Letter from our missionary!!

YAY!!! We got our first letter ... in snail mail.... no email yet. Here are some excerpts:

Hey family - I have to write this letter to tell you guys that I'm alive and they didn't kill me. It's pretty cool here my companion is in the same predicament as me and he is going to Goiania too..... I am a senior companion..... Our floor is really energetic and the guys are funny.... It's pretty cold here... The food is good...tomorrow we start portuguese with the Portugal elders so it's a little different. ... There is a sister in my district from England and I can't describe how cool she sounds when she talks. ....Talk to you later! Brandon

It's great to see his sense of humor and that he's having a great time. So now it's waiting time again .. hopefully an email..... waiting.... waiting....

withdrawals......

Wow.... I think I'm on family activity/party withdrawals.... life was back to the normal routine this weekend.... whatever normal is and I'm sure it won't last long. So our weekend went something like this.... Friday evening Mike and I tried a Bavarian restaurant. Very YUM! I think one of my new favorite foods is spaetzel! Then after a yummy homemade breakfast on Saturday morning, I did the coupon thing and saved lots of money at the grocery store and Mike did the around the house stuff and Trent was at a service project all day. Saturday night was our traditional steak dinner, then Trent went out with friends, and Mike and I watched a movie on our comfy couch... Church on Sunday was great, even with an empty spot on our bench... Sunday afternoon was quiet... AND cloudy, soooooo.... I HAD to bake... Mike requested brownies... and I tried a new beef and broccoli stir fry for dinner. Sunday evening was still quiet... Mike was reading and Trent was gone... so I watched the food channel with my bowl of popcorn.... alone..... Brandon and I used to watch the food channel a LOT.... (he'll never know I told the whole world this bit of personal info!) ... and one of our favorite shows was the Food challenge. So even without my food channel buddy, I enjoyed the show and stayed up til WAY late.... 9:00!

The MTC experience!

Brandon's mission officially started on Wednesday! After our great Thanksgiving feast on Sunday, we spent Monday and Tuesday shopping and eating out. Yum...Tuesday night Teresa made one of Brandon's favorite meals.... Hawaiian haystacks.... YUM again... Then.... Brandon packed and we were up bright and early to catch our flights! We landed with a bit of snow coming down and it was a LITTLE chilly... in the 30's! Then we drove to Provo (in lots of snow) and along the way we met up with some long time family friends... with Sarah while we ate lunch at McDonalds... (yep Brandon's last lunch at McDonalds!).... then we met Jana at the MTC. The routine at the MTC was slightly different than when Dustin went... but the memories flooded back at we entered. We had a nice orientation that started with a very fast and lively "Called to Serve" a few short talks and of course the "Called to Serve" video!... and then it was goodbye... final hugs.. then out the door... we went to the right and Brandon went to the left! THEN.... drive back to the airport for us (in the snow) and home before 8. It was a fast great experience. Next step.... waiting for an email from Brandon...... waiting... waiting... waiting....

With some of the neices and nephews Tuesday night

Ready to go At the Phoenix airport

Landing in the snowAt the Salt Lake airportDriving in the snow!McDonaldsSarah and her kidsWaiting for BrandonAt the MTCGoing inJana and ParkerMom and her missionary

Back through the snow!

Happy Thanksgiving already!

Thanksgiving.... along with the Thanksgiving chicken... has already come and gone at our house! We did the big celebration before Brandon had to leave.... We had a visit from the Thanksgiving chicken.... (hey... we're on a budget)... and of course LOTS of yummy food. The evening ended with a family devotional and Brandon being set apart as a full time missionary. We truly have LOTS to be thankful for!

No Visa!!

Well.... Brandon was suppose to leave for Brazil today, but his Visa hasn't come!..... Soooo.... The church called the other day and said.... no problem... (they are so calm and it was no big deal) ... we'll just send him to Provo til his visa comes. Sooooo.... we are actually VERY excited! He will get two MTC experiences and we are flying up to do the MTC orientation with him! We all leave tomorrow!

Brandon getting all his stuff ready to pack!

Happy Halloween!!!

Another fun Halloween.... I love to dress up on Halloween and this year was no exception! At work we had our yearly costume contest and lunch. I won big time for my Dobson Ranch Roof Rat cake. Then we had our yearly Ward Trunk or Treat. After all that we STILL have candy left!!! So hurry on over.... there's still a few hours left!

Corpse Bride

Roof Rat cake

Sharp Dressed Man

What a great Sunday!

Sunday, Brandon spoke in Church. He did so good. His talk was based on a priesthood talk from last April about Knowing Yourself. I loved his analogy of prayer.... It's like talking on a phone... the more we talk to Heavenly Father, the better He gets to know who we are and the better we get to know Him. After church we gathered at our house for our annual Halloweeny dinner... Some of the menu items included bloody bat wings, mummy dogs, skeleton ribs, graveyard grass, pumpkin poop, pupils, eyes, blood, bat kidneys, chopped vein salad and a sludge fountain! Thanks to Krislin for the food signs. After our yummy meal, we surprised Brandon with presents! I think he was REALLY surprised when they all turned out to be ties! And Kristin surprised him with a cool missionary plaque. It was a GREAT Sunday! Elder Lewis

Halloweeny Buffet

Hungry people
The Wing King

Cute Kids!
Tie Surprise!
Elder Lewis with all his ties!