Mystery reader for the day...

Arnold paid a special visit to Jessica's 2nd grade class last month and played the part of mystery reader. We checked in at the front office and the Asst. Principal Mrs. Whinston called down to the class with the intercom to let Jessica's class know that the mystery reader was on his way down! You could hear the screams and giggles! Jessica's teacher had all the kids put their heads down on the desk and when she turned on the lights they looked up to see Arnold sitting in the 'reading' chair with one of our favorite books! The Icky Sticky frog!

Jessica's Thanksgiving program...

Jessica participated in her first ever Thanksgiving Day Program at school. With a packed gymnasium with many, many proud parents the program went off without a hitch and the students all did wonderfully! I, having had the job of being in charge of everything that day from refreshments, to seating, to costumes, forgot my camera so this is the only picture I have from a friend who forwarded it to me via email. Great job Jessica! We are so proud of you!

Wishes sometimes do come true...

For about five years now Kenny has tried every year in September to get us to buy him a snake for his birthday. We were able to get by a few years in Utah when our neighbors (The Bielstein's) would bring us the garden snakes they would find while weeding their amazing garden, but since moving to Alabama we haven't been so 'lucky'! Then one day someone at work mentioned to Arnold that their teenage son had outgrown his snake and was looking for someone to take it off his hands. Great! Just what I needed. So the Saturday before Kenny's birthday we drove down to Pascagoula, MS and picked up a three year old California King Snake for Kenny's tenth birthday. Kenny couldn't stop smiling. He also couldn't stop saying, "I can't believe he's really mine!" Two months, four frozen dead rats, and many, many hugs later....we now can officially say we have a new addition to our family. His name is Taz and he's a snake. Future visitor's beware...

Small miracles...

On any given day after the kids are sent off to school I would follow a normal routine of cleaning the house, organizing my files, paying some bills and watching a little tv while folding some laundry. On this particular day however our satellite went out for no apparent reason. A little annoyed but not particularly devastated I went about my day until the phone rang. One of our Stake Presidency members was on the line asking if Arnold were home. I immediately thought....hmmmm I wonder if its for a new calling in our Ward? Odd that the Bishop didn't call. And then after relaying that Arnold was at work that day President Emertson proceeded to ask if I had watched any tv that morning. Another odd question and then I remembered how the satelitte had gone out and I had turned it off hours ago. He then asked me to call Arnold and to make sure that he was okay. Pres. Emertson had gotten a call from someone who worked across from the Pascagoula refinery telling him that they were all being evacuated because of a fire in one of the plants. My heart dropped and the tears began to flow. I thanked Pres. Emertson and hung up the phone. I knew I couldn't call. I knew there would be 1000 other wives probably phoning in for the same reason. So I waited and waited some more. Until finally a call came from Arnold's supervisor's wife, Christine. She said that her husband, Johnny, had called her and talked for only a few seconds. Basically his message to her was....There's been a fire...I'm okay....call Lisa and tell her Arnold is okay too. I could finally breath! Three hours later Arnold came home and the hug I got from him as he walked through the door was a little tighter, his smile a little brighter, his "I love you" a little sweeter and our dinner together that night as a family a little more divine.

A first for everything...

In July after we got back from our long summer trip Lisa and I went to Troy State University for three days to attend Lisa's first Five Stake Youth Conference! Mobile Alabama stake joins each year with Panama City Florida, Ft. Walton Beach Florida, Tallahassee Florida, and Pensacola Florida stakes for our annual Youth Conference. There are over 500 youth involved with the three day conference and the Young Men and Young Women (ages 14 to 18 years) stay in the dorms, eat in the cafeteria, attend workshops, participate in service projects and have nightly dinner/dances!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Some may say this day is all about the fried turkey, the sweet potato casserole, the homemade rolls or grandma's pumpkin pie. But we think there's nothing better than spending Thanksgiving with our family! (Even if its a few days early!) Arnold's brother, Aaron and his family spent a week with us this month and before they left we made sure to celebrate by having a Thanksgiving dinner together. Who could've asked for anything more? We're certainly grateful for our family! We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Dear old friends in fun new places...

While on our trip this summer we stopped in Missouri to tour and visit all the church history sites in the Independence area. We stayed in the Mission Home of the Independence Missouri mission with Pres. and Sis. Hacking who we now from Utah. They are serving as Mission presidents of the mission and have been there for about two years now. It was fun to see them, catch up, and learn from all the wonderful experiences they've been having on their mission!

Its been a while....

Several weeks have gone by since I last posted on our blog. Lots has happened and we've managed to keep busy but most of all we've had fun! Birthdays, freshman year of High School, Student Council elections, Homecomings, Cub Scouts and refinery fires. Well most of the things have been fun... Hopefully we'll be able to get everyone caught up as I post a few pictures from some of the things we've been up to the last couple of months!

BFF...

While in Utah Lisa was able to visit with several friends she has kept in contact with since we moved to Alabama. I think the IM term BFF describes it exactly how they see it. Best Friends Forever...

EFY at BYU was AOK...

Lisa had a great time at Especially For Youth in Utah this summer. She was enrolled in the third session at Brigham Young University with 1400 other young men and young women ages 14 - 17. She spent five days at the conference. Living in the dorms, attending workshops on faith, dating, and modesty. Going to banquets and dances. Attending talent shows and service projects.

After it was all said and done Lisa made 32 new friends, brought home 100 new email addresses, decided she likes "California" boys, and realized how important her testimony of Christ really was to her. Is there any better way to spend a summer?

And then there were 1400...

Sometimes here in the South we can feel a little secluded from the world. Living in Utah we were surrounded by members of our church. Neighbors, doctors, teachers, and friends. Even strangers on the street shared something with us as many of whom were members of our faith. Here in the south we sometimes walk a lonely road. Misunderstood and often criticized. For a 14 year old teenager that can be alot to bare.

Living here in Alabama, Lisa is the only teenager in our subdivision of 80 plus homes that is a member of our church. In a community of more than 20,000 plus people she is one of only 50 active LDS youth. Lisa is one of only a handful of LDS students at her new High School which will house over 1300 students this year. And she is most definitely the only YW in her Ward that knows what its like to live in Utah and be the majority instead of the minority.

Hence the reason we wanted to send Lisa to E.F.Y. this year. Not only was her roommate a member, but so were the counselors, hallmates, parents, and friends of over 1400 youth who attended her session at EFY!

Dancing the night away...

One night before Lisa went off to EFY her cousin's friends came over to visit. They were introduced and Lisa learned they had just gotten back from a week at BYU for EFY! She was thrilled to have someone to talk to about the experience with and hear everything they did and all the fun they had.

Then they mentioned the "dancing". Lisa was horrified to find out that at some of the dances they actually played the WALTZ and the FOX TROT! Quickly coming to her aid the boys spent the next hour and a half teaching Lisa the dance steps they just learned at EFY the past week! What a fun way to prep for her conference!

Perfect timing...

One of the reasons we drove to Utah this trip was to take Lisa to E.F.Y. (Especially For Youth) at B.Y.U. (Brigham Young University) in Provo. After registering Lisa online for her session at EFY my brother Jonathan called to tell us that he would be graduating with his Master's of Business Administration the same week we were to arrive! What perfect timing! We were so excited we could be there for the event!
It wasn't until several weeks later we learned that he had also been asked to give the commencement address at the graduation services! Keep in mind this is the little brother that use to torment me as child growing up in Hawaii. Who hid my things and teased me in front of my boyfriends. Who dented the front end of our Mercury sedan only to fix it with duct tape and spray paint hoping no one would notice. The same brother who let my mother perm his hair when he was 6 years old and dress him up like a girl. The same little brother who grew up to be an amazing father, husband, and friend. Who could ask for a better brother than that? Congratulations Master Jonathan! We are so proud of you!

Holding onto hugs...

We were able to meet my nephew for the very first time this trip! It took a bit of convincing, but he finally realized we weren't all that bad! He wasn't too fond of Arnold or I but he LOVED Kenny! And Kenny LOVED having a younger "brother" to play with!
My brother's youngest son loved to box! He's definitely got a good swing! And he loved to box with Kenny! I think my brother's daughters were happy for the respite while we were there!

Fun with the cousins...

One of the best parts about the trip is that we were able to visit with so many family and friends along the way!
These are my younger brother's kids who live in American Fork, UT. We stayed with them the entire time we were in Utah! Their oldest is Lisa's age. Their middle child is a year older than Kenny. And their younger daughter is Jessica's age. How perfect is that?