Elder Hodges in Basel Switzerland

David continues to diligently serve as a missionary in Switzerland. He absolutely loves the people, sharing the Gospel and the food! :-) He sent us some new pictures in his email on Monday! Needless to say I was pretty excited! He will be home in 7 1/2 months... I miss him but know he is doing what he needs to do and he is where Heavenly Father wants him to be!

This is Elder Lind, Severin and Elder Hodges on July 12, 2009. This is the day Severin was baptized! Doesn't he just glow? They all look so happy! The church is true! A day like this in the life of a missionary makes up for all the rejections and tracting long hours! Elder Hodges, Elder Lind, Carlos Pardo, and Severin. All were born in the USA and currently living in Basel. Carlos is Chilean but was born while both his parents were attending BYU. Severin was born in Washington DC.

David at the Matterhorn in Switzerland. He titled this picture, "Observing my newly acquired kingdom!" :-) It's great that he gets to visit some incredible places while serving. It is absolutely beautiful over there! He is making such lasting memories and friends while doing the Lord's work for 24 months!

Kyle is an adult, HS graduate, and Eagle Scout all in one week!

Kyle turned 18 on June 6... graduated from Denbigh HS on June 13...earned his Eagle Scout rank on June 16! It was quite an exciting week for him. Kyle has definitely decided to attend BYU-Idaho. He'll start there in January 2010. He actually went and tried out for the SVU coach in July and was offered a talent award. SVU cannot give scholarships because of the division it is in or something like that. It wasn't a full ride because they cannot do that. Kyle just didn't feel SVU was the right place... very small... less than 1,000 students. So, he decided after that to go to BYU-Idaho. He still has plenty of time to work, work, work and continue to earn money for his mission. He plans on leaving after going to BYU-I for one semester.

Kyle and Grandma Christman after graduation.

Kyle with his 2 best friends- Jordan and Justin Agee!

Girls' Camp FUN, FUN, FUN!!!!!

Yes, I am having such a fun summer.... I haven't had time to post anything! And I thought teaching seminary kept me busy during the school year... now the kids are keeping me busy this summer. We are having lots of fun. I'll post some pictures too. And soon it's school time again.

Summer started with GIRLS CAMP! I went as the assistant ward camp director. It was literally one of the best weeks of my life! I know most of you are thinking that is really sad because I've been on some awesome vacations but being with the Young Women of our ward... with no distractions like the TV, computer and cell phones. It was just amazing. We went to Sherando Lake in Western VA. It is beautiful there but you cannot get cell service. We had to drive out of the park about 5 miles to get cell service. I drove out on Friday (we were leaving on Saturday) to call Patrick because he was coming up that night because the Stake Presidency was speaking... when I got in range for me cell phone... I had lots of texts telling me Michael Jackson had died the day before! It was crazy to think we missed so much... but as I drove back to camp, I cried because I wasn't ready to go back to the "real world"! I loved getting to the know girls, laughing with them and having so much fun. I was actually really thankful I missed all the media circus over MJ. We have the greatest bunch of girls in the NN 1st Ward! I will forever be teased because we thought we had a bear in our camp. The ward camp director, Kim, left our tent with a stick to "save the girls" as did our other assistant, Ellen... I on the other hand was scared to death and stayed in the tent and prayed! It ended up being an albino skunk trying to eat our garbage! This is Ally. She was a YCL (youth camp leader) and one day they had to dress up as their camp nickname. Her nickname was "Sasquatch" because she has such big feet... which she really doesn't but she is always tripping over them! :-)

Another day... Ally had to dress up as a super hero... she choose "Y" Girl! And no, we are not obsessed with BYU or are we?! We had lots of fun making these costumes... and I have to say... she had the best ones in all of camp!!

I don't know how your Girls' Camp is but at ours when you lose something you have to do something silly to get it back like sing "I'm a little tea pot" or spell your name with your butt or anything else that is semi-humiliating in front of EVERYONE! Well... Fatima lost her bra (don't ask the most common question which is ... How on earth can you lose your bra??)... it so so funny when they held it up for the group to see! This is just a priceless picture... it was so funny!!

I love this picture too of Ashleigh in so much pain while getting her hair braided by Alice. What girls will do to look good at girls' camp!

Kara & Nikki are so happy! Can you tell there was nothing but laughs all week??!! Everyone just got along so well! (We won't mention the ward next to ours that told us to "Shut Up" because our girls were up late into the night!) It was such a joy to be there! All the girls from our ward! The theme was "Know the Ropes"! I hope I can go again next year! I have to make up for not going when I was a teenager! Coming soon... Kyle's graduation!

Season's over :-(

I'm not talking about the season finale of a TV show either... to be honest we don't watch much TV unless it is on ESPN! :-) It's was kinda sad to see Kyle (#8) play his last HS baseball game. He LIVES for baseball! I'm sure he'll play ball with American Legion this summer. (Who cares about working and saving money for his mission when he can play ball??) Last Saturday was his last HS game. Denbigh lost in the District tournament. They got to play at a semi-pro baseball stadium... that part was pretty cool! Kyle continues to hope he can play baseball in college. He has been talking with the baseball coach at SVU (Southern Virginia University) in Buena Vista, VA. We'll see if he is offered some sort of scholarship. SVU is a small private university owned by LDS businessmen. They have an honor code much like BYU. He has been accepted to SVU but if he doesn't get some sort of scholarship, he will probably just go to BYU-Idaho. He will be graduating in 3 weeks and turning 18 in 2 weeks!! He is a great kid! He is an incredible missionary. He has already baptized 2 of his friends! Kyle looks forward to serving a mission in a year!

A VERY happy Mother's Day!!!

This Mother's Day was the BEST yet and it has nothing to do with the new camera I got... it was the BEST Mother's Day ever because we got to talk to our missionary, Elder Hodges. For those of you who have or had a missionary... I know you can relate... all of the rest of you will think I am crazy until you have a missionary out. It's amazing how just the sound of their voice makes you cry. David called us briefly on Saturday to give us the number we were suppose to call and the time for us to call on Sunday. Well, the caller ID said some city in Massachusetts (because of his calling card) so I figured it was a telemarketer but I answered the phone anyway. And then I heard, "Hello" and I said, "David?!!" A mother can never forget the voice of their child. Just that brief phone call made my Saturday brighter! So, you can imagine how Sunday felt. We talked to him for a total of 3 hours but not all at the same time. His companion and David were taking turns using the phone but it worked out great and we savored every second of it! We are VERY thankful for his mission president, President Matern. That he doesn't put a 30 minute limit on calls home like some mission presidents do. It regenerated me and I know now I can make it for 10 1/2 more months until he gets home! I just hope I can make it through 4 more missions with Kyle, Tanner, Brett, and Luke! I'll tell you I hope all of the others go on stateside missions! It's such a pain worrying about calling cards/time difference... then the other thing is mailing packages would be much simpler if they were in the US. Anyway... it was a great day! I did get breakfast in bed and chocolate covered strawberries too but the phone call was the best!!!

Elder Hodges, Matthais (member who took them hiking like every p-day) & Elder Keeler

Elder Hodges (back row, 3rd from right) & missionaries along with President & Sister Matern at the Swiss Temple. ~February 2009~

Elder Hodges with his new European tie that he had to take a picture for us to see! Missionaries get excited about the craziest things!! :-)

21 years ago today....

Patrick & we married in the Washington DC Temple! I can't believe we have been married for that long! It really does seem like just yesterday! Now 6 kids later... here we are!

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! Seminary is SOOOOOOO time consuming right now I can do little else. I can barely find the time to do the laundry and make dinner each day! Plus our camera broke and we haven't bought a new one yet so I thought why post with no pictures but I guess I have so many other pictures on the computer that none of you have probably seen so I can use some of those! We've been busy with Kyle playing baseball for HS. He starts 3rd base is in 5th in the hitting rotation. He can really hit! It's quite impressive to see him. We are very proud. Ally is playing softball. Tanner and Luke are playing Little League baseball. And Brett is playing rec league soccer. So, every day but Sunday we have a least 1 game. Tonight we actually have 3 games all at the same time and Patrick has stake meetings so I'll have fun watching all 3 of them. They really enjoy playing and it's fun to watch. Luke also turned 7 years old on Monday. He is growing up so fast. Next year he'll be baptized, we are just glad David will be home by then to be here for it. Other exciting news is that Kyle got accepted to BYU Idaho. He is really excited. He would probably rather go somewhere where he can play baseball but.... we'll see how things go. I think I've filled you in on all the major events here in our home... until next time here are some pictures taken 21 years ago today! Sorry I must have our other wedding photos saved on our other hard drive... so these are the only ones I have on this laptop! And I have to go or I would try and find the other ones!! I'm sure you'll get a laugh out of these ... especially the hair! WOW! Were we totally stylin' or what??!! :-)

One year ago today......

.....David entered the MTC and started his mission. Patrick and I flew out to Utah with him. It was an amazing, spiritual experience taking him to the MTC. I knew it was the right place for him to be. The experience was so sacred to both Patrick and I, we barely spoke the rest of the day... we were both just contemplating and pondering what happened. It was and still is very bittersweet feelings of that day. We were so happy and proud of David making this choice to serve a mission but at the same time so heart wrenching sad because we won't see him for 2 years and can't just pick up and call him when I felt like it. That aching feeling latest for about a month or so... I still miss him and wish I could talk to him but I have come to the realization that I can survive this especially since 1 million other mothers have done this before me. If they all survived so can I! :-)