sweet girl and good baby sitter.
Kerina in the water, and Emma out. Check out Emma's pose--she is such a little cutie!
Joseph--growing up way too fast. He will be twelve in November--a most important birthday. We will be going up for Thanksgiving and to see him ordained a deacon.
Kerina--you just can't help loving that girl.
Okay, so I know there are eight kids in that family, and I only took pictures of five--don't know how I missed the others, especially baby, Grace, who is adorable, and who I took care of the whole time while she slept. You'd think I would have clicked a quick photo--and where were Andrea and Jarom, the birthday boy? I know they were there, but you can't tell it by my shoddy photo journalism skills. Sorry you kids--I'll get you in November.

The day before Bart and Marie left, my sister, Melinda, and her husband, Randy, flew in from Colorado. (We also had one extra elder for a couple of days, so that meant we had 17 people here. Does it get anymore fun than that?

Randy has always loved to cook, so when he lost his job a few months ago (he was a superintendent for a very large construction company--can you say, "Freddie and Fanny?"
Anyway, it was probably a blessing in disguise, because it forced him into a career change, and since he has always longed to be a chef, and since they have a great culinary arts school near him, he enrolled. So needless to say, I didn't cook the whole time he was here. Check out the pro-chef attire. He even has the full-on checkered pants (but it was just too hot for the smock).
Here's one of the meals he cooked--the best steaks ever (done in the frying pan instead of the grill), the salad was amazing, and the grilled corn . . . well, there just wasn't enough of it.
We went to the rodeo (world's oldest, right here in Prescott) while they were here, but I forgot the camera. They were here on the 4th of July, and we watched fireworks with our neighbors from the street in front of our house, but I didn't take any pictures of that either. I did capture a little Wii-playing the night before they went home. I have no idea how long they played--I went to bed and they were still at it. Such fun, and would you believe, they are coming down again in two weeks? I am so looking forward to it. This time, I'll try to be more efficient with the camera.

Fun in North Carolina

In June we flew to North Carolina to visit the grandchildren (and their parents). The weather was great--not too hot or humid . . . yet. First we visited with Maren and Andrew in Garner (near Raleigh).


The boys had lots of fun in their little pool, and had to show me all their tricks. Will thought a picture of him jumping off the slide into the water would be really cool, and he was right.

Hyde preferred the side approach.

And here are our men at work. Andrew wanted to build a fort in the backyard for the kids to play on, and of course, Grandpa (never one to sit around) was more than eager to help out. (A picture of the finished project is now on Maren's blog.)

Making progress . . .

Still in the beginning stages, but the boys were already so excited about it.

Maren drove us to Casey and Tim's in Clemmons (near Winston-Salem). We arrived just in time to attend Alexa's "Fifth Grade Celebration" (since she would be moving on to middle school. Here are a few of those in attendance.

No one can ever accuse this darling Maya of being camera-shy.

Alexa receiving a certificate of promotion. (I guess that's what you call it.)

Here she is with her teacher. So cute!

I told you--loves the camera.
Unfortunately, I was so busy having fun that I forgot to take many pictures, and some of the ones I took didn't turn out for some reason, which explains why there are no pictures of Ivy, Nate, Livie, and McKenna. I'll just have to do better next time.

Meet Elder Robert D. Schamel

In March, I flew to Denver to attend my nephew, Robert Schamel's, missionary farewell. He was leaving the following Tuesday for South Africa. He really is a neat kid, and I was so proud of him, as are his parents. He gave one of the best farewell talks I have ever heard. That night, LOTS of his friends (he's a popular guy) came over to say goodbye, and ended up entertaining us. Robert has been singing in a quartet, and the other three guys were there, so they treated us with an impromptu concert. It was the first time I had ever heard them, and halfway through the first song, I realized that they were really good, and since I had my camera in my hand, I set it to record. Here they are--enjoy!






Here he is with his Dad right after he was set-apart and got to put on his name tag.
Schamel kids--Andrew, Leslie, Robert, and Aaron.
Robert and his mom--my sister, Melinda.

Here we are at the airport. We had to be there about 6 AM, and it was snowing like crazy. Leslie, Andrew, Robert, and I were all flying out that morning. Good planning--Only one trip to the airport for Randy and Melinda.A great story here. We were all going headed over to security, when this girl saw us and noticed Robert's tags. She was excited, because she said this was the first time she had ever seen a missionary leaving from an airport with all his family there to see him off. (Obviously, she's not from Utah.) Anyway, a little while later, I guess she got up her nerve to approach us, and said that she was in a lot of pain because of her arm, and wouldn't be able to do anything about it until she got to her destination (Atlanta I think) which would be several hours from then. She asked if Robert and his dad had enough time to give her a blessing. Well, there we were, in the middle of the airport, with time to do it, but where? Melinda turned and saw a NTSB guy standing nearby and asked if perhaps there was a room they could use for a few minutes. His response was, "Oh, do you want to give her a blessing?" Yep! He was LDS--what are the chances?--this is Colorado, not Utah! Anyhow, he said he'd ask for permission, which was granted, and they were able to use the room right next to us, and the blessing was given. I thought it was a perfect experience for Robert at this important time in his life. Anyway, here they are. Unfortunately, I have no idea what her name was.


After boarding the plane, I think he met up with his companion in New York (or somewhere back east) and then they flew straight to the MTC in Johannesburg, (although he is in the Cape Town mission) and is now serving in a town called Knysna. He is absolutely loving it despite having been robbed at knifepoint on one occasion, and finding himself in the middle of a riot on another, all in the first month. Scary stuff! But his letters are filled with enthusiasm and love for the work. What a great kid he is.