Mom's Wild Adventure

My PR trip to Florida was probably one of the most interesting ones I have ever been on. Riding on a military plane in a jump seat was quite an experience, especially when we headed home with turbulent weather and a tornado watch at Carswell. We could go all over the plane including up front and only had to wear seatbelts at takeoff and landing. Watching the mid-air refueling was fascinating but the highlight was probably the 20-minute helicopter ride around Cape Canaveral, swooping in and out of buildings, etc. They were preparing for this weekÂ’s night launch. That would be a site to see. We had two parachute demonstrations, a demo on loading a fighter in 40 minutes to be ready for warfare, and emergency response demos were all good too. The CoCo Beach Hilton was excellent. We had military food twice which was quite good and really cheap. (We ate free) An example - egg drop soup - 20, baked chicken - 90. I had my own room with 2 queen beds. The espirit de corps of the troops was magnificent. Our colonel had quit a job as a pilot at American Airlines to come back to the service after 911. It was great to see thecamaraderiee and devotion of the military personnel. I guess that was part of the plan, but I now understand why Daddy loved being in the Air Force.

Tsk Tsk

So for all of you out there who FORGOT MELINDA'S BIRTHDAY, shame on you! I was the only one who called! And from what she told me, it was pretty sad knowing that her loving sisters and even her mother forgot to call her and send some birthday wishes (even though to mom's defense she had already given her a card and a present.) But anyway. Happy Birthday two days ago Melinda! Oh, and John's b-day is today for anyone that is interested...but you don't have to call him. :)

Who Does Tommy Look Like?

I think that Tommy looks a lot like a young Kile in this picture. What do you guys think?

Our blog is being spammed!

Okay I have no idea how that post got on there. All I know is that they must have gotten the email address to post directly to the blog and emailed to it. How WEIRD! Makes me feel that the blog really isn't safe... We will see what we can do about that! Hm...

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Missy's Big Announcement

I am proud to announce that I have accepted a new position within the D Publishing Enterprise as Production Manager of two new pubs in a new division called Patience Publishing. This is a new company started by our publisher and one of the editors of People Newspapers to purchase existing magazines and start-up new ones. I will be managing two titles: Land Report (monthly) and Golf Connoisseur (quarterly). I am sad to leave Custom Publishing because I have made some wonderful friends, but the time seemed right and the opportunity will also include nearly a 20% pay increase so I couldn't turn it down. Everyone is excited to bring me on since I've been with D for almost 3 years and will make for a smoother transition. I'm looking forward to a new opportunity to show what I'm capable of. Mom is taking us out to Spaghetti Warehouse next Wednesday for their $4.99 spaghetti special on Wednesday nights to celebrate. Anyone who wants to come along is more than welcome to join in the festivities!

Anna's School Fundraiser

Okay, I know this is totally uncool of me, but there's no one else over here that I can ask, because they all have kids in school! Anna is having her only school fundraiser of the year next week, and it's a Walk-A-Thon. A lot of schools are turning to fundraisers like this because they are 100% profit. All I ask is that you donate $1, or more if you like. It's not a lot of money, it will help out Anna's school, and I'm not asking you to buy cheesy wrapping paper, or cookie tins from a catalog. The money is due by Oct. 27, so please help if you can! Thanks!

Cook-off

Since we are doing the Biggest Loser, the Cook-off this year is pretty easy to figure out, we're doing Healthy Recipes. You must include the nutritional facts of your entry so that the rest of us will know what we're eating. That means fat, calories, calories from fat and servings per dish. If you bring your recipe too then we can share them and have things to cook while we're all working on losing weight. As for everyone who isn't involved in the Biggest Loser, I guess it wouldn't hurt to eat a healthy meal once in a while! If you have any questions let me know!

Choir Tour

We're headed off to Salt Lake City next week for our Evening Song "Tour." We're super excited cause we get to sing on Temple Square. This is our biggest gig yet and we hope to impress. We'll make sure to post lots of pictures. Meanwhile, listen to two of my favorite Evening Song songs.

http://media.putfile.com/I-Will-Not-Leave-You-Comfortless

http://media.putfile.com/My-Heart-is-Longing-To-Praise-My-Savior

Our Eventful Stake Conference

My ward choir was asked to sing in Stake Conference, which was yesterday, in front of more than 1,100 people! I was also asked to lead the congregational hymns. I was very nervous, because I don't like to get in front of a lot of people for any reason! Well, the choir did great! I had 48 people singing in the choir, and the Stake Pres. said that it looked like all of the McKinney 5th Ward was singing in the choir, and he was pleased at our numbers. I am very thankful for all of the people who supported the choir! It made my SO MUCH job easier! We sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" first, and for the closing hymn, the choir sang "The Morning Breaks." The choir sounded wonderful for both songs, but the closing song was very interesting. Apparently, Danny lost Tommy in the beginning of the song (he was in the Primary room), and while Danny and Anna were frantically looking for Tommy everywhere (which is difficult since there are so many people in the building), Tommy found his way to me! I looked down in the middle of the song to see Tommy standing there, with his trusty large, white stirring spoon that he takes EVERYWHERE, and he's saying "Mama! Mama!" I almost had a heart attack! I couldn't stop conducting, and some of the members of the choir were trying very hard not to laugh! Well, it got worse, Tommy ran to the top of the choir seats where there are some light switches and the switch that lowers the large screen, and proceeded to turn the lights on and off! Luckily he didn't lower the screen, but I was HORRIFIED! As soon as the song ended, I grabbed Tommy and we got out of there! I had no idea that Danny didn't know where he was and I was so upset! Danny had no idea what happened and was relieved to find me with Tommy. He was upset that Tommy disrupted the final song, but we were both glad that he didn't find his way outside, and that he was safe! This will be the most memorable Stake Conference ever!

Progress on Paw’s house

Connie, Gary, Romanda, Michael and myself have worked at Paw’s two-story place all week and it looks really good like it did when he first moved in. We thought someone was interested in buying it but we do not believe that will pan out. We are planning a porch estate sale September 23 - the same day as the Womens Conference where Ginny is in charge of dinner. We are leaving some of the furniture and stuff inside because it looks so good. I cleaned the chandelier over the dining room table using the method Dad told me they used to clean the Temple chandelier and it looks wonderful - all sparkly. Romanda worried that I would fall so she stood right there to catch me. This has been a lot of work but a lot of fun. We found the spoon issued to Paw by the Air Force to eat from. We will draw straws for it and a couple of other items. I am keeping the little red truck and will make it available for those who need to haul stuff. Even though it is a 1990, it only has about 36,000 miles on it and drives really good. It is a peppy 6-cylinder. We are going to the Lake soon and will negotiate with the neighbor who wants to buy the place. The water is 25 feet beyond the dock. I will take a picture. There is grass growing under the boat lift. It is quite a site. We will have to discount the place due to the water situation.

Let the Games Begin!
Everyone should have emailed Mom by now and we're officialy into our second day of the competition. Here is the list of competitors: Missy, John, Mandie, Danny, Melinda, Ginny, Suzy, Kenny, Texas, Randi, Julie and Nikki! That's 12 of us total, most of whom are entering the $5 pot (I think a total of 9 or 10 are). Those people should have sent mom their goal weights. And make sure you give her an exact number, not a range, because it will probably be very close in the end. Have fun, and please, be healthy about it!

So far we have 5 official entries and weigh-ins. Remember you have until 10pm TODAY to send your official weights to Mom. The concensus on the questions, as of this morning, are to run the contest through Thanksgiving and do it by percentage of weight loss only. I'm still waiting on answers from other participants (Najeras and McMurdies). I will send an official email tomorrow morning. People wanting to enter your $5 into the pot can leave it at mom's sometime during the duration of the contest and she'll keep it in a safe place. Remember if you're entering the pot to give mom your goal weight also! Good luck to everyone and if you have any questions please let me know!

Who wants it?

I have an ottoman that mom junked off the curb about 3 years ago that I fixed up. It's prefectly fine, but we don't use it anymore. Tommy and Anna used it to climb on and jump off, so we stuck it in the closet, and that's where it has been for more than a year! It's free to whoever wants it! Please let me know ASAP because I will give it away to Goodwill on Saturday! I will post a picture as soon as I can!

DCI Finals

Drum Corps International Finals will be aired on ESPN on Tuesday, September 5. Time has not yet been announced.

Anna's first day of school

Visit the Najera Blog to see pictures of Anna's first day of school, and read about how it went!

Pappaw Helps the Little Fisherman

Today Missy and John and Nikki and I were visiting about Pappaw and how he loved his little red truck. I told them that even when he was in really bad shape, he told me where he had put some freon, if I needed it. John and Missy got this amazed look on their faces and told me that the same kind of freon the truck uses is what they need for the Jeep which only blows hot air. Poor John and Ben have been riding without air. John puts a cooled insulated pack under Ben to keep him from overheating on their three-mile trip every day. This type of freon is no longer manufactured but is available a few places for a majorly high price. John and I went immediately down to Pappaw’s place and sure enough, there was the freon but no hose for installation. I told John I thought we had one at the house and he remembered seeing it in the garage. We came home, John found the hose and they will be cool tomorrow, thanks to Pappaw and there is still enough for the truck when I need it. Bless Pappaw for helping out the “Little Fisherman” during this 100°+ weather!

Babies!

After Papaw's funeral, everyone went to Mom's for a wonderful dinner and good company with friends and family. We got all the babies together for a group picture. How cute!

















Mia–8 months; Abby–7 months; Ben–3 months; Mary–4 months

Marion Maserang

Papaw passed away peacefully sometime around 8:30am this morning. We all loved him and will miss him! We will keep everyone posted on the funeral plans. Keep mom in your prayers!

The Fowkes Family

The doctors have told us every day that Pappaw cannot make it and he will only last a little while. However, he is a tough old bird so be proud of your genes. He was concerned about his looks, so instead ot his regular barber, “Brown,”Ginny and Jared came and gave him a haircut and trim and spent time on Sunday. He can now barely speak (11:30 p.m. August 7) but is totally aware of what is going on. I talked to him about the Alaska pipeline crisis and he expressed concern and remembered standing under that pipe in northern Alaska. He is not in pain but is rapidly declining. He has had a good life.
Jack, our mechanic, said, “If there were more people like Mr. Maserang the world would be a better place.” Of course, that is true. We will keep you posted. He is not in pain but is on oxygen and hanging in there. We are spending a lot of time with him. We will have no regrets on that issue. One of his last requests when he could barely talk was for “ppppppuuuuuudddddiiiiinnnggg! spoked in a very weak voice.” The Maserangs also like to eat!

If You Don't Already Know

Mom said yesterday that the doctors told her and Connie that they don't expect Papaw to make it through the week. It's very sad so keep them all in your prayers! Mom will not be going on her cruise because of this but hopes to reschedule later in the year. We will keep everyone updated.

Cutest. Face. Ever.

I just think this is the most adorable little face in the entire universe. And since mom said she doesn't have a chance to check everyone's blogs I thought I'd post it on the main one.

Rehab Center Update

Connie and I met with Daddy and the staff at Huguley on Wednesday and the therapy folks said he is making improvement. However, the day before, we took him to the urologist (a wild story I can only tell in private) and they found urine retention. They did a sonogram just like for a baby and his measured a quart or so. Now he is back on a catheter and being checked for infection and still has a problem with other things of that nature. So, in other words, his attitude is very mellow, he is satisfied where he is, the people there are great and really go the extra mile with him and he may be there for an extended stay. His general health seems to decline just a fraction every day but he still remembers most things, just gets confused about who has been there, what day it is, etc. Keep him in your prayers.

Mom/Grandma Update

Mom called me today and told me that her urine analysis and bone scan were fine. She does not have Multiple Fribro something-like-that which is bad. The doctor is still mystified by her blood work and will probably end up doing a bone marrow test to make sure she doesn't have what Gene (sp?) has. This won't be done until she gets back from her cruise. She will have a Papaw update for us on Wednesday.

Who wants to see "Cars" with Anna?

Hello everyone! Anna and I are going next Friday or Saturday (the 22nd) to see "Cars" and were wondering if anyone else wanted to go see it with us. We would probably go to Grapevine Mills since it is a good in-between place. Mom is pretty sure she is going with us, and we would love to have more of you come! This will be Anna's very first time to see a movie in a movie theater!

Concert in the Gardens

To view other pictures, go to the Saunders, Najera and McMurdie bogsites!

Papaw's Party

It was so great to have everyone there to see Papaw receive his award. I'm sure it meant a lot to him. Here are a couple of pictures I took before I ran out of battery. If you have any, please add!



Papaw receiving his award, and then later chowin' down on some YUMMY cake made by Texas!

Please try to be there!

Papaw is getting his award on Sunday, at the nursing home at Hugley (sp?), at 4 pm. This is contingent on if the preacher can be there. Mom would like to have everyone come that can make it. For those of you who don't know, Papaw is getting this award for service as a deacon in his church for 40 years.

Chrystal and Posse's Toilet Paper Excursion

The Toilet Paper and Chalk Excursionaka The death of Bert The story starts with a lame concert. Afterwards we headed to Chrystal's house to try to salvage the night. First we ordered pizza and watched 10 Things I Hate About You. That was pretty fun…lala…then the boys left and things got a little out of hand. We were a little bored at home and the brownies we made were kind of lame. It was about 2 a.m. and we headed to Wally World to pick up some toilet paper. We decided to get 6 rolls of toilet paper a piece. There we were hit on by…about 7…yeah, 7 guys. This one guy basically did a double take and "had to get some office supplies randomly at 2:30 in the morning"…yeah right. He left our aisle and came back with a friend. Jessie, Delyn, and Chrystal started walking faster, but poor unfortunate Katie was too distracted with the hunt for the chalk. They attempted to start a conversation with "So, are you guys old enough to drink?" wow…what a nice start to a healthy relationship. When we were walking to the checkout, this guy decided to tell us that "groups of teenagers were only allowed to buy one package of toilet paper at night." *Not a good pick-up line* His name was Benny…and he was lame! On top of all that lameness, he had a strange goatee…what a freak. We laughed at him, and continued on our path to the checkout…the only open checkout in all of Wal-mart. On our way we picked up a random box of sidewalk chalk. The lady that sold us our toilet paper (not in Mexico mind you…) had a strange theory that all the girls in Mansfield were having "issues" tonight that called for LOADS of toilet paper. She was funny, much better than the lame Benny. On the way out, we were taking pictures and these scary SCARY Mexican guys (Delyn says they were white guys with really dark tans…yeah right…) begged us to take their pictures so we could remember their "oh-so-hotness"…ew. Anyway, we were terrified, and sprinted to the car, with calls of "run Forrest run" in the background (after a quick picture by the Wal-mart sign of course!) The first stop was our dear Alex's house. We parked a few houses down and got out of the car armed with our toilet paper. But suddenly, out of the darkness, a car pulled into a neighboring driveway. They suspected something, so we hid our toilet paper and remained near the car. They wouldn't leave their car, so we were forced to retreat to John's house around the corner. At John's house, we realized that there was nothing in his yard to toilet paper, so we busted out the chalk, and began decorating the driveway. When that was complete we jumped in the car and began turning around to head back to Alex's. But as we were turning, this car pulled into the neighbor's driveway. A boy got out and began raving (obviously to show off for the 4 girls who just jumped, giggling, into the car.) So we drove away, but something told us to turn back. So we flip the car around, and head back to the boy. Delyn casually asks if we can take a picture of him. He agrees, and thus was the beginning of a 20 minute friendship. We ended up parking the car in the middle of the street, and taking all sorts of crazy pictures on top of the car. We found out a lot about Tim the Raver (as we found out his name was) in those 20 minutes. He had just broken up with his girlfriend of 10 months, who Jessie knew, and actually, Jessie had met Tim the Raver before when he came to visit his ex-girlfriend at school. He was a really funny guy, and opened up to us nicely. He couldn't remember our names (except for Katie...guess we know who the pretty one is.) Apparently he knew "what Delyn's name sounded like, but couldn't pronounce it." We really needed paper and a pen, and we asked Tim the Raver to go get us some from his house, but apparently the house rule is "once you come in for the night, you can't leave again." So we talked to Tim the Raver for awhile, and we were going to go TP Andrew Livingston's house, but decided instead, to head back to Alex's house. So we left Tim there, cold…alone…and wanting…and raving his little heart out, hoping to get in one last amazing impression. We traveled around the block to Alex's house. The person that was in the car earlier had gone into their house, so the coast was clear. It was a relatively uneventful toilet papering. No cars drove by causing us to go bush diving, we didn't get any rolls stuck up in the tree. Everything ran very smoothly and we got out without any problems. It was brilliant! So we began our journey to Bert's house. On the way, it started raining. This caused us much sadness, because a lot of rain meant that our beautiful chalk writings would be lost. Luckily it stopped raining. We don’t know how much damage was caused to our artwork, but hopefully it wasn't much. When we got to Bert's house, we piled out, armed with the remaining like 15 rolls of toilet paper and the chalk. All of the cars parked in the driveway were conveniently covered with a nice layer of rain, thus making it extraordinarily easy to stick the toilet paper to the cars. So we wrote on the cars in toilet paper, and it was beautiful! We only got a few rolls stuck in the tree, which Delyn had to go after. Then we put chalk to concrete and made the driveway beautiful! By the time we were finished messages like, "Bert's got a sexy girlfriend!" and "Dirty Birdie" were displayed on his driveway. We took a bunch of pictures and documented the occasion nicely. When we were finally done, we started the car (for a quick getaway) and ran up and each of us rang the doorbell, sprinted to the car, and drove away. *Keep in mind, Robert had told us earlier that evening that he was home alone for the night.* Anywho, we got to the end of the street and turned around to see the reaction from Bert, and maybe get a few pictures of him. But when we drove past, his grandpa was outside examining the damage. Everyone freaked out and started screaming so Chrystal had to drive very fast and conspicuously to get out of there. We then called Bert's cell, and told him to run and hide (his grandparents aren't known for being the nicest people) and he was very confused as to why. So he looked out his window and was very angry with us. By this time it was about 4:45 a.m. Robert apparently didn't know that his grandpa had been outside, but he got his butt in the front yard and started cleaning it up. By the time we got home and got him back on the phone he had cleaned up all the toilet paper except for a few pieces that were really high in the tree, and he was just about to get out the hose to clean off the chalk. It was so sad. He should have left it…oh well, he didn't end up cleaning the chalk off, because Chrystal went over the next day and it was still there.

E-mail from Carrie!

So, here's an e-mail from Carrie! Enjoy!

Dear family,
How is it going? Things here in Pulaski are lots of fun. It’s so beautiful! We got lost on a dirt road the other day and came across a little trail where you can hike down and see this waterfall. We’re going to take a picnic and have our lunch there sometime this week (we have an hour set aside for lunch each day). Our area is really big, the biggest in the mission I’ve heard, so we have a lot of countryside to cover.
We actually have some investigators now, which is really exciting. We met this couple, Norman and Heather, while we were tracting. Norman had met the sisters a couple of weeks ago, but the return appointment fell through for some reason, so they never went back. Well, we met him again and taught the first lesson to the two of them. They were really interested, and Heather read a couple of chapters from the Book of Mormon. They said they have been wanting to go to a church, but they didn’t know which one to go to. We gave them a tour of the church Saturday and watched a video about Christ. They really enjoyed it. Heather even asked how long they would have to wait to be baptized if they decided to join. We told them as soon as we’re done teaching them the lessons and they receive that witness from the Holy Ghost that it’s true, then they can make that covenant. They are really great, they have two cute little boys who are 1 and 2 years old. They seemed to really enjoy church, and we’re going back to teach them in a couple of days.There’s a few other people we’ve met who we have appointments with, and a couple of people the missionaries have been working with who we’ve had really good lessons with. One lady, Donna, pretty much knows it’s true but she has had a lot of opposition from her family members. Her husband doesn’t like us very much, so she only has lessons once a month. We asked her to pray and read the Book of Mormon daily, and she’s done it every day for the past week. We’ve talked to her a couple of times on the phone, so we hope she gets the strength to overcome that opposition. Carol and Al are friends with the bishop, and Carol comes to church pretty regularly, but they’ve been taught over and over again and have some concerns that are keeping them from moving forward with their testimonies. We had dinner with them this week and then we stopped by a couple of days later and had a good discussion/debate about women and the priesthood. Al thinks that women are being exploited because they aren’t involved in any of the decision-making within the church, but we kind of explained about the roles of men and women and the priesthood being the authority of God, not of men. Carol said she really enjoyed the discussion and that Al is excited for us to come back next week to talk to them again. S. Martin said Carol has never said that before, so that’s a good sign. I’m excited to see the work moving forward in the area.
We had mission conference this week to say goodbye to President and Sister Mullen. Our new president comes in this coming weekend, and we will get to meet him next week. It will be interesting to see the differences of having a new mission president, but it’s also comforting to know that this is the Lord’s work. It’s amazing how we can make the transition between bishops and stake presidents and other leaders so smoothly. We talk to a lot of people from other churches who will tell us about all the drama that happens when they change ministers, and how half the congregation will stop going. It’s good to know that those who lead our church act as servants of God, and that even though we are all subject to human weakness, the work of the Lord will move forward. We memorized the Standard of Truth as a mission, which says “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, ’til it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, ‘til the purposes of God have been accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” It’s amazing to be a part of this great work upon the earth. I’m so grateful for the gospel.Have a great week! I love you.Love, Carrie.

Stake Fast

Hello everyone! Our Stake leaders have asked that we all fast for moisture for our area this coming Sunday. We desperately need it, especially in the McKinney-Wylie areas, and I was hoping that if you didn't have anything else to fast for, that you could join us in our fast. McKinney is on the verge of implementing Stage 4 drought restrictions, and things are looking pretty brown up here!

Update

For anyone who has talked to me recently, they know I've been trying to get released from my calling teaching Primary. Well, they talked to me today and are officially releasing me! Yay! The girl who is taking over my class is very excited, but I gave her the run-down. Turns out they've decided to split up the twins I had in my class which should make her life easier. I don't know why they didn't think about doing that while I was PREGNANT!! That would have made for some less stressful Sundays. But in the end, it's all good. I'm excited about getting to go to Relief Society again!

The Adams' New House

We want pictures, or a blog entry about how much you love it! Something. Or, how about an address and we can all come and visit? Give us an update on how things are going! :)

Papaw, Ben and Mary

Me and Randi happened to be visiting Papaw at Hugley at the same time a couple of weeks ago. So we decided to take a picture of Ben and mary with Papaw because who knows when the next time that might happen!

Manuel is 70!

Wow, can you believe it? Today is Manuel's (Danny's dad) birthday, and if I'm not mistaken, he is 70 years old today!

So much for not posting

Hey everyone,
I know I said I probably wouldn't have time to post
much this week, and I don't, but this was interesting
so I figured I'd pass it along quickly. This article comes
from cnn.com and was posted this morning. I'd tell
you what it is but link kind of gives it away. Enjoy!
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/06/21/temple.square.ap/index.html

-C.J.

Test Day Jitters

So I just realized a way to get people to post on the
family blog more often; just say something to get people
to worry about them and then they have to post to let
everyone know that they're doing okay. The test
yesterday went fine, but it was a little nerve racking.
I passed, but my class actually rated a 6 point curve,
our largest of the year and the first that was more than
2 points I think this semester. Anyway, yeah. There
was a lot of panicking among the med students yesterday
afternoon. Thanks for praying. It was nice to know I
have that kind of help. That's it for now. 2 more weeks
'till freedom.
-C.J.

ps- I have to say that cheap shoes does a lot to a girl...
I don't know why that seems strange to Mandie, but my
experience over the last year is that there is nothing that
brings an, "Are you Serious!?!" (and the accompanying
spasms of excitement) out of Randi quicker than hearing
that the $9.99 shoe store is the $4.99 shoe store for a week.

Test

Hey All-
CJ had a big test this morning from 9- about 11:30. If you happen to read this any time during that, can you say a little prayer for him? I am certain he would appreciate it and I know I would. Thanks guys! I love you all!
~Randi

Thanks and Congrats

For those of you that don't read the McMurdie blog, I just wanted to say thanks for everyone coming out to our housewarming party. I know it was a trek, and I know for many of you it will be the last time you ever make it out here, so it was nice. Check out the pictures on our blog!

Also, next time you see Brian, make sure to congratulate him. He got promoted to Senior Consultant! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Our blog

Okay, we've jumped on the band wagon and we now have a blog. Check it out! Najera Family

Baby Blessing

The temporary date for Ben's baby blessing is July 2. We have to confirm with our bishop on Sunday to make sure that will work so I will keep everyone posted! We hope to see many of you there, but understand we're all busy people, so if you can make it we'd love to have you!

New Cell Phone Numbers

John and I got new cell phone numbers yesterday. John keeps going over his minutes so we decided to get Family Talk (we can talk to all of you TMobile people for free now!) and ended up getting new numbers so that we could get free phones and better rebates. Here are our new numbers. The old ones should be deactivated today, but if you call my phone a voicemail will give you both of our new numbers:

Missy – 682.554.3147
John – 682.554.2781

We'll be headed over to D magazine today to show off Ben to my co-workers. We're really excited to see them!

CJ and Randi Blog

Hi All!

I just wanted to let you know that CJ and I started a blog page for our pictures of Mary and ramblings about life.  The address is vonbose.net  There is not much there now but there will be as we go along.  Have a great day!

~Randi

The Fate of WRR

Saw this article this morning. Hopefully a sale or trade of WRR won't take it off the airwaves!

WRR Signal May Be Traded

Baby Blessing Take Two

Hey All-

Randi here again.  I just wanted to let you know that we are going to do a dinner of turkey, ham, rolls, and salads at my parent's house on Sunday at 4:30.  We decided their house might be better because then people that are in that general area do not have to stick around for our whole block but could still come to dinner with us if they felt so inclined.  If you want to come, you are more welcome.  There is no obligation but we wanted to extend the offer.  If you are planning on coming over for dinner and could let me know by Saturday, that would be great.  But, if you do not let me know and still decide to come, that would be fine as well... my mom has a tendency to cook for the masses regardless of the original number that she thinks is coming.  :-) 

I guess that is all for now.  I know that we live on the outerskirts of nowhere... especially for those of you that are on the other side of nowhere.  If you are not able to make it to the blessing, we totally understand.  But, if you can come, we would love to see you and have you there. 

Have a great day!  Love ya!

~Randi

Baby Blessing

 am going to make this quick because Mary is starting to get a little fussy.  I just wanted to let everyone know that we are planning on blessing Mary on Sunday, June 4th.  Our ward meets at 1 pm.  I have attatched a map to the church.  If you have any questions, let us know.  Thanks!

~Randi

Map to baby blessing

Missy, John and Ben

Here are some pictures of Missy, John and Ben. They were feeding Ben so I didn't take closeups of him, and then I got a little distracted and forgot. Sorry! I know John has lots of them, so he'll post them soon, I'm sure. He's a cutie!

Missy Update

Okay, well, Missy, of course, had her baby Wednesday night between 9-10pm. Benjamin was 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and 19 1/2 inches long. He's super cute! Hopefully, we'll get some pictures soon!

It's Done but It's not Done

We wanted to tell everyone that we closed on our house yesterday so we are now proud home owners. We didn't get to close until late in the day because of some paperwork issues and we will get our keys when we get down there. We will be moving on Friday night and hopefully moving our stuff in on Saturday. We will keep you updated with everything. Thanks for all your help.

Kenny and Texas

My Prediction

I think Benjamin is going to weigh 6 lbs 8 oz and he'll have a mess of brown hair. Any other predictions? She could have him any minute! Agh!

GO MAVS!!!!!

That was an awesome game last night! I originally said I wasn't going to watch or listen to it, because it's just too much stress, but I couldn't help it! Now, they just need to beat the Suns!

FW: post on the blog

Hey everyone,
I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been busy. I'm still busy, but today was test day so I now have two weeks 'till the next one, but I do have a campout and a youth dance this weekend so I don't know if I'll still get an email out next Monday because I'll be catching up with studies. So my wife has accused me of being a formula writer. She says that all my blogs are sarcastic and not serious. In order to maintain variety in my blogs I'm not only going to be serious, but I'm posting someone elses writting, just to ensure diversity and unexpectedness when you see that I've posted.

From Mom (Ginny)
I've forgotten how to post on the blog. Will you put the Memorial Day event on it? Feel free to bring any Vans you wish if you come.

While you're posting, will you also add that Sunday was the official day that Gideon beat Dad in height. In March Gideon was still 6' 1 1/2" and he is now 6' 2 1/4" (Dad is 6'2"). With the wild hair of course he looks taller!

Have you heard from E-bay yet?

PS: I have heard from Ebay. Someone did jack my account and bid on stuff. My account is now locked and they suggested that I change the password on all my online accounts (email, etc.) which will be a huge pain, but oh well. I guess I have to deal with it. Oh, and btw: an RMB (I bid 1 RMB for my win) is a Renminbi, Chineese paper currency.

PPS: I just want to appologize to G-man. I told Kevin in an email last Friday that he was now the tallest in the family, so it's obviously my fault that he's now taller than my dad. I know it's a burden for him, and I feel awful that I've thrust an extra 3/4 of an inch on him. I'll try to stop doing things like that. That's it for now. Everyone enjoy the day. And for the Mavs game tonight: Nicht nur siegen, ZERSIEGEN! We will see.
C.J.
-See Randi? A totally serious blog.

** Admin Update: For anyone who has "forgotten" how to blog, merely send an email to missyruth.fowkesfam@blogger.com and it will publish directly to the blog. When you send mass family emails, just add that email address to the list! It's so easy! That's how Randi and CJ do it! They even blog to the ours and the VanDrimmelen site SIMULTANEOUSLY! They're so techno-savvy. Sometimes I clean them up because I'm obsessive compulsive about posts being clean and orderly, so I hope no one gets offended. I can't help it! Oh, and I think CJ is funny. Okay, I'm finished...Oh wait, sorry Ginny we probably won't be at your house on Memorial day. Sorry. ;) NOW I'm finished, really! Missy **

Hospital Info

Everyone knows we'll be heading to the hospital on Wednesday morning to be induced. For those of you who are going to be able to visit us in the hospital I've got some information. Arlington Memorial has been under construction for over a year and it's not getting much better. I've attached the link for the hospital construction site and it also has parking instructions and a map. The hospital's not hard to find, it's right off Randol Mill (south side) and Cooper (west side). Going in the main entrance will be your best bet (Labor and Deliver is on the 2nd floor) and since January they've had free valet parking at the main entrance. Otherwise, you can park in the parking garage off of Waldrop (professional building parking, has been free for a couple of weeks) in the south parking garage off of Cooper, south of the main building, or in the public parking right off the main building next to Cooper (fills up fast). I've also included a link to the map. We're excited and neverous and looking forward to Wednesday! We can't wait to see our little Ben!

Parking/Construction Info
Hospital Map

One of the many reasons we love McKinney!

This is hot air balloon season! We see at least one balloon a week, and sometimes they fly right over our house! This picture was taken in our backyard, and there were 2 other balloons, but we couldn't get all of them in the same shot. Anna and Tommy go bonkers when they see them!

Re: house?

We signed a contract for our house yesterday. It was basically the same offer as we previously agreed to with the last buyer. Our new house should be finished at the end of the month. We are hoping to get our buyers to close sooner than June 17th (the date on the contract) so we can get moved in. I'll keep everyone posted! Suzy

Wednesday, May 24

Hi everyone. Just wanted to let you know that I found out my for SURE induce date is going to be next Wednesday the 24th. I KNOW! It's only a week away! John doesn't even know yet, he has no reception where he is so isn't he going to be surprised when he gets back from New Mexico tomorrow? We'll keep everyone posted throughout that day, but please! Don't come to the hospital till after Ben is born! (see my blog for more info on how we feel about that, you'll have to scroll down.)

Thanks everyone!

Thank you all for coming to the picnic. We had a great time and we thought it was a great way to celebrate our graduations. We hope that you all had a great time as well. We've posted a couple of pictures from Saturday and also my graduation on Sunday.

House update

I got an email from my realtor. She thinks we will get at least one offer tonight and maybe 2. Keep your fingers crossed and your prayers coming! Suzy

Party!

These are some random pictures I took at the party yesterday. I don't have a picture of Kenny and Texas, ironically. Oops! Share your pictures if you took any!