Say Cheese

Winter is a great time for outdoor pictures. Cold?! Yeah definately. Competition for the best picture taking spots? Hardly. Noble Woods Park was the perfect place for our long anticipated family pictures. I say "long anticipated" only because it has been about 12 years since our last professional family pictures. Michelle Rowe graciously agreed to take pictures for us. Remember that RS service auction we had several years ago? I won family pictures from Michelle but we kept procrastinating until we almost missed our chance. Jason left three days after these were taken. Due to the last minute arrangements we were unable to have Jessica, Camron and Rebecca with us. :( But we decided we would work with what we had and we are thrilled with the results. Here are just a few of the ones she took. Thank you Michelle for the "memories"...

We'll call this last one the "Twilight" pose (from the vampire movie). At least that's what it reminded me of when I first looked at it.

"Cold for a cause" .... 'cause it makes your Mom happy!!
Thanks everyone for braving the elements . I Love you.

Abundant blessings more than "a good deed"

Yesterday Marissa and I had a bit of a scare. When we were driving home from running errands we noticed what appeared to be smoke or steam coming from under the hood of the Mustang. That's all it takes to get me on my cell phone ASAP to Garth- my "night in shining armor". Of course he is halfway to Molalla headed to his overnight shift. He suggests I go to Valvoline where we normally have the car serviced. As soon as we pull in they start motioning for me to shut it off. With the hood up the the problem is clear (to them-lol). To me it just looked like a bunch of steam coming out. The diagnosis? We blew a radiator hose. The guy explains that they can put one on for me but unfortunately they don't sell them. I tell him I have no clue about buying car parts and my husband is not in town. Another minor detail yet to register in my muddled brain... there's no one at home to go get the parts. Here's where you assume they smile at you and say, "Sorry mam. I'm afraid we can't help you". Instead, he offered to go get the part for us. (!!!!) Unheard of in my book. I asked how much extra would that cost thinking this was going to turn into a SPENDY repair job. He said they would charge me $10-15 to put the part on and he wouldn't charge me for going to get it. Let me mention here that Brother Enger from our ward was having his car serviced just ahead of us and had offered to help us if we needed anything. What a comfort it was to see him there. Thanks Brother Enger! Anyway, after he drove away I ended up needing to run across the parking lot to get cash at Albertson's to pay for the part. Lo and behold there stands Brother Enger by his car waiting to see if there was problem. After a quick explanation, he generously loans me the money I need so I don't have to use the bank machine.
I was told it would cost $22.05 for the part. When he returned he handed me back all but $18.00 saying he was able to get the "store discount" for me (another blessing). After putting the part on I noticed it was starting to smoke again. Apparently the thermostat wasn't working and it was overheating. And no, they didn't sell that part either. Garth spoke to him by phone and they decided to just check it over and make sure it was safe enough for me to drive straight home until we could replace the thermostat. Instead, he walks back in several minutes later to tell me they were able to crimp something (I have no idea what) and now the fan is working again and the thermostat is fine. I am beyond amazed at this point. I asked what I owe for everything and would you believe.....he says "Nothing". "Nothing!? But I owe you for the labor and time". His response..."We'll just call it a "good deed". I thanked him multiple times and drove away with tears in my eyes and gratitude in my heart to a Heavenly Father who knows our needs and blesses us often. Though some blessings aren't so obvious as on this occasion we need to express gratitude daily for his watch care over us.

Elder Hadley arrives at the MTC (Part 3)

You made it Elder Hadley!!! How exciting to see you standing
there in your suit getting ready to enter the MTC. Thank you Rick and Andrea (Garth's sister and her husband that live in Clearfield, Utah) for picking Jason up at the airport and getting him to the MTC on Wednesday. They also had a family dinner while he was there and took him out to lunch before dropping him off. Though we really would have enjoyed being able to drive him down ourselves, we knew that there was family on that end that were more than willing to help us see him off. His Grandma Hadley (Garth's mom) was also able to join them which made it all the more special. Families are the best aren't they?

Uncle Rick, Grandma Hadley, Elder Hadley and Aunt Andrea. (Thank you Andrea for all the pictures. We will treasure them.

Grandma Hadley and Elder Hadley enjoying the view and visiting as they walk together.

The bags don't look like they hold two years worth of stuff do they?!


Elder Johnson from Bountiful, Utah and Elder Hadley found out they're both going to the Arizona Mesa mission. They are two of 2,200 missionaries at the MTC. Because they are both serving English speaking missions they will only be there for three weeks. Other missionaries who are speaking foreign languages will be there for a couple of months before they take off.


This picture brought tears (happy ones) to my eyes.


You're looking "official " Elder Hadley.


Last hug. Goodbye Grandma.


Elder Hadley standing in front of a picture of Jesus Christ. He is who you will witness of and represent for the next two years. Serve with honor. We will be praying for your success as a missionary.

get READY, SET apart, GOodbye!!! (Part 2)

Jason had planned to serve a mission ever since he was a young boy. As the years passed he began to count down the time until he would be able to go. Since he received his call this past fall he started counting months and then weeks. Somewhere along the way those weeks suddenly turned into days. Yikes!!! Now, in the "11th hour" it is definately time to pack. (Bear in mind...he has been shopping and gathering his things for quite awhile). Let's take a journey with Jason through his final hours before he flies away into the wild blue yonder:


This is the beginning of the the packing process (Monday night). You won't see Jason in these pictures. "Why?" you may ask? Becauses he's busy running around trying to figure out how on earth he's going to get SO MUCH stuff in SO LITTLE space. :D

Amazing!! He did it. The largest bag took three of us to get it closed. PLEASE don't let it explode open on the plane. The very last item he had to fit in was a pillow. I remember looking at the bag as thinking "NO way"...but he and his dad thought it wouldn't be a problem and sure enough, we were able to get it closed. Should we weigh them? Nah. Even the biggest one mostly just has bedding in it. Now off to watch a movie downstairs with the family one last time (yes it's quite late but then he and Marissa had been planning all along they were going to stay up most of the night anyway). Once he's a full time missionary it's lights out at 10:00 and up at 6:30 so this is his last chance for two years.
President Johnson, our stake president with Jason after he set him apart as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. This was a very special moment that we were grateful to be there for.

Family together for his setting apart.


We went to breakfast at IHops afterwards. Here Jason is spending a few minutes with Ethan. Ethan, will you remember Uncle Jason when he comes home?

Garth and I with Jason before we leave for the airport.
You can't tell how proud we are of our son can you?


One last goofy pose for the memory...


We dropped Brandon off at work on the way to the airport. He apparently wanted to make sure Jason would remember who was taller. Brotherly love at it's best. (Is someone on their toes?)

This is starting to look a little too real. Now we're talking "minutes".

Self check in. Right after this is where we find out we owe $40.00 for an extra bag and another $90.00 because the largest bag is 11 pounds overweight. There are worse things, right?

Last hugs and kisses given and he's on his way through security.

Goodbye Jason!! :( Sob, sniff) We love you and we are going to miss you. May Heavenly Father watch over you and keep you safe until we meet again in two years.

Goodbye Jason, We'll Miss You (Part 1)

On Sunday afternoon, the 4th of January we hosted an open house for Jason. This was an opportunity for him to be able to say goodbye and visit one last time with friends and members of our church before he left on his mission. We put together a few refreshments and along with some additional yummy treats provided by friends we ended up with quite a table full. We had around 50 guests and Jason really enjoyed getting to visit with all those who were able to make it over, especially since right about the time people began to show up it started snowing. (This has been a winter for the books for sure:) Here are just a few of the pictures taken at the open house...

Roy Bowden and Jason
(The big smiles are due to the fact that in the previous pose they were pretending like they were reading a magazine so they wouldn't get their picture taken.)


Krista Carroll (and family) giving Jason "much needed" advice :)

"Grandpa, let's cut out of here for a bit and you can take me for a walk".

Josh and Jena Rohatinsky with their sweet baby Logan


The Loftus Family (hang on to those brownies Theresia!!!)


Jason with our two current missionaries, Elder Wood and Elder Wray.


Marissa refilling the punch bowl (one of several times).


The Weed Family

Thank you again to all those who came by to wish Jason well. He is appreciative of all the support he has felt from everyone.