Michelle and Andre Are Home!

On December 17, 2011, our two oldest children returned from their missions. They actually returned on the same flight out of Dallas. It was a joyous reunion. The next day they had a combined homecoming sacrament meeting and then an open house at our home. There were so many people, it was shoulder-to shoulder to try and move through the house!

It has been great having them home. Michelle is back up at BYU-Idaho and Andre is looking for a job to earn money for school.

Alex continues to serve his mission in Florida. He recently got transferred to Kissemee.

One More Missionary

I've neglected this blog for far too long. My apologies to anyone who is following it.

Alex turned 19 earlier this month. He turned his papers in early and received his call a couple of months ago to the Orlando Florida Mission. He will report to the MTC on August 3rd.

Yes, this makes three missionaries for our family. They will be serving concurrently for about 4 months. It is frightening to consider the $1200 per month it will cost us to keep them all in the field, but our experience with having two missionaries serving at once has shown us that with God, nothing is impossible, and that every prayer is heard and answered. We are so grateful for family and friends who have helped us keep our kids on missions.

Meanwhile, our other two missionaries are doing great. Michelle is loving Louisiana. She is currently serving with a Sister that was in the MTC with her. She was surprised to have such a seasoned missionary for a companion, as her mission president told her she would be training for most of the remainder of her mission. She is serving in a town called Houma, pronounced "How-ma." Michelle has been in the field for a year now.

Andre was recently made a District Leader. He takes his responsibilities quite seriously, as is his nature. He gets along great with his companion and has high expectations. He doesn't write very long emails, so we have to read between the lines a lot. :) He has worn out his shoes--again. Andre has been serving in South Carolina for 18 months.

The rest of the clan are enjoying summer break, with scout camps and girls camp and an upcoming ward pioneer Trek, which Paul and Karen are in charge of. It is a lot of work getting everything in place for a successful Trek experience. It is going to be a busy summer for our family.

Loved General Conference

As always, I loved listening to General Conference. At our house, the Saturday sessions are attended to just as much as the Sunday sessions.

I always watch for recurring themes, figuring that the messages that are repeated are most likely what the Lord really wants us to pay attention to. I heard the following topics covered several times: faith, following the prophet, the Holy Ghost and battling Satan's influences in today's world. Those sound like pretty good topics for our time, don't they.

We had an area conference a couple of weeks ago. It was a broadcast from the BYU Marriott Center. President Packer was one of the speakers. He spoke about the pioneers and some of the trials and difficulties they faced in their time. Then he made the statement that, while the pioneers faced some really difficult times, the worst is yet to come. Oh, that made my heart sink. What are we in for?

Once, when I lived in Salt Lake City, we had a drive-by shooting near our house. When the police arrived they found bullet casings in the driveway of the house next door to where we lived. For a couple of days, I felt very vulnerable and traumatized by the event. It was as if I lived in a house made of paper. I had several small children at that time and I realized that we could not prevent horrible things from happening to our family. The police were no good, having gotten there too late to do anything useful.

A few days later, after much prayer, I finally felt peace through a scripture quoted at a high priest meeting. It is John 14:27, "peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I realized that, although we cannot control what evil may come to us, as long as we are doing our best to live the gospel and keep the commandments, it doesn't matter what happens to us, we will be okay. I was given a great feeling of peace through the Spirit. That concept still brings me peace and comfort.

So, whatever lies ahead of us, we can take comfort in the promise contained in John 14:27. We can go forth with courage, knowing that all will be well if we do our best to live righteous lives.

Springtime at Our House

So much has happened lately. I've thought about posting about this, that and the other thing, but I've just not gotten around to it. So, now I get to play catch-up.

Last Sunday Alex graduated from seminary.



It's not the best picture, but of course, I forgot to bring the camera, so this was taken with my cell phone. He looks very happy, and we're so proud of him!

I've also started my garden. I have it mostly planted, in fact. Here is a picture of part of the garden, where I planted tomatoes. It was taken on the 24th of May. Yep, that's snow.



Fortunately, the snow did not damage the tomato plants. They seem pretty happy, although they're not growing very fast in the cool weather.

Today Alex graduated high school. I remember when he was in kindergarten. His class wore tee shirts that said "Class of 2010." I remember thinking that was soooo far off. I could hardly imagine it being 2010. And, now it is here and he has graduated.



He was part of a school choir that sang for the graduation. He is on the bottom row, fifth from the left.



Okay, now back to the garden. Last year I purchased expensive boxes for my garden so that I wouldn't have to deal with the sand/clay mix of soil that is native to this area. I filled the boxes with a nice, fluffy growing mix and planted my seeds. This year, in one of the boxes I have planted some lettuce and spinach. Here is some spinach growing in the garden box.



And in this picture is a spinach plant that volunteered. It is growing in the middle of a gravel walk-way. Why, I ask you, do I bother setting up such a lush growing environment, when the spinach grows perfectly well IN GRAVEL!?



We acquired four more ducks this spring. These ducks are Peking ducks, so they get pretty big. That's probably a good thing, because we have a rather aggressive male duck, and these ducklings will end up bigger than him.



Meanwhile, Michelle is preparing for her mission. She will give her farewell address on June 13 and she'll report to the MTC on the 16th. I have times when I feel quite sad about her being gone. I know I will really miss her. I also have times of great excitement for her, knowing what kind of experiences she is in for, and the impact she will have on the lives of others, and the impact her mission will have on her life. And, other times, I feel envious because I wish I could go too.

Katrina's Ordeal

Two weeks ago I brought Katrina to the dentist. She was in terrible pain and the left side of her face was very swollen. She had started complaining of pain while we were camping in Idaho, where we attended Michelle's graduation (or, almost graduation, but that's another story). Doesn't it always seem these kind of problems happen on the weekend? I kept her on ibuprofen, but by Sunday evening, 600 mg wasn't even enough to keep the pain at bay, and every day the swelling got worse.

So, first thing Monday morning I tried to call the dentist's office. I got no answer, and I was feeling pretty desperate to get her tooth taken care of. I decided to do something that seemed selfish, but I believed, and still do, that it was the right thing to do. We went in without an appointment and sat in the waiting room until we were taken care of. Of course, since she looked so bad, and the situation truly was urgent, they took us right in and examined her.

Dr. Bateman said she needed immediate surgery to drain the abscess. An abscess is an infection that starts in the root of a tooth and continues up into the bone. Fortunately for us, Dr. Bateman's son is an oral surgeon, and his office is right across the hall from his father's practice. He summoned his son and they both rearranged their schedules so that, not only did she have the oral surgery, but she also was able to come back to Dr. Bateman's office for a root canal to complete the treatment.

Things went pretty smoothly. The younger Dr. Bateman told me that he cleaned out an area the size of a marble where the infection had eaten away the bone. He assured me that it will grow back.

Once I got Katrina home and on her pain medication and a very strong antibiotic, she was feeling much, much better. Still swollen, I managed to get a smile out of her, which she would not give me earlier that day.



Now, 14 days later, she is still just a tiny bit extra puffy on her left cheek. She has healed up nicely and is pretty much back to normal. We hope she never has to go through that kind of ordeal again!

Michelle's Mission Call

Our second missionary is poised and ready to take off. Michelle has been called to serve in the Louisiana, Baton Rouge Mission. She is to report to the MTC on June 16. She is excited and we're excited for her!

This Friday, March 12, she will go through the temple. The next day, she is going to get to attend her cousin's wedding.


Meanwhile, Andre is settling in to Missionary life in South Carolina. His first area is Spartanburg, in the northern part of his mission. He sent his first companion home last month, and is currently serving with Elder Merrill, from Provo.


Andre with President & Sister McConkie


Elder Dupaix with his trainer, Elder Austin


Elder Dupaix with his group from the MTC

Andre Enters the MTC

Well, we made it through sending a son out on a mission! I was not as emotional as I had expected to be. We went to Provo a little early and said our goodbyes in the parking lot of the Provo temple, then dropped him of curb-side at the MTC.

Being by the MTC brought back a lot of memories for me. I was a teacher there, for about a year, while I was going to BYU. I loved the spirit there. I thrilled to hear hundreds of young voices singing "Called to Serve," and meaning it with all their hearts. I wished I could go with Andre; not because I was a worried, concerned Mom who didn't want her little boy out of her sight, but because I wanted to go on a mission too! I remember the joy that is like no other. I remember boldly testifying of things I know to be true, and seeing the light of truth ignite in someone else's eyes. I remember seeing lives change and miracles happen. I remember living a life dedicated to God and focused on living right and being close to the Spirit. I love my life now, but some day I want to be a missionary again. And next time, I will be able to choose my companion!