Our Last Baptism

We and the Elders met with Nichole today.  She has been coming to church and taking lessons for a long time but has not committed to baptism mainly because of coffee.  Today she told us that when Rene was confirmed and given the Holy Ghost she saw a flame of fire come down and go into him durinig the prayer.  The Elders had her read 3 Nephi 11.  It tells of Christ's first visit with the Nephites. After they felt his hands and feet He taught them about baptism and confirmation and in verse 35 it says ".... and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost."   Maybe because I had my eyes closed or maybe because of my superior sophistication I did not witness this.  But I am glad that she shared this sacred experience with us.  She will be baptised Jan 15, our last Sunday here.

We are so blessed

Awhile back we were briniging home 2 members from the Saturday night session of Stake Conference when we noticed that our warninig light indiciated that a tire was low (20 psi).  We started looking for a tire shop/service station.  Everythinig was closed and we dropped off our people.  Still looking and praying as we went home, we were not happy thinking about having a flat tire at 10 pm in a questionable neighborhood.   We knew that we had investigators to pick up early for tomorrow's church.  Then as we watched, to our amazement the gage started rising.  By the time we got home it showed 30 psi.  We got up in the morning thinking we would have a completely flat tire but we started up and the warning indicator didn't even come on.  We went to church with no problems.  We have been amazed and grateful for how the Lord has looked out for us while we have been on our mission. 

For the love of gum

I've started doing my blog again at codyandutahna.blogspot.com if you want to catch a glimpse of our daily blessings. We tackled Wal-mart today, all four kids and myself, six days before
Christmas. Yes, I am insane. It started pleasantly enough. Corban ran in to
twist all the gumball machine levers and, to his delight, and for the first time
ever, actually got a free gumball! Had I only known the trouble that gumball
would soon cause. We wound in and out of the isles hitting everything on my list
in what seemed like molasses fashion, amidst all the other shoppers and the kids
wanting to show me every other toy we passed by. All too soon Abigail was
fussing to get out of the cart, as well as Corban, who had been riding in the
back, and was getting crowded among the canned goods. So now, single handedly,
my family is congesting the isles. I'm trying to get the kids to stay with me,
to not get in front of the cart, to not grab items from shelves, to not jump out
in front of other people, to not run, to not climb on the shelves... and I've
realized we've moved from molasses fashion somehow to a frozen molasses stage,
culminating with Annali counting out all her pennies to make a purchase of her
own as we check out. Finally we are headed out the automatic glass exit doors,
(which at this point look almost as good as the pearly gates congratulating me
for enduring to the end) when I realize Corban is trailing a bit behind, off to
check the gumball machines again. This time he comes up empty handed, and that
is all too unacceptable, since he knows those gumball machines can now put out
for nothing. He refuses to leave them. Abigail has reached her boiling point in
my arms, and while I pull the cart with one hand, I send Annali and Chandler
back to get Corban. They had to drag the screaming child behind me all the way
to the car. He's 100% ballistic by now, which is not normal for my sweet little
guy. But it is what it is. As they get in and I'm buckling Abigail, Corban
shoots out of the car to make a run down the parking lot for the gumballs again.
Luckily he wasn't hit by a car. I put him back in the car. He tries about 20
more times to open the door and escape while I loaded the groceries. Finally
Chandler got him to calm down by sharing some of his candy with him. And I'm
thinking, "Never again!" But through all of this I was actually able to keep my
cool. I didn't yell. I didn't strangle. I could see the moment for what it was
while I was in it, and so I was able to stay in control. This is a BIG
improvement for me :) I feel like I'm slowly becoming more the mother I'm
supposed to be, and I really feel that it is homeschooling my kids is the road
that is taking me there. And I do have wonderful kids helping me all along the
way. Really, they are, even my sweet little gum-loving Corban. We are so
blessed.

Albright Family Band

You made our Monday!!! :)

And here is our pipe cleaner snowflake Holly wanted to see. Up close it looks kinda spidery, but you get the idea.

Photo Shoot

Took some family photos, not the best quality as far as resolution, so we are doing them again, but here is what we got. I think they turned out pretty good. I finally found what I needed to complete our outfits at the 12th store I had gone to that day, around 11pm the night before the photo shoot... I hate trying to coordinate for 6!

Halloween

we were all sick most of Oct. so when we got better we got tons of candy to make sure that we would not be too healthy. What is everyone's plans for Thanksgiving week. Tanner gets off 2pm on Thurs. on Friday I'm not sure yet what his hours are.

Jill & Tres came to visit

We had a great visit with Jill and Tres when they came to DC to see the signts and see what Grandma and Grandpa were doing on our mission.  They spent a lot of time walking, walking, walking in the mall and even got to try the sedgeways on a tour.  They admitted they didn't pay much attention to the tour guide but instead were trying to race each other.  We almost got towed when Grandpa parked in a no parking zone while we had pizza one night in DC.  Tres and Jill nearly laughed themselves silly watching Grandma navigate with the GPS telling Grandpa how to get to the airport.  Aw well, technology is for the 'youngsters'.  Leaves are changing and there is a snap in the air.  Winter is just around the corner and our time here is winding down. 

Cash Scores a Touchdown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oobpflWp370

Here is a link for a video of Cash playing football. Lucky is doing great also, just learning how to use the camera and download the videos.

Our Prophets and Apostles

Here is Corban @ 3 1/2 with his conference prep song. Conference was so great. My favorite line was Elder Anderson: "[Children] are what God gave you time for." And here is proof :)

Some late pics & news

Corban after water relay at Aspen Grove
Abigail getting blessed.

The kids at the BYU/ Ole Miss game with Dad. Chan opted out of pics.

Abgail gettting blessedLove these boingy curls. Mom, keep the scissors away! No, that is not my rear.

Chan and Corban hoopin it up at Aspen Grove

Chan trying to make a basket with the crazy balls

Abigail snoozin in her Albright shirt

Annali Joy

Chandler was Mr. $ bags, sharing all his gummy worms with his cousins

Everything good here. Had a great time at Aspen Grove for the Albright Reunion. Having all the fun and craziness of school. Abigail has 8 teeth now and is crawling everywhere, putting every little morsel she comes across into her mouth. Chandler is all revved up about selling gourmet popcorn for cub scouts... I guess he has more of Cody in him than I thought, because that sure isn't from me! :) He is also playing soccer, and gets really into that, scoring some goals. And he is finally enjoying piano, which we started up again. I think I had tried to start them too young, but now he is ready, and I'm going to wait to restart Annali when she's 8. We are doing the Jon Schmidt method, which is free and really amazing. Chandler is working on I Am a Child of God, his favorite. Annali is reading up a storm, and rewrote the book, Eek, There's a Mouse in the House for me as a thoughtful gift. She is right there to always help out with Abigail, and can always get her laughing. Corban is starting to sound out words. He is also my big helper in sorting laundry. As soon as the clothes are pulled out of the dryer he is on them! We all went to the temple today. It was just what I needed. Did a stake youth choir for stake conference last Sunday. It was really fun working with them. Cody is busy with work and scout stuff, but sure is a good daddy when he is home. Love you all!

Sports Day

Wednesday we had a mission sports day.  All the missionaries went to a members farm where he has a summer camp with soccer fields, basketball, etc.  They played what they call Hero Ball. I'm not sure what the rules were but there was a flag in the center that had to be captured and run to the goal line, there were soccor balls being kicked, frisbees being thrown and little socks with flour in that they threw at each other 'disabling' others so they had to leave the field until replaced.  Then we all ate tons of food.  Fun was had by all and we enjoyed watching.  Only 1 twisted ankle in the bunch.  What a fun group of guys and girls.  We're glad we are old.

Monica Boh

Let me tell you about Monica.  She is a member from Cameroon.  She was a teacher in Africa and her oldest son is a catholic priest.  She has 9 children.  She came to US to visit her nephew and they took her passport and made her their servant and babysitter.  They told her that her visa had expired and if she complained she would be put in jail.  Finally she got help from a friend and ran away.  That is about the time she met the missionaries.  She joined the Church and has been to the temple.  She was working as a nurses aid but could not continue because of an injury to her back.  She has no job now but works a few days a week cleaning houses.  She said she was a 10 in Africa (economy wise) but is a 1.5 in the USA but would  not go back because she has found the church here.  She feeds the missionaries every week (all 6 of us) and says she wants to help in any way she can.  She is quite a good cook and usually cooks traditional African food.  She told me this week that when she got her patriarchial blessing they told her she was from the tribe of Benjamin.  She loves the church.  She has become a good friend to us. 

This is a picture of Monica on the left with her daughter Adell who came from Africa to visit her.  She has not seen her in 8 years.  Adell married an African-American from Georgia who went to Africa to find a bride and now both are investigating the church in Georgia thanks to Monica. 

Hurricane

We stayed up until 1:30 Saturday night to see the hurricane. Got sleepy and went to bed.  It was really blowing.  We went to an appointment until about 5 pm and it was raining very hard and I was scared.  The Stake President cancelled church and the Elders were bummed because they had a record amount of new investigators and 1 baptism that got cancelled.  When we woke up Sunday morning it was calm but we noticed a big hole in our green tree wall.  A tree had been glown down about 30 ft from our balcony but blew down away from the apartment building.  A few doors down another tree blew down toward the building.  Hmmm... The Lord is still watching out for us.

Earthquake

Today we were teaching Elvis with the Sister Missionaries when we thought we heard a large dog scratching at the front door then the house starting REALLY shaking.  Dad told everyone to get under the doorway and then the Sisters asked him to say a prayer.  Elvis had been telling us that he believed everything we had been teaching him but he has been praying to God to tell him whether or not he should change churches.  The Sisters promised him that he would get an answer to his prayers when ....  Hmmmm..........  The Sisters were upset and excited.  This is quite unusual for this area.  Glad we weren't at the apartment because it is old and brick but seems to be still standing. 

Sailing

Last Saturday the Senior Couples went sailing and a crab boil.  A Stake President and Patriarch who live on the Chesapeak bay invited us and we had a great time.  I could really like the sailing stuff.  The bay was calm so I imagine on the open ocean it might be ruffer.  The crab was delicious but getting the meat out was labor intensive.  They are trying to arrange a tour of the White House for December.  We are having a great time.  Dad has had the flu the last week but is not on the mend except for a cough.  We love and miss you.

Mission News

We have been meeting with the Elders and teaching a family: Daniel, Zinab, Samual (4 yrs) and Abraham (2 yrs).  They come from Sierra Leon Africa and have been here about 6 months.  They fled Sierra Leon during the war to save their lives and stayed in another country about 10 years trying to get visas to USA.  They are now living with a relative trying to get established here.  They feel so excited about learning about the true church.  Daniel said the Book of Mormon is like food to him; his breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Because they have found this church they are able to sleep in peace for the first time in a long time because their situation is so desperate. They will be baptised on Sunday, July 31 and he said they have decided to fast starting on Friday before their baptism because they are so thankful. He said there were not words to describe how they were feeling about the church.

17 miracles

Perhaps I'm a little biased, but as proof I have people stopping me in public places to tell me she is the most beautiful baby they've ever seen :D But here is all the proof I really need:

This is about the distance between Annali and Abigail on average...

And here Chandler decided to sleep with this hat on because his hair is getting so long it tickles him while he sleeps :) Still refusing hair cut. We told him he can't go to Aspen Grove without one, and he gave in easily.

And just one more...

At 17miracles.com you can see the trailer for the new movie that is an account taken from the journals of the willie handcart company. The trailer quotes our ancestor as saying "We were promised by a servant of the Lord all the members of our family would arrive safely in Zion, all the members of our family." !!! We're famous! :) I can't wait to go see it while we are out in Utah for Aspen Grove in a couple weeks. Chris Albright said it is great.

And here are Cody and the kids July 4th on our first geocaching expedition. It was lots of fun, and addicting. They got covered in mosquito bites and scratches, but felt the glory of a real treasure hunt. We've gone on 4 more since. Also here is the white board with our family laws on it for Holly's curiosity. It has worked well for us. We all sing a song with all the laws in it to help us all remember :)

News from us

13.5 weeks

I just thought you'd like to see the new addition to the family!!!

I have a temp. phone # for now 520-441-4983.

Here is Corban, the bad guy.

This is our jam session in DC, and will either make Mom & Dad miss us much or glad we're gone :)

And here is how we do FHE down in the South:

Mo Tab Choir

Last night the Senior Couples were given the gift of tickets to go see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Wow! What a great performance.  We were blown away at how good they are in person.  Our tickets were for the 'lawn' seats but just before it started they handed out the front tickets that were not sold and we got 2.  So we were right up front.  They sang a new folk song from Nigeria.  It was so good.  Today we (all the missionaries in our mission) are going to the Nationals Baseball game.  Dad is really excited.  Saturday the Seniors are having a pot luck at the President's house.  Doesn't sound like we are doing much work but we are out every day with the Elders.  Had a great experience yesterday.  Got to bear testimony of the BofM and was prompted to share a scripture in DC 1.  The Spirit was really strong and we left feeling great.  We have such good Elders. They are so persistent and hard working.  Some of these people I would have given up on but they keep plugging away.  They have almost more investigators than they can get to.

Busy Day

Busy Sunday:  We left the apartment a little after 8 am and picked up Joyce, an investigator from Sierra Leon, and took her to the College Park Ward.  With 2 African investigators in their traditional dress and a family from Napal in their traditional dress it was a very colorful meeting.  After we took Joyce home, we ate our peanut butter sandwich as we drove across town to pick up Phillippe for the French Branch.  The Elders were checking on a family and were late so I filled in on the organ.  It is challenging playing in French.  We had 7 investigiators at the French Branch.  We only had 4 children for Primary.  Randall taught the lesson and I did Sharing time and singing time.  The 9 yr old twins who can't sit in their chairs for more than 30 seconds were there so we were whipped.  We finished about 20 minutes early so had to ad lib.  After taking Phililippe home we rushed across town for dinner at a members home.  We have eaten dinner 3 times at members homes this week.  Two African dinners (chicken cooked in peanut butter, casava, fufu -corn meal mush- and fried plantains) and taco salad tonight.  We were just coming in our apt when the French Elders called wanting us to meet them at Silvie's apartment.  She is from Cameroon and loves the Book of Mormon and the Hymns.  She had been in the hospital this week and wants to be baptized but her husband who lives iin France forbids it.  We read a chapter in the B of M and sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" 3 times and "Love at Home" 2 times.  She call us Mama and Papa.  We left a blessing on her home and went to see MacLange.  The Elders taught her the 1st lesson in French and Dad and I bore testimony of the Restoration and Book of Mormon in Engliish.  We got home about 9 pm and I looked up on the web to fiind a CD of Hymns in French for Silvie.  No Luck. 

We are feeling our age but get very excited and feel needed.  I don't know how the young Elders do it.  We only assist the Elders and don't have to find or teach on our own.  Thank Goodness!

traveling home from co

Albright pics

2 new teeth for Abigail Grace!

Corban fixed the arm of our dining room chair for me. Notice the nails. He was so proud, saying, "I fixed it for you, Mom! But don't sit in it. It will break, and it is very special to you!" I just love theese chubby arms, hands, and fingers. I could gobble her up!

Sisters rule...

All but Chandler, who was not in the mood...

Had a GREAT time in DC. Wish we could have stayed longer. Mom and Dad were wonderful and treated us to an extra fun time. I hope you all get a chance to go stay with them before they leave!!!

Lily Dance Recital - Hip Hop

Here is the link to her Hip Hop Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TP0kVwALQE

Lily's Dance Recital - Tap

This was the cutest thing that I have ever seen! Lily is a natural!! Not the best quality video, but thanks to Zoe we have one!

Here is a link to the video (pretty bad but only video I could download)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTI-ce2xFlI

Family Vacation

We survived our family Vacation to Florida (barely). The triplets 1st plane trip (5 hour flight), Disney Cruise to the Bahamas and 2 days at Walt Disney World, then another 5 hr flight home.... Very fun but totally exhausting with 3 - 4 yr olds. All and all they did great and we all had a lot of fun.

I am officially an ASU student, although I still don't know what I want to do. I just have too many options, I think at 40 I finally realized I can do anything I want and wish I knew that 20 yrs ago so I had the time to do it. I am also planning a week trip to Mirival resort in Tucson, BY MYSELF! I am so excited and can't wait to only have to take care and focus on myself for a few days.

The kids are starting Kindergarten July 28, yes I am putting them in early. They are ready (at least scholastically), and I think emotionally. It is a charter school and there are 22 kids per class. The good thing is, if I think they need another year, I will transfer them into the Chandler school system and take Kindergarten again... shhhh don't tell. If they are ready to move on, they we can do that too. All I know is I am excited to get 8:30 - 3:30 back in my day!