The Funnel Cake Phenomenon

I am thinking that perhaps there is a new phenomenon around these parts. Apparently, when I yell "anyone want a funnel cake?" it can penetrate through head phones and over the battles of Halo. However, when I yell, "Come get your laundry" nobody can hear me... Strange.

After a delish pot roast, carrots, and potato dinner that, and I quote Andrew, "Makes the house smell like home" **thanks to grandma's Christmas gift of a crock pot**, we needed something sweet. We are heading out of town soon, so we are eating our way through the groceries and don't have anything yummy, so I whipped up a batch of funnel cakes. Kid heaven! 

I might have to do a little more research on this one...

Saying Goodbye

Our family is preparing for an extended vacation. While we are gone, we will most likely loose one of our missionaries to another area.

It's pretty ridiculous how attached I get to these boys young men. I think there are two reasons why. First, we have them over for dinner every other week. So they're in our home often. We learn a lot about them and grow to really appreciate their friendship. Secondly, they're all just slightly older than my boys. I know that in not too much time, these will be my sons. I also think that having the experience of living in another country has allowed me to better empathize with these young men and understand a little more the true sacrifice that they are offering to the Lord as they serve 2 years away from their lives at home.

So Elder Emmett. He's been here for several months. He transferred into our area shortly after we moved here. We understand that the next transfer will probably be out of this area and then he'll wrap up his mission there and head home to Texas in a few more months.

So we had to take a few photos after dinner. We failed to do that with our Elder Rebber before he left - but I do have a fun photo of him with the boys. These Elders have been a big part of our experience here. They have made the transition easier for all of us.

Here we are with Elder Emmett.

And I got a group shot of all the boys together - just in case they transfer someone else while we're gone. 

We love our missionaries! Even the ones that don't speak english :) Right now, both of our non-english speakers really understand english well. 

Is it safe to say "Happy New Year's" now?

Apparently, it is bad luck to wish someone a "Happy New Year" before midnight. Ooops....

I wanted more than anything to invite ALL of our friends and their families over - but Greg pointed out the obvious. We don't have enough room in this rental house for more than one family at a time. Besides, our house isn't very little-kid friendly. We don't have anything for anyone under the age of 12. If you aren't into video or board games - our house is BORING> *sigh* 'tis our life here...

We had our good friends the Caudles over for burgers, swimming, and games. Their girls swam, the grown-ups ate and the boys played video games. It was a fun way to ring in the New Year! We love the Caudles.

A few games of Settles of Catan waiting for the clock to strike midnight.

The crazy girls jumped in at midnight! 

Andrew and Logan banging on pots and pans. Melissa helping little Dexter deal with all the noise. Dexter and our dog Scooter are best friends.

Alex watching the fireworks from the window upstairs. It's hard to tell from these photos, but it was a great view of the firework display in a neighboring town. One of the advantages of living on the side of the mountain. 

Fireworks!

There's my main squeeze at midnight! I love that man! 

Yep. New Year's Celebrations in the summer - gotta love the upside down versions of our traditional holidays.