Its almost here!!

Some of the family on the day of my Farewell

Grandma and some of the Grandkids

                                                       

Jana, Traci, and kids and me at Church Office Building

Summer has really passed fast.  I am already to go on my mission...well pretty much.  I have a week to go and then I enter the MTC.  We had a fun family reunion in July at Bryce Canyon for the Bryce Canyon half marathon.  We all camped at the Ruby's Inn Camp Ground.  Jana, Shane, Brooks, Matt, and Jolynn all  ran in the half.  It rained and rained on the day of the race, so instead of staying another night, we packed up and went to St George where we had a lot of fun.  It rained in St George and flooded my back yard. In  August the Esplin's were in charge of the Moody Family Reunion at Heber Valley LDS Camp.  It turned out really good.  I spent time with family and got my house ready to rent.  My sisters came down to help me get packed up and we had our annual sister's retreat.

My sisters came down to help me pack up my house.  They are the best.

                                  

Hauoli and me

I have been taking Marshallese through the MTC.  During the end of July and August, they call me and I skype with a trainer and a volunteer who speaks Marshallese.  I have had a wonderful volunteer name Hauoli, who just returned from her mission in the Marshall Islands.  She knows the Mills, Perkins, Sister Tiechert, and of course Pres and Sister Shaw.  She has been so wonderful.  I found out that she lives in Ivins and so I invited her to come and hear me speak in Sacrament Meeting on August 26th.  Here is a picture of us together.
                                                                                                         
 There were so many wonderful family and friends who came to hear me speak on Sunday, August 26th. My wonderful family: Shane and Chelsea and family from Valencia, Ca, Linda Nygren from Rexburg, Idaho, Kent and Karen and Jared Bulkley and Jan Gilyeat from Mesa, Az, Jill and Kent and Josh Sorensen from South Jordan,  Robin Call, from Murray,  Kenton and Jenny call and family from Cedar, Claudia and Meghan and Thomas White from Mapleton,  Luke and Traci and family from Pleasant Grove, Jana and Joe and family from Las Vegas, Nicole and family from Kanab (Jason had a BLM assignment that he couldn't get out of), Matt and Jolynn and family from St George , and Jil and family tried to come (Morgan was on call at the hospital) but they had car trouble in Fillmore and couldn't make it.  My wonderful friends from Pleasant Grove came:  Virgil and Jackie Jacobsen  and Eugene and Pauline Day and Kaden.  There were many friends from the old Sunset first ward that also came and I appreciated that and also the support from my own ward the Sunset 8th ward.   Thanks to my sisters and family we had a wonderful lunch after the meeting and my wonderful visiting teachers:  Sister Jean Rassmusen, and Sister Janice Bishop, who organized cookies from some of my special ward friends.

Karen Bulkley and me

                                                            
My great sons and son-in-law helped me move all of my furniture and stuff to a storage unit and so now my home is ready to rent.  I am currently up in Payson staying with Morgan and Jil and family and waiting until Thursday when my cute little grandson Maddox will be having open heart surgery at Primary Children's Medical Center.  He is a vibrant 3 year old with lots of energy and a cute smile and  friendly personality.  He looks a lot like his Dad Luke.  Originally it was scheduled for June and then was rescheduled for Sept 13th, when I will already be in the MTC.   When the surgery got changed to Sept 6th, I was grateful because now I will be able to be there.  Maddox has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or in other words, the left side of his heart was too underdeveloped to work properly.  He has had to go through 3 previous open heart surgeries to try to make the working part of his heart function.  When he gets a little older, he will likely need a heart transplant

Maddox in his BYU shirt.  He loves Cosmo

                                             

My medal

Brock and I ran the 5 K.  Then he was in the parade

Today was onion days in Payson, Utah, and I ran in the Payson Days 5 K.  My grandson Brock, 13 also ran with me.  He beat me of course, but I took 1st in the 60-64 women's division.  My time was 37 min.14  sec                                                              

Hiking  with Dora

 

My plans are to stay up North until Saturday to be with Maddox and Luke and Traci  during and after the surgery for a few days and then I will drive back to St George and stay with Matt and Jolynn.  Sunday, Sept 9th I will be set apart by my Stake President in St George, and Monday morning Sept 10th I will fly to SLC and hopefully Luke will be able to pick me up and take me to the MTC where I will be until Sept 25th when I will fly to the Marshall Islands.  I am so exited.

My Good Friend Dora Weems who took me hiking to her special Indian ruins

 

                                     

Jason catching kids as they jump from water fall in Zions

 

 

 

Thanks to all my wonderful family and friends for being so supportive and for your love and friendship.  I hope to blog now on a weekly basis so I can share my missionary experiences with you