when the wind blows...

today is the first day i have seen or felt the wind since moving to santa rosa. it's a little different than the hot, dry wind of the las vegas summer. this wind is blowing ALL of the dead leaves of fall all around my neighborhood. i was doing a few dishes this morning, and it sounded like the house was being pelted by hail stones or golf balls. i looked up to see the trees blowing and the acorns flying all over the place. against the walls of the house, on the porch, against the front door and front windows. i'm not going to lie, it was a little un-nerving at first. i opened the door a couple of times and in blew two, three or four leaves. then as i drove away to pick hailey up from school, and went through the overhang of trees on our street, my car was being pelted as well. loud sounds. a little bizarre! but the wind is making me miss las vegas. is that crazy!? i agree. i need more to do!

in other news: hailey is a little mad at me. i asked her to try a couple of dance classes this afternoon. i kind of sprung it on her. it would have been better if she had had time to stew on the idea probably, but i am secretly really excited! once she reads this it won't be a secret anymore, but, oh well. i realize she might not like it, and i really will not be mad if she chooses not to do it, but i am a little excited to see her dance again. we'll see :). she is such a sweetie, she couldn't say no, even though it is the last thing she wanted to do today!

school is not easy. mostly geometry is kicking her butt at the present time, but she keeps persisting. i love her for it! she was called as mia maid president. there was a little drama that went along with that, but she took it like a champ. she is trying to figure out how to make things better. she's like a little energizer bunny, she keeps on working.

jon is planning a killer next two weeks, full of interviews and correlation meetings. i hope he survives!

i am trying to get the old furniture out of the garage somehow and off to goodwill. get some of the carpet cleaned. look into buying some new blinds. cleaning out the chest in the dining room (it might be full of all kinds of goodies...NOT) having someone come and help me get my computers all synced up. and mostly getting excited for visitors (people i love) the next three weekends (after this one).

hailey and i are on call to be out with the sisters every tuesday evening. it is my turn tonight. i am looking forward to it! hope all is well with everyone else. lots of love!

hailey

isn't she a beautiful 9th grader! i thought i would share her school picture and just say what an amazing girl she is. the longer we are here, and i see her drag herself out of her sad times, the more i marvel at what a wonderful, unselfish, constantly trying, constantly growing, reasonable, fun person she is! i give her props. and i recognize the tender mercy that the book of mormon has been for her since she has been reading and studying and memorizing it for seminary. it has made THE difference. i know.

i love you hailey. thanks for being in santa rosa with us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTEN LUCY!!!

I'll never forget the day you were born. It was life changing. (understatement) You have brought so much sunshine into our lives over the many, many years :) you have been with us! We are so lucky! You are the perfect first born. In charge, nurturing, bossy :), a decision maker (we need one!), fun to be with, crazy, happy, a leader, loyal, able to live your own life, a great wife and mother, helpful...and every other great quality that I haven't written! WE LOVE YOU! We love that we will be with you forever! Thank you for being a great daughter and sister and friend! Have a very special day!!!







I love you sweetheart!

what an awesome week!

julia survived her kitchen...and is totally rejuvenated for a long while, I hope!

the incoming and outgoing missionaries and dinners were wonderful and fun! It is very exciting to see our new missionaries walking down the hallway to baggage claim with smiles on their faces looking to see what their "people" look like. i would love to know what their first impressions of us are :). maybe it is better to just imagine what they are thinking!



testimony meeting, and our little program with our returning missionaries, is totally a highlight for sure! the beef brisket was delish...i didn't forget anything too important for dinner so everyone was happy. all in all monday was a great day, just tiring! tuesday we got to go to the temple, for me the first time since i arrived in the mission field. IT WAS A TREAT! we didn't make the 10 o'clock session due to bad traffic so the next one wasn't until 11. kind of stressful, but we survived. i miss my weekly trip to the temple with my loved ones! (i definitely missed those loved ones that morning at the temple.) still, it was a gift from heaven to be inside those sacred walls again. president hunter and his wife nan (the temple president and son of the Prophet, President Hunter) were there and we got to have the sweetest conversation with them and our missionaries. they told us some great stories about president hunter, the Prophet, and the fact that he was a musical genius, seriously, and some other wonderful little insights about him, and also some very sacred things about the oakland temple itself. what a sweet experience! then we came home, president did one last interview with everyone, and I got my one and only hug from my elders.


wednesday we went back to oakland (third day in a row), to get on a plane for our mission president seminar in orange county. the seminar was a three day spiritual high! another mtc experience for me. elder christofferson, elder clayton, elder arnold, and steve allen (head of the missionary department) taught and taught and taught us! elder and sister christofferson are such warm, real people. so humble, so funny and quick witted, so in tune, so incredible. it is really unreal to spend so much time with one of the Lord's apostles. we were in the temple with them, sitting next to them at dinner a few times, visiting and laughing, but most importantly, being taught by them.



the women had a break out session on friday. the wives of the "Elder's" were in charge. we all shared a scripture that had been a particular help to us as we have had to deal with hard things...either personally, or family related, or with one of our missionaries. my soul was fed and my heart was filled, clear to running over. and then elder christofferson came in and spoke. as he concluded, he pronounced an apostolic blessing on us. it was as if his hands were on my head, and i could feel the power of his words sink deep into my soul.

i don't know why i have been so blessed. i don't know why i have had these opportunities the past few months to be in the presence of the Lord's anointed. but i do feel the influence of their guidance and words upon me. i felt differently as i spoke today in stake conference. i felt the power of that blessing within me. i was able to speak without notes, and perhaps with a little more power than before. i know i want to be the "influence for good" that the Lord expects me to be, and that i am going to more faithfully do my part, that He can more completely guide me and bless me in this work we are involved in! sorry to go on and on, but i have to remember the things i have felt and heard this past weekend...they have to keep me going for another year.

we had a short break between 4:00 and 6:00 on friday, so bill met us at the hotel for a visit. that was another sweet treat! his words and comments and love and wisdom filled my heart up even more. it was so good to hug him and see him. i love him!


i was so surprised how much i loved the newport beach temple! i loved the interior. it is small but beautiful. it was probably because we were so prepared when we went, (we had been learning all morning) but the feelings i felt that day in the temple i will never forget. the veil was very thin. it was the sweetest blessing of the weekend. being there. feeling that love.



as tod would say, "it has been an epic week!"
my cup runneth over!

just call me julia...

jon came home a few weeks ago with a question about what we could change about the "monday the incoming missionaries arrived" and the "tuesday - all day temple excursion and dinner" with the missionaries that are returning home. last transfer we found ourselves exhausted after the two day affair. jon even more exhausted than me. can you believe it is harder to interview and train than to cook? :) i guess it took a lot out of him. his suggestion was to cram it all together a little more, so it would be over sooner. that sounds bad...but i think that was the jist of it. i really resisted. the thought of having the new missionaries for lunch, training, orientation and such all day monday, have them on their way by 5:30, and THEN have the dinner with the returning missionaries at 6:30 did not sound like fun to me. it took me ALL day tuesday (last transfer) to get ready for that dinner. jon won. i told him i would try it once, and see if i survived. monday (two days from now) is the big experiment.

i am really excited to go to the airport to pick up our new missionaries...that was so much fun last time. they are so excited about being here. the whole day with them was great. and, i am really looking forward to spending the evening with our returning missionaries. they are special and wonderful, just like EVERY returning missionary you see and hear. i am even really excited to be able to go to the temple tuesday morning with them, instead of being home cooking all day. i am just a little nervous if i will be able to get everything ready.

that is what i am doing today. getting ready. today AND tomorrow. actually, it has been going on all week. my potatoes are cooking right now. wish me luck. we are trying beef brisket this go around. i hope it is yummy!

there is a little sweetness missing

there is a little sweetness missing in the house this morning. there was an empty blue aero-bed at the bottom of my big bed this morning. there is an empty "pack and play" in jon's den this morning. it is very quiet around here. i didn't get up this morning and go right out to pick a tomato for breakfast. i haven't been out to check on my "pets". i didn't get to pour some frosting mini wheats into a bowl this morning. the kids have gone back home.

as hailey and i came home from dinner last night with the dobberfuhl's, i opened the big trash in the garage to throw something away. eau-de-beau escaped the can :). hailey said, "whew, that is stinky!" i said, "you're going to miss that little stinky butt before you know it." she replied, "i already do!" i think it is wonderful to have some fresh memories of those sweet little faces, those sweet little voices, and those huge smiles! it was a little blessing from heaven :).

i don't usually brag up the big people as much as the babies, but it was so wonderful to have kristen and mike here. they were great! i loved spending some time with them, one on one. they are really wonderful people! they have such fun personalities, they are such wonderful parents, and they are really patient with the rest of us as well. if i could just get kristen to stop that burping! :)

we had a great little visit. here are some highlights:


reading a story before bed!


seeing beau's curls and watching him eat with his chubby little hands!


having some cuddle time when he gets tired!


getting our fingers...


and toes painted!



seeing real live starfish and bringing two home (they were already dying)!


seeing a happily married couple :).


watching the sleeping baby wake up on the way to the airport!

the byu football game was also a highlight. lots of mixed emotions going on in our family room. only mike and jon were sure about how they felt. mike's love for byu sports success is struggling, but i don't blame him :).

some of my sweetest conversations:

laying in bed... "grandma, i love you so, so much!", "I love you too sweet lauren!" kiss.
"grandma, you are my best, best friend!", "lauren you are my best friend too!" kiss and hug.

at church... "grandma, how long is your mission?" "three years." sweetest smile while rubbing my arm, "you are so lucky!"

i am so lucky!

a breakfast of champions

this morning after i dropped hailey off for seminary i came home to beau crawling in the kitchen (ball in each hand), and kristen on the couch. i think her exact words were, "you live in a freaking forest!". when we got here last night it was dark. i sent her back to bed so i could play balls and cars with beau. he mostly enjoyed playing with the lovely mini blinds hanging at the windows :). when lucy came out we went out on the back porch to see if we could find our "pet" deer. nothing. about five minutes later papa jon came out from the bathroom and said he could see a deer out of his window. lauren, beau and i went out. first we noticed the little one, we called her the baby. then we saw the daddy, then the mama. lauren was looking all over for the sister. finally she moved and we were looking at all four deer right in front of us. lauren wanted to know their names. i said, "i don't know." and then i thought of aunt michelle and i quickly named all of the deer, because that is for sure more fun. the mama is named shelley :).

on our way back in the house, we found a nice red tomato. lauren picked it. she wanted to eat it right away. we came in and washed it and she started eating it like you would an apple. she makes me laugh. she ate a tomato, some strawberries and honey nut cheerios for breakfast.



beau had blueberries, bananas and honey nut cheerios for breakfast. he is into finger foods right now :)


WE LOVE HAVING THEM HERE!!!

the gardineer's are coming! the gardineer's are coming!

my excitement is back, and i'm sure will increase ten fold as i get in the car to drive to san francisco to pick them up! they delayed their arrival for three hours, but i am dealing with it...do they not understand what they are doing to me???

we are going to have a great four days together! i can't wait to touch them and hug them and kiss them and cuddle with them and play with them and explore with them :). i'm so excited to see their parents too! GOOD TIMES! HAPPY DAY!

megan.bunker

i am only allowed to write one sentence about my daughter so here goes.

megan has felt a lot of "dance love" since arriving in provo, at uvu, in her auditions for class levels, for school companies, and then for the utah flash d league basketball team dancers, everyone wants her (!), this is not something she is used to, but something she has worked hard for for many, many years, so megan, love every minute of this new found "love", you are a beautiful dancer, you have been trained by some of the best, give it your all, and find joy in the journey, your fans have recognized your beautiful talents for many years, and i am so grateful you are going to be able to continue growing in this talent and ability. (that was quite a long sentence)

i love you! i miss you! i am so excited for you!

ps-if you haven't seen, megs is writing a little at bunk18.blogspot.com.