Very ODD!

So, Jesse had been complaining of stomache pain and aching legs and muscles. I kept just encouraging him to get more sleep and persevere. I finally took him to the Dr. 2 weeks ago and they did some blood work. Guess what. He is recovering from the Epstein Barr virus. He is in the convelescent stage. I feel bad. He really was sick. The doctor gave him some meds for his symptoms but there isn't a cure and he is not chronic thank heaven. ODD. Poor kid. Other odd info. The day after basketball ended, Emily had me cut her hair short and color it brown, so she looks nothing like her senior picture. But she is happy. I will post a picture when I get one. ODD. Lela (my sister) came to visit this week from Utah. She came for the warm weather. We had freezing weather. ODD. Sarah was in our County Spelling Bee last week and got out on the word scampi. She spelled it scampee. She would have been able to spell rendezvous, but not scampi. ODD. O.K. that is all.

Bball Highlights and a Letter

Safford's Girl's basketball team surprised everyone by beating the #2 team by 1 point in the first round. (we were #15).

They beat Parker, the same school that put us out in Volleyball. They didn't survive the second round, but went out with a bang, and had some snow fun to boot. Flagstaff got about 8 inches of snow overnight and the girls had a big snowball fight right before
theirlast game.
Check out one of Emily's big plays.







In other news. Dallin is in his first area in Texas and sent a great letter. I will abridge for your sake, but the whole thing is awesome.





Hi family,


My mission is not bi-lingual. We don't teach the gringos, we only preach to the RAZA which comes from Raza Grande, meaning great roots. They take offense to "Mexicans". I'm so lucky I speak spanish. I knew I'd have a time getting used to it, but I was rad blessed. I talked to and gave a card to a woman on the plane. She was a Victoria's Secret corporate lady. She was going to Europe. I had NO idea what I was doing, but she took it. My prez is a BEAST. He is honestly huge, but magna nice. The food is o.k. I eat what they put on my plate. I HATE mashed potatoes, but I swallow. I love it here. Awesome companion. He's Elder Marchant. We seem about equals. My area?......where is the most psycho place in Texas?...... WACO! No joke, the David Karesh compound is like smoldering down the street. CRAZY! This might sound pridefull, we went tracting on Sunday, looking for a guy but he wasn't there. Then we saw a family bar-b-queing. My comp, who thinks I'm like a native, went off and played with the kids so, IN SPANISH, I taught a ten minute first vision. He was like, Why are there so many churches? and I was like, let me tell you about this guy, he was a prophet. So, to my surprise, he was excited, and I always am, so....Joseph Rocks, church is true. Love ya'll, I don't really say that. Elder G

God Bless America!

It is great to be back in the old US of A. (I hate that phrase, I don't know why I used it) Chile was fantastic, but we are glad to be home. I felt like I was leaving so many important things but, of course, everything was just fine without me. Thanks to all of you who made that happen for me. We saw and did some amazing things in Patagonia. Darrin caught some monster fish.

(They fished every day for many hours) I worked on my Spanish with a little 6 year old girl named Rayen.


and was an extreme outdoorsman. This is our adventure guide, Guido.


Dallin left for Fort Worth while we were gone. We were sad to miss his phone call, but we got a picture and a letter from his mission President after he got there.
He must not be getting our letters as fast as we get his, because he claims we have deserted him. I have written him every week, but maybe they haven't found him yet. Emily has Sate Basketball this week in Flagstaff. I will go, but Darrin cannot. I hate to travel anymore after the marathon from Chile, but I can't stand to not see her games. I feel so bad about leaving my other 2 yet again, but........

ADIOS! Vamos a Chile

Darrin and I are heading to Chile on the 1st and won't be back until the 11th. I'm sure I will have tons to say and pictures to share. We are staying at the Valle Bonita Lodge in Futaleufu, Patagonia. (pictures below) He is fly fishing and Odessa (my sister-in-law) and I are ....horseback riding, white water rafting, hiking, shopping, sight-seeing, swimming, cruising, etc., oh, and of course, lots of eating. So...all you bloggies will just have to wait.

Another Gordon goes to A.S.U.

CONGRATULATIONS TO EMILY!
She was awarded the Presidents Scholarship. (same as Dallin) We were a little nervous because we got her application in on time, but her SAT scores were late. But........didn't seem to matter. Sad that Dena and Dallin won't be there with her, but Jeanie will be and that will help. She got to know Jeanie (Dal and Dena's friend) when she came to visit before Dallin left. Great girl! Emily is also #1 in her class, but as we have experienced, that can change at any time. Good Job Emily. Here are her Senior pictures. (taken by Leah, of course)

THE FIRST LETTER

We got our first letter from the missionary this week. It was dated the day he got there. It goes like this:
Querido family,
Heeeeh! It's awesome. I know that they say to leave the negative at home, but I won't and still be following the rules. It's awesome. My comp is Elder Hawkins from Lindon, UT. He is rad...err....righteous. I have the best other roommates. Elder Bailey from Canada and Elder Martinez from Mexico. I am in the advanced group and I am leaving for TX in 3 WEEKS. Also, we all follow the rules almost to a fault. I have a testimony of it, mostly I have a desire to learn as much as I can. P.S. Yes, this letter was required. Elder Gordon

This is only the first letter! Sooooo Great.
His address for the next 2 weeks is:

Elder Dallin Gordon
MTC Mailbox 289
TX-FTW 0318
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Latest, Greatest, Read!

So, if you haven't heard of Clarence Thomas's Memoirs, you need to. His book is called "My Grandfather's Son". It is excellent. He is an amazing person. I remember going to listen to him speak at ASU years ago (like 20).

He spoke about Affirmative Action. My roommate and I were the only white people in the room except the moderator. When the crowd realized that he was opposed to it, they went nuts and security had to escort him out for his own safety. I had always wondered how he came to have that kind of radically unpolitically correct opinion. Well, now I know. You won't be disappointed. He doesn't dwell on the Anita Hill thing. Just mentions his shock and confusion at her accusations. Mostly it is about his unfortunate beginings and the strict discipline and expectations of his grandfather who raised him. Check it out.

Cold-blooded and Hot-blooded

Here is a video of the long walk to the terminal at 5:30 in the morning. Check out my two boys. Pretty typical, they are quite the opposites. I hope Dallin can acclimatize, or he will freeze his entire mission. He has no fat on his bones. Maybe MTC food will remedy that. (I doubt it) I will share parts of his letters, when I get them.

Meeting formerly known as....

We sent Dallin off on Wednesday morning (5:30 am) and none of us cried!

He was so excited to go that it was contagious. Julia picked him up at the SLC airport and took him to the MTC. She called to report that he got checked in and she got in her car and cried. Julia is an non-related Aunt to my kids, just in case you were wondering. Maybe now things will settle back into a normal routine again. Next up is Chile for Darrin and I in Feb. Then a trip with my parents and siblings in March, rest in April, and Emily's graduation in May. It was great to have everyone come to Dallin's Birthday/Unfarewell. So many girls! Maybe he was telling the truth when he said he had "girlfriends". Oh well, arms length for two years. I am anxiously waiting for his first letter. Here are some pics from the last week.

Darrin's famous birthday cake.

DENA!

Crazy Times!

Things have been CRAZY around here lately. I won't bore you with details, but I think it will all calm down in a few weeks. I promise to have some great posts and pictures then. Check out our cute family pic from Leah.
She has more on her photography blog if your interested. Love them Leah!