And There Goes Another...

Yesterday Ryan entered the MTC (Missionary Training Center) at about 1:00 p.m. He's on his way to a big adventure.

But before that happened we had a busy couple of weeks. First, we picked Brandon up from the airport as he returned from his mission in Hungary. A week later we had a lovely Thanksgiving Day. On November 25 both Brandon and Ryan spoke in church, and we had lots of family and friends over to our house that day. (Too bad I was not cool enough to take any pictures.) Jason and Adreanna were here, too, so it was our big opportunity—and the only opportunity for two years!—to have a family photo. We didn't hire a photographer, but Jason brought the camera he's using for his photography class, and a tripod, and we got a couple of photos.

It's not professional, or spectacular, but we are all there!

It is possible that the next time we have a family picture with all of us in it that there could be more spouses, and maybe even a baby. (This is not an announcement; there are no baby plans yet.)

Well, then we had to finish getting Ryan ready, and packed up, on Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning we got to say our goodbyes. Or farewell, anyway.

Lindsey got up to take the girls to school; before they left I told them it would be their last chance to hug their brother. So they all did, one by one, before I could point the camera at them. This is a group hug (sort of) staged for a pic.

This is a real, genuine hug. Brandon is a little sad
that he only got two weeks with Ryan, but he's also happy
that Ryan is serving a mission.

Jessica's hug is also genuine.

And this one was so funny and awkward that I wish I'd taken a video. My plan was to take pictures of my kids actually giving Ryan real hugs, but Michael tried to give a side hug for the camera. It was very funny. Of course, after the picture he gave Ryan a real hug (that I didn't capture).

packing his suitcases into the car

And then we were off, to make the three-hour trip to Provo. The drive was uneventful—at least I'm pretty sure it was; I slept through most of it. We got there a couple of hours before Ryan had to report to the MTC, so we stopped at the Provo City Center Temple to take some pictures. In the Visitor's Center we were greeted by Elder Walter who took our pictures. 

inside the Visitor's Center

outside the Provo City Center Temple

Elder Walter also recommended a really great Mexican restaurant (Los Hermanos) for lunch. Los Hermanos gives a free meal to every missionary entering the MTC. There were a lot of missionaries and their families there, but the wait wasn't too long, and the food was delicious. We had no time (or room in our stomachs!) to go around the corner to the ice cream shop that Elder Walter recommended. It was time to take Ryan to the MTC.

There's a lot of traffic around the Provo MTC on Wednesdays, but we only had to wait through about six or seven light cycles to get in. Down in the parking garage we were met by a nice young missionary (I don't recall his name) who took our picture one last time, and helped Ryan get his bags, and escorted him into the MTC. (Where, I suspect, one of the first things he'll have to do is get his hair cut...)

speaking of awkward photos...

And that was it. My youngest son is off, gone for the next two years. I did cry a little after he left. I don't like it when my family goes away; it was good Bruce was there to cheer me up. But this—Ryan's going—is good. 

I am excited for Ryan, and I'm proud of him! I know he will come back a little different, more grown up in many ways. It really is so good!

Wish List 2018

Well. I am late! Usually I post my Wish List between November 1 and November 5. But, to be honest, I've hardly thought about it this year because I have been so busy, and I continue to be so busy!

First, Brandon came home on November 15! That meant a trip to Salt Lake and back, and all the preparation before we got him too (like cleaning a space for him to sleep and put his clothes—and finding and washing his clothes, too, while we're at it.).

Next up is Thanksgiving. We love Thanksgiving in our home! Family, feasting, talking, playing games—great, good stuff. And it lasts most of the weekend around here because on the day after Thanksgiving we continue the feast as we celebrate Decorate the House Day and just hang out together.

On the 25th Brandon and Ryan will both be speaking in our ward—Brandon to report on his mission, and Ryan to say farewell. We will have an open-house for them in our home immediately after church.

And then, we will be driving Ryan to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on November 28.

So we will have one busy, busy month.

Nevertheless, Santa still needs my Wish List. So here it is:

NAVY perfume I don't often wear perfume (I rarely wear perfume), but when I want to be girly this is the one I like.
(available here)





A Laser Printer (for the home).  I don't know which particular one would be best, but Ryan recommends Brother.

A Negative/Slide Scanner. Again, I have no idea which one is best.

Gertie's New Fashion Sketchbook. This looks awesome! A fashion illustration guide that is for real people shapes—not alien croquis'. (find it here)


Nice Hand/Body Lotion. It doesn't have to be any particular brand (right now I have Dr. Teal's and it is nice). It should smell good, but not very perfumey and not very strong; citrus is yum! (especially grapefruit), but not if it smells like candy. And not Jergens—at least not the one that smells like almond extract.

Mr. Holmes. The movie, not the man.

A Good Power Drill. Ours died.


Ummm...

A Steamer/Juicer (stainless steel). I was able to rig a make-shift steamer this fall and got twenty quarts of grape juice concentrate and four pints of grape jelly in just four days. But with this juicer I probably could have done it in one or two days. I want one of these.

And, while I'm on the subject, a Strainer/Juicer/Food Mill. For tomato juice, tomato sauce, syrups, apple sauce...

These last two don't seem very Christmasy, but I could use them.



Well... there's probably quite a few things I'd like to have, but right now I can't really think of any—too many other things on my mind these days. (It was a mental workout to come up with these things I did list.)

And, anyway, more and more I find that what I really want is to spend time with my family, doing our traditional, fun holiday things.

And we will be doing that!

I Did It Myshelf

When we moved into our house we managed to get most of the main living areas organized pretty quickly, but the living room had overflowing boxes for a month or two. And some of the biggest thorns in my side were the DVDs which were in boxes, but were also in use, and so managed to get stacked on any surface, or scattered in a pile on the floor around their packing boxes. This would never do! We didn't have a shelf to put them on  so I came up with this ingenious solution:

By setting the boxes up on end, and cutting off the short flaps I could use them as a beautiful—although temporary—set of shelves for the DVDs. And all of our movies fit perfectly into these shelves too!

This "temporary" fix lasted almost a year. My lovely, leaning shelf of movies did its job and didn't receive a ton of thought throughout that year. But one day I was looking at it and I had another ingenious idea. See, when we bought the house there was a dresser that was actually built right into a bedroom.

We didn't want it there, so we tore it out. But, for some reason, although the rest of it was destroyed, we kept the three drawers in the shed.

So I was looking at the DVD "shelf" and I thought, I bet I could make shelves from those old drawers! And the more I thought about it, the more this seemed like a fantastically great idea. So I brought the drawers back into the house to determine if it would be as swell as I was thinking it would.

Well! This looked promising.

So I had Bruce help me start chopping them up. I didn't want to rebuild them, just add some shelves inside them. But I didn't want a center beam, either. So we cut the faces off of them—using a circular saw, which may not have been the easiest, most accurate way of doing the job, but that's what we had.

There I am, marking one of the many little nit-picky cuts we had to make to take the front of the drawer off.

And then Bruce got a new job, and wasn't available to help me with this project any more. And I was trying to manage the house pretty much by myself, and I decided that I had to revamp my bathroom, and I had to take Ryan mission shopping in Salt Lake, and I was getting ready to bring Brandon home, and I was working on another project for a friend...  So the shelves got put on hold for a little while. But I started in on them again a couple weeks ago, and I finished them just days before we picked up Brandon!

At first I was just going to find some way of connecting the two drawers from the back, but as I was searching for scrap wood that might be big enough to make the shelves I found some drawer-fronts that Brandon had made in his high school woodworking class, that were the wrong size for his project. They were made of wormy maple, and they were lovely, with nice routed edges; I thought one of them would make a nice top for the whole shelf. So I glued the ends of the two drawers to the back of one drawer-face. Unfortunately the drawers twisted just a little as I was setting them in place and the glue set up super fast, so I couldn't straighten them out. Darn! But it was just a tiny bit twisted, so I figured I could work with it. It would just add to the homemade, recycled charm of the piece, right?

The next step was to fill in the gap in the back. For this I had Kaylie, who took woodworking herself last trimester, cut and bring me a board to glue into the back of the shelf.

Then, should I leave the gap in the back open, thus showing the charm of my shelves made of recycled, forty-year-old, plywood drawers? Or should I fill in the gap? I opted for the filled-in, slightly less redneck look. A piece from the bottom of the third drawer, some wood glue, and some wood filler would do the trick.

I added a little 1/2-inch molding beneath the wormy maple top, which made it look nicely finished. The dashed red line shows where the top meets with the molding. (I also put a piece of 1 1/4-inch molding around the bottom, to hide all the patchwork down there.)

After lots of measuring, I got the shelves glued into place...and then added some nails for good measure. I had my doubts about those shelves, but you can see for yourself that they are fairly level. At least from one side to the other; they may or may not tilt forward or backward...but just a tiny bit.

And then, sanding. And sanding, and sanding. Well, I had to do a lot of sanding throughout the project, not just at the end. I mean, after all, I was using 40-year-old, dried-up, plywood drawers—and then there was all the wood-filler I used.  Throughout the project I probably spent about six or seven hours just sanding this thing. In spite of the mask I wore, I breathed in so much sawdust that, by the end, the inside of my nose seemed to be made of particle board. (Ew.)

ready to varnish the top

I made use of some of the leftover "Parchment White" paint from the bathroom to do the main body of the shelves. The top is stained and varnished. I did do all the painting, staining and varnishing inside the house; it was too cold in the garage for anything to cure properly. Growing up with a mom who did oil paintings, and a dad and brothers who did woodworking, I actually like the smell of wood-stain and varnish. Not that I would breathe it in like a flower scent, but the smell of it in the house doesn't bother me.

And now, for the big reveal:

Before (just in case you forgot)

and After
(Feel free to "ooh" and "ahh.")

So, despite what you'd learn if you took a level and a square to all bits of this shelf, and despite it being held together with glue and wood-filler, I do believe my new DVD shelf is still less redneck than its predecessor. In fact, I believe it's quite nice, and I'm quite pleased with it. :-)

Home Again!

Well, Brandon is home again!

I've had his travel itinerary in my email for at least three months; I've had Thursday, November 15 highlighted on my calendar for even longer than that.

from Budapest to Amsterdam (2 hours 20 minutes)...

...and then from Amsterdam to Salt Lake City (11 hours)

So, I got my family out of bed at 6:30 on the morning of November 15, and we piled into the van around 7:30 a.m., and then we were on the road to Salt Lake City.

We arrived at 11:30—which is longer than it takes to drive there if you're going 65 mph, but we were hovering between 50 and 60 because at higher speeds than that the van feels like it's going to vibrate apart. Probably the front tires need to be balanced, or maybe we need a front-end alignment. But we made it safely, and that's what counts. We stopped at Grandpa North's house where he had a nice lunch waiting for us, and I got to take a shower and make myself look decent. And then we headed to the Salt Lake International Airport.

I am not familiar with the airport...quite the opposite, actually. But just as we were arriving, and I was trying to decide what lane to drive in so I could get to the correct parking place, Bruce sent us a text message. He said we wanted to stay left, so Lindsey read this message aloud to me, then looked up and read a sign that said, "Economy Parking." What I heard was, "Stay left; economy parking." Which didn't sound right to me, but I did it. And instantly realized that was not where I wanted to park. But I was on a one-way drive, so I put the window down—but not all the way, because I knew it wouldn't go back up the way it was supposed to—and got a parking ticket, and then went straight to the cashier, who told me how to get to the parking garage. So I circled the airport, and headed back to my three choices of lanes, and took the wrong one. This time I ended up at the terminals, where you just drop off or pick up your flying friend. So we circled the airport again, and this time I made it into the parking terrace.

Too bad I didn't see something like this before I tried to park.

Well, the van does not idle well. Apparently it doesn't go 10 mph very well either; it died just as I spotted a parking space. Fortunately it started right up again, and we got parked OK. Unfortunately the window had shimmied all the way down during our vibrating-vehicle, triple-tour of the airport parking. So Lindsey got out, reached down into the door and gripped the window, trying to pull it up while I pushed the "up" button. And it didn't budge. >sigh<

Well, at least we found the airport, found the parking, and were on time. So we went into the International Terminal to wait.

waiting

After 25 minutes Brandon's plane arrived. We eagerly watched the people coming out from customs, and who should appear but my cousin Debora! She had been visiting her daughter in France, and got the same connecting flight from Amsterdam that Brandon was on. Unfortunately neither of them really knew the other, so they didn't talk. But Debora and I chatted a bit.

And then, at last, Brandon made his appearance!

And I was right there to get the first hug.

And then...

...hugs all around.

Well, hugs all around except for Rachel, who was taking a video
and didn't put the camera down to claim her hug. (Also, I don't know if Adreanna got a hug. Hm.) I told Rachel she'd better
hug her brother today, but she didn't.

This picture just makes me happy. All my boys together,
except for Ryan. Hey, wait! I don't think we have a hug picture of Ryan either. Did he hug his newly-returned brother? Hmmm...

Well, after a happy reunion, we drove back to Grandpa's house. Grandpa got into my door panel and tried to fix the window, but in the end we just covered it with clear vinyl, held up by Duck Tape.

The family had planned a potluck dinner for us at Grandpa's house, but I didn't even think about taking pictures. :-(  Anyway, it was a nice dinner, and we got to visit with some extended family. But we were all tired—especially Brandon, who had been awake for thirty hours. At about 7:45-ish, he crashed on the couch.

Today (Saturday) he has no memory of falling asleep on the couch. But we have proof.

An hour later he woke up just enough to ask me where he should sleep. We got him set up on a cot, and he was out for the night.

Then Friday afternoon we were headed back to Vernal. After a shaky ride home Brandon met with our stake president and was officially released as a missionary. We were greeted at home by a poster and balloons, and Brandon got to explore the house he's never seen (except in pictures). Pizza, a movie, and a good night's sleep.

And now life is back to normal for Brandon, and for all of us. Whatever "normal" might be.
And I am happy to have him back home!

News From Hungary! vol. 42

Well, this is it. And, like Brandon, I don't know what else to say. I have been a bundle of nerves for weeks. I have been feeling all the feels: happy, sad, excited, nervous... Maybe "on an emotional roller coaster" would be the most accurate description. And I have been busy, busy,busy. But mostly excited, and looking forward to the day.

The Last One

I don't even know what to say, this is my last email. I will be seeing you all in like two days. But for me I think that it will feel like three. (Airplanes)

Well,

Monday
My last full work day out here as a missionary, it was so weird. But we got some really good work done and we were able to meet with some investigators as well. We ended the day with a bunch of travel but all is well. And I was able to begin packing before I went to bed, so I am pretty much all packed now.

Sunday
Stake Conference. It was awesome, and in Budapest, so basically all we did that day was travel, but it was still really good, and we were able to get an investigator to come with us all the way to Budapest for the conference. 

Saturday,
I still had tons of travel, but it was all good.

I am sorry people, but I can't talk about each day, like this in my last email. Each day was roughly the same this week. But what was different is that halfway through the week I got Elder Bridges as a third companion. It has basically been like a party ever since then. Elder Bridges just makes all aspects of missionary life 100% more fun. We have had to travel between two cities for like the past five days, but even that hasn't been so bad. And I guess the biggest part of this has been that we have been working our tails off to get all of our work done well each day before the transfer.

I have surprisingly few things to pack into my suitcases. I don't know how I did it, but I am pretty much entirely packed and I could still fit a lot of things into my bags. I am pretty sad to leave the mission field, but I am super excited to see you all again.

I don't know what more to say. I love you all!
Sincerely,
Brandon.


Mom's Notes:

Day after tomorrow we will be meeting Brandon at the airport in Salt Lake City. He arrives at 2:00 p.m.  I made sure he had my correct phone number, just in case there might be any drama. We will  have a family dinner that evening, with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins (throughout which I imagine Brandon will be exhausted, after flying 13+ hours, and all the travel stuff that goes with that...but he wanted to do it), and then spend the night with family in Salt Lake. Friday morning I might get in some shopping in the big city, but we will definitely be headed home by early afternoon.

My missionary is coming home!

News From Hungary! vol. 41

Is this going to be the last one? Or will there be one more? We will find out next week...

A Good Haircut

It isn't everyday that I look in the mirror and think, "That is one good looking man."... Wait, yeah it is.
But it certainly helps that I got a good haircut.

One good-looking man. *1

This last week was really good. I can't think of anything specific just off the top of my head so I will just jump right into talking about the individual days.

Yesterday
The library where we usually email was closed. So instead of emailing we did a bunch of nothing really. But we did go out to do some whipping. Elder Rusz hadn't ever really had a lot of opportunity to try it out, so we went and did that. I don't know if I have ever told you, but whips are just as loud as guns in the right hands. Or at least almost as loud as guns. *2

Sunday
This was one of my best Sundays here in Hungary. I have never had an easier time understanding all of what was said. This is kind of unfortunate because I will only have one more Sunday in this country, and after that. Well we'll see won't we.
After church we went to go look up some people who live on the edge of town. It was pretty fun to go out there on our bikes. It was super dark though, and the roads weren't all paved so it was a little bit worrying in some places. The worst part was that we got lost like five times and one of those times left us with no better option but to ride our bikes through a very scary pitch black part of town. I don't know what it looks like during the day, but I hope I don't have to go back during the night. I really wasn't too worried about being out there though, every single house out there was clearly recently constructed and it looked like only rich people actually lived out there. Which is actually the exact opposite of what it was that I did expect.

Saturday
We spent the whole day looking people up. We didn't actually find anyone who was able to meet with us, but then again we don't usually find lots of people who are willing to meet with us. We did however find some inactive members, and so we later told the Branch President about that. Maybe someday they will come back to the church.

Friday
We had a pretty awesome district meeting. Or district counsel as the mission has begun to call it. (I have no idea why) afterwards we had an apartment inspection where we were told that everything in our apartment was great. Go Us! And following that inspection we got a ride to the train station from where we traveled to the city where our Branch President actually lives and there we had a very good meeting with him.

Thursday
We did our weekly planning in the morning. It was then that I realized that I would be planning my last full week in the country. Such a weird feeling. Following that planning session we went out and did a bunch of tracting.

Wednesday
Just a day full of tracting, and streeting. We probably also tried looking up some people. Oh wait! Super early in the morning we had one of the best lessons that I have taught in a long time. Just as good as the one where the person that I was teaching actually understood the implications of the Restoration, and what that would mean for them personally. The man that I taught was honestly super cool, and we will be talking with him to set up another teaching appointment.

Tuesday
We did a bunch of look ups, and we were able to meet with a less active member. It was all super good. And I am glad to have been able to meet that member, because it seemed that the only reason that she is inactive is because she literally cannot walk all the way to the church building. So we were able to inform the Branch about her, and at the very least they will begin bringing the sacrament to her.

Well I think that that is all.
For those of you who are wondering about what I intend to do when I get home, the answer is get a job. Right now I think that the best course of action for me is to work for a bit before I try to go to college. Especially since I don't really have any money at all. I also really want to get a car that I can use in college so that is one of my big goals.
I don't actually know what day it will be when I arrive home, but I think it is the 14th.   *3

I am sure that you all actually know better than I do. As far as what time I will arrive, I actually have absolutely no idea whatsoever.  
I love you all!
Sincerely,
Brandon.


Mom's Notes:

1. That is one good-looking young man. (I remember Bruce and I, at about that same age, giggling at the thought of calling ourselves a man and a woman. It just sounded so weird! We were a boy and a girl...I don't know when or how we made the transition to thinking (and saying) "man" and "woman."
Apparently my kids don't feel that way at all.)

2. We will have to have Brandon show off his skills with a whip. Also, it's funny that all the American missionaries in Hungary have run off to buy themselves a whip, but Elder Rusz, who is from Hungary, has never had the opportunity to try it out.

3. He had me completely, totally freaked out. We have all made arrangements to get out of school, and off of work, and travel to Salt Lake on the 15th; we could not do it on the 14th—or it would at least be super difficult, and some of us might not make it. (Although if he was right, I would have moved mountains to get us there a day earlier than planned.) Even though I've read his itinerary several times since we first got it, I had to look it over three times this morning to keep my heart from racing.

Just over one week left! It's hard to believe, and it's coming too fast. I am so ready, and I am so not ready. But, ready or not, here he comes!