Clark's Mission Call!!!

 Clark's tennis season started off very blustery! It was very cold and windy for his first match! Cal and Elden tagged along.  Sadly there wasn't another home match after that so Haley and Shanna never saw Clark play.

Shanna is still stretching and practicing the splits! And Elden is gearing up for kung fu moves.

The boys having some hair dryer, tennis ball fun.

So to the point of this blog: while we were in Florida on Spring Break Clark had his last interview with President Pappin on a Tuesday.  We chatted with him about a week later.  He said he submitted them the 8th or 9th...can't remember exactly but said they might come that Tuesday the 20th....which they did!  Clark recieved an email later that morning that his call had come!  We contacted a bunch of people to meet us at our house and then for lots of people to get on Zoom to see him open his mission call. AHHH!!!!  The paperwork was pretty easy for Clark and I to fill out. The doctor who gave Clark the mandatory turberculosis test even stopped by our house on a Sunday to make sure the test was clear.  And our dentist was able to fill out his paperwork right away.  Thankfully that all went together smoothly and his papers were sent on time.  We wanted them to get in 4 months beforehand to have a good chance for him to start the fall semester at BYU in 2023. 

The big day came!!!  AHHH!!!! 

Yes my friends!  The Kobe, Japan Mission!  MTC report date August 25th!  Right now the Missionary Training Center is just reopening for English speaking only, so we'll see if he does online MTC at home or not. With all the picture taking I do, I forgot to get one of me, Lee and Clark! I was a bit flustered that night arranging everthing and such.  I'm so glad people from the ward could come along with Nathan his friend.  The Frankes were able to come too which was really special. 

I picked up some treats for that night--ice cream, popsicles, soda and Capri Suns--juice pouches.

The April day couldn't have been more gorgeous--high 60s.  It was great.  That night at dinner I told Clark I think he's going to Asia or Polynesia. He thought he might go Asian that night as well.  Japan it is!  WOO HOO!  We are praying he'll get to go to Japan with all this COVID stuff. It was a great evening and a very exciting event.  

One Sunday seemed pretty nice out, though it was colder than we anticipated.  Lee took Cal to church on the FZ09.

Haley did her magic again with a fun chocolate cake!

Cal pulled out the house he picked out last summer at the ceramic shop in Waterloo and added some paint to it. 

The social gathering restrictions finally lifted some!  It's been great having visitors at the house--more than 10 people. We had fun with the Petersons one night. 

One Saturday in April we were actually home and were getting some yard work done.  I started to tidy up the shed, but when ahead and gave it a pretty good cleaning.  I forgot to take an after picture, haha.

Hello Spring!

I got my first vaccine and enjoyed my first free Krispy Kreme donut! The year of 2021 everyone who shows a vaccine card gets a free donut.  Over and over again.  We've been a few times. 

While we were gone for spring break they started digging up our yard. The town is replacing sewer lines all over town.  Of course we were some the lucky ones who had their front yards dug up.  Though I actually didn't care.  I was grateful we hadn't put in a brandnew driveway yet.  And a friend/acquaintane in town died, Amy Herring. Her two older daughters are in Clark and Cal's grades.  It was just so sad to hear about her passing.  She was a couple years older than Lee and myself. She died right before big events in her daughters lives like prom and graduation.  I was out jogging the day of the funeral.  I'd never seen so many cars at the cemetary. Also that same day I found out about her passing our Elder's Quorum president Spenser Briggs was life flighted to a hospital for a brain aneurysm. Wow, lots of heavy stuff.  So our yard being dug up?  Don't care one bit!

Spring Break Part I

Spring break is officially underway!  We left the rental house in Ft. Lauderdale bright and early to head to an airboat tour in the Everglades.  It was AWESOME. 

This is a permanent RV park where you buy a spot for $450,000.  CRAZY.  And why here?  It's pretty but not amazing.  Kind of weird.  

The airboat tour area we were at went through groves of cypress trees as you'll see.  We had to split up so Lee went with the boys and I went with the girls. 

The airboats were so smooth.  Our captians tried to find some alligators but it was kind of chilly out that morning.  We saw some two years ago so we were find not seeing any. 

This captain decorated his steering stick with a shrunken head. 

Before heading to Key West we stopped at Robert is here for a snack.  What a fun fruit stand in Homestead.

For my snack I got some guacamole which everyone ended up eating.  Except Elden who doesn't like guac.  It was yummy!

There is a petting zoo of sorts in the back of Robert is Here. 

We saw these same multi-colored trees in Hawaii at the Dole Plantation.

Down Highway 1 to head to Key West!  The water was so pretty.

We stayed at a Best Western.  I looked into other hotels and they were so expensive.  Last time we went to Key West we camped. The Best Western worked out great.  We didn't have to pay for parking or resort fees.  The pool area was awesome and the rooms were clean and big.  The kids love the "free" breakfasts as well.  We aren't hotel connoisseurs and like to stay at cheap places that are clean-especially since we have to get two hotel rooms!

After checking out the hotel we ate at The Waterfront Brewery.  A couple restaurants there have garage doors that open right out to the boardwalk and marina.  It's so fun. 

We got to sit right by the garage door opening. 

Cal's chicken sandwich was HUGE!

My kids fed the birds and tried to feed them crayons.  Sadly they did not stick to the rule to not feed the birds posted around town and that their parents told them to follow.

A bird scared me and landed on my head!  AH! 

After dinner we walked around Key West and then stopped at Kermit's Key Lime Shoppe. 

We found Smith Mountain Lake on this sign!  We love going to Smith Mountain Lake. 

At the back of Kermit's there is a fun sitting area with fish and a pond. 

The pool area was super fun and the water was a nice temperature too!