CHRISTMAS GREETINGS, AROUND THE WORLD

Francis' in Taiwan, Argentina, England, Ireland and Bend Oregon

Francis’ Go Foreign - 2014

Have you heard? Americans could be living on Mars in 2016. Haven’t ventured that far from the planet yet, but we have broadened our view of this beautiful world and covered some foreign ground. Like bitty grains of sand at the beach, “Those Francis’, they’re everywhere.”

While the kids have wandered far, Brett and I are manning the home front in Bend Oregon. This week, picture us on the icy planet Hoth from Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back. Blanketed by ice and evermoving snow drifts, we secure the Echo base shield generator each night once everyone is accounted for… Yep, it’s cold up here, and not even taun tauns can survive outdoors. Remember last week when Brett woke up with his feet frozen to the ceiling of that wampa’s ice cave? #closecall #jedipowerforever

Lauren and Dal (26) set up the first foreign family outpost in Bracknell England before the new year began. On weekends they canvassed the British Isles & continental Europe. They’re home in Provo now preparing for their next adventure, MBA school. 

Tanner (24) reconnected with his Irish roots working in Dublin last summer. He climbed the cliffs of Moher (aka. The Cliffs of Insanity) ate his fill at the Greedy Goose, tuned in to rugby, hurling (an ancient Celtic field game in which 30 spirited Irishman enthusiastically run around a field hurling a hard leather ball at eachother at roughly 100 mph) and other “Class” pursuits. He came home using Irish phrases like “banjaxed,” “bunk off” and “What’s the craik?” He’s in the final stretch of undergrad work in Business Management Finance at BYU.

Megan (21) returned in August from Argentina, with a testimony of Jesus Christ burning in her heart and a mug of Yerba Mate warming her hand. You don’t wanna miss homemade empanada night with Meg. !Que rico! She’s applying to both Accounting & Finance at BYU, with a lil’ harp on the side.

Nate (19) finally arrived in Taipei Taiwan in October to immerse in Chinese culture as he’s longed for since…well since birth. Always one for the bizarre but delectable, he’s sampled several kinds of dragonfruit, milkfish dumplings, Tsong Tse (Chinese Tamales) and most recently, pigs blood soup -a gelatinous blood mass in oil with boiled onions for garnish (molto no bueno, he says).  It’s Chinese food and fellowship to exceed his fondest dreams.

Lynley (16) stretched her wings and flew…to London with Mom and Nate, for a fabulous 10 days exploring the unknown. After 3 days she was no stranger to the streets and began directing lost tourists to their desired destinations. (Say what?) She loves hostessing at a fine Thai restaurant downtown.

Isaac (14) is dabbling in foreign studies at school: Spanish, AP Geography and teenage girls. Talk about foreign experience, check this.  Isaac was interviewed for a yearbook segment on “Guys with Style”.  I know, right? Thanks to Lynnie’s mentoring, he is looking strangely dapper these days.  

Joslyn (12) has entered the alien world of middle school. Unrattled by the locker thing, changing classes, clipping through homework or running her way through Fall she’s praying for just a few more snow days…’cause you can never catch too much air on those sledding jumps she & the bros make.

Alex (9) may have been responsible for ‘foreign’ objects appearing at the bottom of our breakfast cereal bowls. Airsoft BB’s look and feel a lot like dried currents, only a little less digestible. Next to airsoft strategy, he’s a closet detective and deep thinker. When Meg returned from South America he mused that “now that she’s home, we get to unlock the mystery of what ACTUALLY happened to her while she was gone.” Indeed.

Ethan (7) – Ethan's no stranger to the power of affirmation. He and Tanner were pillow fighting against everyone else one night. And in the heat of battle, Ethan screamed out this encouragement to Tanner. “You can do it! You’re a missionary!” Fulltime missionaries, whether current or returned have phenomenal cosmic power. This we know. They know for whom they stand, and with whom they’re allied. And that their mission cannot fail.

Wherever you are this Christmas season, you’re no stranger or foreigner to Him whose birth we honor.  May your road be long, only when traveled with good company. And may you have the Holy Spirit, the most favorable company of all, as your travel companion, always. 

Merry Christmas,  

The Francis Family

MAYBE I SHOULD BE PREPPING THE TURKEY...

What do you get when you let a small group of girls out of the house for just an hour on a sunny Saturday?




You get,




SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL!




That's what.

Introducing Kristin and the Mount Bachelorette's.






She's the legit singer, so we called it that.






This is what middle aged mom's do when no one's looking. 

Or when the Relief Society Pres. asks for a showstopping number that gets everyone up on their feet. 

We sing "Lean On Me" ... with voices. Yes, it's a limited repertoire, but you gotta start somewhere.

The first verse was mine... 

It's really low, cause it's a man's part. 



None of the men we auditioned could fit into this ponytail.



So, there I am.

" I'll be your friend.... I'll help you 'CARRY ON' "...like a socially repressed housewife, alright!

This is why I blog.

Open for bookings while they last.

Don't know how much longer this much moxie can remain a stable compound.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Love,

Jonell



(aka,  'We still love you Mom',

'Hey Thin and Beautiful',

'You look real good in Gold',

...anything else affirming like that) 

This post will self-destruct any moment




From sheer awesomeness.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrvOCYgQhDU

A MAN TO MATCH OUR MOUNTAINS...

Remember that awkward young adult phase looking for 'the one', half loving the thrill of the dating game, and half despairing of ever finding the perfect fit? At 21, I claimed with a loud voice that I would find someone I could follow. Someone with the strength, character and competance to inspire my total trust.

When it comes to high places and all things related, I trust Brett with my life. I've found this year that many of you have spanned that same tremulous gap, with only Brett's calm, encouraging voice to talk you through it -- the gap between 'I think I'm gonna die' and 'this is so crazy it just might work'.  But oh, what a view from up there.

Happy Birthday today to my Mountain Man.

...Collector of outerwear, Boots in all their varieties and high altitude Summits. Climbing Instructor, Mountain Guide, Inspirational mentor, Young Men's leader forever, Husband, Father, Superstar.  You inspire us all to Climb Higher!

If you have an outdoor memory to share with Brett, please do!

Love from Bend

MEGAN RETURNS...

Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven. 

                                                                                                       ~Tryon Edwards

Tryon Edwards had it right.

Just 3 weeks after our son Nate left for a two year mission in Taiwan (stab, die) our daughter Megan returned from 18 months in Argentina. 

Heaven is what it is. Times a hundred.

The best kept secret of all is how much a mother will miss her child when they leave, sometimes traveling as far away from home as earth will allow, like East Asia. 

They do it to tell people what source they can look to for the hope, peace and belonging they may never have known before... through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is His name and His Power they bear. 

And they do find many people. And many hear the call and change for good through Jesus Christ. And no one changes as much to my eyes as the missionary. 

This is so worth it! 

Welcome home beautiful Megan Maus.

Megan's first week home

NATE IN TAIWAN...

Nate's last week at home

Nate the Great is now safely in Taiwan, canvassing the quilted countryside by bicycle to find the honest in heart who want what he has.




...The life changing message that each of us has a personal, powerful Savior...who is more powerful than all of our problems.  And that the fullness of his living gospel is again on the earth.




Nate is the fifth fulltime missionary in our family, led by Brett, Dallin, Tanner and Megan. While we already miss Nate a ton, we're seeing the silver lining in the cloudy days of distance between Taiwan and home.




Some blessings in our family because of our missionaries serving:

Brett - The frequency and sincerity of our prayers has improved. Because we love and miss Nate and Meg, our hearts are open and more tender, so our prayers are more needy. That has improved the power of our prayers personally and as a family.

  

Jonell - Nate is teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel of deep and enduring change. I want to change the words from the fixer-upper song in Frozen to "You can never change them, but people do really change. The atonement of Christ has power, both wonderful and strange"  ...something like that. Having a missionary re-activates a desire in me to change for good. He has healing in His wings and He's the message Nate and Meg are taking to the world. 

Lalo - I felt a connection with the sister missionaries in England. I was far from home and we missed both of our families back in the states. It's a foreign country, etc. and the first time I felt like I was home was at the London temple. I loved the sister missionaries and enjoyed seeing them each time we visited. I just kept thinking how much bigger their sacrifice was than mine: they were farther from home, and for a longer time, but they were so happy. I think happiness is an automatic blessing for giving it all to help others.

Dal - The example of selflessness in Meg, in Brianna, and now Nate has really inspired me to be more that way. On Tuesday I want to be better at helping others because of the letters I read from our missionaries on Monday.

Tan - Missionary service drives home the truth that God and Christ are real. You will not, cannot know that though, without acting first. Just as Naaman did not know until he washed in the River Jordan, or like the widow did not know until her faith had brought her son back to life. You don't have to know to follow. But those who follow will know. 

Meg - Blessings of missionary service…hard to say only one. A big blessing is how you get to see change. Change in people, so many positive changes in our family, and changes for good in the people I've taught. 

Lyn - A blessing of having family members on a mission is having someone to talk to for advice. I wrote Nate a few weeks ago but I wasn't sure he'd write back, because we haven't been close like that before. But I really wanted his advice so I wrote. I was so amazed and happy for how he responded. He took my problem seriously, and offered his thoughts, and sent me a scripture to read. I like how having siblings serve a mission helps me draw closer to them.

Isaac - In Sunday school we talked about how Family History and Genealogy are like missionary work. Whatever work is not done to baptize everyone who ever lived, will need to be done during the millennium. Heaven and angels will help find all the lost names until everyone has been found and had the ordinances done. Nate's just finding people now.

Joss - Missionaries teach about repentance, which is a lot like David and Goliath. Sins are bigger than us, just like Goliath. But David knew God was with him, just like he's with me when I'm having trials. In Primary today, my class got asked to write down a habit or something we want to repent of, then we got some stones and wrote what we need to do to help slay the habit. I like how Jesus wants to help us get our bad habits gone. (Not saying what mine was.)

Alex - One blessing is that even though Nate is going far away, just like Megan went far away, you get so much closer to them. And then when they get back home, you just get to unlock the mysteries of what happened to them while they were gone. 

Ethan - One night I kept not sleeping because I thought about how I walked on the lawn, even if the sign said Danger. A boy told me if I did it than I might die. Accidentally, accidentally I stepped on the lawn...with no shoes or socks on.  So I woke up Alex and he woke up Mom. Then Mom telled me a story about the picnic blanket and getting all the scared feelings into a garbage can. Then Jesus came and took it all away. And I felt safe. Nate is a missionary and he tells people about Jesus. You can do it Nate. You're a missionary! 

To all of you missionary moms and dads out there. Carry On!

THAT'S SO... BEND

To say that Bend Oregon has a vibe all its own is like saying...heat is hot. If you've been here, you know. But if not, ...take a quick stroll with me.

Where Dogs Are People Too

It didn't take long to appreciate Bend is one of the Wests dog meccas.  There are seven spacious dog parks in Bend city limits, and even a doggy waterpark with knee high sprayers to cool off your animals. 

Yep, that's plural because it is not uncommon to see people out with two or three dogs at once.

I usually have our three youngest (of 9) out with me and have often been greeted by the person with 3 dogs, wearing a look of utter astonishment as they ask "Are they ALL yours?"

"You have no idea," I think, as I smile and nod.

If all dogs don't actually go to heaven,  Bend is a pretty sweet alternative.

Be nice, You're in Bend

The people here really are a new level of nice. I met a lady at Target one day who volunteered to drive with me to the local farm and feed after showing me the route on her smart phone.

Later, when I asked a neighbor for directions to the public library, she offerred to take me there, "Pick you up at three, okay?" And our first Sunday at church we had three, count em, invitations to dinner right after the meeting,

 ...like who has enough food simmering for an extra 8 people???

The lovely people in Bend.

One day Brett and Isaac came screetching around a bend in the road to find all the cars stopped, going both ways. They thought there'd been an accident.

People were waving arms to stand back, and pull over.

Who was hurt?

Was it serious?

They craned their necks to see...

Well, that's what came to my mind anyway when I heard the words "kittens" and "crossing the road by themselves."

We have no visual proof that it wasn't like this.

If anywhere, it could happen in Bend.

One Saturday we were invited by neighbors to join a frog rescue at Sun River 10 miles away. You see, frogs we're migrating right over the highway and cars were taking their toll.


The result... mass fabrication of fresh pressed frog leather spread over 50 yards of highway.  We quickly gathered up buckets and ran to join "Save the Frogs" crusade.

Cause that's what people do in Bend.

Where Everyday is Earth Day

We have fully embraced the green-loving, grassfed, farm-to-table movement that thrives here in Central Oregon. We have range free egg purveyors, grassfed beef farms and organic restaurants to make any foodie's dreams come true. 

I understand recycling your garbage is not optional as a city service... and the population is prone to getting out to hike, bike, run or ski. It's a healthy lifestyle for the most part.

Joss and Alex were invited to participate in the annual Earth Day Parade with their school's Unicycle Club.


Everyone came dressed as their favorite endangered or extinct species.

...to wish all the remaining species, a very happy Earth Day.

That's just so BEND!