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10/23/11 AJ's Hump Day for his mission & meeting an author

10/23/11

So this is your 1 year mark...later this week...can you believe it?  It seems really strange that it could already be a year and like you've been gone a lifetime...all at the same time!  You've learned and grown so much.  Remember wondering and worrying and the what if's...you know it all now!  I hope this next year goes as fast for us all and you are home soon!

So this week has been about like all the others.  Work is busy as ever but I am getting better and better at my new program and while I don't necessarily like everything about it I am learning my way around it pretty good.  I have found some cheater methods to do things quicker and things are moving along at work.

We had our 2 day conference Thursday and Friday this week and most of the talks centered around our new program so I think I learned a few new things and will have some things to try when I get back Monday.  It's the first conference in YEARS where I felt like I actually learned much.  So I guess that's a positive!  The IT department hooked me up with an apple so I was able to be online working and looking up email etc during the whole conference.  I took a pile of work with me and got about 5 hours worth of work done during the conference.  (Course it took me 8 hours to do the 5 hours worth of work due to slow connection...but hey...it entertained me and kept me awake!)

The girls got to meet Marilyn Arnold this week (a local author that's written a dozen or more books).  She was very interesting.  She talked to the girls about how to get ideas for writing and showed them news articles where she got different ideas for her books.  I think Katie ate it up.  Katie seems to really enjoying creating stories and making stuff up.  Katie is in the story telling festival at school and this year is telling a story she wrote herself.  (I think it needs a little help focusing and bringing in the idea...but it is a cute story!)
We watched the Condie's kids Friday night.  They seemed really comfortable here.  They seem to really just settle in and play and have a good time.  When the evening was getting late we cleaned them up (they'd been playing in the dirt in the back yard all evening) and put on a movie.  Little Cade came and sat in my lap and I tickled his feet for a few minutes and he feel right to sleep.  It was so cute!  We gave them the girls play house this weekend too.  The girls no longer play in it since they are too tall and it was just making piles of dirt and weed in the yard.  So this a.m. to thank us, Sister Condie brought by cinnamon rolls.  Ummmmm.....Yummy!  A whole pan full.  They were gone quick!

Friday night is the Halloween party at church (will they do anything like that in your neck of the woods?)  We are having chili/soups and rolls. The kids will all dress up and then they are having a "carnival".  There will be 15 stations that the kids will travel to like donut on a string, bean bag toss, pin the nose on Nephi, fishing...I don't know.  They are all tied in to bible themes or BOM themes somehow and will have prizes awarded.  Should be pretty cool.  The YW are in charge of 5 stations, the young men 5 and then the other 5 were divided among R.S., Elders and H.P.  I think they are doing a spook alley up on the stage too.  Lots of stuff.  Halloween is on Monday and I'm taking the day off work and will go to school with the girls and help with parties in both their classrooms.  So busy week ahead!  And I still don't know what I'm going to be?!?!!???  Any ideas?!

Well happy 1 year out and can't wait to hear about your exciting ventures this week!  
Love you lots and pray for you lots.  Mom.

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