Halloween 2013

Every Halloween my mom has all the grandkids over to carve pumpkins. Mostly, it's the parents that scrape out, carve, and try to please all the kids jack-o-lantern whims and visions, while the kids eat caramel apples and run around playing. Then we light them, sing "oooh this is halloween" and call it a night. It'll be fun when they start pulling their own weight for this activity! Ha, ha. 

Alisha wanted to be Mavis from Hotel Transylvania. We did our best. Jake was a ninja and Brooklyn was too tired to stay in her costume. I'm pretty sure she was a princess. Scott and I were Edward and Bella from the Twilight series. 

Visit from Presidente Y Hermana Anderton

For journaling purposes: My mission was amazing. I mean, amazing on many levels. It was like 17 months of camping in church clothes. Honduras is very third world. Most people where I was live in dirt shacks or little shanties made of corrugated metal. Some have a crude stucco house. All have outhouses. Water comes in a "pila" or font in the backyard once a week, usually. This is what people use to bathe, to drink, to wash dishes, etc. The missionaries always lived in a place with a toilet (you pour water down it to flush) and electricity, which is a rare commodity. Yet, for all of it's roughness and poverty, it was the best year and a half FOR my life. It has prepared me for life. Through it all, my mission president and especially Hermana Anderton were my rocks and leaders. I look up to them and admire them so much. 

I was thrilled when Hna. Anderton messaged me saying they wanted to meet for dinner. I feel really privileged since I am the only missionary living in Flagstaff. 

We went to Oreganos and had a fun time seeing a slideshow (of course) of a Guatemalan reunion and the dedication of the Tegucigalpa temple. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my mission presidents and was so happy to spend a few hours with them. 

Kauai - October 2013

We planned and planned for our trip to Kauai. Such. A. Blast. Really, we hiked and hiked over slippery terrain. We hiked to Queen's Bath and probably three other waterfalls. We hiked in to the beach on the Napali Coast after flash floods the day before. We bummed kayaks off Greg and Joanne Allen, kayaked on the Wailua River (in their backyard), and hiked in to a gorgeous waterfall. Then, we kayaked back, bummed their paddle boards off them, and paddle boarded around for awhile. We ate some of the best sushi I've ever had, and brought them back a roll. We visited for a few hours and talked about Bishop Brown and all he did to help Greg get on a mission. It was a great time. We went to church, and were welcomed with homemade yarn leis. We ate shave ice until we were about to pop (I even had to edit out my tummy in one of the pictures!). We ate at Kauai Pasta. We took red-eye flights and rented a Jeep and rolled the top down for the gorgeous drive. It was the trip of a lifetime with my love. :)

And bless Grandma Crane for taking all our hoodlums in the meantime, and showing them what awesome really is. My parents are amazing!