MAYLIN2007

Here are some pictures that I never got to post due to our trip, Austin, and the day to day craziness we live in. The night before we went to Hawaii, Kenzie's school choir had a HUGE concert. I didn't go, I was doing last minute packing, but Jay went. They sang in a downtown hotel, in an assembly hall and in the LDS visitor center. They are an amazing choir. Jay got tickets to a professional basketball game. He took Alex and Alex's friend and dad. They had a great time. Our team lost in double over-time! Just a few days before Austin left we went bowling. Maylin had wanted to bowl in Hawaii, but the alley on the base we were staying on was closed. She never forgot the idea of going. Everyday she would ask to go bowling, so we finally did. We had a great time. I have tendinitis in my elbow so I ended up having to granny throw it. It didn't hurt as bad that way. Maylin used the little rack they have for little kids and did really wel...

We finally got our letter today! The kids were thrilled. Kenzie was especially happy as she stayed home today with a TERRIBLE cold. The letter made her happy. We also had a sad thing happen today. Our new little kitty, Junior that we got to replace our old kitty Whiskers who died last year, got caught under our garage door. We took him to the vet expecting them to put him down. He couldn't move his back legs at all. However, the vet said no bones are broken he just has swelling on the spinal cord. They said with solitude and rest, he should be back to normal in awhile. The vet said we should notice some movement in him in the next 4 days. It is so sad. Alex and Maylin just lost it when we found him. It was terrible. When they called me from the vet (Jay took them, I wouldn't go. I have done one to many vet trips on my own) Alex said, "Mom! He is going to be okay! But he has used one of his lives." As you can see, the letters were a very good thing, on a very bad...

This weekend Jay and I celebrated 22 years of marriage. Has it been easy? NO! Enjoyable? YES! Okay, sometimes. ;) I would rather struggle through life with him by my side than anyone else. I love him because of what we have been through together. I am grateful that we believe that we won't ever give up. I am grateful we believe that we will make it work. I am grateful we are both committed to loving each other. I truly believe our gratitude comes from our belief that our marriage in the temple will last eternity; beyond "until death do you part." I found this cute video and thought it was perfect! I love you honey. **Also, I beefed up the security on Austin's blog just because what he is doing on his mission is so special I don't want people to come across his blog and make fun of what he is doing just because they don't understand what we believe. This beefed up security means his blog won't come up on a search. You have to enter the complete add...

Today, is Thursday. It is Austin's first official P-Day. It is the day we get an email from him. I have been checking me email ALL day. By noon, when I hadn't got anything, I emailed him because I figured he could check his email today so he would get this and maybe help the cause. My email simply said, "You better email me today or I will kill you. I love you. Mom." Nice and sweet. One hour later I got a nice long email! Of course, he was going to write. Duh. What was I thinking?!? I wasn't, obviously. I have no patience. At. All. I obviously need to get some or this is going to be the LONGEST 2 years of my life. It has already felt like the longest week of my life. I know it will get faster as I get used to it, at least it better. (If you are interested in the whole letter it is posted on the austinmission.blogspot.com blog) Most of his letter made me happy, but parts made me feel bad. He has caught on to the language very well in the past couple of days. He lov...

I finally dragged my sorry tushy down stairs and took pictures of the home theater. In only went down because I had laundry to put away in Austin's room. I wouldn't have made the trip for just one thing. And yes, Austin has been gone a week and I just finished the last pieces of his laundry. (So, I am a bit unmotivated.) I do seem to have lots of energy to check the mailbox though. Hate to report NOTHING from Austin. Apparently, he is the kind of kid that will only email once a week, rather than email and do a regular letter. Dang that kid; and to think I taught him how to address an envelope before he left! Apparently, that was a waste of time.;) Here is the theater. You can see the stadium seating. They are our old couches. Jay just built a raised box for the back one to sit on. We had it carpeted too. Jay bought the curtains so it would be dark. I found the movie decorations. I had to or Jay was going to put up tons of posters of Rambo and the Terminator he found. I bought ...

Here is a post about regular life at our house. It is about time! I think it has been months. (Just in case you get bored and don't finish this post, jump to the bottom to the **** there is important info there.)It has been nice getting back to our "new" normal. Today Maylin said, "It's sad that Austin isn't in our family anymore." Whoa! Put. the. Breaks on.....obviously she doesn't understand everything that has been going on. I thought we had explained it well enough. Anyway, we talked about what was going on again and she says she now knows he is in our family still, he is just gone for awhile. I am sure as time goes on more questions will come up. First, I know I mentioned that Austin did a bill before our city council before he left. They have not yet decided if they are going to pass it, but it was well received. At least, that is what I am hearing through the city grapevine. Yea, we live in a VERY small town so there is a grapevine like that. ...

We got a letter today from Austin! His Preparation Day or P-Day will be on Thursdays, so that is when we can expect an email. I hope, though, he will be able to squeeze in a hand written letter between then. P-Day's are the days the missionaries get some time off to clean, do laundry, write letters, shop etc. So here is his letter: "Hola! How is everyone doing? Thanks for your letter Alex, and I will write you soon. This has been so amazing here. My companion's name is Elder M. from Florida. He is such a great missionary and I have rally enjoyed our companionship. My roommates are Elder F. from New Zealand and Elder O'F. from Ireland. I love their accents! Our whole district except one companionship is going to California Oakland Spanish speaking. So it is really nice and I am enjoying them a lot. They are so funny! Mom, my health is great. I am eating well and drinking. I drink Gatorade for lunch so I feel great. Had gym yesterday and today. My companion and I did so...

On our last day in Hawaii we tried to still see as much as we could before we flew out at 10 p.m. After a nice breakfast, we began our drive from the volcano side to Kona. On the way we stopped at this great beach that had black sand and LOTS of turtles. This was called the Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. It was so pretty and we saw 8 turtles. Some were on the beach, swimming around in the water and some were going to the water from the beach and vice versa. They were so amazing to look at. The kids just enjoyed watching them. The beach itself was gorgeous. The sand was soft too.         The only thing that wasn't good was the wind. Man, the wind really was blowing and left a lot of sand in our eyes....ALL DAY LONG. Oh well, you can't have perfect weather all the time. It was sunny though! Our next stop was to the southern most point of the Island.....in fact, the sourthern most tip of the United States. Before we got there, we had to stop for a Malasada at the Southern m...

I know many have been waiting for this post. I needed a little time. Yesterday, I did really well. I held it together. Last night I struggled a bit when Maylin asked "Where's Austin? When will he be home?" And when I saw that Alex was having such a hard time. He came home from school and put on one of Austin's shirts because he wanted to smell him. Today I was doing great until I pulled down our road and saw his car in the driveway. I got excited for a second thinking he was home. I guess I forgot for a minute. Then I got all teary. I am doing better than I thought. I think it is because he was so excited and so ready. So, here is how everything went....we got up, got ready and took our time. We took some family shots and I had to get my annual "first day of school" shot of Austin. Even though this isn't technically school, he is going to learn tons! He will learn a new language and how to teach and talk to people. He will also learn how to live with out...