Ponderings

I have been muddling about this year. Feeling my age. Oldest child moved out. Hannah eager to head out on her own for good. I have certainly done my fair share of introspection. My friend of many years - dare I say how many? wrote this on her blog back during the the first week of school, and I have thought it lovely - the way she worded our breakfast out and our discussions of the day.

Thought I'd share it with you.

"I guess I am now a "middlish-mom", rather than a youngish mom. Yesterday was our first day of school, and I was standing on the playground of the elementary school with some of my 'middlish' friends after we had just dropped off our youngest children. In this particular group, we had combined mothering experience totalling 91 years. We were noticing all the young, cute moms (we've termed them the 'snowboarding moms' for some reason) who were dropping off their first children. They were eager, some looked stressed -- we collectively were . . . neither. Just peaceful, maybe a little tired (we had to get up with our Seminary kids, after all), with a different perspective than we used to have. We were chuckling about how we used to be so much better at being involved in all the school stuff than we are now. And we realized, somewhat wistfully, that none of these younger, eager moms had any idea how much we've contributed in the past. We've made many phone calls, volunteered at school events, attended countless meetings, balanced many things, and managed the chaos. Now we kiss our kids and say, "see you after school!" and politely decline when asked to be the PTSA Treasurer for the year or organize the clean-up crew for the school barbecue. Don't get me wrong, we still volunteer in our kids' classrooms, go on field trips, etc. but we have somewhat lower expectations of ourselves now. Sometimes in commercials or movies there will be someone who is standing still or moving slowly while everything around them moves in super-fast motion. That's sorta what we felt like, and in some way we felt rather sorry for the anxious fast-movers. And also very grateful for them! Somebody's got to keep up the enthusiasm and clean up after the barbecue!

The five of us decided to go out for a spontaneous breakfast at Mom & Pop's Diner where we sat, laughed, reminisced and marveled at the passage of time. One of us just married off her oldest child this summer (I taught her in what used to be Achievement Days). Another one has her oldest serving a mission (I used to drive him to Cub Scouts). My oldest is a senior in high school and counting down the minutes until he can launch, while in the meantime figuring out the ups and downs of having a steady girlfriend. The other two moms have oldest daughters who are Kristi's age, so we were discussing hormones, messy bedrooms and AP classes. Three hours later we thought we'd better go home and clean up the before-school dishes before our kids started coming home and wondered what we'd done all day!

I am not fortunate to live close to any of my family, immediate or extended. But I am fortunate to have friends who I have known since we were young moms, and who I hope to have until we are old grandmothers. When I sheepishly admitted to Keith last night about how I spent my morning, his comment was, "You guys deserved it." I would agree." - Karen Shaffer

It's about darn time...Really.

I cannot believe that I have let this large amount of time lapse. It is absurd. I have no excuse. Other than lacking in focus and not lacking in other things to do. And really, much of the words I will put here will be of no interest to just about anybody!

But I digress. Let us Recap.

We have had summer = fun

We started school = fatigue

We had Hallowe'en = sugar high

We have had a missionary for nearly 6 months = proud and happy mom

Would you like a pictorial review? Here we go!

Tahoe - can't be beat. We spend as many days as we can up there. We were thrilled when Hannah got back from D.C. and headed up there often. We also discovered a new place of fun and went kayaking at Fallen Leaf Lake. Beautiful tiny lake right off Hwy 89. There are some waterfalls up there and we had some good fun scrambling on the boulders.

Next: A little hiking fun for Hannah and Tom.

Little? A bit of an understatement. They did about a 50 mile hike along the John Muir trail. They were gone for 5 days and were tired and dirty and covered in mosquito bites, but what a feat. Quite an amazing accomplishment and pretty beautiful pictures, as well.

What else - oh yes, my summer tradition...

GIRLS CAMP at Bucks Lake

The theme this year was Musicals. We had a revolution - thanks to Hannah and Camilla's camp group - Les Miserables. But other than that and a little payback, everything went off without a hitch. Abbey had a great first year in her Beauty and the Beast group.

And I had a little run as a nun. A singing nun, no less!

That is me - 2nd from the left. These are the ladies who helped me plan camp. We had a little too much fun and got a little punchy by the end. But I love them and camp is good.

Are you weary? Should I give you a break from all the visual pleasure.

Nah - Let's just fast forward to...

HALLOWE'EN

We had a Jack in the Box:

We had a 70's basketball player:

Afro Abbey:

She is missing her cape and crest in this photo- but she looked darling and had a great day. A Canadian teacher thought she was some sort of Canadian superhero from the 80's? Anyone? I had never heard of one, but he printed a picture, and she sort of looked like him.

A couple of Thugs (Camilla and her pal, Kylie):

Nice.

And a Pac Man her friend , Ghost (aka: Hannah & Haydn):

So fun and adventures had by all. We've done a million other things. Waterskiing at Lake Almanor, tennis season for Camilla and Hannah, basketball for Abbey. Danny and Jack are looking forward to hockey season.

Probably everyone who will read this is on the email list for Tommy's mission letters. He is doing so great. He sends pictures once in a while and emails every Wednesday - so that is my new favourite day.

On the back of this photo he wrote, "Crying repentance unto the people." Hahaha - as he would say. Below is a picture of the family that he and his companion taught and baptized.

The Perez Family

So that should bring us up to date.

Next I'll add a post about our new addition.

No, I'm not pregnant.

Arrival - Safe and Sound

We got a fun surprise on Tuesday morning.

Tommy gave us a call from the airport in Salt Lake. His district was one of the lucky ones that were able to get their flights back on track. Only one of the Sisters in his missions wasn't able to go due to swine flu. She was put in quarantine the night before they left. Sad. He said it is pretty crazy. He wished he had bought a face mask just to take pictures out by the MTC sign.

But off to Toronto he went.

We got a phone call from President Middleton Tuesday evening. Jack took the call and the message that Elder Dudley had arrived - safe and sound. I was sad to have missed his call. And anxiously awaited the letter below.

I am posting these like they come - spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or lack there-of!

SO good to hear from him.

"i dont have tons of time..so im just gonna pretty much write you guys, and you can send them to any relatives or woodburys or whoever you want.i arrived in canada. it went well. we were all nervous about the flight, having to sit next to real people and talk about religion. i ended up sitting between two other missionaries hahaha so no talking for me! i tried my hardest to stay awake during the flight..but no luck..i was zonked. um we landed in toronto and had to go through customs and junk, im still not exactly sure what im supposed to do with this citizenship information. the first lady said that if i dont get my canadian passport within 6 months then i have to leave the country, then this other guy i talked to at immigration said no, because i was born in canada i have right to citizenship and can stay and do whatever i want. so i now im confused and not exactly sure. um well anyways, we landed and got to president middletons house at about 5pm local time. there we kinda hung out in the living room and talked to sister middleton while president middleton went through and interviewed each one of us. he is an AWESOME guy. he is gonnna be like a general authority one day hahaha. um we ate dinner there, had a little testimony meeting, and then we met our trainers. my companion is elder beanziger (pronounced ben-z-ger)from west palm beach florida. he is a way good missionary. he has only been out on his mission for 9 months..all the other trainers have been out for about 20 or more. i dont know if that means that the president trusts us to do well, or that my comp is amazing and can whip me into shape haha. we stayed the the night at the "mission mansion" and then went back to the middletons for breakfast. we then had our orientation and all that good stuff. after that the middletons took us all to this chinese buffet for lunch called the Mandarin. it was pretty good. i nice change up from the mtc at least haha. um we then broke off and headed out to our separate areas. me and elder beanziger are in one of the bigger areas. we are in a town called Guelph (pronounce gwelf) its umm interesting. its about an hour West of Toronto and it has a population of like 120,000 i think and we are the only 2 missionaries in the town. so a lot of work to do! there is only one ward here though. we have our own car and cell phone. we drive a chevy cobalt haha. our apartment is big, not very nice but big. i have my own bathroom haha. we also have a treadmill and a workout bench. last night we ate at sister ouletts house with her friend stephanie. stephanie is an investigator who is addicted to pain killers, she asked last night for some time off from meeting with us so im not sure what we are gonna do from here on out. sister oulette is CRAZZYYYY though. we were in this tiny tiny apartment and she seriuosly made SO much food for me and elder beanziger, we also brought a kid named mirco who is from sweden..or something.. today was also really busy. we had an appointment with a girl named megan. she is also addicted to a lot of different drugs, and believes in Christ and Existentialism. its a weird combo and im not sure we were able to break into her. we taught her at the park for about an hour and tried to answer and offer insight to a lot of her questions she was having with the plan of salvation. she pretty much doesnt believe in satan, doesnt like the 3 degrees of glory, doesnt understand why the atonement was a big deal, and believes that none of the stuff around us is real, that we are all dreaming. she is a really nice girl though and we actually got her to give the closing prayer. she also tentatively agreed to come to church on sunday, well...we're supposed to call her again tomorrow so we'll see. what else happened today, umm we met briefly with a man named wilbur, he is RLDS which was interesting. i wouldnt really say that we taught him though, i think he has a little bit of a mental disorder and hes partially deaf. he pretty much just talked straight for 20 minutes, asked us a question, and then cut us off before we could answer. it was weird but nice. we had an appointment with a girl named lisa. she is a wicken, which from what i understand is like witchcraft. we showed up to her house but she got called into work. hopefully we can meet up with her again soon. a wicken though, im not exactly sure how i will be able to handle that. its been pouring rain for most the day. my socks are soaked! we went door to door for about an hour. heard a lot of get off my property and bad words haha. its hard not to be discouraged when i walked around outside for an hour in the pouring rain only to have nobody listen to a single part of our message. tonight we are mainly going around to less active members. i havent even been in this town for a full 24 hours. its crazy. we are goin shopping though after this so i can buy food and other necessities i need. yesterday was pday but because of the training and driving we didnt have time to do anything so the president gave us permission to use part of today. well overall things are going well. its weird, i was so much more afraid to talk to people in the mtc..fake people! here though im doing pretty well, i guess the lord is helping me overcome that fear of preaching to strangers. its not completely gone but im feeling much more confident than i thought i would be. well i gotta go! but i love you all, i enjoyed the pictures as well. have fun.
love elder dudley"

Can you believe this was one day? Wow.

Got a letter from tommy today. Two short ones, actually. Sounds a little stressed. So I sent him a package from the dear elder.com site. I had a coupon for a delivery from MR.MAC - back when we bought his suits. Came in handy today. Sent him a card with the picture above. And cinnamon rolls and a bottle of Sparkling Martinellis - just what a boy who needs to lose a few lbs needs (see below!).

Here's the highly anticipated mail! Not long enough, but enjoyable!

"i apoligize but i dont have tons of time to write right now. i sent you a few pictures today but the swine flu has hit and it sucks. my departure date has been delayed a week.. i will literally lose my mind. can you at some point send me a jump rope and my flip flops? i got to go change my laundry. hopefully i computer will be open in there. talk to you in a bit."

and:

"k, i found a computer but i still dont have tons of time. you can still send me dearelder letters..in fact i probably prefer those more because i get them daily where as email i only get to check on wednesdays. but yeah, my departure date has been postponed. its horrible. we had our flight plans and everything! i got a letter from jordan today which was nice. bishop woodberry?! what?! craziness. ummm you dont even know how excited i am to get some music in the mail.. explosions is safe, dont worry..nana and gump loved it and they were mission presidents. um the mtc is still long. i dont have tons of stuff to tell you, pretty much everyday is the same. you can post whatever you want on blogs, or send out to people.. it doesnt matter to me. i got a dear elder from aunti monique but i have no way of replying to her soooo ya... i sent out some pictures and a letter that im hoping you could deliver to alyssa and nigel harrison who could then in turn deliver to mackenzie. just mail it to them or something.. did i already ask you to send out my flip flops and a jump rope? those arent necessarily important, but a jump rope would be a nice way for me to break a sweat in my bedroom. i need to lose some lbs. ummmmm sorry if this is scattered, ill write a better letter at some point tonight and mail it soon. um well good luck in washington dc! i hear that temple is pretty. i went to the provo temple this morning, its a nice break from classes. i cant believe im stuck here in the mtc for another week. i hate life..hahaha well tell everyone i say hello! andddd yeah, i prefer dearelder when im in the mtc..that way i can tackle each letter as it comes rather than furiously type a single letter trying to cover all the bases.. i love you guys,. things are going great and im really starting to become a better teacher and tool for the spirit. me and elder norton are doing well...

love you all

elder dudley"

Swine Flu Caution

Just to keep things interesting, I have heard that there is Swine Flu at the MTC.

I haven't received a telephone call, so I would suppose that Elder Dudley is NOT among the 20 or so who have been quarantined.

The MTC is changing protocol and allowing only curbside drop-off of incoming Elders and Sisters. So maybe we were lucky to be among the final few who got to say goodbye in a sea of sobbing relatives. (Our goodbye was made all the more interesting because the Tongan lady who was saying goodbye to her missionary elder wailed loud and long -a bit of comic relief for me - "Well, at least I'm not crying that loud!")

According to the news article, Tommy's stay at the MTC might be extended a week or so. I am interested to hear how he feels about that. A friend of mine described the MTC like Spirit Prison - "full of the Spirit... and you can't get out!" Probably accurate.

Read news article here

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6674890

In other news - I'm off to Washington on Thursday to pick up Hannah. Looking forward to seeing her and lugging her new life home. Hoping the adjustment isn't too hard for her. We are all so glad to have her be coming back.

Here is a picture of Prom - they had a fun Prom on the Potomac. Her date is Sean from North Dakota.

I'm pretty sure she can't wait to be back in good old Carson City - but things are definitely alot slower around here. Alot less interesting. Alot less to do. I hope she can manage.

Welcome home, Hannah.

Letter # 2 - which came after Letter #3

"Well, It's Sunday night & I had a bit of time so I figured I'd write you guys. It was so fun getting your letter. The MTC is seriously SOOOO exhausting. It's bad, but every minute of the day I am literally falling asleep. It's a battle but I'm doing my best to stay awake! Well, to answer some questions, there are 4 to a room and the rooms are about twice the size of the BYU dorms. I feel really blessed that one of our walls are painted orange. All the other elders in the building are jealous of our orange wall! My two teachers are Brother Frei and Bro. Jenkins. They are two awesome guys. I feel like we really lucked out in that department. Sundays here are alot different. Breakfast was at 7:00am and it was just cold cereal. It was seriously the most depressing breakfast ever! Nobody talked, everybody just sat, ate, & stared. After that we had an hour and a half of study time with our district. We then had priesthood at 10:00am, then had lunch at 11:30, then off to sacrament. Sacrament meetings are intense here. Everyone has to prepare a short 5 minute talk on a certain topic, and then they randomly pick the speakers once the meeting has started. After sacrament we had 3 more hours of study time. One of the options we can do during that time though, is to walk up to the temple grounds. It was so nice to have an hour or more to just relax. We then had dinner and a fireside. The speaker was the manager of all missionary operations in the church. I feel like his talk was directed at me. I've still been having troubles on why I was called to Toronto. I see some of the other kids here who are learning languages and going to cool places and I can't help but see like how much more capable I am. So that was a struggle, but his talk was good. He spoke alot on how calls are made & the inspiration the quorum of the 12 gets. After that we went and watched an old talk by Elder Holland called "Missions are Forever."
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=4ba7a1615ac0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1
It was one of the best talks I have ever heard, if you can find it I highly recommend reading it. Tomorrow is just as busy but I have another gym period. I'm happy about that! I feel so fat & lazy just eating and sitting all day...oh well. Today me & Elder Norton gave the lesson in District Meeting today. We taught on how to recognize & feel/use the Spirit; it went great. On Tuesday we are doing a fake first lesson with some RM's pretending to be investigators. I'm super nervous. I hope it goes well. We get taped and then we watch it later to see how we can improve. It'll be scary but good. Did my shoe shine kit end up at the house? Well I should go. Love you all!"

Elder Dudley

one email address = one happy mom

I know that Tommy would love to hear from any of you - here are his addresses.  His Preparation Day at the MTC is on Wednesday.  

MTC Mailing address;
ELDER THOMAS ALAN DUDLEY
MTC Mailbox # 132
CAN-TORW 0609
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

My regular Missionary address;
Elder Thomas Alan Dudley
Canada Toronto West Mission
197 County Court Blvd Ste 203
Brampton, ON L6W 4P6
Canada

E-mail Address

thomas_dudley@myldsmail.net

And now the letter!

"i finally got my email address. i went with a simple name so people could remember it. i hope you guys are all doing well. i mailed you something yesterday but i dont think you have gotten it yet. you said that you were gonna send a package in the mail?! if so.. please please pleaseeeee send me music..explosions in the sky. i also need a portable cd player to play it, and they shouldnt be too hard to find at target or walgreens. i dont need something fancy, just get a portable cd player that you would normally just use headphones on, and then ill just get speakers that plug into the headphone jack..no clock/cd player junk haha. today is P-day and its a very welcome day of rest. we went to the provo temple which was pretty cool. we still have to wake up at 6:15, but then we have a few hours of personal time so me and elder norton snuck a nap in. it was great! actually to be honest i slept horribly. but im so tired, that whatever little sleep i could get is welcomed with open arms. even though i mailed you a letter yesterday, the days are so long that i have no idea what i wrote. im trying not to over lap letters but its difficult to keep my stories straight. literrally just this second, elder perkins (my distric leader) brought in two more dear elder letters from you. just so you know, when you write long ones they have to break them apart into smaller letters, so on tuesday i got six all at once from the whole weekend. im glad you want to write me everyday but that seems a bit much hahaha...but if you enough information to write everyday then go for it.. i just think itd be hard for me at least to find enough information to send a letter for every day. i have been writing in my journal though! everyday! actually i might have skipped a day, but still, pretty dang good! today has been somewhat relaxing and somewhat busy, its elder nortons birthday (he turned 19) and its also the day all the new elders come in! im doing my laundry right now which is cool i guess. its more fun than sitting in a classroom at least. i dont know why it took so long for my letter to get to you. i mailed it thursday morning, the day after i came in here. your new letter also says that you already mailed my package, which is good still cuz ive been wanting my other nixon watch. if you get a chance though, have camilla or something burn my cds. i want them before i leave for toronto on the 9th cuz itll take like a month for me to get it through customs once im in toronto. if you cant find a cd player, juts send me the cds and ill buy something once im in the field.  ummm im not sure what else there is to talk about. i dont think ill gain 15lbs. i think ive gained a little weight..it sucks cuz it all goes to my face hahahaha..ive been watching what ive been eating though and eating a lotta salad. me and elder norton during gym time just ran around the feild for 45 minutes. we are also trying to figure cardio workouts in the room. they dont give us any time to do workouts in the MTC, but we still try at night. alright well i gotta go! love you..give out my email address to whoever wants it. or give me the emails of people you think i should write because your email address was the only one i remember. ha! have camilla give my email address to Jordan, Ryan, katie, or whoever wants it i suppose. oh! i got nicoles letter too. she called me muffin face? was it on my page or something or in what she wrote to camilla? haha she calls me that from time to time. ok now im really gonna go...haha bye! love you..."

I Love Mail

A letter. Hooray!

I'm pretty sure that I am the only one who is so excited, but excited I am!

Here is our first installment from the MTC - written Wednesday night.

05/20/09
Dear Family,

I don't have a ton of time to write but I figured it would be a good idea to send a quick note out. It's the end of my first day, and things are still weird. I don't feel fully adjusted or even adjusted at all. Everyone is calling each other Elder & Sister, and it's super weird to hear. I'll look at myself in the mirror with my nametag, or someone will say something simple such as "hey, elder" and I suddenly feel like a fake. It's hard to feel like I'm not just playing dress-up, but that I actually am a missionary.

Today wasn't too busy, but I still feel extremely tired. I was looking at my schedual (sic) for the next few weeks, and it's flat out crazy. by far the most minute to minute rigourously full thing I have ever seen. Today we just had another orientation meeting, spent a few hours kinda hangin around unpacking/waiting. My companion's name is Elder Norton & he's from Kaysville, Utah. That's where Nicole is from. There are two other guys in my room as well, one is named Elder Harper and he's from Idaho, and then Elder Wright is also from Kaysville, and we are all going to Toronto West Mission.

Tomorrow is looking like an intese way to start. I have class from 7:00-8:00, Breakfast from 8:00-8:45 and then class from 8:45-1:00. I get lunch and then it's pretty much the same thing after till about 9:00. I have a feeling I will be getting pretty tired.

My zone leaders seem like good guys as well as my Branch Presidency. One of the counselors - Bro. & Sister Goodman served their missions in Russia and have some sort of connection with Gump and Nana.

Well, I have to get going. Our Branch President is really pushing the idea of liveing the rules and being obedient with exactness, especially with the loghts out policy.

I hope you guys all made it home safe! Also Camilla, I hope you have fixed my fb by now. Well I must be going! I love & miss you all!

Love
Elder Dudley
(Still not at all used to that)

P.S. I need Gary's address

Called to Serve

Here he is... all dressed up and somewhere to go. What an experience. I am learning that I don't know anything about anything until I actually do it. I had no idea how hard it would be to leave a boy at the MTC knowing that when I see him next he'll be a man.

HARD.

My heart still hurts. In a good way though. Mostly.

Sunday we had a wonderful Special Stake Conference with Elder Bednar. Can't beat that. He taught us about agency and that the time is now to live the gospel and to press forward. And that we need not fear if we understand the plan of happiness.

The fire alarm went off during conference - right before Elder Bednar's talk. We all groaned as we exited the building, but it was resolved within minutes. And then, after we re-assembled, Br. Bednar taught us using the fire alarm as an object lesson - Clear alarm, we wait for instructions from presiding authorities, and we will be blessed with peace and safety.

Tommy was set apart after church as a full-time missionary. It was a sweet, quiet time. I was so glad we could all be there. Elder Dudley bore his testimony after he was set apart and said that he was excited and ready.

And he is. Excited and Ready.

Shall the youth of Zion falter?

I saw this a few weeks ago and sent it to Tommy and Hannah and then we all sat down and watched it also. This girl really is pretty terrific. It is worth 20 minutes of your day.

http://%20hillel.harvard.edu/media/videos/550

I Love to See the Temple

I've been thinking alot about the temple as Tommy is getting ready to and make his own covenants. I thought this was a beautiful synopsis.

Click here:

Why Mormons Build Temples
Throughout history, the Lord has commanded His people to build temples. Temples are literally houses of the Lord. They are holy places of worship where individuals make sacred promises with God.
© 2009 YouTube, LLC

Ten is stuPENdous

Main Entry:
stu·pen·dous
Pronunciation:
\stu̇-ˈpen-dəs, styu̇-\
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
Latin stupendus, gerundive of stupēre
Date:
1640
1 : causing astonishment or wonder : awesome , marvelous 2 : of amazing size or greatness :

So I have to say that Danny is STUPENDOUS. First, it is a great adjective and it happens to rhyme with 10 which is a bonus.

On his 10th birthday, Danny received his Bear badge at his scout troop's Blue & Gold Dinner. He also requested his favourite dinner which is apparently steak, macaroni and cheese, and apples and Italian soda.

Stupendously delicious.

Danny requested as gifts a case of Jones Cream Soda and some cash-ola. Which I'm sure will be spent on a stupendous purchase.

He got phone calls from family far, far away who love him stupendously and sing nearly as well!

Perhaps the best gift of all was the tour he got of our good friend's manufacturing plant. Ted Melsheimer gave Danny a tour of Mustang Manufacturing. They make these tools that squeeze oil pipe lines of various sizes without breaking them. The tour was amazing, but to top it off, Ted had found for Danny a slide rule - just like the one he has always used - a math tool of a better era, because he heard that Danny was something of a stupendous mathematician.

But what I really want to say is that Danny is the very definition of stupendous. He is awesome and marvelous. He is kind and good. He is hard-working and fun. He is a good brother and a good son.

And I am stupendously lucky to be his mom.

Crepes-a-go-go (by Abbey)

Definitely the best crepes on earth! (sorry mom)! We went there for my birthday present from mom and Hannah! I know.. its pretty awesome! I got the raspberry chocolate nutella crepe. YUMMY! D.C was so fun. I miss Hannah so stinken much.

I am not sure if I am a city girl or not... you definitely have to walk A LOT more in a big city like that. We walked a total of about 45 miles in those 5 day we were there! But we ate good, so it balanced out!

This is me and Camilla messing around outside the Library of Congress after a very long tour that mom really wanted to go on. (We were just glad it was over). Probably my favorite building that we went to. It was a lot more detailed than I thought it was going to be! Hannah goes to school in the attic of the library of congress so i really wanted to go peek inside of it.

Of course Camilla was singing disney songs all around the town so people were always looking at us. so when we started sliding down the railings at the famous Library of Congress you wouldn't guess the look on their faces!

Camilla Writes about D.C

We are in the metro....freezing cold....and tired of walking. The metro is really gross and smelled really bad. Abbey and my mom kept on calling me a dork because i sang on the metro....because everyone there looked like they were feeling down. My mom didnt think singing disney princess songs was the best way to get their spirits high.

Camilla writes about DC

Abbey, my mom and I went to D.C. It was really nice seeing Hannah. It was really cold there. While we were there, a huge protest was taking place about global warming. I find it quite ironic that they were protesting during D.C's biggest blizzard of the year. This is a picture of when we first saw Hannah. We are in the underground tunnels on our way to the cafeteria for lunch.

20 years is a long time to do anything

March 4, 1989

+ 20 years =

• 6 fabulous kids
• 1 warm, fun house
• 1 great chiropractic office to feed all the people who live here
• no pets (hallelujah)
• 8 happy people

WHEW - who knew where that one day would take us?

Can't Wait

So Camilla and Abbey and I are off. Tomorrow. So excited.

Hannah has big plans. We start off with meeting her for lunch on Friday with Steve Woodbury, our favourite neighbour, who is in D.C. for work. Lunch at the Congressional Cafeteria. Hannah eats alot of grilled cheese sandwiches there.

Probably too many!

Maybe a Capitol Tour on Monday. With our lovely tour guide. Also enjoyable.

And whatever else we can cram into our fun-filled weekend. I'll let you know what else we get to do and see.

I can't wait to see her. I missed her last night on CSPAN. She was in the corner against the back wall. I watched the Obama speech several times, but no sight of her.

I have my hands full this week - the judging for the Eagle Valley Middle School Art Contest is tonight - had to get that pulled together. Bought ribbon and waters and cookies and scrounged around for clipboards. I set up for that tonight. When I get back is the Art Show.

I do not know how to do an Art Contest & Show. How did I ever think I should put one together? Because I am crazy. Probably.

A Dudley Hat Trick x 2

Well a fun update on our athletic adventures. The other night all 3 kids scored a goal in the game they were playing. And then Danny went on to score 3 more goals of his own in the following game. This was Jack's first goal ever. A big night. It has been fun watching them all play hockey. I need to get some handwarmers for Abbey and I - maybe put them in our back pockets, cuz that's the part that gets the coldest!


What a week. I got people for camp. Finally!! I have two assistants who were certainly worth the wait. Camp is a ton of work, but I love it. And all my girls will get to go this year. So I am glad. I can hear Mom sighing, and hoping I am really doing okay and not trying to cram too much in. I am. I know it. Way too much. But it'll be good. My employer will probably let me slack off a bit!


Hannah is good. No, Hannah is great. Thank goodness other people post pics on Facebook so I can see her once in a while. I tried really hard to enlarge this picture, but I am incompetent. This is North Dakota and Florida - Sean on the left and Audrey on the right. I loved Audrey on the first day. She is a darling girl. She keeps offering to take Hannah shopping. So she could lose the blue sweatshirt. Hmm. How many times have I begged? (I am holding myself back from commenting on North Dakota's close proximity. Biting my tongue.)

Camilla, Abbey and I head out there on Thursday. We are excited. Hannah is ready to show us around town and I am so looking forward to that.

Abbey turns 12 in about 3 hours. She is a little disappointed that I cannot remember the exact minute of the 2am hour she was born. I was busy. I don't recall the exact time on the clock. I do remember that it was difficult and sweet and she was worth every second of hard labour.

If you know Abbey - and you all do! you know how sweet and kind and happy she is. Our family is blessed to have her. I am particularly proud of she has stepped outside of herself this year. Playing basketball and working hard to improve. Rebounding and shooting - she is playing great! Just saying 'No" to hockey, even though her dad kept persisting. Really coming into her own in middle school this year. Abbey is quite a girl.

Happy Birthday to you.

Abbey - now if I really loved you, I would decorate for you! Hannah where are you when I NEED you?

Miss Dudley goes to Washington

FINALLY

You've asked. You've waited. You've been patient.

Finally I have a post up about Hannah.

I have not been negligent.

I've asked. I've waited. I am no longer feeling patient. But Hannah is a busy girl. She's running packages. And seeing famous people. And eating breakfast at Crepes-a-go-go every Saturday morning.

Busy. No time to write home.

Poor girl.

Well, so for the long awaited post about our girl that we left in the D.C. What an adventure. I still can't believe we left her there!

First of all - what a weekend we had. Orientation to a whole new life. She lives in a Page Residence Hall just off Capitol Hill. Guarded by the Capitol Hill Police. Really - there is a police officer with any variety of transportation about every 40 feet. So that is a definite plus.

We toured the monuments at night. Beautiful. Truly Beautiful. And I am not much of a monument kinda girl. But, still.

We made a big Target run to the 2 story Target(!) and tried to get her everything she'd need. And lugged it all onto the Metro. With much success! And lugged it all back to our hotel. And nary a bag broke! I've not walked so much since my days in college. 10.6 miles in one day!

And then it was Sunday and we got her settled in her dorm room. Her first room-mate's name is Priscilla. From Florida. Her stuff is all pink and she decorates with alot of Victoria's Secret bags and lots of BIG jewelry. Not exactly a like minded girl, but I think things have been good. Her other roommate came later in the morning - she is from Boston and her name is Olivia. Again, maybe not a perfect fit, but I think things have worked out. They keep these kids busy and tired! Not much time to hang out in your room!

They swore them into office later that afternoon. Impressive to see all these beautiful kids from all of the country excited and nervous and raring to go. I was listening to Hilary Clinton be sworn into office later that week and they each said the same oath. Do no harm, yada yada yada. Not to diminish the importance of the oath of office, but we might be in better hands if these kids ran the country.
Tom left for home that afternoon and Hannah and I headed over to the Library of Congress for the Page School orientation. That was something else. To be in such a beautiful building - there really is a cool energy there. Her Principal - Mr. Sullivan is an interesting guy - school will be all about group discussion, read, discuss,think, group - George Wyeth sort of education. Hannah would like a work sheet. With math problems on it, thank you very much.

Her Bishop came to meet us that night, Bishop Scott Parker. He was wonderful. They traded cell phone numbers. And that was also wonderful. She will attend church about 7 walking blocks away at 10:00 am. I won't tell the grandparents that the church is behind locked bars. There are 2 other LDS girls - one from Utah, and one from Virginia. The girl from Virginia usually goes home on the weekends. I think Church has been a little unusual. There was a cross-dressing teenage boy there last Sunday. A little quirky, no?


I toured around on Monday by myself. Went to AT&T and got her set up with an air card, which has yet to work. Finding internet access has been difficult for her. Her dorm doesn't seem to pick up any signals. Tricky, but she seems to be managing. I'd like to have more communication with her, but she sounds good when we talk.

Maybe I'll just have to visit more often!

I saw the Holocaust Museum. And the National Gallery of Art. What an amazing city. It was beautiful and cold and I could have walked all day long. What am I saying? I did walk all day long!

And now I am home. I teared up on every phone call the first week. She sounded tired mostly. But now she sounds excited and confident. School is still not her favourite - mostly reading, but she is doing well. She has seen:

Barrack Obama - day 2

Blink 182 & Good Charlotte (bands, for those of you who don't know)

Katie Couric interviewing Nancy Pelosi

A real Shakespeare play (- as opposed to the fake stuff out here)

Denzel Washington

She can't wait to show Abbey and Camilla and me around the city. I think she has settled in!

Canada, eh?

Toronto Canada West Mission. Whew!

Definitely not what was expected, but how exciting is that?

What a strange day. Us here in Nevada, Tommy in Utah in his dorm room, Hannah out in D.C. I liked it when we were all together, but I couldn't be more proud or excited for them.

We are so proud of Tommy - he will be a wonderful missonary.

It's here!!!!

Okay - what we've been waiting for.

Tommy's mission call is here!

I can't believe he isn't racing down to the Cannon Center to rip it open.

He is actually going to wait till this afternoon.

Crazy.