Texts/pictures from members

I love the members of the wards that Josiah serves in.  It does a mama's heart good to get these fun texts and pictures from them with Josiah and his 2nd companion.  Josiah and his first companion got along just fine.  His companion talked so much that it made it hard for Josiah to get words in.  This 2nd companion has been so good for Josiah.

Sister Squires sent me this in a text.  "Hello! Your awesome missionary is serving in my ward right now and I thought you might like to have a picture of him. I have a missionary out myself right now too & it’s always a nice surprise to get a picture.  If there are any special recipes/foods your family does during Christmas or just generally anything that we can do for him, let me know."

"I’m in the Pioneer ward. He’s such a nice young man. We’re looking forward to getting to know him more while he’s here. We love having the missionaries around—if you ever think of anything we can do for him, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us."

She attached this picture

Then I got another one.....

"Leslie - My wife and I just had your son and his companion over for dinner. We met him his first weekend in Arizona when they came to our house for a visit - we are in the Morrison Ranch Ward. During the first visit our family could not stop talking about how sweet he is (there was such a contrast to the companion he had at the time) - it was almost as though we felt that we wanted to “protect” him. He has a new companion now, and they just left after sharing a message. Your son is just a wonderful young man. The feeling I get around him is that he is absolutely without guile. Everyone loves him - he’s pure of heart. Anyway, I thought you’d appreciate knowing he is being taken care of here in Arizona!"  Brother and Sister Roberts

Elder Bradshaw with Elder Kerns and Brother Roberts

Another member sent this....

"Loved having your missionaries over tonight!  They were such a joy to have"

"Also just putting it out there...if you'd like me to get or deliver anything for Christmas I am happy to do it."

These members had them over for Christmas Eve.  There were a few families involved. 

"So lovely having your son over last night for Christmas Eve. What a wonderful missionary he is! Thank you for sharing him with us. Merry Christmas."

"They are truly wonderful young men. So glad to spend the evening with them."

They included them in their white elephant gift exchange and the nativity.   I got a few videos from them and it was fun to see them interacting with these families. 

The member that sent this happen to see them in the store.  I had a nice conversation with her through text.  

"My name is Sister Johnson and I live in Gilbert. I have grandkids from Utah down here visiting and we saw these sweet missionaries in the store. Tell me which one is your son. I am a convent of 49 years and I don’t know where I’d be with that what the missionaries brought to me. God bless you and happy new year."

"Thank you so much. We love the Gospel. Arizona does have a lot of members so the young missionaries don’t have as many to share with what they serve with all their heart. I told them that my missionary was sad that I was the only one here baptize. I’ve tried to let him know that it’s the greatest blessing in my life. Plus, I serve, and I am a missionary with or without a tag. Your son has the sweetest smile and he was so kind."

 

Christmas

It was a very good Christmas.  I went back to my usual cinnamon roll rings instead of other random things I made the last few years.  There were a lot delivered.  

We were crazy enough to take a Sunday to drive nearly two hours away to take part of the giving machine.  It was a crazy to drive all of that way but it was also fun.  Once we got there were realized only part of us had our debit cards which means I ended up purchasing everything and they all paid me back.  It kind of defeated the purpose but we got there anyway.  

We also did our 12 days of Christmas.  The family we chose was so fun.  They have a three year old boy that loves trains so we made one for him and his parents.  It was reported back that he loved it.  A car was delivered each day.  This part of it.  

Then we were able to get some inside work pictures of him playing with the train since Sadie watched him one night after all cars were delivered.  The made it all worth the effort.

0n Christmas eve I set up the tables for breakfast the next morning.  

These people are so fun and I love them.  We missed Josiah though.

The night before Christmas....

It is legal to wake us up at 6am and they actually did get up that early.  Last year they slept longer than they ever have.  I think Elijah as more on the ball this year.

We were able to keep with tradition and had the missionaries over for breakfast Christmas morning. We were thrilled to have three sets.  They were a really fun group.  Nathan made rubber band guns for each of them.  I have lost count of how many guns we have given out over the years.  It is something fun and different that they wouldn't normally get and was fun to see them interact.  Also I know I have loved getting texts from AZ from members so I had each missionary give me their mom's number so I could do the same.  It was so fun to communicate with them.  It was also fun to talk to our own missionary. 

Elders Ballif and Parker (Spanish speaking).  They have been in the area for quite a while so its been fun to get to know them more.  

Sisters Hooley and Bassett.  These two are assigned to our ward.

Elders Wright and (?)  They are from another ward but were having trouble with their car so they asked to come along too.  

 

Laundry Room

Our laundry room has changed much over the time of us living here.  It has never been utilized very well until now. 

This what it looked like when we moved in.  A pretty dull room but we did have another old but functional oven which was so nice. 

This is what it looked like for a long time.  The frig was kicked out so we had a place to fold clothes.  The table is behind the kids.

In the spring of this year we tackled the room full on.  The ceiling tiles were removed and everything else so that sheetrock could happen.   This was a long project that drug out more than we had intended.  

Almost done with it.  The doors to cabinets, the ceiling, and window trim needed done. 

The finished product and I love it.  The amount of space in those cabinets is amazing and was so needed.  BTW Nathan upgraded the washer and dryer a year ago (bought on craigslist) and I have loved having them stacked up so they take up less space.  This room is so much more usable now. 

 

Late Fall random

The laundry room is the place to be on this day.

Jarom and I got the last of the cedar fronds out of the yard and to the dump.  We had to send these pics to Josiah because he dreaded the cedar frond job.  So do I but it has to be done.  Jarom is a good worker and I love it.

Nathan decided to do rotisserie chicken for Thanksgiving instead of the turkey and it was some good stuff.  We will have to do that again sometime.  

 

Halloween 2023

Decorating for Halloween didn't happen till later this year.  Elijah was somewhat excited but most of us are kind of bleh about it anymore.  What happened to the kids who loved to dress up?   

Our skeletons that I purchased for the ward activity.  The kids were having fun posing them.  These skeletons should be ripped now.  Ha ha!

This was my station at the ward activity.  I had Nerf guns set up to shoot at the skeletons, bats and ping pong balls.   It seemed to be a big hit.

This is the Anderson and Hyde family kids.  So funny.

Elijah with some friends from school.  This was a party they had.

We had some cool Jack o lanterns till they started to grow green/grey all of them.