Busy times.......

Spencer is doing well in Florida. He made it through transfers without being moved. He is adjusting to the spanish and the heat and humidity! He says he gets soaking wet through all of his clothes. He also said he is enjoying rice and beans more. lol

Avery turned 16 years old last Monday. I can’t believe our baby is 16! He wont get his license for a while because he doesn’t have enough driving hours. He has spent a ton of time this summer long boarding and not a lot of time driving. He also started High School. His birthday was also the first day of school. “Happy Birthday, go to school!” We celebrated Sunday with the family here for dinner. He will be set apart as a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday!

Sarah started her first teaching job. She was hired just a few days before school started. She worked hard and fast to get her classroom ready and is a 1st year, 1st grade teacher. Her classroom is cute! It was fun to watch her as she was nesting into her room. She is at a great school! We are excited for her! Josh has been busy working all summer and is started school back up in the fall. He has two years to go in his Engineering Degree. Sarah is in the Stake Young Womens as their Secretary and Josh is in the Ward Young Mens. They are busy and loving life! Hard to believe they have been married for 7 months.

Jack and McKell are making a move to Salt Lake. They have moved several times already but hopefully this will be a move where they can stay for a while, set their roots, etc. The home they have been living in was just temporary and they lived there for six months but are ready to move out on their own and set up a place of their own that they can call home. This month they celebrated their one year anniversary. Life is good and they are happy and cute together!

Amanda has had some exciting things going on in her life lately. She met and fell in love with one of her best friends, brother, Mike. They have had a fun couple of months getting to know each other. Unfortunately, he decided some time ago that since he had nothing exciting going on in his life, that he would go to China to teach English. He left on Wednesday to China. He will be gone for a year teaching English at a University. She has been really sad. What do they say, that “absence makes the heart grow fonder!” They will be able to speak via Skype and phone and mail. It will be a good opportunity to figure out if they want to be together. She is also making a job change and finishing up on her Master’s Degree, so she has lots to think about and to keep her busy.

Ken started up the new year at school. He is also involved in a play that will be starting up in September and will run September 3rd - September 30th. He is playing the captain in “Anything Goes.” It is playing at the Centerpointe Legacy Theatre, 525 N. 400 W., Centerville, 84014, (801) 298-1302. Come watch him if you can, he would love it! They have two casts, a M-W-F cast and a T-Th-Sat cast. I am not sure which one he is in.

Never a better hero.....

Beautiful pictures and song.

Link: Never A Better Hero

Finding joy!

Our Stake is planning a day of service in July which has got me thinking about meaningful service. As I was growing up, I had the best example of meaningful service, living right in my home. If I wanted to learn how to serve others, I had to look no further than my own mom!

As we serve others, we are serving the Lord!

Find a way to serve someone today!!!

Link: Joy Through Service

Beautiful pictures and music...

This video has beautiful music and pictures of the insides and outside of some of the LDS Temples.

Link: Power Of Heaven

Hadlock Family May 2011

As you may or may not know, getting this big a crew together and happy for pictures was quite a feat! We wanted to get a family picture taken with the two new spouses and before Spencer left for his mission. Spencer has been in the MTC for 3 weeks today! Almost half way through. He asks for prayers for him and his companion!

The day was like one of the few Saturdays this Spring that we could have gotten away with family pictures. When I told the photographer that I wanted outdoor pictures on Temple Square, he wasn’t too hopeful. He said it was probably too early for outdoor pictures but I think they turned out great! The other family picture I had made is too big to scan but the tulips are in perfect bloom and beautiful!!!

It was quite a cold day but you wouldn’t know it looking at the photos. Avery wanted his hair long for the picture. Yesterday he looked at it and said, “I need to grow my hair out long, like in the picture!” lol I was greatful the day he let me cut it but it is all part of our family history. McKell and Josh are great additions to the family! We love them both. One stands out more than the other. McKell fits in with the girls well!

We are in the middle of the family birthdays. Today is mine. Nate’s 25th birthday was May 21st, Spencer’s 19th birthday was April 5th and Ken’s birthday was March 31st. Still to go, Sarah will turn 22 in July, Amanda will turn 27 in August and Avery will turn 16 years old in August!!! Wow.

In September, Ken and I will celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary! Wow! Also in August will be my 30th year Highschool Reunion. I have been working for the last 1 1/2 to find names and addresses for former classmates.

Life goes on.....

It has been a week and a half since Spencer entered the MTC. He seems to be doing well. We have received one email and two notes in the mail. He sounds like he is doing fine. I have had a few hard days but for the most part I am able to make it through the day without crying. It has been odd as we move on to a life with just Avery home. We are still trying to make adjustments in that area. He has been making himself and his needs known. I guess he doesn’t want us to forget he is here. Who could forget him!

Yesterday Ken and Avery spent 7 hours working on a kayak. The teachers and priest quorums are all making their own kayaks for a trip to Yellowstone. Ken and Avery both came home sunburned. It is amazing what a nice day Saturday was considering all of the rain that has been falling in Utah.

Nathaniel Jack turned 25 years old yesterday. He and McKell spent the day together, stopping by here to change their oil together. It really was quite a sight. Amanda talked everyone into coming here for dinner tonight to celebrate. It was fun having everyone here except for Spencer. Our family has changed a lot in the last year. The kids all got along well and we watched some of our family videos. It is good to remind them how much they loved each other when they were young!

We have been blessed as a family over the past almost 29 years. That is an amazing number to me. One day you feel like you were just dating and then you have your own children getting married and making their own traditions. They are all wonderful, beautiful and successful people. I love them so...much!

A blog to follow.....

I have added blogs that I follow, to my blog. There is one in particular that has impacted me the most. It is called Sunshine Promises. It is the story of a sweet family in our ward that lost their young son Bennett a few short months ago. Although it is a sad story, Amanda, Bennett’s mom is taking us on a journey to experience the high’s and low’s associated with the loss of a child.

She is sharing her faith in Jesus Christ, with her belief as well as mine, that they will have the opportunity to be with Bennett again. The belief that families are forever. The belief that when this life is over, and we have each left this earth, that we will live again as families in heaven with our Heavenly Father.

I invite you to follow along on that journey. The journey to learn of our Heavenly Father, to follow Him and learn of His teachings! I am thankful for her faith and her ability to share her feeling in such a way, that I can feel of Heavenly Fathers love for her and her family.

The veil between this life and the next is very thin. I know that Heavenly Father has prepared and provided a way for us to live with Him again. May you and I grow and learn of His love and plan for us, as we take this journey together. I pray. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.