My baby brother

Well, I guess he's not so much a baby anymore, but my youngest brother recieved his mission call last night. He's going to... are you ready... drum roll... the Korea Seoul West Mission! When he told me last night, he just told me "Korea." I didn't think to ask him which mission so when I got off the phone I panicked for a minute. I was pretty sure they didn't send missionaries to North Korea, but I wasn't 100% sure. I was happy to hear he would be serving in South Korea!

Jess is such an awesome brother. He is one of the hardest workers I know. Ever since I can remember, he's always had his own job, and made his own money. When I was home a couple weeks ago, I barely saw Jess because he was working so much. Besides being a hard worker he is inteligent, well mannered, and quite the good-looking guy!

I have to admit, I am sad to not be able to see him for the next couple of years. But on the other hand, I am very proud of his decision and know he will make the best missionary. Good luck and love you bro!

Vote!

Dear Family and Friends,

There is a lot on the line this election. Please think carefully about who you will be voting for. Do your research. Find out what each candidate REALLY stands for. Take a look at their voting records. The most important issue for me this election is freedom.

-My freedom as well as the freedom of people world wide who we continue to fight for.
-The freedom of innocent unborn children.
-The freedom for me to govern my own money.
-The freedom to choose my own health care.
-The freedom to own a gun if I choose to.
-The freedom to protect my family from criminals and terrorists.

This is America and while there is room for change, make sure you are voting for change that will make America great, not just change for the sake of having change. America didn't become great by trying to be like other countries. It became great by giving it's people more freedom and enabling them to empower themselves. It became great by taking the road less traveled by, and THAT has made all the difference.

I once again want to urge each of you to take your voting responsibilities seriously, not just by voting, but by discovering who and what you are really voting for.

Sincerely,

Lana

Brace yourself...

This is going to quite possibly be the longest post ever. Devan, Tristan, and I spent the past 2 1/2 weeks in Idaho. We had such a great time. I'll try to keep the writing to a minimum and let the pictures tell the story.

I was pretty nervous about traveling with 2 kids by myself, but they did pretty good. Devan thought it was neat to be able to ride on a big airplane.

The boys had so much fun at grandma's, with new toys to play with, beds to jump on, and fun aunt's, uncles, and cousins.

Bubble bath at Grandmas.

Grandma Sherry is so good to spend quality time with the boys. As busy as she is she always found time to do puzzles, read, and play with the boys.

Grandma Sherry has quite the yard, fully equipped with a sandbox, swingset, and trampoline. Devan and Tristan loved this.

Tristan says, "Aunt Bree, I don't want the ball, I want your creamie!"
Devan had a ton of fun with his cousins

Avri loves my moms dog lady. Soon after this picture was taken, she was found sharing her creamie with her. I got a kick out of her spunky personality.

Avri and OliviaOlivia is so sweet to all the other kids.Grace has such a fun personality and is a blast to play with.Devan and Isabel Sofia is such a sweet baby. I was so happy to finally meet her!

Isabel is such a smart girl. I was amazed by how well she can talk. She speaks both English and Norwegian!

Taylor is so good with all the kids. I wish I could find someone like her down in Texas to babysit for me!

Devan liked walking around the farm and looking at all the tractors.

He made good friends with Lady.

All the cousins had a good time at blast off.

I didn't think we'd need our swimsuits in Idaho in October, but we found a way to fit everything in.

hmmmmm...the three amigos washing dishes, I had to take a picture of this! My brothers are so awesome. They are all such hard workers and a blast to be with. Jess just put his mission papers in. We're all proud of him, but will sure miss him.

We had fun time picking out pumpkins.

The pumpkin patch also had home grown watermelon, I found the cutest one in the patch!

I was so happy to meet up with my good friend Victoria. Isn't she cute?!!! She's expecting her 2nd girl in a month.

They've got that Idaho blood in them, I promise I did not put the straw in their mouth.

After the pumpkin patch we went to the park.

I wonder how many other kids have kissed this bear, uuugh.

My mom's annual Halloween party was a blast. Everyone looked great.

We were pirates. Devan lasted in his costume about 5 minutes and then refused to wear it.

Lauren and Jake made great hippies. They announced that night that Lauren is preggers. I would have never guessed, she looks great!

Grandma Carma and Tristan.


Leslie and John with their beautiful princess and cuddly bunny.

Can you believe Obama and Hillary Clinton made it to the party! The question is, what were they doing there together? This picture could start a scandal.

Avri made such a cute kitty!

Landon and Lindsays family was perfect for Peter Pan characters. I was happy to finally meet Landon and Konner. What a great family!

Grandma and Grandpa Jones picked the perfect outfits. Gangsta!

My mom looked great. Can you believe she made that skirt herself?

I couldn't stop laughing at this one!

How did a wolf man and evil witch have such sweet children?

My last day in Idaho we made a trip to the zoo. It was so much fun the monkey in the picture below jumped down and nearly scared Devan to death. He got over it pretty quick though and enjoyed the funny monkeys.

Te kids loved feeding the goats.

This was the perfect time of year to go to the zoo. I had never seen the animals out and about like they were that day.

We had such a wonderful time in Idaho. Thank you for all the visits and fun times! With as much fun as we had, by the end of the 2 1/2 weeks we were anxious to see Chad again! And get back to our crazy life in Texas.

p.s. more pictures to come from grandpa's 75th birthday and the party at the ranch.