A Crazy Start

Two months into the year and it’s been a whirlwind of activity. We are amazed at what has happened so far and are very excited and also very 🤪.

But let’s start off with some nice, peaceful sunsets. We’ve had some beautiful ones recently and they are very calming to start off with!

A couple weeks ago, Emma turned TWO!! It was a fun filled birthday party with several appearances by Mickey and Minnie.

I’ve been doing some sewing projects with my new machine which I love. I finished an apron which looks really good if you don’t look too close! But I’m happy that I was able to follow all the directions and figure everything out on my own. Only one mistake and redo!

So, here's where the craziness comes in. We received a new mission call to Nashville Tennessee to work as office specialists. It came a lot quicker and we are leaving a lot sooner than we expected, which is weird since we have been waiting to go to NY for over a year. But when that call was canceled we thought we would slowly ease back into it, haha! But it all fell into place so nicely and we feel the Lord's hand in this call. I will be doing the finances and Scott will be over the vehicles. It’s brand new and we will be very green missionaries for a little while but we’re anxiously awaiting the adventure. We will be leaving March 19. 

This is the town home where we'll be living.

We received our name tags in the mail last week!

In the meantime, we have been playing a lot of tennis which we love to do, especially doubles!!

Feeling the love of the Primary children!

We have been inundated with well wishes from everyone and it is going to be very hard to leave. Can I just say how grateful I am for Zoom, Facetime, Messenger Chat, Marco Polo, etc. etc. etc.! 

We start mission training March 8 at home and then we leave March 19. Until then, there is still tons of organizing, packing, cleaning and pulling-my-hair-out craziness. IT WILL ALL WORK OUT!

Happy New Year 2021

Happy New Year everyone! So far, 2021 has treated us well and we had a fun ending to 2020. 

I managed to conquer bread making and freezer jam in 2020! Little embarrassed at how long it took me to conquer the freezer jam....we ended up with an ample supply of strawberry syrup too!

Cori and Jordan were with us for Christmas Eve...

...and we had a long overdue game night!

Julie, Hallie, and Dallin came for a short visit right after Christmas...they checked out Grandma's garden...

...ate some kumquats...

...and helped us play some new games we got this year! SUPER FUN family time! Thanks for coming down you guys!!

Right after New Year's, Kevin, Becky, Millie, Abbey, Ruby and June came down for their yearly visit.

Our first stop was Handel's Ice Cream! And yes, this is exactly how I feel when I eat Handel's!

Every town needs a Handel's...they just do!!!

There were lots and lots of games....

...lots of fun with ping pong balls and stairs...

...lots of yummy food...

...lots of play time (Uncle Scott was a fave)...

...lots of ping pong...

...and lots of cheering players on.

There was a really big coloring project...

...and did I mention ping pong balls down the stairs? Best game ever.

The girls decorated a gingerbread house...

...of course, not all the decorations made it onto the house.           

                

Love the stairs...

...they ended up being a favorite place for pretend naps.

We made peanut butter balls, chocolate pretzels...

...and we had our 2nd annual gyoza making party!

Yes, they were amazingly yummy and gone in a very short time.

We did lots and lots of outdoorsy things...

...like frisbee golf, a family tradition.

We played at the park...

...ate lunch outside...

...and went for lots of walks.

Because that's what you do in January in Arizona!!

The girls warmed up to us...

...and we had a blast with them...

...but they LOVE their Aunt Millie!

Almost as much as they love Mom!

We had so much fun hanging out with these guys...

...playing with ping pong balls was the best, of course.

Or maybe playing in the super huge box provided by Cate!

Thank you guys for coming down and hanging out with us!

On Friday we went to Prescott for our monthly visit with Ashley, Jason, and Emma.  Emma is growing so fast! She will be 2 next month!! And adorable, I might add!

It was so fun playing in her room...she was excited to show us her toys.

She's an expert on the slide.

I think you're all up to date now.  We love you and hope this year will be WAY better than last year! Despite how hard 2020 was though, we have seen so many tender mercies and blessings in our family and we are grateful.