Photos

I am looking for photos!! If anyone has any reunion photos from 06 or 07 can you send them? I have lots of random shots from both years, but no good group shots. I would like one from 06 either with our t-shirts on or in front of the orange curtain. I would like one from 07 with the brown and pink shirts. I am going to print out 8x10s of both of them so I'd like good quality if anyone has it! Thanks! :)

trip to St. George

Reunion

So we were looking at everyone's preferences about the reunion (except Debby--do you have a preference?), and it looks like--especially if the Virginia Ross Family can come, yay!--we'll try to do it in the summer. So, now, give your preferences for timing, or even tell us when you CAN'T do it...we'll look those over and choose a time, pretty quick here, so it can get on everyone's calendar.

And if it helps, we'll probably be doing it here along the Wasatch Front.

Thanks, everybody. Can't wait to see you all at the farewell!

Virgina Ross Opinion

We vote for the summer. We would probably drive and would need to take at least ten days to get there , have fun, and drive back. I know everyone has jammed packed summer schedules,but hopefully we could figure something out. We miss you guys and want to see you.

Martin Vote

I guess one family has to be difficult. We do not have Spring Break right before or right after the farewell. Theo also has a track meet on the Friday before the farewell in Chinle. That said, we can probably come up Saturday the 29th and stay through maybe Monday? Or I can maybe come without Theo (which I can do even though I'd prefer not to) and be there a little longer. No matter what, we will be there on the Sunday of the farewell to support mom and dad. We are all SOOOOO EXCITED and so proud of their willingness to serve the Lord!

As for the summer, we are filling up our calendar quick. We still have some time available, but it needs to be spoken for. Right now I have girls' camp the last week of May, youth conference the second week of June, and running camp the second half of July....

Thanks to Mom, Kim, Michelle, and Lauren for a FABULOUS time in St. George. Heavenly Father must have known that I would need a getaway at just that moment in time and softened all of your hearts so you would be willing to run away with me! (-: It was just what I needed and I feel so much the better for it!

Let us know what the final decision is on the get together in March.

Reunion

Gillelands have Spring Break the week before the farewell, so we would love the reunion to be during that time. We can also do summer with some exceptions--we can be flexible. Thanks for working on it. Airfare from Virginia is quite reasonable at the end of March too as compared to summer. ;) Hope everyone can make it!

On another note, I really enjoyed going to St George last weekend. I zoomed to Page and kidnapped Nicole, then we met Kim who kidnapped Mom and Lauren too! It was great to see you all and Parade around! Maybe Mom will post a photo!

Hannay Vote

We are excited to see everyone! Our vote - March 28-31. The Hannay kids don't have school on Monday the 31st. So let's party and make it a long weekend!
Our summer is going to be SO crazy we'd love to see you all in spring instead!

Farewell

We are so excited!
Our farewell talks will be on March 30th at 11:00 am. We report to the MTC on April 14th. We will be there a whole week.
We will be in Tobago through the summer then when a couple leaves, we will go to Trinidad and move into their apartment.
If you want to learn about the area, Google Trinidad Tobago and you will get a nice listing. We liked the Wickipedia and the CIA articles.
We are scurrying to get our visas, extra shots, international drivers licenses, etc. The list is huge! Today is shot day for as many as they will give us. The yellow fever one has to be 10 days before the MTC. We will feel like pin cushions before it is over. We have already had some, believe it or not!
Mom

Reunion planning

I know you all have lots of thoughts about the reunion. I'd like to encourage you to call me or post them here. I'm thinking that since many of us are planning to come up for Mom and Dad's farewell talks, it might be a good time to do a mini reunion over that weekend. First I guess we need to get Mom and Dad to ask their bishop if/when they will be speaking so we can know the right weekend to plan around.

I understand they go into the MTC on Monday, April 14. That leaves March 23rd (Easter), March 30th, or April 13th as the most likely speaking dates.

If you're bummed that I'm considering a shorter reunion and you'd rather do a longer reunion during the summer, please feel free to voice that opinion as well.

I HOPE THEY CALL ME ON A MISSION!!

Wow, how exciting. Congratulations on your mission call. Thanks for letting us know. The boys loved hearing it over the speaker phone. Thanks again for your great example. We will start to research as much as we can so we can know all about the country you are going to. You are awesome!! Please post the details of your call. The boys would love to know.

"Wish You Could Stay Forever"

We just took Grandpa and Grandpa to the airport. The kids screamed "We love you!" from the van as they walked through the airport doors. I am afraid they didn't hear us. We were so blessed to have them with us for five days. They were able to be here for Sam's baptsim, and we got to do some other fun things with them. I most enjoyed just talking with them. Jack kept trying to get them to share stories of their lives at the dinner table, he didn't get to far. Maybe they are saving all those stories for the bestseller they are going to write after their mission, The Great American Novel , " Life, The George and Eva Story" we are highly anticipating it.

We realize that living so far away keeps us from seeing all of you very often, so we are again grateful to this blog to help us feel somewhat in touch.

I hope you each savor the time you get to spend with these two as they will be gone from you also for 18 months. Sometimes you don't realize how important people are til you are far apart.

We love Grandma and Grandpa very much. They are a great example of how to live life. I am eternally grateful to them for my Husband and his willingness to follow correct principles and treat our family with love and kindness. Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for your example and love you have for us. We wish you could have stayed here forever.

Fun with Grandpa and Grandma

We had fun At the miniature golf course and the science museum. I think we wore them out a little. The boys were just so excited they fought over who got to ride in the car with them. They are pretty popular here at our house.

Sam's Baptism

Sam had a wonderful baptism. He was beaming from ear to ear. We were so glad Grandma and Grandpa could be here. They both spoke and Jack played a musical number. Skip gave Sam the Holy Ghost and a wondeful blessing. I am so grateful for the gospel and the chance to teach my children about our Heavenly Fathers plan. I asked Sam today if he still feels clean, he said "Yes, but a little not, I didn't come when you asked me" If this is the worst we are doing pretty good.

A Work in Progress

Here are the latest pictures of our house. We finally got the last layer of the stucco put on this week as the temperatures have finally climbed a bit. We are thrilled with the way it looks. As for the interior, we are done hanging the drywall, and ready to mud the joints and texture. That may be a job for the pros as Theo is about to start track season next week, and hence will be far more scarce around here on the weekends. We really want to be done in the near future so we can have all of you come and visit us in our expanded accomidations! (-: We'll put out the welcome mat.

Here are a couple more pictures for you to see grandma and the quilt I made for her. She was tickled.

90th Birthday report

Grandma Peters had a great 90th birthday. All of your cards came on her birthday. She ended up with about 17-18 birthday cards. She loved it! The daisy basket and balloons came from the Gillelands and the basket of roses and mixed flowers came from the Ross, Gilleland, Hannay and Martin grandkids and greatgrandkids. Kim made the Valentine pillow, which she adores. Three men came from the church and sang "Happy Birthday" about 7:30, which they do for everyone in the ward who turns 90. We were all there. At the last minute, about 4:00, she decided she would go to dinner. Julie and Brian, Wes and Jan, Janelle and Alan and Connie went with us to dinner.
The weather was in the 60's when I got there and was up to 76 on Sat when I left. They had been having lots of rain prior to my arrival. The skys were unbelieveably blue and you could actually see the mountains and the snow on them. I was bothered somewhat by the smog, however.
Prior to my arrival, mom had been sleeping quite a bit. Alan thought she would be taking at least one nap a day. To my surprise, she wouldn't let me go anywhere alone. We went out each day for 1-2 hours shopping at one place or another. By Friday she was beat! (Her birthday was on Thursday) After we returned from the store, she sat in her chair and fell asleep with her purse on her lap. She later commented that she hadn'd even taken a nap that day.
Connie came over on Wed and we took her to get her hair cut while we went to lunch. We bought her 4 pair of pants and 3 shirts and a bedspread. She hadn't been clothes shopping since I took her a couple of years ago. She tried them on and then she went with me on her birthday to exchange for a differnt size on the pants. So Thursday was a really busy day for her to go the the mall then out to dinner, no wonder she was exhausted by Friday noon.
I am sorry for those of you who might have come over! We didn't dream we could get her out to dinner, since she hasn't been for a few months, and the weather was great to boot! I did take recent family pictures to share with everyone.
She has great difficulty getting up and down and has pain as she does, and her hearing is bad and she isn't seeing well. The macular degeneration is getting pretty bad. I heard many of the stories several times in my few days there.
I am writing this message on our new laptop for our mission. We are just waiting for our call! We finished with the stake president on last Sunday so sometime between now and the 20th ish.
We leave for Virgina for the baptism of Sam late the 14th. We return on the 20th, hopefully with a call in our mailbox!

Sister Ruth Faust

Sister Ruth Faust passed away this morning. I'm sure she's happy to be back home with her husband.

Flip Out

Aaron Fotheringham, Keryn's cousin, was featured in an ESPN SportsCenter story this week. You can read the story and watch the video here. Keryn posted a bit about Aaron before in a story on our PonderIt blog before Gideon was born.

China

I've got Mom and Dad's next opportunity lined up for them when they get back from their mission.

The David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies at Brigham Young University is seeking qualified couples and individuals to teach at highly respected universities in the People's Republic of China during the 2008-2009 academic year.

All applicants must be active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, be in a secure financial situation, have university degrees, have excellent emotional and physical health, be age 69 or younger by March 1, 2008, and have no childcare responsibilities. Teachers are expected to show high moral values, professionalism and integrity.

We knew a couple who did this in our last ward and they really enjoyed the opportunity.

Re: President Hinckley pictures

Let me second Bradley's recommendation to look at those pictures from BYU Magazine. Wow. My favorite was in the second link--the one where he is standing with his back to the camera, in the Marriott Center, at the podium, looking up at the thousands of people in the seats. As Ezra would say, "Double Wow."

President Hinckley's Funeral Arrangements

If you haven't already heard, President Hinckley's funeral will be on Saturday, Feb 2, at 11am. It will be broadcast into stake centers and also on BYU-TV. More information can be found here.

Hinckley Photos

BYU Magazine pointed to two great slideshows about President Hinckley. There is some duplication between the two, but they were both very touching so I wanted to share them with you in case you hadn't already seen them.

BYU Magazine
BYU Photographer

Hope

How wonderful it is to read and feel of your testimonies. As I read of the youth dressed in their Sunday best, {I feel the spirit,love and respect that they have for him from far away}I am reminded of the Love I felt from President Hinkley every time I have gone to the Young Women's General Broadcast. His love for the youth, his hope for the future these are some of the things that touched my heart. In a world of so much sorrow he was a bright smiling hope. He also touched me as a mother with so many encouraging words, As I have listen to him speak the spirit has testified to me that the path I have chosen is the correct one for me. This alone has given me hope when I feel it is all I can bear. I am grateful for the opportunity to share my testimony with my children of our prophet and to hear their testimony's of our prophet. I love that we can watch and hear him speak in conference. It is a struggle to keep little ones quiet for four sessions of conference and sometimes I wonder is this even worth it, do they even hear or know what is going on, but when my little Claire sees our Prophets picture and she smiles and says "the Prophet, he's happy, he's smiling" I know the spirit can touch even the littlest. I never have been in his presence, but that matters little. The over powering whispers of the Holy Ghost testify to me of a true and living prophet and burn in my heart that he speaks for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sweet Reunion

When dad called last night to tell us that President Hinckley had died, my first reaction was, "How sad". Dad said, "Oh no, its not sad. It is good news." Of course, I immediately had to agree. What a tremendous life of service and faith! The visceral reaction of sadness stemmed from the fact that he will be very missed. I echo what Keryn had to say in that what a joyous reunion he must be having now with his beloved Marjorie! We receive email from LDS Living, and they had sent a link to a KSL article about his passing. On the top of the article there is a series of pictures of the prophet including some with President Hinckley and his wife. As I looked at those photos, especially one where he and Sister Hinckley are laughing together, I was so touched. Surely he is having another moment like that one with his sweet companion. When Theo and I were talking about it last night we realized that President Hinckley has been the prophet for all of the years we have been married (almost 13); for Theo, almost all of the time he has been a member of the church! He became the prophet in March, 1995, we were married that June. What a shining example he has been to us as a couple and as a family!
This morning we shared the news with our boys as we got ready for school. They immediately wanted to know when we were leaving for Salt Lake so we could go to the funeral! That really touched me that they felt such a personal connection to the prophet that they automatically assumed that we would be going to Salt Lake to say our goodbyes. I thought about my memories of President Benson and President Hunter passing. Both times I wondered first as a child and then as a young adult, how would I feel about the new prophet. Surely I couldn't love the new prophet as much as the one that had gone before him. Of course, both times, I quickly grew to love the new prophet. The mantle of the calling and the spirit of their testimonies transcended any misgivings I had harbored. This time I am anxious to hear President Monson speak to us for the first time as the prophet. I am certain that I will feel the spirit confirm that he is indeed the man to lead the church!
I am thankful to each of you that have posted your thoughts about the prophet. I wept as I read each of your testimonies because indeed that is what you have written. I add mine own to yours. I know President Hinckley was the prophet called by God. I know that the church will have a new prophet, and he will continue to guide the church in the way that the Lord wants. Although we will miss President Hinckley, his legacy lives on in each of us and how we follow his counsel from the Lord. I am grateful that his passing has given us opportunity to come together as a family and express our thanks, our memories, and our testimonies. Truly, the gospel binds us together. How blessed we are!

The strength of youth

For the last 3 conferences I have cried as President Hinckley spoke. Each time he spoke it was as if it was his final farewell speech. It was funny when he mentioned in October how many talks he had given and how difficult it was to come up with new things to say. Then he recapped and reminded us of important things he has taught us in the past. He seemed to know how much we would all miss him and seemed to be gently preparing us to say goodbye to him.

Last night at about 8:30 Lauren received a text from Taylor telling her about the death of President Hinckley. Later more texts started pouring in from everyone she knew - "Wear your dresses, white shirts and ties tomorrow to school to honor President Hinckley. Send this to everyone you know." I had a lump in my throat as I watched each of the neighborhood kids come out of their homes on their way to the bus stop wearing their Sunday best. It made me recommit myself, as a Mother of amazing teens, to live up to their example.

So if you live here in Utah - prepare yourself. If you are driving past a school or going out to lunch, you won't be expecting The Spirit you will feel when you see a well dresses group of youth as they show their respect for their beloved Prophet.

I am sure he never knew the impact he truely had on each one of us. He has to be beaming as he looks down today.

Hinckley Memory

While I was a missionary in 1996, I gained a strong testimony of Gordon Hinckley as a prophet. First, let me give a little background. Growing up, prophets were grandfatherly figures. I was too young to really remember an active President Kimball. He was mostly a picture to me, but people spoke of him so lovingly. President Benson really impressed me as a prophet, but again, I was mostly too young to appreciate much of what he was saying. As I got older, President Benson was pretty infirm and we didn't see him a lot towards the end. President Hunter was another very sweet man, but we only saw a little bit of him too.

During all this, President Hinckley had been a familiar face. But he wasn't, for me, a beloved figure. He was an administrator, a stand-in for the prophet when he wasn't available in person. It was almost like he was the guy you had to settle for because the real prophet wasn't available. He was nice, but he wasn't like a grandfather and I just didn't have any special affection for him. When he became the prophet, I was a senior in high school. I was old enough to pay attention to the transition. I was a bit surprised to realize how much I liked President Hinckley after hearing his first few talks. My fondness for him continued to grow after seeing in in person (from a great distance) during my first year at BYU.

Then, as a missionary in my first area, we were stuck in our house. I still remember the house very vividly. My companion was sick and we couldn't go out. He'd borrowed a TV and VCR from the meetinghouse library and a bunch of general conference videos. He was asleep in his bedroom and I was watching a random session from the previous conference. President Hinckley spoke. As he spoke, I was awash in an unexpected sensation that I was watching a real, true, living, breathing prophet of God. I thought I already knew that, but the witness of the Spirit was so strong in my heart that I couldn't deny the power of what I felt. I KNEW Gordon Hinckley, the man I hadn't started out liking very much, was a bona fide prophet.

I'll miss his great leadership. I look forward to learning what our future under President Monson's direction will look like. Bruce R. McConkie gave an interesting devotional address after the passing of Harold B. Lee that some of you might be interested in. The Salt Lake Tribune printed a great article about President Monson. Did you realize he's been in the First Presidency since 1985?! He's been greatly involved in welfare and humanitarian work and some are wondering aloud if a Monson presidency (he's 17 years younger than Hinckley!) will see a lot of growth in our church's humanitarian outreach in conjunction with other religious groups.

President Hinckley

President Hinckley died tonight, January 27, 2008, at 7 pm, of causes incident to age.

He was president of the church for all of my adult life thus far, becoming the prophet around the same time I graduated from high school. What a wonderful man! I'm so grateful he was able to lead our church for as long as he did. I'm grateful he was so active and healthy during his tenure. And as much as I am going to miss him (it's hard to even imagine General Conference without him!), I'm grateful he is with his precious wife again. I know he missed her so much.

Of all the many memories I have of President Hinckley--waving his cane at audiences, telling the story of the walnut tree and the new podium, talking about the new Conference Center, announcing the rebuilding of the Nauvoo Temple--the one I want to share happened not at Conference, not at a regional meeting, not even at a devotional. It was during the groundbreaking ceremony of the new wing of the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU on September 30, 1996. As the ceremony ended, and all the dignitaries dug the shovels into the earth, I happened to be in just the right position to be very close to where the prophet stood. As I stood there, twenty feet away, I felt the Spirit bear the most powerful witness that this man was the Lord's annointed. It was just an amazing, unexpected moment, standing there in the sun, straining to hear what was being said as they laughed while turning over the dirt. My soul just knew that President Hinckley has was chosen of God for that time to lead the Church.

Do you have any memories of President Hinckley? I'd love to read about them!

90th Birthday

Grandma Peters' birthday is February 7th. She turns 90 years old. She would absolutely love it if each of you sent her a birthday card with a note in it. She keeps the cards up for several days or weeks after the particular holiday. Considering this is an extra special birthday I thinks she would really appreciate it. I would send them so they arrive before the 7th.
Her address:
Dorothy Peters
31D Calle Aragon
Laguna Woods, CA 92637

I was going to make her a quilt, then decided against it because she probably can't carry it from one place to another. Then I decided it was more important for me to do something special for her and let the consequences follow. Sooooooooo, I am busy quilting her a quilt, which has given me much reflection time about her and the special person she is.

I will be going over there on the 3rd and staying though Saturday. I am not sure what we will do to celebrate as she hasn't gone out to eat in a couple of months or more. My brothers usually bring her a turkey sandwich occasionally.

The bishop offically has our paperwork for our mission and we still need an interview with him. We have a temple recommend interview on the 30th with a member of the stake presidency. We aren't sure how soon we will meet with the stake president, so it could be awhile before we get our call, which likely will come while we are in Virginia! We are looking at a possible April 1st departure instead of March 1. The biggest hurdle will be the plane ticket, trying to get it a fews weeks out so that it won't be an insurmountable amount of money. It will all fall together eventually!
Love,
Mom

Cruisin'

As some of you know, John and I just returned from a 7day cruise with several other couples from Durango. All of it was possible because of the oober-coolness of one fab couple of grandparents...Papa and Grandma Ross! We want to thank G&G from the bottom of our sunburned hearts for watching the whole bigGtribe while we were away playing. They arrived in Durango in the biggest snowstorm we have had in a decade! Between losing power and freezing pipes, our kids say they handled it all like champs! They saved our bacon when we were in Florida, as our carry on bag was lost/stolen which contained our passports among other things. They faxed our birth certificates to Miami and we were able to go on our trip. Luckily, we got an email from a different cruise line saying the bag was turned in and our stuff was still in it! Quite a weird development, quite a blessing!
We hope everyone is doing well as there are no new posts for a while. Thanks again G&G!! You rock. PS How goes the mission plans?

Happy New Year Rosses

Another Christmas has come and gone, where does the time go! We have still been working furiously on our house, but we definitely took lots of time out for play over our holiday break.
We can hardly believe that 2008 is upon us. Our family just returned from a wonderful whirlwind visit to some of our family. Theo and I were able to drive up to Salt Lake after Christmas and drop our boys with grandma and grandpa Ross. We then flew out to Indiana to visit Tim and Anne and meet their new baby Symond. We stayed through the New Year, and we just got home today. It was great to spend some time at mom and dad's and to hear about how they are gearing up to go on their mission. We are so excited for them and we are blessed to have such great examples for our sons! Happy New Year to all of you!