Do you think it is about time I got back to my blog? I finally have most, but not all, of my 5,000 photos loaded onto my computer. How to choose which ones to post? Our 18 months in Cambodia was the experience fo a life time, and no ammount of words or pictures can really do it justice, but I think I will start with some of the faces of Cambodia that we grew to love so much. Our mission there was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my lifetime, buy because of these people, it was also one of the best. So enjoy these beautiful faces.

See why we fell in love?

Still cannot post ptots, but we are hoping you are following our e-mails.

Well we still have no online access at home, so I cannot add photos, nor can I accsee this very often. I hope you get my e-mails. If you don't and are interested, check with my family. We are working hard and loving our mission. It is hard as can be, but worth it.

MTC

Well, I bought a new mini camera to take with us on the mission, and it failed to work at the MTC. Hence, no photos. We had a wonderful week, but it was a little more exciting than I had planned on. Tues AM Doug had a funny looking "bite" on his leg. When we looked again at 9pm that night his leg was very red and swollen and the "bite" was the size of a purple quarter. I convinced him something needed to be done, so he finally called our Dr friend, Randy Daines. He told us to go the the ER in Utah Valley now. We did, and after 2 1/2 hrs he was dignosed with a cellulitis. They have him an IV infusion of "gorilla" antibiotics, and sent us home wiht oral meds and instructions to come back at noon the next day for another dose. He did. That day they decided to culture it. Good thing, cause fri night they found that it needed a different antibiotic . He looks good now, and I guess we are good to go to Cambodia. It was a scarry experience, more for me than for him, cause he never worries or thinks about those things. I, on the other hand, think I know too much about the possible consequences. Jas and Trent both say it had the potenial to be pretty bad, so we feel very blessed. We spent the week-end in Star Valley with many of the kids, and tomorrow we fly out. The MTC was so amazing and wonderful. We learned sooo much. Can I just say that not only is the gospel true, but so is the church! Our training was terrific, everything was right on time, never went over. It was amazing to be there with all those young missionaires, too. We met our missionaries who are coming to Cambodia and bonded instantly. Everyone needs to know just how great the MTC is!

day at the zoo

I know, I know, we just went to the zoo last month, and it was a drizzley chilly day today, but oh well, there will not be many more opportunities to hang out with the grandkids, so away we went. Jamie got to come with Lucy, and I think she really liked her first peek at Hogle Zoo. Of course, little Luce is pretty chill and seems to like most everything. The older kids still love love love the "white" alligator, and the monkeys are always a hit. Izzy was quite entranced today with all the animals, but she loved gramma Ger's chocolate chip cookies best. I should post a picture of the cookies Graice helped me make. Have you ever eaten BLUE chocolate chip cookies? That is what we had to make, since Gracie's new kick is blue blue blue. For Cinderella, of course. Mom, these photos are for you....I am in some of them. In typical mom fashion MY mom complained that she never sees me on my blog. So this is for you, mom.

tender mercies

We spent this past week at Lake Powell with our entire family of 21. I didn't think there was a chance we would get Trent and Jamie or Jason there, but things just fell into place for all 3 of them, and we ended up on the house boat with all 21 of us. That is 12 adults, 1 five year old, 2 three year olds, 2 two year olds, 2 one year 0lds, and 2 six-month-ishes. Take 21 people, wind, cold and one average size house boat and what do you get? Lots of noisy, lots of messes, and tons and tons of fun. Even when the temps dropped into the 40's over night, and the water temp dropped 7 degrees as well. How blessed I feel that we could be in such cramped quarters with less-than-desirable weather conditions, no generator, and still have such a good time together. Can I just tell you how much I love my family, and how great they are?