This year for Spring Break, we decided to take a family vacation since Loren is at home for a few weeks until Spring Term starts in April. He missed a few family vacations while he was gone of course, so we thought it would be really fun for him to spend some intense "be with the family" days after not seeing us for so long!
Since Alan and I enjoyed San Francisco so much last year, we thought it would be fun to take the kids. Of course we would be able to see our niece Jessica again and this time Alan's cousins, the Sandholtz's, were living in the Bay area. He decided to get his PhD at Stanford and they moved their whole family to live there for 2 years while he goes to school full time — see, it's never too late to keep learning, right?!
So, we drove all day, spent 3 fun days in SF doing the usual sightseeing stuff, spent Sunday with the cousins and drove all day home. It was a great trip! Some of the highlights were seeing the Oakland Temple (absolutely gorgeous grounds and views, with thousands of daffodils), touring the Scharffen Berger chocolate factory in Berkeley, crossing wonderful bridges, shopping, good weather, Ben and Jerry ice cream cones, clam chowder in Sourdough bread bowls, and the beach. Of course I took just a "few" photos!
Elliot turned 14 years old this year and is officially taller than I am by a good inch or two! He is growing so fast and is always saying "Tengo hambre!" (Spanish for "I'm hungry!") We had a fun birthday celebration — the highlight of which was Madeleine giving him four inflatable ponies. The joke in the family is that for the past year or so whenever we tell Elliot that we have something for him, he always wants to guess and always starts with "an inflatable pony?" Lately his guess is always, "A wii?" He is just a wii bit driven about wanting one and driving us just a wii bit crazy suggesting we should get him one. His current "when faced with reality plan" is to work hard and earn the money to buy one this summer — so call him up if you have any jobs!
Well even though Easter was so early this year, here in Utah we actually had a warm spring day! We had dinner this year with Pat & Wally – the highlight was enjoying glasses of rhubarb slush. I don't think I've had rhubarb slush since our wedding reception! It was also a great day because Shirley was able to come have dinner with us. I'm glad she was able to have an outing!
Note to extended Brown family: Pat and Wally have redone the main floor of their condo and now are the proud owners of a beautiful hardwood floor, newly painted walls, some recovered and new furniture and a flat screen TV that even the guy on the back row can see. So schedule your next visit today for a personal tour and an up close, personal movie or sports media experience — treats are always included!
Loren seems to be adjusting to regular life well. We have spent a fair amount of time re-doing the stuff you have to do to get ready to go on a mission. We have been to the dentist, eye doctor, dermatologist, clothes shopping, and the temple. I guess we are getting him ready for his next "mission." It is fun to have him at home working on couple of projects together. It is also nice to have someone to eat lunch with everyday!
Last Sunday, Loren had the opportunity to report on his mission to the High Council and also spoke in Sacrament Meeting. He did a great job and gave a nice testimony in Spanish. We felt a lot of support from family and friends; we appreciate the interest in our missionary sons.
About a week after he got home, one of the sweet sisters from his mission, Sister Alaniz called us to say she was in Salt Lake City visiting her daughter and she wondered if we could go to the temple together? So we were able to pick her up and take her with us to the Bountiful Temple. It was only her second time and of course she only speaks Spanish and I only speak English, so it was a little difficult because we couldn't talk with each other. But, the Spirit speaks all languages and we had a really nice time in the temple together and of course when we were with Loren he could translate for both of us. It was a great day.
We have successfully received new photos from Spain! Phillip did a great job of showing us a bit of Spain, the Madrid Temple and the area where he lives. It is fun to finally be able to really visualize him in his surroundings. Of course, now he will probably be transferred next week! It would be nice if he were a little closer to Madrid since they seem to go there so often and from Badajoz it is about a five hour bus ride each way. He appreciates all your letters and prayers.