John & Jesse, the beloveds

So, this blog is becoming the John and Jesse show. This is wonderful. I'm not complaining, but if anyone has other exciting news, please email me or make comments. Anyhow, John is doing great. He gets to hear the good experiences of other missionaries every night as a district leader. And he has had some miracles of his own, also. Jesse explained this week that the guy in the orange shirt was his ward mission leader. They were correlating at his apartment.

Maybe I'm just going to have to do some research on my own into what is going on in the fambly.

By the way, Brycen, Sara's baby boy, turned 1 last week and had a swingin' party. He is so cute and held his chocolate cake up very triumphantly once he realized his mommy didn't care if he got it all over the place. Congrats on your little cutie, Sara & Ryan.

the little cutie

Is it just me, or does her Grace look exceptionally cute today? It must be the piggy tails. . . I remember when Grandma Grace used to curl our pigtails in ringlets with her finger and pin them in place. Those were the good old days.

da eldahs

Elders Jesse & John are doing well this week also. Jesse sent picture above, though he didn't say who the guy in the orange shirt is.

John had some amazing news, he went from being junior companion to being senior companion, training, and serving as the district leader. He said he could tell who from the new group was going to be his companion by the love he already felt for him. I thought that was pretty groovy.

If anyone wants to email one of the elders, Aunt Helen has John's email address, and I have Jesse's so just let us know.

Harry Potter

I just thought I'd post in honor of the fact that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is finally out. Please see my personal blog for a picture of the fun Amazon box in which our book arrived. Alex and I share in the delight of all those of you who will finally be reading the much-anticipated book this weekend.

one year mark

John in Taiwan and Jesse in Idaho have reached their one year marks, and letters from both express their delight and surprise at how fast the time has flown. John has now learned 3000 characters in Mandarin, 1800 of which were acquired in the last six weeks, and it sounds like his sense of humor is as much of a boon to those around him as ever. Way to go!!

a world of hurt

Sammy Grace got her wisdom teeth out today, so this picture is not really an accurate representation of her current status. We went to see her and she was perfectly miserable. So if you were thinking of sending cards, flowers, or chocolates, maybe don't send the chocolates. We hope you get feeling better soon, Sammy, and may your face remain un-chipmunkish. Much love, over and out.


PS: Thanks Ryan. I'll keep it up then.

just wondering

Does anyone in the family read this? I've had limited information, zero feedback and the same amount of comments.

Jesse Wayne

My little baby brother is doing well. I got an email from him today, and he is teaching several people. He sounds very happy. He currently resides in Rathdrum, ID so if anyone is passing through, think of him fondly. This picture is from an earlier area when he was able to fit 26 grapes into his mouth at once. We're very proud.

Maggie

My friend Maggie from Hawaii came to visit this weekend. She was a ward missionary in my last area on Oahu. She came to church and had lunch with us. Left to right it is her friend Phyllis, Maggie, Alex, and me. We had a good visit, and I loved hearing their Hawaiian accents again and feeling their Aloha spirit.

Also, check out the new link to Dad's friend Hugh's family pictures. You can see his daughter's wedding. Hugh lives in Texas now.

Pictures

See here Elizabeth's group that was with her down in Argentina. My thoughts on study abroad: If humanly possible, everyone should do it.



And this is Brycen and Grace in the back of Sara and Ryan's old Jeep. We were going out to feed Mom and Dad's dogs while they were in England in April.

July Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the following family members this month:

4 Candace C.
11 Adam C.
14 John M. Sean C.
15 Jane T., Annette C.
21 Tony T.
23 Laura Y.
27 Brycen N.

And welcome back to Matt H, who has moved back to northern Utah. We are glad to have you around.