Halloween Preparations

Jack and Charlie taking an airplane break. They are growing up too fast!

Playing games at K-mart with Daddy dressed up as a first counselor...

A chick and a duck...

We had the missionaries over and served dinner in a pumpkin- Adam made it and it was delicious!! Kind of like how my mom used to make it, except this time, we ate the pumpkin too and it was yummy!

Elder Mulkes and Elder Ingram

Jack loves making cookies. He is a sprinkle pro.

Little snitches

Cute cookie maker in training

Making cookies for friends and neighbors after church. Three crazy boys and one who decided he can't smile for the camera anymore.

You know you're in the missionfield when...

Adam and I have been nostalgic of the mission field lately.
Recent events that have reinforced the fact that we're not in Utah anymore:

* We got to have the missionaries come over for dinner!

*We feel very claustrophobic at times because you can't see very far and there are so many trees! Trees lining the road, rolling hills and little twisty roads that remind you of the Cars movie when McQueen and Sally are driving and the leaves get flipped up into the air. With so many trees and leaves, it literally rains leaves on us as we drive- Just gorgeous.

* I had to go to the county social service department because here, we can't just call someone's Bishop or Relief Society president and trust that they will get help with meals and rides to doctors apts, etc. And here, none of my patients wear special underwear.

* When people ask what church I go to, I have to give the full name "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints", the slang name "The LDS" and the old slang name "The Mormons." Then they say, "I didn't know we had any of those around here."

* Whenever I go to a new home or trailer, I knock on the door, introduce myself and have a familiar nervousness and I remember tracking the streets of La Bandera, Chile, hoping they will let me in.

* I have had to fend off dogs as I try to get into new patients homes and I regret that I can't just pick up a rock and throw it towards the dogs to keep them from coming too close like we did in Chile. I have a feeling that wouldn't go over to well with my patients- if i threw rocks at their dogs.

* At work, I sometimes have to sit on yucky couches and I'm careful where I set my bag and try not to lean back onto the couch.- In Chile- if you weren't careful, you'd get fleas...

* I have not needed any lotion in the past 2 weeks since we moved here

* There are no sprinklers here

* I was made a visiting teaching supervisor and I'm assigned to personally teach six sisters who all live about 30 minutes away.

* It takes us 20 minutes to get to church.

* We are learning to speak a new language. A toilet is called a commode. A purse is called a pocket book. Hush-puppies are deep fried heaven (still not sure what exactly they are made of). Shrimp n Grits are delicious but I'm not sure about nutritious. Our town hall is located in uptown - there is no downtown.

* We have BED BUGS! or fleas or something gross that bites us in the night. We can't see anything and every morning we wake up with big welts all over our ankles and necks. We are trying to spray and disinfect and Lysol and research homeopathic remedies on the Internet but to no avail...

* Before our second official Sunday in our new branch, Adam was called as First Counselor in the Branch Presidency. Congratulations Adam! It's going to be a big job. As far as the women are concerned, I know there are 150 baptised members of Relief Society and last Sunday there were maybe 25 women at church.

We are grateful and excited about this opportunity to be in a small branch. We are ready to serve and eager to learn and grow from our experiences here.

"Nebraska is a Long Van Ride"

"Nebraska is a long van ride" was a quote we heard on Guitar Hero that made us crack up and then we just had to buy the game. We've been through Nebraska before several times back and forth to Minnesota, but it is always long and this adventure was just that.

Getting There

Have you ever wished that life had a reset button? Well it does, and we’ve pushed it. The events of the last few weeks have dramaticly changed our lives. Now that we are here in Martinsville, Virginia I look back and can hardly belive the change. We have left our friends and family of Kaysville Utah. We have taken a “cross country” road trip, and established a new home.

Thank you, all who helped us pack and move and unpack, we could not have done it without you. The 35 hour drive to the east coast went very well, we only had to use the tow cable once.
Jackson was a great passenger, and Charlie did good with grandma and grandpa on his first airplane ride.

The first night at our new house was a camping adventure. We got into town late at night, and had to do some searching for the house key. Once we got the house open at 1:30 AM, we realized that there was no power, so we just threw out our camping mats in the family room turned off our flashlights and huddled together till morning.

The next day we got a phone call that our truck full of stuff would not be arriving at 9 AM like we had planned, but would maybe arrive the next day... We ran around town and got the utilities hooked up and Laura went and picked up Robert, Marsha and Charlie from the airport. The next day, Becky started work at the Hospital and then the blessed truck arrived. Robert, Adam, Laura and Jack unpacked and then Marsha and Becky organized in the evening. Moving is a lot of work, but we're glad to be here and glad that we made it.
After all that hard work Marsha treated the girls to a pedicure at the fabulous Wallmart spa. Wallmart has been our best friend for these first few weeks. We've gone there daily and sometimes several times a day to pick up this or that for decorating, home improvement or edibles, and we can't forget the Halloween decorations. Marsha made sure that Jack was well supplied with pumpkins and decorations so that the new house could be spooky for the season.

Our new ward is actually a branch and they just told us we have to go meet with the Stake President in Roanoak (1 hour away) tomorrow...

Aren't they great? Thank you so much for helping us with our move!!

Charlie sleeping at the airport

Laura made us dinner one night so that we could have a break from all the fast food of the road trip and have some REAL food (like vegetables)

Here is Becky demonstrating the cliff the car went into. It really was much bigger in person. The wheel went into it, all we heard was splat and then the wheel was spinning in the air. Good thing Adam's a good cubmaster and came prepared with tow-cables...

Eating Kansas City barbeque with our friends Sara and Dave. Why does Becky always have to hold up her food while she's eating??

Charlie's first airplane ride with Grandma and Grandpa Bradbury... one transfer seven hours and then two hours in the car and they finally arrived. I'm not sure who was more greatful Charlie or the Grandparents.

The girls had a fun bonding night, getting pedicures, manicures and then attempting to dye and wax their eyebrows. Jack just couldn't be left out of that fun and had his eyebrows dyed brown but not waxed :)

Jackson participated in his very first primary program on Sunday. We had been practicing his part (and practicing saying it in a normal voice- not like when he wanted to bear his testimony last month and shouted into the microphone “Thank you Jesus and blessings and the church…”) When he got up to say his part, he was the first Sunbeam and he smiled coyly at the congregation until his teacher reminded him his part (which he totally knew but I think he just enjoyed the spotlight J). He said, “Thank you for the birdies in the sky…and for Jesus’ blessings and…” then his teacher pulled out the hook to get him off the stage. On some of the songs, Jack sang with the kids, some he didn’t know, but on the last song “Families can be Together Forever” he sung so loudly –yet in tune- that we could hear him above the 80 children in the primary AND the congregation. That’s our little boy! What a cute ham!

He’s had a lot of firsts at church this year:
*His first prayer (which I had to stand behind him and tap him on the shoulder to get him to wrap it up because he could go on forever)
*First testimony
*First talk in primary. It was supposed to be on Family Home Evenings so he described some of the things we like to do for family home evening. He said we like to go swimming (he held up some goggles), talk about Jesus (he held up a photo of Jesus), make cookies (he held up a bag of cookies), read the scriptures (he held up the hym book), and “we throw balls at each other” (he held up the ball we use when we play games on the trampoline). Hopefully the primary teachers don’t think we really sit around throwing things at each other…
*First time assisting me with leading the music. At first he held my hand and stood reverently but after the first verse he got restless and started pulling away. I was leading with one hand and reaching for him with the other trying to keep my face normal so noone would know what was going on below my music stand. He escaped and went and layed on the choir chairs and walked over by the organist and then he saw a neat switch on the ground and pushed it and the organ went silent. At first I didn’t realize what had happened, the congregation kept singing and I leaned down with one hand and switched it back. The music came back on by the last couple measures of the song. Neadless to say that was the first and last time Jack was invited to help me lead the music.
*Except for his…First time running away from church. One Sunday, Adam had to stay home with Charlie so under oath to behave and stay on his chair, Jack accompanied me on the stand while I led the music. In the middle of a hymn, Jack just bolted out the door. I wasn’t sure if I should just keep leading and hope he came back or follow him and let everybody keep singing by themselves or what. Thankfully the Bishop pointed to somebody to go grab him so one of the sisters in the ward went after him and when she asked him why he had run off he just said, “I was all done with church.” Three-year olds are so blunt sometimes.