Fifteen!

My baby is fifteen years old!!!

When we were considering having another baby

at the ripe old age of 40

my mom said something to me

that helped me make that decision

and for which I will be forever grateful.

She said:

"You will never regret the ones you have,

only the ones you didn't have."

We can't even begin to imagine our lives

without our wonderful Matthew.

The Dreaded Durham Museum

President Kunz and I love the Durham Museum.

It always has wonderful "temporary" displays

that require intense study and reading of plaques.

Perhaps that is why our kids refuse to go with us.

On this particular trip we were able to persuade Matthew to come with us

on the condition that we stay for one hour and not a minute more.

We took all kinds of fun pictures of him

and then headed down to the newest display:

"The Pulitzer Prize Photographs."

These were pictures of events that literally changed

the histoy of the world!!!!!

They were incredible,

and required intense study and reading of plaques...

Matthew timed our visit down to the minute and

we were indeed out of there in one hour.

Needless to say, Milan and I need to go back

and read everything we missed.

Anybody want to come with us?

These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things

Sung to the tune of My Favorite Things:

"Daisy-like flowers on green colored cactus,

Stately gorillas with muscles so massive,

Trips to the zoo

with our two offsprings,

(ok, not so great, but...)

these are a few of our favorite things..."

ATTENTION:

The following is a revised rendition of the above stanza.

Thanks to my talented little sister...

humn, humn (clearing throat)...

Trips to the zoo

with our offspring of two

These are a few of my favorite things..........!

Goodbye to 17 Great Missionaries

Another goodbye...

L-R backrow: Elders Mohr, Vidrine, Burnham, Hudspeth,

Verhaaren, Springer, Shedden, Haslem, Mortimer and Osmond.

Front row: Elders Johnson, Payne, Plowman, Warby and

Sisters Christiansen, Itri, Stanger and Hale.

With this group we were sending home

the majority of the mission's leadership.

They were incredible missionaries

and really set the pace for the rest of us.

Making sure all is ready and within the proper weight.

Does a pillow count as a carry ons?

Two of our assistants left us also:

Elder Hudspeth,

and Elder Warby.

Wow, this is tough!

God bless you all, we love you

and miss you already!

Hello to 17 Great Missionaries

We took our seventeen new missionaries

to the Pioneer Courage Memorial

in downtown Omaha

to begin their mission orientation.

They loved it!

Our lovely new sisters.

Checking out the oxen.

Lining up for introductions to Elder Watson,

the Trail Center Director.

A 'Hurrah for Israel' before

their first experience out contacting with

experienced missionaries.

At the Pioneer Cemetary,

listening to President Kunz direction

to consecrate their lives

as their pioneer ancestors did.

Welcome to our newest missionaries!

L-R backrow: Elders Bown, Ward, Reynolds,

Robins, Jones, Faas and Fakai.

Middle row: Elders Stauffer, To'fohe, McGee,

Draper, Smith and Riha.

Front row: Sisters DuBois, Rhoades, Robertson and Atkin.

We are so glad to have you join our NOM family.

ZLC

Sitting in Zone Leader Council is an amazing experience.

There is nothing that compares to listening to these

incredible young people counsel together.

Their thoughts and ideas

are innovative, creative and inspired.

This is the future of the Lord's Kingdom

on Earth and it is in good hands!

Hello

Welcome to the Julanders from Bear River City, Utah.

They will be working with the facilities management group.

More wonderful, amazing, delightful people

to love.