The MTC!

For the past month, these two suitcases have been part of the decor of my living room.  At first they were empty, but as the days passed, they gradually began to be filled with things such as: white dress shirts, dark dress slacks,  black socks, 3 pair of comfortable walking shoes and many ties.  The list said 5-6 ties, he insisted on taking this many:   (silly boy)

There were also a lot of little miscellaneous things thrown in on a daily basis.  Things like sunscreen, mosquito repellent, a sewing kit, a shoe shine kit, a first-aid kit, flashlight (with lots of batteries) moleskin. . . you get the picture.  The list of things needed was long and varied.  

We wrapped up our final shopping this past Tuesday.  Wednesday at 1:00 pm, we said good-bye to Kimball for two years, as we dropped him off at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, UT. 

 Having already sent off an older son to serve a mission in Brasil 7 years ago, I thought it would be easier this time around.  Not so.  Even though he is only about 8 miles away from home right now, my "mother's heart" still misses him.  He will be at the MTC 9 weeks, learning the Tagalog language.  On August 24, he will fly to the Philippines where he will be for another 22 months serving and teaching the  Filipino people in the Angeles Mission about our Savior Jesus Christ.  

How I love this boy!  He has prepared well!  This will be such an amazing experience for him!  He will learn so many things that will impact the rest of his life!

I thought I was doing pretty well Wednesday afternoon & evening.  I was so happy for Kimball that he was finally where he has wanted to be for so long.  That night I grabbed my pajamas and went to put them on.  This note was folded up inside:

Well, you can imagine what that did to me.  I still can't read it without tearing up.  

About a month ago, I dug out my missionary countdown clock that Brad gave me when he went on his mission.  I figured out how to get it re-set and was pretty proud of myself for doing so.  I showed it to Kimball, he just rolled his eyes.  I could tell he was thinking:  "gosh mom, I'm not even gone yet, and you're already counting the days..."  So I had to hide the clock.    But it's out again...

I started a blog for Kimball a couple months back.  You can access it by clicking HERE.  I will post his weekly e-mails & letters on that.  This is your invitation to click on the "follow" button, or subscribe to the RSS feed.  I probably won't forward his e-mails  to a mass list, unless it is requested.  

The Promise of Spring

Isn't Spring grand?  It is my favorite time of year.  I love all the bright splashes of color after a dreary winter.  The first sign of spring in my yard is when the red of the rhubarb plant starts to push up thru the brown soil sometime in late February.    Next comes the yellow, purple and white blooms of the crocus plants, followed by the daffodil, hyacinth, and then tulip blossoms!

Late last fall, daughter Emilie asked if I would go with her to buy some bulbs to plant at her new house.  We had a pretty good time picking them out, and she bought A LOT of bulbs that day.

I think it was the next Saturday that she asked if I wanted to come help her plant them  (I think that was also the day she bought a nectarine tree that we planted on the side of the house).  It was a cold, cold, day, (I do remember it was after Halloween, because I ate left over Halloween candy at her house).  Anyway, we braved the cold, and went out to get the job done.  It wasn't just as easy as dig a hole, drop in a bulb & cover it up.  NOOOOO - all the areas had weed barrier fabric laid down.  Did I mention that on top of the weed barrier fabric was hard, compacted soil?  And that compacted soil is VERY heavy?  It took about all we could muster to pull the fabric out.  Emilie did a lot of it on her own, and by the end of the day her hands were aching from pulling so hard.

About 1/2 way thru the bulb planting we went in the house to get warmed up and to find something to eat.  I remember how hard it was to go back out again, knowing we had to face the cold wind once again.

Fast forward several months, and take a peek at the fruit of our labors:

We also planted tulip bulbs along the 4 outer edges of this flower bed, so when the daffodil's are finished blooming, the tulips will take over.

We planted this flower bed mainly in the dark, using the car headlights as our flashlight.  It will be interesting to see how well we did when everything blooms!

Our Soon to Be Missionary!

So last Wednesday was a pretty exciting day for us. The day we were expecting the mailman to bring Kimball's mission call. I think we all woke up with a bit of excitement in the air. Kimball was up and out the door early, as he has a 7:00 am astronomy class. All morning I was hoping that the mail would come early, but it still had not arrived when I left for the shop at around noon.

That morning I was reminded of the day that Brad's call came. We were expecting that it would come the following week, so we weren't even watching for it to come that day. Emilie checked the mail box when she came home from school, and found it had been delivered that day. I had to take the envelope and hide it under the table cloth of the dining room table, I was so tempted to just rip it open right then & there!

The mailman came sometime between 12:00 & 1:00. When Kimball got home after class, his call was in the mail.


We gathered that evening, for the 'opening' party. First we passed around a paper & let everyone guess where they thought he would be going:


I sat next to Kimball as he opened the envelope. I was going to read ahead to see where he was going before he announced it (I did that when Brad opened his call), but decided to sit back and just find out at the same time as everyone else. To say we were all VERY surprised when he read that he had been called to serve in the Philippines, Angeles mission would be an understatement. Kimball will enter the Provo Missionary Training Center on June 23, 2010, where he will prepare to teach the gospel in the Tagalog language.


As you can image, the the first thing we did was grab the world atlas book to find out just where the Philippines is located.



Kimball and his friend Dennison (soon to be Elder Conger, serving in the Charleston, SC mission)

We've also been learning a lot about the Philippines this week. Did you know they celebrate their independence day on June 12th! Yes! That is also Kimball's birthday.


I also learned that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is celebrating it's 50th year in the Philippines. President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the island for the Filipinos to open their doors for the missionaries in April 28, 1961. The culminating event of this celebration is to take place in April of 2011, so Kimball will be able to take part in that once in a life-time celebration!


The next 3 months will be a busy time for us, as we prepare to send Kimball off to serve the Lord for the next two years. I have started a new blog that will follow Elder Hill, if you would like to - feel free to visit this blog also. And remember, if you see a couple of young men in white shirts & ties with black name tags, smile and greet them kindly. One of them could shortly be my son or one of his best friends.

I Really Want It To Be Spring

I was looking forward to a nice day today, so I could go out and clean out some of my flower gardens. The crocus flowers are blooming, but you really can't see them that good because of all the old leaves from last fall. I went to my two quilt block of the month classes this morning, after we came out of the store for the 2nd class, it was raining. now that rain has turned into big snowflakes that are blowing wildly in the wind. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I just want winter to go away.

I feel like I don't have too much extra time lately. For a couple hours each morning, I try to cram this software program into my brain:

So far it's been pretty fun. But the real pressure of "having to know it, because I'm the one in charge" has not hit yet. The first couple days it was pretty overwhelming, but I am starting to understand - kinda! It makes sense, then I go to do something on my own and mess up. I need lots of practice, both on the digitizing end and the actual Baurdan embroidery machine end.

I've been helping out Gary & Jenny this past week, while they are out of town. You can read about their adventures here. I've been going up to their house in the evenings and sleeping there - coming home in the morning after the girls are all off to school. They pretty much take care of themselves - they have been taught well by their parents. At first they wouldn't let me do anything, but I told them I just can't sit all the time or I will go bonkers. So they have been letting me do a few things around the house that need to be done. It's been fun to get to hang out with some females instead of the male household I live with. I have also enjoyed the reading time I have had this past week, I've gotten a good start on one book, and finished another.

Kimballl had his final mission interview with the Stake President on Tuesday nite. Wednesday, Terrell was at the store, he ran into our Bishop. Bishop Erekson told Terrell he had checked the online status of Kimball's papers, and they had already been sent into Salt Lake. They weren't supposed to be sent in until the 12th, so they went a couple days early.

I am so proud of this boy! He is such an amazing, talented young man!

A Couple Finished Projects

(I feel weird posting about stuff that happened so far in the past, but these are noteworthy things to me, and things I wish to write about. The following was written last week, but because I have been otherwise occupied this week, I am finally getting around to posting the draft today, 3/13/10.)


These are the finished quilt tops for my block of the month club that I took with Em and Anisha last year. If we brought our completed top to our final class in February, our name was entered into the basket to win... Prizes up to dollars!!!!

First we had a show & tell, and everyone with a finished quilt top got up and showed it to the rest of the class. Some of us (including me) just sewed our blocks together using the two ideas that Diane (our instructor) had given us. Others in the class used their own creative juices and sewed their squares together in different ways that were fun & interesting. All the quilt tops were beautiful.

Next came the drawing. Imagine my surprise when my name was the first one picked out of the basket. YEA!!! I had my choice. I could pick one of the two sample quilts Diane had completely finished, or a gift basket that included a jelly roll, quilt pattern, fabric, thread & a few other fun sewing notions.

I picked..... the basket!


I think this will be a really fun quilt to make. Sorry Em! You've had your turn winning the quilt basket grand prize. This time it was my lucky day!

I've also sewed up this little table topper-hmmmm, looks like the snowmen still need some buttons for eyes:

I bought the kit last fall on a shop hop. I was going to make it during Christmas Vacation, opened the kit and found out that the pattern wasn't included. So I had to buy the book. It was several dollars cheaper (free shipping included) if I bought it directly from the ladies who published the book, so I did that.

Re-inventing My Life

Long time no hear from me. Never fear, I am still close by and I have a little catching up to do. I would call the past two months a fun new adventure. You all know that I retired from my 18 year daycare career in December. In January, I started working at the family business, Textile Team Outlet and Design. I can not describe how fun it has been to get up each morning and walk out the door. I feel like I am a part of the outside world again.

While I did love all the little friends that came to my house every day, I DO NOT miss changing diapers, wiping noses, making mac & cheese & peanut butter sandwiches, and the never-ending chore of cleaning house.

Just after the first of the year, I went to Tucson, AZ for a week with my sister and parents. I had a round trip flight that I had earned with my credit card, so I used that to fly down & back. That week we went to some fun places:


San Xavier de Bac Mission

After Cheryl and I had helped ourselves to a couple of burned out candles, we went into the gift shop where we saw this sign:

When I got home and showed the candle to my kids, their first response was: "Did you steal that?" Now why would they think that?




Biosphere 2 - It made me appreciate our old planet Earth so much more, and the wonderful creations we have been blessed with by a loving Father in Heaven.


Old Tucson. I came home and checked our John Wayne DVD's. We actually have Mclintock so Terrell and I took the time to sit down one nite - we did enjoy watching it. Now I want to see more of his movies that were filmed at Old Tucson.


Saguaro National Park. The park is split on both sides of Tucson, we went to both of them. It was amazing to see all the Saguaro cactus! I read on their website just the other day that they are having a "Saguaro Census" this year - they are inviting people that don't mind the heat or walking to come help out. I think if I lived closer, I would volunteer.


Tanque Verde Greenhouse. So much fun to go to a greenhouse that specialized in cacti. Cheryl and I bought 6 plants each to bring home. They will be indoor plants for us.


The Mini-Time Machine - A Museum of Miniatures
This was an amazing place. No picture taking allowed inside, so no pictures to show you. Visit their web site to see what it is like.

Oh, I mustn't forget. We also visited a couple Tucson quilt shops. My dad patiently waited in the car while mom, Cheryl and I shopped.

Here's another cool picture from a few weeks ago:

It's Kimball, going to the Church web site to start the process of filling out his mission papers. The widsom teeth are out. Dentist visit - check! Doctor visit - check! He still needs to have his picture taken. Hopefully we will get that done this coming week. He can submit his papers on March 12th. It is an exciting time for us.
He has one close friend that left for the Pittsburgh, PA mission a month ago. Another friend got his call to go to the Charleston WV mission last week. I dreamed one nite that Kimball was going to Chile. (I'm glad he's not there after hearing the news yesterday). Kimball has had a couple dreams also. One night he dreamed he was going to the Orem, Utah mission, and that his mission president was a woman. (HA!) Another nite he dreamed he got called to the California Venice mission (Venice Beach, Kimball?)

I have a few other things I want to blog about, hopefully I can get that done in the next few days. I just don't seem to have the time to sit in front of a computer like I used to. It's a good thing.

Starting Another Primary Year.

I've served in our LDS Ward's primary organization continually since 1999. OK, I did have a 6 week break in 2006 after I was released as Primary President, and right before I was put in as the Chorister. (Being the Primary Chorister is the best calling in the church!)

This is the song I've been singing all week - I begin teaching it to our ward's Primary children tomorrow. I have loved this song since it came out in the "Friend" magazine several years ago. When I was Primary President, I asked the chorister to teach it to the children. Now it is one of our program songs for 2010. I am so happy that I get to teach it to the primary children again this year.



This song brings new meaning to me as I ponder the Book of Mormon story found in 3 Nephi, chapter 17. The song has such a beautiful message, no matter what your age.

2009 Christmas Memories

Here's hoping you all had a great Christmas at your house. I enjoyed the day too. It's different once your kids grow up and you actually get to sleep in. I woke up at 6:00, got up at 6:30. Then I just puttered around the house waiting for Terrell & Kimball to wake up.

Here's one of the activities I engaged in while waiting:

I had a plate of sticky rolls in the kitchen that were rock hard. Instead of throwing them out, I knocked the centers out of them, tied some yarn through them and hung them in the apple tree out in the back yard. I hope the birds enjoy them.

Terrell finally woke up at 10:00, Kimball at 10:30. We opened presents and had breakfast (a sausage breakfast strata). Then it was pretty quiet again - until that evening.

A couple weeks ago I decided on the border for Kimball's quilt and finished his quilt top. Since Kimball hadn't seen the completed quilt top, I wrapped it and gave it to him for Christmas. I'm still at a loss for how to quilt this, so if you have any ideas, please let me know.


Christmas evening, a family friend (Jeff) joined us, along with Brad & family & Emilie & Curtis for my traditional Christmas dinner - Costco frozen lasagna. (It requires no effort other than putting it in the oven to cook!) This year I served with it: homemade crescent rolls, pretzel salad, twice baked potatoes, tossed salad and green beans. It's also tradition to have English crackers for everyone to open before we start the meal.

Inside each cracker is a paper crown, a joke, and a toy. Here is Cailyn with her toy:



Everyone wearing their paper crown just before we turned off the lights to eat by candlelight.

After dinner I did something that I think will be a new tradition. I passed out kazoo's to everyone and we had a Christmas kazoo band. It was a lot of fun!

Cailyn with her kazoo


Brad with his kazoo


Gavin's kazoo at the end of the night

After humming (kazoo'ing) for awhile, we decided to share our talent with the neighbors. We bundled up and walked around the block, stopping at a few houses to entertain certain families.

I recorded one of the songs - the lights were still out, so you can only hear us.