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!