Filling in the dot…

In 1992, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was officially recognized in Burundi, Africa. However, for various reasons, including civil unrest, missionary work has not been able to proceed there… until now. Last week, my parents (along with another couple and 6 young missionaries) left Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, the place they’ve called home for the past year, and headed out on a new adventure to Bujumbura, Burundi—Africa.

The picture below shows in red, all the countries where there are missionaries. The little white dot right in the middle is the country of Burundi. We are grateful that mom and dad have the privilege of being part of filling in that dot.

What an amazing adventure they are having. There is not enough blog space or time to write all of the incredible experiences they have had. We are so proud of them and grateful for their selfless service to the people of Africa. We know they have done so much good there. However, being there has also blessed their lives and ours SO much.

But, don’t get too comfortable there in Africa, because we’re excited to see you in March. YAY! We love you mom and dad!

Good Friends

Yesterday, Chandler's good friends came by to visit him. They noticed how long our front lawn was and I joked about how it's Chandler's job, and I was going to make him come out and do it even though he was only 2 days post surgery. We all got a good laugh about it.
Today, I opened the garage to go pick up Shelby from piano lessons, and there was that little 10 year old boy with his mom, mowing our lawn. The boys mom said that it was all his idea. He saw that there was a need there, and knew that it was something he could do to serve his friend.
This is only one of many acts of selfless service we've received from great friends and family members over the last few days. What great examples to all of us of seeing what needs to be done, and then doing it.
We are SO grateful!

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Poor Kid

Well... it's official... it's appendicitis.
He'll be having surgery within the hour to remove that mean, nasty, useless appendix.
He's beeing such a trooper. I'm amazed at how strong he is. Hopefully, all this pain will be over soon. Phew!
We feel so grateful for Drs. who wouldn't give up, and for modern medicine that can get him back to being a crazy kid again. Wiped out... but grateful!

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Hallucinations

Chandler is currently in the hospital being tested for appendicitis. Lame! Keep you posted on that...
However, after being given some drugs he said, "Yeah, like THAT'S ever gonna happen!!!" We were caught off guard and asked him what he was talking about. His response... "Dad, I thought you said you wanted to be on a pro football team. Oh wait... I think I was saying things that I was dreaming about. I'm going insane!!! Hallucinationsssssss!!!"
Too funny! I guess a little humor from him means he's feeling a little better. Keep you posted...

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K.E.T.S. 2.0

Growing up Eric and some of his siblings formed a club of sorts. It was called K.E.T.S.—short for Kelly, Eric, Tracie, Shannon. They would spend their days coming up with kids things to do to entertain themselves. He has fond memories of his days in K.E.T.S.

Fast forward to today… On Sundays, we don’t allow the kids to watch TV or play video games. We want them to use it as a day to spend time together, enjoying each others company, and not doing mindless vegging in front of the TV. Today they’ve been having sort of a rough time. They all think they have the best ideas, when in reality they all have the same idea—to form a club. So after multiple clubs were formed and lot of feelings hurt for being left out, mom got involved.

I told them stories that I’d heard about K.E.T.S., and how much fun it helped them to have together. So they formed a new club. The name—C.H.E.E.T.S.—short for Chandler, Harley, Eric, Emily, Tatum, Shelby. Hhhhmmmmmm. I was honored to have been included, but not sure I want to be known as a C.H.E.E.T.S.er forever. I guess if being a C.H.E.E.T.S.er means I get to be in the company of the cutest kids ever, it’ll be worth it.

Geneology—I am doing it!

This year our Stake Presidency challenged us to “Create a stake in heaven”. The goal is that every man, woman, and child over 12 would research on new.familysearch.org and find one name to do their temple work for. Chandler and I started looking together (even though he isn’t 12 yet). He is excited to turn 12 next year and be able to go do some baptisms at the temple. So I told him I’d try and find a name for him, even though he isn’t actually 12.

Well, After COUNTLESS HOURS of searching for family members who need temple work done, I DID IT!!! I found 3 people… 2 men, and 1 woman… who need all their temple work done. I can hardly believe it!!! I don’t think it’s coincidence that I was able to find 2 men, and 1 woman… 1 name for each of us. I have spent so many hours looking that I was CERTAIN I was NEVER going to find anyone. I feel SO grateful and excited to have finally found these people. After so many hours of searching, I can’t tell you if these people came from my family line, or Eric’s, but I don’t think it matters either way. The names are printed and ready to take to the temple!

As a side note, finding a name/names and completing the temple work for them was my final YW Personal Progress Project. After completing the temple work for the 3 names I found, I will have completed ALL of the Personal Project requirements to receive the Young Womanhood Recognition Award. This is a pretty major accomplishment for me. I’ve been working on it for 2 years. YW leaders are only asked to complete the 3 required value experiences for each value, as well as 3 value projects, and serve for 1 year in order to receive their award. I decided that I wanted to show the YW that if a leader can do it ALL, so can they. So I chose to complete all the same things the YW have to complete to receive their awards. I can’t wait to complete both the temple work AND my Young Womanhood Recognition. Pretty exciting stuff!

Proud mama

This week I got an email from Shelby’s teacher that said the following…

“By the way, a week or so ago, when I was on bus duty, I noticed Shelby and her brother walking toward the crossing guard with their little sisters behind. The little one seemed to be having a hard time carrying her backpack so all your other kids immediately went over to help her. Then Christian (Chandler) took her backpack and just flung it over his shoulder to carry it for her. It was just so cute to see the siblings helping each other out. :)”

It’s one thing when they are nice to each other at home. However, when they’re out and not under my thumb… That’s AWESOME!!! Needless to say, I’m a proud mom!