This morning Zachary, Ethan and Cooper went to the temple to do baptisms.
I love that they didn’t even think twice about spending time this morning during Fall Break to attend the temple.
I am so thankful they have such good friends that will go with them.
This little missy has been wanting to cut her hair short for ever. I mean like to her chin short. I keep putting her off and talking her out of it. Today when we went for hair cuts, we compromised. She got to cut it shorter!!
She LOVES it. I have to admit, I like it too. I think it would be cuter even shorter, but don’t tell her that.
Before and After:
This morning we had a knock on our door from the pest control of the people behind us. While he was spraying their yard he noticed a large beehive in our orange tree.
It was on the back side of the tree, so it was hard to take a picture of without disturbing it. It was about the size of a basketball.
After a few calls we found a company that would come out that afternoon.
They came out today and killed and removed them.
It’s scary to think that we had been outside all day on Saturday putting in our winter lawn and didn’t even know it was there.
Tonight as we were sitting down to dinner my cell phone rang. I noticed the area code was British Columbia, so I quickly answered. It was President Burt, Brandon’s mission president.
He was just calling to tell me he had spent the afternoon with Elder Wallace and what a great missionary he is going to be. That he was really impressed with his desire to serve. He told us a little about his trainer Elder Loa and his area.
It was so comforting to know that he is in good hands. President Burt seems like a very nice man who wants the best for his missionaries. You could just tell from talking to him. He even gave us not his personal email and cell if we should have any question or concerns.
He also told us to watch for an email and pictures that came later that night.
Dear Brother and Sister Wallace,
Thank you very, very much. Your son, Elder Brandon Wallace, has arrived safely this week in the Canada Vancouver Mission and I am thrilled to have him here. He is very much needed. There is a great work to be done in this marvelous part of the world. Your son will be an instrument in the hands of the Lord and a fellow servant with us and over 200 other faithful missionaries to accomplish His sacred and holy purposes. Attached are two pictures of your wonderful missionary, one with myself and Sister Burt and one that also includes your son’s new companion.
I pledge to you that I will do all I can to build upon that which you have taught your son, and to build upon the standards you have established for your family. Please know that I desire to sustain you in your sacred parental role and to never do anything that will detract from or interfere with that eternal relationship.
A missionary’s success is dependant upon the active role of many people including you and us. I pledge that I will do everything I can to provide him with meaningful experiences to give him an opportunity to maximize his growth and potential. I also need your active support to help your son become the kind of missionary whom the Lord can use to accomplish His purposes.
Missionary work is very hard and strenuous. Much will be expected from your missionary. I pray for your continued support and encouragement of your son as he begins this challenging and extraordinary experience. It will be a great blessing to him and to the work in our Mission if you write to him each week and encourage him to be diligent in this great work. Monday is Preparation Day when he will have access to email to communicate with you. He can provide you with his physical address at that time also. Should you have an emergency need to contact your son, I would appreciate your calling the Mission Office (xxx-xxx-xxxx) rather than calling your son directly.
As you might imagine, in order for a missionary to be successful, he must be focused solely on his missionary activities. Any news, letters, or packages from home that distract his attention from his missionary efforts will be disruptive to his work. Accordingly, I suggest that all of your letters be positive, upbeat and spiritual and, to the extent possible, that discussions of bad news, disappointments, discouraging items, etc. be avoided.
I will do all I can to teach, and honor your son and allow him to realize the injunction, “O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve Him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the Last day,” and that he will have many opportunities to “invite all to come unto Christ and be perfected in him.”
Our Mission Motto is “Love, Serve and Obey.” Sister Burt and I will do all we can to ensure that this will be realized by your son in all of its various forms. We invite you to be companions with us to ensure that this happens. Thank you for everything you have done to prepare your son for this glorious work in which he will be engaged. With your help and prayers, Sister Burt and I are confident he will be a great success.
Respectfully yours,
Ronald P. Burt
Mission President
**Please consider as you plan ahead for Christmas and birthday gifts that we recommend, instead of sending packages, you provide your missionary with additional personal funds they can use to buy the items they need and want here. Because our mission spans an area much larger than the state of Texas, transporting packages from the mission office to your missionary may involve planes, buses or ferries and is difficult, expensive and time-consuming for our zone leaders. If you need to send a package to your missionary who is serving far away from the mission office, please consider mailing it directly to your missionary’s apartment. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call or email the mission office.
Today Brandon left the MTC and we got to talk to him on the phone. He sounded great and is SO excited to finally be heading to Canada.
We got to talk for a little over an hour. He got to talk to all the kids who got to go to school late. And we all talked for a while too. He was just so excited.
We got this text from the nice people who let him use their phone for the first part of his call to us. Doesn’t he look so happy?
This picture came a few days later from his first email in Canada.
I have to admit I did track his flight too! :)
After the last round of chemo I wanted to do something for mom to let her know we love and support her from here. I found these shirts at Wal-Mart the other day, so we all wore them today while she did chemo.
It’s been a long week. After the last round of chemo Mom spent 7 days in the hospital.
Monday night about midnight dad and Sherrie had to take her to the emergency room. She was very weak, couldn’t move herself, listless, dehydrated and a kind of out of it.
They treated her for infection, gave her some blood, she was in what they call Neutropenia (noo-troe-PEE-nee-uh) is an abnormally low count of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that helps fight off infections, particularly those caused by bacteria and fungi.
This is common in cancer patients. Because of this she couldn’t have visitors and everyone who did go in had to gown up completely.
So thankful yet again for technology. We were able to Face time with her in the hospital twice. It was nice to see her for ourselves since we are so far away.
She is home now and continuing to recover so she can do her 3rd treatment in a week.
So thankful for my Dad and Sherrie and all they do. She is in the best of hands.
As you get older you will understand more and more that it’s not about what you look like, it’s all about the person you’ve become. -Anonymous
Sherrie posted this quote today with this picture.
Today mom started had her second round of chemo. Side effects from the first round are now apparent.
Thursday she went wig shopping since her hair was beginning to fall out. This is the one she went with. It looks pretty natural. On Friday she went and got her head shaved. So proud of her and her attitude during this difficult journey.
Ethan just got back from his first scout campout. He had a great time camping at Water Wheel. They hiked to the waterfall this morning before they came home. He is ready to do it again next month.
Bob and I went and saw Wicked tonight. It was AMAZING!!! We were able to the tickets months and months ago for a group rate. We had awesome seats, and loved every minute of it. So glad that we both enjoy theater so much.
Mondays have never been my favorite day, but it sure is now!!! Love hearing from all our missionaries, but especially Brandon.
Here are a few random pictures he has sent. Most of are of friends that have come in since he has been there.
Last weekend Bob had tickets to the AZ Cardinals game from Intel. Since I was just getting over a cold Ethan went with him.
They didn’t have the best time. The bus they were on the air wasn’t working and it was 115 outside. After 2 bus changes, and finally getting one with air,(but didn’t cool off enough to make a difference until they were almost there) they made it to the game late.
To make up for the miserable experience they gave us tickets for the game tonight also. We were able to get a parking pass too so we didn’t even have to ride the bus.
I went this time. We had excellent seat and had a great time. It was a fun game, we were able to park really close and had no traffic either way. Great date night
Today I tried Wal-Marts new online grocery service!! I am sold. You order your groceries online. Schedule a pick up time and then drive over during your 4 hour window.
When you get there you park and call the number. Then they bring out your groceries and put them in your car!
I never left the car, didn’t spend any extra money on things I saw, and it took me less than 20 minutes to drive there,get my stuff and get back home.
i will definitely be doing this again.
(Picture taken from a friends face book.)
We have been having some great storms the last few days. Last night’s storm was incredible. It reminded me of the year we moved to Arizona when the thunder would just roll and roll.
When we got up this morning and were checking for storm damage we found our shed moved a few feet. We didn’t have any other damage but all over the neighborhood and area there are trees down everywhere.
This amazing lady started Chemo today!! She is a fighter and isn’t going to let a little thing like cancer stop her.
After living in Arizona for 20 years, and in this house for almost 13 we found our first scorpion. I have always joked that if we found one we were moving!!! Now I think that it a good idea.
They are nasty little things. This one was dead thank goodness.
Went upstairs this afternoon and it was unusually hot. Didn’t think to much of it, it was really warm today. Then when I went to put Rachel to bed it was still really hot?
Yes it was 85 upstairs!!!!! So we had a family camp out in the family room.
**Someone came out the next day, and it was going to be over $4,000 to fix it. Plus couldn’t do it until Wednesday almost a week) We got a second opinion and they came on Friday and fixed it for less. So we can all sleep in our beds again)**
Today I am grateful for technology and social media. I have been able to connect with a mom in Brandon’s district. She posted this picture today. It was so cool to some across this on my newsfeed today.
Rachel lost her second tooth tonight during a pillow fight with Ethan. She was more excited to take a picture and email Brandon than about the tooth fairy coming.
At tonight's Court of Honor both of the boys took home a bunch of Merit badges and rank advancements.
They worked hard this summer together and earned 3 merit badges: Sculpture, Genealogy, and Fingerprinting.
Ethan also received his swimming and first aid he had previously earned.
By finishing those merit badges Zachary earned his first Eagle Palm.
They both also earned the Thomas S. Monson award. It is a special award created by President Monson. They and 2 leaders in our ward are the only ones who received it. I am so proud of all their hard work.
