I am going to switch blog spots as soon as we leave for Arizona.  Our new blog will be Arizona Adventures at jerryandjeneneinarizona.blogspot.com and then I will return here when we come back to our continuing Texas Adventure. 

We have cleaned out the pantry of things that Heather won't eat and we no longer eat either.  We have cleaned out the freezer of things that will go bad while we are gone, and of things that we no longer remember when we put them there or what they are.  You will remember that Heather is on Thadeus' diet that is very restricted, but satisfying.  And we are going pretty much vegetarian and I am trying to be low carb.  Dad has lost some weight and can fit into his original suit pants again.  He is pretty happy about that. 

We still have Erin to visit with which is a really big plus.  Today a sister we home teach took us and Lara to lunch at a Mexican restaurant.  Mmm.  Good stuff!  Nothing beats Mexican food!

We are basically waiting for Thursday morning when we leave on our Arizona Adventure!!

Don't forget to visit us there!  We will enter the first post after we get to Salt Lake on Friday afternoon.  See you soon!!

March 25. 2018

So we are moving forward toward the mission!  A little bit at a time.  First, though, we got to be with Lara on her birthday.  She is as beautiful as ever at her new age.

She chose a tiny cheesecake so there would be no leftovers.  It was a good time to be together.  

On that same day Dad went to get an eye checkup and order some distance glasses.  He got to experience Dr Steed, Heather's boss.  When he got his glasses he said, ok, the tv is a lot clearer now!  Maybe he will use them driving, or not.  They stay on his tv table for now.  

After that we were asked to give talks on, "How to prepare for a mission at any age."    The bishop gave us a choice as to when we wanted to give the talks and I said I would like to get it over with before we had visitors so we wouldn't have to worry about it while we were supposed to be having a happy time.  Or else it wouldn't be a happy time.  So he let us do it on the 18th, the weekend the Evanses arrived.  

The next big thing to happen here (besides Heidi, Atticus, and Alice having birthdays) was the visit from the Evanses!!  They came on Saturday afternoon and we had dinner with them and the Barneys.

We had hamburgers and made s'mores after Dad got the fire just right.  The boys played in the playhouse too and swung on the ball swing.  It was a beautiful evening with the weather perfect and great company.  Sarah became the master marshmallow roaster of the evening.  

Sunday after church and after our talks were over and we could relax, we hung out in the living room, amidst all the furniture from our house and some of Heather's.  We have moved her completely out of her storage unit so she can save that rental money and have her own stuff here in the house.  She means to put our stuff away and have her own personal touch on her surroundings.  It will be fun to see what she does with the place.  

On Monday morning we took off for Bolivar Peninsula and the beach house they had rented.  It was a very comfortably arranged house and fit us all.  Erin arrived at our house in Kingwood Monday night and drove out to the beach house Tuesday after lunch.  The house was perfectly situated between an empty lot and a grassy park area and directly on the beach so that there was no one else around.  Perfect privacy and freedom to do as we liked.  

                                             A nice big kitchen with all the necessary utensils.

                  A big dining and reading area for everyone to have room.  They had a TV that we used to show the kids some of Heather's videos.  They liked Ice Age and we had to play the slide scene over for Erin when she came.  It's the best part I think too.  We also did a couple puzzles all together.  Susan brought one and there was already one at the house, along with some toys for the kids.  Erin and Bobby and Susan showed me how to play Settlers of Catan which was fun.  I didn't do too badly for the first time playing.  I had played it before years and years ago, and couldn't remember anything.  Dad says board games are a spectator sport, so he just listened to us and checked his computer.  

A great big deck that went all around the house (on stilts, of course, since this is on Galveston Bay)

                              Awesome deck chairs to let us see over the railing to the beach activities.

And the view of the beach.  Of course the people are very small in the picture so that you can't see them, but we could see them well and enjoy watching them play and play and play.  The water was very shallow so that the kids never got out over their knees, but they had plenty of water to play in.  They had a wonderful time and found shells and dug holes and played happily together for hours.  

And do you see the ships in the distance?  There were many many ships.  I counted 12 all lined up at one time, waiting for their turn at the docks,  bringing and taking important commodities.  

On Wednesday we took the ferry across the bay to Galveston to eat lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which was like the Tiki Room at Disneyland with all kinds of jungley things around the room and overhead, and animals in the bushes that made noise and moved.  Then we went to the movie with the little boys seeing Peter Rabbit with Bobby (wonderful Bobby) and the rest of us seeing Wrinkle in Time.  It was a lot better than I thought it would be.  I loved the book, but wasn't impressed with the previews of the movie, but it turned out to be much better than I had thought.  Happy surprise!  Alice got to choose since it was a birthday celebration for her.  She is eleven!!  Just like Atticus.  Where has the time gone?! 

The kids loved the water and the spray and the noises and the birds following the ferry and on the pilings.  The announcement said, "Please feed the birds from the back of the ferry,"  naturally assuming we would be feeding the birds, which lots of people were doing.  

We went home Wednesday afternoon after dinner so that I could make a doctor appointment the next morning.  And then after the Evanses got on their way back home Thursday morning Erin came back to our house and will stay till the end of the month.  She has this wonderful job that she can do from anywhere so she can hang out here all day working and then play with Heather in the evening when she gets home.  But now we get to have the pleasure of her company till we leave on Thursday morning  for Utah.  

Yesterday Heather mowed the grass for the second time and Dad is comfortable that she knows how to start the mower and use the whip and blower.  Today he will show her how to start the generator in case the power goes out while we are gone, and right now he is showing her how to find different places that she isn't sure about reaching from here.  We want her to be comfortable in what she needs to do.    

There are a few more things that we need to do before we leave, but mostly we are just waiting till time to go.  Had our last sacrament meeting today and said goodbye to everyone.  We are looking forward to seeing Utah family and getting started on our next great adventure!!  

We love you all more than words can tell.  We are so happy that you are part of us and we can know you and love you forever.  

It finally came!  We don't know what happened to the first one, but Heidi finally called her friend and he sent another one next day FedEx.  It arrived February 15th and we got to open it!  We are indeed going to the Arizona Phoenix mission as member support missionaries.  I am studying French and trying to remember what I study.  It's fun to finally have a good reason to do what I have always meant to do:  keep up on French.  It's not normally very useful here in Texas but there was once in the temple when a French speaker attended and needed some help.  I got to assist and it made me happy to be able to do something for her.  And now I will hopefully be able to do more with it.  And learn as I go.  I told my cousin I hope the French speakers in Phoenix have a good sense of humor.

Now we are waiting to see what the housing director in the mission can arrange for us.  We didn't realize till we got called that we don't actually arrange our housing, the mission does.  So we will see what happens with that.  Dad is happy that we can rent furniture from the mission and don't have to drive a van full of our things there and back.

We will be giving our "farewell" talks on March 18th and then will be spending most of the following week with the Evanses and Erin on Goat Island near Galveston on a happy holiday.  The bishop asked yesterday when we would like to speak and I said whenever he wanted if we really have to do it, but it would be nice to have it all done before we go away on a happy holiday or it won't be a happy holiday.  So he set the date.

We will be set apart as missionaries on March 28th and leave for Provo on the 29th.  We will arrive at Bennett's around midday on March 30th and hopefully get to see everyone and have dinner all together sometime between then and the second.  We are super grateful to Heidi and James for letting us stay with them. 

We are supposed to be in the MTC in Provo on April second and will probably spend a week there, maybe 10 days. We haven't been told how long.  And then off on the adventure!  We will drive to Phoenix and get started! 

Thank you all for caring and being so supportive.  We are grateful for each one of you and for your love and encouragement.  Plan to come visit us in Phoenix! 

Good morning!  Today is THE day!! (we are hoping.)  All the forms are in and the interviews are done and we have been waiting and waiting and waiting for our mission papers to arrive in the mail.  I hope it is today around 3 when our mailman comes.  We sent it all in electronically about a month ago.  Shortly after that, the mission office personnel called us two times one day to check on some of the things on our forms:  when  had I had my bunionectomy, could I walk now?  (it was more than 20 years ago), did I have all my own teeth?, what was the situation around Dad's thyroid cancer?  (a tiny spot in the middle of the enlarged thyroid).  And then Kristin said they called Sean to ask about the plans he had for using us since we had written on our form that we were supposed to be a part of "Elder Rasband's special Phoenix project".   So we knew we were in the works, but now weeks and weeks have passed and we have heard NOTHING.  So I finally asked Heidi if she would see if anyone in the missionary department knew or would tell her anything about our progression through the process.  And she was able to tell us yesterday that our formal papers had been mailed January 30th.  Yaaayyy!!  So now it has been a week and surely, surely we should receive them today!  Right?  Right?  It's hard to wait.  I always thought I was patient, but I said that in Heidi's presence one time and she laughed and said, "NO you are not!"  And I thought about it and decided that she is right. 

As for other news, Heather has weathered her 40th birthday fairly well.  It was a hard day but she rallied and is doing fine now.  She has decided that this is a new phase in her life and she will take charge and do something good with it.  She is looking forward to living here while we are gone on our mission, rearranging the house to suit her own needs, putting away most of our things and bringing out her own.  She has undertaken a healthy diet plan, expecting to lose her excess weight over the next year, and she is planning to be released from Primary so she can attend Sunday School and Relief Society and make some real friends that she can socialize with.  She is trapped now and still doesn't really know anyone besides our associates after being here a year.  Her boss at work is still wonderful and has plans to build his new staff (after the current employees finally peel off) with people like Heather who is a hard worker and is happy to be there.  

We also attended two Barney birthdays:  Sarah turned 13 and Mary turned 20!  Can you believe it?  For about a week all the Barney children were teenagers and then Mary had her birthday.  It was fun to get to party with them.  

Doesn't Sarah look more and more like Lara? So radiant.   And Mary is a beautiful copy of her Grandma Barney.  This isn't the best picture of Sam, but it's the best that Jon could get.  He took a whole bunch of pictures but the kids were making faces and doing crazy things in each one so this is the best of them all.    See Sarah's Dungeon and Dragon tee shirt?  She is the dungeon master for her group at the middle school and there is a teacher that is a member.  He called her up during one of their classes when everyone else was working and asked her something like, "What character do you think I should be? This one or that one?"  And Sam is the dungeon master for his group of friends that meets on Friday nights.  

Dad is going every day to do taxes for people at a school.  He works for Baker-Ripley Centers and does them for free for whoever comes.  It's an organization that has centers all over town for people who need to get it done for free.  They offer extensive training and testing and provide all kinds of supervision so that they know it's being done right for those that come.  He has done about a dozen every day since he started, and it will continue till the middle of April.  He usually gets home about 2 or so and then can relax the rest of the day.  It's nice to be able to help people and also keep his mind sharp.  

We try to go bowling every Tuesday since that's $2 day at the bowling center in Humble.  And yesterday we both averaged over 100 points with our 3 games!  We are definitely improving.  We still throw a gutter ball or two once in a while, but it averages out well.  Dad made 136 points one of his games.  It's nice to see him look forward to something and feel good about improving.  

He wants to lose 10 pounds or so and now that Heather is on her specific eating plan he said he would eat the way I eat so I don't make two meals anymore.  I was cooking for him and Heather and a vegetarian meal for me every day.  So now he is willing to eat vegetarian.   Last night we had some veggie tacos that were quite acceptable.  Him eating with me makes me want to make better meals and not just a bowl of beans from time to time.  I think garbanzo beans made into chicken salad with crackers is awesome as a lunch, and I made a good chili with cornbread muffins one day.  It will be fun to see what we can come up with that he will actually enjoy.  

It is good to spend time with you, thinking of you reading with me.  It's a cloudy, rainy day today; just perfect for staying inside and writing, reading or doing a puzzle.  I think of you all the time.  We pray for you all the time.  We love you with all our hearts and want all the best for you and yours.  We are happy and healthy and looking forward to the future.  We look forward to an eternity being with you and continuing to love you.  

Back from Illinois!!  Boy, was it cold!!  got down to minus 15 sometimes, without the windchill.  If not for borrowing Susan's gloves and knit hat I would have truly been miserable.  But they made all the difference.  My face was still freezing, but the rest of me was okay.  The good thing for Erin is that that was very unusual weather, they said.  The week before it was sweater time.  Now she knows that it won't be that cold every winter and can still be happy to be there. 

And she is happy to be there!  It's good to see her so happy.  Her house is delightful and bright and just the right size for her.  She has to buy some things and put away everything but she will get to it as she can.  She has her bed and the kitchen is mostly put away so she can live just fine till she finds everything else.

She wanted her office painted yellow so it would be happy and comfortable to be in and Dad volunteered to paint it for her.  When he was done it was truly wonderful and warm.  The rest of the house is painted gray inside and she likes that.  When we went shopping for her bathroom supplies and bed linens she decided to go with turquoise/aqua which was in abundance in Target where we went.  It looks great all together. 

It was funny that when everyone heard who had owned the house before she bought it, the family was one whose son was in Alice's grade in school!  What a surprise.  So the guest room where Dad and I stayed was blue (the only room with different paint from the gray) and had celestial decals in one corner and we guessed it was the room of the boy Alice knew.  She felt a little funny, but was happy to take down the decals.  

Robert and James were enthralled with her floor heater vents.  They are melting some slushies here over one of the vents.  They ran through the whole house counting them.  They discovered a wonderful secret door too.  It was the entrance into the crawl space beneath the house in the closet floor in the guest room.  They had exciting speculations about what it could be until they learned its real purpose.  

This is the living room with all these wonderful windows.  You see that there is no one that can look into her house and the windows in the dining room are the same.  Nice and big and they look out onto the back yard.  So she can pretty much keep them all uncovered and still maintain privacy.  The whole house has hardwood floors that the kids loved skiing and scooting and swimming across.  It's smooth and just perfect for kids. 

When she got there Erin had no bed so that was one of the first things she got.  It was delivered the next day and everyone had to try it out.  Just the mattress and bunky board, but that was all she needed for now.  She will get a bed from online.  She knows what she wants and will take her time.  Evanses had already bought her the pillows and the snuggly soft blanket.  She says it was very comfortable.  

The next thing she needed was internet so she can work from home and also have TV.  When she called the person said they would be out that afternoon!!  What a joy!  She had a slumber party arranged for the kids that night and wanted to have internet to show them a movie.  The men came and got it set up and so all was well.  

The slumber party was great for the first few hours.  All the kids were there.  They had pizza and brownies and a 12 pack of Sprite.  They watched two movies and went to bed and two kids threw up.  Bobby came and got them all a little after midnight.  But there will be many more sleepovers in the future with maybe a little more caution to keep it happy all night.  They were all devastated to have to go home.  

Susan had arranged for us to go one afternoon to the Pottery place and paint some tree decorations.  

On New Year's Eve they put some gingerbread house kits together.  Robert had his and James and Matthew had one.  Alice helped the little boys since she had already put one together another day. 

They had fun getting them together but the best part for the kids was eating the icing.  

 
 

Then after the gingerbread houses we had a delicious dinner.  After dinner they got to eat the gingerbread houses.  Then we had a New Year's Eve Party!!  Bobby got the London New Year's Eve on the computer and we cheered and were happy with them at 6 pm and then everyone danced.  

Erin had brought some lights and a disco light kind of thing and James also had a star projector.  Both were set up and played along with some music that Erin had put together for dancing.  They danced and danced and danced.  

                                                        Erin dancing with Matthew

                                                                  Susan and James

Susan and Robert

Erin and Robert

                                      Erin with the lights around her head, assisted by Robert

Bobby danced with Alice and all had a lot of fun.  The music Erin chose was really fun with the chipmunks and lots of 50's silly music.  

With celebrating the new year at 6 pm and partying about an hour the kids went to bed at their usual time and we adults played Phase 10.  We had a great time talking and laughing and being sad for not getting the hands we wanted.  When the game was over we went back to Erin's about 10 and went to bed.  Just the kind of New Year's celebration we liked.  

The next morning we said good bye to Erin, took the twin beds over to Evanses, one for Matthew and one for their guest room, said good bye to them all, shopped a little for our trip and took off for home.  Had an uneventful trip, got home in good time and were happy to have gone and were happy to be back.  It was so cold most of the trip when we got to Texas and had temperatures around 35 we felt like we were in Springtime.  

It was good to be back.  We walked into the house and Sasha greeted us like long lost family.  She was happy to get to be on GP's lap again.  

I am very happy with my gift from Erin.  I had always told her if she ever got tired of this one picture I would be happy to take it.  And surely, she did give it to me!!  I was so happy.  We brought it home and put it up and I love it.  She has decided to go more modern, with fewer decorations.  It will be fun to see what she puts together.  

Today we had our interviews with the bishop and he said he didn't have the medical papers as we had thought so Dad will check on that tomorrow.  Bishop says we can go get them and bring them to him in a sealed envelope, so we will try to do that if they are sitting at the dr's office and not lost in the mail.

Life here goes on as usual.  I am teaching 7 year olds in Primary instead of 5 year olds, but Dad and Heather are doing the same things.  Heather is still very happy at work.  

Our objective now is to get the missionary papers finished and have that final interview with the stake president and see if we are really going to go.   What if we don't?  I wondered that this morning.  We will have to find some other interesting thing to do.  We have volunteered to help in this home mission, but the president hasn't found anything for us to do.  Maybe we could volunteer to help out in the Crosby ward, visiting the 500 inactive there as we would get to do in Phoenix.  We will wait and see.  

We love you our wonderful children.  We love you with all our hearts.  Thank you for being all that you are and contributing a marvelous richness to our lives with your love and example.

Merry Christmas!!  We are enjoying a slow easy day around the tree, working on a puzzle and playing Sudoku and watching Sasha play with her toys.  Heather put some treats in a box and sealed it up and let Sasha tear it up to get the treats.  She loved it and it was fun to watch her.  But then she went under my bed and found another box and tore it up.  Got into trouble.  Just looking for more treats!

This Christmas we got a new garage door opener for when the door stopped working, a new battery for the car for when it stopped working, and I also got a new phone for when it stopped working. Dad got a brown belt and a $500 dental bill for our mission dental exams and one cavity repair for me.  So it was an expensive Christmas, but all important things to have.

And it all seemed to happen at once.  I told last post about the broken garage door and the car battery, and then my phone stopped working.  The man loves my phone because it has GPS which is a wonderful thing for finding our way through the world nowadays.  What in the world did we do without it?!!  Got lost a lot, that's what.  And took forever to get somewhere new.  So we replaced it.

I look at these things like I looked at the flooding of Lexington before we moved in.  Lots of things happened before we moved in that needed to be taken care of so that when we did move in the house would be safe and secure.  I see that it wouldn't be nice to leave Heather with a garage door that wouldn't open or start out our trip with a bad battery or broken phone.  Had to get all those things fixed so that we will be prepared for what comes next.  We are absolutely certain that paying our tithing is a way to protect ourselves from trouble and when we do have trouble, it's to take care of things that need to be done.

We got the dental exam and then the physical.  We took the forms to the doctor and had appointments with the same guy 15 minutes apart.  He looked at the form and said he had never seen such a comprehensive, detailed physical paper.  He looked it all over, asked us how we felt and if we had any complaints or questions, and then when we said no he signed the form and checked all the boxes.  So that was our physical.  But we had just seen our regular doctors recently and then we went to get blood work that was returned to this doctor, so he did really look at our records and get an idea of what kind of state we are in.  We passed.  So that was the physical and also the dental.  And the bishop said yesterday that he has received all those the papers.  Now we will get to have interviews when we get back from Illinois and then send in the papers and see what happens.  I asked what we do if we get called to Kentucky or Borneo?  And the answer is that we tell Sean who will talk to Elder Rasband and see if he wants to talk about it or if it's the real call and we go there.  Elder Rasband told Sean that if we applied we should put on the paper that it is an application to his special Phoenix project which we did.  And he said when he reviews it he will assign us to Phoenix unless he gets powerful inspiration  telling him differently.  So now we wait.

But we will be waiting in Illinois!!  We are going to Urbana leaving tomorrow to help Erin settle in to her new home!  So excited for her.  A fresh new environment.  And close to Evanses who love her lots and lots.  The sad part is that she will be leaving family in Utah who love her lots and lots too.  But I am sure she will be back there often.  We are going out mostly because we want to be there and see her new home and be a part of it, but she also would like some things done to the house that Dad can help with.  She wants to paint some and do some other things.  And I'm good at making beds and putting away kitchen stuff.

We love you all with all our hearts.  Thank you for being ours and sharing your lives with us.  We are also grateful for our Savior who gives life meaning and purpose.  Merry merry Christmas!!

The best thing that happened for Thanksgiving was that we had Erin visit.  She was here only a few days, but it was great to get to see her.  We picked her up at midnight at the airport in a traffic jam we had never seen before there!!  I guess everyone was getting here for a visit.  We finally got her and got her home.  We hung out and talked a long time and then went to bed.  What a treat to have her.  Then next day was Thanksgiving and we went to Barneys for a delicious dinner.  We played Clue with Barneys, came home and played Rummikub.  The next day we watched a television series Erin liked, and then we went to see Thor, Ragnarok with Barneys.  Saturday we just hung out and talked, the best part, and then she had to leave.  Fast and really fun.  We look forward to seeing her again after Christmas when we help her move her stuff into her new house!!  What a life change for Erin!  It will be refreshing for her to be close to Evanses even though she leaves cherished family members behind in Utah.  Just gives us more reason to visit Illinois. 

We did the quilt puzzle for Thanksgiving and have kept the table up since then doing different puzzles in our spare time.  I have been sick the last two weeks and have appreciated staying in my pjs and working the puzzles and reading.  Yesterday was the first I have felt normal and am getting better as time goes on. 

Yesterday was an interesting mixture of experiences.  I finally felt like going out and visiting some of my visiting teaching ladies and primary kids so I jumped in the car and took off.  Got to Walgreens to pick up some stuff and then the car wouldn't start when I was ready to move on.  I called Dad and he planned to come jump the battery, but then he called back and said the garage door was stuck and wouldn't open.  :o(  So we called Jon and he and Sam came over and helped lift the door so the man could get out.  He came, jumped the car and then he took the car to drive a little and build up the battery and I took the truck to my duties.  But what a combination of things!  We had a repairman come out and we will have it fixed this coming week.  At least the cars are out and the garage is closed and everything in it is safe from pilfering. 

Almost half way through December!  The year seems to have flown by.  We put up the Christmas tree last week and decorated it and I love seeing the lights and sparkles off the shiny balls.  We also put up the nativity and the stockings.  It's fun to have some of the old things out again and remember other Christmases.. 

We had a little excitement the other day!  When we got up in the morning we saw snow!!  What a surprise!  It didn't last all day, but it was really fun to see for the morning.  There are lots of people here who have never seen snow.  I remember going to Utah from California and being so excited to see a little flurry at a gas station where we stopped.  I had lived in it when I was at school, but not for a long time.  It's fun when you don't have to drive in it every day and scrape it off the windshield every morning. 

Did I already tell you I have a twin at church?  She is Harriet Swank and everyone talks to me as if I'm her.  How are the scouts doing?  etc and I have to say, oops, wrong person.  Here is a picture of us to let you decide if we look that much alike.  It's funny to have it happen.  

We are going to the dentist Wednesday and then to the doctor for physicals Thursday.  Getting along with our missionary applications.  Then we will submit the papers and see what happens.  Kristin says Sean is already telling everyone there that we are coming.  I hope we are.  Never can tell till it's real.  I am trying to brush up on my French and trying to think of how I can be useful there.  We will see how it works out.  

Thank you for being you.  We love you with all our hearts and pray for your welfare and happiness many times a day.