This is Elder Simmons of the 70 with his wife. He was our Area President. Our paths have crossed a few times. He spoke at our zone conference in Namibia, all 8 of us and a general authority. We also had a baptism that day. Does it get any better?
This is Kwasi. He is from Ghana. He was also baptized by Melki.
My little tire kids once again. We never were able to teach this family but we were always treated VERY well when we stopped by. Maybe now they have joined the church.
My last day on mission. This is at the mission home in Cape Town surrounded by a few friends.
My last official picture taken in South Africa. This was at the Johannesburg airport. The Youlton family had moved to Johannesburg. They met me at the airport before I flew home. What a special moment to see them once more.

Parent of the Year Award...yet again...

So life has been busy this past month and a half to say the least. Yesterday I was neglecting my children yet again. Well this is what I walked in on. Ella had somehow opened a Coffee Crisp from Nali's Halloween candy. What a wonderful mess she made. She sure enjoyed it. If that wasn't enough she had gotten into the garbage as well. If you look closely you can see the crust of dried out bread as well as a piece of chewed gum. Yum-0! So look at the mess...notice I took a picture. I believe that blogging makes us better parents. It makes us see the humour in the situation, take a picture, then take a deep breath and then deal with the issue. Hopefully more calmly then we would've.
So this was right before i had to go to the Dr's. I have Strep throat and pink eye! Seriously can it get any worse??? Notice the box in the back ground, we got a new flat screen TV for the bedroom! I can't wait to watch "The Hills" in comfort.

BEAUTIFUL GIRL

This is my sister...just a random picture that I though capture her zest for life...enjoy.

Halloween with My Kiddies!

So my little puppy and nali-saurus-rex had a wonderful time with halloween. Ella wore the same puppy costume that Nali did when she was that age! It's funny how looking at her takes me back to when Nali was little. Nali was a dinosaur last year as well but I convinced her that if the costume still fits we wear it!
We had a good time. We took the girls to my parents, sisters and brothers houses. Then we just did about 8 houses around ours. Nali said that she had enough candy so we went home. My favorite picture of the evening is below. As well as where Ella is trying to stick a sucker up her nose!

Mmmm....dum dum's!
Digging in!
Checking out the stash. Notice Nali's look of "concern".
All that is in front of her at that moment was from one house. Our grat neighbors across the street had a little bag for her.

Ella's First Halloween Eve!

Ella LOVED her first pumpkin carving night! I left the pumpkin on the floor that Nali and I cleaned out and she went straight for it. She kept chewing on the edge of it!

MOM!! This is GREAT!!!!
Hey....but that camera looks better!
She was chewing on the spoon, as well as the pumpkin pieces laying around. Notice the pumpking guts on her cheek!
Too much pumpkin!

Enjoying a Beautiful Fall

We've had a great Fall. It's hard to believe that it's already the end of October.



Nali showing off her pink Cowgirl boots.

Ella's New Found Love

Ella LOVES the bathroom now. The other day I had found that she had pulled herself up onto the tub! This was a much better find then when I found her chewing on the cap that covers the screws on the toilet...no picture of that find.

Fun in the Sun??

So ella is full on crawling now! It's so fun to see her cruise around the house and explore!

Towards the end of summer we built this playground for the kids. The other night before heading out the girls were swinging in it. Nali started singing this funny song. I have no idea where she got it from but as you can tell she was quite into it. I found it a little ironic since there was no sun.

My Newest Nephew:Chase Gordon James Eklund

Below are two pictures of my little nephew Chase. He was born October 10th, which was Thanksgiving up here! What a great day to be born on. We were grateful that he arrived safe and sound. These pictures are a little late coming as he had an extended stay in the hospital. He was able to come home when he was 6 days old! We were all VERY excited for the little guy and his family.
Last week was a very busy/emotional week in our Family. Monday Chase was born, Tuesday we were informed that he has Down Syndrome. Thursday we set up for my sisters wedding, Friday wedding, my sisters wedding was a beautiful day. I was a saddened though that my brother and his family were unable to be at the temple for pictures. But I knew that he needed to be at the hospital with his son. Saturday a little break then Sunday Chase was finally able to go home.

He still looks a little jaundice in this picture but it is getting better. I sure love the little guy and am so grateful that he has come to our family. He is special...there's just no other way to explain it. I was talking to one of the nurses that works in the NICU, I told her that my nephew was in there. She asked which one. I told her. She then informed me that the other night all the nurses were around him and saying how special he was and that he seemed like an angel. I couldn't agree more. We don't know what the future holds for this little guy but we know that all of our lives changed the second he came into our family. In an instant you're more aware...more kind...more compassionate...protective etc. It's really hard to explain...you think why our family? Why my brother? Then you think, why not? He was sent to two loving parents and a loving older sister. He has grandparents, aunts and uncles who love him. Anyways, I don't want to get TOO into all the thoughts and emotions of this past week. There have been many to say the least. The best way I can sum it up is the "dream" has changed...but it's going to be okay. I thought about all the months we talked about this little guy coming and I never thought that he would have Down Syndrome...but I realized that this is always who he has been and now I can't imagine or picture him any other way. I LOVE him...

Fall Wedding

So here is a load of pictures for everyone to enjoy!! My younger sister got married on Friday. I've attached a good 50 pictures documenting the day. It was a BEAUTIFUL fall day. You couldn't have asked for better weather. Everyone looked great and seemed to have a great time. My sister married into a family that has 13 kids. I believe that she has 25 or so nieces and nephews on his side already. She has 6 on our side. All the nieces had the same dresses on. It was too cute! They are in reverse order as I ALWAYS forget to put the oldest ones first...so personally I think the end ones are better...expect of course the picture below of my brothers little girl with Nali...ENJOY!