One, Two, THREE Missionaries to Brazil!

It was sooo exciting tonight to watch the fourth and final Maughan child open his mission call. I tried to record our Google Hangout, but sadly, despite working fine during a 'test run', the audio from the computer didn't record. :( Hearing only myself on the video was quite a let down, I can tell you!

So, since I can't upload a video of the happy event, here are some memories of the evening that make me smile:

1. The excitement in Craig's voice when he called at dinnertime: Helaman Halls had just contacted him to say that his mission call had been misdirected there instead of going to Heritage Halls. Did he want to pick it up?? Ummm... yeah!

2. The frustration of calling James' cell phone and work phone at least 20 times before realizing that he probably went rock climbing this afternoon and was out of cell phone range! bummer!

3. The happiness when, on call #21, James picked up his phone! Everyone one else was ready for Craig to open his call. So happy for technology!

4. The voices of Melissa, James P., Scott, and Jared telling Craig exactly how to open and quickly cover his mission call letter for maximum surprise. :)

4. The head count Craig took of everyone who was on the Google Hangout or connecting via phone just before he opened his call: "Mom?" "yes" "Dad?" "yes" "Eric?" "yes" "Grandma?" "yes"

5. Craig: "They should make mission call envelopes easier to open!"

6. The smile on Craig's face when he began reading his call and the bigger smile when he read "Brazil Santos Mission!"  

7. Everyone's happy comments on learning that the third and final Maughan boy was also heading to Brazil, and learning Portuguese - just like both of his older brothers. (BTW, Melissa and I are proud that we are so fluent at English!)

8. An awesome daughter who takes LOTS of photos to share this happy occasion with others. Here they are, complete with captions on Facebook and Instagram:

When waiting to find out if going international or foreign, Craig recommends not covering your call letter with the application for a passport.  #ldsmissionaries

Final Maughan opened his mission call today.... Santos Brazil!! January 22nd. So proud and so excited! #threebrotherstobrazil#onesistertocleveland #ididntwannaspeakportugueseanyway#thankgoodnessfortechnology

When James arrived home tonight and watched the video (minus sound), we both agreed that what really stands out is the constant smile on Craig's face. :) So I guess the video wasn't a waste after all.

What a great way to celebrate the boys' first full day back at BYU - and the end of a truly wonderful summer. We're sooo proud of you, Craig, and know that you will be an amazing missionary! The people of Santos, Brazil, will be blessed to have you serve there.

BEST. WEEK. EVER!

Tuesday

2:20pm: Began tracking Scott's plane - Belém to Sao Paulo, Brazil. The beginning of his 22 hour journey home. Getting EXCITED!

10:00pm: Noelle and Eric arrive, after a 3-hr drive from Boston. Scott's flight leaves for Atlanta. Then on to Albany!

Wednesday

1:00am: Melissa and James arrive from Utah. Bed by 2 am. SOOO tired!!

10:00am: Cupcakes for breakfast?!? And I thought Noelle was into healthy food? This cupcake is the baby gender announcement! So excited for this little guy to join our family in December.

9:30am: T minus 3 hours till plane arrival. Garage full of kids painting welcome signs for airport and garage door. Eric and Craig even hang up an American and Brazilian flag out at the end of the driveway. Plenty of Welcome Back balloons, too. Definitely in missionary homecoming mode!

11:20am: Leave for airport. After nearly missing Eric's plane when he returned from his mission in 2008, we opted to go to the airport in PLENTY of time! (Yep, Eric arrived 30 minutes early, even though the Arrivals screen said that his plane was still just 'in range'. He had almost reached us when one of the kids called out, "There's Eric!" Yep, almost missed him! The sweet kid made sure he was one of the last ones off, but we were still missing some extended family who arrived just after him!) But I digress.....

12:20pm: Lots of family members and friends there in plenty of time. Whew! Arrivals screen shows Scott's plane delayed until 12:58. Oh, the irony of it all! James, Alan, Eric, Noelle, Melissa, and James P. head to observation deck to watch for the plane, and the rest of us wander around the arrival area and chat.

12:37pm: I glance over to the security area and see Scott only a few feet away from us! Yep, pretty sure I yell, "There he is!" to get everyone's attention before heading towards him for my hug! Banners and cameras grabbed (great reflexes, Michelle!) and text sent to get those on the observation deck to come downstairs! LOTS of smiles and hugs all around!

12:45pm: Take two! Scott backs up so we can show him our signs and balloons.  I can't believe that it was almost an exact repeat of the mix-up with Eric's homecoming! Never, EVER believe an Arrivals screen! :)

Despite the mix-up, it's wonderful to see Scott. He looks great - happy and healthy and glad to be home.

Shout-out to the wonderful friends and family that join us in welcoming Scott back: Brooksbys, Grandpa and Grandma Maughan, Crapos, Markhams, Lana and Devin, Uncle Alan, Smiths, Brother Madsen, and running buddies Otis and Chris.

We head home to enjoy our time together as a family. A good chance for Scott to get to know his 'new' sister-in-law and brother-in-law!

Thursday:

8:15am: Scott is released as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

10:00am: Time to show James Parker some upstate NY fun and head to Saratoga. Who knew that today was College Student Day at the track? Four of the seven kids get in for free and pick up a free t-shirt. *Ü*

After a few hours and a few races, we head to Ravenous for some frites and crepes and then Ben and Jerry's. Yum!!

6:00pm: James Parker's parents arrive from Utah.

Friday

Another amazingly beautiful day in upstate NY. High 70s, plenty of sunshine, and low humidity. I figure it's a gift to Scott, who has endured two years of unbelievably high temps and humidity! *Ü*

Today, we take the Parkers to Lake George and take a 2 1/2 hour cruise on the Mohican. SO beautiful!

Saturday

Oh yeah... we're having a wedding open house here tonight! It must be time to do some rock climbing with James. :)

Everyone but Melissa, the Parkers, and me, heads north to the Adirondacks to climb. (Pictures posted one of these days!) Back in plenty of time to finish the preparations for Melissa and James' open house. Weather is still amazing, so we put half of the tables and decorations outside, and the other half in the basement. The boys work on hanging LOTS of Japanese lanterns - pretty impressive for a bunch of males with limited female guidance! ;) I think they actually had fun - but might deny it if asked. Yay for so many adult children - makes everything pretty stress-free.

The Open House itself is wonderful - so good to see so many 'old' and 'not-so-old' friends join us to celebrate Melissa's marriage to James. YUMMY food - thanks Arla, Norma, and Villa Italia!


Sunday

Not sure we could have asked for a happier Sunday. Extended family fills three pews to hear Scott report on his mission to Belém. First speaker is Ben Smith, another missionary who returned on Wednesday. So nice to hear him speak. Next, a choir of 36 youth and young adults, including all four children and James Parker, singing the "EFY As Sisters in Zion/ We'll Bring the World His Truth Medley." Wow! Amazing! Definitely some teary eyes in the chapel. (Okay, including mine!)

Then Scott's turn. Wonderful to listen to some of his experiences. And to hear his testimony. We're so proud of him. He ends by sharing his testimony in Portuguese and you can definitely feel the Spirit, even if you can't understand all the words. Great meeting!

Our week is topped off at the end of church, when a room packed with family looks on as Craig is ordained an elder. We're so happy for him.

Yep, pretty sure that for the Maughan family, this was our best week ever! :)

Whew!

It's been a busy summer for our family and most of the busy-ness has been leading up to Scott's departure for his mission to Brazil last week. We're excited about his new adventure and thrilled that two of our children are currently serving missions. When Scott and Melissa were little, they realized they might actually be out at the same time, but it's amazing to see that it's actually happened.

A new missionary means a new missionary blog, and with three blogs to keep up, I'll definitely have to stay on my toes. You can read all about Melissa's experiences in Kirtland here and all about Scott's adventures as a missionary in Belém, Brazil, here.

Now that things have slowed down a tiny bit, I actually took a day this weekend to catch up on some scrapbooking. I forgot how much I enjoy it! *Ü* Here's a little glimpse into life in our home (double click on layouts to enlarge):

Living the Dream

Kudos to oldest son, Eric, who not only did an amazing job of taking photos and sending them home during his mission to Brazil (hint, hint...Scott...*Ü*) but is still an awesome photo taker and picture sender. He must have sensed that I wanted to create a few scrapbook layouts that feature him, because he just uploaded about 100 new photos for me. Your digi-scrapping mom thinks you're awesome, Eric!

Be sure to click on the images for a better view.

Temple Day for the Maughan Family

How fun to have all of our family in (or, in Melissa's case, right beside) three different temples on the same day. (p.s. Thanks, Jeff, for the great Palmyra temple photo.)

This is all you got?!?!

Truly, it's probably a sin to spend two weeks in a place as amazing as New Zealand, take over 3,300 photos (well, Craig was a big help with those numbers!) and STILL not have a single picture posted on the blog! Guess I'll have to get going. But until then, here's the photo that is probably my favorite.

Hi Tech Mother's Day

Yep, time to catch up on some blogging!

And the amazing thing is that these photos are only one week old....

Text:  I’m guessing that it’s not a surprise to anyone who knows me, but I completely and totally LOVE technology! And one of the best things about technology is that it allows me to stay in touch with my family everywhere. For instance, thanks to 4 computers and 4 skype accounts, we were able to connect all 6 family members who are currently in 3 different states! Really, how cool is that? Being able to hear AND see all of my children on Mother’s Day, including my sweet missionary daughter, was a real treat.

It’s funny to think that in the future, our grandchildren might look back and say, “Wow, can you believe how OLD that technology is?! I mean, Skype? Really?!?!”

A Little Extended Family Reunion in Kirtland, Ohio

(To prevent squinting, you can read the text here:)

When Brother and Sister Fagg came from London to visit Mom and Dad in Chicago, they mentioned that they would really like to see Historic Kirtland. Hard to pass up an opportunity like that to visit your oldest granddaughter, who just happens to be serving a mission there!

Believe it or not, we were able to keep the visit a surprise for months, and on May 3rd, 2011, Mom and Dad completely shocked Melissa by showing up at the Visitor’s Center in Kirtland, Ohio. Mom and Dad claimed that Melissa’s squeal of delight could be heard by everyone there, and Melissa claims that there were a few tears in the eyes of both grandparents. I’d say that they were ALL completely thrilled to be together! Her grandparents said that Melissa was an amazing tour guide who shared a beautiful testimony of the Gospel. I’m so happy that they were able to have this wonderful experience together.

Playing Catch Up...

Time to start scrapping all those photos from last year! I promise not to post ALL the layouts I've completed, but I just loved these bright, colorful pages filled with photos that Melissa took during May, 2010, when she spent a month doing nursing in Ghana. What an amazing experience! 

And while we're on the Melissa theme, thought I'd add a Christmas Skyping page. Equal time for girls, right?!

Not Dead Yet!

I'm not certain, but it's entirely possible that posting only three blog entries in one calendar year makes me unworthy of the title "blogger". And it's not like this was a peaceful, quiet year for our family. I've even taken a picture, or two, or a hundred, that could definitely have been shared here. So, for what it's worth, my New Years' resolutions include blogging more and scrapping more, and wouldn't it be great if I could combine the two....


Here's to a year full of catching up on the past as well as recording the present. Happy New Year!

Best Mother's Day Gift Ever!

Really, the only thing that would make this completely perfect would be if Melissa had accompanied them. But since she's on the coast of Africa right now, that would be a little challenging! This Mother's Day, I'm very grateful for four amazing, wonderful children!

P.S. Guess I should have mentioned that this was a practice for singing today in Church. Guess who's singing which part...

Regents Week Rocks!

I may not like New York taxes and New York politics (and sometimes New York weather), but I love New York Regents state testing! What other state would let high school students out of school for a week in the middle of January - just three weeks after Christmas Break and two weeks before Winter Break?!

This year, Scott received his graduation present early as we decided to spend Regents week on a cruise in the sunny Caribbean and somehow managed to miss out on New York's coldest weather of the winter so far!

We had a blast together -- cave tubing in Belize, visiting Mayan ruins in Costa Maya, and sunning on the beach in Cozumel. At night, James and I went to the shows on the ship and Scott and Craig enjoyed spending time with new friends from Bolivia, Mexico City, and New York City.




Our ship, the Liberty of the Seas, was the big brother of the Explorer of the Seas -- the ship our family cruised on over six years ago. Check out some of these 'matching' pictures!

♫ Oh What Do You Do in the Wintertime? ♬

Okay, I'll admit it -- our family is easily amused. Take our trip to Lake George during Christmas break. Turns out that Lake George is NOT the winter get-away you might have imagined it to be. In fact, we're surprised we didn't see one big CLOSED sign as we drove through this upstate NY city.

But that didn't stop us from having a great time there! For instance, even though we were two days early for the annual January 1st Polar Bear Swim (oh, the disappointment!), we discovered yet another use for the waterfront...




I believe that there was some point to this snowball fight/game - but I have to confess that I wasn't too clear on the rules.

And I'm pretty sure that there are some Lake George ducks that were even more confused...

Just another day in the snowy Northeast. With some pretty fun kids.

Yay! A family picture!

It's been a year since our entire family has been together and we've been having a blast during this Christmas vacation. The kids weren't totally overjoyed to have their picture taken, but they survived. Thanks to the fact that 14-year-old Craig has grown nearly two inches since August, Melissa and I are just weeks away from being the shortest in the family! Oh well -- we knew it would happen someday.

Of course, I wouldn't want anyone to think that taking a picture of the kids is an easy thing....




...but it was worth it in the end! *Ü*