hello

What great news to know that Sister Remund is safe. Rick and I were praying all weekend and felt assured that she was ok, but I worried the most that she would be frightened by the wind...I myself hate being in the dark alone when it is windy. I am always surprised at how she is being tested and yet she is so stalwart and brave. We can all be so proud of her..she is quite the missionary and quite a young woman too boot. She will come home from her mission so grown up and we will just wonder how did it happen??? I am in awe of her. She is bringing blessings to us all. Mark, I so enjoyed your last blog. Thanks for sharing some small portion of your life with us. I am not sure what has happened to Jeff..he used to be so faithful in writing from time to time. I guess everyone is just so busy. I have but one excuse...I feel like I have nothing worth blogging about. What do Rick and I have to say that interests anyone? YOu all have such exciting things with kids. Life as an older couple is much quieter and much less to write home about. We relax, watch football or old westerns or Christmas movies. WE do family history or go to the temple and read books. I cook, Rick fiddles or tinkers in the yard. This is what happens when you get old. No kids, no babies, no excitement in life..just each other and quiet time all the time. I am not complaining...we are very much enjoying life. Just setting the stage for what is to come as you get older. Empty nester comes way too early. In 7 weeks, I will be retired and living with Rick in Fruit Heights. I sent some of my clothes home with Rick today as he drove the jeep so we can start packing up the St.George home.We plan to start trying to rent it out soon.I am not going to put up much for Christmas decorations this year. First time in my life. We will be totally moved before New Years and no use putting it all up just to take it all down. I hope I am not too homesick. I will have to go over and look at Sherri's decorations. and eat her cookies. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving...It is our turn to host Rick's kids and Mark and his family along with Michael's family will be joining us. How I wish all my kids could be there. It may be years before we are all together for a holiday again. I wonder what it will be like in Hawaii with just Rick and I next year? Let's see more news in this family blog before year's end. I love my family. Mom

If at first you don't succeed...

Well, apparently the Lord wants me to succeed where I have failed in the past. Two weeks ago I was called and set apart as the 11 year old primary teacher. This will be my third time fulfilling this calling. I intend to magnify the calling this time! I taught my first lesson yesterday. We have a big class, 18-20 kids, and I have a team teacher, the former counselor in our Bishopric. He is very nice. For the next two months I will have the opportunity to teach Mason's class, before she moves on with the New Year. That part is pretty fun. Either this is revenge for my primary days or have a lot to learn from 11 year old kids, and have not learned it yet. Truly, I don't mind the call, but it is funny.

Our family is doing well. We had a great time at Michael and Catherine's Halloween party. For those that missed it, check out Angela's Facebook page for some pics. It was a good time, and as always our girls had the best time. That is why we do it! It was fun to hang out with some family and just be silly for a night. We are looking forward to the upcoming holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hopefully we will get to spend some time with family during this festive time of year. Maybe one year we will all be able to get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving again. Before I am too old and soar to run a slant route on my brothers.

Angela is very busy at work, so she and her team are working 20 hours of mandatory each week. Of course that equates to even more than 20 hours for her. As the sup she puts in significantly more hours. She works hard and is doing a great job of trying to work with such a crazy, messed up system. There are just so many rules and stips that make it stressful and more difficult than it needs to be. Anyways, I am proud of the great work she is doing. She is creating organization out of a mess. She is such a hard worker and sets a high bar for all of those around her. I am grateful for a spouse that sacrifices so much for our family. Hopefully, this is a means to an end for her soon. Okay, no one wants to hear me gush over my beautiful, and wonderful wife. I am grateful I am surrounded by amazing women, for my daughters to emulate. Thank you Mom, my wife, Sherri, Kayla, Catherine, and their female cousins. We Hall/Remund/Mayfield men have a lot of work to live up to and be worthy of such beautiful women inside and out. Thank you!

Pretty much our lives are pretty boring, so there really is not a lot to update. Connley just finished running club, which is her cross-country team for sixth graders. She was constantly the first or second fastest girl on the team, and in the top 5 overall. She is more of a sprinter than long distance, so I am impressed at how well she did. If they had a track team, she would love to do more short distances, but for now this is fun and good exercise. Mason is in the ensemble of her upcoming school play, so her rehearsals just began and she is very excited about being a part of it all. Both girls have made a couple friends, but have struggled a little more than in the past. It just gets harder as you get older. However, they do have a couple friends, and we are very happy about that. All they need is one good friend. I continue to work on finishing my masters. I took a semester or two off last year, so right now it is projected I will graduate this coming summer. It has taken a lot longer than I had hoped, and I cannot wait to be done. I just hate having all the assignments constantly hanging over my head. Hopefully, this investment will pay off in the long run. Anyways, that is about everything happening with our family. Pretty dull and quiet, just the way I like it. I wish I knew more about what is going on with the rest of the fam; Jeff where did you go? Hope y'all are doing well and know that we are here if you need anything.

Rick and I are just returning from spending a week in Myrtle Beach with his brothers for the 1st 4 days and then with Kayla, Jeff and boys for 2 days. The weather in Myrtle Beach was rainy, windy and chilly so we didn't get to do much outside but he was able to watch some home videos of his parents of some 20-30 years ago and the boys were able to remember some great times together growing up. It was so fun to hear them talk about their childhood...I invisioned my boys and Sis doing the same things some years from now. I hope you all will get together when you are in your 60's and 70's and talk about the good old days and all the fun things you did as kids. I hope you won't just remember the bad. Everyone has some bad, but I notice that Rick and his brothers mainly just think of the good and what great parents they had. We so enjoyed being with Jeff and Kayla...they have gotten to move into a nice home and they are fixing it up really cute. We did some fun things together and were there to celebrate McCoy's 5th birthday. He thinks that is why Grandma and Grandpa came to town. Well, I am glad he thinks that. We got to meet some of their friends and they really have some neat friends. No worries about lack of friends in SC. Really good people. We got up at 1am Ut time to make all of our flights today so I am feeling ugh right now...It will take time to readjust... I don't know anything about a friend of Connley's passing away...what happened? I am so sorry and hope Connley is ok along with the family. What a tragedy for sure. Can't wait for y'all (Kayla gave me permission to talk southern) to see the fabulous job Angie is doing with Rick's buffalo. It is looking so "out of this world". I cannot believe the talent she has!!!! I am following McKenna's blog weekly. I do need her address though so I can drop her a line. I do better at writing. And I think that is what we are supposed to be doing?? Sis, you cannot be doing the Marathon while we are in Hawaii...I simply cannot surprise you like I did the last time. Then you will be disappointed. Yes, KSL did a great program on Hawaii. Got Rick and I even more excited. Time will go fast. They hired Mike Wood to fill my position. I will spend the next couple of months orienting him and then I am done. 46 years and then I am gone............yiles, scary not to have a job. Love to all and have a great week. Mom

Checking in

Hello you non-bloggers:)
I'm trying to keep up two blogs...come on, write:) Had a good weekend...busy with marathon and company, but still good. Every year when its the marathon, I think "I should do it again". Then Monday morning comes, and I realize NAH! Done with that. Hope you all got to see some of General Conference! WOW. I just love it!! So inspiring! Elder Holland is always amazing. President Eyring as well!! Loved it. And I loved hearing from President Monson! Man, they are all incredible. I thought it was interesting that Mom and Rick just got their call to Hawaii and KSL did the between conference spotlight on Hawaii! No coincidence with that!! What a great place to be able to serve!!! SO exciting for you. And speaking of missionaries..I love and miss mine:)) She is doing well. Has committed her first person to baptism. 20 year old girl. She says she loves it there. Check out her blog, we try to keep it updated. It weird to think she has been out close to 2 1/2 months now!! We've gotten more in a routine now with Kam and Hallie, so I have no doubt its going to fly by. Girls are doing well. Same stuff pretty much. My heart hurt for Connley this past week, as she lost a friend of hers to death. I could not stop thinking about that poor poor family. So grateful for the knowledge we have of eternal families!! I can't imagine getting through something like that without that knowledge!! Well, I'm off to run kids here and there. Hope you all are doing well. Hopefully Jeff is feeling better after surgery!And lucky that mom gets to see him this week!! Have fun and love ya all!
SIS

Friday

Watch for a text message from me on Friday morning. We got a call Friday saying we have been assigned a mission call. It will probably arrive Thursday here in St.George, but Rick doesn't fly in until Friday so I will have to wait for him to get here for us to open it together. Then we decided we will send out a text to all 9 of our children at the same time. It will be a long week for Rick and I...praying the Lord remembers certain things about your mom...that she hates to be too cold, that she hates rascals, you know all these things as does the Lord....Rick hates the heat so what can He do with us? We will serve where we are asked to go. It would just be nice to be comfortable, but oh well, Jeff showered with bats and had rascals in the sink while he ate. I guess it all works out the way it is supposed to, but the first time they put an entire goat head on my dinner table, I am sure I will upchuck right then and there. McDonald's may become my best friend after I have ignored it all these years since the boys left home. And if they put a pig head on the table, I think me and bacon would part ways as well. Hallie would love that!! Oh well, my excitement this week will be trying to get through the week. My position is posted at work and they have 4 candidates. I am a lame duck now. boohoo. 46 years of nursing and I am happy and sad as well. I know today is a milestone (a sad one) for my kids. I am thinking of each of you and hope you are having good memories of your Dad today. I love you and wish you every good thing in life. One of the reasons for Rick and I serving a mission is the hope that our children and grandchilren will be blessed while we are gone. this is one of the promises. Love, Mom

Amazing

Here is what I find amazing. My children are seeing what I have been saying for so many years. Families are the best. It seems like each of you in your own special way is finding out that not only your own mate and children are dear and near to you but you also love being with each other. I remember well when I wanted to spend time with my brothers and sister. We were married and all had our own families, but when someone couldn't come for a birthday or holiday, I was so sad...a part of me felt so lonely for that person. You are beginning to understand that. When I was home this summer, Uncle Steve had a cook out and Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Ted, Uncle Carl and Aunt Lynda all came. Of course, Uncle Dan is gone. That was the best night of my trip. All my siblings were there together. That may not happen again in my life time. We did not want to go home. We sat around and visited about the days as kids. We went over to an old farm house that we lived in growing up (Uncle Steve owns it now) and we talked about where our Christmas tree sat and what was each of our rooms. We have memories. great memories. I hope each of you have memories from your childhood and when I am gone you will still want to get together and talk about your family life growing up. Maybe your kids will talk about cousins and how they got together for family reunions. I still love getting together with my cousins when I go to the Hannum family reunion. And we are in our 60's and 70's. Mark, I, like Sherri, really enjoyed your blog. Thanks for sharing your feelings. I have been worried about Jeff working so many hours and I know they have sacrificed family time. Sometimes we all do what we have to do to survive. This economy has hurt every single one of my kids, but has been extremely difficult for Jeff. I am praying that we will be able to find a job he loves in the future but in the meantime I know he is grateful for a job that provides good insurance and some security for now. Rick and I are holding tight waiting for our mission call. Still no word so not sure what that means.We know a couple who put their papers in the same time as us and they heard 3 weeks ago. Is that a bad sign or good sign? Maybe we will end up with McKenna. Perhaps she was sent to lay the ground work for us. I am so proud of her. Sherri does cry a bit, but who wouldn't? I know they are tears of joy. As for Christmas music, Rick might be able to tell you a little about whether we listened to some while we traveled to Yellowstone this past weekend. It seemed fitting. cold, rainy, in the mood weather. I am not as sly as Sherri. I enjoyed it tremendously. Kayla would not be happy with us though, but it was great. I may have to make a pumpkin pie soon. Oh, yes, I have all my fall decorations out. Someone looked at my house last night to rent and they thought it looked beautiful with all the leaves and pumpkins out. Maybe they will want to rent it since it looked so pretty!! I love my family more than this old computer will express. Mom

Its P-Day

Hello family! It's Sister Remund's P-day...that means its my P-day too:) I call it my play day...haha. I admit I have spent more time looking at her blog than the 'journhalls' blog...I will be better:) Doesn't mean I don't think of all of you often! Seems like now more than ever I am thinking of family. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I've had kids leave the nest...makes me reflect a lot on family!! SO, speaking of family...I want to say how much I loved Mark's most recent post. WOW. I'm not one to be emotional (well, since Kenna has left I cry a lot), but I just sat here reading and weeping. That was truly inspiring, touching, and beautiful Mark. THANK YOU for sharing your feelings! I understand that is more difficult for you. You are incredible and I want you to know that I love you too!! I also couldn't agree with you more. Family is where its at!! And I certainly love mine! Thank you again for your thoughts!!

Not too much new to report. Ashley & Justin found a place to live. Another big shout-out here to Mark & Angie (and Mason & Connley) for opening their home to them for awhile!! Their jobs seem to be going well, and I am happy to have them a bit closer. Kam & Hallie are getting used to being the only ones around. They are cute with each other (most of the time) and I relish every moment with them. I realize it is going to go fast and before I blink, they will too be gone. And sweet McKenna is wonderful too. Check out her blog...we post her stuff once a week. It was so GREAT to talk to her at the airport. We only got 30 minutes and it went way too fast. She had memorized Joseph Smith's first vision in her language and recited it to us. Was sweet. If you read her last letter...count how many times she says "Its great". Brett and I have been cracking up!! Everything is great:))) Brett's back/leg is finally on the up and up!! YAY!! Relief. Feel very grateful about that. We've seen a slight increase at the bakery with the onset of fall...hopefully it will continue. I love fall...I may have listened to a few Christmas tunes, but I can't say for certain.

Well, I'm off to frost cupcakes! Hope you all have a great week. Love you, miss you, and am thankful for each of you!
SIS

Hello family

It is almost 1 a.m. here in the Utah Valley and I am just wrapping up some school work. Lately it has become very difficult to focus on school work, so I find myself procrastinating the work in the evenings and then staying up too late to do my assignments. After working all day, when I get home I want to spend time with the girls and be involved. Then when they go to bed I want to spend time with Angela, even though this time is usually spent just watching TV it is time together away from work and other occupiers. Having said that I find myself worried about others in my family, most notably Jeff. I am concerned with the amount of work you are putting in, and the lack of sleep or family time you may be receiving. I sincerely pray your work load will begin to decrease, and the need for you to work so much with your day job, night job, seminary, and your side businesses you are trying to get up and running, will diminish soon. Remember, "Family, It's about time." This is not to say you should not be working so much, because I know in order to get by sometimes excessive work is required. I just hope the end is near, and if it is not please let us, your family, know how we can help. You may live in South Carolina, but you are not alone. I am the worst at asking for help, shoot I move at night just so the ward won't try to come and help, but I am always more than willing to help in anyway I can. Please brother whatever you may need, let us know.

Rather than update my family situation tonight, I really just wanted to share what has been on my mind. The first paragraph has been one of the things on my mind the most. Another thing, and related to the stuff above, is that this life's purpose is not about accounting reports, or selling the most products. Our Heavenly Father wants us to work, and be productive, but I doubt I will need to know how to generate A/R reports in Heaven or dissect an insurance EOB. The purpose of this life is to learn, grow, and experience life. Learning to work with others and manage people, or how to utilize our time, those are valuable skills that will benefit us after this life. Mostly though I believe we are to work on our families, building relationships, working together to build a unified, celestial family. They say we spend more time at work with co-workers than we do with our families at home. That is sad. I made a commitment a few years ago to myself, Heavenly Father, and my family that I would put family first. It is not always easy, and sometimes the demands of work are real and must be satisfied, but if I have to choose between work and family, my family will win every time. This is why we long for the day when Angela will be home with the girls. However, in order to provide the proper home for them, we have had to make some sacrifices. In time we believe the fruits of her labors will reap a better home, better environment for our girls, and her in the home more rather than at work. That time is not right now, but hopefully soon. I just think there has to be more to life than waking up, dredging into work, coming home whooped, killing a couple hours, going to bed exhausted and waking up early the next morning to do it all over again. Obviously there is more to life than this, but sometimes I struggle to get out of that rut and make sure I am enjoying the life God has blessed me with, and enjoying the wonderful people he has surrounded me with. At work, I encourage a lot of camaraderie among my team. I figure these people are part of my extended heavenly family, we should get to know each other and build lasting, meaningful relationships. This is from the anti-social member of our family I know. I love spending time with each of you. The weeks I had to spend with David, Michael, Sherri, and Jeff this summer were awesome. I loved every minute of it. I wish we lived closer and did more together. I find myself dreaming of our rafting trips in West Virginia every time I watch an Ohio State game. I thoroughly enjoy my family. I just am not the world's best conversationalist. My shy nature is second only to by boyish good looks.

I think of each of you constantly, and wish I could do more to help with the many situations we have right now in our family. Unfortunately none of us are rich and have the means where by to help out as much as I know we all could. Life is a grind, and it seems like lately we all have been on the up slope rather than enjoying coasting down the hill. I hope each of you know that I think of you often, pray that your burdens will be made lighter, and that you will stay strong and happy even during these times of trial and tribulation. For myself, I have found the greatest stress relief to be rearranging my priorities. I am unlikely to be rich, so working 60-80 hours a week just to get by wears a person down emotionally and mentally much more than physically. However, as I worked to spend more time with my family, leave work at work, and separate my life into its respective categories, I have found less stress, more happiness, and a stronger relationship with my kids and my wife. Clearly I am not perfect, and I have made many mistakes that continue to plague my family and life, but I cannot go back and change those mistakes, I can only go forward changing the impact and consequences they have on me and my family. One of my favorite quotes is from the movie, Kung Fu Panda..."The past is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift that is why its called the present". I love you Mom. I love you Sherri. I love you Michael. I love you David. I love you Jeff. I love my wife and two beautiful girls. I will do anything for each of you, so please if you need anything just ask. There is nothing to small or too great, we are family, forever. Each of you have helped me many times in many ways, I want to return a portion of what you have done for me. Take care and hope to see you soon.
Love, Mark

good morning

To All My Children, I was at the hospital late last night as one of my ICU Charge Nurses was bicycling, hit by a minivan and killed instantly. He was 36 years old with 4 children and a wonderful wife. He was also a Life Flight nurse and always wore a smile. He told me once he smiled because there was nothing in life that was worth being sad about. He was a marathon runner, Iron man and triathalon. We are in mourning at the hospital as you can imagine. I share this with you because life is short and I want to make sure you hug your mate, your children and call your mom more often. Don't let life get so busy that you forget the important things in life. This great person loved life but I know he never expected life to be over so quickly. None of us do. I love you. mom

If you think it is hard being a parent, wait until you are a grandparent. My heart bleeds when I hear about my grandchildren and what they are going through. I went to the same school for all 12 years so I never had any of those trials like my grandchildren. I cannot stand the idea that Mason is eating alone. What the dickens? Kids can be so cruel. And for Hallie not to get the part...we all know she is so talented. Then Jeff told me today that on McCoy's first day of school, his teacher told Kayla that he was a very bad boy and has no friends. She said it right in front of McCoy. I cannot take such insensitivity. What is wrong with people? I am so upset with all of it. I assumed once I got my kids through school I wouldn't have to worry, but no, I can see this is not the case. I guess this world is all messed up. Tonight I will be praying that things will turn around for everyone. Jeff has to have surgery on his knee. Messed it up when he was here. Kayze's eye surgery is next week. I told Jeff he needs to get rid of the black cloud. They are trying to find a place to rent as well. Gosh, prayers are needed in our family. Love, mom

Try this again...

     I have tried to add to the blog the past few days, but for some reason it would not let me. I am now accessing the blog through Google Chrome and it lets me, but I still cannot type if I go into it through Internet Explorer. Anyways, as if anyone cares! I thought there was a rule that you cannot call people out on this blog? I get on and read others's post everyday, but I either have nothing to add or am in a position where I cannot add at the time. Our home laptops are sketchy, so I really only post at work, and lately work has been pretty busy. 

     First things first, GO BUCKS!!!! College football starts this week, and I am so excited. I have high hopes for the scarlet and grey, so I await the season with cautious optimism. As Sherri and Mom have stated, Justin and Ash moved into our home last week. We are excited to have them stay with us, and the girls have enjoyed playing with Justin this past week. I do worry, they will be bored with Angela and I since we are not the social butterflies they are use to in St. George, and at BYU-Idaho. Our reclusive lifestyle is not for everyone, and quite different than my siblings Sherri, David, Mike, and Jeff, and Mom for that matter. Justin had orientation today, and Ashley had some feelers out there for job possibilities, so hopefully the move to Salt Lake will be good for them. If nothing else, they are 4 hours closer to home/Sherri, plus now the St. George faction will be more motivated to actually stop and say hello when they travel North. It is already working, as we will be having Kamryn and Hallie stay with us this coming weekend, so that Brett and Sherri can celebrate their anniversary properly. We are excited to have them, but I think Ashley and my two girls are far more excited than anyone. It will be a fun weekend, capped with a BBQ at Rick's for Labor Day.

     Our beautiful girls started school last week, so this week will be their official first full week back. So far the first few days of school have been good. Connley was nervous about going to school without Mason, for the first time ever, but on her first day she made a really good friend who was just as nervous as her so they bonded immediately. Starting school as the new kid would be very difficult, especially the older you get. I am glad my girls don't get to upset with all of the moves we have made, but I don't think I could ever ask them to move again. I wish they had more stable friends, and want them to have a good social circle in high school, and am afraid if they don't develop those bonds now, they will not have those good influences in high school. Mason was very excited about 7th grade, and loves having a locker. However, her transition to a new school has not been as smooth as Connley's. They are supposed to have locker buddies, someone they share their locker with. Most kids do not want a locker buddy, because they want their own locker. When you are a new kid, in 7th grade, without any friends you do want a locker buddy. Mason had a locker buddy, whom she never met, but apparently after the first day she moved into a locker with one of her friends. Mason never met her, and is very sad because she was hoping they would become "besties". To make matters worse, Mason's school has floating lunches, so on some days you eat lunch at A time and the other days of the week you eat lunch at B time. Mason has a girl in one of her classes right before B lunch day that she goes to lunch with and eats, but on A day she has been sitting at the end of a lunch table by herself. She talks about it each day, so I know it is really effecting her. Needless to say, as Sherri stated, the desire to protect my kid has caused my heart to hurt and be constantly saddened each day by the situation. I just picture my sweet baby sitting all by herself at a table, watching all the other kids laugh and play around with each other. It really is heart breaking! She even tried to sit with some kids and when she sat down they finished their lunch and walked away. Those kids are dead!!! It was a hard first week, but she has stayed so positive. She is happy and goofy everyday when we get home. As I said, she mentions it so I know it bothers her, but she is trying to not let it get her down I guess. Ah!!! School is way more stressful as a parent than it ever was as a student!

     Other than school, Justin and Ash, things are pretty normal for Angela and I. We continue to work, and spend 23.99 hours together 7 days a week. We ride to work together, which actually has been nice especially for the car pool lane perks, haha. Plus, she makes sure that I do not work too late, since we have to ride home together. We are trying to lay low on our Ward's radar, since we have a new bishopric, so right now we are enjoying being calling free. It has been relaxing. I found out last month, I have 4 classes left to finish my Master's. I should have been done by now, but I took a few semesters off. It was the right decision though because the semesters I took off would have been too busy to perform all of my duties, especially school, to the best of my abilities. So 4 classes, which is 2 more semesters and I am officially over-educated and underpaid. Really I enjoy school, and probably will look for other areas of study to increase my knowledge and portfolio. I do enjoy attending classes much more than online classes, so I am excited to get done with my online classes ASAP. 

     Sherri, perhaps you should tell Hallie they could not cast her as an orphan, because the audience would have been confused about who Annie was her or someone else(since she looks so much like Annie with that red hair). Oh and as for Kamryn and football games, if I were you and Brett, I would become a fan of the Snow Canyon Warriors football team real fast. I would attend every game! Those football games are bad news!!! I remember attending football games, and it was not for the sport that is for sure. It is too bad to hear about this creep boy, but better now than later maybe. I do not look forward to the high school years at all. We will keep all of your girls in our prayers. Ok, I have fulfilled my annual obligation so I better go now. Haha! Just kidding. Ta-ta for now.    

Forgot something

PS... at Hallie's basketball game today...they played 7th & 8th graders from Vegas. She's one of 3 6th graders on her team. She was the shortest on the court. The entire Vegas team was well, black and big! Needless to say, she got tromped. Wasn't a huge boost to her self=esteem after not making Annie. I'm kind of laughing as I'm typing this because why do I tell you this?? To add dramatics to my weekend of course:)))  Don't worry though, she said she's not quitting ball!

LOVE YOU

Miseries of Motherhood weekend

Well...  been a hard weekend for this mom. There is nothing worse than wanting to save your child from heartache, but not being able to. I probably shouldn't have titled my post Miseries of Motherhood, because I love being a mom. However, it is so hard sometimes. I know we have all gone through those same feelings.
So...its not some "huge" thing...but...

Hallie decided the first day of school to try out for the school play "Annie". Her and one other friend immediately began practicing. Then the day before auditions, Hallie encouraged another friend of hers to try out. Her friend didn't really want to, but Hallie told her it would be fun and she should at least try. The day of auditions, her friend agreed. Hallie stayed with her and helped her practices lines, etc. SO, long story short...the two friends both made orphan parts and Hallie did not. She was totally heartbroken! Then lamented that it wasn't fair because her friend hadn't even wanted to do it in the first place. What do ya do?? Nothing but let her cry in your arms! Life is just that way sometimes! STINKS.

Then...Kamryn went to her first high school football game. Came home crying. What happened you wonder? She gave in and kissed a boy. Now everyone is talking about it and texting her about it. Well...what can I say? Dumb yes. I can't save her reputation or make her choices always. She has got to decide what and who she wants to be. I'm glad she felt like she could tell me. But man...the whole thing with her stresses this mom out. I want the "good boys" flocking to her and instead I have the punks trying to "conquer". I hate it!

Then...Kamryn went canoeing with the YW today. We had forgotten about it. Brett was working. I had a ball game with Hallie. So when we realized we had forgotten, she didn;t want to go. I told her she needed to! It ended in disaster. Again, long story short, she ended up alone in a canoe. She couldn't get anywhere on her own. Started drifting. Ended up across lake. Leaders took her friend McCall out in another canoe to help her. Leaders were back across lake and realized they had capsized. At this point, it began pouring rain and lightening. Girls were screaming for help, trying to get canoe tipped back but it was too heavy. The ended up having to leave canoe to sink and swim to shore. They were exhausted, freezing, and scared to death as lightening was all around. Now... Coincidence? Nope. Kam said as she was out there she realized that she was stuck and needed help. That she couldn't get to safety alone. She said she prayed and knows she needs the standards to help in in life. So there ya go...scary scary (all leaders have been calling all day...a mini subway experience for her) BUT...as scary as it was, I think it was supposed to happen.

Then...I had already told you about Kenna having a tough week.

SO...It's just been a challenging weekend for me. BUT, as I prepare to give a talk tomorrow in another ward (yes, add that to the list), I realize its ALL good! My faith is strong. My knowledge that we all NEED our Heavenly Father is real. We need commandments, guidance, prayer, scriptures, prophets, family...we need it all! I'm grateful for that knowledge and testimony! I love you my family...and YES, I do love being a mom. Thanks for listening!
Love,
SIS

Friday!!

I'm happy for the weekend...this getting up early everyday for school is killing me (Hallie has to be up at 6). However, I also dislike that its Friday because that means I'm a week away again from hearing from McKenna! Her P-day is on Thursday, which is when I get to hear. She is doing well overall. Really loves her companion and district. She has had a tough week though with the language. She feels like she just isnt getting it. I'm sure its frustrating, especially when it seems the others are getting it. So, lets all keep her in our prayers :))
Everything else is pretty same. School has been a new adjustment for girls. I can't believe Kam is a freshman! She's going to high school football game tonight! Good grief. Ash & Justin are living with Mark & Angie and loving it. Justin is so excited to be starting a new job Monday (with IHC). Brett's back is continually improving, which is a huge relief! And as for me...I've decided I need something to do. I feel like my kids are big, and I spend most of my time either cleaning, driving, baking cupcakes, or looking at pictures of Kenna. I have thought about substitute teaching. Any thoughts? I figure it makes some money and is flexible. I don't know... OH, and next week, Brett & I celebrate 23 YEARS!! Crazy huh?!?!
Well, keep posted...Mark & Jeff!! You two are slacking. Hope everyone is well. Love you all!!
SIS

I heard the best definition of accountability yesterday that I have ever heard. "You can count on me." Love, Mom

hello

Well, it seems that I am writing to myself these days since I am not even sure that anyone is reading the family blog. I will keep trying a short time longer. Perhaps you will want to keep reading it since we will probably announce where we are going on our mission right here in the family blog. No big announcements otherwise so you might want to stay connected. I had a great email from Sister Remund this week..she is having a wonderful time in the MTC and sounds so happy. The Provo temple reopened so she was going to get to go and was most happy about that. She and I were terrific temple companions prior to her leaving..I sure miss her already. She leaves the MTC on September 9th. Wow, seems so quick. I showed my house this week for a possible rental..they liked it but haven't committed. I have time but want to be prepared. You know me...always have to be ahead of everything. I don't know how to fly by the seat of my pants. Spent several sessions in the temple this week. I know my ancestors are rejoicing. Also worked on family history and found at least 20 more names...so am hopeful my kiddoes will help me get their work done while I am on my mission. I told Sherri she will be in charge of the names, but she didn't seem too interested. hahahaha. Well, hope all is well with my children. Many fires around Utah and Idaho so hope no one getting too close to those. Ohio is having fall weather already. I miss fall in Ohio the most. Have a good week. Love, Mom

Going on TWO weeks

It will be two weeks Wednesday since McKenna has left (and yes, I have a countdown going).  I will say that it was a lot harder than I expected. That sweet girl added a great presence and spirit in our home, and I miss her terribly. And I will tell ya that her dad misses her terribly also! It has been very tender to watch him. We had a wonderful experience with her setting apart and send-off. The spirit was tangible! As difficult as it has been, I feel much peace and happiness about it all. I know with everything in me that this is the best thing she could be doing. It also helps that she is happy. We have gotten two letters from her and one email. She loves it! I can already see the change in her after a week. It will be exciting to watch her grow even more. We started her blog so you can all get on and read her emails. She is craving letters...so there are 3 ways that you can write her.
1. Standard mail: Sister McKenna Remund
                           SEP09 PHI-BAC
                            2007 N. 900 E. Unit 24
                            Provo, UT 84602
2. DearElder.com : we have account set up. You just have to put her information in which is SEP09, PHI-BAC Unit 24. She will get it the same day if its in before noon, otherwise she will get it the next day. Easy and no postage needed.
3. EMAIL- she will get her emails once a week on her P-day, which is the only time she can write. Her email is mckenna.remund@myldsmail.net

I know she would love to hear from you :-)) Thanks!

As far as everything else...pretty much same. Girls start school Wednesday...much to their dismay. Its only exciting the first couple days with friends and new clothes...then downhill from there :)) My house seems SO quiet! Weird.

We had an INCREDIBLE family vacation in Yellowstone!! We LOVED every minute of it!!! Overall, we had a great summer. Hope you all did as well! I enjoy thinking back on when you were all here. Good memories! Thanks for posting some pictures on facebook Kayla! I would love to get a copy of them all. And a DVD of the family talent (variety) show! Its so important that we do that...especially for our kids! Thanks for making the effort to be here!

Ash & Justin are moving to Salt Lake this week. HUGE shout-out and thank  you to Mark & Angie for their willingness to let them stay at their house until they get established with jobs, money and finding a place. That is very kind of you both, and we love ya to pieces! I'm excited to have them a little bit closer than Rexburg!

Hope everyone is well! I love you all! Take care!
Love, SIS
                         

papers submitted

Well, Rick and I have submitted our missionary papers as of Friday and the Bishop has submitted to the Stake President already so just dependent now on seeing the Stake President and then they will go direct to the powers that be to decide where we will serve. We put down that we will be retiring end of year and want to leave in January so we are hopeful. Will let you all know when we hear something. Pretty exciting for us. I don't see much blogging going on with my family. Guess everyone is busy busy busy. I know Sherri's kids are back in school this week. Guess everyone is wrapping up their summer fun. Jeff and Kayla celebrated 9 years of marriage this week. Wow, the years sure go fast. Can you believe that Sherri and Brett will have 23 years of marriage in later this month? Rick and I went to Pine Valley yesterday just to smell the pines and get out of the heat. Good memories of last month with the family. I love Pine Valley. We couldn't play cards though...too windy. we went from 102 degrees to 79 degrees. Very refreshing. Well, I am teaching Relief Society today so better get moving. I know Michael and Catherine are visiting at Mark and Angela's this weekend with Catherine's parents. Hope they are enjoying their time. Love to all, MOm

happy/sad week

What a week for our family! McKenna is in the MTC and Sherri already has a letter in hand. Wow, so much quicker than when my sons were in the MTC. Sounds like she is doing great already...who is surprised? We knew she would do well and be happy. It was a rocky road for MOM and DAD and a bit of a tough thing for Grandma as well. I have to say, it is a good thing the church is true. This is hard stuff to do...I so admire McKenna for going off and leaving all that she knows for the next 18 months. Just as I admired Mark and Jeff those many years ago. Guess my turn to be strong is coming up soon. Actually, my papers are ready to be turned in...Rick has his physical this week and then we will be ready to submit. Time is going quickly. Less than 5 months until retirement. Went to the temple many times this week. Wow, it is so amazing to get some of my work done for long dead relatives. I was able to go yesterday and seal my mother's sister to her husband and also I sealed 4 children to their parents from the 1800's. I guess my obsession is redeeming my dead.I do love it though. Not much more to report from here.Just working hard at the hospital, temple work, family history and praying for my children. Hope each of you are surviving the continued economic difficulties of our day. I went to the grocery yesterday and wondered again how you do it when you have to feed growing children??? I love you each for working hard, for trying your best to be good people and for all you do. Love, Mom

An all encompassing blog

Now that you are dividing out your belongings I guess I better stay on your good side and blog. Lol! The only things I want I need from you now, not after you are gone...memories. Honestly, I will say it now and in writing I do not care about the stuff, I am just grateful for all the moments and memories we make with you and you with our kids. That is priceless and all we want!

Our family had a great time visiting with everyone. It was a great few weeks, and we loved that our kids had an opportunity to spend so much time with their cousins. Thank you Sherri, Brett, and family for allowing our kids to stay at your house and come a week early. Thank you Rick for shuttling our kids down early. Thank you Mom for the many wonderful breakfasts, and thank you for all of those who provided food and opened their home to allow us to visit, play games, and make memories as a family. We had a great time!!

This past weekend we had an opportunity to visit with Angela's sister and her family. They came up to Salt Lake to go to Lagoon Amusement Park, and stayed with us Friday till Monday morning. We spent the entire weekend with them, including a day at Lagoon. It was a lot of fun, but only made me miss Cedar Point more. I am worried that age is catching up on me, as I sat out a couple rides, Tilt a whirl and the pirate ship, because my body and stomach just do not love those rides anymore. I still rocked all of the major roller coasters, but enjoyed the food more than I used to. The transition to old age is happening. I remember the years going to Cedar Point as Mom rode less and less, to pretty much saying she just loves the atmosphere, watching us kids have fun, and the food. Yikes! Becoming more like Mom is not a bad thing, but I feel so young in my head, surely I am not there yet. It was a fun time, and I loved watching my girls run around and laugh and just have fun being a kid. We got there 17 minutes after opening, thanks Angela for making us late, and left right as it closed at 11pm. What a good time! The tradition of Cedar Point can never be beat, and maybe some year all of our families can make a trip to Cedar Point for one huge family reunion and let our kids experience the greatest Amusement Park in the world, and more importantly experience a little of our own childhoods. It will always be one of my fondest memories. We had a nice visit with her sister and family. They have two kids, a girl and a boy, close enough to our girls age that the kids loved it. It has been a great summer just because of all the family time we have been able to enjoy. We kicked off summer with a wonderful trip to Yellowstone with Mom and Rick. I am so happy my kids will have fond memories of time with their grandparents. That trip has been followed by numerous opportunities to spend time and have fun with Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. It has been a great summer!

Last week Angela and I had the opportunity to go to the temple for Baptisms with Mason for her first time. She was so excited, and it was such a fun experience. She missed out on the youth temple trip experience that I had as a youth, but I had the opportunity to perform the baptisms and confirmations with her, so that made it that much more special for all of us. We went to the Mt. Timpanagos temple. It was a beautiful and spiritual experience. We then rush home to get her to her Young Women's activity. She is so close to being a teenager, I just hope she stays as sweet and innocent as she is right now. Haha. She is excited to do more baptisms, so we are going to try and visit more temples throughout the valley with her. Poor Connley has two more years before we can turn them into family temple trips, but Mason will set a good example for her so she will be prepared when she does turn 12.

Finally, we wanted to say our final good-bye to McKenna. Your talk was excellent, and your delivery was even better. You sound far more prepared than myself, so you have nothing to worry about on that end. Plus the Lord only needs you to go and open your mouth, He and the Spirit will do the rest. You will have experiences on your mission that will be yours, and you will never be able to explain fully or forget. Eighteen months is a long time, but I promise you when you get to the end you will look back and think, it went too fast. You will be a wonderful missionary, because you are already a wonderful Sister (both in your family and in the church). We look forward to hearing about your mission, and sharing with you the Spirit and love that comes from missionary work. Everyone has their own feelings about missions, some would describe it as, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I always told my new companions, that there are bad times on a mission, but I have never had a bad day. That was true. There will be times that are hard and sad, and the hardest will be watching people you have come to love fall away from the gospel or decide not to be baptized, or struggle to understand something and let that eat away at them until they give up on the church or the gospel message all together. Most missions probably have more disappointment than success, but the Inglands, Zulekas, Eastons, and Carters make it all worth it, and provide the rose colored glasses with which people view their mission experience. We will pray for you, and for the people of the Philippines, that they will be prepared for your visits. Good luck McKenna, we love you, and are grateful for the service you are providing.

hey where is everyone

Ok, it looks like Mom is back to posting alone. I will try again. I just returned from spending 4 days with Rick and his family at reunions and temple and rodeos celebrating pioneers entering the Salt Lake Valley. What fun we had. 4 very busy days. I will share a little. We went to my first rodeo and that was quite fun. In Ogden. I had a plantar's wart removed a week before so I had to forgo my cowgirl boots, but Rick wore his and I wore my cowgirl shirt and we had fried foods and felt sick for 24 hours afterwards. Thursday night we did sealings in the SLC temple and I was able to seal a man to his parents who had had his temple baptism, confirmation and endowment done by someone in 1954 in the SLC Temple. However he had not been sealed to his parents. I found his parents in my search so I had them all sealed after 60 years. That was pretty special. The sealer noticed the dates and mentioned it to the other people who were helping us. I hope he has accepted the other ordinances all those years ago! Then Friday, we met with Rick's brothers to begin splitting up their mom's belongings. I realize how difficult it is for children to let go of their mother's things. They say they don't care who gets what but when it came down to it they did care. The wives had to take control of some of it. I think I had better start now saying who gets what so my kids won't have to decide. Darn it, that is so painful. Then Friday evening back to the temple with Rick's family (cousins) to do an endowment. Rick went through for my brother (Dan) so we again felt like it was special. Saturday, Rick's brother hosted everyone for Mom's 97th birthday bash since she would have wanted her family to celebrate without her. I hope my children will remember to do the same after I am gone. His brother offered a very touching prayer hoping their Mom would be proud of them. I believe she was and is proud of them. Then we headed to Provo for the Mackay family reunion to honor Rick's grandparents and all those who came after. His 2 living aunts were there...both pushing 90 now. One of them asked me to promise to keep it going once they die. They know I am "into families" and reunions. I hope it will happen. Families are so important as are extended families. Today Rick's brothers and wives all went to the Tabernacle broadcast and then up to the roof of the conference center to have our picture taken. If you go up there you will see a mural of his great grandma and grandpa and his grandma as a little girl. (Ruth May Fox and Jesse Fox Jr). It is something. It is on the outside wall with others including David O. McKay as a little boy. Then back to the house for dinner and I flew home. Ok, that is my update. Love to hear about my children. I cannot keep up the blogging alone. Love, Mom

Well, I can only imagine that everyone is still recovering from family vacation and family reunion. I have been busy this week getting back into the swing of work, trying to catch up on housework that I let go while I had family here, trying to get caught up on temple work, trying to get back into a routine and I have to tell you, it is not easy. Maybe you have found the same thing to be true for you and your family. I have hit the pillow each night exhausted. And a little lonely that my house is now quiet and no one is here to say "grandma". I had to go out visiting teaching, prepare a Relief Society lesson for tomorrow and do a variety of odd things this week that has kept me busy as well so it isn't like I have not been busy, but there was definitely something missing in life here in St. George. I sure hope that you all found time to stop and remember some of the fun things we did...can't recall which I enjoyed the most,but I sure enjoyed the talent show, the temple, the time at Pine Valley, McKenna's farewell, the game at Sherri's on Wednesday night, homemade ice cream, making hand prints of grandchildren, visiting, just being together. I hope your families will recall some good times with cousings. It does get hectic for sure. Rick and I got up at 6 this morning and took a walk in the neighborhood and we were the only ones up that early I believe.It was cool outside and quiet and I totally enjoyed. Now the heat of the day forces us to be inside and stay cool under fans and air conditioning. For those of us fortunate enough to live in Utah, we get a vacation day this week to celebrate Pioneer Day. Yeah. I will head north to attend the Mayfield reunion and this year there will be a temple trip into SLC on Friday. I love that they added a temple trip for all the Mackay cousins. Should be quite the trip. Cassie (Chad's wife) had discouraging news this week. Her youngest son, Ben, who is 6 years old was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. He will have to be on insulin the remainder of his life. His blood sugar was over 500 and normal is 60-90. This is quite serious for a little guy who should not eat much sugar forever. Think of all the birthday parties and teenager parties, etc. Rick's wife died at 59 due to complications with diabetes and his grandson, Colton was diagnosed at age 9 so their family understands how dangerous it is. It is such a difficult disease and sometimes even with great compliance, people have issues with blindness, neuropathy, etc. My heart breaks for her. Please keep them in your prayers and thank God everyday that you have healthy children. Hope to be reading some blogs soon. Love from a grateful Mom.

Ohio trip

Rick and I have returned from a week in Ohio and what a great time we have had in the Buckeye State. It was nearly perfect. The humidity was tough on us old folks, but other than that and some rainy days, we had a fabulous time getting to visit with family and friends. My dream would be to have all my kids and their families attend the Hannum reunion with me some year. My dad's sisters are getting up there in years..one is 89...there are only 2 left now. I would love for them to see my kids...they sure would love to meet you. They asked lots of questions and most of my cousins had all of their kids and grandkids with them. Of course, we were the only ones from out of state. MOst of my relatives stayed in Noble County all of their lives..that is all good. I envy them a little...I love my roots. I get very homesick for the good days of Belle Valley and my parents and the simple life I had as a child. I got to go into an old house that I lived in when I was maybe 10 years old. You all would have a good laugh. Uncle Steve owns it. Ted and Marilyn and I discussed where we had our Christmas tree and I recall just like yesterday the red Christmas wreaths in the windows. Wow, memories are the best medicine. I hope each of you have memories of your childhood and that you are making memories with your kids. That is the most important thing in the world. When you get to be my age, you realize that money means nothing compared to family. I loved my childhood and we had so little, but I knew I was loved and I thought we had money because my parents were such good people...everybody in town loved them. Yesterday at our reunion, my cousin said the thought we were rich too because she wanted to come to our house because my parents were so fun and we had such a clean house. My brother Ted, said he remembered you could eat off of the floor. My mother was the best and she kept our house spotless even though we had no plumbing and no bathroom and no running water in the house. I admire her so much. Maybe that is why I tried hard to keep our home clean and neat. I am not half as efficient as her. I do believe each you have a little bit of Grandma Hannum in you as well. I am missing my parents this week. They would be so proud of their grandkids and great grandkids. Well, won't be long until we will be together and celebrating McKenna and her farewell. What a treat for me to see my granddaughter leave for a mission. Sure looking forward to being together as well. Hoping we can enjoy and have a safe and happy time together. Suppose everyone is making July 4th plans. Rick is staying in SLC and I am working here. Since it falls on a Thursday, we will just wait and get together on Friday this week. Too hot to do much here so I might as well work. Have a safe holiday and we will see you all soon. Love, Mom

Been awhile

Yes, I know its been awhile...my last few weeks seem like a blur. However, I realize everyone is busy! Had girls camp a couple weeks ago. It was so crazy this year. I'm in the stake YW, and we lost our stake camp director, our assistant, and our cook. So we as a presidency were left with everything. It was a little stressful, but in the end, I can see how Heavenly Father needed it to be this year. McKenna was called to be a ward youth leader this year. It was so great to be there with her one more time. I loved watching her and Kam interact! McKenna is so good with her sisters. They both bore beautiful testimonies. McKenna talked of her love and peace she has felt in the temple. What a tender moment for me. I only wish that Hallie and Brett could have been with us. Hallie will get to go next year (FINALLY in her words). Brett has gone every year with us as a priesthood leader, but his back wouldn't allow for that this year:(( We are not seeing much improvement at all and he is getting pretty discouraged. He went in for an injection this past week, but not seeing relief yet. It is his nerves...they are regenerating and we have been told that it can take up to 6 months! Not the answer we had hoped for. He is in constant pain. Not too much fun. I know he feels sad because this is our last summer with McKenna for awhile, and he is spending it in pain. Thanks for your continued prayers. It seems like your blogs are more exciting to read than mine....I've humbled myself and realized that I'm not so funny after all. My brothers definitely got the humor gene. Well, I guess I can make people laugh "AT" me with some of my funnies...but that's not really much to brag about huh?! I'm looking forward to visiting soon. I feel like my July is going to fly by...and then I will be left with many tears I fear. What will I do without me sweet Kenna-bunk?! I love my girls so much! So grateful to be their mom! So grateful for you all also...see ya soon!
LOVE- SIS

This is the last call for Buckeye shirts...Jeff is the only one who contacted me with what his family needs and sizes. Let me know if your family is in need soon...Rick and I are flying out Saturday am, but I leave for SLC on Friday at noon. Love, MOM

What a week

Wow, I have had quite a week. I was able to go to the temple 5 times this week. Every time I was able to do work for my ancestors that I am working so hard to locate. It is so fun and such a "high" to do work for your own family. Of course, the highlight was Friday afternoon when we all went with McKenna Lynn Remund for own endowment. As I sat in the temple next to Ashley Shay, McKenna and Sherri, I felt so emotional and then to look over th aisle and see Rick, Brett and Justin, I just could hardley contain my joy. When your Dad and I went to the temple in SLC more than 40 years ago, we had no family that even believed in us. Here I sat with 3 generations in a short span of 40 years. I could live to be there with a 4th generation(well, maybe not), but you know me...I dream big. At any rate, it was quite the experience. McKenna is just so nonchalant...We visited with her yesterday and she seems pretty ok with garments..considering it was 108 degrees here yesterday, that isn't too bad...I love her so much. I know the Phillipinos will adore my redheaded granddaughter. Rick and I have had a morning walk and he and I are both teaching today. He teaches Gospel Doctrine and today it is on the 2nd coming. I told him to stick to the manual...some will try to distract him with speculation. He is a bit nervous...so much he wants to talk about and so little time. I teach Relief Society and it it on Seeking the will of the Lord. I hope I can always do that. Sometimes I have not...then it never turns out the way it should. Rick and I are headed to the Buckeye State June 22 through June 29. If anyone needs shirts, let me know right away along with sizes. or if you are looking for anything else. Please send me that right away so I can make my list. The time will go fast. Do it now..otherwise, no complaining if you don't get anything. I have too many now to even remember if you don't tell me. Jeff, will you please mail be back those sister names that you accidentally took home with you for baptisms....I need to see who they are and get that work done so I will have some names for endowments when you guys do the "Hall men". We need to be deciding when we will go to the temple when all are here. We will be doing Wayne, Grandpa Hall,Great Grandpa Hall, Great Grandma Hall, Denny, My brother, Danny. I have many other names of course, but those are the ones you requested. I am still searching for a birthdate for baby girl Hall, All I have is the year "1950". the church needs more. I will keep trying. Getting so excited about July and family time. The summer will be flying by and then McKenna will be gone. After that, just 5 months and Rick and I will retire and hopefully be called on our mission as well. The older you get the faster it goes. Glad you all aren't old yet. I sure love my family. MOM

Yellowstone and summer

We had a great time in Yellowstone and Big Sky with Mom and Rick. It really was an amazing and relaxing weekend. For a first time at Yellowstone, I worry that we were a little spoiled with all the animals we saw. Everyone has their own favorites, but just being able to see the numerous animals and ones so different than what we had in Ohio was very neat. Rick was an excellent tour guide and took us all over the park, where we feel like we really saw the best stuff and did not waste any minute. We spent a lot of time checking out the many hot pots, which were Connley's favorite part of the trip, but in between each stop being able to here stories from Rick or receive some historical information added to the entire experience. The only thing better than Yellowstone was Mom's cooking and the company we kept. It was a fun time, and a great opportunity to spend time with Mom and Rick, and for my kids to spend a fun weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, especially considering they will not be around for 2 years very soon. I highly recommend the Mayfield Family tour for anyone who can make it up that way while they are there.

Well, our kids finish school this Thursday, yippee! Angela and I are excited because it will save us many miles and about 30 minutes on our commute to work each day. Right now we drive them to school and pick them up, since we did not want to make them transfer schools with only one month left in the year. It adds significant time and mileage to our drive each morning and evening, but it was worth it for the girls. The girls are dreading the summer, because they do not have any friends out here yet, so they are anticipating being bored out of their minds. Luckily we have so many family events happening that we hope that will help the summer go fast and make it more fun. Since Mason is in 6th grade, which here the elementary is K-6th, she is graduating from elementary to Junior High School in 4 days. Next year she will be in 7th grade, which here is 7-9th grades. I am a little nervous about her going to school with 9th graders, but I intend to continue to be the over-protected father, so we shall see. Since Mason and her class are graduating out of elementary, they are having a graduation ceremony for the 6th grade on Thursday, and they have selected Mason to speak at the graduation. She will be 1 of 3 kids speaking. We are excited and nervous for her, but she doesn't seem nervous at all...yet. She rejected all of my ideas for her speech, but taken all of her mom's advice, so my expectations have been lowered a bit. Haha, just kidding!!

As for Connley she is a little nervous about school next year, because this will be the first year she has ever gone to school without Mason. It will be a little scary, but it is only one year before they are back in the same school. It might even be good for both of them, because now they will have their own experiences and more to share and talk about with each other.

As for Angela and I same old same old. We continue to work, and are trying to unpack still. We love our new house, but look forward to the day where we feel a little more established and settled in. With that as our worry, things are pretty good. We are very excited for summer, especially all of the family happenings. We look forward to seeing everyone and having the opportunity to spend some quality time together. It seems like it has been forever since we have seen David, Mike, and Jeff and families. We saw Sherri at Easter, but it was such a great visit that we do miss being closer. We truly cannot wait to see everyone!!

We hope you are all well. We are so excited and happy for Jeff and Catherine, and their new jobs. We know Jeff will do great, and hope it will be the blessing his family needs. I was so excited when I heard Jeff got the job. It was such an emotional roller coaster for about a week or two. Congrats Jeff and good luck! For those who may not know, Catherine was hired to be a real estate agent with Keller-Williams in Boise, and starts realtor school Monday. Sorry if I stole your thunder Catherine. She will do great as a realtor!

We hope to share some further exciting news with all of you very soon, but for now, we love you and will see you soon!

just love those blogs

I love reading everyone else's blogs. Jeff, I don't even know if you realize how funny you are when you write. I picture you writing and think of how it must be in South Carolina and I am glad you are with your family there, but sad that you are so far from family here. I do want to clarify that I have invited all of you to Yellowstone, but it is never a good time for anyone because of the time we have the condo...it is always in May. Wish it were later in the summer, but this is the month and week that Rick has reserved it for many years thus we cannot change it. That is how those time shares work...they lock you in and you cannot change it. We love the park in May as there are not many tourists yet so it works for us old foggies, but not good for kids in school. We had a wonderful time and I think Mark, Angela and girls enjoyed all the different animals as well. We didn't see any big horn sheep this trip so we were disappointed about that though. But my favorite is the moose and we saw more than ever. Kam did baptisms for some of our family this week for her YOuth Conference..I went to the temple as well. It is so much more exciting to do work for family members. I am really excited to have several of us go this summer together and do Grandpa Hall,Wayne, Denny, great grandpa Hall, Great grandma Hall, Danny, etc. We will surely feel good when that is done. I am trying hard to find the birthdate of Baby girl Hall, your dad's sister who was born and died the same day in 1950. I wrote to Melva to ask her to look at the cemetery marker, but the letter came back to me. I have looked in the cemetery listing but it only gives me the year. I have looked at the OHio Indexing for 1950 and it only gives me the year as well. We cannot do her sealing without more information. darn it!!!! Can you believe McKenna goes through the temple on Friday? Wow, so exciting for Sherri and Brett and all of us. Ashley is driving from Idaho to be with her sister. What a family we belong to. Rick is out cutting down palm tree branches. We took a walk early this am. We went to the movie "Ephraim's Rescue" last night. I think it was every bit as good as "17 Miracles". Same producer. I would recommend it to you. It reminds me of all those who sacrificed so much that we might be blessed today and just how blessed we are to have righteous Priesthood holders right in our family. That is the best thing. I lived many years waiting for my sons to have the Priesthood. It makes a difference. I am grateful that I know I can call on the powers of the Priesthood and we can receive blessings from the Lord. Maybe that is why I am happier Jeff. I love the gospel, I love my family, and I love life. Wow, what more can a woman want? 7 months and counting until retirement and a mission for Rick and I...we are getting excited. Love, MOM

Summer time

Well I missed the last two weeks. One was mothers day and you are all aware of my surprise. I need to figure out how to upload videos because McKenna recorded it on her phone and it's funny to watch. It was a great trip. St. George is a special place and I love a few people that live there. So glad mom moved out there when she did. I regret not allowing her to move when I was in high school. I was a little immature about it but she has blossomed out there and is such a happier person. No mom, it doesn't mean you were unhappy before, just not soooo happy like you are now. And it's always fun to hang out with Sher and her family. Her girls are so big and old. And Brett made that home beautiful. I loved it. I cat wait for summer. Talking about summer...we don't know when we are coming yet. For sure for McKennas farewell. We were hoping to get there July 3rd through the 15th. But now, like Marcus says, I have a real job and I have two get off two jobs. I'm going to swing the airport for as long as they let me. I will find out this week if they even let me stay because I have to drop about 16 to 19 hours. Keep our fingers crossed, because we need those tickets to get out there this summer. Seminary is officially over so I'm excited about sleeping a bit more. Maybe I will start working out again. I look like dad when he graduated high school...skinny in case y'all didn't know. You can ask mom, as she pulled out the last morning I was there, I ripped my shirt off (took it off over my head, not like Hulk Hogan) and flexed for her...I'm pretty sure she thought I was Sherri when she had short hair and when she was running marathons;) I saw pics of Brett lying in bed waiting for surgery. So...how is he? Do tell? When is Kenna going through the temple? Is she practicing her hiligaynon? The other days subbed with a lady from the islands but she had never earn of that language. I think she and i will be able to communicate because of its similarities to Spanish. Kayze has eye surgery June 14th. Poor kid can't see. The specialist laughed at the prescription he currently has and said it was worthless. So let's hope this works. He is so tender and well behaved...unless he goes psycho...which he actually just did. Then he turns into a mopey sloppy puddle of no emotions unless they are depression and anger for about 12 minutes. He often times ask about growing in the belly of another woman. He ask random questions quite a bit. This week he asked me about being born by a black lady. Say what? McCoy is the best snuggled but his breath always smells like he drooled all over his face and it dried...oh wait, he does that and it stinks. But I love him finding me in bed because he loves climbing in. The other boys are out growing it and it makes me sad a bit. McCoy had a closing musical thing for his graduation from preschool this week and he had to go potty. Well for whatever reason he didn't make it to the toilet and he was literally dropping terds out his shorts so...he didn't get to sing. He had one poop accident all year and it was with all the parents watching. We do love our Stoid. Cru is about to be finished with the 1st grade. He had an incident this week that broke his heart. A girl tried to sit next to him on the bus and she always tries kissing him so he swung his book bag at her and the plastic part clocked her in the head and she bled a bit and he had to get written up by the bus driver. I believe I started getting written up about the same time. Bad sign. But he was really upset because he would not get ice cream at school if you get written up. So he made her a card and said sorry again. I remember visiting David's class when he had Ms Fairchild in the sixth grade and his friends told me to slap a sixth graders rear end. I can neither confirm nor deny if I did, but I remember walking up the driveway and hearing my full name come ever so lightly from y mothers mouth as she waited on the steps by the door. Let's just say I wasn't getting any ice cream either. Kayla has her yearly girls trip. They went to Austin Texas. She has had great time. I'm glad she has friends like that. Mothers need a break. I still don't know how y'all do it. I think there should be a day every quarter devoted to you. Yesterday was memorial day. We went to the lake all day. It was great. Great food, boating, paddle boarding, swimming, tubing and no gators. I love summer holidays. They are the best. I said earlier that we want to come for the 4th of July. I just read my acceptance offer and it said I get 2 weeks that are prorated. So I'm assuming I can't use 10 days. I will find out soon. I want to say that Sherri is the natural favorite of Mom's, she is the oldest and only daughter. I'm the baby so I am special. Mark...you have somehow pushed your way tot the top. You were the dark horse in the race but getting an actual invite to Mom and Rick's Yellowstone get away moves you to the top. Kudos to you. Honestly that sounds so incredibly fun. One day out will see McCoy as an attraction. They won't know by whence came or even by name...but he will rule all the wild animals the same. Maybe one day we will have a family reunion out there. We would be fine camping...in the summer. Well I apologize for delay. I love you all.

great news Jeff

Okay, today is great news day!!! Jeff, we have all had our prayers answered. Your family has been praying for the job offer to happen and today it has all come true. I have begged the Lord every day and I will be thanking him mightily tonight for taking care of you and your family. I couldn't be more grateful. Then to know that Brett has successfully survived surgery. We have had him in our thoughts and prayers as well and while we expected nothing less, it is always scary to go under the knife. It sounds like from all indications that Sherri's biggest problem now will be trying to keep him occupied and taking it easy for the next 3 weeks. That is hard for Brett to do. I have a confession. Rick and I are enjoying Yellowstone tremendously. Well, we invited Mark, Angela and girls to join us if they could and they came up last night (Thursday). I hope no one feels left out. We would like for all of our kids to come with us and yet, it is never a good time for anyone so we just ask them if they could take a few days this time before we leave for our mission and they decided to take 3 days and come on up. Perhaps another time someone else will be able to come with us. We have seen 3 moose, a grizzly, elk, buffaloes and their calves, coyote, beavers every night right out our door, red fox right out our door, bald eagle. It is quite something. We are hoping Sherri and family will see tons when they come in July. today we woke up to snow but other than the wind, it has been a nice day. We watched Old Faithful erupt and the girls got to see many hot spots and found them fascinating. We just ate a barbeque steak dinner at the condo and Mark and family are in the hot tub. Rick and I decided to stay in tonight and be old foggies. Well, hope everyone's week is great...who could ask for more blessings than our family has had recently? I love you all and looking forward to McKenna's farewell, Jeff and Kayla and boys visit, Michael, Catherine and family's visit, David and Ethan's visit and a family reunion soon. Love to all, Mom

Brett surgery

Hello family! Tomorrow morning is Brett's back surgery. Wanted to ask you all to please keep him in your prayers. It's nice knowing I can count on family:) Dr. says its a 95% success rate, so I'm sure all will be fine. He has been busy today getting done all the last-minute "honey-do's" for me. Haha. We have te be at the hospital at 5:15 AM...holy moly, that's early:) I wish you were here mom to hang with me at the hospital:) But I'm sure you are having  a blast at Yellowstone! Hope everyone is having a great week. School is out for us...summer fun begins! Love you all!
SIS

JULY 14

Hello family! Yes, July 14...this is the date of McKenna's farewell! Holy cow... I still can't believe it. There were 4 other people in our area that got their calls the same day. Two of them go Aug. 28th, one goes Sept. 1st, and one goes Sept. 11th. I did not expect Kenna to go so soon. But, it will actually be better than just waiting around. She has been so excited. We had a neighbor bring over some Filipino food yesterday. Pretty tasty. We have had fun looking up lots of fun details about where she is going. Her city, Bacolod, is nick named the City of Smiles! Fun huh?! Lots of friendly people. I never imagined having a missionary since we don't have any boys. I feel very blessed. Thank you all for being such a great support and example to each of my girls over the years! I've been so excited for her that I haven't thought about the reality of saying goodbye for awhile. She is literally my buddy. She goes EVERYWHERE with me!! It will be an adjustment for this mama for certain. Kam better step it up... unfortuantely, she is in 100% teen mode:)) My girls get out of school next Thurday, May 23rd. I seriously canNOT believe this school year is over!! All four of my girls have gone to Sunset Elementary and we have had some incredible teachers and great experiences. It is a little sad to me that my baby is leaving elementary. An end of an era for me. Kam will be a freshman. I feel tears in my throat as I'm typing. Better change the subject.
Ok, this next part is for Mark (and Angie)... I am seriously a horrible, lame, loser sister. I even thought about calling and telling you we were going to Lagoon. But talked myself out of it. We had an employee give us free tickets (which ended up not being free by the way). It was a quick trip and last minute decision. BUT, that is NO excuse!! We are lame! I'm sorry!! I will never ever do that again!! Forgive me brother??!! Also, whats up with dangling some big news and then saying we shall tell you later???? You're killing me smalls. We are so excited to have you stay with us in July!
Now for Jeff (and Kayla)... thank you a million times for coming out on Mother's Day. What a treat. I still keep thinking about how kind it was fro Kayla to sacrifice her day for us. It was so neat. Mark... you and I are just going to have to get used to being out-done. I mean, it was Jeff who did this whole blog too!! We may have to combine our efforts Mark!! Haha. It was a fun time and I am grateful we had a couple days to visit.
Well, I'm signing off. Let me know your travel plans everyone! I feel like summer hasn't even officially started and its already going fast. We have so much to get done by July! Take care everyone and love you all bunches!
Sher

A travesty!!

I refuse to be upstaged by my younger brother, I refuse! So it is time Angela and I reveal our big news...Angela is pregnant. We are hoping it is a boy, but regardless of its gender we will be naming the child Shay (or if a boy, Shea) Hannum Hall. Take that Jeff, and Sherri!!

Okay okay, I am just kidding. I am glad Jeff was able to come and visit, mom deserved a Mother's Day surprise like that. I wish I could have come down to share in all of those wonderful memory making days. We are looking forward to Jeff and Kayla's visit in July as well. I am also looking forward to a visit from Mike and Catherine and David and Ethan. I am salty with my sister since I see pictures of all of her girls and Justin at Lagoon a few weeks ago, yet I do not remember a call, text, or visit from my sister a few weeks ago, hmmmm. Facebook can destroy families...when posted pictures reveal visits to my area without saying hello, Sherri Remund!

In case the last paragraph was not obvious, Angela is not pregnant. Truly there is not a lot of news to report. We did move last weekend to Eagle Mountain Ranches, which is on the East side of Utah Lake by Saratoga Springs. Now the real fun begins, unboxing all the junk. Yuck! Other than that, all is well with our family. The kids get out of school June 6th, Angela and I are continuing to work hard with SelectHealth, and we are all healthy and happy. As a family we are currently working towards something that may be huge for our family, but in the spirit of Jeff's teasers the further details will come at a later date. Alright, I guess that about wraps up this weeks info. Jeff what is the update on the websites, the job interview you had, and do we know what dates you are coming out here? Sherri, what is the update on Justin and Ashley? Has he found a job after he graduates? What are their plans after graduation? I look forward to hearing some updates to these questions. Take care Hall, Remund, Mayfield family! Come visit Eagle Mountain Ranches!!

best mother's day surprise ever

Jeff has definitely outdone himself...what a surprise he pulled on Sherri and I for Mother's Day. Just as we sat down for dinner Sunday, he walks right in the front door. I am quite sure my heart skipped a beat or more and I was speechless. Sherri was screaming, I was stunned, I was crying, just not sure it was really happening. We had a wonderul 2 days....but alas, it all came to a screeching halt this morning as I went to work and he headed home. It was fabulous, but now I am very lonely. He is gone and I miss him more. But it was worth it. I enjoyed having him home if even for a few moments in time. We ate, laughed, cooked, talked and tried to get caught up on the past year. I guess that is how it is meant to be. Just try to get caught up and know it will have to be enough until the next time. I will look forward to Kayla and boys coming in July...then our whole family can hopefully be together for a short time. I love it. Thanks to everyone of my kids and Ethan as well for thinking to call me and visit me on Mother's Day. And thanks to Kayla for sacrificing Jeff on Mother's Day weekend so Jeff could spend it with me and Sherri. I appreciated it very much. I love each of you. I am so proud to be called Mom or Grandma by each of you. A grateful mom.

McKenna's call

Wow! What an exciting night for our entire family. Sherri's little girl and my 1st granddaughter is headed on a mission. I think we were all shocked when she said the Phillipines. And who has heard of Hiligaynon as a language? My goodness, can I even imagine her being a missionary so far from us and speaking a language that I cannot pronounce? Well, yes I can because McKenna is a young woman that can do anything she sets her mind to. She has shown us so many times that she is dedicated, determined, and devoted. No one will cry more than my little girl (and I suspect Grandma) when McKenna pulls out of here, but no one will be more proud. She is just a great example of all that is good in life. I am so happy for her as well. When she comes home, wow, she will walk even taller than she does now. McKenna, the Phillipinians are in store for a real treat. They will love you and love that red hair. I suspect some might even join the church because of that gorgeous red hair. I am still workig hard on family history. You Hall boys will not believe this; I shared it with Sherri already. I put in your Great Grandpa Hall (your Grandpa Hall's Dad) Reverend Valentine Hall. Guess what? Someone had already entered his name and done the work for his parents and 4 siblings. They did not do your great grandfather and great grandmother. I have finished their dates by looking them up in the cemetery where your grandparents are married. Now you guys can do their work and have your grandpa sealed to them and them have them sealed to each other. Is that ever so neat. I am working on getting your Dad's family sealed so he can not be mad at me any more. And I now have Denny's card ready for you to take in July. I went to the cemetery on line and found his grave. As I say, I am "on fire". Rick and I are even more excited about serving a mission now that McKenna actually has her call. We are still hoping for Kirtland. We are going to Ohio in June and are going to talk to the missionaries while we are there. Afterall, Ohio might need us. I have a son there that needs converted. Right, David? Of course, we will go anywhere the Lord wants. I hope everyone is getting into the spirit of missionary work. This is our family's time to let the Lord know we love Him and we support His work. McKenna will need to hear from Hall of us on a regular bases. No slackers allowed. Mark and Jeff will testify that news from the homefront is important when discouragement sets in. Love my family. A grateful Mom and Grandma!!We must get firm on our family plans now. She will be gone before we know it!!!

Exciting Week

Hello there fam! Well, it is family night and most of my fam is gone for a bit. So I thought I would connect with my other family for a few minutes! I had a great weekend, starting with Women's Conference at BYU and then weekend with all my kiddos (I'm relishing the times I get them all togther now).  Food for thought...we sisters (and mom) should all go to womens conf. together sometime. It is so uplifting, I just love it! We are SO excited for this week...especially McKenna.They told her Wednesday or Thursday, but the cute girl looked today! I have a feeling she will stay state-side. I only hope that she feels good about where she goes. She is nervous about being too close to home and being hoemsick. We will be in touch wednesday or thursday for sure.
Ok now, a few commnts. First of all... JEFF, I never yelled at you for getting lost. Why must you have negative memories against your only sister?!?! I don't even know about that at all. Second, you made up for it by your sweet Christlike service at Trek. Thank you so very much for sharing that Kayla. It touched my heart a 1000 times. Third, MARK...your last blog was the most touching thing I have ever read.As I sat reading it,  an overwhelming feeling of the Spirit came over me! Thank you so very much for sharing your feelings!!! And finally, I will be on the look out for Elder McLean. We actually just got two full-time elders in out stake for the first time. How is the job stuff going for you Jeff? We keep you in our prayers as well. We will be excited to get together this summer with everyone. However, you guys know that I shall never hike the subway again!!So count me out on that day. We are going to Rexburg July 23 for Justin's graduation and are hitting Lava Hot Springs. I shall not be breaking my tail bone again either as I will not be doing the high jump. I have faced the fact that I am OLD! HAHA. Well, hope everyone is enjoying their family night. I'm signing off for today. Thanks again for all the sweet posts! Love you all. Have a good week. You will all be hearing from us soon:)
Love- SIS

love it

I sure have loved all the posts lately.. Kayla, thanks for sharing the story of Jeff washing the feet of your daughters on Trek, while he did share quite a bit of Trek with us, he failed to mention that storing and I have been unable to get it out of my mind. Like you, I will always think of him doing that. I have had quite a week as I continue to work on family history. I have had new doors open up. I was going through some old papers that I had filed away and found a note I made at least 20 years ago mentioning that my mom's mother had had a baby girl die at age 2 back in 1907. I found it on an old tombstone long before my grandparents were even married when my grandmother was married to someone else. I can now have that little girl sealed to her parents. That work might never have happened if I had not jotted that note down when visiting the cemetery one day in Caldwell and just made a note of it. I am amazed of things that are happening. I read of things like this, but now it is happening to me and it is quite unbeliveable. Rick and I continue to move towards retirement and a mission. I confirmed with my boss this week and I will definitely be retired by end of year. I am meeting with a realtor on Tuesday. There are 2 other houses on the market right on my street. Darn. May make it harder, but I will not stress...the Lord will help us. We know McKenna will hear this week on her mission. We are so excited for her. By this time next week, she will know and be making her plans. Can you believe it? Just yesterday, she was in diapers...or so it seems. That is how fast the time goes. Mark and Angie will be in their new home. My family is on the move. David and I had a nice phone visit last week. I wish he weren't so far away. He needs us. June 29th is the Hannum family reunion in Belle Valley. Rick and I will be going. Sure would be fun if some of my kids could go. I would love to show you off but I know it is so far away. Jeff, let me know what you are thinking for your trip here....we want to get making plans ASAP. Well, getting ready for church, but wanted to send a quick update. Rick and I are speaking tonight to the elders Quorum and their wives on balancing our lives...church, family, work, school. I don't know if I am a good one to address those topics, but will give it a shot. My kids might tell a different story. I love you Hall. MOM

Hi all this is Kayla wanting to share just a little bit. I have loved reading about everyone's memories and current experiences, I know that Jeff shared already about trek but I wanted to add something. On our second night after we had been drenched mud flooded and soaked our feet were soggy and yet somehow crusty. They were sore and in some cases blistered but most of all they were cold. My sweet husband reminded me so much of our savior as he beckoned his "daughters" to come to the cleaning posts (something they set up for us for our last night) there were buckets of warm water and soap. Jeff asked the girls to sit down and he untied their boots or sneakers and began washing and warming their feet until they were sparkling. He did this to each of the girls. He showed them how much he had appreciated their hard work sacrifice and incredible atitudes. I will honestly think of this often for the rest of my life. I can see him right now, flannel shirt, red beard, messy hair and dirty tattered clothes kneeling on one knee washing the girls feet. How he reminded me of my savior in that moment. I love him so much, and although we continue to struggle in so many ways we are surely blessed beyond our deserving in the subject of love. Just had to share that moment on this the journhall! Love you all :)

A quickie...

Just wanted to take a quick minute to add some thoughts and answer questions. First, and most important, yes Jeff the house was purple. The last time I drove to Cedar Point the house was still there, and that is the moment I started getting excited knowing we were close. However, when we were leaving I did wish Mom was around to drive so that I could nap all the way home. It really puts it into perspective driving up early in the morning, walking around all day, and then driving home at night, while everyone else sleeps how tired Mom must have been; and then to wake up and go to work the next day. It was only a one day vacation, but the best vacation we ever did. Angela and I talk about it every year, how to get our kids to Ohio and experience Cedar Point now that they are old enough to ride the rides. We did Lagoon here in Utah last year, it was fun, but nothing compared to Cedar Point. Cedar Point is one of my fondest memories, and truly is one of the most fun places ever. Mom, absolutely you can give Angela and I some names to do. Giving us names will help motivate me to go more often. Angela is always pushing me to go, but there is always an excuse not to (usually my fault). We are planning to go in June, because every weekend in May is now booked. I enjoy temple work, but genealogy is more interesting once you, not me you, uncover some cool information. The actual work is tedious and boring to me, but I love hearing about what you are learning, Mom, so kudos keep up the good work. Your blessing probably meant if you don't do it, none of your kids will, so your side may stall out with you over time. Sorry Mom! Jeff, it is great to hear about your phone interviews, those are always so difficult. You cannot get a vibe as easily of the interviewer. We are praying for you every time we pray. It sounds like you have a lot happening, I am curious to know more about blazerate.com, what is it? Deciding between that and this possible new job sounds like a tough decision, but I know with the Lord's guidance you will make the right decision. I totally understand the bird in the hand. That is why I took the valet/parking attendant job and then the security job. I kept thinking of the man on the roof during a flood, waiting for the Lord to save him. I took the jobs, and each one opened up better future opportunities. Separating your head and heart from the Spirit can be difficult, but if anyone is able to do so, it is you. Sometimes it is hard for us to see the means to an end that the Lord can see. We will continue to pray for you and your family. What is the company's name anyways? You are always so secretive, telling us just enough to make us curious, but never enough to fulfill my questions. Rude!

Okay, well this was suppose to be a quick update, so Connley is 10 this week, Angela just turned 34, I will be 36 in June, and Mason will be 12 in July. Our little family is not so little anymore, especially me...I am fat! We are anxious to move, and the kids are hoping this is the last new ward and school. We are very excited for Jeff and fam's visit. Jeff we would be happy to pick you up from the airport, you can stay the night with us, and then all travel down to St. George or whatever. I will taking off the whole time you are here so we are open to whatever. I figure you guys can take one of our vehicles so that you have freedom to go do whatever, whenever. When you fly in to SLC we would love to pick you up and will have plenty of room for you, so I hope you know you are all welcome to stay with us as many days as you need in SLC. Well, I guess I better get back to work, hope all of you are well and hope to see each of you soon.

love reading

I read and reread and then read to Rick the latest blogs from all my kids. We are enjoying them so much. Perhaps Jeff is correct...tender mercies might be the correct words..I cry each time I read them so not sure what to think of that! I, too, have such fond memories of Cedar Point. I told Rick if we get called to serve in Kirtland we will have to visit Cedar Point so I can relive some of my memories. Wouldn't that be fun!! I would be so happy and so sad at the same time. I can remember everything about it. What you each wore..I always had the boys wear the same color shirt so I could keep track of each of you by counting red shirts or blue shirts..etc. It worked because I never lost anyone. Sherri, did you yell at Jeffrey? Shame on you... Last night I went to the temple and did went through the endowment session for my aunt Mary (my Dad's sister). What an exciting night! She only died in 2012. I kept wondering last night if she was getting to be with my parents and her parents that have had their work done many years ago. I wish I knew more. At any rate, I will keep on doing and have faith that they will accept what they didn't know about here. I cannot tell you how excited I am...hope you don't get tired of me saying it. I do have questions: Should I send any names of men to Jeff and Mark to do endowments for some of my extended family in SC and SLC? Would you want me to have the baptisms, confirmations and initiatories done here? Obviously, we will do the work for Uncle Wayne, Grandpa, Uncle Denny, Uncle Dan this summer, but there are many other names that need done. I would be glad to send you a few names for you to do in the meantime as well as some for Angela and Kayla. Only if you want them though. I don't want to make you feel obligated. Rick teaches Gospel Doctrine in our ward now. He taught today for the first time. Did a bang up job. Jeff, I don't know how you prepare a lesson every day. That is a ton of preparation. By the way, I took your advice and read 1Peter last week. Thanks for the advice. It was a quick and easy read and yet had lots of meat in it. Do you have dates yet for your visit to UT? The sooner we know, the easier to make plans. Miss Connley turns 10 this week...wow, my grandchildren are getting so big. Not sure how to slow it down,but I don't like that we don't have any babies in the family anymore. Good news about Chad. You never know when the right one will come along. It is fun to see them enjoying after a mission though. I will watch for Elder McLean here in St.George. What a coincidence! Well, everyone is busy. I talked to David tonight and encouraged him to get on our blog and read and blog us a note. He doesn't have a computer up and running currently and I do know it is harder on the phone, but I hope he will try. I think he could use our encouragement. I updated him on the family. If I could get him excited in genealogy, he could spend sometime in Ohio helping me out.. Sure love my family. Glad I have been blessed with each of you and thank God every day that I get to be your mother. See you all soon. Mom