Elder Yancey Returns with Honor!!!

Elder Yancey returned home from his mission in Spokane, WA on Monday.  He was serving in the same mission as "Elder Lance".  It was so great to see him.  He lives just two doors down from us.  He came running over to the car that afternoon when I was leaving to get "Nerm" from school.  The first thing he did was tell me how he had tried to see "Elder Lance" before he left but didn't get the chance.  But he wanted me to know that he was doing great!  We brought some cookies over to Elder Yancey later that night to welcome him home.  Every time he started telling us about Spokane or his mission it seemed to tie in somehow with Lance.  Then each question we asked him about Lance had the same answer, "He's a stud!"  LOL...I'm starting to believe there's some kind of "Elder Bro Code" that they aren't about to break!

It was great to hear Elder Yancey speak on Sunday.  It's amazing to me how these Elders leave as such young boys and come home as men.  They grow so much in so many different ways.  The only problem is I've looked at this picture of the both of them serving together for so long (it sits on the table in the living room) that I almost fully expected to see Elder Lance standing somewhere close by through the whole meeting!  LOL  Then when Elder Yancey and his family walked in to Sunday School a little late, it totally threw me off my lesson for a second.  And then they sat right in the front row.  Talk about a distraction!  But part of my lesson was on the "stakes" we need to help support us so we continue to grow straight and strong in the gospel.  The four stakes I talked about were righteous parents, faith in God, covenants, and....righteous friends.  I could not look out over that group of people without seeing Elder Yancey BEAMING in the front row and not think about how grateful I am that Lance had friends like that to help support him a long the way.  Not only that, but to be able to serve right along with him in the same mission!  What a blessing!

Elder Yancey, we want you to know that we think YOU'RE the stud!!!  Thanks for being that friend a friend would want to have.  And WELCOME HOME!!!!!!

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Happy last week of May!!!!

It's Almost Here!!!!

It's almost here.....summer!  No more school!  No more homework!  No more carpool!  No more parent projects!  No more sporting events 5 days a week!  No more rushing kids around to practices!  No more freezing in the not-so-very-warm-freeze-your-tootsies-off Utah spring weather!  Don't get me wrong....we actually do love most all of this, but there comes a time when a little break in the action would be nice!

Speaking of action....what a week we had last week!  Nicki ended up placing 5th in region for javelin.  And Viewmont ended up taking 4th in state.  Way to go girls!  Hunter's rugby team ended up taking 2nd in state.  What a championship game that was!!  I've never seen these guys play that hard and that aggressive.  They were tied at the end of the game 20 - 20 sending it into a 10 minute overtime.  At the end of the ten minutes neither team had scored.  So it went into a kicking round.  They selected 5 players from each team.  Each player was allowed one free kick.  Highland made 4 out of 5 kicks to D.C's 2 out of 5 kicks making the final score Highland 24 to D.C's 22.  They put up a good fight though and Hunter had a great season.  He said the best thing about NEXT season is that Lance will be home to see him take 1st in state!  The "Nerm" is still tied for 1st place in baseball.  Just a few more weeks till the playoffs.  We hope his little team can keep it up.  Some games they prove to be the luckiest little little league team we know - squeaking by with nearly impossible wins.  Keep it up Rays!

That's about it for our update.  We did have a fan-tab-ulous phone call with our missionary on Mother's Day!  It was great to be able to talk to him.  He's doing awesome and sends his love.  41 more weeks to go  :)

Pink Is Our Favorite Color!

Saturday Nicki and I participated in the Susan G. Komen SLC Race for the Cure 2010.    What a great morning we had!  We proudly wore pink for all the heroes in our lives.  My good friend and one of my "Breast Buddies", DeVonya, a 3 year survivor, and her daughters went with us!!!!  This was a HUGE day for them and we just want them to know how much they're LOVED!!!  And in memory of Aunt Lila, Grandma Razz, and Mary Bell.  And in celebration of Linn Johnson and many others who have fought the battle and WON!  And for all the many family and friends who have lost a loved one or helped to take care of a loved one with breast cancer.  You are survivors as well....and our heroes too! We want to make this a family tradition every Mother's Day weekend.  Next year we want to have the biggest and "breast" team there and invite you all to be a member of our team!!!  Don't be a "boob"...come show your "support"!  And I can't think of a better way to kick off your Mother's Day weekend!!!
To view an awesome video of the day's events go to YouTube.com and search "Race for the cure SLC 2010".  There is a great video posted by MormonSoprano!!!

A Week in the Life of this Mom~

She rushes to get everyone ready, and SMILING for church.
Graduation party for neighbor
Carpools
Cleans the house
Updates missionary's blog
Updates family blog
Mails mother's day cards (she remembered) and writes a note to family Elder Ririe is staying with
Mails packages to missionary son and college student daughter

Takes a walk (hopes it won't be the only one of the week!)
Calls her mother back
4th grade field trip
Looks in on a neighbor who needs her company
Calls insurance and cable companies 
No less than 3 trips to the grocery store
Plans menu (should have done that BEFORE grocery store)
Attends last minute Athlete of the Month breakfast
Glances at the calendear....2 baseball games, 3 rugby practices, 4 rugby games, 2 track meets...She can't possibly get to them all...but she really tries to do her best!
Homework police
Manages to sneak in time to finish a book
Book gives her nightmares and she's awake all night
Colors her gray...wondering the entire time just how she got it in the first place
Prepares 7 dinners...okay maybe 6
15 lunches
Scouts
Emails
Meets a friend for a morning out (hall pass!)
Agree to be on a family team for "Walk for the Cure" on Saturday.
Buys pink shirts for the walk
Everyone bails on the walk....she's still determined she's doing it.
Prepares Sunday School lesson...nerves are already twitching and she still has 4 days to go
Starts planning bike trip with hubby
Gift for band teacher
Receives mother's day card from daughter...it makes her day!
Thinks about Mother's Day this weekend and loves how they get soooo excited and secretive about the whole thing.
Looking forward to call from her missionary son on Sunday
Countless hugs and prayers.....kisses if she can sneak them in.
Takes time to reflect on how much she really does love her life
And it's only Thursday   :)