[ back in the 509 ]

just an fyi...

i'll be back in the 509 on Sunday....

bad for me....good for you

[ coming to you from...Priest Lake, Idaho ]

Just a quick post - Melissa and I are enjoying beers and pizza sticks at our favorite local hangout - Korners. It's just us until Friday and we're looking forward to just chilling!

It's been 9 days since we got here and I have no complaints yet - not even bored yet, Kevin! :) We had a great 4th of July, enjoyed other people's fireworks, went out to dinner a few times, had a delicious Huckleberry Daquiri - the first of many, I hope - read a book, taken a nap everyday, and started a new cross-stitch. The summer has just begun.

I hope everyone else had a super holiday and is enjoying the heat of July!!

[ Jilayne - I heard you may be up here in a few weeks....stop by!! ]

[ hearts to God...hands to man ]

The mission trip to Salt Lake was amazing. I don't have a lot of time now to post all the details, but I'll try to sum it up in a nutshell (plus, I don't have the right pictures to post right now, so they'll have to wait too).

Here are ten things I loved about the trip:

1. Watching 10 teenagers work hard everyday to benefit people less fortunate than themselves and barely hearing any complaints about it. They were troopers! They really embraced the idea of mission work - mission work is going to make you uncomfortable, it's going to make you work your butt off, it's going to be work you don't like to do, but remember the real reason for doing it. They were quite inspiring and kept such a positive attitude and demanded the rest of us keep a positive attitude as well.
2. Rescuing thousands of children's books that would have otherwise been incenerated and getting them ready to give to children that don't have books.
3. Hanging out with those 10 teenagers at night - playing cards, laughing, listening to their thoughts and perspective on the days events, getting to know them better, and appreciating everything they have to offer.
4. Watching John try to work his "chicken neck" like Ali - "Oh No You Didn't!"
5. Getting to see Jennie and have her show us around Temple Square.
6. Watching Ski Jumping at the Olympic Park in Park City for hours...amazing!
7. Working at Utah's Food Bank - incredible. We sorted over 4000 lbs of donated food and couldn't of even made a dent in the food left unsorted even if we would've stayed there for a week!
8. Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate our successful week in Salt Lake.
9. Two 12-hour drives with the only complaints coming from the part-time driver (me!). The kids were awesome. They made the road trip bearable!
10. Taking 10 teenagers to an organic restaurant with no menu - and everyone came away happy! (One World Cafe - opening a restaurant soon in SPOKANE!)

and number 11, since I just can't fit it in to 10: Spending a wonderfully relaxing day by the pool at Lagoon Water Park - totally unaware of the craziness going on in the rest of the park.

I'll post some pictures as soon as possible.

What an amazing experience. I've been away from John, Amy, Rachel, Cullen, Brittany, Jessica, Kellie, Lauren, Rex, Kate, Ali, and Zach for over a week and I miss them!!