My Boys

So, this post is all about my boys. There are 4 here at the school that I would love to take home or sponsor. Unfortunately, they all have 4 and that is the next maximum...so sad!!
They always run up and hug me and make me feel so special!
I wish is could bring them all home!!!

Cars! Cars! Cars!

Every Thursday, we have a special activity night with the kids. Normally we only do one house, but I brought enough cut out cars for all the boys (80) to have one. Last Thursday, we worked with 40 of the boys (in groups of 20) helping them cut, fold and tape their cars.
The older boys were able to cut their own and fold, although they all needed some help doing the tap. They were so cute! I loved watching them do it. I also brought enough stickers for all the boys to be able to cover their cars with them and they loved them!
Here they all are with their cars:

Dehli Trip!

Well, we just got back from a 3 day trip to Dehli! We saw the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, the Lotus Temple and much, much more. We saw the craziest things on the road and all sorts of animals. It is so weird to see cows just lying on the road and watch all the people just swerve around them.

Below are some pictures of the Taj:


This is at the Lotus Temple:This is where we got to ride camels, elephants and hold the monkey...good thing it can also check for lice!
When we toured around the city, we ran into a rain storm and got drenched! Because of that, we all had to change into any dry clothes that we could find. At the restaurant, I was also crazy enough to hold a cobra...not going to lie, it was a little un-nerving!We are now back at Rising Star, prepared to hang out with the kids some more. Nice to not have to ride in a bus/plane all day long.

All in a day's work

So sorry for the delay. We had a huge storm and the internet went out so I have not been able to post for a while. Each day we get put in different groups: Medical, Education or Construction.

For medical, we went to a colony washed and rewrapped bandages of the locals. Here I am taking their blood pressure and charting.

That night we had a pole hugging contest...most people were able to stay up for a few minutes...I did not try it.

Here is us doing construction (this time we just picked up trash, but today we will be painting). It is pretty amazing!

More to come later!

Rising Star Campus

This morning we all congregated together and headed out in the Rising Star vans to the place where we will be staying for the next two weeks. In the van I was right under the air conditioning...which means I didn't feel much air, but I did get a steady stream of water flowing down my back.
One of the best parts of the day came later that afternoon when a thunder and lightening show lit up the sky and cooled the place down. Most of the girls could not stand to stay out of the rain, and most everyone ended up soaked.
If you weren't soaked by playing in the rain, you were on the tour where we went to see the kids. In order to get to them, we had to walk across campus.
They were really happy to see us...and our camera's. They all seemed to know how to use one.
After play time, we were able to go back later that night to specific families to help out with homework and just talk to the kids.
Besides, the kids we have all sorts of things to look forward to tomorrow...frogs in the toilets, squatters, bucket showers, rats in the garbage cans, crazy high temperatures and hopefully more rain. Good times!

Welcome to Chennai!

After a few good hours rest in a super soft, three pillow bed (I love pillows!), we dressed in our Sunday clothes and went down to meet Brandie's brother Derek and any other Rising Star Volunteers who had arrived early. Shortly thereafter we loaded up and meet with the saints in India.

Afterward, some of us decided to hire a rickshaw and hit the town to see the locals and some sites. Derek, myself and Brandie were in one, with "Uncle" Phil, Anna and Micah in another, we literally raced across town to see a few temples.
Along the way, we weaved in and out of traffic, had near collisions with our fellow rickshaw driver, and got to enjoy all the locals that were out and about. I saw quite a few animals wandering around (dogs, cows and goats), but they didn't seem to turn up anyone's eyebrows but me.
We found a few places open (they all appear to have weird times) and set about to explore the surroundings.

At Saint Andrew's Kirk, we found the temple closed but they had a really nice slide that we of course had to climb all over..although it was not so much fun sliding down.As we were about to leave, a nice man opened the side door and allowed us inside to look at the temple. As we sat by the organ, he even offered to play us some music...of course that was after we had found the joy in the automatic timer of Derek's camera:
There were large pillars outside, were we also posed for surprise! Another picture.
After checking out the local markets, we headed back to the Marriott hotel for one more night of hot showers and western toilets, because tomorrow will definitely be a brand NEW day with new experiences.

Airport Extravaganza!

Well, three planes, 4 airports and 24 hours later, I made it to India! American and British, Cowboys and Cunucks (Get it....Dallas airport, Ontario airport, London airport) all led me to where I am today...Chennai, India! Dallas has some fun transportation, and after sitting at the front of the tram for a bit, it made me feel like I was driving...or on a collision course into the walls since there was no steering wheel.
Going around the world seemed to lead to many naps on benches, floors and airplane seats. Brandie caught a break on our final flight (since it was not full), and was able to lounge across 3 airplane chairs for some much needed rest. I on the other hand only had 2 (I know, better than one), but that was enough to keep me comfortable and allowed me to sleep most of the last 9 hour flight.
Upon arrival in Chennai. we crossed our fingers that our luggage would turn up (which it did), and proceeded to go through several bag and person checks just to get out of the airport...where we meet our hotel driver. But at the hotel had to go through the exact same thing...sheesh!!

Our final miracle for the night (since we arrive at the hotel at 4:00 AM) was the hotel manager allowing us to check in early with no extra charge. The shower and bed never felt so good! Tomorrow, it is off to church and a little site seeing! Stay tuned!

Blogging again...we will see.

So...I am going on another trip across the world and it has been suggested to me that I blog about it rather than pretend to send emails. I am not anticipating anyone following faithfully, but I am going to try to blog at least every other day.

So, in just a few short days, I will be traveling to India!


I have to be honest and tell you that going to India has never been in my top 5 or top 10 travel destinations. But, in my quest to travel to every country possible, when the opportunity came to travel to India, I just couldn't say no. (Sorry, New Zealand...I promise to still come see you!)

I also have two other reasons for going. One, my good friend asked me to go (little did I know in the beginning that this meant be her travel guide). Two, I cannot pass up the opportunity to see the Taj Mahal. I have also wanted to see a place where the cow is worshiped...and can paint.


I have many work friends that are from India so I have been warned multiple times about the higher priced items for tourists, the need to drink bottled water and the fact that I am going to India during monsoon season (at least I like a good rain storm right?).

So, I put it to you...any advice? What do I need to remember to pack? What do I need to bring back?

What happened to one?

So, during Christmas break I had a wonderful time visiting with my family. Many nights I sat and put together puzzles with my mom or just watching a movie with my brother. It was very nice and very relaxing! On one relaxing evening, my brother and his family were over for a visit and I was informed that my nephew Cade knew how to count to ten all by himself. I love this kid! (OK, so I may have bribed him with a treat to get him to do it, but it was well worth it!)

Here is his performance for all to see:

Halloween 2009

So, I know it is late but I figured that I should post some Halloween pictures...better late than never. I was the tootsie roll (seen below) and I never realize how popular that would be. I had many people try to eat me, especially Mickey Mouse...
I also tried to be in a nice normal photo with friends, when the purple witch decided to push over the tootsie roll...
As seen here...this tootsie does not hold up well under pressure! Apparently the mouse also went crazy (check out the face) with little red ridding hood and the army brat laughing the entire time...Jack Skellington also showed up to the Halloween party...
As well as a fairy and some grapes... Not a bad way to spend Halloween, but I wish I could have been with the family in Utah! They had some great costumes.

San Bernardino Sheriff's Department: Mud Run

A few weeks ago (Sept 12th), I went to the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department Mud Run with some friends. We found many people in our ward who were going to run in the race (which made it even more fun to watch). The race started out with S.W.A.T. jumping out of a helicopter into red smoke and then lighting fireworks.
They made sure to hose down all the runners to make the race even muddier. There was a 10k, 5k and a 1k for children.
After running for about 4k on nice dry ground, the runners came into the pits where they had a very muddy stretch.
The kids even had a blast. J.T. in this picture (nephew of a friend) really loved it and didn't even slow down for his dad to run next to him.
Hills and other obstacles were also included in the last 1k.
They are looking to do it again next year...you all should come down and give it a go! For more information, go here.

California State-Wide Activity

So a few weeks ago there was a California state-wide activity that we were all invited to. Some of the activities included:

Quilt tying with people in our ward and in other wards in the Redlands Temple district -
Us cheering for the 20thing time that we were finished, and then looking under the quilt and realizing that we had to untie a few and fix them:Pretending to be happy, when we really didn't want to be there...we may have slipped out for a shake at In-N-Out (sanity check of course):
We attended workshops, that at times felt like 5 hours of Sunday School, but we made it through...at least we are still smiling for the picture, right?
We even found time to hang out on the stage and just hang out after we ate before the next round of activities:
There were many things that I would have done different, but the best part was getting to know so many new people, even if I thought I knew them before. Hopefully next year we will get the pizza we were promised!