Elder Mansell

My nephew, Michael (living in Dallas, Texas), paid us a visit prior to receiving his mission call. He is so enthusiastic about serving and gets extremely animated when discussing his beliefs. He reminds me so much of my Eric, fourteen years ago- so driven and high on life!

Hummm…. What happened to that guy? Oh yeah… he has four kids now and is constantly complaining that he needs a vacation.

Anyways, Michael will make a fantastic missionary! As a side note: A few weeks after his visit he was called to the Ogden Utah Mission.

Arizona Vacation

Bruno is a close friend of the family, who has spent weeks at a time visiting us on five separate occasions since 1995. Bruno lives in Forbach, France, though he is hoping to win a green card in the lottery so he can move to the states permanently. Shortly after his arrival to Utah we hit the road for Mesa, Arizona to visit family. We stayed with Matt and Shari for a few nights and then the boys and Emily drove home. Carly and I still had the Mrs. America Pageant to attend. Mom and dad flew in that afternoon and I accompanied them to Tucson. Shari and her two girls, along with Quincy and Carly met us the following evening to watch Heidi perform in the final night of the pageant. We flew home the following day.

The trip was a well-needed change of scenery. The drive down was relaxing. We watched several movies on the new DVD player and listened to the booming sound system, though I most enjoyed visiting with Quincy. The kids swam at Shari’s house, went bowling for Sam’s birthday, and celebrated Nicole’s birthday with a piñata. The kid’s favorite part was just being together with the cousins they love so much! I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with three of my sister-in-laws. It was fun to catch up!

Pig & Horse

A relative sent the following pictures from our family outing in Logan last month:

To Carly the name of the game was not “Capture the Pig”- rather “Hug the Pig”!

Handsome Boy!

New Camera

We attempted to reach the end of the rainbow, but regrettably, as we ventured nearer it moved further and further away. At least we captured a picture!

Q: What do you do on a rainy day when you can’t play outside? A: Ride around in Grandma’s Garage.

Emily’s new favorite word: Horse

First Day of School

Grandma’s birthday feast- we took her to Tepanyaki Japanese Steak House