Just before Jake left he gave us instructions that he wanted us to keep track of several things for him such as movies, songs, major family events and so on. These two movies he never got to see in the theater so I am starting with them.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) -- Rotten Tomatoes 33%

It is a pirates movie so I am throwing it in there.

Green Lantern (2011) -- Rotten Tomatoes 27%

Because it is a super hero movie.

This song by Nickelback came out just as he left so I added that because of the newness.

I am just throwing this song in because it now reminds me of Jake whenever I hear it. I had just purchased it before he left and he did not like it so now it reminds me of him for some reason.

First Week...

Since we are going to print this off when Jake comes home and make it a book I thought I would make some entries that we are not going to send to him so he can see what was going on here. We don't want to send him everything because we don't want to make him home sick.

I let Jake know that he beat out Yoda for my phone wallpaper. I replaced Yoda with his picture when he was at the SLC gate waiting for his plane.

Because we try to be fair around here Luke voiced his concern about the family being an odd number now and how are we going to make things even when Jake is gone. Sunday dinner was the first real test because we had Turkey Steaks and with six people it just works with everyone getting one and a half. I solved that and took two up front. It was weird though seeing one seat empty at the table for Sunday dinner.

Amanda said it hits her when she comes home late from working and Jake is not up watching TV.

Shay said it hits home when she walks by Jake's room and it is clean and empty and I think Amanda said that too.

I just use to talk to Jake all of the time and I miss that. I don't know if there is any one thing for me, I just notice he is not around.

We are all glad he is doing the Lords work and is on his mission however and we are doing everything we can to support him.

John...

Jake's MTC Information...

Jakes MTC address……..

Elder Jake Salmond

Uruguay Montevideo West Mission

Argentina Missionary Training Center

Autopista Ricchieri y Puente 13

1778 Ciudad Evita

Buenos Aires

Argentina

E-mail

Urugoest.@gmail.com

-Missionaries can receive e-mail from anyone on this account

-This is our version of “Dear Elder”. We print e-mails sent out to this address once a week and send the hard copy to the respective missionary

-Put your missionary’s name on the subject line, so we know where to send it

-E-mail is a great privelege. We cannot deliver forwarded mail, jokes, stories, sports updates, talks etc.

Jake Leaving and first e-mail...

Well Jake is now at the MTC in Argentina learning Spanish. It was an emotional day taking him to the airport and sending him on his way. It was his first real time flying so he was indoctrinated really good. It was around 4 hours to Dallas with a 3 hour plus lay over. Then it was an 11 plus flight to the Argentina airport. We found Dan Winterbottom (Sheila's husband) just before reaching the counter. He was in his bright blue uniform looking all official. He is very willing to help us out so that was great. Both of his check in luggage was under 50 lbs so that luggage scale Shay purchased was a great investment. They didn't charge us for the second checked luggage so that was awesome and they really didn't look at the weight. There was no line at the check in so that was smooth and fast. When we gave his luggage to the TSA agents one of them served in the same mission as Jake so they chatted for a while and I think that helped. He told Jake it was the best time and he will love it. After that because everything went so smooth we had about an hour to hang out before he had to get in line. Not to long after sitting around another Elder showed up going to the same Mission. His name was Elder Duke from Eagle Mountain. His family was very large and he was their first missionary out of their family. They were very friendly and we took pictures together. I think that helped Jake too meeting someone who was going to the same mission. They told us there was a third missionary but she was having issues at check in because her luggage was to heavy. She was Tongan and her family was huge. They were all crying and she was crying through the first part of the line. We didn't chat with her nor her family because we barely had time to get a picture with all three before they got in line. The Duke family we had a while to chat with. Steve, Janeel and my Mother were also at the airport wishing Jake on his way. That was very nice of them. On a side note my Mother's eye surgery went very well and she can now see out of both eyes.

Just after checking his luggage...

Jake walking away to get in line...

Dan took this picture for us on his phone to let us know that Jake made it to the gate since we could not go back there. That is Elder Duke sitting in the back ground.

This is our first care package to him and we hope it makes it to him.

We were concerned that he made it okay and this is Jake's e-mail to us letting us know everything was okay. We can tell he is really tired when he wrote this. We would like to thank everyone for their support in the many ways they have shown it. Jake was also very thankful to everyone who gave their support and wished him well.

"hey! i found out that p day is on thursday so i can write you. i love you all! the plane ride waws so long it was like 3 hours to dallas then another 11 to argentina. and because im so big i was jammed in so tight. and its hot here too!i keep sweating and cant stop and it refuses to dry. one sister missionary lost all of her documents in the dallas airport, and she was about to be in for some trouble but at the lat moment someone came aboard the plane and gave it to her. its just been a long day. but they say missions are like toliet paper at first its slow but then it starts to go faster. how are things back home. have you cried yet? everything is so scary and strang here. i dont knoow what to do yet and everybody speaks spanish even the other misionaries who are from america. and bunos aires is beautiful. the capitol city is all tres and so green. it was beautiful. i forgot to take pictures though sorry. i just had my interview with the president and his wife. they just wanted to get to know me. did i mention i love you all. and i dont have a companion yet he was suppost to come with our group, which there were seven, but he didnt and i overheard one of the assistants say he had medical problems. oh and the presidents wife who is sister george said NO BOXES make it to the MTC but she said that padded envelopes do. so that is how you can send things if you want. and i think my 30 minuets are about to be up so keep me in your prayers. i love you all!!

love jake."

Been a while...

It has been a while. Just about forgot this existed.

Some news of late. Jake is getting ready to go on his mission. He just had re-constructive knee surgery a few weeks ago. Before that he had his wisdom teeth removed. He finally called a got his patriarchal blessing so now Shay is working on getting the last of the doctor and other paperwork lined up so he can send it all in.

Luke just had his 15th birthday and we are waiting a month before we get his learners permit. The joys of teaching another child how to drive. That is something that will age you quick.

We have also been without a computer for several months. My Mac died. My replacement is not a Mac because I could not afford one. But now with all the replacement software I have had to purchase maybe my choice could have been thought through a little more. Not really. My new computer is fast and software will come in time.

I am also getting ready for another Sqautching season. I am trying to lose weight and get in shape. There is a location I really want to go to this year but it requires back packing to it. So whatever motivates me right. All of my kids are getting excited for another Squatching season. Our goal we have this year that we think is obtainable is finding tracks. We have other goals but those depend on the Bigfoot working with us. We also have some other plans for recording devices. We just now have to save and get that all worked out.

I will also be glad when we can get the sickness out of the house. This last go around kicked my trash. It has been some time since I felt that bad. I am hoping by taking it easy today I can get back on the road and shake this muck.

My two youngest Luke and Ethan are doing great in school. Both 4.0 students. Jake is working saving money for his mission and Amanda is working and going to school.

Cheers,

John...

Update

It's been a long time since I posted so I thought I would try and hit the highlights (or low lights depending on how you look at things). I got a new calling in church that has kept me so busy that everything else has fallen to the way side. I am the 1st counselor in the Primary. I love the kids but I have to admit this has been the most time consuming and challenging calling I've had. My responsibilities are the junior primary, baptisms and cub scouts. Yes, I said cub scouts!!! I thought I was done when Ethan turned 11 but there must be some more things I need to learn. Can you say round of applause :)
I had foot surgery on October 7th. I've been dealing with this issue for a little over a year. I've had major physical therapy, cortisone shots and shock wave therapy. All those treatments were extremely painful but did not fix my foot problem. So I finally gave in and had surgery. They removed a whole bunch of scar tissue, fixed a torn tendon and removed a bone spur. The actual day of the surgery was not bad because my foot was still numb. The next day was another story. I was non weight baring for the first 10 days. That was way more difficult than I could have imagined. My family was amazing through it all. John was great and would make a great nurse!!! I thought 4 weeks off of work would be great but let me tell you, when you can't move there is only so much bad daytime TV, sleeping and reading you can do. I'm excited to be back to work. The disappointing part is my foot still hurts!!!! My doctor keeps reassuring me that feet take several months to heal and that I need to be patient. So maybe that's what I'm suppose to learn from all of this, patience (and how much I really do appreciate my feet).
My cute niece, her husband and their 4 1/2 year old daughter moved in with us the first part of November. They were living near Seattle but have wanted to move back to Utah for several years. They finally got the opportunity and made it official. They are staying with us until they get settled and can find a place of their own. We are so excited to have them back in Utah. The funnest part is being around a 4 1/2 year old. She says the cutest things. The second night at our house she asked if John and I slept together. I explained that we were married like her mom and dad and yes we slept together. Her eyes got wide and she said "He's the dad". I told her yes and she said "But you have such long, dark, pretty hair and he's bald". I laughed so hard! The next night she knocked on my door. I told her I wasn't dressed and I would talk to her in the morning. The next thing I hear is her yelling down the stairs to everyone "The mom and Sophie are naked so they can't play anymore". She was looking at a picture of our family when the kids were pretty young. She was totally shocked we had a daughter (Amanda still lives with us). I told her that Amanda, the girl that lives with us, is our daughter. She said "But she's an adult". It's so cute how kids minds work.
Thanksgiving was a great day. We had dinner at my mom's. It seemed very peaceful and relaxed. Later that night we had dinner at our house for John's family. There was lots of good food and even better company.
Now it's December and I can't believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. Thora is coming to stay on the 20th and our family is very excited to have her at our house for Christmas. Jake is having his wisdom teeth out on the 20th as well. So the next few weeks will be busy but exciting. Hopefully I will have a Christmas update before Easter.

Shay - Foot Surgery

Well Shay had surgery on her foot a over a week ago. She is doing better. She still has to use crutches to get around and today she progressed from taking baths to taking a shower. She was so happy. This is hopefully and end to a long journey to get her foot repaired. She had the surgery the first part of October and will be able to go back to work November first. She has gone through a lot of painful rehab to try and get her foot repaired. She had a worse case scenario so it came down to surgery.

Cheers,
John...