Taylor Sweet Corn & Que festival

This 3-day weekend saw us in the Taylor/Snowflake area for some speaking assignments, meetings with missionaries and a special Mission President's fireside. Last year about this time, we found ourselves here meeting members the week before the Taylor Corn and Que festival. Local members urged us to stay for the event, but our schedule wouldn't allow it. When they offered us some of their famed sweet corn, we were truly sorry we couldn't stay and hoped to be able to make back up this year with the kids in tow... and here we are! After zone conference and school on Friday, everyone packed in the car to brave the holiday traffic and make it to Snowflake for our weekend of meetings. Saturday morning was ours as a family, and we've enjoyed every minute of it. Dad finally had a chance to see the Petroglyphs in 5 mile draw. We spent some time with foot races, catching grasshoppers, swings at the park, sword (mops) fights, and then had an hour left over to visit the corn festival. Wow it's good. Hopefully, we can find some to buy on our way home Monday after our meetings are done. It was great to just spend time together being silly.

Why we love the Olympics!

I Spy Jeffrey's Birthday

Can you find:

• The edge of the world; a better view; a book that's out of this world
• Arizona 25 cent piece; 12 fossilized shark teeth; smoother stones on the way
• $1,000,000; a trilobite; a "J" for Jeffrey; 50 bucks; a pocket guide & another
• A new twist on an old fav; star wars; a smoother fossil; classic Mattel toy
• an ART guide; a chicken dinner; zoo tycoon; $10 more smiles
• My Story; 3 Geodes; Frisbee master; favorite candy bar; 1,000 ways to SPY
  

Jeff had a great 7th birthday, and we sure had fun with him. Our great nephew, Josh Tolman, came into town just in time to celebrate. He was amazed as Jeff opened his 5th gift of rocks and was still just as ecstatic. He was in rock hound heaven. His 1st rock gift showed up at 6:45 am when the bishop showed up with a 'chicken dinner' and some 1000 year old Zuni pottery from his father's ranch. After school, the office couples spoiled him with presents and his own personalized rock pile cake. All the senior missionary couples came over for a dinner that night to celebrate. Later that night, he opened rock books, rock discovery tools, rock tumblers and rocks, rocks, rocks; including some from Amanda's friend that has a brother in the mining business; some rough grade amethyst for tumbling from our Superstition Mountain mines, rocks from China, fossils from Mexico and Germany; rock's from Grandma/pa's trip to the Arctic glaciers; and of course, rocks from his brothers & sisters just because. Grandpa Gene did get him $10...that he plans on using to buy more rocks. Go Jeff!

Charla Foganera del Presidente de la mision

Each month we hold two 'firesides' so that missionaries can bring people interested in learning about the church and listen to new members share their conversion experiences. Their thoughts are often moving and poignant as they express sincere and humble witnesses of Jesus Christ, His gospel and the difference it is making in their lives. There is a sweet spirit at these meetings enhanced by music from the missionaries.

We are lucky enough to have some very gifted musicians and vocalists in our mission. I wish that I could share a snippet of the beautiful music & sweet testimonies we heard tonight. It is incredible! There is nothing like a group of young missionaries 'singing' their testimonies to melt your heart. Sister Harper, an accomplished cellist played a duet with Elder Gee (a talented young pianist and composer). Even without words, the music is powerful and moving. After a few weeks of coaxing, we were able to convince one of our very talented sisters to sing a solo. She's very humble and doesn't want to draw attention to herself so has sung in small groups and choirs in previous firesides, but she is so gifted and loves to share her testimony through song we felt like we were 'burying' her talent by not having her sing more. (Her name is Rebecca Lopez. She has a couple of CD's in English/Spanish available at deseret book stores online.) We've listened to her CD a few times, but to hear her in person, accompanied by the testimonies of people she has been teaching, was a sweet experience. We then had a choir of young elders sing a song entitled, Joseph's 1st Prayer.

Since it is so central to our message of the restoration of Christ's church, we always ask the missionaries to sing this song either as a choir, duet, solo, quartet...Twice a month they share it with us, but no matter how many times I hear it, I am touched by the beauty of its message. It surprises me sometimes. I've known this story for as long as I can remember. A simple message, a simple song-but so profound and life changing, this idea that God is our loving, interested and attentive Heavenly Parent; that He listens to all our sincere prayers...and answers them. The Spirit of God can use music as a powerful tool to connect with our hearts to teach, confirm, and reconfirm important truths.

At each of these gatherings, Mark and I also have the opportunity to share a few thoughts. The 1st Sunday evening of every month, the fireside is in English. The 3rd Sunday, everything is in Spanish, so tonight was a Spanish fireside. It is about the only consistent time I speak in Spanish. Standing in front of all those people, besides feeling nervous and a little unsure of my ability to communicate in a language I'm not comfortable with, is the overwhelming desire to connect with these beautiful people and share with them something that is so precious and dear to me; something that adds to and gives purpose to my every day; something that I know will also bless their lives. I'm honestly not conversant in Spanish, in my mind I struggle to find the correct phrases, and to me, it doesn't sound like it's coming out right. But I do believe in spiritual gifts, gifts spoken of in the New Testament. I know that when someone bears their testimony of Jesus Christ, sincerely, that the Holy Ghost will add to that witness, carrying it to the hearts of those who sincerely listen. How grateful I am for this knowledge and for the opportunity to be a part of this great work. We love it. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love all my dear family and friends and hope you are well. Happy Sunday.
Firesides-I'm not sure where the name originated, but it's an informal gathering, or meeting, designed to build friendships and strengthen each other.

Happy Birthday Mark!

Here are a few birthday wishes sent from Mark's family all meant to go with the primary children's birthday song:

From his sister Jennifer:

mee mee mee meeee...

Happy happy birthday President dear,

We'd celebrate with you if we were near!

So have a slice of cake with all the fuss,

and happy happy birthday to you from us!

The next one came in from his sister, Laurie:

Happy, happy birthday Mark dear,

Happy days will come to you all year,

If I had one wish, than it would be,

That Phoenix would be close to H-A-W-A-I-I-E-E-E-E-E!!!!

Jen...yours is better. Plus you have a voice.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST FIRST BROTHER I'VE EVER HAD!!!!!!!

Just remember - I wanted to marry you when you were 1!

And David:

Happy, happy birthday to the first born son,

Now that I've turn 40 my memory's gone,

If I had a wish then it would be...

HEY, is that ice cream !?!?

And from Clayton (I like his best, cause I'd be in the same predicament):
I was getting quite nervous trying to think of how to come up with something funny and clever to go along with all the other birthday wishes, when my wife told me I didn't have to feel obligated to do so. , what a relief! :)

Happy Birthday!

Clayton & Janelle

The Native Inhabitants of our Home

!!!!WARNING!!!!

The following content may be too scary for some viewers...in other words Tom, don't let Emily see this.

When Forrest Hoyt stopped by to visit on Sunday, he shared all kinds of great new tricks with the kids. Previously, the kids were just happy spotting all the lizards that congregate on the south wall of our house each night soaking up what's left of the warmth from the sun. Sometimes the kids would be fast enough and clever enough to catch one. Forrest inspired the kids to master lizard catching...and...he showed them what to do next.When you first catch a lizard, they have some spunk in them. If you brush their mouths across your ear lobe, they'll get a little angry and bite and not let go.

Not all the kids were excited about having lizard earrings. Poor Amanda, the lizard was sitting on her shoulder for quite awhile before she noticed it. Can you see the lizard in the bottom corner.? While the kids were trying to catch one lizard, it jumped off the wall and landed on Lucky's back. He was almost as freaked out about it as Amanda. Forrest kept trying to get a lizard to stay on Dad's ear, but it wouldn't bite.Fortunately, this wasn't too much excitement for the night before school started. Everyone managed to fall asleep. And everyone managed to wake-up in the morning. The trouble is, now the kids have an even bigger fascination with the lizards.

Brandon caught one tonight and brought it in to show us. This one was still pretty feisty and kept nipping at his finger. We tried the dangle test by letting the lizard bite onto Brandon's finger and just hang there. Brandon was as calm as a caterpillar. At least until the lizard dropped from his finger to his leg. Then he jumped back and the lizard ran for it-straight under the coffee table.

The kids tried to fish him out, but couldn't find him. Mark lifted up the table and the kids searched the bottom of it. Then he pulled out all the drawers and everyone looked over every nook and cranny of those drawers. Finally we concluded it had found shelter somewhere else in the house. Everyone was OK with that. Who cares if there's a lizard in the house. Little creatures like that don't hurt anything. Then Talyor had to announce that he'd seen a scorpion just last week in the boys' bathroom. GREAT! Now Emily will never come to our house.

New Missionaries!

Departure dinners

Every 6 weeks, we have the greatest family home evenings. All of the missionaries that have completed their 2 years of service come to our house for a farewell dinner. They share great stories, play with the kids, sign baseballs and journals, take pictures, and 'feast'. We end the evening with a testimony meeting. It's a highlight of our experience here. I can't get enough of it. Look at this group! Aren't they incredible?

Let's start with the food-it's always fantastic. Sister Willis (one of our church service missionaries that lives in Mesa) always makes rolls and potatoes. Delicious! This incredible woman loves to cook and loves to share her talents with everyone. Her food is legendary around here. Those missionaries are so lucky-do they even know it? I've brainstormed a few recipes from Jen and Emily for the side dishes and have finally settled on one version or another of my mom's trifle for dessert. (My favorite is peaches and raspberries, but in honor of Elder Mackie, this month's trifle had chocolate pudding and Brownies in place of angel food cake and vanilla pudding. And, Elder Hamilton, our assistant that eats NO sugar had bananas a la strawberries courtesy of Taylor.) But the main attraction of the meal is the tri-tip that Mark prepares. (A recipe from our great friend Tommy Wilhelm-we miss you Tom & Marge!) This is something that Mark loves to do for the missionaries, something they love to eat, and if by chance there are left-overs, something the assistants appreciate.

The whole family helps to make this evening a success-from setting up to cleaning up. Everyone has a part to play-and they're doing a great job. I'm so proud of the way they are trying to help and work together. It is amazing to me how quickly Jessica can organize and rally the kids to wash, dry and put away all the dishes then slip in quietly to listen to her dad teaching the missionaries one final time. Mark opens up the scriptures in the Book of Mormon and New Testament that describe the relationship between our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. As often as I hear him tell it, I always find myself captivated and moved by the power of his testimony. The feeling in this setting is beyond my words to describe, but it creates the perfect setting for the missionaries to then share their testimonies about our Savior, Jesus Christ. We've been with these missionaries now for over a year, and I am amazed by the growth and development of their character as they've laid aside their own interests to bless and help others. We love these young people so much, it is hard to see them go, but we know there is so much more in store for them...and we know they have families at home that love them and are counting the seconds until they return.

It's usually late before the missionaries leave the house for some apartments we have a few doors down the street. As much as they love their families, they are anxious about returning home. Many of them are torn with desires to stay and continue this work they have come to love so much and the love and longing they have for their families. As a result, some of them hardly get to bed before it's time to come back to our house one last time for breakfast. Mark and I are up around 4:30 to dress and be ready when the missionaries show up between 5 and 5:30. Mark does all the cooking, carrying on a family tradition of waffles on the heavy duty, industrial double grid waffle iron. The missionaries are in and out in no time and off to the airport. This particular transfer was difficult since we were not only saying goodbye to so many missionaries we love, but also to 3 of our assistants: Elder Mackie, Elder Soane, and Elder Hamilton. Because these missionaries serve in our ward and work so closely with Mark, our family becomes particularly attached to them. We will miss these young men that have been a part of our family.

Thank you to all of the families that have supported these great missionaries for the past several months and shared them with us and with Arizona!Take care everyone, and make sure to keep in touch!!!

Steven!

OK, look closely at this picture, notice anything? Well, OK. Maybe you wouldn't notice anything, but it looks pretty great to us. The guy without the tie is Steven Hermann, one of our returned missionaries returning for a visit with our family.

He officially came out for a temple sealing of one of his recent convert families, but he really came out just to spend time with our family. That's our story anyway. He was only able to stay for the weekend-way too short-but we did the best to make the most of it. So we spent most of our time listening to him tell us stories. Wow! We miss those stories. Most of the time, we only said one or two lines and everyone would start laughing at some inside joke. I started to feel bad for everyone else around. Of course, he also was able to see missionary companions and another family, take some pictures of the Mesa Tempe for some art work he's creating. He even showed us his emo leg and introduced us to Cha-Cha. The kids now have several new Chuck Norris jokes to try out on the missionaries. The worst part of the weekend was that we had to say good-bye to him, again. The best part is at least we know we'll see him again. In fact, we're probably moving to Denver in 2 years. Thanks mom & dad Hermann for helping him come and visit our family!
Two more pictures just for fun. We haven't had helotes since Steven Hermann was with us as Elder Hermann, so we gave it another whack. They're not my favorite, but everyone else loves them. Poor mom, she couldn't eat them off the cob because she popped her jaw out yesterday "weeping and wailing and gnashing her teeth out at the kids." Just kidding. Too much stress probably. OK, helotes are simple if you have the right ingredients. boiled corn skewered on sticks. Brush on mayonnaise (I guess it's really best if the mayonnaise has been sitting out all day in a street vendor's cart, but we made due with mayo mom keeps in the fridge.) then sprinkle on cheese. There's some special kind of cheese from the Mercado, but we didn't have any so we used ground Parmesan. Then you sprinkle on a hot fruity spice called tajin and add a spritz of lime juice. Sounds gross, huh? I agree, but no one else in my family does. I think they like it just because they all love Steven.
We took Steven to the airport Sunday evening. He just barely missed seeing another returning returned missionary, Forrest Hoyt. Actually, Forrest and his family live in Mesa now. He taught the boys a new trick to play with all the lizards in our backyard. We'll post more about that later-in case you can't tell, Forrest just dropped a lizard on dad's shirt. That's why they're laughing. I guess it was kind of reunion week. We also had visits from Elder Thomas Higgs, Elder Nicholas Mallory (who's engaged!) and calls from some other missionaries like Elder Crozier, Sister Jacobsen and a couple others.

We love seeing all of you! Thanks for coming.

Amy & Peter are here at last!

We're so glad Amy and Peter were able to make a trip our way before the summer ended. They kept on with the tradition of fun new projects with an infomercial spectacular. Unfortunately, it's too big to post on you tube. Maybe they'll find a way to break it into sections and post at a later date. These pictures are from an arm wrestling competition we had the night the Hills came over. (Brian was kind enough to play Go Fish! with Brandon while we all played together. Ever since that night, Brandon keeps trying to imitate his mock English accent.) Sorry, also no pictures of 'murder in the dark' or rolling down the hill into the sprinklers at the golf course after Amy treated us to ice cream Saturday night. It was great just to be together and hold my little sister after such a long time of not seeing or talking to her, and to play with Pete before he heads off for grand adventures in Washington DC, Go Pete! We love you both and look forward to ANOTHER visit!

Chuck E. Cheese

Last week while mom and dad were busy with interviews the kids and I took a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Ever since then Jeffrey has been asking to go back...even I had forgotten how much fun it is!

Taylor helping Jack(he is the little boy that I babysit, we brought him along...this was his first Chuck E. Cheese experience)

This is the nasty Chuck E. Cheese pizza that made us all feel sick to our stomachs!
It was a fun day!

Pday

Two Monday's ago the rest of the kids and I went to play ultimate frisbee with some of the missionaries on their preparation day. Brandon and Elder Endemano came up with a great game. Each player takes a position on either side of a huge puddle left from a storm the night before. They then proceed to throw a basketball over the puddle to the other person. It was a fun game until this happened...

Apparently Brandon didn't quite throw it hard enough...

So Amanda and Elder Endemano stand on one side and I stand on the other side. We find old water bottles and milk jugs to throw towards the basketball to try and get it to move to one side or the other.
Then Jeffrey looks out into the distance and spots an abandoned shopping cart. So off Brandon and Jeffrey go to fetch the cart.
First we send Jeffrey out to retrieve the lost basketball...but his little muscles just aren't strong enough. So the great Brandon takes a shot at it... and fails.
So Elder Endemano gets the great idea to lay on the bottom of the cart to wheel themselves along. Elder Soane and Amanda even gave them a push out there. For some reason Elder Endemano decided he didn't want to get all wet so he backed out.
In the end Brandon walked into the water and got the basketball. It was a fun game though!

Chalupas!

I can't tell if this will look good to any of you, but with the smell of seasoned pork still heavy in the air, it looks great to me!

Chalupas were on our menu tonight. Arizona has so many wonderful members of the church, especially the relief society sisters. That's where this recipe came from. Every 6 weeks we hold zone conferences with each group of missionaries. The meetings begin early in the morning and end around 1:00. By that time 40-45 starving 19-22 year-olds file out into the multi-purpose room for lunch. Each time, a group of relief society sisters has a feast waiting for them-with dessert. Sister Peggy Merrell from the Mesa Kimball East Stake was kind enough to share this recipe from a lunch a couple of weeks ago. This was our first time trying it, and what a hit!

3 lb. Pork roast

4 cups beans -Soak overnight

1 medium onion (chopped)

2 cans diced green chilies

3 TBSP. Chili powder

2 cloves garlic, (minced)

2 tsp. Oregano

2 tsp. Cumin

Salt to taste (add at the end to prevent beans hardening)

Combine all ingredients and cover with water. Cook (covered) in a 300 degree oven for 4-6 hours. Check occasionally for water, and add more if necessary. Shred meat and add back to beans. *The older your dried beans are, the longer this will need to cook. We made ours in a crock pot.

Serve this meat mixture over a bed of Fritos corn chips; and add any of these toppings: grated cheese, chopped lettuce, chopped green onions, diced tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, black olives, salsa, hot sauce.

These lunches are great all around. The missionaries love being together. The sisters, many of them mothers of missionaries serving somewhere else in the world, love to serve them. At the conclusion of the lunch, the sisters share a recent experience they've had sharing the gospel. It lifts the spirits of the missionaries to know the members are out doing there part. They in turn lift the spirits of the sister by singing Called To Serve. I wish you could be there!

Snowflake

One of my favorite mission activties is traveling around to meet with the missionaries. That's how we've spent the last two weeks. I have the opportunity to attend each area's zone development meeting. Watching the missionaries interact with each other while they follow up and practice the training they've received from zone conference helps me see how much they grow and develop during the two years they serve here. During the meeting, Mark will pull out each missionary for a personal interview. The more we get to know these great young men and women, the more we come to love them.

Summer vacation yields the benefit of having the kids come with us. Taylor wanted to come to the meetings, so we decided to have all the boys go with us. When our travels take us to the northern area of the mission, we stay at this bed and breakfast in Snowflake. http://www.heritage-inn.net/ That's how we spent last Thursday and Friday. We all love this beautiful place and its proprietor, Dean Porter. He's an attentive host, even loaning us his van once so I could take the kids to see some local sights. His love and knowledge for his community color the history and stories he shares with all his guests. Flowers, flowers everywhere! I love it. Roses, geraniums, lavendar, hosta, flowering fruit trees. It's about 10 degrees cooler in Snowflake; a refreshing break from the heat of the valley. It was nice to sit outside and go through paperwork with the warm sunshine and cool breeze. Here, Mark is reading letters from the missionaries. Each missionary writes him a weekly letter about how he/she is doing. We have just under 200 missionaries, and depending on the missionary, the letter could be anywhere from 5 lines to two full pages of reading. That's a lot of reading! (Improving your handwriting wasn't always something I'd thought of as a way to prepare for a mission, but now I know better.) Again, the letters are a great way to get to know them and how to best help and support them. Thursday was typical of our interview schedule. We left the house just after 6:00 am and drove an hour and a half to Payson. After finishing with the missionaries there between 1 & 2, we had a quick snack and then drove another 2 hours to Snowflake. We spent the rest of the evening with the kids, studying/letter reading, and on the phone with the missionaries (there are always calls with the missionaries, but the evening is when most of them come in). We usually walk across the street to Eva's Mexican restaurant (my favorite dinner is the carne machaca-WOW!). Then we head back to our room to stretch out and finish up the days work. There are 11 different rooms, and they are all beautiful. This is one of my favorite rooms, even though I can't remember its name. I also love the honeymoon suite and the Lincoln room. Most of the time we stay in the main house, but the kid's room was in the remodled carriage house. They like 'being on their own", but I think there's always a struggle for who will have control of the remote.
SWEET BREADS! Upon arriving at the bed and breakfast, Bishop Porter has an array of sweet breads, cake to you and me, waiting for his guests. If the plate empties (and I admit, it has happened), he always has more in the pantry. He's also happy to offer homemade Mexican hot chocolate in the winter, sodas, and popcorn. I think all the snacks are a big draw for kids.
Another attraction is breakfast. Taylor is squeezing some fresh lemons on his German baby, our family's breakfast of choice at the inn. Breakfast is always accompanied by more sweet breads, piles of fresh fruit, bacon, sausage, toast and home made jams (the cinnamon peach is my favorite). You can also order french toast, waffles, hot cakes, omletes, eggs... but we are creaturse of habit so I know he stocks up on lemons when we're coming to town. Bishop Porter gives all his guests a copy of the recipe, but we've only made it once. It's just better the way he (and his cook/assistant Christina) does it in the cast iron pans. Since we need to leave early and begin interviews, we usually have the breakfast room and Bishop Porter to ourselves.
Next door to the bed and breakfast is an old fashioned soda shop and antique store. It's run by Sister Porter (wife of Bishhop Porter), but closes early. The kids are always excited when we get there early enough to get some ice cream or soda at the big counter. Brandon loves perusing all the antiques for sale; especially those in the basement. He has a wild imagination.

I'm not sure if he does it intentionally, but every time we bring the kids there is a cup of fish pellets on the bench by the koi pond. Jeffrey loves it. It's one of the first and last stops he makes.

Though our trips are brief, we enjoy the town and the people we've met there. We're home now, but will be back before we know it.