Hurray!!!

We were so happy to finally receive pictures from Matthew.
He has had problems with his camera so he bought a disposable camera,
took some pictures and gave the camera to Elder Webb
who was on his way home from his mission.
Elder Webb was also serving in the Culiacan, Mexico Mission.
They met but did not serve together.
Meanwhile, Elder Webb's parents moved to Huntsville, TX.
so I was worried how we would get the pictures.
But Sister Webb called this last week and sent them to us.
So here are our first pictures of Elder Sorensen serving in
Los Cabos, Mexico.

Matthew's companion (Elder Thebault from Canada)
and the other two Elders who they room with.

The Elders in Black (EIB).......

And in white!!!

I had to add this picture because ...
1. It is my favorite and he looks very cute in this picture.
2. He is wearing the WALL-E watch that I sent him just for fun.
It turns out that he and his roommate lost their watches
about the same time my package arrived.
They were their favorite item in the package!!!
Go figure!!!
If you were not one of the lucky few who went to see the
movie "Wall-e" the first few days it was out,
then you may not have received a "Wall-e" watch.
Don't feel like you missed out.
It was just a plastic wrist band with a little watch
embedded in the plastic. I may need to send him a real watch
but for now he seems happy with Wall-e!!!

'Tis the season!!

No....
not for Christmas lights decorating our windows....
but for plywood panels!!!!

Chris helped us put these up Saturday morning before we
left because of the mandatory evacuation of
hurricane Gustav.
Even though we have experienced a hurricane before,
it is still very stressful. We appreciated Chris' help so we could be ready
for another adventure!!!

We were lucky enough to have fun cousins in Houston to invite us to
stay with them for a few days. Herb and Mary Hyatt and
the youngest 3 of their
8 children welcomed us into their home even though
we didn't arrive until
1:30 am on Sunday morning.
(It took us 7 hours to get to Houston)

After spending a couple of restful days with them we continued on to
Austin. But who knew that the evacuation would be lifted so soon
and Wayne would be
required to return to work the next morning.
So on the way home on Tuesday we decided to stop
at one of our favorite places!!!
It was well worth the drive!!!
(I should own stock!!!)
We took a tour and saw first hand how they make
the worlds best ice cream!!!

After the tour they gave us dishes of ice cream!!
Wayne and I both tried two of their newest flavors.
I had "Cantaloupe and Cream" which is now my new favorite flavor,
and Wayne had "Snickerdoodle". Which was interesting but I
am not a huge fan of cinnamon in my ice cream.
But it did have pieces of snickerdoodle cookies inside!!

We are glad that we returned home safely and to electricity
and trees still standing tall and straight!!!
We hope all of our friends and family were also safe and out of danger.

We thought of leaving our plywood panels up until the next three
hurricanes pass by. But we are pretty good at getting
them up and down quickly so we have taken them down.
(leaving Christmas lights up all year round is
also one of my pet peeves!!!)

"California here we come..."

We have been spending the last two weeks in California
with Jennifer, Tyson, Merrick and Berkleigh.
Chris and Jen were also able to come with us and spend a week
seeing the sights of sunny California.

The highlight of the trip was going to see the play "Wicked" at the
Pantages Theater in Hollywood. How many times have you seen the
"Wizard of Oz"? Well you do not know the complete story until you have seen the play.

The theater is beautifully decorated inside and is
really quite amazing!!!

And it is very close to the corner of ....

And of course we saw some of our favorite stars
on the sidewalks of Hollywood Blvd.

Some of our other favorite activities of the week were....
Walking barefoot in the sand at Newport Beach...

missing Matthew...

building sandcastles....

and just enjoying each others company.

We also watched "Monsters Inc." with our new monster jamas!!!

Wayne and I stayed for another week up the coast with my Dad.
So we went to Carmel beach....

and found Hermit crabs......

and lots of seagulls!!!

We also want to Disneyland and played fun games together and
had a great family vacation!!!

Time for a change!!!

Just an update on Elder Matthew.
He has been transferred to Mazatlan this week.
His companion is from Mexico and knows little English.
He is feeling the challenge of having all Spanish speaking Elders to talk to,
but he is excited and happy to be serving the Lord.

Do you just want to jump on a plane and go visit!!!

18 months!!! I am going to be there!!!

6 months in........18 to go!!!

Elder Sorensen has completed his first 6 months of his two year mission
for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
He is in the Culiacan, Mexico mission and loving every minute of it!!!
Well, he is not complaining anyway!!!
Here are a few pros and cons to serving a mission....

They didn't have any water at their apartment for a few days
so they had to shower with a bucket and a cup!!!

Watching out for dogs in the area is important since Matthew has
been nearly bitten a couple of times.

He and his companion walk everywhere they go but they were just given
cell phones to make life easier!!!

He is serving in a beautiful location in Los Cabos on the
Baja peninsula.

He is not a "greenie" any more, because he is serving with his
second companion who is from Canada.

Most important he is serving the Lord and teaching the
people of Mexico about the Savior and the restored gospel.

They have had two baptisms and many contacts.

We are very proud of him and happy that he has taken the
opportunity to serve a mission. Our whole family is blessed for the
service that he is giving to the people in Mexico.
Good job Elder Sorensen!!!!





The above picture is of the other Elders who he arrived with and
his Mission President, Pres. Johnston from Rexburg, Idaho.
Hopefully more pictures will come soon.