11 Southern State Service Day...

Nothing warms a parent's heart more than to see their teenager actually smiling after a long hard day of work! Okay...maybe she was just flirting with the YM from our Stake, but needless to say I captured the essence of today's service project in Prichard, AL! None of us walked away without some sort of reminder of the day's work: sore muscles, sunburn, chapped lips, fire ant bites, thorns stuck in our fingers, etc.. But after all was said in done the smile Lisa had on her face said it all!

Group photo BEFORE we got all hot and sweaty! The fog was pretty thick this morning but that didn't stop any of us from helping at the event!

The "after" shot. We didn't do too bad! A little sunburned and sweaty but the smiles are all still there!

Kenny and Arnold getting a ride back to our cars on the back of the trailer. What a great way to spend the day with your dad!

The elders never looked so good as they did in their "service" whites! We are the luckiest ward in the world to have such amazing elders serving in our area!!!

Taking a quick water break! Thanks to Mark we kept hydrated and busy!!!!

The day started out cleaning up by the railroad tracks. It was interesting to see what kinds of things there were just laying on the side of the road! The youth boasted about finding enough spare car parts to actually use a youth activity night to put one together!

After all was said and done the day was well spent and from the look on everyone's faces the rewards were endless!

Mobile Alabama Stake Mormon Helping Hands Group Photo

Our awesome Theodore Ward youth after a hard day of work!!!!

In the news...

Lisa and Kenny visited the St. Mary's Children's home a while back as part of a Ward youth service activity. Yesterday an article and picture came out in the Sunday edition of the Mobile Register newspaper!

Chevron Annual Picnic...

Chevron hosts an annual Spring picnic at the Hank Aaron stadium each year for its employees and their families! We always enjoy going and visiting with friends and extended "family"!

The kids (okay "I") couldn't pass up the chance to get a picture with "Teddy" the mascot of the Mobile Bay Bears!

Sitting with friends and "family" during the game!

Playing at Gaslight Park before the game with Darian and Nicholas Pak!

Eating dinner with our "family" Johnny and Christine Pak before the game!

Turtles for Easter?

The day after Easter the kids went outside with the new puppy and saw this turtle at our front steps!

The first thing Kenny said was.... can we keep him?

Unfortunately with the new Easter puppy there isn't much room for another new "pet" in our lives right now so we helped him along his way and he continued on his trek to the lake for a drink...maybe next year Kenny!

Tuxedo's first bath...

We decided it was time for Tux's first bath...

He stood pretty well in the sink and let us lather him up and rinse him off...

He didn't whimper or cry... maybe because Jessica was offering him treats and telling him he was doing a great job!

But in the end... we had to towel dry him! He did NOT like the blow dryer at all! Darn! Now what am I going to do?

A trip to the doctor's office...

Jessica and I took Tux to his first Vet visit the Monday after we brought him home.

I don't know who was more nervous...Jessica or Tux!

Nurse Teri checked Tux out before the doctor came in! He was pretty nervous and didn't know what to think!

Tux was much more comfortable with the doctor but still didn't enjoy the exam! Luckily Jessica was close by the entire time!

All that activity really wore Tux out! He slept all the way home!

Chevron perks....

Each year Chevron holds a drawing for the five season tickets they have for the Mobile Bay Bears baseball team here in Mobile. Employees enter the drawing and have the opportunity to win the five seats for any given game during the season. This year we won tickets for opening night!

Along with the free tickets we received special parking, VIP entrance, free dinner and the kids got a close up of the team warming up and even got an autograph!

#11 In fielder Yuvensky Sanchez from Cuba took a moment to take a picture with the kids!

We were surprised at how cold it was the night of the game, but we all managed to stay warm and enjoy our family outing!

Arnold is usually working when we have fun activities like this so it was a special treat to have him with us!

Birthdays that fall on fun holidays...

Elder Wright with his Easter/Birthday basket. What Elder couldn't use a Sheep Pez candy dispenser and a frog basket to carry stuff around in?

Elder Holmoe sporting his new Alabama Aligator Easter basket/backpack! He couldn't wait to see if a Book of Mormon and his cell phone could fit in it! I think he might be starting a new trend here...

Elder Holmoe and Elder Wright racing to blow out their candles on their birthday cheesecake and fudge brownies!

Elder Holmoe, Elder Hall and Elder Wright decorating some Easter eggs to take home with them!

This was Elder Wright's very first time decorating eggs for Easter! We had so much fun! (After sending some missionary pics home to the elder's families I received an email back from Elder Wright's mom! And just as I had suspected...Elder Wright HAD decorated eggs before but was quite young and probably doesn't remember! Funny how that happens sometimes! I'm glad to report back though that there were no messy spills and all the eggs were found and accounted for!!!! Thanks for the update Dana! We love your son!)

Easter in Alabama...

Today we had the elders over for Easter dinner but before they ate we had them do a little of Easter egg decorating!

As always there was plenty of food and lots of fun as we spent another fun holiday together with the missionaries.

Before the elders left we had a quick Easter egg hunt on the front lawn!

It didn't take long for all the eggs to get picked up by the elders... I think I might have even seen a little bit of elbowing going on!

And to the victor goes the spoils! This year we hid cash, coins and prize coupons in our eggs! It was fun to see the group open their eggs and see what they ended up with!

One exciting Easter delivery...

Today we picked up Jessica's new puppy - Tuxedo "Tux" from the breeder. I think it was love at first sight...

Jessica even got cute kisses from her new pup!

Even after a less than enthusiastic agreement from our teenager to help out with some of the added responsibilities of having a new pup in the house it was apparent that Lisa's heart melted wide open when she saw our cute little Tux!

Tux took to his new "home" immediately! Jessica can't wait to spend her first night with Tux in her room!

I have never seen bigger smiles on the kids! Happy Easter!

Slip sliding springtime fun...

Thanks to some really fun friends across the bay we were invited to a 30th birthday party bash that included lots of food, fun, and a humongous watery slip and slide!

Lisa and I before the party really got started!

Jessica braving the sun and the cold water to enjoy the slide!

Kenny catching some awesome air on his way down the slide!

I think its funny that Lisa will close her eyes when coming down the slide but she's smiling the whole way down!!!

Sometimes #3 isn't so bad...

Lisa was inducted into the National Honor Society at her high school. Here she is with all her awesome friends and their Principal after the induction ceremony!

Arnold had to work but I was able to attend the ceremony. As a surprise all the parents checked their children out of school early and took them to lunch for a celebration! It was a fun Mother/Daughter afternoon!

Here Lisa is with her Principal and Vic Principal after the induction ceremony...and if numbers mean anything to you...Lisa also found out that she is ranked #3 out of 563 students in her class! Now that's something to be proud of! Way to go Lisa!