Wings Training Camp

Bowen has been selected to run for Wings of America in the national cross country championship in February. This is a team comprised of Native American kids from all over the country. He was selected because of his great performances in cross country this year. As a part of preparing for the race, the kids were all invited to participate in a training camp for a week over Christmas break in Albequerque. The director for Wings is a guy named Dustin Martin. Dustin was actually a high school runner on the Wings team when Theo was the coach many years ago. We got to travel with him and his teammates to New York for their race. What a great memory, and a fun connection. Bowen's teammates came from mostly the southwest, and he made some new friends during the week. We are looking forward to an exciting race experience in February in Florida.

Corbin Calls

Corbin has been in the mission field for just a little over three months. I have missed him fiercely! We got to chat for about an hour using Facebook. He looks fantastic and sounds like he is really getting settled into his work. Just like with Drake, this was the very best part of our Christmas celebration.

Christmas Eve 2017

A few days before Christmas, Donny and his family came for a visit. Donny has been working as a contractor over in Kuwait since April, and he is on leave for a month. We spent our Christmas Eve with them, Tim's family, and Grandma and Grandpa Martin having dinner and making little gingerbread houses. We love being able to spend time with our loved ones.

We LOVE Missionaries

We try to have the missionaries in our home as often as possible to feed them and listen to their messages. We are also grateful for the people that are listening to the messages from our missionary.

Thankful for Rosses

This year we decided to do our Ross reunion at Thanksgiving rather than in the summer. We rented a big house up in the hills of Sandy so we could all be together under one roof. We did some fun outings for things like laser tag, and the lights on Temple Square, and we cooked out Thanksgiving dinner as a group effort. I am sure thankful for these people that I get to call family!

AZ State Four-peat!

Bowen was the favorite this year to win the Arizona state cross-country title. He has had a fantastic season and has run very strong all season long. The team as a whole was also looking great, and we were pretty confident that things would go our way on the day of the big race.

Bowen ran a good race coming in at 16:20 for third place. The boys pulled off an amazing team victory with three runners in the top five. This is the fourth year in a row that the Sand Devils have come out on top. Bowen was a little disappointed that he didn't get the individual title, but he has emerged as such a great leader for his team. He has grown by leaps and bounds this year, and we are so proud of him and his accomplishments!

Springville Shenanigans

Section Champs

The Runnin Devils traveled to Holbrook for the Sectional cross-country meet. We had a great day taking away a win, along with Bowen as the first place finisher. Way to go!

How Great Shall Be Your Joy!

In the three years that we lived in Amarillo, Texas, we made some very good friends that became like a second family to us. We were especially blessed to have wonderful young men and young men leaders that embraced Drake. As a surprise, our former bishop Kurt McElwain, his daughter Mara, and two of Drake's friends that are also returned missionaries now, Thomas and Winston all made the journey to Page for the weekend of Drake's report in church! These people helped Drake to get on a mission! They are so special to our family!

We were so grateful to everyone that supported us during these two years. It was awesome to celebrate over the weekend with so many of our family and friends. Drake gave a fantastic talk in sacrament meeting. He has grown so tremendously. Life is GOOD!

Mission Accomplished

He is HOME!! After two years of service to the Lord in the Washington, Tacoma mission, our son Drake has returned! My heart is absolutely bursting with JOY!

Drake was actually scheduled to fly from Seattle to San Francisco and then on to Phoenix and finally to Page. There were some delays along the way, but we thought he was okay to make it until he got to Phoenix. The layover there was less than an hour, and you have to change to a whole other terminal to get to the small planes that fly to Page. We were able to speak to Drake a couple of times on the phone as he made his way home, and late in the afternoon we got the call from him that he had missed his connection from Phoenix to Page. 

As the day had progressed, we thought this was a possibility, so Theo and I quickly jumped in the car to head south to collect our boy. While he waited, Theo's sister Bri was able to pick him up from the airport so he didn't have to wait there. I admit, it burst my little bubble of the scene I had imagined as we would no longer greet him getting off of a plane. Bri graciously drove Drake up to Anthem which saved us an extra 45 minutes one way. We reunited in a parking lot at an outlet mall at about 10:00pm. 

Drake looks wonderful! He actually wanted to drive us home to Page. It was nice to be able to spend the almost four hour drive home talking with him and soaking up being together. When we arrived at home, Bo and Rex had hung the banner we made, and they got out of bed to greet their brother in the wee hours of the morning. My happiness is beyond description. I am so proud of this missionary!

Getting Out, Counting Down

Corbin has been assigned to Springville as his first area. His trainer is Elder Maughan and he is actually from Drake's mission. Ha! They are living with the zone leaders temporarily, so Corbin is sleeping on the couch. He doesn't seem to mind, and is getting adjusted to mission life.

His very first day in the mission field, I got a Facebook message from one of my former Young Women from Page, Hannah Nez. She said, "you will never guess who is having dinner at my house right now!" I freaked! Of course, I made her send me picture proof. Her parents live in the area, and they were hosting the missionaries for dinner while their relative took the lessons. So crazy!

Drake is on the flip side as he is preparing to get home this week! He left a huge box of stuff at Skip's house that he plans to retrieve at a later date, and saying his goodbyes to his friends in Washington. It has been the fastest and slowest two years of my life! I am so excited to see him I can hardly wait! We have a room all ready for him, and we are so excited to see that handsome face in person! One month of having TWO missionaries was about all I could handle!

Photog Fun

Corbin has been great about sending us lots of pictures. He ran into a Page friend Grant Gardner just a couple days before leaving the MTC. He is learning a lot and having fun as he gets ready to head into the world as a missionary.

PHS Homecoming 2017

Bowen turned 16 this year which opens up the exciting world of dating for this dashing young man. He went with a group of friends to Homecoming including his date Danielle from Tuba City. Since the girls were coming from out of town, we offered to let them get ready at our house after the game. Instead they went to the house of a relative. Luckily, I know the family, and they were able to get a couple of pictures of the group. Looking good.

      

Finally Legal

Bowen didn't get his permit right at the six month mark before his birthday. That meant he had to wait a little longer after his birthday to get his license. He is now legal and ready to roll!