Having fun and loving life!

I really need to be better about updating this blog. So here goes:
We are down to 5 weeks till Elder Jeff Lundgreen comes home. I am so excited about this, yet sad that he has to say "Good-Bye" to all the people in Australia he has come to know and love. And even though I look forward to his hug, I will miss those wonderful, spiritual e-mails and letters. It will nice to see him again and we have all missed him like crazy, but I cannot imagine him not getting these 2 years of serving the Lord. It has been an amazing journey for all of us.
Also, we got Janie's new grades today and...yep, once again 4.0/straight A's. She is such a good girl. She works hard though, so that she can do this well. We are proud of her and love her. Good job, Janie!! She is excited to be able to do stats for wrestling again this year. She loves doing that and we get an excuse to hang out at the wrestles and keep an eye on her.
As for us, the business is going okay and we are hanging in there. It seems to be slowing down right now and we are preparing for the winter. Dana sent a driver in his "baby" (his big 18 wheeler truck) and that was tough to do for him. Other than that we are just having fun with the grandkids and loving life.

What a summer!

Well, I know it's been awhile and I can't believe that time has gone by that fast. We've been incredibly busy this summer and fall is now upon us. It was a fun summer. We had Laura and her children Brianna, Justin and Joshua here for a visit in June and July. We enjoyed our time together (even though the kids were like a pack of wolves and we were way overwhelmed by all of them together at once). The kids played non-stop for about 6 weeks straight from sun up till sun down and sometimes even later. We finished it all up with a chocolate pancake breakfast and a hot dog and marshmallow roast followed by smores for dessert! Then the next morning we were all able to attend Peydon's baptism and then off to Denver to take Laura and the kids to catch their flight home. It was a tough thing for Grandma Loney to say "good-bye" and February will be fun to go see them and be there to welcome their new little one. We did get a fun tour of Bronco Stadium (Invesco Field) and it was one of Peydon's dreams-come-true. What a great birthday gift for him!
We are now getting back into the swing of things with school, volley ball, football, and all the other activities that come with school starting up. Janie started her Sophmore year, she now is legal to drive and old enough to date, scary! We've also been busy canning the harvest from our garden and just taking care of business 5 days a week. It's scary and humbling to have 12 families depending on you for their jobs. We are doing our best to keepthem going.
Now we are looking forward to the return of Elder Lundgreen on Dec. 12th at 4pm. We are all excited and invite any family members who want to be there and fulfill his dream to come and welcome him home to the good 'ole USA.

PS: I'll try to get some pictures up soon!

Good to be home!

We are now back home and I can update and let everyone know how the week ended. Last I wrote Janie and I went to do some looking around and touring of Old Nauvoo. We really enjoyed it and the weather was perfect. We met a family from Alaska and they just split off of the Stake that Laura's family belongs to. When Janie and I got back, Dana and I got ready and did a session at the Nauvoo LDS Temple. It is so beautiful. We loved it and had reserved a couple of seats so we could be sure to get in. What an amazing experience! Then we took Janie and traveled 25 miles to Carthage and toured Carthage Jail and that was also such a great spiritual experience for us. That evening we sat outside in the Nauvoo Outdoor Stage area and watched the show that the missionaries (senior and young both) put on, called "Sunset by the Mississippi". It was one of the best programs I've ever seen. We all loved it, even Janie - she rolled her eyes in the beginning, but by the end she was as entertained as we were! On Thursday we had to leave to come home and it was with real mixed emotions that we left. We wanted to get back home, but we also loved the feeling there so much. It was hard to say good-bye. Anyway, we got home Friday night late and it is good to be home.

Spur-of-the-moment vacation!

So Janie and I left on Saturday and went shopping the first part of the day with Sadie (for her birthday), Libby, Gracie, and Mitzi (Brock's Mom). We had so much fun - let's do it again! Later in the afternoon Dana came and picked Janie and I up and we left for South Dakota. We got a room and spent the night in Rock Springs, WY.
On Sunday we listened to conference cds and church music cds and then we got to Martin's Cove and hiked up into the Cove. It is a very spiritual and special place. We also passed Independence Rock and traveled most of the day to get to Mt. Rushmore, SD. We got there in time to get some good pictures and then to stay and watch the evening program. It was pretty cool.
On Monday we got to Aberdeen, SD and unloaded a reel of cable we took up there. Then we headed to Nauvoo, IL. We really didn't plan on going there, but decided while we were this close we may as well go. It was a good day to travel because it rained all day. We stopped and slept in Stuart, IA.
On Tuesday we got up early - which Janie is protesting because it is suppossed to be summer vacation - and got to Nauvoo by early afternoon. We went to a couple of places and got some great pictures, and then we ended up (after pricing several motels) renting a little log cabin for a couple of days. It is soo neat! We went to a show "Rondevouz at Old Nauvoo" done by the couple and senior missionaries. It was hilarious and so cute. We also ran into Jerald and Kathy Tolman who used to live in Monroe and now are on a mission here. It was so good to see them.
Now today we are going to tour a few more of the Old Nauvoo sites, do a session at the temple, then on to tour Carthage Jail and catch the show "Sunset on the Mississippi". It will be a fun day!
I'll catch everyone up when I get home.

Surprise Visit!

So Sunday right after General conference we got a surprise visit from a couple that just returned from Port Maquarie, Australia and served with Jeff "Elder Lundgreen" in that area. They just returned home less than 2 weeks ago. The funny part is, we just got a letter from them on Saturday saying they'd be in the area visiting their daughter in Richfield and they'd like to meet for a brief visit. We were, of course, taken by surprise. The house was total chaos, because we had both Lacey and Libby's families here to watch conference with us. It was so neat though. They said he's a very enthusiastic missionary, very humble and dedicated. We got to hear about the mission area, the people he's teaching, and a few fun stories about he and his companion. Sister Abplanalp gave me a hug that was straight from "Elder Lundgreen". It made me cry, but I cry at everything that has anything to do with missionaries. Prayers, stories, letters, you name it, I cry. Oh well, I just deal with it.

Gracie Jane Abraham - our newest addition.

Here she is at about one month old. She is so sweet and fun for our whole family!

Wow, has it been that long?

I'm sorry for not updating things for that long. It has been busy and hectic - just like for everyone else I'm sure! We got a new little one on Feb. 19th. Gracie Jane Abraham weighed in at 7#'s and 21" long. She is so fun and beautiful. She has lots of hair and we have so much fun playing with her. Things have been getting better with the trucking industry so we are a little busier. Janie has started Track and Libby and Brock are moving to a new home they bought. Dana also went into the doctor for his hands and they think he may have reumatoid arthritis. They drew blood and we'll know more this week. Anyway, that is what is going on in our lives for now.

New Year's Update!

This is Jeff's latest letter from today. Just thought I'd add it and while I am wish everyone a Happy New Year. And fill everyone in on how things are going. We are all doing good. It's good to be back home (even though we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to San Diego). We really had fun going to the San Diego temple, Sea World, Coranado beach and historic hotel, and the San Diego Zoo, and visiting our friends the Velez family. This week I've just been trying to recouperate. And today was a nice, peaceful Sunday. We had Lacey's kids with us for church (she had to work) and I had my first day as one of the Sunbeam teachers in our ward. I loved it. This is such a cute class. I'm so excited about teaching these little kids. Well, here is Jeff's latest letter.

Hey,
Well my new years was good we didn't do anything special it wasn't really new years but it is the new year anyways. Things are going well with the work but we were still unable to get Tegan and Sara to church. There is no Public transport out there on weekends. They live in a place called Rollands Plains it is about 45 minutes out of Port and way out of the way. We called the branch president who is older, rich, and retired and has two nice cars to see if he would be willing to do it and he basically asked us why we were teaching somebody so far away and said it was a really big thing of us to ask him to do and we asked him if he knew anybody in the branch that would be willing or able to do it and he told us that he would discuss it in branch council which we aren't invited to and then we followed up with him and he said that this branch didn't have the means to pick up investigators that far away. It wouldn't have been so bad if he wouldn't have been so rude and unemphathetic about the whole situation. He basically didn't want to help at all and it was a very frustrating thing. He didn't even act excited or happy that there were people who wanted to be Baptized. But oh well i mean if he doesn't want the gospel in others lives bad enough to sacrifice for it then he loses the blessings from that sacrifice. I just wish that it didn't effect our investiagtors lives or salvation.Anyways we might have to push their baptism back again and i am afraid that it might just take months for them to get a car or transportation and everything and so it would push everything else back and pretty soon they will just turn into eternal investigators or will just drop off. They are just so prepared for the gospel it is rediculous. Anywho.... That is way awesome that Utah beat Alabama for the sugar bowl i heard that espn was going on about it. And it sounds like the wrestling team is doing okay. I would think Janie would be a bit better at telling me who is doing good and things since she is taking stats but oh well i guess i will just have to suffer in ignorance. hahaha. So anyways it sounds like your trip was good and you guys had a good time. Did you guys go to the beach or was it to cold? In a few weeks President Scruggs is coming up and spending a weekend up here with his family and the branch is having a beach party that weekend and president sent us an e-mail and we get to go and he said we can go down on the sand but didn't say anything about the water so i would imagine that we will be restricted from the water. All good. He is going to take us all out to dinner and everything that night so it should be fun. He is going to be speaking in church and they are doing compined relief society and priesthood also so i bet he is going to really try to get this branch going with missionary work and stuff so it will be really interesting. Anyways so how is the family? It sounds like things are going alright. What is everybosy up to. How are the Mills's and the Barneys and everybody going. Tell them i said hello and i love em. Anyways well we are going to have Elder Butters the zone leader and his trainee Elder Putnam coming down from Grafton and we are going on exchanges in our area and having district meeting and stuff so it should be a good week. Anyways i love you and miss you all i hope things are going awesome and i pray for ya heaps.
Love
Elder Lundgreen