he's alive!

sorry--i know i'm a bit behind. but here's a little photo to tide you over till the next installment.

Good friends and good food: a photo essay

seascapes and sunsets

photos courtesy of Tom Trickett

I hope Luke stays on the Isle of Man for forever, because I love getting pictures via e-mail from the Tricketts.

photos from the Isle of Man

Luke's first baptism

Luke is a big fan of Elder Larson's famous curry (I might have to ask for the recipe)

Lovely photo of the Isle of Man

We came home from the hospital to find a letter with pictures this week, too (excuse the low quality--I need a scanner, no?). What a wonderful surprise!

And we finally got to meet Elder Larson's mother (or, as Luke would say, Mum). It was lovely to meet her (we are big fans of Elder Larson around here--serving with him has been the best thing for Luke) and she's wonderful. She was so kind to us. It was great!

Can you hear me now?

instead of groundhog day, apparently over there they celebrate hedgehog day (at least it's not a rat!)


Elder Rowley, driving off into the sunset...on the wrong side of the road!


Driving on the wrong side of the car, apparently, too


Elder Ayers during service hours at Attingham Park


Luke's little sister keeps praying that Luke will have a good time on his mission. I think her prayers are working, don't you?


Mail call. Just look at that big grin. Thank you for making our missionary happy with your cards and letters.


I can't tell if Luke is saying thanks for the Alfredo sauce packet I sent him or dropping a hint he'd like more...maybe both!


Luke and Flat Stanley (a little visitor to England from his fourth-grader brother). Flat Stanley liked it so much over there we had a difficult time getting him to come home!

*Now you see it

Now you don't it



Because of Christmas Zone Conference, there was no e-mail exchange this week with Elder Rowley, but there was something even better. Due to some bad news we needed to speak with him about, we were able to talk with him over the phone. He's doing great. The Lord is blessing him in so many remarkable ways. And we are being so blessed by his missionary service. I hope to be able to write more about it all later.

But if it wasn't enough just to hear his voice and be reassured by his strong faith and testimony, we were also blessed to receive the long-awaited photos. We'll sort them all out and post more later, but here are a few for now...







*From Dalene: You know I've stood by my French friends even through the entire "American Fries" revolution in this country. But to see French fries overtake honest-to-goodness English chips, wow, that's real shame. Say it ain't so, Joe.