July 9, 2018

San Clemente Ward

4th of July Breakfast

Steve Lang and his daughter Chelsea

Belle (Lang's dog) at the Park

Sis. Beckett and Sis. Lang

Tiffany Herzog and children

Kaden Colman

Bishop Howard

Time for Pancakes

Eric & Chelsey's 4th of July Party

Beau, Tige, Tate and Kaden

Dylan, Emma, Ivey, Aspen, Gwen

Reese and Hazel

Great Fireworks in Highland, UT

Purple tree--

We see these everywhere in California--so beautiful.

Farewell to Elder Sanford (far left)

July 9, 2018

We started the week off by celebrating the renaming the San Onofre NMCRS to Camp Pendleton North NMCRS.  We had a ribbon cutting with BBQ hot dogs and cake.  We got to eat with some of the volunteers we don't get to see often--Diane, JT and Walt.  It was fun to share time with them and celebrate the name change that Donna has been working on for months.  At our missionary correlation meeting, Bro. Lang presented an idea that had been discussed at a stake missionary meeting.  He challenged the missionaries to take dinner to part-member families and spend time with them.  We reviewed the ward list for possible couples for them to meet with.  It will be fun to see what kind of results they have with this new approach.

We found out at the last minute that Fox Company was graduating on Tuesday.  (We thought it had been changed to Thursday because of the holiday).  So we quickly rushed to the parade field for the event.  We set an appointment to meet with Bro. and Sis. Frost next week and talked to Eric's family before going to FAM.  Brad unloaded a huge truck that afternoon--he was plenty tired when we got home.

Happy 4th of July!!  I've included a number of pictures taken at the ward breakfast that morning.  Bishop Howard gave a brief talk about the constitution and the scouts did an excellent job with the flag ceremony.  It was fun to eat with our friends.  After the breakfast we Skyped with Eric's family as they were preparing to host a family 4th of July party at their home. They had a huge water slide and hundreds of fireworks to share with Scott and Boyd's families.  It was fun to Skype throughout the day and enjoy some family fun.  Loved getting pictures from Chelsey.   That evening we went to the San Clemente Stake Center to watch fireworks.  Last year they were fantastic!!  This year, there was a big dark cloud that blocked our view.  It was so strange.  We were glad there were multiple fireworks displays going so we could watch some a little further away.

Our schedule was definitely altered this week with the 4th of July celebrations.  The Thrift Store was closed so we were able to go to Delta's graduation.  Afterwards we took Elder Sanford and Elder Pack to Bonzai Bowls for lunch.  It was Elder Sanford's last graduation--he will complete his mission on July 10.  The ARP topic was receiving personal revelation.  We were reminded we can do all things with guidance from the Holy Ghost and faith.  We were excited to talk with Susie and Kate and wish them both a Happy Birthday!!  We feel so lucky to have them in our family.  Kate is 14 this year.  The grandchildren are all growing up too quickly.  

July 6 was a record breaking scorcher.  It was 20 degrees above normal.  It felt like we were in an oven.  On top of that, there was a large fire at Camp Pendleton and some of the residents   near Lake O'Neal had to be evacuated.  It was quiet at NMCRS.  On our way home we took some muffins to the Meades but didn't find anyone home--disappointing.  

It was too hot to go outside on Saturday.  I exercised in the apartment but we didn't want to chance going on our normal hike.  We were hoping Sis. Aebischer would stop by to say good-bye (she returns home next week) but it must have been too hot for them too.  We will really miss this sweet sister.

Sunday I had the opportunity to teach the marines at our morning meeting.  The topic was Facing the Goliaths in our Lives.  It was a lesson the marines could really relate to--it was sad we only had three in attendance.  We had a much better turnout in the evening--a record breaking 69 were there.  But, it was so hot in our poorly air conditioned chapel that they wore t-shirts instead of their regular cami uniforms.  We had a retired marine speak and he centered his comments on the importance of choosing good friends.  He said each marine is a hero and challenged them to be a light to their platoons.  We were happy to welcome back the Mannings and Jolleys from their vacations.  We had missed them.  We had a final picture with Elder Sanford.  He will fly home to Houston on Tuesday.  He has been a dedicated missionary and has willingly shared his talents and testimony.  We will miss him.