Adios y te amamos!

This weekend we traveled to Lovelock, NV (yes, this is where Russ grew up) for a mission farewell. Russ' dad, Bill, and his wife, Connie, are leaving on June 30th to serve a mission in Mexico City, Mexico... we think! Their mission call has already been changed 3 times so we are not really sure where they will end up. Their original call was to the Monterey, Mexico North mission. It was later changed to the Monterey, Mexico West mission. The most recent e-mail has them teaching at a school in Mexico City. We are all anxious to see where they actually end up. We are excited for them and so grateful for the example they are setting for our children.

While we were in Lovelock we were able to get to know Connie's children and their families a little better. Our children were so excited to get to know some new cousins. We were able to spend the most time with Michael's family (wife- Emily and children- Braxton, Zach, Sadie, and Bailey) and John's family (wife- Stefani and children- Kiara, Whitney, Amanda, and AJ). As well as Marianne's oldest daughter,Aubrey, and her new husband, Jaren (SO SORRY if I have spelled any names wrong!!) Later, on Saturday, the rest of Connie's children and their families arrived, along with some of her siblings. It was great to get to know her wonderful family.

On Saturday afternoon we went to the Lovelock city pool. We had so much fun swimming, jumping from the high dive, racing, playing Marco Polo, etc. Our family then visited some of Russ' old stomping grounds. Like La Belle's (the local brothel), the courthouse (where Russ had to go after being arrested for skateboarding in the pool pictured above... only it was empty at the time), Two Stiffs (the gas station that made Lovelock famous), and some of his old hunting and fishing spots. Other highlights of the trip were riding grandpa's HUGE dirt bike and motorcycle, eating a ton of food, seeing Russ' old friends and neighbors, and just hanging out with everyone.

The actual mission farewell was very nice. Bill and Connie gave great talks and all of the grandchildren that were there sang the Army of Helaman. It was great to hear grandma and grandpa bear testimony of our Savior and His gospel. Grandma shared stories from the Book of Mormon and related them to our lives. She shared the story of Amalickiah a wicked Nephite who revolted against Helaman and sought to be king over the Lamanites. She told of how the Lamanite army was hiding at the top of a mountain and Amalickiah called for them to "come down, come down". Eventually they came down and were tricked into having Amalickiah as their king. Grandma compared this to Satan calling to us to "come down, come down" and lower our standards. She also told the story of the 2000 stripling warriors. Grandpa talked about the 6 B's (Be Grateful, Be True, Be Prayerful, Be Smart, Be Clean, Be Humble). We were so glad that we were able to be apart of this special day.

Adios! Buena suerte! Te amamos!