New Blogs!

I decided it would be easier to start a blog for my Mama and her letters, so that she can make a book of her letters and pictures after the mission.
So, if anyone would like to follow her blog, it's www.deeannmitchell.blogspot.com
I was on a roll, making my niece Cami's blog www.sisteragle.blogspot.com and fixing up my nephew, Cole's, www.elderhegerhorst.blogspot.com , that I thought Big Dee needed one too. :)

iphone dump April

I think one of the best things to ever have been invented, besides the camera and the phone, was the camera ON the phone!  I love that I can take a picture everywhere I go, and it's always on me!  Here's a little bit of what we've been up to...

Carter was the star at school this week.  He make a poster and wrote all about himself!

My favorite is his songs:  Sexy and I no it, and Gangnam Style!  So cute!

I thought I would do a Pinterest pose for Luke with all his cars the other day.  It didn't go so well.

#pinterestfail #nailedit

I got the very smart idea to have Carter put on Luke's pajamas!  AWESOME!  Now I've just gotta get him changing diapers too...

Those lips...

All my nieces and nephews are just getting so old!  CamBam left on her mission last week, and is in the MTC in Utah until she leaves to Peru, and Ali just had her senior prom.  She looks like a mermaid!  

We got Grandma up on the horse at Lily's birthday party.  She's so cute!

My favorite part of the week - Skyping with Mama :)

Went to lunch with Aunt Janeal & Kristie, who were out here visiting, and Miriam!

These two have wrestling matches every single day.  They love each other so much.

These are my super official blueprints for my front wall!  Haha!

I love how it turned out though :)

This is probably a little closer than most people ever wanted to see Shaun, but we seriously had the funniest night the other week!  Jasmine came over to hang out, and brought with her stuff to wax Shaun's nose!  I haven't laughed that hard in AGES!  We facetimed Kyle, because he knew it would be too funny to pass!

My birthday was last week, and these lovely ladies took me out to my favorite - Costa Vida!  Yum!  The next day, a bunch of friends went out to Paul Martins.  It was so nice!  But, of course, I forgot to take a picture!

I also got to go Roller Skating on my birthday with this super stud!  It was the Mother-Sons Superhero roller skating party for the Elementary.  We had LOTS of fun!  My arms were pretty sore the next day from holding him up!

Well, that's all for now!

Hegs in NorCal!

I had the BEST week a couple of weeks ago.  So good, that Shaun was very concerned that I would spiral downward into a depression the following week!  

My sister and her family (minus Cole on his mission) came out to visit us from Utah!!   

It was the BEST!  Did I mention that already?

Unfortunately, they came on a fairly mellow week weather-wise, so we made it to the pool one day, but the girls didn't get that California tan that they were sooo hoping for!  

I wish that Northern California was a little bit cooler for them, but quite frankly, there's not a ton to do out here!  I took them on a hike up at Hidden Falls, we went to the Jelly Belly Factory, the pool, the mall, and they spent a day in San Francisco too.  They are the coolest family ever -- if Shaun and I ever die, I hope they're in for raising a couple more kids...!

The best was just hanging out with them.  They had a lot of fun with Luke.  He kept them entertained all day.  Carter unfortunately had school, so he didn't get to spend the whole day with them, but he still had a great time.  

Steve found a buddy in Diego, Carter and Luke were very enthralled with the Hegerhorst's ipad.  It was almost like they didn't have one of their very own...

Ali broke her wrist the very day they were supposed to leave, so they got here later than they were expecting.  Thumbs up, Al.

They brought Lily with them, so when they spent the night in San Fran, Roxy got to have a pooch sleepover!  It was conference weekend, so Steve went to Priesthood with Shaun.  He had to wear Shaun's clothes - - they were a little small!  Becky LOVED munching on Luke, and he loved it just as much!

Shaun was right.  I am depressed now.  I love my family so much - and wish wish wish we all lived closer!  But, I do love that when we get together, it's like we've never been apart (except that all my nieces and nephews grow a foot each time).  Come back!

Easter 2013

We had such a fun Easter this year!  The boys loved all the egg hunts.  We went to the one on Felt Farms again this year.  It's a huge egg hunt that we go to every year.  This year was especially fun, because the Augers came with us!  Of course I hardly took any pictures of it, but it is such a great egg hunt.

Then, Easter morning, the boys rushed down to see if the Easter bunny had brought them anything.  He left baskets of candy and treats.  They each got an Easter shirt and tie for church too.  Then they found the eggs that the Easter bunny had hid around the house.  

After church, we went to Nana & Papa's for our Easter Egg hunt.  It was so much fun!  The grandkids each found about 12 eggs, including their own special glittery egg with money in it!  We sure love our cousins!

Cutest Lukey

Love my Carter boy!

Mom's 3rd Letter

Hi from Tonga,

It’s been such a busy week, the office couple left on Monday so I’ve been on my own in the office for 4 days now.  So far this week we had two elders reassigned to another mission, they came to our mission for a few months because they didn’t have their visa’s approved to be able to enter the Papua New Guinea mission.  We had two elders arrive; they are also temporary elders who are waiting for their visas before going to the Australia Mission.  My responsibility is to complete the paperwork for all missionaries who are coming and leaving…there are many little steps to remember.  Missionaries come and go in the office all day so there is quite a bit of confusion as they enjoy talking, laughing and just being together…that makes it fun but noisy.  I answer all phone calls and try to assist anyone who comes in to the mission office.  There is also a new finance person in the office so we’re just he has eaten for a week…he is living on a small island with no medical care available.  I’m responsible to orient all new elders in the mission as well as provide medical inservice for Zone Leader meetings each month.  As you can see, I’m very busy but the time has been going by quickly.  I love being with the elders most days when I come to the office a few of them are there doing their scripture study and then they always sing a hymn, it is just beautiful.   

I especially love being with President Tukuafu each day.  He is such a spiritual leader, very soft-spoken and kind, the elders all truly love him.  Today I was talking with President, he talked about how the missionaries are fed every day by the members and that one of the sister companionships were being fed by a non-member family, the husband is a member and several of the children but the mom has never joined.  I told him how very generous the people here were to do that because it is a financial hardship for them.  He said that it is also a blessing; the sisters always leave their testimony and a blessing on the family when they leave.  He is going to visit this family soon.  He said “the door has been opened and I just need to knock”.  He also remembers as a young child having the missionaries come over, the best food was always given to the missionaries and the children had to wait until they were through eating before they were allowed to eat what was left.  What a spiritual experience that is for a young child and a memory that will always be with them.  Tongan children are very respectful of their elders.

Right now, I’m in my room and I have a friendly gecko that keeps me company.  I don’t really want him here but it’s pretty common to have them in homes.  I guess they eat bugs so that’s a good thing, I’m trying to take that approach.  The homes all have air conditioners but the electricity is about four times as expensive here as they are at home.   A small home like mine would be about $750/month if I used it even part of the time, most couples just go without.  I try not to use it; I turn it on for about 30 minutes before I go to bed and then turn on a fan in my room.  It’s too hot and humid here so a sheet is all that is needed on the bed.  Every morning when I get up I see dead bugs on the bed and floor…at least they’re dead.  Earlier this week I had an ant party at my house.  A couple that was leaving gave me two cake mixes, when I got up in the morning I opened the cupboard door and there were hundreds of ants in it.  After taking everything out I noticed that one of the cake mix boxes had spilled so ants were everywhere.  I cleaned everything and sprayed with bug killer, so far it seems to have helped because I’ve had fewer ants in the house.  It sounds like all I talk about is bugs, it’s probably the most difficult thing that I deal with and my grandkids can vouch for me in saying that I’m not afraid of bugs so it is pretty bad here. 

The senior couples get together about twice a week for some type of activity.  We have family night together once a week, and then there is a movie night once a month, a dinner twice a month, temple night once a week, and we all go shopping on most Saturdays.  This Saturday they have planned to go snorkeling at one of the nearby islands so that should be fun.  The couples are really nice and we have a great time together. 

I love and miss you all.  Please keep Jenny and her family in your prayers.  She is truly feeling the love that you have for her during this difficult time.

Love you all,

Sister Mitchell

Mom's second letter

Hello from Tonga,                                                                                           March 6, 2013

I think I must be settling in because all the things I wrote about in my last letter don’t seem as strange as they did those first few days.  I went with another senior missionary couple to visit the Blow Holes here in Tonga.  They aren’t too far from our home and they are pretty amazing, every wave creates a spectacular show.  It reminds me of watching a fire that you can watch for hours because it continues to be different and mesmerizing.  I’ll attach a picture.  On our way to the blow holes a group of kids were in the narrow street playing when a small child of about 4 walked down the road to play with the other kids, he was swinging a big machete.  I guess it was just another toy.  I continue to be amazed by the difficult circumstances that surround me.  The roads here are unbelievable; they are very narrow and have big potholes.  Because it rains every day they are always filled with water.  I’m told that they just keep filling them in with dirt but as soon as it rains a few times they are back the same as before.  I’m still struggling with driving on the wrong side of the road and in the wrong side of the car and turning my blinker on which is on the right of the steering wheel and the wipers are on the left side.  There are quite a few round-a-bouts here, in the middle there are three cement poles and as you make the turn the person to the right has the right of way.  The person to the right always has the right of way when turning.  There are no street signs so people use markers to tell people where to find something.  Someone might say “go to the Chinese store and turn left, then go to the green church after the bakery and turn right, etc.”  Because the shops are so run down, everything to me looks the same.  There are always people walking on the side of the roads so it’s tricky to go around them because the streets are narrow and cars tend to drive down the middle of the road.  I will say that the scenery is pretty amazing.  Everything is green and tropical.  There are no snakes here…Yay!!!  But, there are lots of bugs.  There are so many ants, when I wake up in the morning there are probably 100 crawling over my kitchen counters; I just spray with Permetherin (an insecticide) I think I might die from insecticide poisoning by the time I leave.  I feel like I look at the floors at night and they seem to come alive.  Needless to say, every morning I have another bite so my legs are kind of polka dot.  There is a type of centipede here called a Molokau, it grows 6” or longer and the head has pinchers.  The bite is very painful and can cause redness and swelling for about 15 hours.  They move very fast so the best way to kill them is a direct hit with something hard and flat like a 2x4 and then cut them in half with a butcher knife.  We are told to always wear our sandals when walking around the house, even at night.  I’m not looking forward to my first encounter with one of them.

I was asking one of the missionaries what he enjoyed eating here the best and he said it was raw fish.  On one of the islands where he was sent for a few months, it was a staple.  He said the members would just cut up a fish and put it into a bowl and they would just eat it.  It doesn’t sound too appetizing to me and I hope never to try it.  Then we got started talking about eating dog.  There are dogs everywhere; they aren’t cute like they are back home.  He told of a time when he went to a member’s home to eat and they had cooked a dog in the ground, when he sat down to eat they had just cut the dog up and the head was still attached.  Sorry Laura.  I haven’t tried Tongan food yet mainly because I don’t know how to prepare it and the other senior couples said it’s not very good or flavorful.  The common root crops they eat are Kumala (sweet potato), Ufi (Yam), Manioke (Tapioka), Taro (Talo).  They are all staples and contain a lot of starch.  You can find many American food products here but they are very expensive.  I’ve been eating Oatmeal, peanut butter sandwiches, and Ramen.  I know, it’s not very healthy.  I did make a stir-fry of vegetables with chicken.  The senior couples get together about once a week to eat together so I’m sure I’ll learn to cook better meals. 

My head is very full this week because I’ve been asked to take the assignment of mission secretary.  I’m just not the secretary type and especially since I’ve gotten older, I have a hard time doing too many things at once and remembering them.  I’m definitely going to need the Lord’s help.  In the mission office there are two office assistants (elders), the President has assigned two more elders there, one of them will be doing the flight schedules(there are a lot of them) and entering the expenditures of the missionaries.  So that will be taken from me as one of my responsibilities.  I will be still doing all of the pre-mission paperwork, the arriving elder paperwork, and the returning elder paperwork.  As well as answering phones and questions and many other assignments.  I’m replacing a wonderful couple who are returning home so there will be big shoes to fill.  The elders are so good to work with; they have such a strong testimony of the gospel and bring such a beautiful spirit to the office; that will be one of the pleasures of working in the office because I will get to know all of the missionaries quite well.

I love the work here, I love being busy and feeling like I’m helping the work of the Lord move forward.  The members have such love for each other; they are such a kind and gentle people.  I know that God lives, that He loves all of His children and that He is aware of them no matter where they are and no matter what they are going through.  I send each of you my love.

Sister Mitchell

We HAVE a biker...

Last month, Carter learned how to ride his bike!  I am so incredibly proud of him!  

He was scared for a long time, and really didn't want to try it.  But, we finally took him to a really small un-steep hill and practiced with him.  He did a really good job, and a few days later, we tried again in front of our house and he got it!  What was even more fun, was that our cousins were all over to witness it and cheer him on!

He's a pro now!

Way to go, buddy!

What we've been up to...

We got our salon pictures taken for the new website - alluresalonrocklin.com

I love these girls!

Hooker lips

Speaking of work, I changed from Wednesdays to Tuesdays, so I get to work with a whole bunch of faces that I never get to see, like Crystal!  We haven't worked together since we worked at Avalon together!

 This clock and this table will be mine.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.  The other two pictures are just cute.  I love West Elm.  Swoon.

This kid has majorly reached the terrible twos.  And on top of that, he is sneaky and naughty!  He's so funny!  He pulls this toy over and steps on it to reach anything on the counter....  Binkys, chocolate, soda, really just anything that he's not supposed to be into.

Carter has been working hard on learning to ride his bike!  This was our first time trying.  He did really good!  In fact, the next time we tried, he got it down!

Luke and I go to Mother Goose on the Loose at the Lincoln Library.  I think he thinks the goose is real.  He goes up and pets it about 10 times while we're there!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Luke of all time!  We had Aubree's princess party, and Luke was the only boy invited.  We dressed him up as a prince, and he was NOT having it!

 Aime's cat, Puss.  The only cat I like.  Look at that face!

Carter had crazy hair day at school.  It doesn't look like it in this picture, but his hair is pretty blue!

Don't touch my broccoli.

Timeout at Target.

Welcome to my life.

These boys!

Carter started swimming lessons in February.  He really likes it!  

I babysit my nieces every Monday while Britt and Mandi help out at the school

I think I'm doing a good job.

I hate selfies, but I had to document this.  

This is second day hair, folks.  

That doesn't happen in my life - EVER!  If my hair is dirty, it's in a ponytail.  It gets matted and fro-ed and is just a grease-pit.  

So, here it is.  

It will probably never look normal on a second day again, so now I have proof that it happened.  Once.

  

Legos.  I hate them sooooo much.

 Carter is getting so independent.  He is making his own ham sandwiches now!  Score!

Shaun's face in this picture makes me laugh!  He looks scared!  That's not a good sign!

Church is long.

Yum.

Haha!  #parentingfail

Mmmm.  My favorite!

Here's Carter on the way home from church.

 Here's Luke.