St George Utah

When we left Provo we headed for St. George Utah


I love California




But .............

I had no idea St. George was so
gorgeous!!!!

We stopped to see our friends Tode and Brad Hafen that we met at the MTC before we left for our mission. They served in South Africa while we were in Ukraine. While we were at Brad and Tode's home we had a visit from the Whitehead's their son was serving in Ukraine with us. It was so good to finally meet them.

What was suppose to be a one day visit turned into three. We had so much fun with Brad and Tode and felt like we had known them all our lives. We went to Zion and Bryce Canyons and then spent the night at their cabin in an amazing place called Pinto. We had our first Quad rides and were instantly hooked.

Well not only hooked on riding quads but...........

on St. George,..........Bryce Canyon, Zion, Pine Valley,

Pinto, Hot tubbing under the stars at the cabin, waking up to homemade waffles, it was so much fun we hated to leave.

We had such a wonderful time at the cabin and staying with Tode and Brad.

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I found my camera

I'm back again.

Bruce kept telling me it wasn't really lost, he was sure we would find it and we did.

IT WAS IN THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well, just glad to have it back. so much to tell.....

We've been spending time with some very special people

Our daughter Karrissa and her husband Brad and their amazing children

Maverick


CASH




Monroe,

and our son Nate

AND THEN WE WENT TO UTAH AND MET UP WITH SOME MORE AMAZING PEOPLE

this is just a sneak peek of what we have been up to..........................

we have to get to a Dental appointment and Bruce is going to come in any minute and wonder why I still have my pajamas on when our appointment is in less than an hour but I just had to post a quick update.

More later
I promise

Our friend Tode we met her and her husband Brad at the MTC and they served in Africa

Elder Whitehead's mom and dad

we saw them in Saint George

wonderful people

Our reunion at the Jacob's with a few of the returned missionaries

Elder Woodhead's mom, we met at Education Week and went to lunch and a few classes as well

We went to Elder Oldroyd's homecoming and saw Elders Carlson, Johnson, and Crossley

more later on that great reunion

Utah

My mom and I just had a wonderful 5 days together. We left Sacramento Tuesday to drive to Salt Lake. Yesterday I put my mom on an airplane in Salt Lake to go back to Sacramento, then I picked Bruce up at the airport a few hours later. My mom and I had such a great time at in Salt Lake. We spent 3 days touring Temple Square, Welfare Square and the Humanitarian Center. She fell in love with all the Sister Missionaries we met. I have never had so much time to enjoy Temple Square.

Bruce and I are headed for Provo later today. We are so excited for Education Week and to see so many of our missionary friends again next Saturday. Sunday we are headed for Saint George and Las Vegas. Where we are hoping to see more friends who we met at the MTC, Tode and Brad Hafen, they served their mission in South Africa. I am also hoping to be able to get together with Dixie who was such an inspiration to me while I was on my mission.
I still haven't found my camera so sadly, no pictures

Were having a picnic for any returned missionaries in the area at the Jacob's home in Orem on 8-22-09 at 1pm.
127 West 1700 South
Sister Jacob's cell 801-995-0560 spread the word and hope to see you there! Bring a salad or dessert!!!!

We're coming to Utah

Bruce and I are going to be in Salt Lake City August 15th and Provo Aug 16-21st for Education Week. We are hoping to see some of our Mission Friends who live in the area during our trip maybe for dinner. Call me or write and let's get together OK.
melinda_kinghorn@hotmail.com

we're in the house

Now if I could just find my camera I would post a picture!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, we got our computer hooked up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I can finally post again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have moved everything out of our storage unit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

everything out of Brad and Karrissa'a house,

we have had half of our new couch delivered,

and 6 of the 8 chairs to our dining table have been delivered and assembled

which brings me to this.............................

my husband who does not consider himself much of a handyman,

has assembled 6 Dining Chairs, 2 end tables, a Linen Cabinet,

and single handedly connected our Internet (saving us $200.00)

I was so impressed with the internet challenge, because he had to call technical support several times to get assistance and I didn't even hear him raise his voice once.

who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

we have been so blessed to have had help with this move from our son, Nate and daughter Karrissa and her husband Brad.

We are so grateful to our son-in-law who moved everything out of storage, picked up and delivered all our new furniture and even came over and power washed our new house and washed all the windows, inside and out. We are so lucky to have such an awesome young man for a second son.

I can't wait to invite you all over for a visit.

Mission Life

Today we had the opportunity to speak with the High Council at church and tell them about our mission. We sat down at a conference table that was surrounded by about 12 men in suits and were given 10 minutes to share our mission experiences.

Everytime we have the opportunity to talk about our mission I get so homesick for Ukraine and our dear friends there. It is impossible to sum up 18 months of missionary service in 10 minutes. I couldn't sleep last night as I thought about the most important things I should remember to share.

My mind raced...... I must remember to mention the Health Fair,

and the Strengthening Families classes,

oh......... and I should tell the wonderful stories some of the members of the church shared with us about how their families were using some of the skills they learned in the classes,

and oh.................... I have to mention how much we loved having the missionaries in our home for district meetings each week, and how much we learned from them,

and what a miracle it was to see Olga get baptized and to see she and Vitaly married and planning to go to the temple,

and I have to mention sweet Anya, and Marina and her family and what an inspiration they were to us,

and I must tell them about the faithful Saints who save all year to go to the temple in Freiberg,

and I have to mention our wonderful Mission Presidents and their wives and how much we felt loved and supported by them,

and I must remember to share how much my testimony of Jesus Christ grew, and how our marriage was strengthened, and I can't leave out the wonderful experience we had at the Missionary Training Center,

and finally, I must remember to mention that we thought we were going to Ukraine to serve the people of Ukraine but after serving their for 18 months we learned that we went to Ukraine for our own personal growth.

Which really is the most important thing.......................

Bruce and I learned so much about ourselves, and one another, things we could have only learned through this incredible experience.

My mind raced all night........

and as I sat around that table and tried to convey the feelings of my heart and how much I loved being a missionary I simply had to trust the Lord would help me to find the words that would convey the truly life changing experience UKRAINE was for us.

I remember a conversation with President Fry shortly before we left as he counciled us to share the wonderful experiences we had as missionaries and not to focus on the challenges we faced.

Looking back, the challenges seem small and insignificant.

There is nothing left to say.

A part of me will always be in Ukraine. I will hold a very special place in my heart for the incredible people I met in Ukraine.

.

July update

We went to the pancake breakfast and parade with Brad and Karrissa for the 4th of July. The children rode their bikes in a parade. We could only locate these two children for the picture the others were off having fun with their friends.
Most days we spend our time with these cuties. This is Maverick and Cash.
Bruce, Karrissa and I have been going to the gym every morning and working out and then take the four kids swimming. Some days we all pile in the van and go to Walmart of Costco for a little shopping adventure.

Bruce, Nathan, and myself at dinner

Once a week we meet our son Nate for dinner and conversation. He is doing great. We are so happy to spend time with our family again.

Well, I can't believe we have been home for two months now. I use that term loosly. HOME that is because we still don't have one. We are about 80% sure we will be moving into our new house this week. We have even purchased a new couch and some bedroom furniture and are moving it in next week even if the house hasn't closed. That is how confident we are that it will close in the next few days. We have been driving by the house every now and then just to imagine living there. I can't wait to get my things out of the storage boxes and finally have a place to call HOME again.

Bruce and I are glad to be back in America and it was awesome to celebrate the fourth of July here in America however, we couldn't help but reflect on what we were doing last fourth of July and how wonderful it was to spend the day with all the missionaries celebrating the great country that most of us were born and raised in.

There is nothing like missionary life. We miss it soooooo much. We miss so many things about it. I can't say enough about how much it changed us. We have had a few opportunities to speak at Church about our mission experience and it makes us miss it sooooo much and really appreciate what a great opportunity it was for us. i think about all the missionaries every day and about the sweet members of the church we came to love and we miss them so much.

Bruce is off to a San Francisco Giants game today and I have a few hours to myself at the Hotel that we are staying in for a few days. So I am enjoying being able to blog again but I have to go for now. Blessings and Love to you all.