Missionaries and Olympians

First of all, ETHAN WILLIAM HALLSTROM HAS BEEN CALLED TO SERVE IN THE IDAHO POTACELLO  MISSION, reporting July 29, 2015! Congratulations to Ethan and so much love and excitement is being sent his way from here.Literally, seems like it was only yesterday that he was born; hence the nostalgic baby photos. The photo in the first grouping on the bottom left is in the romper I made him that I accidentally poked him with pins and made his leg bleed; and the cute photo with Amy shows my first attempt at a quilt and look at those monster points on the side. I had no clue. After Ethan received his call, I texted him and told him I grew up in La Grande, Oregon, and it might as well have been Idaho, and to me it was (and still is) the center of the universe. The missionaries were BELOVED by all of us because as far as we were concerned, they had been called to serve in the center of the universe too and we honored them for being with us, for honoring us and serving in our little corner of the world. AND I MARRIED A MISSIONARY WHO SERVED IN IDAHO! Idaho where Napolean Dynamite grew up! It's going to be full of adventures and spectacular moments, and beautiful scenery where "The Potato Field is White and Ready to Harvest."

They will be building a temple in Star Valley, Wyoming while he's serving and it's in his area. I love the photo the church released on their Instagram post a few weeks ago during the groundbreaking where people rode their horses and the clouds were all low and moody in the blue skies.

And finally, to quote Alma's epistle to Helaman 56:45: "And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites. For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; Now they never had fought; yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying" "WE do not doubt our mothers knew it!" I get chills typing that. And a few verses later it reads: "And this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually."(57:47) Ethan, this could have been written about you!

And finally, Alma 56 Verse 27, paraphrasing- it says "And now it came to pass in the second month of this year, there was brought unto us many provisions from the fathers and grandmothers of those my two thousand sons!" So oh yeah, I will be sure to hold up my end of this "altered" scriptural account and provide him with many grandmotherly provisions! Ethan will be a great missionary because he's obedient and has a kind heart and follows through and is a hard worker and so handsome! You know what I think one of the hard things about a mission would be? To ALWAYS have a companion with you!! I would have to spend lengthy time in the bathroom occasionally just to gather my wits. And then I'd be fine and off to the races. He will liven and uplift our lives through his labors (and I will labor with renewed vigor in his honor in my own assignments here on the homefront, whatever they may be now and in the future!). Congratulations Elder Hallstrom!!!!

                           NOW TO CONTINUE WITH OUR COLORADO ADVENTURES!

Jack and Macy are little Olympians on their school's track team and we got to watch them practice. The coach is the youth pastor who was happy that Amy mentioned not practicing on Sundays and said he welcomed making the change himself because he's busy being a pastor on Sundays!

(the coach is the one with the beard)

We sat and watched from the steps at their pretty elementary school and listened to Amy's friends discuss the price of getting their hair cut and colored and how much to tip!

I told Macy that Heavenly Father gave her lots of muscles and she gets to enjoy them here on earth.

And Carly is so darn cute. She's the Olympic ballerina!These little girls at her dance class were adorable to watch. I like how the little girl in the black leggings (who is the daughter of Amy's friend that was discussing the price of hair coloring) is watching Carly so closely. Carly reminds me so much of Amy at that age when she was a little girl and took dance - following every direction to the "T." (Only Amy and Cathy Crippen used to hide from me and Carma on dance class day and hope we forgot about it, which we did with stunning regularity! They didn't like the teacher I think they thought she was mean? Is that right Mouse? She was no Myrna Chadwick, huh Ang!!

TAP SHOES!! I LOVE TAP!!! Shuffle, ball change?

I wish this picture wasn't blurry because I love the gauzy feminine pink flowing skirt, and the way she's holding it in her little teeny Carly hand!

These blurry shots are random Macy moments caught from the corner of my eye. I got used to seeing Macy spring by in a blur of motion..............

and then I got to watch a bit of Macy's Olympian gymnastics practice. I could watch forever. Carly feels like she has  watched forever. One time, in the sweetest little Carly voice, she said to me matter-of-factly, "I hate gymnastics...."

I got there right to watch at "snack time" which was the break they get at the halfway point during the 3 hours of practice on Friday nights. and it's so much WORK! I couldn't believe they did their tough moves over and over and then over AGAIN. It boggles my mind.And she loves it!

Love this!

...(her coach is Amy's friend who she helped recruit to teach at their gym. She was so great with the kids. I was very impressed with all of the kid's teachers school, dance, track, gymnastics, all of them so genuinely kind and doing what they love, loved kids, just well suited for the challenge of impacting kid's lives for the better!

....she swings up onto the low bar

...does a scissor kick to lift to the top and flings herself through the air to catch the high bar....

and she did it! I think this may have been the first time she did it (although I don't know, maybe it's the NEXT higher one she had never done?) Either way, I was flabbergasted.

I did NOT like this pose! However, her teacher seems non-plussed. Like I said, they're doing what they are suited to do! When Dave says the prayer he always includes "Please bless Macy at gymnastics."

And these next few photos - I don't know where they learned this dance, at school? But out of the blue with no prompting from us, they broke out these swing moves like they were grown-ups at the ballroom! So below are a few snapshots of "Dancin' on the Deck!"

We also had "Sock Olympics!" Carly's sock is on the blue ribbon and she made a frowny face on the other side of hers :-)

The lighting of the torch. It was so hard to turn on the twisty thing on that dern lamp, Macy couldn't do it and then neither could I and we also couldn't get the other lamp plugged in on the first try so it was kinda a lame torch lighting. Nothing like the Youtube video I showed them with the flaming arrow shot through the sky.

Macy was Egypt and made an exact replica of their flag. Carly represented the country of Disneyland!

And Jack, so noble in this photo! I believe his country was "Jackland."

The Olympic village comes to life.............

nothing like that theme song to liven things up!

I didn't get many photos of the games because it's impossible to be the photographer and the game person. Dennis helped a ton with everything!~

The medal awards...........

Congratulations to Carly....

Mighty Macy!

and, I think this is my favorite photo of all 347 that I took. He is beaming into Grandpa's eyes. Isn't it cute?

Then for the Olympic village wrap-up party they rocked out to "Gummy Bear!"

Woo who!!
I have one more blog post left of many, many random moments and I can't wait to get those up too. So, from my house to yours, good night, sleep tight, more soon.
XOXOX
Mom