New Year's Eve Activities

Today was a really special day.  We woke up to a rainy morning and headed over to the temple for the sealing of the West's children to them. Those sweet girls were adopted from Uganda, Africa and are the cutest girls and so full of vigor and life!!  (Especially Grace-- the youngest!)  What a sweet feeling was in that sealing room.  I am so happy for the West family!!

 While we were waiting for them to come out, we got some pictures with the

beautiful flowers that seemed to be soaking up all the rain and loving it!!

 

Grace caught in the act...picking up a rock and REALLY wanting to throw it in the water!

 

Cute Mindy with her girls Macie, Grace and Maggie.

 

Maggie

Grace, Maggie and Macie! What beautiful girls!!

 

 

Later on we celebrated ringing in the new year at Mom's house with a soup supper!  It was the PERFECT evening for it with all the rain we had!!!! I made a tomato and vegetable basil soup and Mom made Clam Chowder.  Robin made a 7 layer dip which we enjoyed with tortilla chips as an appetizer.  Everything tasted SOOOOO good!  Then both Brooke and Katelyn headed to their parties.  Brooke went to the New Year's Eve dance and Katelyn went to a party at Sammy Holmes' house.  They were both back at Grandma's house shortly after midnight so we got to enjoy them for some of our festivities of the brand new year!  We rang in the New Year with style and from the comfort of Mom's house!  It was fun!!  We played card games until midnight in anticipation of all the festivities! 

 

 Here we are just before midnight!

 

 Midnight on the dot!!  Happy New Year!  Welcome 2017!!!

 

Party poppers with Bill!

McKenzie didn't like the party poppers!  That's ok, the dogs didn't either!!!

Bill went to go get Katelyn from her party...

...so they took a couple of selfies on the way...

 ...and one more back at Mom's!

 

 Robin brought the hats...

 Here we all are together!

 

 Some sparkler fun out front!  We also had some firecrackers that we (well Bill) lit off...

right under the girls' feet!  It scared all of us to death!!

 



HAPPY 2017!!!!!



It started to rain right as we were finishing the last of our sparklers!  Time to go to BED!!!

Cute Text From The Sister Missionaries!!

I got this text this morning and I couldn't believe it!!  Megan, out in DC was taking calls on Mormon.org at the Visitors' Center and a lady called in wanting a Bible.  Well, this lady lives in our ward, because Megan called our sisters to give them the referral!!  So they had a little chat this morning!  How cool is that?  She told them that they were in her home ward, so they asked her name and when she told them, they burst into cheers and said, "We know the Freemans!!"  What a small world it is in the church!  I am keeping tabs on this to see what comes of the referral.  It would be so cool if Megan could meet her when she gets home!!

 

Megan's Letter On 12/27/16 - Merry Christmas!

Hey family and friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!:) 

This week we were able to have a couple really neat experiences. The first one was when we were on shift at the Visitors' Center a couple of days ago in the morning. We were so happy to see this amazing Chinese family come in. They spoke very little English but wanted to know and learn more about our beliefs and Jesus Christ. We were at the temple model explaining what happens inside temples and they were having a really hard time understanding English. We felt so bad because we could tell they wanted to understand so badly. I said a silent prayer... and literally two seconds later the Chinese missionaries were led into the doors of the Visitors' Center. We saw them come in so we grabbed them and they were able to communicate better with them in Chinese. The Chinese elders got their information and are going to go back and visit them in their home and teach them more! It was such a miracle! 

Our other neat experience that happened this week was with an elderly lady named Victoria. We got a referral to go and visit a family in an outdoor apartment complex but it had no apartment number on it, just the building. So we decided to tract the whole apartment building in hopes to find this family. In the process of looking for that family, we met this sweet old lady from Bolivia. She quickly invited us in and gave us some cookies and water and was so grateful that we came. She told us how she has recently lost her husband and she was feeling very lonely and sad. She sad that us being there made her happy. It was cool to explain to her that we can be happy through Jesus Christ and how He has a plan for us and that we will see our loved ones again. She loved the fact that we are never alone because we have Christ. As we prayed with her, she just started bawling and she felt the spirit so strongly. We are so happy we were led to her home that day and that she was humble enough to let us in and let the spirit comfort her. We look forward to the Spanish missionaries going over to teach her more about Gods plan of happiness. 

Christmas was amazing. Our whole mission got together and we had a wonderful devotional with President and Sister Johnson. They fed us some yummy lunch too! It was a lovely day. A highlight of the week was getting to skype home! That was so amazing and it was so good to see my family. They are a huge blessing to me and my source of strength and support. I miss them so much! On Christmas Day we had over 9,400 people come into the Visitors' Center! It was AWESOME! It was so busy and so many miracles happened!!! Festival of Lights has been so incredible!! I love this time of year! 

Well I love you all! Have a safe and happy new year! See you all next year! 

Sister Freeman 

 We got to go to the city today!! We went and saw the Hirshorn Museum .  It is a museum of modern art! It was really cool!

 

 





 SKYPING! (I'm not sure where McKenzie went, haha!)

 

Elder Fowler (the VC Director) reading all the VC sisters the

Christmas story of the birth of Jesus Christ in Luke on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve mission lunch.

This Made Me A Little Teary!!

I received an email today that made me a little emotional...especially after yesterday's Skype call.  I guess my emotions are still at the surface!  Maggie Richards sent us this email about Megan: 





Hi Sister Freeman, 

This is Maggie Richards. Your husband told me to email you with a memory of Megan or something that I love about her. Hopefully this email isn't getting to you too late!

 

One memory that I love of Megan is when we were at the practices for the cultural celebration. The very first practice I had, she came up to me and said, "I have so many people to introduce you to! You gotta meet so and so and this guy and her (etc . you get the point)" I was still new and getting to know new people and she was so good to me. That really showed me how kind and genuine of a person she is. 

On a funnier note I loved all the little inside jokes me and Megan created. She would always call herself "The matchmaker". Anytime a guy would even look my way, she would get very excited and say "Oh my gosh! He likes you soooo much! You guys are going to get married. He talks about you all the time!!" It always made me giggle and laugh. I will always remember Megan as a girl who was smiling, laughing, and befriending. There was never any drama with that girl. We could be total dorks together.

 

Here are some of my favorite pictures/ memories of us!

 

My response:

Thank you so much Maggie!  She will love this!  It made me a little teary-eyed to be honest…reading your memories and looking at these adorable pictures!  Thank you for being such a great friend to Megan over the last couple of years.  I know it has been a blessing to her in so many ways.  AND, everybody has to have that one friend they can be a dork with!!!  ;)

Love ya,

Mindy

This picture was taken soon after Maggie moved in-- on August 17, 2014...

right after their Senior year in High School started. 

L-R: Tia Rose (Moe), Megan, Maddie Ashworth, Maggie and Matt Buckhannon.

 I'm not sure when this one was taken...

 January 7, 2015...must've been a "twin day" at school.

May 18, 2015

I think this was a graduation party for Maggie... they all went out to dinner.

 

This picture below was taken at Megan's Farewell party on October 11, 2015.



Christmas Day!!!

Christmas Day started EARLY this year!  There was absolutely NO sleeping in as we had 8am church.  But what a great way to start Christmas by attending Sacrament Meeting and thinking about the Person for whom we celebrate this day!  It was a beautiful program! 

We got up early so that the girls could at least open their stockings before church.  We ended up having a little bit of time to open a few gifts.  Then we went to church and enjoyed a beautiful musical program where the songs told the story of our Savior's birth.  We ended with Silent Night-- a congregational hymn where I played a flute obbligato.  I've played this obbligato many times in our ward over the last decade or so.  Now that we've got two flautists is our ward, it was my turn this year to play it.  I love this beautiful song! 

After church we went home and finished opening up all of our gifts, and then had breakfast (lunch), waiting for our Skype call with Megan!!!  She called just after 12noon, and it was so GREAT to talk with her and see and hear her voice!  The only thing that would've been better would've been to give her a great big HUG!  Oh how I wanted to do that!!!!!  But we had such a wonderful visit with her and at points in our conversation with her, she got emotional and broke down and cried-- something she hasn't done in the other two Skype calls we've had with her.  And of course, these emotions caused me and others to get emotional too!  Man it's hard to have her so far away, but knowing that it's right where she's supposed to be!!  She has such tender feelings toward us (and I'm sure she really misses us), but also about the gospel and her mission and the experiences that she's having!  It's going to be so hard for her when it's time for her to come home!!  She shared her testimony of the gospel and specifically about the Book of Mormon and her love for that book!!  She shared Ether 6:5 and likened the furious wind to her experience as a missionary and how it is not always easy, but that those "winds" are what Heavenly Father sends to bless us with the growth and experiences we need and eventually steer us to the promised land, or in our case, to return to live with Him again.  I loved hearing her thoughts, perspective and feelings about this.  When it came time to end our call, it was SO HARD to hang up!  We made her do it!!  When that screen went blank I immediately felt a sadness that's hard to describe-- maybe more of an emptiness-- even though my house is FULL of the people that I love!  It's hard for mothers to be missing one of their children!  But I know she's really not "missing" at all, and that she will be home before we know it!  She is where she is supposed to be and having such great and beautiful experiences sharing the gospel with others.  Another point where she got emotional is when she said that it's hard to share the gospel because so many don't accept it.  She said it's hard because the gospel is so very important and special to her that she wants to share it with everyone and have them feel the joy that she has felt... I think every single missionary in this world that has ever served can relate to these feelings, Megan!!!!  It's comforting to know that many of these people will accept the gospel eventually, and that important seeds are being planted right now.  It's also important to remember that everyone has their agency, and that Heavenly Father fiercely protects this agency!  It's hard, but all part of His plan!  Well, it was a great day!  We love our missionary!!!!!!

Before everyone came down...

 Mac, Brooke and Kate's stockings...

 

Peeking around the corner to the Christmas tree!

 Having some fun opening our stockings!

 

 MEGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 We all got to take a picture with her!

 

 It was so good to SEE and HEAR her!  Ahh-- words just can't express...

 We love our missionary!!

 It was SO HARD to say goodbye!  What a sweet girl!!

 

After our call with Megan, we spent the afternoon playing this fun game...ANOMIA!!  I had a sore throat for the rest of the day from all the shouting!  It's really fun, but tiring!  It was a great day!

Later, for dinner, we headed over to mom's house for a yummy ham dinner! 

It tasted so good after eating so much candy all day!

Christmas Eve!!!

It was the perfect day!  We had such a nice dinner with the Sister Missionaries, Mom and Allison and Joshua.  I asked the Sisters what they'd like for dinner, or if they had any traditional dishes that they wanted.  They responded by saying they wanted breakfast for dinner!!!  Soooo, we made crepes!  They were so yummy and we had all the toppings.  The Sisters helped cook the crepes too!  We had so much fun and laughter filled our home!  What a Christmas to remember! 

The house looks so magical...

...everything's ready for our Christmas Eve dinner (breakfast!).

Our tree, all ready to go for the big day tomorrow!!

 Got Megan's Christmas card in the mail today!!!  Just in time!

(with her cute companion Sister Haertling.)

 

All the Christmas cards we've received!  It's so fun to get these in the mail!!!

 Sister McKenzie (front) and Sister Harper!  We love these Sisters!  They're so much FUN!!!

We love the spirit they bring into our home!

 

 This was funny!  This was right after Sister McKenzie almost burned our house down!  Hahaha! No, she didn't mean to, but the butter wrapper caught fire as she was greasing her pan for the next crepe!

We joked around about this for the rest of the night and she took it well!  She's so much fun!! 

Sister Harper was a pro at making crepes... enjoyed making them before her mission!  She even flipped them without a spatula!!  We were all really impressed!



 Dinner was so great!  We went around and told how our testimonies grew during 2016 and ended up having such a spiritual conversation and feeling in our home.  Thank you to Megan for the idea.  She'd asked us to  think about how our testimonies have grown this year, and then share with her during her Skype call tomorrow...so I thought it would be neat if we "practiced" at dinner with the Sisters.  I am so glad we did!!  I love the things that were shared and the testimonies that were borne!

 

 And of course, there's always some fun in the mix!  Here's Katelyn stuffing a huge

crepe into her mouth, and Sister McKenzie egging her on!  What a fun night!!!!!!!



Here is another special tradition...reading Luke 2 by candlelight!

(This was Brooke's idea a few years ago and we've been doing it ever since, but I think this is the first year we've used a candle... other years we've used a flashlight.  I like doing it with a candle!!!)

Brooke read first!

...then Katelyn...

...then Joshua!

Opening their Christmas Eve presents!

There's always some fun...

...especially when they get...

 ...wait for it...

...onsie jammies!!!  (McKenzie opted for the traditional PJ bottoms.)

These girls are a hoot!

A Yeti and a Reindeer!

What silly girls!  The Sisters stayed for all of these antics and seemed to enjoy our craziness!!  When I dropped them off, they said that they really enjoyed the evening and that they felt like they were in their own homes.  I guess it was a success!  I'm so glad they felt comfortable and enjoyed the evening with us!  We really enjoyed having them and the spirit they brought into our home-- both laughter and a feeling of deep gratitude for the gospel, our Savior Jesus Christ and all that we've been given!