February 2015

In February we welcomed three new missionaries from Madagascar. We are sure they will learn English faster than we will learn to pronounce their names Elders Razafindrakoto, Rakotomanana, and Raharizoherinirina.

Lesotho baptism -

August 2014

August 5, 2014 This is our wonderful group of new missionaries. Elder Fox, Elder Jena, Elder Vanwinkle, Elder Santagane, Elder Smith, Elder Mackie, Elder Adu-Yeboah, and Elder Kaitoo.

First Day at the Office

--Sunday night we had the AP's to our house for dinner. We found frozen chicken, peas and pasta in the freezer and cupboards thanks to the Von Stettens. It was very nice to visit in the dining room and enjoy found ice cream. Monday -First Day in the Office. It's P-day so Elders came to the office to get mail and to meet the new president. --Meanwhile two sisters invited me to Victoria Market. As experienced shoppers what would they like?

End of the day Elder is playing his favorite CD for me. It's A Child's Prayer. Sweet sound of home.

Dad and I just stopped for lunch at BYU Creamery. It was full of students having lunch with friends on a Saturday afternoon. As we looked around the room, we were struck by how young the freshmen looked. It is the age that the missionaries will be when they arrive in our mission - 18 years old. It looked very young. As we walked out, we stopped at the donut case, just to look. I asked Dad, "Was there ever a time in Church history - Brigham Young's day or George Albert Smith's - that 18 year old boys have been sent out as missionaries regularly?" There was a nice gentlemen at the case, too, so I put my question to him as well. He said, "You may be too young to remember but 40 years ago there was a war, and 70 years ago, too. There were boys who were 15 and 16 who fought in that war. They lied about their ages. They could do it and these men can, too." He had a very slight hint of an English accent. If he was a young man growing up in England he had a lot more immediate experience with WWII than boys in America did. We are not too young to remember the Vietnam War. The draft stopped the year Dad turned 18. Our gentleman was right. Eighteen year old men have been called upon to do remarkable things and they will be dedicated missionaries, too. I am grateful that he was put at that donut case at just the moment I needed him.

Hello Blog. It's time to get reacquainted with our friends.

And so the next chapter begins...

Sister Update Posted by Mom

- All blogs and emails mean so much to me while we are in Morocco that I asked Christine if I could have a turn posting. I'll include an update for Dad and me, too. This third hotel, Le Diwan, has the best wifi of our trip so I hope this works. Sorry for my lack of blogging skills. For instance, what happen to the line breaks. I cut-and-pasted your additions with them, and wrote mine right here with them. Is there a way to code them in? Double-spacing doesn't work. Hmmm... I have a lot to learn. ******************************************

Last few weeks: -Worked to get Will Baby to fall asleep in his crib on his own. This has pretty much taken over my life. If he sleeps well I'm happy. If he doesn't, I'm a mess. Honestly part of me just wants naps to be done with so we can live our lives again. -Went to Jacks first two T-ball games. Zack is the Manager and it's pretty adorable to watch. -Went to bed one night at 11. I felt like an adult, which rocked until Will decided to wake up 4 times that night. The rest of the week I went to bed at 8:30 like a kid. But, at least I was a well rested kid. -Started to plan our trip out to DC for Christine's wedding. We are so excited!! -Jack and William are both sick and getting over the nasty cough/cold Zack had last week. Will's coughs are super pathetic and seem to be asking why his life is so hard. Fingers crossed he gets better quickly. I think Jack's cough is bad enough I'd get nasty looks if I sent him to school tomorrow so he will be my buddy at home. -Made it to the beach to play at the park with Dani and Mads one day and today to see the seals at La Jolla Cove. So lovely! Will Baby loves the ocean breeze. Next week: -Jack's 6 year appointment (no shots :)) -Will's missed 4 month catch up appointment (lots of shots :() -Exercise. Try to remember Rachel's saying that nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. Except chocolate. And cookies. And cupcakes. See the problem? ******************************************

Annee THE PAST FEW WEEKS: • Honestly, it doesn't feel like there has been anything terribly significant. I've made the transition to all maternity clothes, all the time. Every time I see someone I haven't seen for a few weeks, either at the schools, or at church, we have to launch into a long conversation of how we're having twins. Every night before George goes to bed, I have to answer another question about what life will be like with two babies. I'm usually exhausted by the time he's asking me, so my answers are never very high quality. And in truth, in my mind, I have not gone there yet. If we make it through the next six months (this pregnancy), I will feel like we have accomplished something huge. Life after the pregnancy?! In an effort of self-preservation I think I'm not thinking about it yet. • Darin returned from Oregon. He was home nearly two weeks before he got another call letting him know that his sweet Grandpa Earnest had died in his sleep, almost three weeks to the day after his wife. No one expected that he need return to Oregon for this funeral only two weeks after the last, but it was very meaningful to Darin that he be there. More last minute travel shopping, and I dropped him off at the airport this morning. We'll see him in a week. Grandpa Earnest was in the military. He had a big influence on Darin's life. I'm glad he'll be there to say good-bye. And I'm glad he got to see him two weeks ago when he was still alive. It makes me so grateful to come from such a strong and impressive eternal family. Great people surround us. • I remain mostly exhausted. The only good thing to come of all that fatigue is a return to holding a book in my hand. Since I cannot function much past 9:30, yet I get really frustrated that my day must end so early, I have gotten back in the habit of getting in bed early with a book. I am usually asleep within minutes. But there is something about the process of sitting down to read, that makes me feel less like a loser, than laying down to go to bed, at 9:30. • Fed the missionaries on Sunday. We've had one missionary in our ward for a long time now. He has made a huge impression on my boys. He's hip, and into sports, and fun to be around. They love him. But he always integrates Gospel principles into the discussion, and talks about loving his mission. Examples like him are invaluable at this point in our lives. I will forever be grateful to Elder Ni. He might not even know that part of his mission was teaching young, active LDS boys how to want to be missionaries. It's a sweet thing. • Despite our best efforts to dissuade him, George started baseball again. Third season in a row! The thing is, they love their baseball here in the South. They take it pretty seriously. Two- 1.5 hour long practices during the week?! It is not for the partially committed. Darin is super dad and has fully taken on baseball duty. George, despite us, has gotten so much better, even from last season. We're excited he has found something he likes. • Went on two walks. The weather has been magnificent. The first one went okay. The second one was nearly disastrous. I thought I was going to have to call in a rescue. I only went a total of about three miles but by the end, I was so starving that I was sweating and shaking and afraid I was going to pass out. How is this possible?! I was gone less than an hour! I think this is the hardest part about a twin pregnancy for me. The physical sacrifice is so all-encompassing and dramatic. There is not a single element of myself that isn't on the alter of sacrifice. It is always worth it in the end, but the mental process along the way, making sense of it all, is somewhat taxing. I am a firm believer in the principle that anything worth having is hard to get. Case in point. THIS WEEK: • Seriously, nothing much. • Darin is gone for a week. I will keep the house together and the kids going to school to the best of my abilities. I may go easy on myself about the cooking and eating at home. I am only human, and a handicapped human at that, right now. • Long ago told a teacher I'd sub for her this week on Thursday and Friday. She's throwing a wedding, and I am a sucker for those types of commitments. The up side is that it's Ruby's class, and I know the kids well. Jane comes in for a few hours in the afternoon as well, so they like it when I'm their sub. The down sides will be obvious. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be exhausted by the end of it all. I can do it!! • Return stuff to the library!!! Avoid more late-fees. The library isn't close, thus the hinderance. • Put a bunch of laundry away that Darin folded for me as his "good-bye" present. So sweet of him. I am profoundly grateful. • Stay healthy and happy. Eat good things. As a weird pregnancy side-note I currently have an aversion to sweets. I don't miss them at all, though every now and again something dessert-ish will sound good. If only I could equally lose my appetite for salty snacks. Then I might actually gain some footing here, in my loosing battle with the bulk :) • The end. ******************************************

Rachel Last couple weeks: • No treats or carbs. It's a bittersweet experience every time, and really should be a more permanent life choice but whatever. For now it's just for March. • Stayed home sick from work one day with serious sneezing, blowing my nose, blah. Ken actually went to the doctor and got medicine for the illness we share b/c he was hit harder. • My new favorite lunch is to walk to the grocery store down the hill and build a salad at the salad bar or order a sandwich, etc. They have a really great set of hot and cold options and I always need to find easy ways to incorporate salad into my life because I am not drawn to it very naturally. • Friday I finally ordered an Ashmae print. We first contacted her in December but I'm glad to get it all squared away because she said she's going to stop making them for the next 6 months. • Filed our taxes. Ridiculous refund (too high). Withholdings have been adjusted so we don't do this again. • I worked both of the last weekends. The rest of the weekend I mostly just slept. No fun activities. • Drooled over pictures of mom rug shopping in Morocco. • We did a lot of life brainstorming this past week. Maybe Ken should switch tracks entirely and go get an accounting masters. He could get at degree next year at UT Austin which is the #1 program. I would love an excuse to live in Texas. He is a GMAT teacher so shouldn't have trouble scoring well there. • After our Virginia refund arrived we decided to use part of it for the new iPad that was released last week. This is basically our birthday/anniversary/Christmas present for the year and I'm sooooo excited about it!! Should arrive March 19. • Ken had to sub for the EQP at ward council. The bishop said there are adults in the ward facing crises of testimony and gave some instruction on how to help, etc. So sad and interesting. • We attended a get-together at the Colton's house to celebrate the end of our Marriage Relationship class. It was mostly awkward. We met another couple who graduated from a DC law school the year before Ken. He has no work and mortgage-sized student loan debt. Things could be worse for us, we can be grateful they're not. • Last week I listened to Bossy Pants. It was ok, but some parts were awkward to me and I wouldn't say it was the most hilarious thing I've ever heard. Listen to it if you've got 6 hours with almost nothing else available. At the end of the book she talks about how she has agonized over whether she should have more kids. I was glad to look it up and see she just had her second daughter. Good for her. This Week • Monday was my early day. After Ken went to work at 6pm I slept until 9pm when I went to the grocery store. What a weird day! • Tuesday AM Ken got a call asking him to come interview at one of the real estate companies he applied to! So exciting! • Tuesday I helped Ken exchange his suit so he would be ready. Finally had the motivation to get that taken care of. • Tuesday night Everybody Wins DC had a gala downtown. I got to see/meet some of the law firm partners whose taxes I do at PwC. Weird and awesome! • Wednesday (today) was Ken's interview. He passed through to second round! Yay! He'll interview again next Wednesday. • Thursday is jeans and jersey day at work. • Friday happens to be jeans and college sweatshirt day. AKA this is the best week ever!! • This weekend: cook something green for St Patrick's Day • Drop off a treat for my VTee • Plan my church lesson this week about being missionaries • Our six weeks with Crossfit is done and we're going to test out a different Crossfit location. Hoping for a better gym vibe. • Arrange to meet up with a guy who can take mom a camera battery charger in Morocco. • Continue working on trip planning for this summer. • Next Monday I get to look forward to leaving early to play with the new iPad. Can't wait! *******************************************

Sarah Last Week: • The Lower Lights had a couple shows - nothing too exciting but nice for them to get back together and practice and great to hear them play again. The were recently invited to play a benefit show with The Neon Trees. Not a billing you're likely to see ever again. NT will play stripped-down and they're all excited to make it work. • Spent Friday last week up in Salt Lake with Scott. Courtney & Christopher were speaking at this blogger's conference in the morning, and The Lower Lights were playing in the evening, so we made a day of it and went to lunch in between. I walked around the gateway a bit looking for bday gifts for Scott. It was fun to be in "the big city" without kids for a bit. It's kind of lame how rarely we get up to Salt Lake. • Discovered these jammie pants from Target. I think I need to go back and get them in every color. No saggy bum, no tight thighs, nice flare leg, good length, super soft & stretchy cotton, and POCKETS! • At the Blue & Gold banquet I got a call and found out my trip to Mountain View the next day was canceled. • All the kids got haircuts. Huck screamed through it again. • Hung out in the parking lot while the boys were watching a BMX competition at the indoor skatepark in Murray. Unfortunately it went a bit longer than I expected so we ended up wearing out the battery and needing a jump start. It's good to justify our AAA membership every once in a while. • Loving the nice weather but already anticipating an overwhelming gardening season. I guess with baby coming it's time to give up the dream that I can keep it up myself. • Was released from my 4-year calling as Primary Presidency 1st Councilor. I'm looking forward to going back to adult classes for a while. I was called as the Cub Scout Committee Chair, which is a role I've been filling anyway for the past couple years. • Getting ready for Scott's birthday. He's not getting any easier to buy gifts for. Need to get creative. This week: • Monday I had a rooftop planning meeting. I'm being kind of gun-shy about committing the lineup. • Scott's birthday was on Tuesday. I was able to pull out a few surprises, but overall it was a pretty run-of-the mill day. We had breakfast and presents with the kids before school, he went to lunch with some friends, and we went to Salt Lake for dinner with the Jacobsens and Tanners (it's become a yearly tradition since Scott, Emily & Holly all have birthdays within days of each other). • I had to go back to Mountain View on Wednesday for work. It's just a day trip but in order to make it a full work day that includes a 4:30am alarm wakeup and my flight doesn't get back until 11:30pm. Ugh. Obviously everyone notices I'm pregnant now and half of them like to talk to me about their 1 or 2 kids at home. Telling them this is my 5th is a conversation stopper, though. They don't even know how to process that. • Thursday I need to take Brenden back to the orthodontist to re-attach one of the brackets that popped off. • Friday is the boys last snowboarding day. • Saturday we're going up to stay at a cabin/resort in Christmas Meadows, UT (near Evenston, WY) with Webb & Laurel & Brett to have a final Winter hurrah - snowmobiling, tubing, bundling up, etc. The forecast looks like snow this weekend so should be perfect. • June's birthday is the next day after we get back from that trip. I'd better do a little work to get ready for it before we go. Shoot - kind of forgot about that. ********************************************

Mom Last week: Tues - I went to souks (market place) with branch ladies looking at rugs while Dad went to Ministry of Health by himself Wed - We took the train to Casablanca to meet with our lawyer. After, we took a tour of the largest mosque in Morocco. Half of it is on pillars over the Atlantic Ocean. We watched the boogie boarders surfing next to it. It's the only mosque that allows tourists inside. Only the finest artisans and finest materials were used. Thurs - We had lunch with a University professor on the grass by the faculty restaurant. Following lunch we had an appointment at the Ministry of Health. Six counselors gathered for it and were eager to talk to us and encourage us! Fri - This is a day for conference calls. John called Jae Nair who recently moved from here. (Small world alert: he was in Annee's primary class in the Kensington Ward.) He works for the State Department and gave us good advice for meeting with the Embassy. We then had a conference call with Elder Porter and a group at the Church in SLC to report what we've learned so far. Sat - Tried the modern tram (metro) by riding to Ibis Hotel to check it out. Bad hotel, nice neighborhood. We walked around the neighborhood to get an idea of a location for an apartment for a Humanitarian couple. At dusk we visited the Chellah (see photo of John and the guide), a walled section where old Roman ruins are found along with thousand year old Muslim ruins. It is a botanical garden and a stork condo now. Sun - Branch Conference - John spoke as a visitor from the "stake." Their "reporting line" is really directly to SLC and the Middle East North Africa Area Desk instead of a Stake or Area. Next week: Mon - Look at apartments for Humanitarian missionaries and to be an address for the Association John's here to establish. Tues - Rent a car and drive to Fez, our first excursion out of the city into the country. Visit souks there. UNESCO has helped it retain its Middle Ages character. Wed - Drive to Ifrain to meet Jeremy Gunn. He's a professor our age who's born and raised in Provo but moved here long ago, married a beautiful, well-born Moroccan woman and adopted this life. Nobody in the branch knows of him. Thurs - An associate from our law firm will come from Casablanca to Rabat to talk to the Profecteur about our registration. He'll also attend our next meeting with Ministry of Health to confirm the enthusiasm we feel from them. Fri - TBA (write reports post this blog) Sat- Move to the Sofitel, our 4th hotel and 4th week. We're checking them all out. At 6pm I'll go to the Relief Society Birthday party with the 10 ladies in the branch.

In Fez, and going to the Moroccan Switzerland, Ifrane

I'm sorry for the picture-less post here. I'm trying to leave bookmarks so I can come back and fill in later.

The purpose of our trip to Ifrane is to meet a history professor at the University there who was born and raised in Provo, but seems to have crossed over to Moroccan. He has welcomed us warmly in his emails.

Fez is such an interesting city designated by UNESCO as a world heritage site. It has worked hard to retain its culture not only in the architecture of the walls, houses and shops, but also in the lives of it's inhabitants and craftsman. There are 350,000 people living in the compact old town, over 800 mosques, but no high school. What's the meaning of that? The little kids were very cute coming home from school happy and friendly.

John and I rented a Peugeot in Rabat and are on the road. It took some doing, but the effort has been a big success. We are staying in a riad (google it until the pictures come) that was a mansion for a wealthy family once, covered in mosaics and stone-trimmings carved like lace. Now it is a guesthouse. We are sitting in the garden-like central courtyard having breakfast, blogging and emailing!

Let me say one more thing, about the food. It is so delicious to us because it is so normal to our tastes. It isn't chili hot like Mexican or Pakistan and it isn't full of rare spaces like Indian. It is mild like Spain and served with delicious French sauces. We mostly eat chicken and beef from Moroccan cattle ranches (who knew?). It is roasted with vegetables and served with French bread. We won't be losing weight here.