A walk in the park......

The perfect day for Duchess would be one that included the dog park. She isn't so much into chasing balls or jumping for Frisbees but she does get her exercise. We figured out early on that since balls and Frisbees aren't her thing Larry & I are. Soooooooo we place ourselves strategically in the park and she runs back and forth between the two of us. Sometimes she gets distracted and sometimes she doesn't run in a straight line but she usually gets worn out from the activity. Other dogs come along and want to say hello and most times she will accommodate them. We've noticed that sometimes she is eager to meet a new dog until she gets within 15 feet and then she makes a speedy U-turn.

After all of this activity she was pretty tired. She and Larry sat for a little while on the bench.

Looking this way....

Looking that way......

Looking the other way......

So much to see......

And it was just too hard to get down off the bench to satisfy her thirst!!!

Can't wait for next week!!!!

A long-awaited goal........

We have belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for just over 32 years and have always waited for the day when we could serve a mission for the Lord. That time has come - we are serving for 18 months in the Mesa Regional Family History Center - or as it is now called the Mesa Large Multi-stake Family History Center. We are serving as Church-service Missionaries which means we can live at home and serve. Other missionaries leave their homes for 18-24 months to go anywhere in the world to serve their missions.

As senior missionaries we were able to select the mission we wanted to serve and if there were openings we would be called to that mission. After Larry & I got home from our six-week trip to the West Coast we decided to check out the various missions available in our area. We first called the Church Employment Center and spoke to someone there who informed us there would be a leadership meeting the following night and invited us to come. There we could get an overview of the work done there. The first area we learned about was the Bishop's Storehouse. Next we learned about the Employment Center. A few days later we investigated the Family Services Center and then the Family History Center. The last area contacted was the Tempe Mission Office where we learned they were looking for Church-service Missionaries for the San Tan Branch which is where we served before we left Maricopa. Larry made phone calls to several people we knew from San Tan regarding the work needed there and then we went to the temple to get a confirmation that this was the mission for us. When we left the temple we both knew that was not the answer. We then called our bishop and set an appointment to turn in our papers for the Mesa Family History Center.

Bishop Watson interviewed us and assured Larry that if he had faith and desire the confidence would come with this new calling. (Larry has not had a lot of experience with doing genealogy and he was a little intimidated by the thought of helping others research their ancestors so this assurance really helped him.) After his interview we then were interviewed by our Stake President.

I, on the other hand, felt as if this is the work I was born to do. I have loved genealogy since I was a little girl listening to the grownups talking about the "olden days"! When I was 16 years old my grandmother gave me all of her genealogy. I mean ALL of it. She didn't even keep a copy for herself! Somehow she knew I was the one who needed to have it! Six months ago I was talking to a patient at the dental office about doing genealogy research and after she left I remember thinking that if I could have any job in the whole wide world it would be doing genealogy!

We spent four weeks in training learning as one missionary said, "just how much we don't know!" The first week we shadowed our mentors and learned the various areas of the library and what they were used for. We had hands-on experiences scanning books, greeting patrons, serving at the help desk, taking money for copies and miscellaneous items, finding books on the stacks (shelves), indexing documents online, reading microfilm and miscrofische and helping with the computers. The next three weeks we went to class from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. We usually had 1-3 classes in the morning and 1-2 in the afternoon. We learned so much! Some of the areas I was afraid to search in are now not quite so scary - land & probate records to name a couple! I also learned the difference between Immigration and Emigration! One interesting class was Paleography which is the study of old handwriting! That comes in so handy in deciphering old documents! Did you know that spelling in the United States was not standardized until about the 20th century??? Add to that the little quirks they did with writing - for example - Rofs and Rop both are really Ross!! They had a funny way of doing double "s" in those days! So if you didn't know this you would transcribe it wrong!

The two young men in our class (Jordan and Donovan Horton) are waiting to go on their full-time, two-year missions. Jordan already had his call to Utica, New York and Donovan just received his to Eugene, Oregon. Their father felt impressed to call the Family History Center to see if they might be able to go through training and serve there until they leave on their missions. The FHC thought it was a wonderful idea so these two young men came to join us for the last three weeks. Jordan leaves on November 30th and Donovan leaves December 21st. They are fine young men who will make excellent missionaries and will take with them the knowledge to help others search out their ancestors.

The other couple (Frank and Marsha Webster) actually live about four hours from the FHC but stayed with Frank's aunt during the week so they could train. They will be serving at the FHC on Mondays and Tuesdays each week. They also serve in the Gila Valley Temple and Friday and Saturdays. They are wonderful people!

Speaking of wonderful people - I cannot say enough about the others serving in the FHC! They are beyond wonderful!!! So helpful, loving, giving and even knowledgeable!!! We are blessed to be able to serve with them!

All missionaries at the FHC are asked to join a committee to help others learn more about that topic. The committee we are on is the German committee. Both Larry & I have ancestors from that part of the world and we would like to learn more about it. This seemed like a good committee to be on as we will learn a lot and then be expected to teach what we learn to others!

We look forward to this new chapter in our lives and hope to be able to bless the lives of many others as we go forward with faith and desire!


Donovan, Jordan, Frank, Marsha, Kathy, Larry


The Mesa Regional Family History Center




The Mesa Temple is across the street from the Family History Center.

#15 is........................

Due in January - #15 is a boy!!! His name is Asher James. Parents Jacob and Mandi are sooooooooooo excited and we are too! Wondering what color hair this little guy will have. Mom's hair is naturally almost white while dad has dark hair and mom's siblings have red hair. Hmmmmmm. Any bets on this one?

More of our vacation.......

Forgot to grab my camera when we were with #3 so I stole this off her fb page! She is Serina's oldest.

Here is #11 (Todd's daughter) - beautiful girl but the smudge on her nose is from our dirty van - she was trying to see inside - I didn't realize how dirty the van was until I saw her nose!!!

Here are Ty's two - #8 and #6 in the back of our van. We're on our way to a trumpet lesson for #8 and girl's camp for #6.

Candy with her mom Betsy. We had such a good time that we went back again on our way home!

Here is #9, Serina's daughter (above) & #10 , Trent's daughter (below) at Cape Disappointment. They wanted me to bury them in the sand but I had them dig the holes first!

3 of Serina's girls #5, #9, & #7. Growing up way too fast!!!

Retirement............ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........

Retirement didn't come soon enough but once it did we took off to visit friends and family up north. Here is a picture of #13 all dressed up with no place to go. Notice the mitten on his right hand. Hmmmmm.


Here #12 tries on her new hat which was a gift from her great grandma. You can see #13 in the back with his new red hat - note: one size does NOT fit all.

And #14 is quick to take off his new hat from great grandma. Had to snap a quick picture for her.

Dau family reunion with two of my cousins (sisters Dawn & Bev). We used to have some wild tea parties as kids. I grew up with two brothers and a neighborhood full of boys so this was a real treat for me!

More pictures coming soon.

You know it's hot when........

....Snickers favorite hangout is the sink! When the outdoor thermometer starts climbing up past 90 this is Snickers favorite place to sleep. She started doing this soon after arriving in Arizona almost five years ago. Good thing this isn't a sink we use very often! Note how she barely recognized my presence - napping is more important!

Melissa's baptism......

Was spending 28 hours driving worth it? YES! Melissa turned 8 last month and was baptized and confirmed on May 1st. There were about 40 people there - didn't get a picture of everyone but here is one of the family - Larry, Kathy, Gwen (Joyce's mom), Joyce, Todd, Melissa and her great grandma (Gwen's mom).

The program.

Duchess on the way home. She wormed her way onto my pillow which was on the console between the front seats. She travelled the whole way home like this!

Another shot from the front this time.

Fishing Derby 2011 at Pacana Park.....

I think we've been to the fishing derby every year since we moved to Maricopa.

Today Duchess and I walked to Pacana Park to see the kiddos fish. There were 150 that could sign up and with their $5 registration fee they got a fishing pole with reel and accessories to fish. This event is a catch and release kinda deal. There was a barbeque after the 90 minute contest.

Duchess liked to sit and let the kids pet her - you know those little ones love distractions and she was a great one!

Here's Duchess taking a little break.

This little girl posed for me. What you may not see at first is that she has two identical fish on the line. Yep! She had two hooks and caught these little beauties at the same time! What luck! Click on the picture and you'll be able to at least see the two tails!

I took several pictures of this young lady after she caught this catfish. She did NOT want to get close to it. Nope, not at all. But the camera was ready and with some encouragement she did her best to get closer!

Notice the fists? This was sooooooooo out of her comfort zone.

Duchess and I were sitting on the grass so my angle wasn't very good but I'm sure they got some great shots of her with her prized fish - something for posterity to see!

Maricopa Stake Relief Society Program.....

Today was the culmination of several months of preparation for our Stake Relief Society Women's Program. We had a wonderful, wonderful event!!!! The food was superb not only in taste but also presentation. The committee outdid themselves!!! The decorating committee lined the walls with silhouettes of families and adorned each of the 25 tables with vases filled with white branches that had photos of families and sayings hanging from them. Awesome! The Young Women provided classes for the children and were great at working with them. Thank you! The music was so perfect! The first number was a children's chorus of four boys and four girls ranging in age form about 6 to 10. They were awesome. The second musical number was performed by a soloist accompanied on the piano - it, too, was perfect. The last number was sung by three women who were just plain amazing - they were accompanied on the piano as well. The words to each of these numbers were so inspiring! The speakers were our Stake Relief Society Presidency who spoke about spending time with our families, communication, and family values. Our Stake President then spoke to us about the importance of women in families. We truly have awesome leaders!
Table decorations.Children's classes - ages from toddlers to 11 year olds.




Doyleen & Debbie prepping brunch.Silouettes on the walls.

The brunch menu was a breakfast casserole, fruit cocktail with whipped cream and a cherry on top, a slice of orange, and muffins.



Our Stake President.

About 200 were fed both temporally and spiritually today!

Our Stake Relief Society Presidency - me (Secretary), Barbara (President), Jamilee (1st Counselor), Rhonda (2nd Counselor)