Joel's Snow Campout

Joel is the 2nd counselor in the Young Men's Presidency.  So, he is the deacons quorum adviser and the scout master, lucky him :)  This last weekend they had a snow campout and I wanted to post some pictures of their trip.  These boys are such city boys but it is fun hearing about how excited they were to go camping.  Many of these boys have never had these kinds of opportunities and I am so grateful that my husband has the skills and background to be able to do these kinds of things with these boys.  I know I would be super excited to have someone like Joel in charge of church activities.  

Joel said that they had lots of fun playing in the snow and of course, geo-caching (Joel's signature thing to do).  All of the boys had never seen snow like this and they were excited to have snow ball fights (of course).  They made dutch oven enchiladas, cobbler, and breakfast burritos.

Julio was calling his mom :)

All of the boys, Joel, and Hermano Maldonado sitting in his chair.

Michael C. cooking the dutch oven enchiladas 

Mmmmmm, cobbler

All cuddled up!

Good ol' geo-caching!  Aw, look at my hubby with his boys :)

Making of the snowman!

The snowman.

Elder Guzman Update!

Well, I just thought that I would update on my brothers missionary experience as well as post some pictures that he sent.  He is serving right on the border of Tijuana and is loving it.  There are many cerros (hills) that they have to climb to get to people's houses and he says that there is dirt everywhere!  He loves the members and says they are very nice.  

So, this first picture is very sad and if you can't stand seeing dead animals then don't look at the picture lol.  I asked Elder Guzman about it and he said that for some reason people dump dead dogs in cardboard boxes in random places like on the street.  I love dogs and can't stand looking at this picture too long.  It's soooo sad :(  But that is exactly the type of picture that my brother would want lol.  His companion looks more disgusted, I guess he has a heart. 

 Elder Guzman and some companions.

 A Family that they baptized :)

A young man that they baptized :)

We continually pray for Elder Guzman and his companions that they may have the strength to keep going and the spirit to guide them.  I am so grateful that my younger brother is serving the Lord :)

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

On February 11th, my husband surprised me with a date night to go and see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  It was amazing!!!  I guess they have only come one other time to sing in Arizona and that was back in the 60s.  So to be present this time was a real honor.  We actually didn't even purchase the tickets because someone donated them to the Tempe Institute (oh the perks of going to institute, ah so awesome!)  We had pretty good seats at a side view and it was nice to see them sing a variety of songs and not just the hymns.  Alex Boye also had 2 solos!  He is amazing, not to mention a great dancer and entertainer lol.  It was such a great night and I am grateful that my husband thought to sign up for the tickets :)

Also, on the way home we actually ran over a cat :(  So sad and disgusting.  We literally ran right over it and I think his head hit the bottom of our car :(  That is the first time I have run over anything, I wasn't really driving but still.  It was a bit traumatizing. 

 I had to get a picture in front of the big basketball haha!

Valentine Gift

So, I just wanted to share what I made for Joel for Valentine's Day.  I got this idea from Pinterest, of course (that site is awesome!).  It was called 52 reasons I LOVE YOU!  You take a deck of playing cards, put your reasons on each card, decorate the front (all the individual cards), and you hole punch the cards putting those ring things that hold cards together.  He absolutely loved it!  I would totally recommend this idea for anybody else who is feeling creative :)  It was fun to ponder on the things that I put on the cards and just get to reflect again on the reasons why I am in love with my best friend :)

Here are some pictures of how it turned out :)