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We had such a wonderful two days of conference. We were blessed to hear the Prophet of the Lord speak four times and noticed he is beginning to age but non the less full of wisdom.  Petey and Grandpa Larry built me deck #1.  Elder and Sister will be SO happy about that.  Hopefully they will finish deck #2 before the bad weather hits this weekend. (I will post pictures soon mom and dad)

After conference was over I decided I had earned a bubble bath, which are rare, and then the screaming began.  Not normal screaming, the "I'm Hurt" screaming.  Millie had fallen backwards (how many times do we ask our kids not to lean back on chairs) and hit her head on the book shelves.  Head injuries produce a lot of blood as I soon discovered. Blood on cotton white hair isn't so pleasant looking. So, one hour and six staples later, with a pink popsicle and a lot of hugs we took her home. She decided she would follow in the footsteps of her cousin Tyson, who just recently got his staples removed.  Hopefully she will think twice the next time she decides to lean back in her chair ;-)

Where in the world has the time gone?

My last post was the first of March.  With the exception of the bad weather, so much is changing.  It is now May and as we close up April, I had better get some photos out there.

The beginning of April was like Christmas for Moimes.  She has been patiently awaiting the day she could get her point shoes and it finally came.  She also completed her end of year recital where they performed Romeo & Juliet.  She was sad to miss both sets of grandparents at this special event.  Her dance was chosen by the local high school to be performed at one of their special events so I have posted it on YouTube for you to see.  You can only get to it by following this link because it is an unlisted movie.  Moimes is the first one out.  She is also one of the dancers in the first solo.  It has been fun to watch her love of ballet come out in her toes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I1a7z04abE

May brought Chill's birthday.  I decided that I had been a neglectful mom, having only thrown him one very small birthday party in nine years.  I had to enlist the help of Petey to create the invite.

Chill is a very special and unique individual.  Petey and I are thankful for his enthusiasm of life each and every day. He tends to get into trouble a lot but we realize this is just part of the curious nature he has about him.  We decided the best fit for a party for him was to have a marshmallow war.  We have a neighborhood full of great kids his age so it was a fun filled two hours spent with good friends, good weather (whew!!) and a bunch of flying marshmallows.

Lastly, we are thankful as the year ends for a successful school year.  Cola has really worked hard in junior high and we are so proud of him for good grades.  We have great teachers at our local schools and are so happy to be where we live.  I am looking forward to better weather and more sleep.

Millie's World

A couple of weekends ago we went to Provo to say goodbye to grandma and grandpa.  On the way, Millie spotted a huge dinosaur on the side of a big building.  She just knew there were more dinosaurs inside and since a dinosaur birthday party last year has taken a rather strong liking to the creatures.  So last weekend we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point.  I have to say, as museums go, this was a great exhibit.  A lot of hands on experiences and so much education on those prehistoric creatures.  We had a great time as a family, minus Cola who is having an even better time with cousins in California.

On a side note, a highlight of the day for me was the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU.  For those of you in Utah, I highly recommend it (rent the iPads as well - makes for a much more educational experience). Tickets are free. http://carlbloch.byu.edu/exhibition.php

The Sister and Elder Welcome Party

Petey and I had the privilege of taking Dad and Mom to the MTC tonight. It was quite an experience. Upon arriving at the MTC, we were stopped by security who asked us what we needed. Dad replied "my wives and I are entering the MTC as missionaries". Petey began laughing at the look on the security guards face and when Dad realized his mistake he corrected himself and we were allowed through the gate. We had a good laugh about being polygamist for the next 10 seconds.

Next stop, the front doors. For those of you who have ever experienced the MTC you know the 'drop off' is quite an ordeal. Hoards of people standing around saying goodbye to their missionaries, luggage everywhere and lots of tears. Well, Mom and Dad's good bye was quite anti-climatic. There was not one person in sight. Just the four of us standing on the curb with six pieces of luggage. Petey wondered where the fanfare was and Dad commented that nobody cared about the old fogies. Petey even had to go inside and ask for assistance. The greatest moment of all was uncle Bill (Dad's 91 year old brother), who apparently has a key to the back door of the MTC, came walking up the stairs towards the front doors, to greet them. I knew as we left those two spiritual giants that they were in good hands. The Lord sent them an angel to usher them into their next great adventure in the face of uncle Bill.

Love you Elder and Sister and will miss you so very much.

Hello Petey, Goodbye Elder and Sister Stacey

Of course Petey is home now and had a fabulous trip. He has lasting memories that I am sure will be coming to a home DVD near you soon. More on this later...

Just got finished teaching mom and dad how to Blog. They leave for the MTC tomorrow and need a good way to communicate to us. Mom may get computer literate yet, but she said not to count on it. Worse case scenario, the missionaries can help her out. She has come a long way in this big internet world of ours. The fact that she can send emails is a miracle. Dad is a lot better. We will be sad to have them gone but are so excited for this next adventure. You can already feel the blessings pouring in. The people of Albania are lucky to have them for eighteen months. From here on out I will refer to them as Elder and Sister.

We're all back to the ship now safely. Showered, shaved, fed... Feel human again. That was a remarkable experience. As we approached the village in long canoes, we were surprised by dozens of canoes with Asmat tribesmen standing up and shouting in unison. They surrounded us and then as we came to the next bend, another batch joined them. Very intimidating.

They took us ashore and into their long house which was over 100' long. Only men are allowed in it. I know... it ain't right. We sat down, surrounded by strangers as they argued about the size of the donation we were to bring... renegotiations in third world countries are common:) Funny how being surrounded by dozens of men wielding weapons motivates you to meet their demands. From this point forward, we would eat their food and sleep in their "man house."

Man House (Jason Howard)

They divided us into small groups where we went into their homes go eat with them. They fed us charred things filled with white powder which none of us knew how to eat. Apparently you're not supposed to eat the white powder but most of us didn't know that.

Segou and fish

Sleeping was very difficult because the ground was very hard and because we were literally sweating for hours while we tried to sleep. That, plus the smelly men, incessant drum beating and screaming kids made it very difficult. Most were praying for the sun to come up to end their misery. The next day, instead of having segou and fish, we had something completely different... fish and segou. That was pretty much every meal. Of course their are no utensils so we ate with out hands. Then we got in the boats and headed upriver with a hunting and segou gathering party. We trekked forever through the thick, muddy jungle. We tried to stay dry but all eventually gave up. If you stepped on the wrong mud, you went up to your knee or waste. It wasamazing how inadequate we were for this travel compared to them. I was spell bound to watch their system of gathering segoa. They cut down two 60 foot trees, shed the palm fronds, cut away the bark, and then chopped up the inside marrow of the tree within itself. Then they made an aqueduct off the ground put of the palm fronds, plugged it up at the bottom, and prepared to filter the segou through it. I wondered where they would get the water... well, right out of the soppy ground we were standing on. Dig a hole, pull out the mud, and you have water... plus all kinds of bacteria and disease I'm sure. Then they filtered the water through the segou and the result is a sticky, pasty, white stuff. Each tree creates enough segou to feed four families for a week or two. We personally experienced each of the thousands of insect species while we watched. You try to fight it but eventually give up. We finally limited our bug swats to only large spiders. It's amazing how they go long distances to the tree, create a processing plant out of the byproducts of the tree, and process it right there. Conserves calories. While they were processing, the hunting party got a wild boar. They brought it over, butchered it, and started cooking some of it right there. Tasted pretty good when you've been living on segou. We all waded back through the mud to the canoes, amazed at how efficient and skilled they were, but humbled by how hard they work to sustain life. Everyone was dreading another night in the "man house". We ate some boar stew and rice with our fingers and began the business of suffering through the night.

Man House

Some slept some of the time. During the night many were awakened by a loud argument outside the house. A guy came in the "man house" to get a spear to help "settle" the argument. At one point Jason felt something crawling on his feet. He looked down to find one of the Asmat men playing with his toes. We're still trying to figure that one out. With the first hint of light, everyone was up, packed, and ready to head back to the comforts of the ship. As we journeyed for hours back down river, we contemplated the contrast in our lifestyles and left with keen appreciation for ours.

Vance Cook

A couple more nights aboard this ship and we'll be to Timika where we begin to fly back home over a couple days. See you all soon, Vance

Here are some random pictures that were sent after they got back on the boat. Thanks to Facebook :-)

The only proof I have that Petey was on this trip. I did receive two random texts from unknown phone numbers claiming he was Petey and that all was well. Thankful to all of the other wives who kept me up to date about what was going on during this trip.

When in the world is Petey coming home........

Petey's family has all been sick. Millie has stopped wondering when her dad is coming home and has replaced it with "when will this cough ever go away"?? Mom's usually never do get a sick day in but single mom's definitely don't have the time.

Some of the other wives heard from their husbands on Tuesday and here is what they sent my way.

Vance Cook:

"I can't find the words to describe the amazing adventure we've been on. Surreal maybe. Scuba diving and snorkeling some of the most beauriful reefs in the world. Trekking through the jungle to see wallabies. Playing around fresh waterfalls that dump right into the ocean. A couple of us learning the hard way why you don't try to swim back through the waterfall after visiting the cave behind it. Eating the lobster and fish at night that you caught during the day. Everyone is well.

waterfalls at Kiti Kiti - Day 7

We've see dolphin, rays, lobster, turtles, sea snakes, lion fish, a shark and many other amazing creatures. The diving has been fantastic.

Raja Ampat - Day 2

Tomorrow morning early begins the last major phase of our adventure. We're getting long boats (canoes) and traveling hours up the river. We're anchoring our schooner in the bay while we're gone. We'll live with the extremely primitive Asmat tribe for 2 days and 2 nights. We'll eat what they eat, hunt what they hunt, and sleep where they sleep. We're trying to tank down as much food as possible since we don't know what or when we'll eat again. The group is excited but suffering from feelings of trepidation."

Jason Howard:

We went lobster hunting a couple of days ago and caught about 20 lobsters. We built a huge fireplace on the beach. The next day we sailed a couple of days and spent a lot of time playing cards and Yahtzee.

Triton Bay - Day 8 (Petey is the snorkeler in the brown Hawaiian trunks)

It's around 7:00 am now in Indonesia and we are in a very poor, small village. Very surreal. In the Muslim countries, there is a prayer signal that goes off all day and night. We woke up to one at 3:00 am.

Petey:

Headed home. Just got a text from Petey. They are loading up on the Atasita and beginning their long trek toward the airport. Didn't get too many details but just relieved he survived the Asmat experience. (Tal - the Asmat people wear those fun nose rings because they feel it is a decoration that makes them beautiful and expresses who they are.)

Atasita - Roughing it!!