Where the pavement ends

We've been where "the pavement ends" visiting the new ranch in Nebraska. We had a great time. I think of the many years I dreaded spending summers on the ranch. How age changes perspectives. Now I can't think of anything better than solitude.

Here's John and Johnny modeling their camo. Johnny got all dressed, and did the men take him hunting? No! Probably a good idea since he was a fussy boy. He is teething and it has been a hard week!

Johnny is not interested in staying a baby. While we were at the ranch, he started pulling himself up to standing and now he's taking steps holding onto furniture. This guy is 7 months old! I keep telling him there's no hurry. I want him to be a baby just a little longer! But, Kevin walked at 8 months and I think he's going to as well. You should see what he does to the house. Well, no, you shouldn't...

First Assignment: Singapore!

I finally got a quick e-mail from Kevin. Everything went very well with traveling and his first area is in Singapore! His companion is from Mongolia. They basically only do street contacting in Singapore and I think mostly speak English. Kevin mentioned in his phone call to me before he got there that his MTC trainer told him he had a companion that was assigned to Singapore for 7 months. During that time, he only taught a second discussion once. So...challenging...but if anybody can do it, Kevin can!

No news...

But I think that is good news! Surely I would have heard something by now if they had a major problem. I've joined a missionary mom e-mail circle where you are connected to other mothers whose sons are in the Singapore Mission. One mother whose son was in the group who arrived 2 months ago told me she never got a call, but received an e-mail from the mission president saying they had arrived safely a few days later. I'll let you all know as soon as I hear something!

Up on Toes

I've tried and tried to get a clear picture of Johnny while he is up on his toes. He has learned that when his knees slide on the wood floor, sometimes going up on his toes is a more effective way to go. It is the funniest thing. It looks like a yoga pose and takes an impressive amount of balance to crawl this way.

In other news, I was able to talk to Kevin on the phone and he sounds great! He's been on the plane to Taiwan since about 11:30 p.m. last night and will arrive about 5:00 p.m. Then, it's on to Singapore!

Nov. 3rd Off to Singapore

The day is finally here! Kevin leaves tomorrow for Singapore! Please keep him in your prayers. This is the single picture that he has sent me while in the MTC. I hope to get a few more once he is actually out on his mission. His companion, Elder Lang, is to his left.

We just had a missionary from our ward return from Portugal and he was sitting in front of us on Sunday. He asked where Kevin was going and when I told him Singapore/Malaysia, he told me that he has a really good friend who is serving over there! It is common in Utah for a designated mom (or a couple of mothers) to compile a newsletter for their boys and their friends on missions so they can keep in touch without writing a ton of letters. (Somehow I inherited this honor for Kevin's friends. Right now, I have 26 boys/parents who send me monthly updates and I compile them into a newsletter. Isn't that amazing, though, that Kevin has 26 close friends all serving missions? It really is such a blessing.) Anyway, Judd sent me a copy of his group's newsletter so I could see his friend in Malaysia's last entry. The great news is that he loves his mission and they are having tons of success over there. His friend was actually assigned to Borneo and was speaking Iban (a third language Kevin may learn in addition to Indonesian and Malay). In his entry, he noted that as recently as 2 generations ago, the Iban people were headhunters.

What???

There was one other entry in the newsletter that was classic! Unfortunately, the document is a PDF file and I can't get a clear copy of the photo that was posted, but it was a picture of a church billboard in a rural city in New York where he was serving. It said, "Don't Pray About the Book of Mormon. That's How They Get You!"

Halloween Highlights

First stop, Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Tyler's house where Johnny checked out all of the aquatic themed costumes. Tucker was an octopus, Savannah was a mermaid, Emma was a jelly-fish and Oliver was a dolphin. A giraffe didn't quite fit with the theme! It was very tough to get a picture where everyone was looking and still enough that the picture wasn't blurry. This was the best I could do.

Those tentacles were mesmerizing!

On to Aunt Suzy's... Johnny wore his "I'm so cute it's scary" pajamas that Suzy gave him underneath his costume.

Suzy stood him up in a chair to pose for pictures and he stayed standing!

John's nephew's son, Hayden, was a darling little frog. Here he is examining Johnny's costume. Johnny loves to be around all of his cousins!