Cartagena Colombia

I haven't been very good about posting info on William. He is doing great! He was transferred about 7 weeks ago back to Cartagena. He loves that city! He is training a new missionary from Ecuador. He only has about 5 months left as a full-time missionary. The time really is flying by! Here is a recent letter from him:

hey there mom
first of all, im great!
what, youre with college friends? sounds like a ton o fun,
wow jess is getting married. to quote napoleon dynomite when his brother ran over the
tupperware "dang it".jk. hey tell them i said hola y que mas, y claro que si, felicitaciones a jessica. (translation...basically just congratulations to Jess :)
mom i am the one who feels older. im almost 21 :O
cartagena.....bacanisimo!!!! thats colombian talk for totally awesome. im sweating
everyday but im happy.well im glad that yall liked the pics, hardrock cafe is everywhere, and the food is so good, i felt at home i kid you not. of course that lunch almost made me broke but that was worth it. there is a gift shop there ill see what i can do about the t-shirts.
well the new pres is awesome, i think its because hes young and says that he wants to put trust in his missionaries more than anything... i smell cellphones :D
he even took the no coke or pepsi thing away.... so we're free.by the way, could you send some DP this way?.....i want it, i am sure that this is my blessing for being patient and obedient to the mission rules. there is hope and there is DR PEPPER :P
me im just tired.... 3 days of a conference for the dls and trainers to learn how to
teach better and teach better guided by the spirit.WOW what a 3 days it was. we really are gonna turn the mission around and help even more people feel the spirit and lead them to covenants with their heavenly father and really be happy forever.
we were watching the training videos from a new dvd of preach my gospel and it wasnt in spanish cause its so new..... so elder backman, mortenson, call and miller all translated for the rest of us.... i got lucky and didnt have to do it, its kinda hard to translate the general authorities for their use of such big and complicated words :P
well i am so excited to just get out there and really push myself to really help the
people that im teaching more than i have been. well we're now teaching a family that are really excited about getting baptized and getting married and all that good stuff. its really cool cause my comp will get to have a baptism in his first transfer...4 of them...
the dad (Ruber)
the mom(LuzMeri)
and a son(Nafer)
the other is a young man that was a reference from a ward member... his aunt.
his name is Jaido and hes my age and has a great desire to be baptized. it is soooooo cool that we have these people and i know we will find a ton more.
well i love you guys and i always pray for yall
ps
fotos porfavor
thanks mom for the shirt and pants those things got here fast
and the bubba gump shrimp shirt really got me quoting forest gump in his voice to the other gringo in the house :P tell my friends to write through my email i am not sure what to ask them cause i havent heard from any of them in forever.

Hopefully I'll figure out how to post a picture from his email...keeping my fingers crossed :)

The Nest is Emptying :(

Another 20+ hour drive to Utah...this time in the truck. We didn't feel like it was completely healthy to leave Christine in the middle of "Egypt" with no way out. Ephraim is kind of remote...can't get a cab or a bus or a shuttle service there. So, we sent our freshman daughter to college with a car...good thing she is responsible. The drive was actually fun, we even stopped along the way to buy some moccasins and turquoise and a Navajo dream catcher in New Mexico (I've always wanted to do that :) We took our good friend and traveling buddy Ellis along again. He was headed to Provo and BYU.

Can I just say that leaving a daughter at college is much different than leaving a son. This empty nest thing is truly for the birds...nice pun, huh? I used to think it was going to be great when the kids started leaving...I don't feel that way anymore. I'd just like them all home now...right now. But that isn't ever going to be the case...the up side is, William and Christine are doing great things...THAT I am grateful for. I just need to get a job, or a hobby or start catching up on all of our scrapbooks...I miss my kids---a lot. Other than rides, food and clean clothes...Garrett and Grant are pretty much self-sufficient...so that leaves me with way too much time on my hands. Hopefully I can get busy doing something productive before I drive everyone, including myself crazy!...transition is a blast!

One of the two pizza joints in Ephraim...we ate here with William before he went into the MTC...we were walking down memory lane here :(

A cool old car sitting in someone's front yard...we are definitely NOT in Allen anymore:)

As seen in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Ephraim...the biggest dog ever!

We found William's picture on the wall at the Ephraim Institute of Religion of missionaries currently serving around the world...made us proud.

Christine lives about 5 minutes from this beautiful place...the Manti Temple.

It took no time at all to get Christine all set up in her room...she should be quite comfy there...she was a little surprised at the size and age (old) of her accomodations...she's been a little spoiled. Welcome to the real world Sweetheart :)

Christine has some darling roommates...they are all from Utah--big surprise!

Our good friend Chris Creek turned the big 5-0 while we were in town so we drove up to Salt Lake for a great party! It was a 60's theme, since he was born in 1960...we saw some old friends and had a blast! Happy Birthday Chris!

Another Homecoming...

Another one of our ward's missionaries came home a couple of weeks ago...Elder Paul Smout served in the Alaska Anchorage Mission...again we were able to be at the airport when he landed in Dallas! It was thrilling to watch him reunite with his family...especially with his mom:) The Smouts were the very first people we met when we moved to Allen. They lived in the apartment directly below us and were a great comfort to our family as we adjusted to our new city...We even built similar houses in the same neighborhood...we've been friends ever since. It has been comforting sharing this "first missionary son" experience with Jeff and Virg. Paul had a great mission and shared with us some of his experiences...Alaska was cold, beautiful, full of great people, dark all day sometimes and light all day sometimes...strange. He ate some strange things like walrus and seal and whale! Only the Native Alaskans are allowed to kill those animals. It is so fun to hear these recently returned missionaries talk about their missions...they light up when they talk about their experiences...less than 6 months and we will be welcoming William home:) (but who is counting?)