Called To Serve

I woke up this morning to the sweet sound of "Called to Serve" on the piano... Drew is so excited to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 Grandpa Allen would be proud. My cousins all know what I'm talking about! We all have memories of waking up on our summer vacations to loud hymns on the organ. Back then, we'd cover our ears, moan, and try to go back to sleep. Today, I smile at the memory--and am grateful that a little bit of Grandpa Allen is with my sweet Drew.

Another reason Grandpa Allen would be proud is that he and my Grandma served two missions to Argentina. I have been blessed to have all their journals and letters--and I look forward to keeping busy, organizing and writing about THEIR experiences while Drew is on HIS mission. They loved the people of Argentina!

Drew always planned to serve a mission. I love this photo of him in Primary, many years ago, dressed up as a missionary with a missionary name tag. I remember getting teary-eyed at the prospect of him one day "filling" that suit and being prepared to serve a mission.

Today I'm still crying at the thought. But I'm so happy and proud.

A Daughter is a Miracle

This week, I came across this quote: “A daughter is a miracle that never ceases to be miraculous...full of beauty and forever beautiful...loving and caring and truly amazing.”
-- Deanna Beisser It's Lauren's 20th birthday this week, and these words PERFECTLY describe my girl! After almost 10 years of waiting, Rob and I were blessed with this beautiful girl: She was definitely worth waiting for. I love having a daughter! Yes, she's miraculous, beautiful, loving, caring, and amazing! But she can also be... A bit silly And sometimes sassy I love you, Sunshine! You're "practically perfect in every way!"

Our first visitors!

We were so excited for Grandma and Grandpa Burns to come visit us in Connecticut! We have had a wonderful 10 days--and wish it didn't have to end. We spent a lot of time shopping for small items to make our new house feel like a home. Grandpa Burns hung lots of pictures and gave us advice on colors for painting. It is a beautiful time of year, and I'm so glad we were able to share it with some of our family who don't live here. We were able to visit the construction site for the Hartford Connecticut Temple and Tulmeadow Farm for some ice cream. It was General Conference weekend--and it was also the week Drew's mission papers were submitted to Salt Lake City. :)

So THIS is yardwork!

We went from having no grass in AZ (only a pool, rocks, and pavestone) to a small yard in IN, to 2 acres in CT! Quite a change!

Connecticut!

Well, my last blog post (actually the one Lauren wrote for me) was written when we just moved to Indiana. Now we are living in Connecticut! Just because I didn't write anything while we were in Indiana doesn't mean that nothing happened. Actually, some of the most significant events happened while we lived there. We loved Indiana! It became our home--and when Rob got a new position with The Hartford, I wasn't sure I wanted to leave. But here we are! In Indiana, I was able to be a school "librarian"--my dream job. It only lasted for a year because of our move to CT, but I'll be forever grateful for that experience. Lauren is almost finished with her Sophomore year at BYU-I and will be 20 years old this month! Drew graduated from high school (after just 3 years!) and completed summer term at BYU this past summer. He just submitted his mission papers last Sunday, so we're waiting for his mission call! He's working at ShopRite to earn some money and spend time with us before he leaves in early 2015. Anthony is a sophomore in high school and kept busy swimming for HSE Swim Club while we were in Indiana. He's now running cross country for Canton High School (whose XC team is first place in the state!). He earned his Eagle Scout Award just before we left Indiana. He's such a hard worker! Trevor is in middle school!! (My baby is in middle school!) He no longer wears glasses (he wears contacts instead), loves making people laugh, and is almost as tall as I am!! How can I write 3 years' worth of details in one blog post? I don't know where to start--but I can say that I'm very blessed with a great husband and beautiful, obedient children. We love our extended family and we love the Lord. I'm going to do my best to record our family history here as often as I can. Wish me luck!