Moving...not really

Well, we're not really moving, but we have moved A LOT of things from the garage to storage boxes, to the trash, the recycle, the basement, and on and on. It feels great to make room to finally drive our car into the garage. Too bad I didn't have a "before" picture of the garage for the full effect!

We couldn't have possibly got this big job completed without Viv and Brett's help. They truly "rescued" us as they came one day and went to work. Brett assembled shelves in our storage room.  He hauled boxes up and down the stairs, restocked some on the shelves in the garage and did what Dad would never had time to do. Viv was right there cleaning and working the entire time, too.  We were so thankful for their help!

We even found Dad's army shirt from West Point. Pretty impressive that he could still get into that shirt 38 years later! Speaking of "moving," we're excited for Ondalynn's family to arrive tomorrow evening from Maryland. Gary will come next Saturday. We look forward to having Julia back home, too. 

Several hours of berry picking at the Dickinson's home was a relaxing morning for Dad away from the long hours in the office. He came back with 11 bags of plump, delicious blueberries. Yum!

A week ago we had a booth at the Kid's Fair at Legacy Hospital in Gresham. We had a number of good leads. It was fun to interact with people and share this good nutrition.

Crismon, Jr. has "moved" to China for his BYU semester aboard at Nanjing, China. You can follow his updates at: http://nanjingadventure.wordpress.com/ He stayed with Alice-Anne and Gary's family the night before he left. They treated him to a birthday cake for his 23rd birthday that is today, Aug. 21.

Emily and Nick were in the semi-finals (7th place) for the DanceSport Competition at BYU. Emily "moved" out of her apt. at Heritage Halls. She worked at Education Week at an Information booth on campus and got very tanned. She worked hard at that job and her MTC job last week. It's fun to have her home for a few days.

Dad and I returned last night from the Reliv International Conf. in St. Louis. There was a promotion going on in June and July. The highest in sales for those two months would earn a Camaro. We were gone for 3 weeks during those two months tending Seth & Tiffany's boys and then our mini-reunion in Utah. We continued to work our business as much as we could, but we didn't think we had a chance since we were out of our home. Fortunately, we can take our business with us as long as we have our computer and our cell phones. We were "shocked" when they called us up on stage as we were 10th in the Nation for sales and they presented us with a nice bonus. We were also recognized for doing 10 Dr. Ted Awards in 3 years which earned a trip to Los Cabos, Mexico in Oct. Dad had many in tears as he shared a tender story about attending our first conference and some special experiences related to that. On Sat. we also presented during the workshop on holding webinars. Best of all was associating with such great people at the conference and having some good friends join us there, too. We feel it an honor to represent such a great company with products that are changing lives.

Our life in the YSA ward and family events

Our thoughts are with Alice-Anne and Gary’s family as they blessed their baby, Elliot, today in their ward in West Jordan. We’re glad that the Johns’ family were there and Crismon, Jr. Wish we could have been there, too. I love this precious picture! Doesn't it look heavenly? You can check out more pictures of cute Elliot on the day of his blessing at Alice-Anne's blog.

Last Monday for the YSA Home Evening we did a service project at Mt. Hood Community College, where we cleaned up the main mall strip, pulling weeds, sweeping, picking up trash, etc. There were nearly 40 of us and they hauled off 11 small truck loads of debris. The dean of the college of Astronomy, Clyde Jensen (Bishop Jensen’s Dad) has been a instrumental in making it possible for us to do a service project each month for the school. There have been some turmoil at the school and the volunteer work by the ward has been a blessing to help the healing begin.

Two weeks ago  the ward took all the YSA’s to the movie “17 Miracles.” Based on actual events of the Willie Handcart Company, the movie portrayed the very incredible events that happened to those early pioneers. You won’t want to miss it if you get a chance to see it.

A week ago we had a ward BBQ at picnic area at the 162^nd building. We love associating with these good young people.

We are really enjoying holding our ward in the Cherry Park Ward building. We were in the Institute buildling until last January. Our numbers seemed to double shortly after moving in to the building.

Emily and Crismon Jr. are having their finals this week. We’re grateful Emily followed the promotings she received and acted immediately on a job at Education Week. Julia is being a great help to Ondalynn in Maryland as they prepare to move. What a blessing to have siblings who can help each other. We are so anxious for this darling family to move to our area.

Dad walked into the office and saw this deer right outside the window. I couldn’t get the camera fast enough, but caught him as he walked across the street and began eating leaves in our neighbors yard.

Many are dealing with a heat wave across the country. We’ve had a very mild summer. I love the summer meals that Crismon wants most of all...watermelon, homemade bread and corn on the cob, and eating on the deck is the most fun of all.

We have felt the Lord’s hand in our lives blessing us. His tender mercies bring peace and comfort. We feel great joy in His service.