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“Our trip to Cozumel.”   This had been a key phrase in our family for our while.   Back in the spring, John and I had decided that we would host a family get-together in Cozumel.   You might picture aunts, uncles, cousins, parents.   Nope.   Just John, Larisa and the kids (plus Rebecca).   Afterall, it would be the first time in forever (for real) that all seven of us would be together, and we wanted it to be without any other distractions (the cell phone being the biggest one of all).   My granddad’s wife, Vannette, gave us our Christmas gift early and arranged for us to stay in a condo in Cozumel.   We bought the plane tickets, although it would prove to be a tricky thing, and John scheduled our dives with Sergio, the divemaster that John chewed out on our previous cruise :-) You can refresh your memories about that friendly visit by clicking here . Because of John’s work schedule, we could only take our vacation during the last week of Au...

For Mark's homecoming, John and I had envisioned a huge party.  One where the entire family would be home, and where we would invite friends and family from across the country.  I even ordered invitations for the weekend.  A couple of weeks before Mark got home, however, I felt like it wasn't the right thing to do, and good thing, because Mark only wanted to be with us. In other words, after spending two years talking and talking and talking to people, he wanted a party where he didn't have to talk.  He didn't have to be "on".  Made perfect sense to me. Thankfully, we have "family" close by.  Family that is so near and dear to our children's hearts that there's no extra stress when they show up :-)  You know who I am talking about.  Yep:  the Morans. We got the house all ready before Mark and I left for his scholarship audition at Michigan, so when we came home, we were ready to party! A bonus was the Peine family.  They are livi...

Back in February, I started to get things rolling for Mark to be reinstated as a student at the University of Michigan.  Before Mark left on his mission, his horn professor had told him that he didn't need to reaudition for his scholarship--his freshman recital was audition enough.  So when I called to get his scholarship reinstated, I assumed it would be easy. Wrong. Professor Unsworth didn't remember anything about saying that, and he decided to have Mark audition again.  Too, because he hadn't received any communication from Mark for the last year and a half, he questioned Mark's commitment to horn. I can't begin to express the worry that our family experienced over the next six months.  There were phone calls and emails between us and Professor Unsworth, emails to President Clark begging him to let Mark practice a bit, emails from President Clark to Professor Unsworth, explaining a mission and why communication is limited. Stress, and more stress. Tear...

Rose :  Once again, we headed to our favorite place on earth.  I do believe that the sky is bluer, and the sunshine sunnier at Interlochen.  Lakes everywhere, beautiful trees lining every road.  I love it there. Thorn :  Once again, we left John at home, taking care of the house and animals (along with the regular job and church calling).  I missed him terribly this year. Rose :  The weather was the best we've ever had.  Really.  60's and 70's during the day, high 40's/low 50's at night.  For having to work in a non-airconditioned infirmary each day, and for the girls rehearsing all day in outdoor spaces, it was absolutely perfect.  No frozen washcloths up the backs of our shirts this summer! Thorn :  The mosquitoes were atrocious!  In fact, when we stepped out of our car for the first time, we had swarms of them on us.  I think Hannah ended up with six bites in that short of time, and was on Benedryl for the...