One Dedicated Kid

I have been thinking lately about my sweet daughter. I am convinced that she was blessed with a great portion of her dad's better qualities...actually all of her dad's qualities are great...but the ones in particular are her drive and tenacity. I admire her ability to blow through her homework, and to do it well! Back in the day, I blew through my homework too...however, not well. She is one of the brightest people I know. And her hard work pays off in some pretty good grades! So glad that she is my daughter! Also, she is so committed to early-morning seminary! I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER, heard her complain about getting up before the sun! And sometimes that early hour might be 4am...on those days that her hair must be straightened...ugh! But still, not a complaint. She is a joy. She is my sunshine!

Family

It's always fun to get together as a family for dinner on Sunday...not just the immediate family, but some folks that we don't get to see every day. Last Sunday we had just that opportunity. My brother Mike ( who passed away in June) has 2 daughters and a step-daughter and a grand-daughter. They all came over including Mike's widow, Sharee. It has been too many years since we all got together. Sad to say that I can't even remember the last time. Sharee and her daughter Allison live in the Dallas area with big sister, Amy. Michelle and Taylor are visiting from the bay area in California. My dad also drove up from Austin for a few days...love having him around! Dinner was yummy and the conversation was good. Michelle's little girl has a black father and she is adorable! She has the cutest hair and personality. Grant was following her around and she bumped her head pretty hard on a desk. To our surprise, she didn't even cry. Grant then blurted out "her Afro protected her!" He is forever saying the craziest things! We all laughed. I think it may have been true. We are hoping to get together regularly, every other week or so. Sharee has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and sadly won't be around for too many more months. It all seems surreal. This is completely unchartered territory for us all. We are hoping to be a support for the girls. Losing two parents in such a short time and at such young ages is unbelievable! This earthly life definitely has it's peaks and valleys...

One Teachable Child

On Thursday of last week, I was racing out the door to have lunch with a couple of girlfriends. I thought I would check my email just one more time...in the hopes that we would have word from William. And to my delight, he had emailed! I sat at the computer enthralled in his words...he had answered most of my questions, and listened to my urging of filling us in on the happenings in the MTC. William has generally been a kid who, when approached the right way, follows our direction. What a blessing that has been. He is doing very well, loving his companion, learning Spanish, "getting by" on the MTC food (translation, not eating much...very picky!), bearing testimony in Spanish, enjoying the diversity of his teachers and having an overall great experience. He has seen only one of the many friends he has there...and hopes to run into the others over the next several weeks. He is kept so busy and socializing and picture taking isn't really on the top of his priority list...but does he realize that I have a scrapbook for his mission and those pictures are important???! I am grateful for his obedience and for his informative email...keep them coming Son!

The Lost Art of Letter-Writing

Okay, did it ever occur to me that kids now a days don't really know how to write letters? I mean really write letters? I remember reading an article about this recently in the Church News or Ensign or something...my mind is slipping! Anyway, with all of the texting and emailing and Facebooking our kids do, some have paid no attention to actually sitting down and scribbling out a hand-written sentiment! Holy cow! I think a part of mission prep should be "Letter Writing".

So as not to completely "throw William under the bus", we have received 2 letters from him. The first was awesome! Then came the second, perhaps he was in a hurry, but hello! He answered NONE of my questions! The nerve! I am wishing that I had sat with him and reviewed the key points to good letter writing. Back in the day, I would generally sit with the letter in hand that I was replying to, and answer the questions that were asked...am I strange? I think not. I did send a little reminder last night of the things we are interested in. This may be a LONG two years of little information. Wish me luck. And, if anyone out there thinks it is important to write informative letters...teach your kids! You'll be glad you did!

Our First Letter

We were so excited to receive our first letter yesterday! It is comforting to know that all is well and that William is happy. He said that he is "proud to serve the Lord and proud to be a part of His holy army." His companion is Elder Barazoto who is from Arizona. The other two elders in his room are from Orem and Logan, Utah. He didn't mention anything else about his district. He wrote the first night and I would suppose he was trying to digest everything. Hopefully we will get an email from him this week. He was able to see an old friend, James Jenkins, who is headed to Ventura California. They even got a picture together...can't wait to see it. They played together as babies, and now they are missionaries! Crazy. Life is good!

Our FAMILY Playlist

I feel I need to mention the songs listed below on what I thought was MY play list. The other day I scrolled down and noticed some songs that I know I didn't choose. Then I remembered Christine asking everyone what their favorite songs were...so the off-center songs are the choices of our crazy kids. Luckily I am not on the blog long enough to hear them! William's choice "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," is fine, but the others??? Holy Cow. My kids crack me up! I must admit that all of them have a wide range of musical tastes...from oldies to whatever the heck they have listed below. And, if I had a clue how to change them, I probably would...but then again, I did mention to Christine that this was our "family" blog, so I guess we ALL need to be represented. Out voted again!

Life goes on...

I am happy to report that life seems to be getting back to normal. I was a bit worried that I might cry my eyes out today in church...but I kept my emotions in check...for the most part. I did have brief moment during the closing song, " Families Can Be Together Forever". And then there was my lesson in Relief Society...I never seem to get through an entire lesson without choking up. My huge amount of pride in William has overtaken my missing him. He, no doubt, is doing great. I am thrilled for the experiences he will have and for the people he will be able to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to. What an incredible opportunity for him. We will all write William by the end of the day...we're hoping to make that a Sunday tradition. Grant and Garrett each wrote a post card to him...such sweet sentiments they have for their big brother. Life is great and we are blessed!

PS anyone out there who can give me some tips on inserting photos BELOW my posts, I would greatly appreciate it. I cannot seem to figure it out...duh!