Sunday, August 31, 2008

Happy Anniversary!


This is some of the 2 dozen roses Dave gave me for putting up with him 2 dozen years!


Here are some more!
As a rule, if you get more than a dozen roses you have to share with someone you care about. This is my dear friend Jill. If you notice the red ribbon on the vase, this is a love ribbon. Someone who loves me, gave me this ribbon on a gift, I gave it to someone I care about very much, and Jill will pass it on to someone she cares about.
This was my Primary primary class today! Emily was joined today by her two best buddies, Thomas and Jackie. Jill's cousin was there also. She helped us sing our Primary songs. Notice the Princess wand she is holding. She was turning Thomas and Jackie into frogs and statues by the time I was leaving. Emily informed me that she did not like my hair pulled back in a head band. I saw the picture they took of me, and I have to agree.

Thomas and I were discussing that one of the blessings of having illness in the family is that you get to see more family and friends. He mentioned in his testimony today that he was grateful to see what good cooking there was in the ward. I asked him what his favorite meal was so far and he said mine was. Good answer Thomas!! LOL You trained him right Matt and Jill! Thomas was so loving with his sisters. I wish I had a brother like him!

Before I left, I asked Emily if she was going to send a card to Bro. Richards, who just found out he had cancer and will also be needing a bone marrow transplant. Emily said he didn't need a card right now, but then she went over to her desk and got a heart she had made out of clay and with Jackie's help, wrote, "Be Brave!" (heart), Emily. Bro. Richards in still in the hospital, but he will be getting this sweet gift as soon as he gets home, tomorrow.

Joyce (far right) was gracious enough to invite the girls up to the cabin to relax and get away from the every stresses at home. We enjoyed watching movies and eating some yummy food. Joyce taught me how to play Canasta! I've had the game in my closet for a few years, and finally found someone who would teach me how to play it. I taught Dave how to play it when I got home. He is so lucky at cards! Thanks for the relaxing weekend Joyce!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

6 Weeks out




Yeah Pres. Winegar said that we're only allowed to visit myldsmail.net for email, so its a no go on the blog thing. I have been falling behind in my letter writing (basically its you, Heather, and some other missionaries from the mtc) but I will try to send it by today. I need to get one of those brown envelopes to put the cd in and thank-you notes. I'll put my letter in there too. I decided to put everything on a cd because I had like 186 pictures and it was over $26 for ONE print. the cd was like 5 dollars. so from now on I will get prints every 30-50 pictures.

Thats awesome that we got the big screen tv, but I am sad to see the pool table and stuff go. I kinda miss playing those games. I do get to play pool on rare occasions if one of the members invites me to play, but that has only happened once.

You're going with the laminate flooring again? I thought you were going to do wood or something. you can either rip the current floor off or you could take out the cupboards above the fridge. or I guess you could work around the fridge, but it would be difficult to get out when you get a new fridge in 20 years. But its your kitchen so do whatever you want. send me pics when its done! (if it gets done)

Happy Aniversary! Its kinda hard to plan something on sunday. You should do something saturday night.

*double-take* WHAAAAA? *double-take* Jake and John are starting to have a life???????
Since when? do they have jobs yet? if no, why not? Tell them I said to get off their lazy bums!

Yeah I'll pay you back for the class and stuff.
Note to self: Don't take books to that place again. I guess from now on, I'll have to take the books to the bookstore on campus.

Go ahead and take the money to give to Emily's fundraiser. I'm more than happy to help in what ways I can.

You should get Jake and John alarm clocks for christmas or something. or just as a present. then have them put the alarm clock across the room so they HAVE to get up. thats what I did with the alarm on my phone and it worked for the most part. also they should go to bed earlier... I know they don't go to bed before 11:00PM...

well gotta get to them other emails!

Love you to infinity and back and then to infinity again, Elder Holladay

1. Don't know about the holiday thing. I talked with one of my zoneleaders and he said that we stay inside after six the day before Halloween and on Halloween. and then we usually have thanksgiving Dinner with the bishop or one of the members or something as well as on christmas. and on christmas we get to call home. and on Mothers day too. other than that I think its just a normal day with appointments and stuff.
2. I started the Book of Mormon when I came on my mission. I believe that I'm in Alma 11 right now. sometimes I read passages from the bible and from Preach my Gospel. oh and speaking of PMG, tell Kyle to study PMG a lot (proably as much as the scriptures). It will help him a lot when he goes on his mission. thats the one thing I wish I had done before I came on my mission. I would also advise getting starting to use the Missionary schedule like a week or two prior to his departure for the MTC.
3. We try to do emails around 11:00am Eastern, but sometimes we have other stuff that gets in the way so we end up doing it later. Its usually within a few hours of lunch time (Eastern time).
4. Haircut is pretty good. I got some compliments on it at church, so you know its good.
5. Total, I've given out 3 BOM's
6. Yes there are two cemetaries accross the street from my apartment complex. the one to the north is bigger than the one to the south.
7. Its in the other E-mail.
8 and 9. The church gave me a support card (basically a debit card) with $140 dollars a month. for food and laundry and postage and stuff. what ever I don't use doesn't carry over, they just refill it to $140 at the beginning of the month.
10. there's a special credit card that stays in the car and the church pays for the gas, but we only have 1500 miles per transfer (6 weeks) so we have to really plan out our location around appointments or we have to ask members for rides to appointments.
11.I still have plenty of stamps. If I need more, I can get some from the post office with my support card.
12. Elder Palmer is like the middle child in his family, so I don't think he gets as much support as his Brothers got when they went on their missions. We think that the Mission Office is sending his mail to a different area by mistake because at our combined district meeting he got some mail that was sent to some other missionaries' apartment. All he has to do is call them to get it fixed, but he hasn't done anything yet, so I dunno. I'll let you know.

-----Original Message-----
From: "Rose Holladay"
To: "'Zachary Holladay'"
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:51:20 -0600
Subject: Hi son!

Well, thanks for your letter last week. It was very informative. I see you haven't looked at my blog yet, so either Pres. Winegar said no, or you didn't ask him yet. Still waiting for that snail mail that you promised. I remember that (cousin) Ryan told me he would write anyone who wrote to him, when he left on his mission. I told him he probably wouldn't have time, but he didn't believe me either. He wrote me once.

I planned a day at the gym for FHE on Monday, but dad decided to go to grandma's after work and then there wasn't enough time, so we are going on Thursday.

Aunt Joyce called yesterday and offered us her 50" big console tv from upstairs (cause Uncle Joe got that big 60" HD). Jake, John, Spencer, Dad and I went there after dad came home from work. I made pork chops and baked potatoes for dinner, then we went to Joyce's to pick of the tv. It just barely fit in the van. We dropped Jake and John off at Kyle's softball game in Orem on the way home. We got the Ware's and Taylor H. to help take the tv in the house and down the stairs. I guess we will be getting rid of the pool table and ping pong table, cause we can't use both.

I got a quote for carpet in the upstairs and on the stairs. It will be around $1500 installed. Dad is still working on the tile in our bathroom.
It's taking sooo long, I have reconsidered putting it in the kitchen. I think we will go with the laminate flooring, because Jake and I can lay most of it without having to wait for dad. I don't know what we will do for under the fridge because there is no room to get the fridge any higher, so I wonder if we just need to put the flooring up to the fridge. It may be a problem getting the fridge out, because the floor will be too high in front of it. I don't want to take out the existing flooring (too much work!). We may end up having to cut the trim of the cupboard above the fridge to make room for the extra height of the floor. Well, whatever. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

It's mine and dad's 24th anniversary next Sunday. I don't know if we will be doing anything. It's also Labor Day weekend.

I was glad to hear you did a service project. Hard work is good for you!

Speaking of work, I was hoping to cut back to working for Joyce only once a week, but since it is cheaper to take the boys to East Shore, than to have them ride the bus, I end up working for Joyce and grandma twice a week. I don't mind the money! It will help pay for our flooring, but it makes it harder for me to get the things done at home that needs to be done.

Jake and John are getting out more. They are even participating in Young Men's more. John, Kyle and Mike even went to a dance last weekend!

Wow, you sure cover a lot of area (I Google Earthed it)

They are having a fund raiser for Emily. If you don't mind, I'm going to take $10 out of your account and donate it from you.

Bad news: I went to the place you took your books back to for refund and they only gave you $30. I deposited it in your checking account. You have about $400 in there if you need it.

Grandma Sweet said she would give you $20 towards your mission every month.
She gave me the first $20 and I used it to pay for September's missionary bill.

Well, I had better get going. I have still got the indelible task of getting Jake and John out of bed so they can go to school.

1. What do you do on holidays? Do you still have appointments, or do
you take the day off?
2. What are you studying in scripture study?
3. Do you have a certain time of day that you e-mail me or is it
random? (I watch the computer until I get an e-mail from you on Wed.)
4. How did your hair cut turn out?
5. Did you give out any more B'sofM
6. Is there a cemetery across the street from your apartment? (Again,
Google E. It shows your address on a corner with no house on it)
7. I'm interested to know what fruits and veggies you are eating (for
future refs.)
8. I'm also very interested in knowing how you pay for stuff. Do you
get a check from the church?
9. How much is it?
10. How do you pay for gas for the car?
11. Do you need more stamps?
12. Is Elder Palmer's family very supportive of him, like does he get packages from home all the time and letters and stuff? If you ever have a companion who doesn't get the love and support from home like you do, let us know and we will fill in.

I love you to infinity and beyond!

Mom

Monday, August 25, 2008

Me and Emily!

I love to have Primary with Emily. She is such a good listener and very attentive to the stories. We love to sing Primary songs with my guitar. I'm not that great of guitar player, but Emily doesn't know that!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Bad Day?


Did you ever have days where it would have been better if you slept in instead of going to work?

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

This won't hurt a Bit!

The Dr. was doing nothing to hurt Zack, but Zack remembered the shots the doctor had given him last time he was in. He wanted nothing to do with him now!

Here's a bit from Zack:

Dearest Mother,

Yeah I just felt like starting it like that...

This week has been pretty busy! We had a Half-mission activity on Monday where we spread mulch out at a park on the play ground. then they had sand that they wanted us to spread as well. it was really hard work! We did get to play sports afterwards though, so its all gewd.
Prior to our Half-Mission activity, me and my companion dropped off our car at Pepboys to get our oil changed. Well, when we went to pick up the car later that day, we noticed that there was some damage done to the front left panel, so we went and told the manager there and he said that we had to get 2 different estimates. So yesterday we got the two estimates and then we had to go take them back to the Pepboys. Well we then found out that we needed two copies (one for them and one for us) and their copy machine was broken, so we had to get them some other way. So we made some copies today and then we went back to Pepboys once again to give them the paperwork that they needed to file the claim. So that was quite the hassle, and it took up our time to teach, which bothered me.
Later today, I'm going to get my haircut at the Ashford's home (right down the street) Brother Ashford is the 1st Counseler in the bishopric in the ward that I'm currently in. Then we'll probably go to Sister Carter's house and do some service. Sister Carter likes to give missionaries a hard time, but once I got to know her, I found that she's actually pretty nice as long as you don't make her mad. lol! then we have Dinner at the Johnsons. Oh and you'll be happy to know, that we're being well fed by the members. Pretty much the only thing we have to "cook" is breakfast.

I'm glad to hear that Emily is improving! Tell her I says Hi and Get Well Soon! Also, Tell Grandma I says Happy Birthday! and Give her a hug and a kiss from me.

I did receive your letter in the "snail-mail", but I haven't gotten a chance to write back yet. I'll work on it in the mornings, like you said though.

Give Spencer a high five from me! Keep up the good work Spence!

Q & A (actually just "A", but you get the idea)

1. Gave my first BOM to a lady by the name of Lori Mitchell. She lives in Quinton on Lakeview St. I think. She's really nice! Her, and her next door neighbors are all investigators that we've found while tracting and doing windows.
2.I can print emails, but I have to pay for every page, and sometimes I forget my wallet.
3. The library in woodstown only has Macs. I don't know how to send pictures on them. Also Elder Palmer has an mp3 player that only works with Windows Media player.
4. We Drive all the time. Our area is to big and wide spread to do bikes. We actually have two areas by ourselves. We cover Salem, Elmer, Quinton, Beckett, Mullica Hill, Pensgrove, Pennsville, Carnes Point, and everything in between.
6. When we don't get fed, we usually go home to eat and cook something, but that doesn't happen often. We also eat out on occasion when we're not fed.
7. We usually have stuff to eat. so far I've made Spaghetti with Ragu, and French Toast. Most of the time, we just eat sandwiches though.
8. Its got its pro's and cons of being out on my own. We have one of the nicer apartments of the mission, so it has a washer and dryer already there (soooooooo nice to have it right there!). I don't like that I have to go out and buy my own food though. I'm actually buying my own fruits and vegetables. Yes that's right. I'm actually eating healthy. Big shock. I know.

Well I gotta get to them other emails! I expect to get that cd of pictures to you by next week.

Love,
Elder Holladay

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

More Twin Teen Video Fun

I think John was the camera guy and these are his friends, Kyle (in the car) and Austin (in my now demolished laundry basket). I wonder if I could get an auto insurance claim on that! LOL

John assured me that no one would notice the laundry I had just dumped on the couch to fold. We had to practically run the washer/dryer 24/7 to get all the clothes washed that the boys had in their rooms. I think Jake is still working on his pile!

Kings Peak

While I was at the Sweet Family camp out, Dave and Michael were hiking up to Kings Peak. I think it is the highest point in the Uintah Mountains.


Look what a steep, rocky climb they had to the top!
Soon after they reached the top, the storm that poured buckets of rain on us for half a day, started with hail, then poured buckets of rain on them.

Michael wanted to be sure to get a picture of the pretty flowers for his mom.
Thanks Mike! Those are awesome flowers. You know I will never be hiking up there to see them so I'm glad you got a picture of them for me! Dave took all these pics with his cell phone. I'm amazed some of them turned out so well! Good job Dave!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

That's My Boy!

I just got this picture from Zack's mission president.
I couldn't be a prouder mom!
He's been gone one month today!
He isn't just my son, we are great friends!
It kills me to only hear from him once a week.
I miss the talks we had every day.
I miss sharing in his missionary experience
every day.
I miss the nighttime hugs!
This is the saddest joy I've ever known.

Friday, August 15, 2008

A Prayer for Emily

This is Emily.
She is one of my sweet Primary kids.
Emily is at Primary Children's having chemo
and a bone marrow transplant from her sister.
Emily and I have Primary together at Primary.
Please pray for Emily.

We miss Emily in our class!

Click here!
This is the Heaps Family Blog
that updates us on what they are going through
during this difficult time.
It's very touching!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The Video Kings

This is what the boys have been up to!


Jake, John, Austin and Kyle's videos


Missionary Update

This isn't how Zack looks on his mission. He is very busy. He sent me 6 e-mails today. Here are some excerpts.

Hey mom,

Yeah I try to answer everything, but I only have so much time on the computer, so sometimes I have to skip some stuff. I'll try to type faster or something. And sometimes, it scrolls too fast, so I completely miss some things.

Yeah its not that hard, once you figure out where you are, where you're going, and what page on the map you're on. I usually have a hard time keeping track of where exactly we're at on the map, but I'm starting to memorize which streets to turn on to get to which cities.

Bummer not getting the brownies and cookies sent to him.
It was definitly a bummer. I actually learned that they don't deliver packages when it arrives. They wait till a zone conference or something and they take all the packages there. so if you're sending baked goodies, send them to:
150 West Ave.
Apt. 202
Woodstown NJ 08098, and I can't remember the zip code, so you'll have to look it up.
if you send hand written stuff, though, still send it too the 505 lenola drive ste 124, Moorestown, NJ 08057 address.

I never realized how much I depended on the mountains to know which way I was facing. out here, you have to remember which way you're going and all that fun stuff. thats the hard part for me. I think I might just go to the dollar store and get a compass or something lol.

OH! Guess what! There was a really big storm on sunday! It rained really hard! We ran from the church to the dumpster to throw some trash away, and then back to the church as fast as we could, and we were soaked! My suit smelled like wet dog. EWWW! I think I'll have to get it dry cleaned later, but when my suit dried, it didn't smell as strong, but its still very faint. oh and there was a tornado somewhere north, northeast of where I was. We didn't see it, but its still kinda cool that there WAS one. I still haven't seen a tornado in real life. oh and the roads were flooded, and some crops were destroyed. it was awesome! I like the weather here, for the most part. it rains fairly often, and its muggy. but the only days that are actually hot are the sunny and humid days. those are the worst. its not so bad when there's over cast.

How is Emily Doing? what is her condition? How's her family doing? Did Kyle put in his papers yet?
I actually kind of miss my guitar. I would love to play it while I wait for my companion to get out of the shower or during what little free time I have.
My Typical Day:
6:30am- wake up/go running/take a shower/eat breakfast 8:00am-Personal Study 9:00am-Companion Study 10:00am-Out the door to go to appointments and what not around 12ish pm- Lunch 1:00pm appointments and tracking 6:00ishpm dinner at a members house sometimes. if not, more tracting and appointments
(8:00PM) Dinner if we didn't already eat 9:00PM daily planning 10:00PM companion prayer 10:30PM lights out

We only eat at members houses like every other day. They sign up on a calender on which day they want to feed us. Sometimes when we're at an appointment, they feed us even though we didn't set up a dinner appointment.
I go to the library 20 in Mullica Hills (look it up) I guess I COULD look at your blog, but that's technically not emails, so I think its against the rules.

I love getting letters! They really brighten my day! I'll write back anyone who writes me.
Oh yeah, and I've already found an Investigator! She was playing on her Wii when I knocked on her door. Her house was actually the first door I ever knocked on, since I've been here in Jersey. It was AWESOME!
oh and here's a New Jersian Joke:
Q: What do trees drink?
A: Wooder.(water)
LOL! Thats a thigh slapper!

Love you to infinity + 1!

Love,
Elder Holladay

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Sweet Campout-Smith & Morehouse

Magically Delicious!


We arrived at the camp out on Thursday afternoon. It was pouring buckets of rain when we got there. The twins forgot their rain fly, so we improvised.


We had to bring Molly because we were afraid she would "freak out" if we left her home alone for a couple days. She was in dog heaven! She wouldn't sit still for more than two seconds. Unfortunately, all the burrs found their way to her fur. We had a time cutting them all out. She was chained to a tree close to our table when she saw a varmint running through our camp. She took off at full speed to chase it and went flying into the air doing a 360 spin at the end of her chain. I wish I had my video running on that one. It was hilarious!



We spent time at the lake on Friday. The boys enjoyed canoing and trying to catch tiny fish that swam around shore. It was great to have Elizabeth and Mel there with us, before they go off to school. They were quite entertaining with their canoe dancing!


Here is Belva and Scott just hanging out at the beach. Shauna stopped and bought a new puppy on the way to the camp out and the dog that Scott is holding is the mother, that came with it.










This is mom in her funny purple hat!

A big thanks to Fern for planning the camp out. I think it was a great success! Cindy did an awesome job of the camp skits and games and we really enjoyed the testimonies and comments at the end. It really did help me to feel closer to our family and I appreciate that from you guys!

Those who could not make it this year, you were really missed. Family get-togethers are just not the same without you. We love and miss you! Rod, Jean, James and Zack...our prayers are with you!

When Pigs Fly!


These pics were from a week ago. Sometimes on the weekend, I'll go out side early in the morning and see these balloons flying around. These came down very close to our house. The pig was so close I could talk to the guy in the basket.

Zackly




Zackly,

Sorry my package missed you. I sent with J.C. and he promised it would get to you, but he didn't do it in time. I sent you some brownies and the jam.
You won't get those now, but I'll send the letters that were in there. I don't know when your P-day is, so I'm sending you this e-mail, just in case it's tomorrow.

So how was your flight? Pretty long huh! I hope you could weigh your bags before you left the MTC, and I hope you could fit all your stuff in your bags. Did you send anything home?

I was having a hard day today, you know, missing you. I knew you were on your way to a land far, far way. I was out in Joyce's yard doing yard work, singing Families can be together, forever and making my self cry. lol I went and helped grandma for a while, then she took me to lunch at Red Lobster. The food was delicious! I think grandma really enjoyed getting out of the house and going out to eat. She wants to go out to breakfast on Thursday morning, before we go on the campout. I choked up a little at the restaurant and a little when I talked to Angie on the phone, but I'm ok now.

I feel really bad you didn't get my package and letter before you went, but hopefully you got Aunt Joyce's cookies.

Grandma Holladay sent $60 to help pay for your mission.

Dad and Mike went on their backpacking trip on Monday. My last words to dad were, "Don't lose Michael!" I'm afraid he won't be thinking and get lost.
I told Angie I was afraid he would get lost and she said she was too. (That didn't make me feel any better!) She told Craig to keep an eye on him, even though Dad was there with him. You never know if Michael won't take off and do his own thing. I'm going to worry all week until they come home safe.
I'll be dreading each phone call. Blah!

Sorry! I had better go to bed. I have to get up early and mow the lawn before I go to the temple, get a present for Arianne's baby, meet with the insurance guy and pack for our trip. Emily Heaps started chemo therapy today so keep her in your prayers.

Love you!

Mom

P days are now on Wednesdays so its today lool. also they told me to stop shortening stuff like that so now I have to call them preperation days. I got my new companion-trainer today. Elder Palmer is his name, and he's from Spokane, Washington. He's a pretty cool guy. His family is into hunting and so far he's helped me a lot! oh and he's the driver. I have to be the navigator, even though I don't know where we're going. Yeah it was a very long flight. I actually sent you a letter about it last night LOL! so expect that in the next few days. I somehow managed to get everything to fit. so everything is good there. oh and there was an extra pillow in the apartment where I'm at so I don't have to buy a pillow quite yet. Everything is really green. and its usually overcast or raining, luckily. I'm not used to the humidity, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I thought it would be like Baja, Mexico, but its not. today was actually quite sunny and hot. I kind of miss the mountains though... they helped me to know where I'm at. I look for land markers when I'm navigating, and there isn't many of those around here. :/ I kinda miss you too, but Jake and John can help out. they better help out anyways... *shakes fist in their general direction- which ever it is-* they've got some big shoes to fill. literally. I haven't received any mail while I've been here. and that includes packages. oh yeah I still have to write those thank you notes. I haven't found the time to do those, but I might have some time later tonight so I'll work on them. I haven't gotten Aunt Joyce's cookies, so I'll make another note for her. I think I'll just send the notes to you, and then you can pass them on for me, because I don't know anyone's address except for your address, and Erika's address and Heather's address, but I only know the last two because I wrote them down. so I need to write 1 to the hardingers, 1 to grandama, and 2 two joyce? maybe I can combine those two into a long one... Erika said that she got her laptop taken away, so she won't be emailing for a while. She sends hugs and kisses and says she misses talking to you. LOL! yeah michael does kind of do his own thing sometimes. meh I wouldn't worry about it. if he gets lost, he'll eventually get hungry and find his way back. well gotta go! Love Elder Holladay