Robert & Janet Reeves Family

Such a Fun Day!

2012-02-14T14:05:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, the Hickens invited us to come with them to visit a place where thousands of Monarch butterflies come each year to hibernate during the winter. We drove up to Mexico City on Sunday night and stayed at the Temple Apartments so we would be ready to go at 7 am on Monday morning. As we headed out to where we were to meet the bus, we had a fun surprise... Ryan and all of his sisters were visiting their mom and dad for the week and would be going on the trip with us. President Hicken was sick and wasn't able to come. We were so excited to see them!

Mexico City is really big! It took us two hours or more just to get out of the city, but then we started traveling through some really beautiful country, full of pine trees and snow covered mountains,

until we arrived at Piedra Herrada, a sanctuary for the Monarch Butterfly.

Normally, the butterflies would be flying around all over the area, but because it was so
cold and we had rain recently, they were all in the trees up the mountain.

Some of us took advantage of the horses that were available to ride and the rest of us hiked up the trail to where we could see the butterflies. Before we left on the horses, while Robert was deciding which horse to ride, the horse that he was going to ride kicked him in the knee. It hurt a lot, but his knee was fine and wasn't bruised or anything. It really took him by surprise.

I got lucky with my guide and horse. All the horses were being led, by rope, by their owners. My guide asked me if I could ride alone, so he wound up the rope and tied it to my horse, then he let me ride on my own. He encouraged my horse ahead of the other horses. It was a fun ride.

When we got to a certain point, we had to get off the horses and walk the rest of the way.

This is President and me with Jose, our lead guide. He was very nice and said that each of the guides will make the hike once a week with their horses.

It was a short walk to a viewing point where we could see the butterflies in the trees. They look like leaves in the tree, but really they are sitting close together in the branches, trying to avoid the cold and rain.

Us and Ryan

If you look really closely, you can see me holding a butterfly

a close up of the butterflies

After seeing the butterflies, we rode the horses back down the mountain and loaded the buses again. We headed into Valle de Bravo for some dinner. As we came over the top of the hill, I could see a big lake ahead of us.

This city was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen!

It is so picturesque and looks like something out of a magazine...
and dinner wasn't too bad either!

The Hickens and the view from the patio where we ate... the view of the lake was beautiful!

As we left on the bus we drove by the lake.

It took us awhile to get back to Mexico City, then Robert and I drove back to Puebla.
It was a great day and it was great to spend it with the Hickens and our other friends.

Another sad weekend

2012-02-07T10:32:00.001-06:00

I have not been looking forward to this weekend. It started out well with our monthly Zone Leader Council on Friday, which was fine. We have started serving breakfast because some of the elders get up very early to make it here on time and they don't have time to eat. The meeting was wonderful as usual, with the assistants doing some training and the President sharing some thoughts and direction regarding the little rules in the mission.

The Zone Leaders, Assistants and Office Elders

We try to encourage the missionaries to be Preach My Gospel missionaries and to attain a level of excellence in everything they do.

Elder Wennerholm and Elder Turner singing a hymn during our recess

This was Elder Tate's last ZLC and last weekend with us. On Saturday we attended four baptisms, which was great. He will go home on Monday. This is the part I don't like...

On Sunday, Elder Tate came to the mission home for the departure dinner
and testimony meeting. He was the only missionary in his generation.

Our picture with the departing missionaries...

Elder Rainford, Elder Izaguirre, the new Assistant, Elder Hernandez and Elder Bencomo

On Monday morning, we usually let the office elders take the missionaries to the airport because it is so early in the morning. We decided to take Elder Tate, though.

Saying goodbye at the Puebla Airport

We will really miss Elder Tate. He was a wonderful example for the other missionaries,
a great teacher and a great Assistant. We will miss his cheerful smile and his happy attitude,
but we wish him the best as he returns home

A Cold February

2012-02-02T20:13:00.002-06:00

We've been having some very cold weather the last few weeks and more rain than is usual for this time of year. Combine these two things and you get...

hail!

It was really coming down in our backyard.

2012-01-30T09:24:00.003-06:00

Last week we traveled to Mexico City with the assistants and Elder Rodriguez and his companion, Elder Bliler. Elder Rodriguez received permission to go to the temple to do the work for his father, who passed away several months ago. It was wonderful to be with him as he did this sacred work. These are just some pictures of the temple grounds after we were finished.

A few days later, we said goodbye to Elder Rodriguez, as he traveled home to have surgery on his knee, which he injured a few weeks ago. He will get it fixed, then come back to the mission as soon as he is feeling better.

2012-01-22T12:31:00.002-06:00

We had the opportunity to attend two weddings and a baptism this week! We thought the weddings were just receptions, but when we got there and the bride and groom walked in, we realized we were at the wedding! Here in Mexico, they perform the ceremony, then everyone signs the necessary papers, then they have a dinner for everyone in attendance. We felt very privileged to be invited. It was a lot of fun with a Mariachi group, lots of singing and really good food. The next day both couples were able to attend the Temple in Mexico City and be sealed.

(pictures coming...)

The baptism we attended was for a couple that we had over for dinner earlier this week. They are in our ward and he is the son of one of the members of the ward. President Reeves was invited to baptize both of them.

Brother Munoz and his wife and their little girl.

Elder Guzman, Brother Munoz, Brother and Sister Munoz, Sister and President Reeves, Elder Hernandez
We were very excited to be invited to participate in this baptism and are very happy for the Munoz family!

Zone Conferences

2012-01-14T12:57:00.003-06:00

Has it really been three months since we had our last Zone Conference? All week, we held Zone Conferences in the different areas of the mission. It was a great way to start off the new year!

On Tuesday we traveled to Tehuecan and met with the Tehuecan and Atlixco zones. On the way to the conference, we saw an accident involving a truck that missed the entrance to the toll booth and another one further down the road involving a bus and the median...

don't ask me how it got up there on the median!

Atlixco Zone

Tehuecan Zone

We even got a glimpse of Pico de Orizaba on the way back.

This is a volcano that is just outside the boundaries of our mission, in Veracruz,
but it is the highest volcano in Mexico and the third highest peak in the world.

As we came into Puebla, we caught this beautiful picture of Popocateptl
or "Popo" as we call it, another active volcano right here in Puebla.

We love to see how it looks every day.

On Wednesday we drove to Chiautempan and met with the Tlaxcala and Chiautempan zones

it's very cold in Tlaxcala, especially inside the church!

Tlaxcala Zone

Chiautempan Zone

On Thursday we stayed here in Puebla and met at the chapel right next to the office with the Norte and Oriente zones.

Norte Zone

Oriente Zone presented a guitar number for us during the break

Oriente Zone

Today we also had another new elder arrive in the field from Peru, Elder Mimbela...

On Friday we were in Puebla with the Sur and Poniente zones.

Sur Zone

Elder Bertha doing some training

Poniente Zone

After the training with the elders and sisters we provided lunch for them.

Elder Tate and Bencomo helped out a lot with the lunch this time and it was so helpful!

They did all the organizing and helped each day with making sure we had everything we needed for lunch. Lunch is a very popular part of the day!

fixing a sandwich...

The training centered a lot around using Preach My Gospel in their studying and teaching...

Elder Kenczka, a District Leader, doing some training

...and they also had an opportunity to practice the principles they were taught.

Zone Conferences are always a great time to teach principles, learn what is
expected of them as missionaries, and to get to know each other. We love Zone Conferences!

January Zone Leaders Council

2012-01-06T21:00:00.003-06:00

Pictures from our Zone Leader Council on Friday... We always enjoy having the elders over for the council. President Reeves, Elder Tate, Elder Bencomo and three of the Zone Leaders gave excellent presentations.

One of our missionaries, Elder Painter, had to return home this week, also. He was having some problems from a previous injury that made it necessary for him to return to the states and have surgery. We will miss you Elder Painter, but we hope you'll be feeling well soon!

Elder Nuncio also had to return home for a surgery on his back, but we expect that he will return to the mission as soon as he is feeling better.

Empty Nesters??

2011-12-28T20:50:00.001-06:00

It finally happened... After 35 years of marriage and 34 years of having children in our home, we are "empty nesters". I always thought I would enjoy having some time to myself, but it stinks! Taylor and Nicole left early this morning from the Puebla airport and then Ben, Brian, Dad and I left for Mexico City later in the morning for Ben and Brian's flight back to the States.

We had lunch at the Carl's Jr. there in the airport...
leave it to them to have to have a funny picture!

I'm lucky that I didn't get my camera taken away... I took this picture just before they went through Security and as I started to take another, the Security person wagged his finger at me, as if to say, "Don't do it..." And just like that they were gone. Ben flew to North Carolina to meet up with his roommate and good friend, Josh Locklear. Brian was on his way to Utah to spend a week with Lindsay and Darren, and then he will return to Arizona to finish his Senior year of High School. I was pretty emotional the rest of the day...

It will probably take us awhile to get used to this new phase of life,
but we have 200 missionaries to keep us busy while that happens!

Africam!

2011-12-27T21:43:00.010-06:00

So I guess our family really loves animals! Taylor, Nicole and Ben said they all wanted to go to Africam, so we went to see all the animals one more time. This makes our third trip to Africam, but we love it every time! It's fun because we are so close to the animals and we can open the doors and windows and feel like we're even closer. We even came home with all our fingers and toes! Enjoy the pictures...

Christmas with the fam

2011-12-26T21:19:00.000-06:00

Christmas is always better when there are little children involved...

On Christmas Eve, Van opening his present from Santa...

cutest little guy around!

We started out Christmas morning like we usually do... Dad read the account in Luke 2 of the story of Christ's birth.

Taylor and Nicole

Ryan was not feeling well at all. He got very sick from some tacos he ate or something...

Brian in his usual blanket

Then we opened the Christmas Stockings to see what Santa brought...

Then came the presents!

Van figured out how to open his presents pretty quickly, then he decided he needed to help everyone else open theirs!

Taylor gave Nicole a mini quad for Christmas...

Kimber gave Brian some snowboarding gloves...

After opening the presents, we went to church for one meeting with both wards in attendance. Robert, Ben, Brian and Taylor sang "The First Noel" with Kimber accompanying them on the piano. It was beautiful and really brought the Spirit into the meeting.
After church, we came back and had dinner and enjoyed the day with the family.

We were also able to skype with Larry and Melanie and Lindsay and Darren.
All in all, a very good day!

On the 26th, we had new missionaries arrive from Mexico and the States.

Our new Mexican missionaries, Elder Ulloa, Elder Betts, Elder Perdomo, President and Sister Reeves, Elder Leon, Elder Cruz, Elder Prosper, Elder Ugalde

Our new American missionaries and two Peruvian Missionaries, Elder Mendoza, Elder Whitney, Elder Kubosumi, Elder Young, Sister and President Reeves, Elder Rodriguez, Elder Barnes and Elder Knowlton (this was taken the morning of the 27th, as our American elders arrived late Monday night).

The new trainers with the new missionaries...

While we were training, the kids went to the soccer field down the street and played some soccer.

I think they had a good time! After soccer, the kids went to a tienda across the street and got some tortas for lunch. Kimber, Ryan and Van were heading to Mexico City to continue their Christmas vacation by spending a few days with Ryan's parents who are serving as Mission Presidents in the Mexico City East mission. Our office elders drove them to Mexico City to drop them off. It was the first of our goodbyes this week and wasn't fun at all. We will miss you...

Family visits for Christmas!

2011-12-24T18:44:00.000-06:00

Kimber, Ryan and Van arrived here for Christmas on the 21st and Taylor and Nicole arrived on the 22nd. We were so excited to have them all come to visit! Ryan and Kimber flew into Mexico City on Wednesday, so a little after noon, Ben, Brian, President and I drove our van into the city to pick them up at the airport. First, we went to the wrong terminal because we didn't know they were coming in to the other one, but by the time we got to the arrival area, they had barely gotten through customs. So it worked out pretty well. They had some glitches in their travel plans, but finally made it through with all their children, bags and belongings. By the time we got back into Puebla, it was fairly late so we just headed for the house and got settled.

The next morning we all piled into the big Mission Van and headed to the airport in Puebla to pick up Taylor and Nicole.

While we waited for their plane to land, we watched a soccer game going on next door to the airport.

It was really good to see Taylor again and fun to meet Nicole, finally!

One of the things we wanted to do was to see the Pyramids in Cacaxtla, which is really close to the airport, so we headed over there.

After walking around both of the pyramid sites, we went into town for lunch and some shopping. The cemitas and tacos are amazing and are really inexpensive, so it's one of our favorite places to eat. We parked right outside of this church...

The next day, on Friday, we headed to Tehuecan early to visit the Zoo. It was a good thing that we left early because about half way there we got a flat tire. Another good thing was that we didn't take the freeway, but we were right in the middle of town when it blew, so we were able to get another tire quickly and be on our way. Here they have a tire store about every mile or so, so Robert, Taylor and Ben walked to the store, bought a tire, waited while they put it on the rim then walked it back and put it on the van. We continued on our way till we stopped for gas. After filling the tank, we found out that they didn't take credit cards, so Robert, Ryan and Taylor caught a taxi into town to get some cash to pay for the gas. Four hours after leaving Puebla, we made it to the zoo. But it was worth it... enjoy the pictures!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-20T13:46:00.013-06:00

We would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. We are grateful for this time of year when we can reflect on the Savior’s life and the great gifts He has given each one of us. Through the Atonement, we can become worthy to live with our Father in Heaven as families. We hope you will have a wonderful time this year as you meet with family and friends, and even though we are far away, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. We love you all!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-19T14:01:00.000-06:00

Our Transfer this month landed on Christmas Day. Because we will have family here and because we thought it might be too hectic to have the missionaries leave on Christmas day, we decided to have the outgoing Missionaries go home a week early on the 18th. I thought they would all be very excited to go home and be with their families on Christmas, and they were, but some of them were also very sad to leave things unfinished in the mission. What good missionaries we have!

Ben and Brian kept some of the elders busy while they waited for the interviews with the President by playing a game of "Lord of the Rings" Risk. It was a very intense game...

Our dinner was mostly prepared by Elder Villalba, who barbecued some delicious meat. I supplied the rice, beans, tortillas and of course the hot sauce! Dinner was great...

We lose another Assistant, Elder Gonzalez...

Elder Bencomo will try to fill Elder Gonzalez's shoes and we have every confidence that he will be a great assistant!

Elder Avendano and Elder Patterson

Elder Gutowski and Elder Gonzalez

Elder Hernandez

Elders Cranford, Dunn (standing) and Smith

Everyone wanted a picture in front of the Christmas tree!

This was a very excited group!

going away gifts...

Opening their departure packets right before our Testimony Meeting

we had to have a crazy picture...

will it all fit?

Elder Gonzalez is going to make sure it will!

We will really miss all these missionaries. They have been hard workers and faithful servants of our Father in Heaven. They will be a part of our lives for a very long time! We love you all!

2011-12-18T16:40:00.000-06:00

Elder Gonzalez has been working very hard to help organize the missionaries to be part of the Christmas program being put on by the La Libertad Stake. The elders and sisters have been practicing for weeks to learn their songs that they will be singing as a choir.

All their hard work paid off...they did a great job singing, in spite of the biting cold.

Robert, Benjamin and Brian also sang a number, Come Thou Fount, during the evening and sounded beautiful. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get Robert in the picture... he is behind the post. Elder Zimmerman, the elder who was going to accompany them, got sick on Friday and wasn't able to play for them, so Elder Jackson volunteered to step in and did a great job.

A Dream Come True

2011-12-13T13:32:00.001-06:00

Anyone who knows us knows that we love animals... all kinds. Dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, fish, bunnies, turtles... we love 'em all! I don't remember the first time that I thought it would be my dream come true to hold and pet a tiger or lion, but I thought this dream would have to wait until after this life, when they will lay down in peace with the lamb. Well, today we got our chance to hold a real live tiger! True, it was only 3 months old, but it was a tiger! He was so cute! One of our assistants, Elder Gonzalez, wanted to go to this zoo for his last p-day that he had heard about in Tehuecan before he left the mission next week. We were all so excited to go! We walked around the zoo for about an hour, looking at all the animals they had...

lions, tigers...

bears...
camels...

leopards (I was holding his tail!) and lots more.

Elder Tate especially enjoyed playing with the monkeys.

These two cute little guys were no bigger than a foot, head to toe. If you look closely, you can see a tail wrapped around the tummy of the one on the right. That was a little baby who was holding onto his mom's back. The tail was really all that we could see of him.

Then we asked the lady at the front desk if one of the baby tigers could come out.

She put the leash on the tiger and brought him out.

Ben and Brian got to hold him, but he got excited really easily and it wasn't as safe to hold him...

so I just mainly played with him and petted him.

Elder Wennerholm really loved it, but the tiger got a little too excited!

Holding the baby tiger was definitely the highlight, but the whole zoo was so great because we were so close to all the animals. We could pet the lions and leopards through the bars.

One leopard loved it when we were scratching his back.

We all loved it and thought it was definitely worth the two hour drive!

2011-12-10T13:14:00.004-06:00

We were at a loss as to where we would buy our Christmas Tree... Costco didn't have any and the only tree lot that we found in Puebla didn't have the kind of tree that we wanted. This morning we got in the car and decided to drive around until we could find something. As we were driving and searching, we found a little tienda along the side of the road, where they were selling trees and mangers. He unwrapped a beautiful Noble Fir for us that had just been delivered and we bought it and a manger for our Willow Tree figures that we brought from home.

We bought some new lights for the tree and found a number of boxes of decorations in the closet in the Mission Home and so we set out to decorating the tree.

This is a picture of Van and the tree after their family arrived on the 21st.
It is so wonderful to have a live Christmas tree again after 7 years! The tree was so fresh, it smelled wonderful!

Another New Month

2011-12-02T19:36:00.008-06:00

With every new month brings another Zone Leader Council! This month will be the last Council for several of our missionaries because they will be going home on Dec. 18th.

The release of the missionaries every six weeks is getting harder and harder because I know these missionaries better than the group before! But I guess it means that I also have the opportunity to get to know even more really great young men and women.

We also are in the middle of our interviews with all of the missionaries in the mission. That means lots of traveling to each of the different zones to visit with the missionaries.

Elder Patterson and Elder Mendez in Tlaxcalla

On Wednesday of this week, we traveled to Chiautempan and we went a different way and so we saw some beautiful scenery that I haven't seen before...

You can't really see them, but this was a horse ranch with several acres of grazing horses. They also had some turkeys, geese and I think a dog... It was beautiful.

We drove by this church and I thought it was so pretty, I took a couple of pictures from the car.

It's been a busy, but fun week!

What a surprise!

2011-11-27T19:14:00.001-06:00

Today we were traveling down to a baptism with the assistants and Elder Wennerholm.

As we were driving, I saw a tree along the road that I recognized.

It was a beautiful pink Plumeria tree, like the kind that grow in Hawaii. As we kept driving we saw more and more of these trees, in pink and yellow. On our way back, we stopped at one of the houses and asked if we could have a few branches. They were very generous and we now have FOUR Plumeria trees planted in our yard! I'll take pictures next year if they survive and bloom.

I also wanted to post a picture of our Christmas present to the elders and sisters this year.

Sister Hicken, in the Mexico City East Mission, gave me the idea and showed me how to make them. They are bookmarks, and the missionaries really liked them. Some of the rocks I purchased in Palenque, when we were there for our Seminar.

Thanksgiving in Mexico...

2011-11-25T10:09:00.002-06:00

Apparently Thanksgiving is the same no matter where you are, as long as you can find the right food! We were very lucky in that we were able to have turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots in brown sugar glaze, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and apple pie (the pies were courtesy of Costco). We even had sweet potatoes, even though we used a sweet potato grown locally, called camote. It turned out really good and the elders loved it!

We invited the assistants, Elder Tate and Elder Gonzalez, our recovering elder, Elder Wennerholm, the office elders, Elder Guzman and Elder Rainford, and the elders from our area, Elder Wiggington, Elder Rodriguez, Elder Bertha and Elder Hernandez over for dinner. We also invited Magdalena to stay for dinner. She attends our ward and comes over to clean the house four days a week. She also helps me to cook occasionally. It was really fun to have so many people for Thanksgiving. It almost felt like home.

Elder Reeves is Home!

2011-11-23T21:14:00.006-06:00

I've decided that Home isn't necessarily where the heart is, but it IS where the parents are ... even if that's in Mexico! Ben left Chile Tuesday night, the 22nd, and arrived in Mexico City at 5 am this morning. Robert, Brian and I rode the bus into Mexico City on Tuesday night and stayed at the Marriott. We got up early Wednesday morning and took a taxi to the airport and waited till Ben got through customs ...

he finally came through the doors at around 6:30... what a great sight!

We took a few pictures...

then we went back to the hotel so Ben could shower and get some rest. But it never happened... It was too exciting for any of us to sleep, so we talked and visited till we needed to leave.

Sister Alvarez, the mother of one of our assistants, came to the hotel so she could drive us around the city and show us a few things.

We went to the art museum and walked around the park there.

We also went to the Temple and Visitors Center and listened to one of the presentations.

Then we headed back to the airport where we ate some dinner (our first meal of the day)

and caught an earlier bus back to Puebla.

Visiting Mexico City was fun, but I was sure glad to get back home.

WELCOME HOME BENJAMIN!!

Our House

2011-11-22T14:29:00.005-06:00

We love the Mission home! Besides being really comfy inside, we have a fun backyard, too. It's not very big, but we have a fountain that attracts lots of beautiful birds. We've seen orioles, grackles, house finches, house wrens, hummingbirds, goldfinches, warblers and doves. In addition to the birds who come to visit the fountain and take a bath, we have lizards who like to sun themselves on the trees, a couple of cats who stop by from time to time and a squirrel, who may be living in the very large tree in our neighbors yard.

here are some pictures of some of the birds that we've seen recently...

2011-11-21T13:27:00.007-06:00

Yesterday, the President and the assistants traveled to the Grajales Branch, which is Southeast of Puebla.

Elder Gonzalez

Elder Tate

Elder Wennerholm was along too. This was the area where he was serving when he got sick and had to come to Puebla to have his appendix taken out. He is still living at the Mission home while he recuperates.

President wanted to determine if we should put new missionaries in the area and so they traveled to see what it was like first hand.

This is President, Elder Rubio and Elder Gonzalez.

Elder Wennerholm was training Elder Petersen when he got sick.

No, this is not where the members meet for church, this is a Catholic church in the city.

This is Mount Orizaba and it is 18,000 ft. high. It is one of the three volcanoes that surround Puebla. This one is not active and is actually just outside of the Mission.

Preparation Day!

2011-11-19T15:35:00.005-06:00

So what do missionaries do on their P-day? Among other things they wash the car! We have a missionary who is staying in the Mission Home, recovering from a recent appendectomy, and so the Assistants are staying here with him while he recoups.

Today they washed the car after we went shopping for Thanksgiving dinner.
It's so fun to have them here!

We love new Missionaries!

2011-11-18T10:30:00.005-06:00

Has it been six weeks already? It seems like we just had our transfers!

On Sunday afternoon, the elders who are going home gathered at the Mission Home for interviews, dinner and a devotional. I love these meetings because the missionaries are so excited to see each other and they are anxious to see loved ones again after serving so faithfully.

We had a long night, and our devotional didn't end till midnight,
but it was good to be together and share our testimonies.

We will miss these missionaries!

On Monday we received three new missionaries... Elder Colmenares and Elder Galan
from Mexico in the morning and Elder Leifson from Utah in the evening. Elder Leifson
actually shared a Book of Mormon with a family that he met on the plane. Way to go Elder!

After picking up the Mexican missionaries at the bus station, we went to the Capu
(bus station)where all the elders who are being transferred come to meet their new Zone Leaders and head out to their new areas. It was our first time going to the Capu and it was
a lot of fun to see all the missionaries. There was a lot of excitement in the air as they
met and headed out with their new companions.

On Tuesday morning, our new missionaries came to the Mission Home for a yummy
breakfast and training. After that, the new missionaries were introduced to their
new companions, we took some pictures and they left for their areas.
Good luck to our new trainers, Elder Nielsen, Elder Foster and Elder Mendez...

2011-11-10T20:09:00.001-06:00

In the mission, we have a program where each of our Native Spanish speakers are encouraged to learn English. Many of them learn English in school and speak English quite well. The Church has implemented a program where each of the missionaries can take a test to show their proficiency in English. These missionaries recently took the test before they were released and headed for home. They did very well on it. This will help them to get a job in their home country of Mexico where the employer is hoping to hire someone who has the ability to speak English.

Elder Nepomuceno, Elder Zamora and Elder Martinez

Bien Hecho Elderes!

I also have to mention that today is my birthday and we have the sweetest elders in the mission! I received many good wishes and the office elders and the President went and got a cake.

It was covered with fruit on the top and was beautiful!

There is a tradition here that the birthday person has to take the first bite
of the cake and usually someone else pushes their face in the cake...
the elders were very nice and skipped that second part!

As you can see, I did take the first bite and it was delicious!

We didn't have a knife, so yes, I am cutting the cake with a ruler...
at least we had plates! We enjoyed it a lot. Thank you elders for a great birthday!

Mission President's Seminar

2011-10-23T09:30:00.016-05:00

This past week we had the opportunity to spend five days in Villahermosa, Mexico, at a Mission President's Seminar for all Mission Presidents in Mexico. President Johnson, President DeHoyos and President Tenorio, the area presidency, and their wives were there and they trained and instructed us, in addition to Elder Duncan, our visiting general authority.

This is a picture of the inside courtyard of the hotel we stayed at.
It was beautiful and the weather was perfect while we were there.

the view from our room window

This was the dining room where we ate all of our meals. Elder Duncan is on the left, President and Sister Hicken, President of the Mexico, Mexico City East Mission, are next to us, Daisy, (President Johnson's assistant) and President Tervort of the Mexico, Mexico City Northwest Mission is on the right. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with the Hickens and also getting to know all of the other Mission Presidents. Those of us who aren't quite able to understand Spanish yet, were supplied with earphones and Daisy would translate for us. It was wonderful. We were also able to renew our friendships with the Presidents who were at the Mission President's Seminar in July at the Provo MTC. On Tuesday we flew to Villahermosa, then on Wednesday and Thursday we had training.

On Friday right before we left for Palenque... they handed out hats and bug repellant!

We all loaded onto two buses to visit some Mayan ruins.

A couple of cute little stores we passed on the way... I love seeing the tiendas, as they call them, here. They are on just about every street and you can buy just about anything to eat.

We also had the opportunity to buy some souvenirs, which was interesting!
They are very persuasive and the deals are so good, it makes it hard to say no!
(notice the baby wrapped up on the mom's back in the first photo...)

a map of the area we visited...

It was so interesting and reminded us a lot of the ruins we have seen in Cancun and Tikal.

The palace

Inside the palace

In the courtyard of the palace.

These are original carvings from around 600 a.d.

I spent some time talking with President Johnson, who knows a lot about the ruins and the history of the Mayan people. He was able to answer some of my questions.
It was wonderful to get to know his wife also, who is on the left.

Some of our group at the top of one of the buildings

in front of the river and heading down the trail back to the buses.

The river that was winding through the site ended up turning into this beautiful waterfall.

When we arrived back in Villahermosa, we stopped at Rodizio Grill for dinner. It was really good! How did we end up in the same group for dinner? I promise, we did eat with other people during the week. On Saturday morning we had a presentation on security in the mission. Then we loaded up the buses and headed back to the airport for Mexico City.

A shot of the hotel as we left on the bus

In the airport, waiting for our flight. Elder Duncan, President Johnson and President Call, Mission President in Mexico, Tampico Mission. It was a wonderful week full of insights, principles, doctrine, practice and testimony.

2011-10-11T21:22:00.002-05:00

Another picture of Abigail... it's amazing to me how much one little baby can change in one month! She definitely is starting to get her own look and what a beautiful smile!

A Really Big Weekend

2011-10-04T09:32:00.002-05:00

This was a very busy weekend, both in Arizona and Mexico! One of the other reasons that Brian went back to Arizona for a visit was because he and Shani were planning on going to homecoming...

This is how he asked her... the theme of Homecoming was "Up" so for several days and nights before he left Mexico, he recreated the house from the movie "Up". He even sacrificed doing his schoolwork so he could work on the house. I think it turned out pretty good, though...

... and this was her answer to him...

this is not a picture of Shani... this is Conner, one of Brian's best friends, who he is staying with while he is in Arizona. He and his date went with Brian and Shani.

This is Brian and Shani...

Another important event this weekend was General Conference. Being in Mexico and not really understanding the language very well tends to leave me a bit empty on Sundays. Sometimes I can feel the spirit, but usually the only spiritual uplift I receive is from my own daily personal study time. So, it was with great anticipation that I looked forward to General Conference! We were able to watch it in English on our computer, live, and I so enjoyed all of the talks in the first three sessions. We also had the blessing to have five new missionaries come in on Saturday night and so they were able to watch Conference with us on Sunday morning, also, which was a treat. Usually we would have received the elders from Provo on Monday night, but they were having Visa issues. By the time the MTC received word on their visas there were no more flights on Monday. On Friday morning we received word that we had the option to receive them either Saturday night or the next Thursday night, so we chose Saturday!

On Sunday afternoon after the morning session of Conference, the missionaries who have finished their two years of service and are going home, started arriving at the mission home.

We had an afternoon filled with lunch, interviews and watching General Conference in Spanish. After Conference the President had more interviews, while the missionaries visited with
each other and wrote memories and goodbyes in each others journals.

We had a great departure dinner and a beautiful devotional
and then lots of pictures and goodbyes to each of the missionaries.

Our dear, sweet assistant, Elder Alvarez, was in this group and
how I have dreaded this day! His parents came to pick him up after our devotional
and somehow that made it a bit easier to say goodbye.

He has been such a lifesaver to us during these first few months.
He has been a wonderful missionary, a great teacher and a trusted adviser.

Elder Tate received the new assignment as an Assistant to the President to
replace Elder Alvarez. He and Elder Gonzalez are excited to be working together!
They are both the same height as President, so the three of them are a commanding sight...

Elder Hernandez, Elder Casillas, Elder Revuelta, Elder Perez, Elder Estrada, Elder Alvarez,
Elder Hernandez, Elder Vazquez, Elder Stone, Elder Gamboa, Elder Arellano, Elder Montero
and Hermana Ruiz in the front. Elder Vazquez and Elder Stone will be with us for a few more days while they wait for their visas to return home...

We will miss all of our great missionaries!

On Monday morning we received eight missionaries from Mexico City, so we had a wonderful training on Monday with all thirteen new missionaries all together! It was so wonderful to watch the missionaries (two sisters) as they met for the first time, even with a language barrier, as they got to know each other and as they bonded. Yes, the American missionaries do receive language training, but they are not as fluent as the native speakers, so there is usually a bit of an adjustment period. It was a wonderful day, though, as we met together and trained them and then sent them out with their new companions. They are all very excited to be here!

2011-09-25T10:50:00.002-05:00

One of the reasons that Brian went home to Arizona was that his girlfriend, Shani Nance, was getting baptized. On the 24th, Shani was finally able to be baptized. She has a great group of friends who are very supportive...

CONGRATULATIONS, SHANI!!

Who would have guessed?

2011-09-24T11:18:00.003-05:00

So, I know this probably comes as no surprise to many of you, but there are a lot of dogs here in Mexico! Some have owners who take really good care of them, some are free to roam the streets, and some are left by their owners to fend for themselves. And it also is no surprise to many of you that I am always looking for a stray little dog to come home with us... On a recent trip back from Tehuecan, as we were driving along the freeway, I got my chance as I saw one dog who had been left to die. I saw him for an instant as we drove along the road and it appeared that he had a rope around his neck. I asked Robert if he would mind driving back to where I had seen him after we dropped off the elders who were traveling with us. We drove back and had a hard time finding him, as he blended in with the rocks, but we finally spotted him high up on a cliff and he indeed was tied to a rock, dangling from the ledge where he was laying. We stopped and tried to get him to come down to us (he was at least 10-15 feet above where we were standing) but he was either too tired or didn't feel that he could move. We drove a little further down the rode and found a place to pull over. I stayed in the car while Robert walked back to where we had seen him and Robert tried to get to him which was very difficult as he was in his Sunday clothes! Plus, as he tried to reach the rope, the dog growled at him! Soon, two men came by and asked what he was doing... Robert explained the situation and they helped him to first get the rock off the rope, at which point the dog stopped growling at them, and then to coax the dog to safety. If we had not gone back to get him, I'm sure he would have died there because the rock was in a position where he couldn't move from where he was. He happily accompanied Robert back to the van. We think he was out there not more than a day but he was still very thirsty and hungry. We stopped to get him some food and the vet at the store said he was probably eight months old.

We brought him home and he loved the back yard! He ate and ran and jumped and loved the freedom. He didn't want to leave my side, but when I would go in the house, he was pretty patient and didn't bark too much, maybe once or twice during the night.

Isn't he beautiful?
The next day I kept him in the house most of the day, as the gardeners were here to work on the yard. I asked one of them if they knew of anyone who would want the dog and one of the other gardeners said he would take him. This was a real miracle and blessing, because the gardeners only come every two or three weeks and they had just been here last week. I was so happy to find him a home!

Bye Bye Brian!

2011-09-20T10:58:00.006-05:00

Yesterday Brian left Mexico for a three week trip to Arizona. He has several things planned while he is gone and I will update the blog when they happen...
This is us in the airport in Puebla. They have one flight to Houston in the morning and one flight from Houston in the evening. They also have a flight to Tijuana and to Cancun. It makes flying very easy because we always know when our flights will be! He will catch a flight to Phoenix from Houston. Brian is very excited to see all of his friends and family for a few weeks. I know he will have a great time!

2011-09-05T19:52:00.003-05:00

This has really been an interesting Change! Elder Morga was part of the original group that came in on August 22nd, but he was a Visa waiter, serving in Idaho, so on September 3rd, we picked him up at the Puebla airport. On Sunday we had another training session and introduced him to his companion. We are so impressed with the quality of missionaries we are receiving. They are excited to be here and have wonderful testimonies. Welcome Elder Morga!

New Little One...

2011-09-04T10:36:00.004-05:00

We received word today that Larry and Melanie welcomed their newest little girl into their family. Abigail Joy Reeves was born at 3:54 am on September 4, 2011. She weighed 6 lb. 1 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long. Larry was actually able to deliver her! She has a head full of dark hair and is so petite! She is beautiful and looks very much like her brothers and sister.

Welcome to our family, Abigail!

2011-08-27T08:59:00.004-05:00

We went to Tehuecan today to visit the sister missionaries who are serving there. They actually serve in a small community called Chilac. It was a beautiful drive and I loved the streets there so I wanted to post some pictures... enjoy!

As we left Chilac, we were surprised to see these mountains... they reminded us of Utah... It was a great trip!

2011-08-25T20:57:00.007-05:00

On Sunday, we attended a Stake Conference in the Fuentes Stake. Elder Johnson, the Area President, was in attendance and presided over the Conference because a new Stake President was being sustained. We attended 2 sessions of the Conference and enjoyed it very much. President Reeves and I had the opportunity to bear our testimonies along with President and Sister Mejia, the Mexico City Temple President and his wife. Right after the Conference we attended a baptism for two children of the Juanelli family, whose parents were baptized a few weeks ago. Elder Hurtado and Elder Alvarez were so excited for this baptism. A few of the Young Adults came to witness the baptism and sang a hymn. It was wonderful to see so many people at their baptism. After the baptism we came home and prepared to welcome the 13 missionaries who would be leaving the mission on Monday morning. We had a dinner, interviews and a short devotional meeting with them. What a great group of missionaries! We will really miss them all.

On Monday we started several days of changes... On Monday morning we picked up 14 missionaries coming from the MTC in Mexico City at the bus station in Puebla and we did their training in Spanish and introduced them to their new companions.

In the evening we picked up 3 missionaries from the airport in Puebla, fed them and had a training meeting in English Tuesday morning, then introduced them to their new companions.

This week, we had one missionary come in on Wednesday afternoon from the MTC in Peru, Elder Huaranga. He had been waiting for his Visa and just got clearance, so he got a special, individual training on Wednesday afternoon and then was off to his area with his new companion. Whew! What a crazy three days, but each day was different and it was good to get to know the missionaries a few at a time. It was also good to hear the training in English because I don't always know what is being taught... :)

Mission Tour

2011-08-21T20:47:00.003-05:00

This past week we had our first Mission Tour. Our visiting authority was Elder DeHoyos of the Area Presidency. His wife attended the Mission Tour also, and they stayed with us in our home. We spent Wednesday through Saturday training the missionaries in each of the zones of the mission. In the evening, President and Elder DeHoyos attended a leadership meeting for each of the zones, also. The missionaries learned about teaching investigators, the objectives of missionary work and the power of involving members in the teaching of investigators.

In the afternoons between sessions, we would go to a restaurant and get some lunch with the DeHoyos’. They are such a wonderful couple and they were so fun to be with. We enjoyed learning from both of them and getting to know them better. They both speak some English, so we were able to communicate quite well, sometimes in Spanish and sometimes in English!

We met with all eight zones, but these are just pictures of two of the zones

Branch Conference

2011-08-15T12:52:00.011-05:00

This week started off with another Branch Conference in Chignahuapan. It is about two hours from here and they have about 100 members, but only 20 usually come to Church each week. We had six sisters in Relief Society. I think they had two children in Primary along with the eighteen year old teacher. It really is humbling when you think about the wards we belong to and the amazing leadership and support we have. These members meet each week in a home that has been converted to a church building and meet in very humble circumstances. One of our missionaries, Elder Gonzalez, is the Branch President. The Church is true and this to me is one of the evidences of it.

The members who were there for the three hour block

President and Sister Reeves with Elder Hernandez

A member of the Branch and his daughter

Elder Gonzalez (the Branch President) and his companion, Elder Hernandez (he taught Sunday School) with the Mission Presidency and two of their wives

Driving home I couldn't help taking all these pictures. It rains a lot here and the countryside is beautiful. These are just some of the ones I took as we drove along, over the "topes" (speed bumps)

2011-08-13T22:00:00.009-05:00

This week has been full... again. Tuesday night we had a new convert husband and wife over for dinner. They have 4 children who also came, plus her brother who is married and has 2 children. They are taking the missionary lessons. Add the missionaries and us and we had 15 people to dinner! It wasn't hard and I'm used to cooking for a lot of people, but this group is used to different food so I was concerned about what I was serving... Chicken Broccoli. It was a big hit!

Wednesday night we went to a Young Single Adult performance of the stage version of "The Lion King" They did a great job and the costumes were amazing. Each stake worked on a different section of the play, so one stake did the hyenas, another stake did the wildebeests, etc. We have 12 stakes here, so it worked out well and they all danced and sang just great!

On Saturday we went to Africam, which is a wildlife park in Puebla that you drive your car through. We got up close and personal with the wildlife...We had the door to the van open, except in the "big cat" areas of course, and these are all just outside our car...

The tigers were my favorite...

What Brian does in his spare time...

2011-08-11T14:16:00.005-05:00

Some of you may know that Brian has a lot of small, round magnets that he makes things with... these pictures are of two of the objects he has made...

the other one...

2011-08-07T08:45:00.005-05:00

On Friday we had another ZLC meeting in our home. I really enjoy the ZLC meetings because it's a smaller group and I feel like I get to know the missionaries a bit better. We also get a yummy lunch and some great counsel and training from President and the Assistants. We had some good discussion about some of the rules in the handbook and how to best follow the guidelines.

The rest of the week was spent at the office, shopping, traveling,writing letters and interviewing lots of missionaries. I never realized how much time is spent in traveling from one area to another in a mission.
On Sunday we attended a Branch Conference that was two and a half hours away. These sweet people don't even have missionaries in their community, but they are faithful and meet together each week in a home that is used as their chapel. They welcomed us and met with us and fed us. Even though it was all in Spanish, I could feel the Spirit and could feel their love for the Gospel. We ended up meeting with one of the Bishops. This is the view from near his home. This is all sugar cane fields...

My new Mexican friend...

2011-08-06T10:36:00.003-05:00

Robert was so sweet to buy this for me... this will be my birthday, Christmas and anniversary present all rolled into one. It was hand made in Mexico and we both fell in love with it when we saw it...
I'ts a Requinto guitar, and I don't know what it means, but I loved the look of it both front and back, especially the abalone and the wood grain. I've started playing again...

A day in Cholula

2011-07-27T11:00:00.016-05:00

On Saturday we traveled to Cholula with the Assistants and the Office Elders... Elder Nepomuceno, Elder Gonzalez, Elder Hurtado and Elder Alvarez. There is a huge pyramid which was buried by the Spanish and then a large church was built on top of the pyramid. My understanding is that it was an effort to squelch the beliefs of the existing people and introduce them to Christianity.

The pyramid is the largest in the world, one third larger than the Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

These guys climbed this really tall pole and wound their ropes around the center pole, then they dropped off the frame and slowly their ropes unwound from the center pole as they twirled around the pole down to the ground. Really interesting to watch...

this shows just how high up they were. When they swung around the pole, they descended very slowly. It was very beautiful to watch. Sorry, I couldn't get a video to load...

This is a replica in the museum outside of the pyramid. You can see how the vegetation part has been cut away to see what is underground. This part to the right is a part that was rebuilt to resemble what was covered.

This is inside the museum and shows what the walls probably looked like at the time that it was being used as a pyramid. Elder Hurtado, Elder Alvarez, Brian, Sister Reeves, President Reeves, Elder Gonzalez and Elder Nepomuceno.

this is taken from another angle of the pyramid where some of the original pyramid has been unearthed. In the middle of the picture you can see some people on a path. That gives you an idea of how large all this is. In the replica, this area is in the top right hand corner.

This is a picture of a man who was painting pictures of Popo (the large volcano) on plates with his fingers! Kind of like finger painting, but a whole lot better! We actually bought a plate, we loved it so much. It turned out that he is a member of the church, but not real active, so President Reeves was able to visit with him and encourage him to come back. He was a very sweet and humble man.

This is looking from on top of the pyramid with Puebla and Cholula in the background.

This was a much easier climb than Malinche!

The Church on top of the pyramid. It was so beautiful inside, all the details of the architecture were amazing...

Where we live...

2011-07-23T09:27:00.010-05:00

These are some pictures of the house we're living in. We really like it and it's very comfortable...

the front door... it's inside the garage, not off the street. it's actually quite convenient and the only thing you see from the street is our garage door...

This is the living room and it's right inside and to the right of the entry way. President Reeves has an office to the left of the entry and the kitchen is straight ahead. The dining room is right next to the living room. They make one long room.

the kitchen is very spacious and it's very easy to keep everything clean. We also have a sister from the ward come in every day to tidy up and keep things looking nice. We love Magdalena!

This is the upstairs sitting area. There are five bedrooms that are off of this area.

This is the family room upstairs and it's where we spend most of our time. It's right between our bedroom and Brian's, so it's the natural gathering place for games, computers and hanging out.
We love it!

Two weeks down...

2011-07-15T21:14:00.002-05:00

Well, we've been here for two weeks and it seems so normal! Aside from the fact that everyone speaks Spanish... We had a great week. Not as busy as last week.

On Monday we dropped off our first missionary to return home from the mission. Sister Munoz impressed me greatly even though I only spent one morning with her. As we sat in the Bus Terminal waiting for her bus to depart, she approached a family sitting near us and asked if they would be interested in learning more about the church. She is a sweet and beautiful young woman.

After seeing Hermana Munoz off, we waited for the 11 missionaries coming in by bus from the Mexico City MTC.

Our first group of Missionaries!

These missionaries will be the first group of missionaries to be with us for their whole two years. We were very excited to meet them and start their training. They were very excited to meet their first companions and trainers.

As soon as we were done at the Mission Office, we drove two hours to Mexico City with the assistants to meet another sister coming from the Peru MTC. When we got there, we found our good friends (past Stake President and co grandparents of our grandson, Van) the Hickens! They are presiding over the Mexico City East mission and were also waiting for missionaries, so we got to visit with them for two hours while we waited for our missionaries to come through customs (how fun!). Sister Nunura is very sweet and I think she will be a very powerful missionary. After driving back to Puebla, we drove out to the Puebla airport and waited for our last missionary of this transfer... Elder Painter from the Provo MTC. We had the opportunity to meet Elder Painter while we were in the MTC for the Seminar, so we were very excited to meet him again. It was a long day, but very fun and exciting to welcome so many missionaries to the mission.
President Reeves spoke at a stake meeting for the youth who didn't go to EFY on Wednesday. Usually when he speaks, he asks me to bear my testimony. I'm fairly confident in doing that in Spanish and I've started to venture out in the things that I say, but did you know that the word in Spanish for "sin" and "fish" are very similar?

We have been having the Assistants drive us around town because it is very confusing here and we don't really know our way around yet. But... President Reeves successfully navigated us to the Mission Office and back home yesterday. Woo Hoo! Of course, the Assistants were in the back seat...

Today was Zone Leader Council. We had the Zone Leaders from the 8 zones, the Assistants and the Office Elders for a meeting in our home that lasted from 9 am till 2 pm. They received training about finding new people to teach and being obedient, among other things. We have such good assistants. They are amazing teachers and they are so loving towards the other elders. After the meeting we served Cafe Rio for lunch and it was a big hit. Elder Alvarez got very excited when I told him there were jalapenos in the dressing...

Zone Conference Week

2011-07-08T21:49:00.001-05:00

We started out our first week in the Mission by having Zone Conferences in each of the Zones so that we could meet all the missionaries in the mission. What an amazing week! The first Conference included 4 different zones, but we met all together in Puebla at the Stake Center right next to the Mission Office. We had 97 missionaries and the Stake President in attendance. We introduced our family to the missionaries through a slide show, listened to testimonies of several of the missionaries, were instructed and uplifted by the Assistants, the Stake President and finally by President Reeves. It was a long meeting, but so good. Brian and I couldn't understand most of what was said, as it was all in Spanish, but the Spirit was strong and I could feel the testimonies of those in attendance.

On Wednesday, we traveled to the Tlaxcala Zone and along the way we got a good look at Popo, the volcanoe which borders one side of Puebla. We had the same format each day, but would have a Stake President speak to the missionaries from the Stake in the area. Brian was a good sport to come with us and sit through 5-6 hours of Zone Conference in Spanish. He did enjoy meeting the missionaries and getting to know a lot of them. He even bore his testimony in Spanish.

This is a picture of the two zones in the Tlaxcala area. We had 30 missionaries in attendance. Brian was a great help to me in preparing and presenting the slide show. I couldn't have done it without him. We showed pictures of each of our children and their families in an effort to let the missionaries get to know us. We have to thank Mel & Linda for the idea. We loved their presentation to their missionaries and so decided to do the same.

Elder Hurtado with a couple that he worked with when he was working in this area. This brother was recently baptized and his wife is serving as the Relief Society Secretary in their ward. Elder Hurtado was so excited to visit with them for a bit before we headed back home.

Thursday we traveled an hour and a half to Atlixco and again had a wonderful time. There were 24 missionaries in this group. I really love the missionaries. They are so humble and friendly and are so eager to learn. I'm so impressed with their willingness to sacrifice so much to serve the Lord for two years.

On Friday we traveled two hours to Tehuacan. I love the traveling! I usually fall asleep in the car, but there's so much to see and the countryside is beautiful, I enjoy it so much. Tehuacan is a beautiful city and when President Reeves asked the missionaries if any of them were ready for a change, they all said no! They love this area and I can understand why. This was our smallest group, with only 18 missionaries. I was a little worried about being with such a small group, but I loved the fact that I was able to learn ALL their names while we were there. Again, I was impressed with the missionaries and their willingness to serve.

Welcome to the mission...

2011-07-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

On Sunday we went to church at our new ward and it was a great experience. The Assistants went with us as we don't know our way around Puebla yet. It is a crazy place and we don't know any of the streets yet or where we're going. Because it was Fast Sunday and we wanted to get to know the members of the ward better, we decided to bear our testimonies. So we did and we did it in Spanish... It went well and after the meeting a lot of the members came up and introduced themselves to us and welcomed us to the ward. They all made us feel very welcome and it was a great first Sunday.

On Monday Brian got to play soccer with Elder Dominguez, Elder Hurtado and Elder Alvarez. He was a little worried because he hasn't played soccer in 4 years, but he did great and had a good time. It was a little hard playing at this altitude (7,000 ft.) but he survived!

Robert was very busy with meetings with the Assistants on Sunday and Monday getting ready for the Zone Conferences. He was able to go with us to watch Brian play soccer, though. Even when he's home from the mission office, he seems to be on the phone a lot with the Elders.

Mexico, here we come!

2011-07-03T00:07:00.001-05:00

We left at 7:30 Friday morning for the airport. Our flight was at 10 and we had plenty of time so we didn't feel too rushed or anxious. By the time we got to our gate, they had already boarded everyone and we were one of the last ones to get on! So much for not rushing... We flew to Houston and had a 3 hour lay over there, but we were able to eat and have a bit of dessert while we waited. We also took a little bit of a nap...

The flight from Houston to Puebla was on a smaller plane, about 50 people were on the flight. It was a great flight, but a little bumpy the closer we got to Puebla.

this was a very small plane!

We landed at 8:30 pm and it was dark, so all we could see were the lights of the city as we came in. As we exited the plane onto the tarmac we saw 3 armed Federales at the bottom of the stairs... armed as in carrying machine guns... I thought about taking their picture, but decided they might not like that so I didn't. It took awhile to get through customs, but eventually we did and I didn't get my bag of jelly beans confiscated. So relieved! However, two of our bags were left in Houston! We were told that they will arrive on the flight tomorrow night... we'll see.

The departing Mission President and his wife, President and Sister Rex, were there to meet us and they drove us to the Mission Office where we met the office staff and the Assistants, and also the Counselors in the Mission Presidency. They are cousins and so they are both Hermano Sandoval! Makes it easy to remember... We had a little bit to eat and then visited and they all expressed their love and gratitude for the Rex's. It was very touching and I can see that we have some big shoes to fill. The missionaries love the Rex's very much. It was about 12 when we left the mission office and headed for the Mission home. After a lot more instruction we finally got to bed at 2:45 am! I asked Sister Rex what time they were leaving because I thought I could make some breakfast for them, but she said they were leaving in an hour! They were catching a bus to Mexico City and catching a flight from there. Wow! I guess they will sleep on the plane!

Saturday was busy with meetings for Robert and the Assistants. They worked at the house for a couple of hours then continued at the office until 3 when they came to get Brian and me to go shopping at Costco. It was the same but different...

Elder Hurtado and Elder Alvarez, ate dinner with us that evening. They are wonderful missionaries and they already have a spot in my heart. We've spent a lot of time with them in the last couple of days! They have shown an interest in Brian and are trying to teach him Spanish every chance they get. He likes them, too, and has been invited to play soccer with them on Monday, their preparation day.

The Mission Home is beautiful and I feel at home here already. I have been looking at pictures of it for a couple of months now, so it doesn't seem so foreign to me. It's very comfy and welcoming.

Moving Out

2011-07-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

This week was spent packing up our house and moving out. On Monday morning we arrived back home from the Seminar. Taylor surprised me at the airport (Dad already knew he was coming) and that was so fun to see him! We got a call from Brian that the movers were at the house and ready to start. They were amazing! They packed up everything after we identified which things were to go into storage and which things would go with us to Mexico. We had to be careful about leaving things laying around because they were so quick that they packed a few things that shouldn't have been packed! But they were good to find them again for me. By Tuesday evening this is what our house looked like...

On Wednesday, we cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. Thanks go to my sons Taylor, Brian and to Maria and her son, who did all the hard stuff. Jerry and LaDeane Garner also helped immensely by fixing things that needed to be fixed and by taking all the "stuff" that I needed a home for. Also, my children were so good to take a lot of things that we didn't want to put into storage but that we couldn't take with us. The renters had already started moving in their belongings and by Thursday they were completing the job. Kimber and Ryan opened their home to us and Max for a few nights before we left for Mexico.

Wednesday night we went to dinner with the kids and grandkids one last time! How fun it was to sit and visit with all of them. I will miss them all terribly. We dropped Taylor off at the airport and on Thursday Robert and I took Max to the airport to put him on a cargo plane headed for Atlanta, Georgia. It's funny to me how many family members we have on the East Coast right now... Anyway, after an hour and a half delay in Atlanta, Max arrived in Norfolk, Virginia and Taylor picked him up. He was happy to be out of his kennel, I'm sure.

sorry, I didn't know how to turn it!

This is his favorite thing to do...

Friday morning Larry came to pick us up for the airport. When we got there, we noticed some children who looked a lot like Catherine and Ethan... wait! It WAS Catherine and Ethan! Melanie had brought the kids to the airport to see us off... so sneaky! Then we found the Garners and Rick Hansen there also. We had a wonderful time visiting and reminiscing at the airport before we had to board our plane. Such good friends and family!

A great Five days...

2011-06-27T22:56:00.000-05:00

Monday... We got back from the Seminar at 10 this morning and immediately got back to regular life. How strange that was! But that will be another post. Friday and Saturday were full of instruction on the programs that we will be using with the missionaries and practicing how to teach them. I loved it all. Each day was full of listening to General Authorities, taking notes, meeting new Mission Presidents and renewing friendships with those who we just met. Even though we have only known some of these people for five days, it's as if we've been friends forever.

One group that we tried to get to know better were the Presidents who would be working in Mexico. There were six other Presidents called and we became fast friends. We will see them at our training meetings while we serve.

On Friday we had a special wives breakout session which was very helpful. We discussed our different roles while serving... as a wife and mother, as a companion, as a teacher and as a leader. All of these were very helpful to all of us as we contemplated what we could do to make this mission the best.
That evening we had a devotional with Elder Bednar. He spoke about the requirements to become a Preach My Gospel Missionary... they are called by the Lord, they understand that they represent Jesus Christ, they are worthy, they treasure up the words of Eternal Life, they understand the Holy Ghost is the ultimate & true teacher and the understand that teaching is more than talking and telling. There is a link on the Church website that gives some highlights from the Seminar. It gives you a small glimpse of what we experienced in our meetings.

After the devotional we were able to meet four of the missionaries who will be coming into our mission in July and August. It was so fun to meet them and talk with them. These are some of the first missionaries who will be with us for the entire time of their mission.
This is Elder Peterson, Elder Wigington, Elder Shipley and Elder Painter

On Saturday night we were privileged to have dinner with Elder Bednar and his wife. She is so darling! We had a great time listening to stories of BYU Idaho. He is really passionate about the school.

These are the Mexico Presidents and wives with Elder Bednar and his wife.

Elder Gonzalez also had dinner with our group. He set me apart earlier in the week.

On Sunday we were able to hear from Elder Holland, Elder Nelson and testimonies from others of the Twelve who had been there all week. We also had a Sacrament Meeting where President Erying spoke. His remarks were so positive and uplifting. I felt very encouraged with his thoughts. He is such a sweet, sensitive man and happy. I think he smiled the entire time he was on the stand!
This whole week has been so uplifting and I have a feeling that I can go to Mexico and do this. I know that the Lord wants us to succeed and I know He loves His missionaries and with His help, Robert and I will be able to serve the missionaries and the people of Puebla.

First day of instruction

2011-06-23T23:09:00.000-05:00

Thursday... first official day of the Seminar and training. What an amazing day! We started out by hearing from President Monson. He instructed us on how to better motivate our missionaries and gave us many ways to positively encourage the missionaries in our missions. We also heard from Elder Nelson, Elder Hinckley, Elder Hallstrom, Elder Snow and Elder Christofferson. All the classes were highly motivational and uplifting. During lunch and dinner we had the opportunity to visit with other couples who have served as Mission Presidents and were able to ask questions of them. It was so helpful to us to feel like we can do this!

We also had the great pleasure of meeting President and Sister Martinez. They are going to be Benjamin's new Mission President in Chile. It was wonderful to visit with them and get to know them. Benjamin is very blessed to have them coming to Chile and taking over for the Swensens.

Our nephew, Ryan, is in the MTC and we found him and visited with him. He has received his Visa for Spain and will be leaving soon. We were glad that we were able to visit with him before he leaves.

New President's Seminar

2011-06-22T23:01:00.000-05:00

We started out our day by going to breakfast with some dear friends of ours, Nick and Julie. Nick and Robert served together many years ago in the Spain Madrid Mission. It was all one mission then and they became great friends. I was also in the same ward with Nick and Julie after Nick's mission at BYU, so we've been friends for a long time! After breakfast and doing some serious catching up, they dropped us off at the MTC, just like a couple of regular missionaries! Matt Beecher met us at the security gate of the MTC and welcomed us with "Good morning President and Sister Reeves! Welcome to the MTC!" We had 128 Presidents and their wives at the seminar and those good brothers and sisters knew our names before we even arrived. The MTC is truly an amazing place.
The day was spent in verifying information, taking a new picture, getting lots of handouts, eating lunch and dinner and meeting lots of new people. The food was incredible, the meetings were informative and meeting all the new presidents and their wives was so fun and exciting. There are so many faithful, wonderful people who are going to be serving as Mission Presidents. I know our missionaries are in good hands!

Where to Begin...

2011-06-21T23:01:00.000-05:00

Today Robert, Brian and I flew to Utah for the New Mission President's Seminar in preparation for our Mission in Puebla, Mexico. We immediately drove to the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City (I didn't know that there even WAS a Mexican Consulate in SLC...) to finish getting our Visas for Mexico. We had our pictures taken, we were fingerprinted and signed the papers. All ready to go!

Some of our children and their wives were able to come up for the day also, as we were going to be set apart for the Mission. Kelli & Adam, Richard, Larry & Melanie, Kimber & Ryan, Lindsay and Brian were there. Nickie had to stay home with their kids, and Darren surprised Lindsay by flying her out here for Van's first birthday and the setting apart. Darren had to stay in Georgia and work. We missed both of them! We all met for lunch at Tucano's after finishing at the Consulate. My mother and my sister, Cindy also met us for lunch. It was so yummy! I think my mom has a new favorite restaurant... After lunch we parked at the Church Offices and walked around the Conference Center and Temple square, then headed over to Elder Holland's office to be set apart. Elder Holland set Robert apart to be the Mission President and Elder Gonzalez of the Seventy set me apart as his companion and Mission mom. It was wonderful and the start of a great week.

Richard, Brian, Lindsay, Sister Sue, Grandma Heagle, Robert, Janet, Elder Holland, Melanie, Larry, Adam, Kelli, Kimber, Ryan

Richard getting some advice from Elder Holland. Doesn't get much better than this...

We stayed the night at the home of Robert's brother Dave, and his wife Vickie. I think they might be considering putting a nameplate on the room where we stay because we're there so often! We love them both and are grateful for their love and support.

June Already!

2011-06-05T23:18:00.000-05:00

How the time flies when you're so busy! It is June already and we are that much closer to leaving for Mexico. We spent a few days in California last week visiting Robert's brother, Mel and his wife, Linda, in Riverside where they are presiding over the Riverside Mission. We had so much fun visiting with them and their sons, Eric and Ryan, and experiencing a small part of their mission with them. Mel & Linda were so gracious and always make us feel so welcome. We look forward to having them visit us in Mexico so we can return the favor. We were able to see Ryan off at the airport, also, as he prepares to enter the MTC on Wednesday of this week and then he will be off to Spain to serve a mission. We hope to see him when we attend our Mission President's Seminar in a few weeks.
Our home is getting emptier and emptier as we loan out our furniture and belongings to our children and pack up lots of boxes. We have rented our home and found homes for most of the animals, so we're getting close to being ready. It was very sad to finally give Dakota to a new family, but we think he will be very happy with his new owners. He has his own little brother, another Aussie, named Jet. I'm sure they will have lots of fun playing together!
We were able to find homes for all the kittens and even though I only had them for a few weeks, I miss them already. I look forward to seeing Sadie and her kitty, Chloe, all grown up, when we return.
These next two weeks will bring lots more packing, organizing, and finding a home for the rest of our stuff. Wish us good luck!

lucky us…

2011-05-13T12:18:00.001-05:00

So, some of you may know that over the last few months we have been slowly finding homes for all of our animals. We can’t take them to Mexico with us… We have been successful in finding homes for everybody but the dogs. But that’s another story…

So last week, on Thursday, Richard and I were taking some things out to the trash and Richard noticed a cat cuddled up next to our shed. He said something about “you might have some kittens, Mom” and I got very excited! But, wait! I’m going on a mission! I’m supposed to be giving my animals away, not acquiring more!

Well, we couldn’t just leave them there. The mother is a stray and we didn’t want them to become strays also, so we took them in and started feeding them. Luckily, they are old enough that we were able to wean them pretty quickly and they are eating well.

Sadie has been wanting a kitten for a long time, so Richard and Nickie will be adopting one and the other two will stay here till they are old enough to be adopted out. What a great way for me to end my time here!

this is them in their new home in Brian’s room. Wish I could keep them!

from start to finish...

2011-05-01T19:39:00.000-05:00

Friday, April 22 We drove to Utah in preparation for Lindsay's upcoming marriage to Darren Dickerson, the love of her life! It was a fun trip, but a little different this time. Robert drove by himself in our car and I drove with Kimber and Van, so I could help keep Van happy. What a fun trip! I loved singing to Van and playing with him and watching him sleep. What a precious angel! We stopped in Aurora to pick up Grandma Heagle and then drove up to Provo where we planned to stay with Robert's brother Dave, and his wife, Vickie, for the week.

Saturday, April 23 Robert and I went to the MTC for another tutor session with Brother Bird. We love our tutor sessions with him because we learn so much.

We stopped by the Dickerson's and planned where we would arrange everything, then had lunch. After lunch, we headed to the temple with Lindsay. It was such a wonderful session and she loved everything about it. She got pretty emotional when she saw how many family members were there to share the day with her. I loved being there with her and helping her to understand the temple. It was a sweet experience to share with her.

We had several family members there as well as Darren and his family. We all went to Cafe Rio afterward for dinner. Cafe Rio is delicious! After dinner Robert and I took Grandma back to Payson where we met my sister, Cindy, who took my mom home. Cindy and Grandma were headed to Hawaii on Tuesday for a little vacation.

Sunday, April 24 Easter Sunday Robert and I, Kimber and Van attended church with Kelli and her family and then went to her house for Easter dinner. Richard, Nickie and the kids also joined us for dinner. It was very fun to be with everyone and the children enjoyed being together and looking at the chickens in the back yard.

Monday, April 25 What a full day! Kimber is a very creative person and she had this idea to make cute tables for the reception. So today we painted, sanded, stained, and attached legs to some doors that we brought up from Arizona. They turned out way cute! We had dinner at the Dickerson's (they fed us a lot while we were there) because it was so late by the time we got done. I got to play with Van and take him on a walk after he woke up from his nap, while a lot of the work was being done.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Sadie and Mason couldn’t wait for Darren & Lindsay to come out of the temple doors!

Mr. & Mrs. Darren Dickerson

The day started out very cold and so taking pictures was a challenge…

Brother Dickerson had a sleeping bag that he kept throwing around Lindsay in between pictures in an effort to keep her warm!

Larry did manage to get some pretty awesome pictures…

Taylor flew out from Virginia to be here for his little sisters’ wedding day.

After the sealing we attended a luncheon, which was held at the Northampton House in the Pleasant Grove area. It was beautiful and we had a great time visiting with friends and family.

The reception in the cultural hall (not plan A) turned out beautifully thanks to Kimber. She spent a lot of time and energy and it paid off!

These are the cute tables that we made out of doors on Monday. All Kimber’s idea! She’s amazing…

We had a really great day!

So Much to Do, So Little Time…

2011-04-17T16:27:00.001-05:00

I mentioned to Robert a few days ago that it would be nice if I could just manage to get a few more hours in each day… I feel overwhelmed by how much we have going on in our lives right now! Well, the next morning I woke up at 2:30, dozed a little, then woke up again at 3:30. So around 4:30, I decided to get up and get some studying done. Problem solved! I worked for a couple of hours then started in on my day and got so much done! I wouldn’t recommend doing that every day, but it sure worked well that one time!

At the beginning of the month Robert and I were able to attend General Conference in Salt Lake City and had a wonderful time. We stayed with Robert’s brother, David, and his wife, Vickie, and had such a great time visiting with them and playing games and visiting with their kids. On Saturday afternoon we were also able to spend some time with Lindsay’s future in-laws, the Dickerson’s. We are so happy for her wedding (in two weeks!) and are thrilled to know Darren and his family. We know that she will be loved by her new family and are so happy to know all of them.

On Sunday morning, this is what we woke up to! It was beautiful, but oh, so cold! Plus, we weren’t sure we would make it to Conference on time… we were driving from Provo. Luckily we left early enough that it wasn’t an issue. On Sunday afternoon, we spent some time with our oldest daughter Kelli and her family and helped them unpack some of their boxes. They had just moved into their new home on Thursday and were still getting settled.

Of course, we loved attending General Conference. We were able to attend the Saturday morning and Sunday morning sessions at the Conference Center and loved the spirit we felt there as we listened to the Prophet and Apostles teach us. We also saw some dear friends there and were able to meet new friends as well. On Sunday the temperature had dropped quite a bit, but we took the opportunity to walk through Temple Square and the grounds were beautiful .

These pictures were taken on my phone (just a regular phone…) so the quality isn’t great, but it’s better than nothing!

in paradise...

2011-03-14T00:36:00.000-06:00

For Spring Break this year we are in Hawaii with Brian, Kimber & Ryan, baby Van, Lindsay and her fiance, Darren. Taylor will join us for a few days later this week. We are staying at the Waiohai on the island of Kauai, one of our favorite places.
We had a great time on Saturday swimming at Luma Hai and Queens Bath even though the North Shore is really crazy this time of year. The waves were spectacular and the kids had a fun time getting tossed in them.
I enjoyed watching them get tossed.

We went to one of our favorite beaches and baby Van had a great time tasting the sand. He would scoop it out of his beach pail then stick it in his mouth... it was everywhere but he was happy!

On Saturday morning we still had our tutor session and it was great. What a great place to have a tutor session! Robert and I really enjoy our sessions because we learn so much and we have an opportunity to share ideas and thoughts regarding principles of the gospel.

A Wonderful Weekend!

2011-03-07T17:28:00.001-06:00

This past weekend, Robert and I, Richard & Nickie, Larry and Brian drove up to Utah to attend the sealing of our oldest daughter, Kelli, and her husband, Adam, in the Timpanogos Temple. We stopped along the way in Aurora to get my mom, who came with us, too. There were lots of family members there and dear friends… Steve & Kathy Thurgood… and we so appreciated everyone being there. It made it that much more special. Afterwards, we celebrated at their church building with a yummy soup and bread dinner where more friends and family joined us. Our trip up and back was easy and quick.

We have also been in the process of finding new homes for our many animals. On this trip we took our cat, Chloe, to my mom and my sister, Cindy, who will be caring for her while we are gone on our mission. She will get lots of love and attention there and we feel so good about her new home! We will miss you Chloe!

Aprendiendo Espanol es muy dificil...

2011-02-24T15:40:00.000-06:00

I just finished my tutoring session for today. Actually, we both had tutoring today, Robert this morning and me this afternoon. I have to say that this session went really well and Robert loved his session! I usually am so nervous that I'm going to say something wrong, or I won't know an answer to a question, or I won't know what my tutor is saying. I'm feeling a little sick and I think that helped me not to care as much if I made a mistake. Maybe I should always be sick...

Also, I did something on Tuesday that I've been wanting to do for awhile and I'll probably post a picture next week sometime... what could it be??

April 17, 2011 Well, it took me a little longer to post the picture than I thought it would take... I decided to finally cut my hair. I've really loved having it this short and it's been much easier to care for than I thought it would be...

La Bienvenida!

2011-02-16T22:22:00.000-06:00

Wow, how time flies when you don't have time to write on the blog! The funny thing is that I didn't realize that many people actually read my blog. I got to thinking that I was writing it for me, but then some of you that actually read it will say things like, "you haven't posted anything new for a long time!" So, I apologize. I hate it when other people don't blog for awhile, so I guess I need to do better.

Our big news is that Robert and I have been called to preside over the Mexico Puebla Mission and will leave in July for that assignment. Talk about a life changing event! We are very excited and humbled by the thought of being in charge of a mission and being responsible for 150+ missionaries. We are excited at the opportunity to learn Spanish and to re-learn Spanish! We are excited for the opportunity that Brian will have to go with us and experience another culture. So many things to think about... We will miss our family, but we understand that some of them plan to come visit us. We will hold them to that.
We will try to post regularly and keep you informed of all the wonderful experiences of the mission, and we hope you will also feel welcome to share your experiences with us! We love you all!

Continuing the Saga…

2010-07-28T13:33:00.000-05:00

After we left Ron & Dee’s we headed East across Montana, heading for Yellowstone National Park. Ron & Dee suggested that we travel through the Beartooth Pass in Montana. We followed their advice and saw the most beautiful country ever!

We drove across Montana and then down to a place called Red Lodge. From there we went through Rock Creek Vista Point and could see for miles in every direction.

We started climbing up over the Bear’s Tooth Pass and saw the most beautiful mountains, lakes and wild flowers. We thought we were in the Swiss Alps!

the entire side of the mountain would be covered in flowers like this…

It was July but there were still many pockets of snow and it was very cold!

If you look past the sign, right above the “E”, you can see why it’s called Bear’s Tooth Pass

Then, as we were coming down onto the other side of the pass, we saw them… the most beautiful pair of mountain goats. You can’t see the other one, but there were two. We got out of our car to look at them and were standing about 20-30 feet away from them. We watched them for quite awhile until they wandered down the mountain side. They were amazing!

You can see both of them in this picture…

this was a river that we crossed over on our drive. We had to get out and hike to see it

standing on the bridge above the river…

And then, we finally made it to Yellowstone…

We were hoping to see some animals when we got into the park, and we weren’t disappointed… almost immediately we saw a couple of buffalo and it just got better from there. The following are the animals we saw and one that we didn’t get a picture of was a bald eagle.. enjoy the pictures!

we saw hundreds of buffalo… everywhere…

above… standing above the falls, looking down

below… standing in front of the falls where we had to hike down to get to this spot. It was a long hike back up!

who would’ve guessed that there are pelicans in Yellowstone Park?

This was another elk that we saw a little later. Look how big his antlers are and the crazy guy in the bottom of the picture… we stayed safe in our car the whole time!

As we were about to leave the park, we felt like we had seen just about every animal that we had wanted to see. Except a Moose. We were heading over a bridge and there was a big crowd of people. They were looking at a couple of large moose that were eating grass along the rivers edge. Success!!

We had a great time in the park and loved all the beauty of this amazing place. We were in time to see the sunset over the Tetons and then stayed the night at Teton Village

We made our way back to Provo to pick up Brian from EFY and had such a fun trip. We loved seeing new places and travelling new roads. It was all a great trip!

Montana here we come…

2010-07-28T00:29:00.000-05:00

After the family reunion Robert and I had planned to visit our friends in Montana, but figured since we were going that far, we would make a few stops along the way… On Saturday, Robert, Brian, Mom and I headed up to Aurora to spend a couple of days with my mom and my sister, Cindy. We went to church with Mom on Sunday and then Robert, Brian and I travelled up to Provo after church. We stayed with Robert’s brother, David and his wife, Vicki, Sunday night. On Monday, we had a great breakfast with David and Vicki and spent some time visiting with them. We then headed over to BYU to drop Brian off for a week at EFY. Brian goes to EFY and usually doesn’t have a roommate planned ahead of time but he always has a great time. checking in outside of the stadium at BYU

He stayed in the E. Richards dorm in Heritage Halls, which is the same dorm that I lived in when I was attending BYU. He almost stayed in the same apt. as me… just two doors down! I got pretty nostalgic… that’s his window on the bottom right..

After we dropped Brian off, Robert & I drove up to Idaho to see Sister Sue, Robert’s Mission Mom from when he served in Spain. She lived in SLC for many years but recently moved to Idaho. It was great to visit with her again and get caught up on all the news.

After visiting with Sister Sue, we headed to Rexburg to see our good friends from California, Ross & Kathleen Baron. Ross is a teacher at BYU-Idaho and this was our first trip to visit them. We went to dinner at the hot spot in town, "Wingers" . Ross & Kathleen took us on a tour of the campus after dinner and we loved it. It really is beautiful there and we really enjoyed the cooler weather. This picture is taken from one of the buildings on campus and overlooks the valley and part of the campus.

The saga continues… after leaving Rexburg, we traveled to a little tiny town and were lucky to find lodging at one of the motels in town. There were only three… and they were all full. This place did have a couple of vacancies. I guess Idaho is a pretty popular place in July with all the fisherman and hunters, etc. We were lucky to have a place to sleep! We did love the accommodations, though, it was very picturesque.

The next morning we headed out again, slowly making our way to Montana… We had been told to stop and see Upper Mesa Falls if we were able and it was right along our way, so we did, and we were so glad! It was so beautiful!

The whole drive through Idaho and into Montana was so beautiful and we enjoyed it so much… even the potato fields were beautiful because they were different for us.

the potato fields… they were endless!

the Tetons from a scenic point in Idaho…

fields of horses grazing (my personal favorite…)

beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers in the Gallatin National forest

and then, finally, we arrived in Montana and to our friends, Ron & Dee Helling’s, home. I think it looked just like I thought it would! Dee and Ron have their own distinct style and their home and everything there reflects their love of animals and flowers and nature.

This is the backyard, where we had lunch, in the gazebo, and their garden is in the background.

We loved meeting their dogs, Harry & Hermione. We took a couple of hikes while we were there, we visited the museum where Dee works as a docent and Ron & Dee volunteer at a living farm exhibit. They dress up in period attire and play at the farm! Actually it’s a lot of hard work, but it seems like they’re having too much fun for it to be work.

walking across a foot bridge and standing in a field of flowers. the picture doesn’t do justice to the beauty of this place!

We also went to a farmer’s market and to a local concert in the park that was so much fun… and the music was even good!

We hope to make this trip again someday and bring some of our kids with us. It was a blast and we saw so many pretty things and had such a fun time with good friends.

July in Arizona…

2010-07-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

July is such a hot month, we try to travel elsewhere! Usually we travel up to Utah to visit my mom for the 4th of July, but this year, since we were planning a family reunion and I wanted to be here to help Kimber out with her new baby, we didn't go :(

Instead we planned for my mom to come to our family reunion with us in Sedona, Arizona. So, a few days before we left for Sedona, Mom flew to our house and spent a few days with us in sunny and hot Arizona. Those of you who know my mom know that she doesn't like the heat. We spent most of the time in the house or in the pool.
On the 14th we left for Sedona and along the way we stopped at a place called Montezuma's Castle where there are Indian Ruins. It was very interesting to see the places where these people lived many years ago.

We stopped for lunch along the way at a great sandwich place that Robert & I discovered when we came up here in March. The outside patio in back was adorable and was such a nice break from being in the car for 2 and a half hours!

We traveled up the road just a couple of miles to Junipine Resort where we stayed for 4 days. We had 3 condos for the entire group and we fit pretty nicely! The condos were very close together so it made it easy for all the grandkids to find their way to Grandma & Grandpas for dinner or early breakfast or licorice… We know what our role is!

The first item of business was to have a family meeting and hand out the family reunion t-shirts that Richard and Mom made for everybody. We wore them when we did activities or went hiking and I think the kids liked them. This will probably become a tradition each time we have a reunion.

Of course, Larry had to have his own special shirt for the occasion… ask him about it sometime and I’m sure he would be glad to tell you all about it.

I asked Nickie if she would plan some activities for the kids because she’s so creative and I’m not… She really went all out and planned some great stuff! One of the activities we did with the kids was to make tie dye shirts and they all did a great job. They had such a fun time dying their shirts. The adults helped to twist and tie the shirts, then the kids got to pour their own colors on.

After the shirts were done, the kids invented their own game called “chase each other with glove balloons” it was quite entertaining…

We went on hikes to see more Indian Ruins, played in the river, went to Slide Rock State Park, ate dinner together and had a day of games and races, which is tradition in our family for the 4th of July… we just did it a little later in the month this year. The beauty of Junipine was amazing and it was more enjoyable because we were there with our family. We had a great time and we look forward to another reunion in two years!

Larry, Ethan, Mason, Catherine

Larry, Melanie, Noah and Ethan

Richard, Sadie, Mason

Grandma and Noah.................. Mason

Great Grandma and baby Van

Great Grandma and all the grandkids

Great Day!

2010-06-21T12:05:00.001-05:00

Happy Fathers Day to Ryan! Baby Van Ryan Hicken was born on June 20, 2010 at 10:45 pm weighing in at 7lbs. 13 ozs. and measuring 21 inches. He is a beautiful baby and it took Kimber all day to get him here, but he’s here now and everybody is happy!

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Back to Gilwell...

2010-06-15T09:18:00.000-05:00

Well, we've done it again. Robert and I have just returned from another wonderful Wood Badge experience at St. Joseph's Youth Camp near Mormon Lake in Arizona. This year he served as the Course Director and I served as a Troop Guide for the week long course. For the last 4 months Robert has been working hard to make sure the course would be the best that it could be. He had a wonderful staff and everyone worked so hard to make sure that everyone had a great experience. Marilyn, our ASM over Troop Guides, was so fun to get to know and she helped us to really try hard to do our best. All the Presenters did such a great job of teaching and training everyone. I was privileged to be a Troop Guide for the Fox patrol and I loved my fellow foxes, Marilyn, Edith, David, William and Michael. They were awesome and got along so well with each other. They had the opportunity of organizing the participants campfire program and it was so fun and well done. Everybody loved it. It was such a great experience and I'm so glad that I was able to be a part of it. Fox Rocks!

2010-05-03T11:12:00.000-05:00

Well, we have had another packed weekend... On Wednesday night Taylor came home for a short visit. He has been finishing up his training in California for the last 4 weeks and has a little time off so he came by here on his way back to Virginia. Bradley finished up the Winter term at BYU-Hawaii and has been home since April 12th. We went to the movies, had dinner out a couple of times and had the family over for dinner at the house on Sunday night. On Friday, Taylor bought a new truck and he will be renting out his other truck to Bradley while he is in the Baltimore area. Taylor and Bradley also spent some time at Larry & Melanie's house.

On Saturday, Robert and I went up to St. John's in North Eastern Arizona to speak at a Stake Conference. Robert is serving as a counselor in the Tempe Mission Presidency and we are occasionally assigned to speak at Stake Conferences in our mission. This was the first time I had been to this area of Arizona, so it was a fun weekend. Because it is so far away (4 hours driving), we stayed in the Stake President's home Saturday night and were able to visit with his family and get to know them a little better. Their Stake Conference was wonderful and there were several new converts and investigators in the new member meeting on Sunday morning. There was a good spirit there and we enjoyed the conference very much. On Sunday morning we woke up to find it was snowing! It was snowing lightly when we left for Conference, but by the time we were ready to head for home, it was snowing pretty well...

As you can see, it was quite windy! I was so excited to be eating new fallen snow I slipped as I was getting into the car and almost fell!

The drive was long but beautiful, especially this gorge that we had to drive down into and then back out again.

Monday morning brought goodbyes from Bradley and Taylor. They are heading up to Utah today and will visit friends and family for a few days and then head for the East Coast where Taylor will be stationed for a year and Bradley will be working for 4 months. It's been a fun weekend but we will miss you both!

tough guys!

bunnies and turtles and kitties, oh my!

2010-04-25T22:44:00.000-05:00

Okay, so most of you know that I tend to have a lot of animals at my house! Well, my friend called a couple of weeks ago and asked me if I'd be interested in opening up my home to an orphaned baby bunny, and of course I said yes... "Buttons" was being bottle fed up until I took him/her and is still very tiny. In this picture you can see how he basically fits in the palm of Brian's hand. At first he was very calm and shy and would sit very still in my hand, but after a few days, he has gotten very aggressive in a small bunny way. He tries to scare me by batting at me with his front paws, but I just giggle. Once I catch him, he cuddles right up to me and loves me to scratch his cheeks. Once he gets big enough he'll go outside in my back yard and be happy as can be!

Our box turtles have also been enjoying being back in the backyard in their habitat. This is Harry, Ron, Ginny and Neville. Hermione is one of the moms in the regular backyard... We also have Franklin (the dad) and Rose (the other mom). These are babies that were born 2 years ago and we keep them in a kiddie pool in the backyard when it's warmer. During the winter I bring them indoors so they don't freeze! I feed them worms, pill bugs and meal-worms, but I'm trying to get the worms to establish themselves in the habitat so they will provide food for the turtles on their own. The turtles are about 2-3 inches long and they definitely like being outside better than inside!

And, not to be left out, these are the Sulcata Tortoises that we also have in the backyard. The big one is Tiny, then the smaller ones are Charlie, Fred & Barney. Barney is the one that got in a fight with a dog last year and has healed up very nicely. He's a little longer than Fred (his brother) because of the bandages that we had on him for 6 months. He still carries scars from the loss of his shell, but I think he will actually look pretty good in another couple of years...

These are our two cats, Allie (on the left) and Zoe (on the right), but I've been thinking lately of changing Zoe's name to Sheeba because I think she thinks she IS the "Queen of Sheeba". They mostly live in our bedroom because they don't like our dogs chasing them. Allie is 12 or 13 years old ( I can't remember exactly which year we got her...) and I'm not sure how old Zoe is because she was a lost kitty that we adopted. Allie is slowing down a bit, so I wanted to get a picture just in case she's not with us too much longer.

16, here I come...

2010-04-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Brian's 16th birthday last night with the family, but today is his actual birthday. He was very excited to turn 16 and has been counting down the days for weeks now. We went to the DMV so he could take his driving test and he did great on it, so now he's driving and able to date... how did this happen? My youngest child has grown into a young man while I wasn't watching! But he's a wonderful young man and he is a joy to be around. He's also a good sport to be the last one at home and put up with being seen with Mom & Dad occasionally.

2010-03-17T13:52:00.001-06:00

For Spring Vacation, Robert and I went to Sedona for the day. It was a beautiful day and the drive was very pretty. We took Dakota and Max and I think they had a good time. Mostly they were just in the car, but we did take them out a couple of times and they got to sniff totally new smells! They loved it! We will be going to Sedona for a family reunion in July and we wanted to see where we would be staying. It's beautiful and we're looking forward to the trip.

2010-03-13T09:37:00.000-06:00

Lindsay is in town this weekend for Amy Miles' wedding and I'm so excited to see her. It seems that it has worked out that she comes down to visit every month or so. Perfect! I will post pictures later... after we take some!
She just recently passed her Basic test for school. She is now officially an Esthetician, which means she can do facials, waxing, pedicures, manicures, etc. I think I'm going to get a good return on her education :)