Party Pictures

Grandpa Hanks with our grandchildren.

Grandchildren getting ready to sing.

Opening the gift from our family.

A Great Party

On Saturday, March 14 our kids and their spouses put on the greatest party for us!! It was to celebrate Glenn's "retirement" from practicing ortho for 30 years and for our leaving on a mission. They really know how to put on an awesome party. We felt so honored that so many family, friends and patients came to see us.

My favorite part of the evening was when all of the grandchildren sang "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission." Our family presented us with a scrap book filled with their pictures and quotes. There is room for us to fill it up with mission pictures and more family pictures and notes from home. What a treasured keepsake!

We had family pictures taken before the party. Maja has posted some of the pictures on their blog, McMinnBunch.blogspot.com.

We leave for the MTC on April 6, about 1 1/2 weeks. We have boxes all over the house! Boxes to take to Nauvoo and boxes to store in the basement. Our neice, Megan, and her husband, Steve, might be moving into our home this summer so we are making room for them.

We are excited to get on our way! I am dreading the "goodbyes" but it helps to know that we will get to see all of our children and grandchildren sometime while we are in Nauvoo. All of them are planning trips back to see the Pageant and the historic sites. Yahoo!!

Cruise pictures

Skyline of Miami from cruise ship

Grand Cayman

I paid $3 to hold this!

Haiti - a few sunbathers!

Family Cruise

We find ourselves daydreaming about the wonderful Western Caribbean cruise we just went on. It was supposed to be with all of our children and spouses but Brian, Tiffany, Kevin and Stefanie weren't able to go after all. We missed them a lot! The cruise was so relaxing and the warm air was the best feeling ever. We did a variety of excursions, some together and some on our own. Glenn and I did a flight line in Haiti, climbed the Dunn River Falls in Jamaica, swam with sting rays in Grand Cayman and had a great snorkeling adventure in Cozumel. We were all together in the evenings for dinner in the dining room. We had some excellent dinners and we all ate way too much! We went home with several more lbs. than when we started the trip!! We all agreed that we should do a cruise again only next time we will have all of us there.

Mission Call

MISSION CALL

We were trying to be patient as we waited 3 weeks for our mission call! It arrived on Saturday, Jan. 25 while we were in Utah. Jeff checked our mail and told us it had arrived. We decided to wait until Sunday morning to open the letter. It was exciting! We had Rob & Jeff's families come for the grand opening. We had Brian, Kristen and Kevin's families on three different phones as we read our letter. It was a neat experience to share our call with our family.

Glenn and I have been called to serve in the Nauvoo Illinois Mission as full time Pageant missionaries. Our title will be Pageant Administrators. We will enter the MTC on April 6th - what an awesome day to begin our mission! We will serve for 18 months.

We will be responsible for everything except for the artistic directing of the Pageant. We feel so blessed to be able to serve in Nauvoo and especially to be a part of the Pageant. The message of the Pageant can really touch the hearts of those who see it and those who participate in it. It is quite a life changing experience. We hope to see many of our family and friends in Nauvoo! Be sure to find us if you do come. We will be living in the Orson Hyde home which is also the Pageant office. If you ask where the Pageant office is, you will find us! This year the Pageant runs from July 7 - Aug. 1.

Hope to see you there!!

Merry Christmas

Glenn and Annette -
Merry Christmas! I hope you will find this blog useful for updating all those that love you while you are on your mission. We love you and are excited to share those mission moments with you.

Love,
Stefanie, Kevin, and Ry