More news from Kurt

Kurt's district at the Provo MTC just before they all took off to their different mission areas.

This photo is actually one taken at the Provo MTC right before Kurt headed out to the Dominican Republic. This is Kurt and his cousin Devin posing in front of the missionary statue outside the MTC. Kurt is doing great in the DR MTC. He says he loves their food. He is working hard and learning a lot. He likes to throw in Spanish words every so often in his emails and letters. He says it is super humid there. For their p-day today they picked up trash at the University close by (he said it was really trashy), and it looked really good when they were finished, but after 5 minutes of working they are soaking in sweat. He says that the people appreciate their service project and so are more likely to talk to them and have good feelings towards them.

Bathroom Project & Photo from Kurt

We got new emails from Kurt yesterday from the Dominican Republic. He sent us a night photo of the Temple. He is busy working hard, and getting a little frustrated because he feels like he is not learning the language fast enough.

Brent is into "stripping" these days!

Neil & Brent are having lots of fun tearing apart our basement bathroom. (Cade even helped ripping out sheetrock.) It is a messy job, but somebodies got to do it!! It should look good when it all gets put back together!

Oops, I forgot that I had one more Birthday photo!

I am so dumb...I forgot I had this photo to add to my last post! I thought this was so cute of Mikell with her messy little hands with cupcakes and chocolate frosting on them. She was so fun to watch as she tried to eat her birthday cupcakes. Happy Birthday Mikell! We love you!!

Happy Birthday to 1 yr. old Mikell!!

I can't believe little Mikell will be one year old tomorrow! I wish, wish, wish we could be there in person to give her a big birthday hug and big birthday kiss! We had a little pre-birthday party up in Park City a few weeks ago and so you can see that we all enjoyed the yummy cupcakes that Melinda made to help us celebrate. I love these photos of Mikell enjoying these birthday cupcakes! We will be sure to get onto Chad & Melinda's blog after tomorrow because I am sure they will have some fun photos of the big day!

New photos from the DR

Here is Kurt's new home in the DR...at least for 5 more weeks.

Kurt made it to the Dominican Republic. He emailed us photos and this is his new companion at the MTC in the DR. He didn't tell us his name...we just know that he is from Delta, UT. Hopefully we will get a name eventually. The MTC is next to the temple and so here they are posing in front of the Temple.

Photos from Kurt

Here are the photos sent to us from Kurt, I just tried to scan them in and they look a little crooked but I guess that is okay. He liked this first photo because it shows what is life has been all about the last few weeks at the MTC.

This is a photo of his room. He was happy because he had his own desk and didn't have to share it. Also, on the back he wrote that this is him "walking with purpose"...he says at the MTC they always tell them to walk with purpose.

This is Kurt's companion at the Provo MTC. He is Elder Sevey from Riverside, CA. They go along really well. Now that Kurt is at the DR (Dominican Republic) MTC he has a new companion from Delta, Utah. He says he will send more photos later. We will try to keep it updated.

Talked to Elder Kurt Wayne today!

Kurt called at 7 a.m. this morning from the Salt Lake airport. They changed his original flight plans so he told us he was calling in the late afternoon, but with the changes he didn't know if he would have time, and this way he figured he could catch his dad at home. We visited about an hour. Cade, Casey & Nichole talked to him also. He told us he would try to call from Houston around noon...and he did, but only for about 15 minutes. It was good though because Neil was able to talk to him. He sounds great! He is ready to get to the Dominican Republic & learn some more. He met some lds teens at the Houston airport who had done service in the DR and told him how absolutely beautiful it is and that they would be able to see the ocean from the MTC there. He was traveling with about 27 other elders going to the DR MTC (18 of them going to his exact mission). He bought some pass along cards at the MTC bookstore before he left so he could pass them out to people on his trip there. The missionaries at their last American hamburgers at the Fudruckers at the Houston airport. Guess we won't get to hear his cute voice again until Christmas! Hopefully, he will email us before too long when he gets there.

Elder Gardner Enters The MTC!

Kurt entered the MTC in Provo on June 18th. He was set apart by President Richards the night before, then we (Cade, Neil, Casey & Nichole, Kurt, Brent & I) got up early Wed. morning and took off to Provo. We met Chad & Melinda & Mikell at Olive Garden for lunch. We then drove to the MTC where Derek Owen & Chris Cunningham where jumping up & down and waving at the entrance as we drove in! It was really hard saying good-bye, but Kurt was ready to go and anxious to start his 2 year mission to the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East Mission. We were teary-eyed as we drove away but knew he was where he was supposed to be. Now the mailman is our best friend!!!

Beautiful Wedding Day!

We had to do a lot of planning between December and April before we left on our trip. Nichole had to do a lot on her own to help, but when we got back from Israel we had to really concentrate on all of the last minute details. We worked hard and we were a little stressed out, but somehow that day came along and everything ended up wonderful! The best part was having so much family and loved ones there with us to share in the day! Casey fits right into the family, just like our three amazing daughter-in-laws!! We feel very blessed and hope that all of these in-laws can put up with these 2 crazy parents (mother-in-law & father-in-law).

Here is a photo of Israel

We are sitting in front of the Garden Tomb where it is believed that Jesus Christ was placed and then resurrected. The round stone rolls along the trough right behind where we are sitting. (The stone is gone.) Harold B. Lee said that when he visited this tomb he believed it is the actual place Christ's body was placed. It is in a beautiful garden setting and Golgotha is just outside of the garden area. It was an amazing experience to be there! We had limited time in Jerusalem and so we had to do a quick tour our tour guides (Iona & Jimmy). Thank goodness they took us or we would have missed a lot!

It has been a busy 7 months!

Brent & I were able to take the trip of a lifetime in April to Egypt and Israel. This is Brent in front of the Sphinx and a pyramid in the background. They are just outside the city of Cairo. The pyramid and Sphinx are huge and the photo is deceptive because he is standing quite far away so we could get both in the photo. Notice the tiny men in the corner of the photo. The trip was actually 18 days however we only stayed for about 10 days of it. We missed several days in Israel and the days they spent in Jordan. When we got home we have to prepare for Nichole & Casey's wedding and then Kurt for his mission.

The Wedding Day

Nichole & Casey's wedding was on May 31st and it was a wonderful day! We're excited to have Casey in our family.