Dave & Kristin

After being inspired by a "preparedness fair" at the church over the weekend, we got out our sun oven this afternoon and tried it out with a little loaf of bread. It worked like a charm. Outside temperature was under a hundred (a little) and we had no problem maintaining over 350 degrees. Had to rotate the box every 20 to 30 minutes to follow the sun, but that was kind of fun. After the little loaf we put a full size cinnamon loaf in and it tastes great as well. Sorry, no pictures of that one--it went too fast.

Bottomline: you can cook things--real things--with just the sun (and an insulated box, and some glass, and some reflective material). It probably helps if you live in Arizona, but not required.

Nate's mission call arrived on Friday the 10th! It came to Mesa, he was in Provo so he "opened it" via Skype. Here are a couple of video's of it. The first is a screen capture. The second is from Joe's iPhone. Buon Appetito!

Our stake sponsored an outstanding Aaronic Priesthood encampment last week. Nate, McKay and I got to go from our family and Joe, Daniel, Josh, and Andrew also went. Each ward was asked to provide a short entertainment. Our ward decided to learn a Maori Haka. Nate ended up being the leader, McKay is on the far left.

We had a great family trip taking Jake to the MTC last week. We captured a few pictures along the way. Though we missed some of the best parts: a session in the Salt Lake Temple, an open house tour of the new Draper Temple, and visiting all of our friends and family in Utah. It was a great time.

We haven't heard from Jake yet but are confident that all is well. If you would like to write to him his PO Box in the MTC is 217.

Looking at the pictures you would think all we ever do is eat out! That just happens to be the only time we think about breaking out the camera!

Here are all the pictures:

Grandma & Grandpa were in town over the weekend for Jess's call opening, her endowments, and Jake's farewell. We didn't do too well with the camera but we did get these after a wonderful time in the temple. (Click on the picture to see a few more)

Mesa Temple

At about 7am Arizona time on the 12th of February 2009 the following occurred:

Jessica's call arrived today right on schedule. Only problem is she's in Provo--not Mesa! So just like last time we are going to wait patiently for a whole week to learn what it says! Last chance to get your guesses in....

As of today, Jessica's mission papers are in Salt Lake! Within the next few weeks we will know where she is heading. In the mean time, it's lots of fun to guess! So please add comments below and let us know what part of the vineyard you think Jess will be called to serve in.

(video is still processing...but should work soon)

Jake's mission call arrived today, but Jake isn't due to get home from BYU-I until Monday. So far he is saying he will wait till he gets home but I don't how long that resolve will last. So hurry and get your guesses in. We're looking for both location and leave date.

ps. has anyone ever actually steamed open a letter? we're wondering if there is anything we should be aware of before we attempt it....

Ellie requested that we stop and get our picture taken with one foot in Arizona and the other in Utah...so we did. Pretty nice looking gang! (you might have to load the larger version to see their faces)

Jennifer Sanchez of the Salt Lake Tribune spent some time with Marius and the others while in Utah and wrote a very nice article that was published today. If you get a chance to pick up the Tribune it is on the front page! If you don't, you can read the article online here:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10333255

Enjoy!

So there I was, wandering around the BYU Bookstore, thinking about the candy counter, and what did I see? "Jee's Bones" right in front of me on the shelf! I was so proud to think, "I know the author!" so I just had to take a picture! I walked down the row and found "Journey of the Heart," so that got a picture, too. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't finished "Journey" yet, but Reid and I are reading it together, so that's a little more difficult. Anyway, we both enjoy it so far, and I can't wait to see how everything ends up.

Congratulations on achieving a dream, Dave - what a great example to all of not giving up on something that is really important to you.

P.S. Will you sign my book for me? :)

click to see slideshow->

Here is the final version of the book cover for Journey of the Heart. For those of you who saw the first version, hopefully you will agree that this one is much better. It turns out that the Deseret Book buyers weren't too happy with the prior one either. So on Monday the publisher (after I told them what my extended family thought of the first one) found a picture of a new more appealing Jake. He's certainly not as appealing as the real Jake, but then few are. Anyway they pasted him in right on top of old grumpy boy and I think the result is much better. Let me know what you think. Books are supposed to be in the DB warehouses in the next few weeks and then 10 days after that in stores!

I think most of you are aware of the little boy named Marius that Jess met in Romania and we, along with a growing group of others, are trying to help get better medical attention and care. Steady progress is being made and thanks to your fasting and prayers miracles have and are occurring. I'll let Kristin fill you in on those while I focus on the more mundane.

We have set up a website for the effort at www.teammarius.org. It is in its infant stages but one of the features is an opportunity to send a message to Marius. Submitted messages will be translated and read to Marius to help brighten his days. So if you get a chance, send him a message.

This is a picture of Marius taken before the accident.