We Made it!

We made it to Ireland! We arrived Saturday morning and spent the day in Dublin with the mission president's wife. The mission president was in London for meetings. We went to a fun park, toured the Guiness mansion, went to a Christmas market, and toured downtown Dublin. It was a busy but fun day. We were pretty tired....Sunday, we drove to our new area, Portadown in Northern Ireland. The ward was having ward conference so we met the Stake Presidency of the Belfast Stake. We spoke in Sacrament meeting.....the members were all very nice but some of them were hard to understand! We are staying with a member family until we can find a place of our own. Hopefully soon! Today, Monday, we went to Belfast for our district meeting. We took the Elders with us which was good since we had no idea where we were going. They stayed in Belfast so we were on our own to get home. We only got lost a few times!!! It's a little scary driving a new car on the left side of the road! Lots of round-a-bouts! The adventure has begun! We'll post pictures soon.

The Olsons visit SLC

This weekend our good friend Peggy came to Salt Lake City to visit her son Tim who was dancing in a show at Kingsbury Hall. Since we were still here, we went to the show "It's a Wonderful Life" with her. Tim did an awsome job dancing and acting. It was as good as most Broadway shows I have seen! Tim has moved to Utah from NYC and seems to enjoy the west! We have known him for many years, watching him dance at Northland with our girls. It's fun to see him dance with the Oddesey Dance Company.

On Sunday, we took Peggy and Tim to Temple Square since they had never been there. (a little missionary work :)

We had a wonderful time showing them around and enjoyed being there with them.

There is nothing quite like Temple Square at Christmas Time. We feel blessed to be here, enjoying this wonderful season.

Mission Training Center (MTC)

On November 30, we entered the MTC in Provo, UT. We had a wonderful week meeting new people and learning what we should do as missionaries. There were 2200 missionaries there. 25 "Senior Couples" and many young men and women, willing to go all over the world, with different assignments, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit was strong and the week went by very fast. The McDowell's from Sacramento CA are also going to the Dublin Ireland Mission and we became fast friends. They are really a fun couple.

The MTC is like a mini city, with everything you need from post office to beauty salon. There were Christmas lights lighting up the center quad. Very festive!

Here's Elder Holt in front of the main building.

Us with the McDowell's. They were able to leave Saturday for Ireland. We are still waiting for our visas. It was sad to see them leave without us.

This was our district. Elder Holt was the district leader.....Brother Spencer, the young guy, was our trainer. He was great and we learned a lot from him.

The famous mission map...everyone points to their mission and takes a picture!
This is Elder and Sister James. They were going to the Congo...but because of medical reasons, they were reassigned the last day to Orlando Florida! We had a lot of fun with them.

The Thompsons were from Brisbane, Australia and the are going to Italy! It was fun to hear them speak Italian with an Australian accent!
The McDowells.
The Herrs are from Utah and they are going to Norway. They could barely reach their country on the map. They will be serving 450 miles north of the Artic Circle and won't see the sun until March!

We had a wonderful week. Now we are waiting in Salt Lake at my parents house for our visas to come. We are hopeful it won't be too long! Maybe tomorrow????

Almost There!

Our mission prep is almost done! We have been crazy busy trying to get everything in order. The visa application is in, we've talked in church and Stake Conference, we've had all our shots, (my arm is still sore...), our drivers liscences and temple recommends have been renewed. The "Will" is done...the house is packed...the leaves are raked,the suitcases bought and we are being set apart as missionaries tonight! One more week and we leave for the MTC. That gives me three days before Thanksgiving to make sure I have all the clothes I need!!! We are getting excited to just be on our way.

The best news is that Jasper is home from the hospital. He is such a happy little guy and it is so fun to hold him even with all his tubes! We are so thankful for him.

Mission Call

This week we recieved an email from the Mission President's wife in the Ireland, Dublin mission. Since we have been on vacation in Florida for two weeks, our mission call was waiting for us at home in our held mail. To make a long story short, we have been emailing the Mission President back and forth and had Jeff overnite our call to us, so it's offical. We are headed to Ireland December 6th.(if we get our visa by then) We are to report to the Provo MTC on Nov. 30th. We have been called as missionaries for the church with the instructions that the mission president may change our assignments however he wants. So, we still are not sure what we will be doing. We are excited and will do whatever we are asked to do.

The next few weeks will be busy as we shop for mission clothes, get our house in order, renew driver liscences, get more shots...etc. My mind is whirling and on overload, which is probably good....so I don't think about being gone for 23 months! It's exciting, scary, sad, happy and every other emotion you can think of!

I do feel blessed to be going to Ireland. It's a beautiful country, safe, clean and I know we will have a wonderful experience. There are 6 senior couples there (counting us and another couple from California that will be going the same time as us), 110 missionaries, 2 stakes and a district. The whole island is smaller than Utah! The weather is 70's in the summer and 30's in the winter, which is perfect for me! Today it's in the 50's.

Life is full of change, and this will certainly change ours. Our testimonies are strong and we know we will be blessed. Hopefully we can bless others too. It's pretty neat to have a mission call signed by the prophet!

Florida

We are having a great time in Florida. Every morning Dylan comes running in to wake us up and play! Today he was a big dinasaur and then decided to climb into this pillow case. I carried him all around the house in it. He thought that was pretty fun! Yesterday we went to the Starfish Co. for lunch. It was a fun little fishing place. The food was great! Best mahi sandwhich I've ever had!!

It was warm but a little overcast. We had a good time watching the pelicans!

Monday we went to the Ringling Art Museum. The grounds were beautiful. Right on the coast.

Dylan and Grandpa.

This was the patio of the mansion. John and Mable Ringling. One of the Ringling Brothers.

The Ringling Manison

The grounds and gardens were beautiful.

Shaylyn was such a good girl in her little sling. She slept the whole time.

This is Birch by the statue of David.....

Sunday we went to Church with Jana and Tony. Here is their new home. It is really nice.

They have a great ward. The people are really friendly and it was fun to see where they go to church!

Shaylyn

Such a cutie! Shaylyn is growing and changing everyday! It's so nice to be here.

Beautiful Day at the Beach

We went to Lido Beach today. The weather was perfect! I forget how peaceful it can be listening to the waves, watching the clouds, the birds, the sunset.....the kids!

Shaylyn's first day at the beach! She did great! Slept the whole time.

We stayed to watch the sunset and then went to dinner at a really fun seafood restarant in Sarasota. Fun day! Wish everyone could be here!

Our new baby grand-daughter

Little Shaylyn Kay was born October 13th. She weighed 7lbs, 15 oz. and was 21" long. She has a full head of dark hair and she is beautiful! We are having so much fun being in Florida with her and her family! We went straight to the hospital from the airport. It was late but certainly worth the trip!

It's so much fun to be Grandparents!

She is such a sweet little baby. She is so good and we are so glad she has joined our family.

Aunt Julie made this beautiful blanket for Shaylyn. Such talent! We love PINK! Shopping is so much fun!!!!

SNOW??? In October???

It's snowing today! The leaves are still green, but they are covered with snow! It is beautiful....but alittle early for me! I guess Birch won't mow the lawn today! Florida, here we come!!!!!

Seniors Conference

Last Thursday and Friday, we had a Seniors Conference at the mission. All the senior couples in the mission came. We met at the temple Thursday afternoon and went through a session. Then we all went to the Mall of America to see how many pass along cards we could give out. We got several referrals and gave out alot of cards. After that we went to the mission home for dinner and then had a wonderful testimony meeting. The next day we had breakfast, training, lunch and then headed to the Jonathan Paddleford paddle boat for a fall cruise up the Mississippi River. It was a chilly......but beautiful fall day. It was fun to get to know the other couples in the mission better.
It was nice we could go inside to warm up, although I spent most of the time out on the deck!

The leaves are just beginning to turn.

Here's the Howell's ready to embark. They were the last ones on the boat.

Elder Holt, Elder Wiberg and Sister Rudolph.

The Powell's and Sister Corcoran. Elder Sippel bought some popcorn to share.

The Barlow's are new to the mission. They are serving in Duluth - CES. They have only been here a month and it was really fun to get to know them. They are my aunt and uncle's neighbors in Orem!

Sister Howell and Sister Naatjes! They are the best!

The Surratts are serving in Hutchinson, the Sippels in Hayward, the Wiberg's in Sparta, the Powell's in Menominie.

What a great way to spend our last day together. We feel so blessed to have known all these good people who are sacrificing so much to serve a mission here in Minnesota. They all miss their families and some are not in good health, but they willingly do what they can to help God's kingdom grow. They are all great examples of us, and we will miss serving with them.