Have you seen "The RM" ?

The good news is that we got our Hermana Foulk home from Las Vegas on Saturday night. She is healthy, trying hard to get used to the non-mission life, and our same old Steph.....only way focused and even more wonderful than before she left. We are so happy to have the next few days to spend with her before she starts BYU.

The bad news is that even though the kids made some fabulous signs, we got balloons and flowers, and got to the airport a full hour before her flight landed.....

.....We were in terminal A.....

......and she came into terminal E. :(

What a great, supportive family..right? She was very understanding and we did manage to get a picture of our family at the church building where we went on the way home so that she could be released by a member of our stake presidency. (Thanks Pres. VanDerwerken)

We stopped after that and had dinner with Grandma Foulk, Aunt Tracey, and Uncle Chuck...and then came on home and spent some time together that evening.

The next day, Stephanie spoke in our sacrament meeting and gave such a wonderful talk. There were a number of Stephanie's friends who came to hear her and it was great to have them there to help welcome her home.
The rest of that day we just spent time together talking and playing games with the family. What a great day.

We will leave on Wednesday for Utah....Steve, Jill, Stephanie, and Emily. It will be a fast five days there filled with finding an apartment for Steph, getting both girls moved in and spending some fun time with Janelle, Scott, and baby Alan. Can't wait to smooch those chubby cheeks. Life is very good.

Missionary Update - Elder Foulk

Geoffrey has been serving in the Albania Tirana mission since October of last year. He spent almost three months in the Provo MTC...

and then traveled to Albania the first part of January.

He has loved the people there and has learned a lot...not the least of which is the Albanian language!!! He has served in Vlore,

then he served in Durres,

and he is currently serving as the mission secretary in the office in Tirana.

Each assignment has been a new adventure. He has had some great teaching experiences and has been able to be a part of a number of baptisms. Right now he is learning a lot about the way a mission office runs and is working very closely with the president. We love getting his letters and the great photos he sends. Go Elder Foulk!!!

Missionary Update - Hermana Foulk

It is such a great thing to have two missionaries serving in the field. Stephanie has been serving in the Nevada Las Vegas Mission since Feb. 2008. She has served in Kingman, AZ and in various areas of Las Vegas. In December she even got to witness an actual snowstorm in Las Vegas. She has grown to love the people so much and has been blessed to see some of her families go through the temple. How cool is that!! Her time is quickly coming to an end and although she is not anxious to leave her mission, we are so looking forward to her coming home on the 22 of this month. She will be here for just three days and then we are off to Utah...Steve, Jill, Stephanie, and Emily...where she and Emily will start at BYU. She will also get to see her new nephew, Alan, for the very first time.

Fun in the Poconos

We had a really fun family get away in late July. We were invited to go to the Poconos by our good friends, the Sikahemas, along with several other great families. It was so fun. The kids were able to go swimming, go to a water park, try golfing, and go horseback riding, too. We ate all our meals together and had some great multi-family time.





Highlights included that really yummy salad, the cloudburst at the water park that sent us running for shelter, the testimony meeting (where Evan fell asleep on Nelson's lap), the prize ceremony, and, of course, Evan leading "Do As I'm Doing" with a glow stick in the dark. It was a great family vacation that will be remembered for a long time.

One of the Greater Evan Moments

I just wanted to share a funny thing that happened a few weeks ago during Sacrament meeting. Little things like this happen all the time, but I am terrible at writing them down. This one was unforgettable, though.
As is quite often the case, I was playing a little game with Evan during church to help him keep quiet. The dot game was our game of choice on this particular Sunday. It was his turn so he had taken the paper and had it for a little while. Pretty soon he hands the paper to me and as he is trying to get past me to the aisle, he says, "Mom, I need to go to the bathroom, so I put the game on pause." I looked down at the paper and tried to keep from cracking up as I see that he has carefully drawn the "pause" (ll) symbol next to our game. Amazing how these young brains work!!

Here is a photo of Evan on a recent Sunday. He is standing in front of our tomato plants and is wearing a missionary tag that he got in Primary.

It's GREAT to be GRANDPARENTS

Alan Robert Robertson was born to Janelle and Scott Robertson on June 20th, 2009. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 inches long. He, of course, is absolutely beautiful and is such a good baby. He was a little jaundiced for 3-4 days and had to sleep in a little "Billi-bed" that keeps constant light on him. He slept really well in the little bed and between that and mommy's milk...he whipped that silly billirubin thing.


Jill was able to go out and spend about 10 days with Janelle, Scott, and Alan.



Grandpa Steve came for four days in the middle of Grandma Jill's time there.


Great Grandma and Grandpa Tucker even got to come down from Idaho to see their new (and first) great grandbaby.


We got to do all the fun things like hold him and change him and even go on some walks with him. It was hard to leave that sweet little boy and come home, but it is good to know that we are heading out to Utah again at the end of August. Can't wait!

On the day that Alan was born, Steve, Jill, Megan, and Nathan were able to go to the Manhattan Temple to do baptisms for the dead. It was Nathan's first time going to the temple and was an especially nice place to be as we waited for word about the new baby.

Graduation Day

Wednesday, June 17, marked an exciting day for our family. Emily graduated from Seneca High School. I think she was very ready to be done with school. She didn't have to stay long that last day...just a quick practice and then it was off to get some food with her friends at the diner.

The weather forecast originally called for rain about midnight so we thought we would dodge the bullet. But no such luck. The rain started at about 4 and went right up until the time to start the outdoor ceremony. Then is cleared off just enough to get the graduation in and started right up again. They had to cut out the presenting of awards and scholarships part of the evening, but that was not a huge thing because all of the info was printed in the program. It just made the event a little shorter.

After the graduation we went as a family to the diner (yes, that was two trips in one day for Emily) for a quick dinner and then Emily and her friends went to the planned grad bash for the seniors. Despite the rain, it turned out to be a really great day. Congrats, Em!!