Latest Family Stuff

Here's Carson at his Christmas Concert

Gray's Creek Middle School

Edward and Angie

Thanksgiving Weekend

and the "Stinkin' Dote"

as she's fondly known

Carson got his wisdom teeth pulled

the day before Thanksgiving

We traveled to Pensacola on Veteran's Weekend

Beautiful Beach!

Are we having fun yet???

We went to see Martha and Hugh,

visiting their oldest son Rick who

is stationed there.

Rick, Wendy & sweet family

We tried local food like

deep fried cheesecake...Yum!

We found great shells at the beach.

The water was beautiful!

We saw the Blue Angels Air Show.

Deep sea fishing was a blast.

We had the best fish tacos

made by Hugh, Rick & Wendy

Great trip, Love Florida!!!

Our Ward's Young Women's Excellence

was great!

Loved our Youth Theme for the year

13th Article of Faith

Our annual Stake Youth Service Project

putting flags at the Veteran's Cemetery

Cold morning but we had a good group there

Halloween Punks at our

Ward Trunk or Treat

(Carson, Eric & Christian)

Angie's 28!

Birthday Celebration

Haven't shared a story in a while so here's the one about Angie's birth. Angie was our honeymoon baby and before she was conceived, I had to have a rubella vaccination to get our marriage license in the state of California. The doctors advised me not to get pregnant for at least three months following the vaccination or the baby would be at risk for birth defects. Well, Angie was conceived and when I told the doctor, he encouraged me to terminate my pregnancy. I wasn't expecting such pressure from a doctor. It really caught me off guard and shook me up but I stuck to my principles and told him that I wouldn't be terminating my pregnancy. Later, I did some research and found out that Angie wasn't at risk as much as the doctor led me to believe. Children are blessings from God. Elder Neil L. Anderson said in conference that "many in today's world marginalize the importance of having children." I guess that would include even some doctors. Angie is a joy and blessing in my life. I've always told her that she truly wanted to get here to this world and experience all she can. She's always had that type of personality, even from her birth.

“Motherhood is not a hobby,

it is a calling.

You do not collect children

because you find them cuter than stamps.

It is not something to do

if you can squeeze the time in.

It is what God gave you time for.”

~Rachel Jankovic

Glimpse of Angie's Wedding Day

"Marriage is sanctified when it is cherished and honored in holiness." ~Russell M. Nelson"There is no scene so sweet, no time so sacred as that very special day of your marriage. Then and there you glimpse celestial joy." ~Thomas S. Monson"Marriage is wonderful. In time you begin to think alike and have the same ideas and impressions. You have times when you are extremely happy,times of testing, and times of trial, but the Lord guides you through all those growth experiences together." ~Richard G. Scott

Best Wishes!

Angie & Edward

The Happy Couple

Edward and Angie

engaged to be married

May 14th 2011

Raleigh North Carolina Temple

see their website:

http://www.edwardandangie.com/

"True love has no happy endings

because true love never ends."
~Anonymous

Dog Days of Summer

Dottie the Dog

Well I'm back to blogging. Just thought I'd start by posting some summer highlights. We had a full fun summer. Even had time to play with Dottie. Here she is waiting for me to hit her a tennis ball. What a dog!

Me, Kellee, Carson & Jessica

at Kellee's Graduation

We've had such a joy spending time with Cousin Kellee. We started off our summer by attending her graduation. We are really proud of her accomplishments. She's moved on and is attending Brigham Young University. If she does as well in college as she did in high school...She will Do great!

Angie, Jessica & Janna

Beach Fun!

You never know who might come visit if you just ask. Cousin Janna from California just graduated from high school and came to see us. It was so wonderful to have her. This picture is of them having fun at the Kure Beach.

Angie and Friends from Single's Ward

River Rafting

Angie came back in June and found a job here in Fayetteville at High Smith Rainey Hospital. She lives only ten minutes away and likes the single's ward. She shares teaching gospel doctrine class. One of their fun activities this summer was going river rafting. Do you think she might be having too much fun?

Jessica & Sophia
Stake Camp 2010

I'm so glad that my girls have had good experiences at YW Camp. Its good to know that they can have fun even in North Carolina where it's hot and muggy in the summer. Here's Jessica acting goofy with a friend from the ward. As my mother would say: "the fruit don't fall to far from the tree. "



Dave and some of the Youth and Adult Leaders

Stake Youth Conference

"A More Nobler Desire"

Dave and I got to be host parents for a group of young men at our youth conference. The theme was "A More Nobler Desire" A week before youth conference they were given a challenge to go on a digital fast: no tv, movies, texting, or computer except for absolute necesities like summer homework or keeping in contact with parents. Then the youth did service projects all weekend. Some of our activities included reading the newspaper to the blind over the radio, feeding the homeless in downtown Fayetteville and putting up a fence for a neighbor. It was great experience and helped us all to keep our priorites in order.

Jake the Graduate

Bachelors in Geography

with a minor in Spanish

Jake had a Summertime Graduation. Since BYU doesn't have a ceremony in December, Jake had his celebration in August. He still has a class he's finishing up with for Fall Semester and will be done in December. Then what? Well, we shall see.

*********************************

When I moved to North Carolina, one of my first friends was Hilda Brock and she was a wonderful primary music leader. At the end of the summer she would teach the primary children the song: "Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime" after they would learn it she then let the children make up their own verses. I thought it was so clever. I'm so glad I witnessed this wonderful woman sharing her talent and light to all.

Here's my feeble attempt to honor her love for music and show how our family spent the summer:

Oh, what do you do in the summertime

when all the world is green,

do you swim in a pool,

graduate from school,

or play with your dog all day long.

Is that what you do?

So do I.

St. Louis Trip, Angie's Graduated

We just got back from witnessing Angie's graduation at St. Louis University. She's now got her bachelor's in nursing and is planning on getting her license in North Carolina and working in the Raleigh area. Watch out!

"Nurses call the SHOTS!"

~Anonymous

Angie's School Work

Angie~Counting the Days to Graduation

One of the great things that Angie has gotten to do is work at the "Casa de Salud" a wellness clinic for Hispanics in St. Louis. Getting lots of nursing experience and keeping up on her Spanish. She'll be graduating in May. Yippee!

A nurse is compassion in scrubs
~Lexie Saige

New Year's Eve

Our lives have truly been blessed over the holidays, especially having Angie & Jake home from college. They hung with us a lot but here's a picture of them going to a New Year's Eve Party.

Back in the Swing

Its been hard to get back in the swing of things. Especially since my laptop hasn't been working. I spent almost 3 hours with "Dell" getting it cleaned up from some viruses obtained on our road trip. Anyway, all is well now so I thought I ought to recap some of the past few events.

Dave & Jake "Gone Fishin'"

Dave hasn't gone fishing in a long time. Jake was home for a week in between semesters at BYU- Provo so they went out like old times.

Hope Mills 1st Ward
Primary Temple Trip

We all had a good time going to the Raleigh North Carolina Temple and hearing Sister Draughon and Bishop Lockhart tell the importance of the temple.

Lauren, Erika, Carson
Cousins--Together at the Temple

Carson
"As we touch the temple
the temple will touch us."
~Thomas S. Monson

Angie, Carson & Jessica
at Carthage Jail, Illinois

We had a great time with Angie. She took us up in the Arch at St. Louis and then we all went and stayed a couple of days in Nauvoo and also went and saw Carthage Jail. It was a great way to end our road trip out to California.

I'm Soooooo Jealous!

Angie, 2009 All-Star Game St. Louis
Busch Stadium - Wishing I was there!

Right time - Right place. Angie lives really close to Busch Stadium in St. Louis and a friend from church knew someone who got them free tickets to the Major League All-Star Game. It's not fair. I'm the big sports fan. Oh well. I'm glad someone got to go . . even if it wasn't me.

WE ARRIVED IN CALIFORNIA

Thursday we made it to Lancaster. Upon arrival, my mom was put back in the hospital for her continual struggle with congestive heart failure. It's hard to see her with failing health. My sister and her family have been the real troopers, taking care of both my parents and of course all with the help of Sister Teresa Kelly, their health caregiver. She's a true blessing.

". . .The Temple Will Touch Us"

I really enjoyed general conference this weekend. I especially felt the spirit by the speakers (Photo: St. Louis Missouri Temple) who talked about the temple. Some of my favorite quotes came from Gary E. Stevenson. He quoted President Monson when he said,

"As we touch the temple,

the temple will touch us."

I had never heard this quote and I googled it and found it at the Church News Site in reference to the Jordan River Temple dedication. It said, "early in the week, Elder Thomas S. Monson of the Quorum of the Twelve suggested deep spiritual meaning in the physical presence of the temple. President Monson recounted the late Elder Matthew Cowley’s story about a grandfather who took his small granddaughter on a birthday visit to the Salt Lake Temple grounds. With permission of the groundskeeper, they walked to the large doors of the temple. He suggested that she place her hand on the temple wall and then on the door, saying tenderly to her, “Remember that this day you touched the temple. One day you will enter this door.” His special gift to his granddaughter was an appreciation for the House of the Lord. Likewise, counseled Elder Monson, “As we touch the temple, the temple will touch us.”

I can remember reading a story some years ago about a little boy taking his little brother to the temple and having him touch it. I was so moved by that story that when we went to see my husband's sister, Donita, get married I had Angie and Jake touch the temple and told them how important the temple is.That day, "the temple truly touched me." I can also recall when I was a young girl, growing up in southern California, on occasion, we would go down to the Los Angeles area, whether it be for shopping or to visit cousins. Sometimes, we would be on the freeway that would pass the temple and my mother would say, "who can see the temple, who can see the temple." My brothers and sister and I would always look and try to pick out the angel Moroni amongst all the many buildings and when we'd see him, I was touched by the presence of the temple.

When we first moved to North Carolina, the closest temple was over 6 hours away in Washington DC. I can remember leaving my young family and going on a bus at 3:00am in the morning for couple of times a year and doing sessions all day Friday and Saturday. It was tiring yet so gratifying. Again, I was touched by the temple.

And then similarly, this past week when I visited the city of St. Louis with my daughter, Angie, we were so busy with finding her an apartment and going to her events that by the end of the trip when I was to take her to the airport, I realized that we didn't get to see the temple. We were visiting my sister-in-law's family in the area and as they told me how to get to the airport, they said we would pass the temple on the way there. My heart was excited. As we drove pass the temple, again, seeing the House of the Lord in it's beautiful, majestic stature, the temple touched me. I could tell, story after story where I felt that same, marvelous feeling but I'd like to tell Gary E. Stevens other quote and that is:

"You're never lost

when you can see the temple"

I pray I will stay close to the temple and always be touched by it. Also to rededicate myself to go more often.

ANGIE'S GOING TO NURSING SCHOOL

SCHOOL UPDATES

ANGIE officially got accepted to nursing school. She applied to a handful of schools that were offering an Accelerated Nursing Bachelors Degree which is a program for students who already have their bachelor's degree. She'll finish her BS in April at BYU. St. Louis University is her top choice because it only takes 12 months and it starts in May. So, she'll probably go there unless she gets accepted to the Master's Nursing Program at University of Virginia (UVA) which is a two years program. She probably won't know if she gets accepted there for another month because the program doesn't start until the Fall Semester. Being a Nurse Practitioner is her ultimate goal so even if she goes to SLU for her BSN, she eventually wants to be a nurse practioner. So, we'll see how it goes in the next few months. Things change from day to day.

JAKE has changed his major from Political Science to Geography/Geospacial Intelligence. Geospatial intelligence is a rapidly growing field that uses technology to gather spatial data, then analyze and interpret it to monitor and solve situations that impact our national security. Sounds interesting, huh? Anyway, he's really excited about it. He says there are a lot of job opportunities in this field. So, I hope it works out for him. When he returns from Peru in April, he'll be working on his major at BYU--Provo.

"BE SMART. . ."

"You are moving into the most competitive age
the world has ever known.
All around you is competition.
. . .and your worth will increase
as you gain education and proficiency
in your chosen field."
Gordon B. Hinckley

WAITING FOR DRUMMER BOY & SIS

I never thought I'd ever say it but I truly miss hearing the drums. I'm sure I miss the person that plays them more but as I remember hearing the practices and performances for so long, and then not hearing them, I have to say that we'll be looking forward to having Jake & Angie coming this Christmas for lots of reasons but especially for the. . .

"PAH-RUM-PUH-PUH-PUM"

JAKE PERFORMING AT BYU-IDAHO
WINTER 2007

JAKE & ANGIE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN

BOTH ATTENDING BYU-PROVO

ANGIE HAVING FUN WITH FRIENDS