I am singing Dolly Parton

Here are pictures of my Boat cover of many colors:



Somehow the boat cover got lost in Utah and we have been searching for a replacement, we used tarps for the winter but they were hard on the boat.  I finally found and ordered a new cover but in the mean time something needs to keep the brutal (110 yesterday) sun off the seats so....

I went to the thrift store and bought the thickest and prettiest (*snicker*) sheets I could find and laid them out and sewed them together.  I guess I could say it was with love and I did tell a story to my RS President who dropped by and asked what in the world was I doing? 

So this is what I keep hearing in my mind every time I walk by:



I am AWESOME!!!

Just ask me when I have completed a big or difficult project and I will tell you

I am Awesome!!

It's kinda funny because my kids do this too, I guess I was not the best parent for humility.

But Look at this and tell me I am not Awesome (good thing Hyrum doesn't read my blog!)

Garage before:

After:

But the real awesomeness was the tool room.

Before:

After:

This room hasn't looked since we moved in, OK BEFORE we moved in!!  It only took us two days, which was about half of what I thought.  We did this for Father's day - I think he will eventually come around.

AWESOME!!!

16 years old

Logan is now 16 - Holy cow!!!

He had to wait one day to get his license since Monday was a holiday.  He was nervous but passed!!  And drove himself to wrestling practice....twice!!!  I stayed home!!!  (cue the music!)

I have no pictures of that because I am a loser.  He left on the Trek on Thursday and I keep wondering how he is doing.  For his birthday I am cleaning out his room (we do this every summer) and letting him go the the bin way of storing his clothes - what is that you say?  Well since my boys cannot seem to get their clean laundry out of a laundry basket and put it in a drawer, I devised a system.  Shelving unit, big tubs, labels - just toss you laundry into a bin - slide said bin back in to shelf, done! 


So, as I am doing this I pause for a pit stop, now I rarely go into the downstairs bathroom because it is inhabited by BOYS!!  Since we are down one boy, I thought it might be safe.  I sit and this is what I see:

What an amazing boy, as I start to look around I see this:

I wondered where the stack went from the living room.  Then I see his mirror:

He is preparing.

what more could a mother want? sniff, sniff.....

23 Years

Linky Party...

Wait, you thought I was hosting?  Surely you jest!  My linky party would be more like:

What do you read/do while sitting on the throne? 

Is that your only peace and quiet or do your kids still bug you?

Instead my bestie Jen  is hosting and her question is much more appropriate.

What are the most important things I need to teach my children? What are the principles that will lead them to being productive, independent, spiritual adults?


You can be as narrow as the most important thing or as broad as a list.

As I have pondered, I can do that I just don't often, my principle would be

Obedience. 

Not only to parents, but obedience to our Father in Heaven and his commandments.  To me, one of the best examples the Savior set was obedience to his Father.  He followed God's plan for Him, even though it was hard, even though He didn't think He could do it, He did and we all benefit.

I want to be that obedient.  I want my kids to see me being obedient.  In one of the other links,  Granny Sue (a fav for sure) spoke about how kids watch what you DO and they learn a lot more from your actions, then what you say.  I wholeheartedly agree with that!  It is my responsibility to model, sincerely, what I want my kids to copy.  It is our responsibility to study the scriptures, pray for guidance and know what we need to be doing. 

I am still a little emotional about my missionary and I can't express my gratitude for him serving.  For being obedient.  That just makes my heart so full it could burst.

I love Monday's!!

New email and we also got snail mail from our missionary!!  The only problem is he included letters to Brenn, Logan and all of the Naughton's across the street.  What did he send his mom, who has written him faithfully both by email and by snail mail???

bupkiss!!

 Which means nothing, nada, zero!!  WHAT!!??? 

At least I am comforted to know the emails are long and detailed so I guess I shouldn't complain.......

much......

Now presenting the latest from the Elder:

Dear Family and Friends,

First off i want to say CONGRADULATIONS! to all those who graduate this week! secondly i want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grandma Naughton and Grampa Ed, who both have birthdays during this coming week! Thanks for all your love and support and i hope that you have great birthdays!

I have officially been a missionarty for a whole month!!! it doesnt seem like is been that long, but at the same time it seems like its been ages already! its really wierd!


This week has been a great week full of awesome and fun experiences! I played football on Monday and totally owned! it was so much fun! Then on tuesday i went on exchange with two elders in Harbourne. Elder Pavan had a leadership meeting so we went and proselyted while he did that. I was With Elder Jean and Elder Kunz. harbourne is Elder Kunz's area and it was an hour and a half bus ride just to get there. We stopped off at the flat and ate some lunch and then we went out to work. Elder Kunz was in my MTC group, and had only been in the area for about a week. needless to say we had absolutely no idea where we were and only a slight idea of where we were going. but we turned our problem into a blessing by asking every person we passed how to get where we were going. It was an awesome way to start a conversation with people! We ended up giveng out 7 Books of Mormon and we got them 3 potential investigators, and 1 appointment! it was a great and successful day!

on Wednesday i went on exchange again! I went to Nuneaton with Elder Card while Elder Matthews went to Redditch with Elder Pavan. Elder Card and I went and taught some investigators and saw a less active sister. Then we went to a dinner appointment with literally the wierdest, most annoying family in the entire world... It was legitimately the oddest house ever. after dinner we went with the ward mission leader to visit some less active sisters. While at one house, the power cut out, and Elder Card said the closing prayer and prayed that the power would come on soon and not 30 seconds after did the power come back on! It was a tender mercy of the Lord and it was awesome!!


Then we had district meeting on thursday in coventry. afterward adrian picked us up and we taught tracy at her house and that went really really well. Afterward they took us out to a chinese buffet and it was SO GOOD! the had a chocolate fountain and it was yummy.


Friday we taught Tracy again first thing in the morning. It went really well and she is super excited to get baptised! Then we did our weekly planning and went to a D.A. at a members home and she made the most delicous lemon drizzle cake. I have eaten so much food during this last month im suprised im not 4000 pounds! After the dinner appointment we went and helped out the youth by reffing their basket ball games, for their stake youth activity. Now i thought i was bad at basketball, but these kids were absolutely terrible! It was the funniest thing ever to see these kids just suck so bad at b-ball. hahaha so funny.


On saturday we helped out Jerry with his yard and itwas honestly the oddest thing i have ever done. We dug out his grass, put it in those reusable, green(earth friendly) bags, ran them across the street and dumped them out over this fence. I felt like i was smuggling drugs or something, and everytime a car would drive by i didnt know wether to hide what i was doing , or continue on like there was nothing wrong. but after he made us a yummy breakfast of sausage, bacon, egg, and toast. then we went to drop off my dry cleaning, and proselyte in the city center. Right after i dropped off my suits i realized that i needed them on sunday, and that ther wouldnt be ready until monday... way to go dallin, way to usar la cabesa. hahaha luckily Elder Pavan lent me one of his suits. we're pretty close to the same hieght (im slightly taller) but he is a good 50 60 pounds bigger than me, so his suit looked massive on me! and i gave a talk in church so i was in front of the whole ward looking really goofy in a suit that was to big. good stuff.

now one of the greatest moments of my week. on Sunday after church we went to Dinner at a members house. they own a porsche. They let elder pavan and myself drive the porsche.... it was sooooooo awesome! definatly better than my corolla back at home. hahaha so much fun! after that we went and had some pancakes :) Great Great Great week


love you all :)


Elder Cole


Love this boy anyway!!

Sunday, Sunday

As I sat in Sacrament meeting this morning I realized I hadn't been to church for a month! I went to Tuckers farewell but to my own ward it has been a while. Between being really sick and Grandma falling, I haven't attended. So when I walked in this morning, early, I might add (8:30am church is killing me), and I chatted with a few people and I hugged on the boys who are graduating, I started to tear up just a bit. I haven't been bad in the missing Dallin department, or at least I thought I hadn't, but I realized I haven't been exposed to his peers much lately. To top it off, the choir sang the As Sisters in Zion/Army of Helaman song, that song touches me anyway and today the tears just rolled down my face. I am so proud of my missionary! I am so grateful he is worthy and willing to serve, and I think I cry because of the gratitutde more than the missing. My heart is so touched and the Spirit feels so close when I see these boys who are preparing and knowing my son is serving both the people of England and as an example to these boys he loves so much!

Can't wait for tomorrow to hear how his piano playing went!

I love MAIL!!

See what I got in the mail this week:

President and Sister Ogden

                                                   

Elder Pavan and Elder Cole

Plus a sweet letter from the Mission President and his Wife.  It was a needed look see at my Elder Cole.  It came on Wednesday.  I was already a little teary because of Tucker leaving and this put me over the top.  Just a little!

What's a mom to do?!

Are you ready????

I first read about this a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was funny - especially when it quoted a guy who works for homeland security - that kinda makes you go hmmmmm.

From the Arizona Republic:


"Have you heard the awesome news?" the side of the RVs asked, in big bold letters. "The End of the World is Almost Here!"
As if the message weren't scary enough, the dozen or so occupants of the RVs - vanguard of a national campaign funded by a fundamentalist Christian radio network and fueled by bus ads and Internet buzz - wore highlighter-bright yellow shirts that said "Earthquake So Mighty, So Great." They offered pedestrians handouts saying there was "marvelous proof" that "Holy God will bring judgment day on May 21, 2011."......

The man pushing the current forecast is Harold Camping, an 89-year-old Christian fundamentalist radio host and co-founder of the Family Radio network, which broadcasts on dozens of stations across the country. His group has sponsored the end-of-the-world caravan and plastered cities, including Washington, with billboards and signs.

This is not Camping's first end-of-the-world prophecy. In a 1992 book, he predicted that the world would end in 1994. When he woke up in 1995, clearly something had gone wrong......

Among them was Gary Vollmer, who took a leave of absence from the Department of Homeland Security to spread the word. He's supposed to go back on May 23. "But I'm not going back," he said. "I'll be gone on the 21st."

Camping, an engineer by training, says he came up with the very precise date of May 21 through a mathematical calculation that would probably crash Google's computers. It involves, among other things, the dates of floods, the signals of numbers in the Bible, multiplication, addition and subtraction thereof. Camping describes his equations with absolute conviction

Now I didn't publish the whole article but really there was just so much there to enjoy - first that it will be a great earthquake - haven't we had several of those lately?  Then I wondered what Mr Vollmer was going to do on the 23rd if he is still here, work? or not?  Then I would have liked to see Mr. Camping on Jan 1, 1995 - how did he explain that?  Lastly I had to rib Ken because Mr Camping is an engineer - to which he responded "What kind? Certainly not a Civil Engineer?"  Plus the complicated calculation would probably crash Google's computers?  Just too funny!!

But the best part was published the next day:

Bart Centre, an atheist from New Hampshire, started Eternal Earth-bound Pets in 2009. He offers Rapture believers an insurance plan for those furry family members that won't join them in heaven: 10-year pet care contracts, with Centre and his network of fellow non-believers taking responsibility for the animals after the Rapture. The fee -- payable in advance, of course -- was originally $110, but has gone to $135 since Camping's prediction.


Centre says he has 258 clients under contract, and that business has picked up considerably this year. But he's not worried about a sales slump if May 21 happens to disappoint believers.


So I guess my question is....

Why wouldn't my pets go to heaven???

The Latest from England

I am so glad to have a missionary!  My 2nd son left this morning to enter the MTC in Provo you can see that here.  Jen and I have raised our older kids together, it is wonderful to see these two strong young men go and serve the Lord!

This weeks letter:

peeps,



Wow!!!! you guys just cant live without me can you! you've pretty much been sick since ive left! hahaha Anyways THIS GOES OUT TO MY FRIEND SINCE BIRTH(well 4) TUCKER CHRISTIAN DENTON!!!! I LOVE YOU BRO! AND IM SO EXCITED FOR YOU TO GO TO THE MTC THIS WEEK!!! YOUR STAY AT THE MTC WILL BE UNLIKE ANYTHING YOU HAVE EVER DONE BEFORE (it wont be quite as cool as mine because you going to provo... but) YOU WILL REMEMBER IT FOREVER! THE SPIRIT WILL BE WITH YOU THE ENTIRE TIME THERE IF YOU LET IT, AND IT WILL TEACH YOU MORE THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE IN SUCH SHORT TIME! I LOVE YOU AND I KNOW THAT YOU AND GABE WILL SPIRITUALLY TAG TEAM THE NEW YORK, NEW YORK SOUTH MISSION INTO ETERNAL HAPPYNESS OBLIVION!!!!


now that i have that little all capitals love shout out out of the way i can get on with my email =) well its been like 3 days simce my last email but it feels like its been FOREVER!! so many things have happened! We have spent a lot of time with the members so they can grow to love me :) hahaha story time, so i had always heard of people who went on missions and had to play the piano for the ward their serving in because no one there new how to play. and i thought to myself, that will NEVER happen to me... the Lord LOVES it when you say NEVER, because then he can make sure it happens... the Redditch ward has a little cd player they use as accompaniment to their hymns, and once i let it slip that i could play the piano, they got all excited because for the first time they are going to have someone accualy accompanying them.. yay. they got me a little keyboard for the flat that i can practise on. haha im actually really excited to be able to serve the ward like that! they will love me! and if they love me, then they will give me referals and then i can convert people!!! it will be good... i hope


i taught my first lesson on friday! it was awesome! we taught a lady named Tracy. She is dating Adrian, who is inactive, and he helped spike her interest in the church. She is so Golden that it is slightly ridiculus! She has a baptism date for june 4 and she is so excited! Adrian is the man too! He is so helpful! he helps answer questions and he gives awesome insights! he served his mission in bristol, so he knows exactly whats going on and what to say, its so cool!

We are also helping a guy named Shaun he is pretty much the coolest kid ever. He's like 22 and is the nicest guy! His dad Andrew was a member when he was younger, but he fell away from the church for a while, his wife was baptised like 2 weeks ago, and they are planning to go to the temple next year! His younger brother Harry was also baptised not to long ago. Shaun knows that its good, but he just needs to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it, but he's had exams for university and hasnt had much time to do anything but them, but it will happen! Tonight we are going to Family Home Evening with their whole family! ( their cousins live down the street a bit and are also freakin cool) We're going to have a quick lesson and then we're going to play football!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited i havent got to play since the MTC! Elder Pavan and i have a ball we kick around the flat, but its not the same! I cant wait! im even getting some football boots so i dont die like i did at the MTC!


I have eaten more in the past 5 days here in Redditch then ever in my entire life ever!! its a bit ridiculus! members feed us dinner all the time! and they go all out! Every single time with out fail there is just a mountain of food on our plates!! I am so close to literally exploding every time i eat! and our flat is famous for its sweets cupboard! Its just loaded with candy that the members give us! we've already made it through like 4 Chocolate easter eggs! and the Chocolate here is about 1000000000000000000 times better than at home! Its soooooo good! i could eat myself into a sweet chocolate death if given the chance.

on sunday Elder Pavan and I taught the high priest group, and it went really well. we taught about how small and simple things bring about great things! and we related it to member missionary work. We challenged them to pray for missionary experiences, and to pray for the courage to act on them. We showed a video about it and it had a talk by president eyring and it was so powerful! i love that guy! he is so inspired and you can easily see it every time he speaks. then Elder Pavan gave the opening prayer, We blessed the Sacrament, I shared my testimony, AND i gave the closing prayer. AND we are both giving talks next week on how to show love to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I'm going to tie it to missionary work and pull a President Wright and challenge them all from the pulpit! it will be epic!! wether epicly good or epicly bad i am not sure but epic, it will be!! well i have got to be going now so


TTFN


Love


Elder Cole

p.s. to send me anything you just send it to the mission home and they will get it to tme at district meetings! I will try to get you the address to the flat if i can.

I have to admit 3 email and one phone call in a week is the BOMB!!  With Tuckers farewell and leaving and I am missing Dallin some it has been an emotional week.  But I love it anyway!

I am behind....

Latest from the missionary:

well Im being transfered tomorrow at 6:00 am!! its crazy!! its really a bittersweet time because im so excited to get out to the mission field but sad to leave all the friends ive made that i wont see maybe ever. But im mostly excited! ive been packing up all my stuff and its a little weird. i feel like im leaving my home all over again, but more sad. ive bonded so much with everyone here and will miss them tons! i love you all and i might be able to email you when i get to the mission office.




love Elder Cole

Then on the next day we got:
 
The subject line said:  the epistle of Elder Cole to the people of Mesa
 
So I'm staioned in a place called Redditch!! it's an awesome place! but ill get to that later


so i had to get up at 5 o clock yesterday for transfers!! ive had trouble getting up on time my entire stay at the MTC, and i not only went to bed way way way late (midnight), but i also got up right on time! It was a sad, sad night on tuesday night... we watched the joseph smith movie, and i was touched by how happy he was even though he had such a hard time, all the time. then we had a testimony meeting and it was beautiful! everyone who could bore their testimony (one elder was so sick it was all he could do to just not throw up) After word we sang ''God be with you til we meet again'' that song makes me cry like a baby every time! its a little bit ridiculus!!! haha but then we went to pres and sis walkers apartment and had some cake and ice cream. One of the things i will miss the most will be the pastries that the MTC chef made... he was a magician...

so we woke up early, packed up the coach (bus) and said our heartfelt goodbyes, only to get on the bus, drive about 1 hr, and stop at the same rest stop as the other bus... it was pretty funny.

i wasnt even nervious until we pulled onto penns lane (the same street the mission home is on) then i was super crazy ridiculusly nervious. we pulled into the mission home and met the president and the ap's. and luckily they were all super nice. we met with the mission president (who is awesome btw), and i met Elder Matthews! he's really cool and i think he's in my district! which is pretty cool (represent AZ) Then we went over to the mission home and had some pizza. and then the ap's told us to line up single file and to walk to the stake center... it was like a little GREENY PARADE!!! all the missionaries were out i front yelling at us try ing to get us to look away, but the ap's told us to keep our heads down... so i only looked up once... to give a big thumbs up to ELDER BOEHME!!!!! then we went in to meet our trainers ...................................................

ELDER PAVAN!! he's from Canada and he is really really awesome! ive already learned a ton from him! None of my MTC friends are in the same district so we all said our goodbyes and elder pavan and i set off to the train station and off to our flat. Which is freakin cool bytheway. so story time, so on the way home my father (elder pavan) was telling me about our landlords, one is a lady and is very kind to us, the other is a short old man who does not like the missionaries at all. he also told me that one of them would be waiting at the flat to give it an inspection... so i was praying for the landlady to be there. we walk (up the biggest hill ever with both of my suitcases) to our apartment and, of course, their is a short man standing at the gate yelling at us as soon as we get there... so we walk up to our flat and he just starts tearing the place apart, this bathroom is unbearable, this is terrible, that is terrible, im going to have to kick you out its so messy. Then he starts interogating me about my political standpoints, and at this point im freeeeaaaakin out. on no! i just got here and am already being kicked out of my apartment. wow way to make a good impression in the area. then he and elder pavan start crackin up. they thought it would be funny to play a little joke on the greeny.; ha ha h-not very funny... jk i laughed. his name is jerry and he was just reactivated and just went through the temple! he helps out us missionaries all the time! he's actuallty a really cool guy.

so i unpacked a bit and we had some dinner and we went out to a member of the bishopric and watched a video we are going to use when we teach the high preists on sunday. They are such a great family. and today we went over there and the helped my get a pretty nice bike FOR FREE-ish i can use it as long as im in redditch, once i leave i have to give it back to the ward, but Brother Mason said that if i like it i could buy it off them for like 50£. witch is good for a decent bike. but this place is way way way way way hilly... on the way here we climed most likely the biggest hill ever in the history of the earth and my thighs are killin me! but in the long run i will have the thighs of a champion! haha well thats pretty much it... i wont be able to send post for a few days so hopefully i can write all those who have writen me. I LOVE YOU ALL! STAY SWEET



LOVE

ELDER COLE!

He also sent an Oh yeah my Pday is now Monday.  I love this being a missionary mom!  I feel a little spoiled to get 3 emails in one week! 

I have some post rolling around in my head I just need to have the time to sit and type.  We'll see!

Next installment....

It has been a caaaarrazy week! i was thinking back on it and what to write about and it seems likes its been a month!  on thursday we went into manchester to street contact and man was that scary!!!  but it was such a great experience!  the first guy we talked to was a professor of ethics, and he was very interested i what we had to say from a scolarly standpoint, but i bore my testimony that if he read the book of mormon and pray to know if it was true that he would recieve an answer.  and he said that he would read it not only for his job, but for his own spirituality and that he would pray about it!! it was so exciting!  we talked to like 5 or 6 other people, gave out one more book of mormon, and came back to the mtc exhausted, but happy!    we taught our ''investigator'' sam again and it went soooooo well. even though it wasnt real and i was teaching a teacher, the spirit was so strong.  it was so amazing!   ive learned so much in the short time tht ve been here in the mtc!  it feels like a whole semester of school, crammed into a couple weeks.  its taught me that with the spirit, anything can happen!
well since this mtc is so small, theres only like 40 misionaries total, they are letting us call home!  it ll be around 8:30 mothers day morning!!  i can only imagine your excitement, being able to hear my beautiful voice! haha  that will be fun!
there are two teachers that are mainly teaching my district, brother day, who looks remarkable like kai, and brother jacobe, who looks like a mix between rufio form hook and andrew sheifer, and they and soooooo awesome!! they are such great teachers and they bring the spirit so well!  we also got a little mix up in my district.  we got a new sister!  sister sebauld was moved to nephi district and we got sister binnie from scotland.  she was supposed to go to sweden but her visa wasnt going through so she got her call changed to london south!!  whe is really cool and that makes 3 scots in my district!! it is so much fun!
today we got to go on a church history tour! and it was so great!  i woke up this morning and i felt off, it was the only time that have felt at all homesick.  but (not that i dont love you guys at home) i was thinking about spencer, i just couldnt get him off my mind and i was feeling homesick, and then we were standing near a small stream wheree the early missionaries baptised loads of people and we had a short testimony meeting.  i felt the spirit so strong and it told me that this is where im supposed to be, and that im doing what the Lord wants me to.  Spencer i love you! email me or write me asap!!  i sent you a letter and i dont know if you got it or not....
any ways i ve got to run, i love you all!!

elder Cole


I am wondering if the call will be my time or his, but no matter I will be so glad to talk to him and I am not sure I will be able to sleep!

We have all been really sick all week, as Grandma would say we have the 'Epiczookic'! Lots OSS snot and coughing. I feel really bad for Grandma because of her cracked rib and all of the coughing!! I have pretty much done nothing all week, at least until I reached my threshold.

Do you have a threshold?

By a Threshold I mean, show dirty can your house get before you can't stand it and have to clean no matter how bad you feel. I reached that on Friday. Wore myself out but at least the vacuuming got done and the house picked up.

BTW it was 101 degrees today, first hot day........of many!

On another note..

Saw this today and I cannot wait! 

I love the part 1 of the seventh movie!  What a great story!  I will probably have to read all 7 books again (yes, again!) before the premiere!

Guess my Favorite day will be WEDNESDAY!!

Email from my Elder Smiley Cole:

Well Hello there!


It has been one crazy, crazy week! My companions name is Elder Shaw and he is so cool! he is quiet and usually lets me do all the teaching, but yesterday i focused on having him teach most of the lesson and when we work together and each teach about 50% the spirit is so much stronger! there are four elders in my room Myself, elder shaw, elder day and elder sims. elder sims is the funniest guy! we're always firing jokes back and forth and it makes life here so much more bearable. Elder day is from dundy scottland and is the coolest guy! our room is the best room by far and the guys in it are probably the closest of all the rooms! IM A DISTRICT LEADER!!!! ive been made the leader of the helamen district. which includes the guys in my room, elder snow, elder root elder wilkey, elder goulding, and two sisters. sister Keogh and sister Sebauld. Elder wilkey is from england and he has the coolest accent. sister keogh is from scottland and sister sebauld is from germany. Our district is not only a way fun district but we are still very spiritual. we all get along really well. Our sisters are so cool, but they are having a little trouble, so if you could keep them in your prayers, i would really appreciate it!

I have learned so much already and i can feel my self changing already. ive been praying for the spirit every time i pray and its making such a difference in my life. they aree having us teach mock investigators. ours is named sam and elder shaw and i have taught him once and we are going to teach him tomorrow. so pray for us to be able to teach with the spirit.

during our excercise time weve been playin futbol and it has been sooooo much fun! i am way way way out of shape though! trhe other day i was in goal after one of my lungs callapsed (JK IM OK) and i made 3 awesome saves! im a regular british futbolsmen!

ive just been having a blast and i cant wait to get out into the missionfeild! Thanks all those who have sent letters so far I was the first one in my district to get letters! (thanks to grandparents Naughton and Scottie Glen!) it really means alot to me and will write back later today. hopefully. well after this im off to asda witch is like there walmart to get a sweatshirt to play futbol in! i love you all and expect letters soon! :)



love Elder Cole :)

Waiting.......

I was really hoping today was P-day (that is preparation day that missionaries get once a week and that is the day they email home) but apparently

NOT!!!

The last week has been absolutely crazy!!  Getting a Missionary ready seems pretty straight forward but really it takes a toll - Ken and I have been so tired since he left!

First, our Bishop took the 3 missionaries in our ward who have their calls, my nephew Kai, Ken and his Son in law Cory to Mexico for 3 days before his farewell - they came back Saturday night and we have 8:30am church.  I had the busiest weekend with them gone!  Track meet concessions, dinner to Ken's home teaching family, irrigation and a Grandma with a cracked rib who is really funny on Vicoden but very wobbly!!

In addition, Dallin's passport and Visa were still in Salt Lake City.  I worried briefly on Thursday when Dallin remembered and was wondering how he would get out of Mexico without a passport but I decided the Lord looks after Missionaries and I had enough to do/worry about, and I left that to Him.  It came on Wednesday about 2:30pm - We really didn't need it until 9:30am the next day at the airport!!

But it was a fun week - Saturday night Ken's brother Mike and his family came from Utah, we had take-out at our house - Ken and Dallin got home before Logan and I (longest wrestling tournament EVER!) then on Sunday Dallin gave a wonderful talk.  When he was finding his scriptures he did it on his phone, but he was just a little embarrassed so he prefaced it, then said, "Deal with it"  we all laughed.  He spoke on developing Christ like attributes, he did great!  I now have to figure out how to get the recording off of my phone and clean it up.

I have to admit to a pet peeve - People who speak before the missionary at a farewell should leave the missionary at least 15 minutes.  All of the people crammed into the chapel and overflow are NOT here to listen to you speak for 25 minutes - I almost made a sign and held it up!!  Funny enough, Ken almost did the same thing!!

Sunday, we hosted a family dinner for 56 people!  BTW - that is alot of people!  It was fun and since I made the dinner the Wednesday before it wasn't too bad.  I wish it would have warmed up in the oven a little faster though.   Then in the evening our ward came by to sing to the missionary - "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" - what a great tradition!

Monday, Ken's cousins wife and 3 kids came in to town from London and we had Ken's parents and sister, and cousins to dinner - it was so much fun!  Brenn and Callan played with nail polish (sorry Kathy) and the boys were a hoot!

Tuesday we had an open house with cinnamon rolls - all 96 were GONE!! Our last person came at MIDNIGHT!! (Love you Chandler!)

Wednesday we finished up the packing and he was set apart- One of my friends in my ward told me that it was extra special and to slow down and enjoy it and she was right!  What a beautiful experience.  My missionary was truly ready!  We got done and he gave me his phone and ipod, saying he didn't want them to be a temptation.  We went to dinner, just the 5 of us and had a lovely night. 

Thursday we got up and finished a few things and headed to the airport.  At the airport we met up with 2 other missionaries going to Preston for the MTC. 

I did pretty well in the crying department - a little at the farewell,  a little on Wednesday when he bore such a beautiful testimony, and some saying goodbye at the airport.  I pretty much cried the whole way home, I just had to look at Kai in the passenger seat and it would start.  We had to stop by Sonic and get an Oreo Blast to make me feel better!  The only other time I got choked up was on Sunday when Nathan Epstein passed me the Sacrament (he leaves in July).

On Friday morning I checked my email and this is what I found:

Dear Mom and Dad,



I'm alive and well! The flight to ohare went fine. when we got to ohare we were greeted by a crowd of missionaries!!!! Huzzah for Isreal!!! it was so wonderful to see so many missionaries in one spot! and their all here in england with me :) we have three sisters and they are the coolest. the flight to manchester was really ong and i only got like 2 hours of sleep, but it is so beutiful here! i love you bye


Elder Cole

Is there anything better?

Brenn took his mission pictures - so handsome!!

This one is for his plaque in the hallway of the church:

Maybe P-day will be tomorrow!

Busy.......

I will be a lot less busy after 11:15am tomorrow.......


and probably a little wet around the eyes!

14 days and counting...

I am unable to come up with the words on how I feel preparing my missionary (mine opposed to Ken's and mine) to leave for 2 whole years. 

Joy

Pride

Satisfaction

Busy

Lists of things to get and do

Tender

Panic

Wonder

etc.....

Today we have been cleaning out his bedroom.  Lots of mysterious underwear, lots of broken toys, tools and various parts to things he has taken apart to see how they work.  Dust in large amounts.  Books, school papers from Jr high and College.  I am waxing a little nostalgic after finding a picture of his first camp out with the boy scouts.  Some of the boys are home from their missions already. 

As we do this I keep thinking, Is he prepared both physically and spiritually?  What have I done?  Could I do different?  Does he know what I know?  It is enough to drive you crazy and yet he is showing a maturity that impresses me. 

He is preparing himself,

and I think that is the most important thing.

Linky Party with Jen...

It seems like I need a prompt (and a little peer pressure) to post.  I am running like crazy and counting the days (35) until my missionary leaves.  So here is the Prompt:

If you had your choice, would you want to know the future? Would you want to know that your life will be markedly, frighteningly different than you’ve planned all along? Or would you rather have the change come quickly, like an uncontrolled locomotive, leaving disaster in its wake, with you scrambling to pick up the pieces?



Easy for one who thinks not too deep:

NOPE!!

Would rather enjoy the ride and wait to see what happens. 

As I read Jen's post and the others linking I still feel that way.  No need to contemplate or ponder on this, for me, it is simple.  Plus, I trust in my Heavenly Fathers plan, so why would I worry? I also find it interesting that the alternative is disaster and scrambling, I think of it as more of an adventure and exciting....

Hhmmm....



Valentines Day

I woke up

GRUMPY!! 

Had a Doctors appointment, they took blood so that means needles!  Never a good thing?  Also,

Feel free to skip this part

Had to collect a stool sample, can I just say

 YUCK!!

I know I deal with this all the time with Gma but somehow.....

Startings of a headache by 3pm and a whiny kid who didn't want to mow the lawn.

I should back up and say I woke up Dallin and Brenn before the Doctor and gave them some chores, I don't care that they are 19 and 20, they still get chores!  Both had them done before I got home, that included mowing the front lawn, the whining was from a different kid and the back lawn.  If that is tough to figure out I only have 3 kids, come on!!

So I laid down to rest and hopefully get rid of the headache because I knew Ken would want to take me out for Valentines Day.

Door bell rings after 10 minutes, my new Visiting teacher with some goodies.

Phone rings, something I had to handle - can't remember.

Door bell rings again

You get the picture, right?!

By about 5:30 Ken came home with roses - he always gets roses.  He is very sentimental about them.  He has a hard time buying anything else because they just seem so right to him.  So he came with red and white roses.  The white are because we tease him a little.

So we went to dinner.  We ate Italian because we almost always go Mexican or to a Steak house because he likes those and I really don't care.  Food is not really important to me.  I like it.  I want it to taste good.  But I am not a foodie.  As long as it fills me up and is not gross, I am good.  But I do like Italian and he is not such a fan. 

So we try this new restaurant that Brenn found.

Alessia's

It is a little restaurant, tucked in the corner of a strip mall (Higley/Brown).  It looked a little hinky.  We waited quite a while, but it was Valentines day and we figured we would have to wait no matter where we went. 

We ordered the specials - one of each.

I had Pork tenderloins in a sauce with mangoes and grapes.

Ken had Lobster spaghetti. 

Ken's was really good.

Ken was

JEALOUS!!!

because mine was the best thing we had ever eaten!!

I gave him a bite to be kind.  Before I even tasted it.  If I had tasted it first

he wouldn't have gotten any!!

I wish I could pronounce or spell the dish.

I wish it was a regular menu choice.

Then I could google it and try to make it every night for dinner.

I googled:

 pork mango

Italian pork dishes with mango

Grape mango pork

Pork tenderloin fusion food

and about 10 other combos.

No luck.

But I did give my email so they could send the specials for the week.

There is still hope!

At least I was in a better mood when I got home.

Mission Ready

On Wednesday I got a call from My Bestie Jen and she had some real excitement going on at her house!  As I read the blog post about it I am tearing up, it was such a sweet experience.  I am getting a missionary ready too and I realized I am busy and  neglecting my blog/journal for my posterity and missing out on recording the experience, excitement and frustration of getting my missionary ready.  Whoops!

Mostly, I nag.  I had to nag him to look at suits.  We bought some at a great sale - buy 1 and get 2 free - of course the first suit was $800 but when you do the math it's not to bad.  Problem is only one pair of pants and no way to order more.  I thought about this.   I dreamed about a 2nd pair of pants.  And then nagged him in to going to Pomeroys, the missionary store here in Mesa.  Unfortunately, one of his buddies recently returned from a NY mission warned him against Pomeroys.  So, although they had suits designed for bike riding, two pairs of pants and free alterations (savings of $60 per suit) he was not convinced.  He wanted to talk to his friend - which in guy time takes at least a week.  Finally, we went with the Pomeroys suits and bought him his overcoat.  What an accomplishment.  The best part is Dallin is funding his missionary preparation.  He is working very hard at Pizza Hut to save as much money as his can for when he returns but is buying most of his mission stuff.

I have picked up most of the incidentals here and there like towels, socks, white shirts and he got nice long johns for his birthday.  But I had to nag again to go and buy shoes.

Actually, the shopping trips are awesome!  I get to spend the day with my son, just he and I or sometimes Ken comes.  We laugh and talk.  I will miss him for the two years he is serving but I am so very pleased that he is willing to serve the Lord.  I feel the Spirit around our family as we are preparing and I am happy.  I am looking forward to hearing of his experiences and seeing him preparing is something I can't quite describe.

We are shopping again today - He is going through the temple on Thursday evening.  Another big step with great blessings.

I noticed that several of the comments on Jen's blog had questions about missions and probably Mormons too, so if you click on the temple link it takes you to a good site about Mormons.

I am ahead of the game!

My bestie is hosting a linky party tomorrow and I thought I would go ahead and post then link tomorrow.  She warned us a few days ago and I have been running it around in the back of my mind and thought I would participate.

The prompt:

Straight after a shower or after you've washed your face, take some time to really look at that woman in the mirror. What do you see that's beautiful? Ignore or re-evaluate those things that have always bugged or challenged you. What is your singular, personal element of beauty? Is it skin, ears, hair? Is it wisdom or humor or understanding in your eyes? We all have one thing that not only makes us individuals. That one thing makes us beautiful. What is yours and why?

Now I have confessed in other posts that I am not really a deep thinker, I do not ponder upon those things that bug me or spend much time in contemplation.  To be honest, I tried to meditate and couldn't do it, to boring.  So when I read Jen's prompt my very first thought was:

"Wait, I am supposed to be unhappy with what I see in the mirror?  Crap!"

I am not vain (really, you can believe me) but I think I look OK.  I am not the most beautiful woman out there (except to Ken) but I am not ugly either.  I have always been OK with how I look.  I wish I was taller.  I wish I could lose a few pounds.  But I get ready in the morning and that is the picture I carry in my head the rest of the day.  Sometimes I glance in a mirror and am shocked that my hair is flat or my makeup is smeared (okay, on Sundays when I wear makeup) but for the most part I don't really think about it again.

Here is the caveat:
I think cameras LIE!!!  The pictures they take do not match what I see in the mirror.  I know that I am not very photogenic but I am usually shocked at the picture.  I see the flaws in film.  Saggy body, wrinkles, gray in the hair and a sick smile. 

Case in point - I went to Jen's baby shower, it was really nice.  Someone took a picture of the two of us.  It was exclaimed by several of our friends as a wonderful picture of the two of us.  One dear even said that we should be glad to have such a great picture of the two of us.  Apparently it looks good, I only see the old lady on the right!  I swear, in person, I don't look like that!  I am less wrinkled, gray and certainly younger!!

So as for the thing in the mirror - I'm good.  The camera?  I have a nice smile.  Thanks Jen!

American Idol and other stuff

I am not a long time fan, but in the last few years have enjoyed it.  I was not too sure how it would be with the new judges.  No Simon?!  Well, I am happy to report a nicer AI and a little ashamed to admit that I love Steven Tyler.  He is so much fun!  He seems to enjoy ALL music no matter how good or bad.  I was pleased to see that Jennifer Lopez feels bad for all the people she has to say no to and she is really very beautiful.  It seems to be a kinder AI, showing more of the people who can sing, instead of making total fun of those who are clueless.  There are some really talented people who have made it through.  I don't like the lower age of 15 - that is pretty young for all of the hoopla that goes on.

In other news I am now a certified home healthcare worker.  I shocked several of my friends and family when they got the calls for references from my new employer.  Really, I have been doing this for the last six years, only now the state will pay me to care for my Grandma.  It was honestly the most useless training, but the lady who did the training was nice and I did learn a few things.

Wrestling is winding down, Logan is doing really well.  I am so impressed with how much he has improved this year.  He took 3rd in a tourney in Tucson last weekend, of course his first match was a girl.  I feel really bad for these girls, because they really have little chance of being as strong in the upper body as the boys.  But since there were several girls, they got to have a few exhibition matches against each other and they were really good.

Dallin is getting ready very....

s...l...o...w...l...y,

not that it's a shock, but he thinks it is still very far away and I think it will be here before I can blink.  We did get his suits and he picked them up yesterday.  He is preparing for the temple and looking for his recommend for his patriartical blessing, which is lost somewhere in his room.  Is it to much to expect a mission to help all of this?

Because this will eventually be bound and saved for my posterity, I want to mention the shooting in Tucson.  I feel really bad for all of the families involved including the shooters parents.  They are being judged in the press without anyone really knowing them, its sad.  I have been praying for all involved and hope the best for the Senator and the others recovering.  I am heart sick for those who lost family members and friends, especially those who shielded others and literally took bullets for them.  It shows the best and the worst we have to offer.  I am impressed by the intern who stepped up and did his best.  The others who ran towards the shooter to help the injured and to stop the him. 

Visiting Teaching

My sweet Mother in Law is the new Visiting Teaching Coordinator* in her ward and was looking for a story to give in her conference.  She called me and asked me to write my story for her and I figured since I am

NEGLECTING

my blog big time I would post it here for all to read.

My Visiting Teaching story,

As a young mother, married just over 2 years, I had could count on one hand how many visits I received from my Visiting Teachers . Or for that matter, how many times I went Visiting Teaching, it didn’t seem very important. You know, the Lord knows how to teach you by example and will usually challenge your unbelief with a loving hand. Mine came from an older lady who was faithful in her Visiting Teaching.



My Husband and I had just purchased our first home and were members of an extremely large ward in Mesa Az. The past six months were some of the hardest any parent could go through, our baby daughter, Brenn, was diagnosed with cancer and had to be treated in San Francisco Ca. On top of that stress I was expecting my 2nd baby and was worried about the timing. You see, my daughter had a check up, her first since undergoing treatment, in San Francisco Ca. and I was due to deliver my baby about the same time. I knew the airlines would not let me fly and was not dumb enough to try to drive all of that way 9 months pregnant. But I felt really strongly, too strongly, that I had to be there for whatever news the doctors were going to give us. So I consulted with my OBgyn and we decided to induce labor about 1 ½ weeks early, I would have 10 days to be up and around before flying to San Francisco and leaving my newborn with my lovely Mother in Law Kathy. All went fine in the delivery, Dallin was born and he was long and skinny (just like he is now). But within a few minutes the nurses swept him off of my tummy and left the room. They told us he was not doing very well and needed some attention. He ended up in the NICU with under developed lungs and was not oxygenating his blood enough. The situation was very grave. The doctor let Ken and his Dad administer to our small son but he did not seem to improve.



Brenn had developed a cold and so she stayed with Kathy and Ed to keep Ken and I germ free for the NICU. I could not drive due to just having given birth, so I had to wait for rides to the hospital to visit my baby. We were not allowed to touch him or make any noise around him, pretty much all I could do was sit there and quietly cry. It seemed useless to be there but yet awful to be home alone too. At this point Dallin was 2 days old, I was home on my knees pleading with my Heavenly Father to keep my son on this earth, to give us a good report on my daughter and to help comfort me. Unfortunately, I was unable to feel the comforting influence of the Spirit and was inconsolable.

My phone rang. On the other end was a voice introducing herself as Kathy Williams, she was my visiting teacher and she apologize for it taking so long to contact me. She asked me how I was doing.

I lied.

She asked me how many children I had.

2, - I was thinking ‘for now’

Then she asked me how my day was going. I told her she probably didn’t want to know the answer to that question. And she told me,

“Of course I do!”

That opened the flood gates. I told her the whole story and figured she would stammer a few things and ask for a new person. But she was wonderful. She told me it sounded like I needed dinner brought in and a big hug. She was right. Just knowing she was there was a big boost. I still to this day, almost 19 years later, refer that day to the worst day of my life. The day I lost all hope.

My Heavenly Father knew my troubles and heard my prayers and knew exactly who I needed. I needed a Visiting Teacher.

*a Visiting Teacher explained:
In the LDS church the Relief Society (RS) is all of the women (or sisters) of your ward approx 18 and over.  In the RS each sister is visited every month by 2 other sisters - these pairings are companions and they are assigned 2-3 sisters to visit each month.  Almost all sisters are called to be Visiting Teachers.  The Coordinator is the sister who keeps track!

Merry Christmas!

Our yearly Christmas letter, written by my son Dallin.  I always get one of my kids to write it because I love to see their take on the year and quite frankly it cracks me up!

Merry Christmas

So it’s that time of year again when people get all nosey about “how our family’s been doing…” well to you I say, “none of your business!” My mother, however, didn’t like that version of this letter so I guess I let you have some insight into the wonderful life of the Cole family.


Well Ken and Karen are doing well and are ever getting closer to 50.  Mom is having a great time with her full time job of being team mom for the Mountain View Wrestling Team. They love her and her cinnamon rolls! Dad has had a great time helping coach the freestyle and junior high teams or the East Valley Wrestling Club.


Brenn has been living both here at home and in Tempe with her friend Audrey. She has been taking a few classes at MCC. She also has been working as an office assistant at a life insurance company and is enjoying it. She is also doing very well with her photography you can see some of her awesome pictures on facebook.


Well I’m doing really well! I graduated from high school in May. Post high school life has been treating me pretty well! I work at Pizza Hut as a server and as a driver. I also have received my mission call to Birmingham England! I leave April 22! I am super excited to go!


Logan is a sophomore at Mountain View this year and loves high school. He has been doing very well in wrestling. He took second place at city for his freshman year, and is doing very well on the Mountain View team.


Well that is a look at the Cole family! Have a Merry Christmas and Cool Kwanzaa!!


Love Dallin and the Rest of the Family

I love that it's from Dallin and the rest of the Family, shows you who is important.

Merry Christmas my family and friends, I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and his willingness to be obedient to his Father.  For coming to earth to save us all.  That example of Love is what I want to fulfill in my life, as always I will follow Him.