Derek's New Calling -- Bishop Cullimore!

Derek is now Bishop Cullimore, he says it is a really weird adjustment and our Stake President told him not to worry, he would get used to it after about 3 years. Bishop Ballard, who Derek is replacing, said it actually takes 5 years!

We are very appreciative of all Bishop Ballard has done. Derek served as one of his counselors for about 2 years and then served on the High Council for the last 6 months before getting this new call as Bishop.

Anyway, Sunday was the big day where Bishop Ballard and his two councilors, Kurt Francom and John Riggs, were released. We are grateful for the Ballard family and their service and love for the ward. They have stayed here in the ward longer than they would have. They now get to move into a home that is larger with a garage and a yard.

Derek was then sustained as Bishop with John Riggs as first councilor and Nick Romriell as second (pictured below). Both these men are going to do great! They have amazing wives!

Because of all of the events this last weekend, my family came into town from Arizona. They drove Friday and arrived on Saturday. They spent the day with us on Saturday. Grace was so excited to have Hyrum, who now goes by Geoffrey, to play with.


On Sunday we had a lunch afterward at our home. It was very yummy!! Clay fell asleep because the party was so boring.


We had a lot of family there. Here is Derek with his parents on the big day:
We appreciate all the love and support that have been shown to us by so many friends and family. We are excited for the new journey and I know that Derek will do an amazing job!

Old Stomping Ground

It looks Melinda did an amazing job re-capping our fun cruise below in a past post. It was so much fun!

Anyway, this past week I returned to the land of my mission and hit the New Jersey/New York area for some work meetings. It was also great fun!

I was able to get some Guarana (amazing Brazilian drink) and went to one of my favorite eating establishments in the Ironbound part of Newark, New Jersey. It is right across the street from the Spring Garden Branch...where I served quite a bit of my mission. They are still in the same building.

It was amazing how 2nd nature driving around there became, it all came back to me as far as how to get places. It was neat being back!


We (myself and a work friend, Nick) also went to New York and I was able to go to the Ed Sullivan Theater, home of Dave Letterman and the Late Show. We ate at an amazing Sushi place in Mid-town Manhattan and we went to a Knick's Game...the Knicks are horrible as many of you know. They actually lost the game in overtime to the LA Clippers...that is how you know you are bad!

Anyway, it was a fun trip...but it is also fun to be home!

DC

Draper Temple

A while back (in February) we had the chance to go through the Draper Temple. It was so beautiful.

Grace asked a lot of questions and we were able to answer them fairly well. It is hard to explain some things to a five year old.

The thing I had the hardest time explaining to a practical minded child was the chandelier in the Celestial Room. She did not understand why there needed to be all the 'bling'. I tried to tell her that was what chandeliers are, a bunch of crystals that sparkle. "But it is just a light, right?" "Yes, it is a light. It is a beautiful light." "But, it is still a light."

St. Patrick's Day

A day to celebrate. Valentine's is my favorite holiday, but I had fun with St. Patrick's day this year. Derek claims to be Irish and can do an amazing bell kick.

We had a feast this year. Ryan was so excited!!


We had BBQ chicken salad (with BBQ chicken, lettuce, black beans, olives, peas, corn, tomatoes and salad dressing). We also had broccoli, asparagus, grapes, jello salad, and green juice.


For dessert we had mint chocolate chip ice cream and clover shaped cookies with green sprinkles.


It was fun!! Wait 'til you see next year.....

Weekend of Blessings

While we were still in Arizona we had a chance to go to Bella's blessing. She was so good and did not make a sound.


Elizabeth looked radiant. I always feel so stressed when we have a big Sunday, but she looked relaxed. Maybe a little jealous...


We went back to my parents house because Christopher, my little brother was ordained an elder. It was a very sweet blessing. He now has his call and he is going to....Jakarta, Indonesia. We are very excited. He leaves July 1st. Congratulations!!

Cruise to Caribbean

Derek and I went on a cruise for Derek's job. It was an incentive cruise for the resellers and top performers and we went along as staff.

On Wednesday, March 4th we drove all the way to Arizona. My family was able to watch our two angels. Thanks!!!

We spent the day on Thursday enjoying the warm Arizona sun. We took a red-eye flight to Atlanta, GA and then made a connecting flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Derek stayed behind at the Airport to greet people while I went to the hotel took a few pictures, read, and then took a nap.

When Derek came to the hotel we freshened up for dinner. We went to dinner at Senior Frogs.

After welcoming distributors we went to bed. It was so nice to sleep on a bed and not on a plane!

Saturday, March 7th
The next morning I got on a bus with our luggage while Derek, again, stayed behind to help out. I checked in on the ship, took some more pictures, talked and made some new friends, and had lunch.


Derek and I were able to find each other later and went to dinner. Our waiter looked like our friend, Bart, so I took his picture.


The next day we rode ATVs around the island of St. Maarten.


It had the bluest water I have ever seen.


We drove around several hours and spent about an hour on the beach. We drove the ATVs mostly on paved roads, but there were are few times we drove on rutted dirt roads and in sand.

This one is for you, Greg. We saw an orange car...


Derek and I lathered up with sunscreen and Derek only burned the tops of his hands and knees. We were very lucky. Some of the others went to the beach and were fried!!

It was formal night, so we dressed up.


Monday, March 9th
We ported in Dominica and did not have an excursion planned, so we walked around for about an hour and did some shopping and sightseeing. I got a shot of Derek and the ship, well most of the ship. It was very large.


The island was very beautiful, but the city there had a little risky reputation.


Derek took this picture from our deck.


That night we had dinner with Dick and Nancy, two of the cruise winners. They live in New Jersey. I love his voice. It is the kind of voice that they always have on movies. She is an intuitive and nurse and he used to be a mechanical engineer, but is now an interfaith minister. He had a crayfish as part of his dinner. He named it Sebastian. Nancy asked us not to encourage him, so we all took photos of him with his "friend". After much persuasion, Dick left his dinner at the table instead of letting it go in the ocean the next day.


Tuesday, March 10th
We went to the beach in Grenada with a bunch of the Distributors from Derek's region (the East region).


We took a water taxi to the beach, but to get to the taxi we had to go through a tunnel.


The beach was beautiful and so much fun. Dick and Nancy were there.


Nick and Dyanna were also there. Derek and Nick work with each other and travel together. Nick believes that he looks like Ice Man (from Top Gun). I have not seen the movie and so cannot give input.


No sunburns for the two of us!!!



Wednesday, March 11th
In Tobago (with a long "A" sound) we went on a tour of the island. We went to a beach, a fort,


a tombstone of an unknown woman, a museum, and a place where they used to processes sugar cane. Here is a picture of our tour guide at the sugar cane factory.


Lots of men wore these same hats or similar ones. The way they used to process the sugar was extremely dangerous and a lot of slaves lost their lives. The area was really beautiful.


Thursday, March 12th
In Barbados we went on a Zip-line excursion.


It was scary, but very fun!!


The lines were different lengths and heights.


Derek was a pro.

The hardest part was sitting down after you were hooked to the line. Once you got going it was a blast!


Friday, March 13th
We were sailing home all day on Friday, so meetings were held all day. In the afternoon Derek was in charge of the Q&A with a panel of distributors and gave a good presentation.


He did a really good job. A storm also came in while we were at sea. It was so amazing!


You could see the rain coming. It was really cool!

Saturday, March 14th
We arrived back in San Juan and had a long wait in the airport to come home. When we arrived in Atlanta we all got some dinner at Chili's. It was nice to get some familiar, "real" food.

There was so much more we could tell all of you, but this has been a lengthy post. It was so much fun to go on a cruise!

Derek and I had so much fun! We were very glad to get back to the children. We missed them so much, but we were grateful for the break and the fun!!

Trippin' Back East

Here is the beautiful view from my room at the JW Marriott in Orlando, FL. I was put up on the 23rd floor and it was awesome weather! Here is the awesome hotel:

Anyway, last week I was back east for business. We gave 4 presentations in 4 cities over 4 days, it was quite crazy...lots of flights and driving. Our first meeting was in Atlanta, GA and then we went to Columbia, SC and had another good meeting. We then went to Orlando, FL with our final meeting being in Jackson, MS.

The pictures on this post are all from Orlando, but my co-worker Nick and I had fun adventures in each of the cities we hit.

It was nice weather where we were in each city and the business associates and partners we met with were great, I think the presentations went well also.

Here is the view the other direction from my balcony, there is obviously some new hotel or something going up on the resort, but you can see the golf course and tennis courts below, too bad we didn't have more time to spend in Orlando.

On the perimeter of Disney World there is Lego Land, which was really cool. Here is one huge lego structure that is partially in the water, too. Pretty amazing stuff.

Here I am next to Megatron, another impressive lego structure.

Another big lego structure, think how long it would take to build something like that!

Buzz Lightyear, here, is not made of legos...but I knew Grace would get a kick out of this picture

...and now the best part of our stop in Orlando...I was able to see the Braves Spring Training Complex. It is right next to Disney World at the Disney's Wide World of Sports. It is called Cracker Jack Stadium and is very nice. We were there the night before their first spring training home game, so our timing was bad in terms of catching a game. But, because it was the night before they had the gates open and the grounds crew was in there preparing the field, so I was able to walk around and see the field and the stadium close-up. It was awesome! I know I am addicted, but it gave me goosebumps to be in their spring training complex and see the big "A" painted on the field. I am so excited for the Braves this upcoming season!

Hope ya'll are doing well, we love you all! DC