Destination: Fribourg Switzerland

Jared arrived safely.. but very tired, in Geneva. This is his first official photo with his new companion and trainer, Elder Spence. His Mission President and Mission Mom are President and Sister Peterson. I was worried about him so I emailed the Mission Mom. Here is her response.

Dear Sister Walch,

Yes, your son arrived safely on Tuesday. We kept them awake until bedtime so they could adjust to the new time, so they were very sleepy by the end of the day. You should be receiving a picture in the next day or so.

Love, Sister Peterson

So today, I received his first photo with this email:

Dear Brother and Sister Walch,

Yes, Elder Walch has indeed arrived safely. His companion and trainer is Elder Spence and they are serving in beautiful Fribourg, Switzerland. On day 2 this photo was taken of the two of them with President and Sister Peterson. He has written a letter to you which should arrive shortly.
Switzerland Geneva Mission Office

You can bet that I have a perma grin on my face because I know that he is safe and well. He looks very excited to get started. I googled Fribourg and wait until you see the beautiful place he will be serving on his mission. It's so beautiful, I can't believe it.

This looks like a little village out of a story book. It is amazingly beautiful !

This is a view of the Alps in the springtime, of course! How beautiful , huh? Another view of Fribourg. I can't believe how quaint and how amazing this is. And my Jared is here !!!
How great would it be to have your first district out in a place like this? He has been waiting so very long to serve the Lord and I think this is a huge blessing that he will get to see up close and personal the majesty of some of His creations!

I can't believe how much he has been blessed. And this is a dream come true for him. I know that our family has been blessed by his service. I look forward to posting his first letter from Switzerland and photos from him. Until next post...

Love to you all !

Colleen

Dedication, Expo, Flight Plans and 8 more ( or less!) Plus 30!

Hello Everyone

It's been awhile since I made my last post so I guess that I should get everyone caught up on what is happening in our lives. First...

The Draper Temple Dedication

Gary, Jenna and I were priviledged to attend the dedication of the Draper Temple. It is a very beautiful temple and it was so cool to be able to participate in that. When the Nauvoo temple was re-dedicated, Jenna had just been baptized and it was her first one. She loved it! Last night brought memories back to her of that event in her life. She even wrote down her feelings on a page and I scrapbooked for her. I should have done that last night as well, but maybe it's still not too late to have that memory preserved. I'll have her do it tonight!

Scrapbook USA Expo !

Okay! To be perfectly honest, this is a photo from last year. But you couldn't tell except that the wristband was another color. I wore my favorite comfy clothes and we had a ball. My friend, Mel, that I work with, came with her Mom and the 3 of us had a blast. I wasn't feeling very well, so I didn't bring a lot to scrap. I just enjoyed shopping and laughing with them and then, of course, our traditional lunch at Crown Burger... Yummm. We had such a great time and I have now restocked my scrapbook room with the essentials that I will need for yet another 6 months of RS Scrapbook class and my own personal scrappin. I also got a killer deal on my Christmas gifts! Yes, Christmas!

Flight Plans

So, we finally have Jared's flight plans. Yes... Ladies and Gentlemen... He is leaving to go to Switzerland on Monday, March 30th. He will fly to Chicago and then have a 7 hour layover there. He stated that he will fly through the night to England and then take a .... and I quote... " A puddle jumper over to Geneva! I know that he is so excited to have this finally become a reality. He said that the MTC has felt like one long EFY trip that never ends! He's excited and I get to talk to him. How awesome will that be... My birthday is a couple of days after he leaves so I am grateful for a chance to get to talk to my baby boy. What a wonderful birthday gift that I will remember forever, I'm sure.

8 more... ( or less ! )

Okay... so 8 more... or actually 8 less. Inches we are talking here. Off of Jenna's hair. She cut her hair 8 more inches. I couldn't get my phone to work to take a picture in the Salon but I will post one soon. She didn't have to go to school today for teacher work day so I let her sleep in and she didn't want to get up and do her hair I am sure for my blog photo. It's very cute. It's below her shoulders and she has side bangs. She looks darling with her top braces off... Oh ! I don't think that I've mentioned that either. What a slacker I am! Jenna got her top braces off and she is lovin life! Her smile is very beautiful... I'm envious of that for sure. She is just beautiful... not that I have any prejudice. And Man ! Is she a Twilight Junkie. She has watched that dang movie about 15 times since she got it on Saturday. She loves Edward and I even brought her back..Essence of Twilight from the Expo. She has loved that too. I'll post a photo of her sporting her new new and her new smile wearing her Edward Shirt. She'll be in 7th heaven !

Plus 30 years!

So, for your 30th anniversary, Pearls are the big thing. We just celebrated our 30th a few days ago, and we decided to break tradition. I have been aching for a new dining room table and chairs and I am now the proud owner of a beautiful set. I will post some pics as I've told a couple of people and they want to see. Also, count me as the spoiled gal that I am, but I have also wanted a pub table and chairs for our family room downstairs. Yes.... I was lucky enough to have that too. Now, before you start feeling sorry for Gary.... I asked him what he wanted. Nothing was the normal and expected answer.. right? Well, it just so happened that our old television set decided to depart company from us. I really am not a tv watcher except for a few things, but Gary loves it. So... we went TV shopping and Gary picked out a 52" television. It looks so nice downstairs. He told Jared that I got this for him and Jared freaked! He even 'swore' in French! "Que Le Fetch???" What the fetch! I just laughed. Anyway, I have my precious pearls in my jewelry box, and my beautiful dining room ( and Pub table set ), but my real jewel is my hubby... I love him so much ! He's one of the most amazing guys that I have ever met and I am lucky to be married to my best friend.

Until next post my friends

All my love

Colleen

Sad Day

So today was a sad day for our little family. Our little Petie dog (who was rescued by Gary out at the Great Salt Lake) left our family today to go to that big dog park in the sky. I've cried all afternoon and I've been thinking about him all the time. Makes me really sad to think about. He had a good run, though. He was 15 years old and that's 105 for you and I. We had him for a long time and it was his time to leave. We will miss him for being the great companion that he always was. You were such a Good Boy, Petie! We know we'll see you again someday.

Missionary Antics Along With Photos !

I thought that I would share some of the first photos that Jared has sent to us..... Enjoy!

Jared ~ MTC on P day ( went to the Provo temple)

Jared's First Companion... Elder Spicer... Notice
the same hair? I asked him if that's why they

were companions !

Missionaries in his District.. Nice Looking Bunch!

Same Missionaries ... great up shot !!!

Jared in Class !

My Poor Baby ... Exhausted at the end of the day

And now for the coolest photo of all..... Elder Man !!!!

Hopefully you've enjoyed these photos. It was so fun to see him ( okay and well ! What can I say? I'm the Mom !!! ) He is enjoying this experience and has loved studying ... we've been getting part of our letters in French now... ( And then he has to translate! ) I know that you have all asked about him and I just wanted to share a quick post .... He sent me photos of San Francisco when he went to get his Visa approved along with other Missionaries. I'll post those next. Thanks again for all of your thoughts. He'd love to hear from you... So please write ! Braden and Chris!! You both rock... He loved your letters and is working on writing you back ! Until Next Post...
Colleen

Another Jared Email !

Dear Family,

Mom, in regards to your e-mail question, You can e-mail me back, but I would prefer that you don't because I only get 30 minutes, so I don't want to have to spend all that extra time reading emails and then having only a few minutes to write one. Just have people send me a letter or the whole dearelder thing. I think that would be much easier.

We got to go to San Francisco on Tuesday. It was cool because there was nobody else there and so we got that done and over with relatively fast. Chinatown was right down the street. So we went to Subway down the street, but other people wanted to eat at Chinatown. So we went there. Sorry mom, I didn't get pictures of Chinatown. There were too many people around and I didn't want to seem touristy. But the place we went to said that they had the best ice cream in S.F. So I got a picture of that! And then right across the street, was the first Catholic Cathedral built in S.F. so I took one of that too. Then we still had almost another hour and a half, so our driver took us to this stone lighthouse called Coit Tower. From there we had an awesome view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz.

I sent you a letter earlier today, so you should be expecting one within the next couple of days. I didn't have to give a talk last Sunday, I just had to prepare one in case they called on me. They had everyone do it and they didn't say who had to give their talk until it was time. But I do have to give a lesson in district meeting on Sunday about the power of the spirit in conversion. So I am just studying up for that.

So pretty much everyone in our zone is leaving on Monday, which means that there will only be 3 districts now, and all of us came in at the same time, so we'll be the oldest. I'm still a greenie though. Ok, that is what has been happening to me here. If you talk to Christina and Chris by any chance, tell them to write me or something because I have only heard from Christina once and none from Chris.

Love,
Elder Walch ( I still think that's so cool ! )

Such a bad week... and then this !

This week was so bad for me. Lots of problems at work and I was missing Jared terrible, and I came home to find this ! Our sweet little 8 year old activity girls and their leaders came over and gave me a 'heart attack', complete with frosted heart sugar cookies decorated with candy hearts. Jenna called me at work and said that I had a surprise on our door when I came home. I couldn't have imagined anything like this. It was so darling and I loved the fact that they thought of me.

OUR 1ST EMAIL FROM JARED !

Hurray ! Today is the day that I have been waiting for since he got in the MTC! He's written me another letter, but I got my first official email from Jared this morning. It's pretty amazing. I see how much he's grown in only 10 days. The MTC is doing marvelous things for him. Read on....

Dear Family,
This is my first official e-mail from the MTC!! Yay!! Well, what can I say? Things here at the MTC are always pretty routine. We are either in class or we are eating in the cafeteria. It seems like we eat alot here! I think I've actually gained some weight. Oh well. I'll work it off during gym anyway. So in class, we are still learning French, (we've already passed what I've learned in my high school years.) It's crazy, the class is going so fast!! I am picking up on most of it but not all. Yesterday, our teacher Frére Lyman was teaching us about the house of etre. Basically it's just this way of learning how to use words in the past tense with the verb etre. So we had to draw this big house looking thingy, and Elder Mason (The district clown basically) said "Hey let's make it into "the Dojo of etre" So we did. We had these ninja ropes and a zen garden and a dojo master. And we had to use these verbs that describe a physical change in action like To descend, To be born, or To Return. It was pretty cool, I'll have to admit.
Elder Spicer and I got to go to the TRC (teaching resource center) and we had to make 3 contacts in French, and then we had to teach the first lesson in English. I think we did pretty well, but we will definately do better next week.We also got to go to the RC (refferal center) where we got to make a bunch of phone calls to people. It was cool. I want to go back, but I have to wait until Monday. The MTC is freaking crazy. We always have meetings and class and meals and we are always somewhere all the time. The days are so scheduled out for you here. It's crazy. We've been going over how to contact people and we've been trying (With not much success) to learn how to do the passe composé. It's all really confusing. My first official week and a half here at the MTC was pretty fun.
Oh have to tell you about our district. We have two sisters in it, one from Ireland, and the other one from Germany. They've been teaching us a little bit of their language too. It's cool cause they have all these different sayings for things, like for schetchy, or mysterious, they say "dodgy" so that has pretty much become our whole district saying now! Elder Zarate (Say KA-RA-TE like an Asian person would say it.) is crazy good at French. He can speak for like minutes at a time!!Elder Mason is always happy or smiling, and he's way funny too.
What else???? I've been getting every one of your letters Mom. I don't really have a whole lot of time during the day to write anything back, so sorry if I haven't sent very many yet. I just sent one today, and another one just a couple of days ago. Life here at the MTC goes on.I miss you all. I love you. Thanks for all the support.
Love,
Elder Walch

Ta-daa! Do I have an awesome son or what??? We were so excited to get this first email. How crazy that some words on a page can make your heart hurt and burst with pride at the same time? He's having the time of his life. I, on the other hand, have been writing every day and have been trying to cope with him being gone. Tears still come quite easily, and not just for me. Gary has been welling up himself when I get emotional or when he reads one of his letters. What can I say? We just miss our baby boy! Anyway, thru the tears and all, today has been such a good day as we got this terrific email from him. He'd love to hear from any of you that would like to write to him. So please do...

My friend Lindsay at work asked me if she should buy stock in Kleenex...I told her absolutely...! We've been using alot at our house !
Until next post... Love to all
Colleen