Gordon B. Hickley 1910-2008

We will miss him.

Santiago, Chile

Dave's parents just returned from a mission to Santiago, Chile. As President of the MTC, they worked with 770 missionaries who were preparing to serve missions for the church. We have learned so much from their experience and their example and wanted to share some of what we've learned with you.


1. Tell us about the food is there anything that you will miss?

Well the thing that I will miss the very most is casuela which is just a soup base made with a chunk of potato, a chunk of sopayo or squash, a chunk of meat, a chunk of corn. It was very good and tasty.

2. What's one thing you learned on your mission?

You never stop learning. No matter how old you get. I learned so much from my scripture study about the gospel, you just never stop learning.

3. Why did you serve a mission?

There are lots of reasons. Well we made a covenant to do so. Also, one thing we were struck by from living in Chile is that there is still so much work to be done. And of course the blessings to our family.

4. Are there any missionaries that stand out or that you remember?

A lot of them. Some at great sacrifice came to the MTC. Some without any support from their parents, they came because of their testimonies of the gospel. Some of them made the decision right as they were being taught that they wanted to serve a mission.

Well there are a lot but generally it was just a great privilege to be around all of them and see them grow in the 19 days that we were with them. They’d come in like scared little rabbits and then they’d feel of our love, grow in confidence, they’d learn, and finally they were ready to be like the missionaries that converted them, full of confidence, full of testimony and ready to serve.

5. What was your schedule like?

7:30-8:00 Study the Book of Mormon with the missionaries
8:00-9:00 Breakfast
9:00-12 or 1:00pm Classes with teachers or Pres. and studying. Pres. uses this time to meet with the director to address problems, and have interviews with the missionaries. We also attend the temple with the missionaries on most Wednesday mornings.
Lunch
1:00-6:00pm More studying and classes. During the week I also use this time to clean, shop, prepare lessons, organize missionary supplies, answer emails, take a nap, bake cookies for FHE.
6:00-7:00 Dinner
7:00-9:30 More studying and classes
9:30 The missionaries prepare for bed and so do I. Pres. keeps an eye on things until all are in bed at 10:30pm.

They also shared interesting things with us about the restaurants in Santiago, the pick pockets and purse snatchers, the open air markets, the mountains, the volcanoes, the glaciers, soccer games, Chilean celebrations, the Temple dedication and all the interesting people they met along the way.
We are sad that we will miss the Homecoming in SLC, Lincoln's baptism, and all our family, but we love you guys. Have a great weekend!

Welcome Home Grandma and Grandpa!

They are in the states! Today they are headed back to Utah after their brief stop in Michigan. We are so glad that Presidente and Hermana Wagner could come visit us on their way home from Chile.

They went from 80 degree weather in Santiago to temperatures in the teens and 6 inches of snow. But I think the grandkids made up for it. Our days were filled with baking with Grandma, reading stories with Grandpa, lots of hugs and sharing. Dancing and whooping to a mariachi band at an authentic Mexican restaurant was naturally part of the visit. It was great. Welcome home Grandma and Grandpa.

Go Braves!

During our Christmas trip to WA I got to see a handful of girls from high school. Erin T threw together a mini reunion. It was so fun to see all those people. Our friends still look the same and act the same, they're just a little older and some have people attached to them now. But Tommy is still animated, Tiff is still gorgeous, Brooks is still hilarious and Shelley super sweet. They are all such GOOD people. I miss those kids. They all mean a lot to me and in some way helped me form who I am. With all their strength and their silliness. I wish everyone could have been there.

I also got to play with my Lindsay girl. We had a rockin' New Years Eve. Let me tell you Andrey was off the hook! It was perfect. We loved it. And we had a play date. Boys played with their cars and trains, while the mommas made adorable buttons. I would love a craft day everyday with Linds, she is AmaZiNg. When are you moving next door my friend?

Chugga Chugga

Noah loves trains. Any kind of train. I wish you could have seen this boy's mind whirling when he was finally introduced to Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends. The names, the colors, the numbers, the wheels, the steam...so fascinating. He lines up his cars and hooks them all together. "Where are your tracks?" is the first question asked when we walk into someone's house. Some days he chooses his clothes based on what engine he wants to be that day: green shirt is Henry the long fast engine, red shirt is James the red engine, and of course blue for Thomas. About a month ago he started calling everyone by their engine color: If Dave was wearing a red shirt it was "James can I have some juice?" his little playmates were renamed Percy or Toby. There was an entire day where I could not get him to call me Mommy....I was Emily. This boy loves trains. Grandpa Woodworth took Noah out to this old steam engine during our Christmas trip to WA. It was huge. The wheels were almost as tall as Noah's 6'5'' Grandpa. They even got to climb inside the cab and see the firebox and controls.
Another day Grandpa took Noah to a hobby store in downtown Kennewick to see their elaborate model train all set up and chugging.
Another big ol' steam engine out in Pasco.
Playing with his Idaho cousins and their trains. Trains trains trains. We love trains.

Idaho Wagners

Boise is about a 5 hour drive from my parents' house. 4 1/2 says mapquest, 5 1/2 says a nursing baby. We weren't planning on going there but we woke up Thursday morning with ideas "Dave, you want to go to Idaho?" "What, today? Sure!" We packed the kids up in Grandma's mini van and made the drive to visit the Idaho Wagners.
Ted and Leslie are good sports and didn't seem to mind our last minute crash at their house. We had such a great visit. It has been way too long. We got to see their beautiful new house and meet our beautiful new neice, Tessa. It was so good to see them we wished we could have seen the whole Wagner family too and met our 2 other new nieces.

Leslie cooked us a beautiful salmon dinner, the kids played great (here's a picture of some Wii tennis) and we love talking to Ted and Leslie late at night with Otis Spunkmeyer. And of course no visit is complete without a wild chicken ride.

Christmas trip

We're recuperating from our trip. We spent almost two weeks in WA with my family. We're tired from the travel and schedules are off....but it's always worth it. Now we get to sleep in our own beds and have first dibs on the computer...but we're already missing the Woodworths. First off, we want to thank everyone for putting up with our sleep deprived crankiness, fussy baby and independent toddler. And big thanks to Brinna for letting us take over her bedroom, bathroom and all. Thanks for all the helping hands, Gagey bouncing, Noah entertaining, mall runs, loud guns and big machines for the guys, late late nights playing games with my fiesty mom and the food food food. As usual I'm not a good picture taker when I'm enjoying myself so I never get as many pictures at Christmas time as I would like, but here are some highlights:
Christmas morning: Early wake-up, cookies for Santa, carrots for the reindeer, stockings filled, yes we would still do all of this even without the kids. So fun. I'm still trying to mentally burn the image of Noah running down the hall ...trot trot trot... after waking up the house, excited about what Santa may have brought. Everyone's gifts were so thoughtful and we had so much fun this year planning what we were giving.
Here's my sister Dana holding baby G. Gage was held and loved by all his aunts and Noah had many playmates. Dana was a patty cake pro, Erin the merp lady and Brinna bounced until her arms were jell-o.
Kate and Justin drove up from Rexburg. So fun to see them...even if Justin did get that metropolis... Miss you guys!
Great Grandma and Grandpa Brown. Four generations in one room. He says that never happened when he was growing up, no such thing as great grandparents...I'm so glad there is today! I've learned so much from these great people.
Long stay, long trip home, back to our little routine.