Jacksonville Florida Mission Blog

I received a card in the mail Saturday from Adam's Mission President's wife announcing the new Jacksonville, Florida Mission Blog. I guess it was in response to all the worried parents during the tropical storm Fay. I know I was worried. I knew Adam was to be transferred that week and I had no idea where he was. I was thrilled to learn of the new blog. When I went to the blog, there in the top picture of the "Zone Leader Council" third person in from the right was my boy! Whoo Hoo! It makes this mom proud. If you would like to check out the blog and the picture, the link to the mission blog is under "Family" on the right. Double click on the group picture to get a better look at the Elders. Let me know what you think. Ann

Rachel's Summer Job

With the start of school Rachel's summer job has come to an end. She has been babysitting her nephew, Tanner, three days a week. She would usually watch him at Mike and Kim's house but sometimes she watched him here at home. On the days she would watch him at Kim's, she would get on her bicycle and ride the three miles to Kim's house for her morning workout. I don't know if you could really call it a job. I think she had too much fun playing with Tanner, eating Kimberly's food and watching movies while Tanner napped. Rachel already misses seeing Tanner almost everyday. You can tell Tanner also thinks Rachel is pretty special. He gets so excited when he sees her. Rachel really likes being the favorite Aunt. Tanner now gets to spend a few days with his Grandmothers and one day playing at cousin Michelle's house with her boys.

Here are a few pictures of Rachel "working"

Tanner showing Rachel how "tuff" he is.

Laura Moves to College

We've been talking about this all summer but reality has finally hit...Laura has moved to college. We were worried about getting all her stuff in her car, but she made it fit. This is a lot different than just moving to Rexburg. She can't run home for something she forgot.

We--we being Laura in her little Civic, Samantha Perez, Laura's best friend in her Camry, and Rachel and I in my Camry left Thursday morning, August 14th and drove convoy style the eight and a half hours to the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.

Laura, Samantha & Rachel. Behind them are the dorms they will be staying in this week.

Laura and Sam wanted to join a Sorority so they needed to be there on the 15th for Rush. The process of joining a sorority commonly begins with a "formal recruitment" period, often called "rush week." There are 300 girls going through "rush" this year. They are divided into nine groups and will visit the nine different sororities houses to meet the members and learn about the activities and events the house is involved with and get a feel for what it would be like to be a part of that particular group. After "rush" is over, Laura and Sam should have an idea of which house they like, and the members of each house will vote on who they will ask to join. The houses then give the girls a "bid" or invitation to join and each girl has the choice of whether to accept or decline. They took all their cell phones away their first night there. The idea being each girl needs to make her own individual choice without influence of parents or friends. Being cell phone less for five days was quite disconcerting for both Laura and Sam. To tell the truth, I'm not real comfortable with it either. So we won't be able to talk to her until Wednesday or Thursday after they have chosen which sorority to join.
Yes, it was terribly hard to leave her and we will miss her greatly. But we know that Laura will do awesome no matter where she goes to school. We are so proud of her. We love you Laura!

At Long Last -- Rachel's Braces Are Off!!

On July 29th, after two and a half long years of orthodontic torture, Rachel has finally had her braces removed. She was hoping she'd get them off before starting high school this fall. As you know it would be the kiss of death to start high school with braces. In her opinion it just wouldn't be cool.

Last Year with braces

Now, without braces.

Yes, those are some very straight teeth on my pretty little girl. High School are you ready for this smile?

Jason & Nicole's Wedding

Saturday, July 26th we attended my nephew's, Jason Armstrong, wedding. He married the lovely Nicole Cochran. The wedding was held at the Targhee Ski resort in Afton, Wyoming. It was an awesome place to have a wedding and the weather was perfect. The wedding was held behind one of the lodges with about 75-100 people present. They were married by one of their mutual friends who got his Minister's license off the internet for this occasion. Afterwards there was a reception in a large white tent where a delicious dinner was served. We had fun visiting with Jason's and Nicole's friends and family. They also had a dance. It was nice seeing everyone enjoying themselves. Congratulations Jason and Nicole! I hope you enjoyed your honeymoon in Jamaica.

These were the best of the few pictures we took. We were trying to stay out of the wedding photographer's way.

This is a picture of the Tetons as we drove down the mountain from Targhee at Sunset. It was a beautiful day.

Clark Family Olympics 2008

The Clark Family Reunion was held July 17th to July 19th at the family ranch. The theme was "Clark Family Olympics 2008 or The Games Rednecks Play". The reunion included Roger's mother, his brother and sisters and their families. Out of 59 family members, 57 were present at one time or another over the three days. The exceptions being Adam, who is on a mission and Matt, a nephew who was graduating from BYU-I that weekend. They came from as far as Illinois, Tennessee, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Montana and of course Idaho. We spent the weekend visiting, eating, playing and eating some more. It was so nice to see everyone and see the new babies and how much the other children have grown. It was a great weekend.

Outhouse Renovation

A special thanks to my Dad who spent two days upgrading the outhouse for the Clark Reunion. He painted the inside and lined the door so no one could peek in. He added an inside lock and took off the outside lock so there wouldn't be anymore children traumatized by being locked in by prankster cousins. He also added a new toilet paper holder, a light and a nice new seat while leaving the outside still looking quaint and rustic. Thanks Dad.