Just me and my boys!

My friend Sue did a photo shoot of my family the Saturday before Alex left for the MTC! The photo's turned out so good! Take a sneak peak for yourself at http://www.suerichardsonphotography.blogspot.com/
Thanks Sue-bee - you are a master.. and yes - I needed a tissue!

"Don't feed the animals"

I know my India posts are sort of random at this point. I've been home for a week now, but I had to share another story. The last night we were in India, we went sightseeing to "the Shore Temple". This is not an LDS temple, but rather, many ancient temples that are carved out of a mountain. They were carved in the 7th Century under the reign of Rajasimha. It is really beautiful and quite remarkable to see the amount of detail in these carvings. Each is an individual masterpiece.

The temples are located right near the Indian Ocean, so we made a stop at the beach before heading back to our hotel. As we were driving to the beach, we spotted a monkey sitting on a wall. It was our first "wild animal" (alive) so we decided to get out and see it. Jim had a small package of crackers, so he opened it and walked to the wall to give a cracker to the monkey, which the monkey was glad to accept. At the same time - he felt the tug of a hand on his shirt, and this girl was pointing to her mouth.. essentially saying "don't feed the monkey - feed me".

This was one of the many times in India that I felt a giant sob inside. Look at her - she is so beautiful. We obviously gave her the remaining crackers, and she, in turn, gave us a smile. Oh how I wish I could have brought her home with me to live. She will be carved in my memory forever.

Not to be rude, but..

Can you tell what this woman does for a living? I'll give you a hint.. it's not Human Resources!

"Your Little Boy"

I am lucky enough to get an e-mail from Alex each Tuesday, but I'm telling you - this kid really knows how to "work it" with his mom. Here are two examples:

1- every e-mail has the same sign off that says "Love, your little boy"
2- In my letter this week, Alex had drawn an outline of his hand

I'm sure he knew that the minute I opened it, I would put my hand on it... which is exactly what I did. He's really got me figured out! If you are a mom, reading this entry, and NOT crying... you have a heart of stone!

Here are the photo's included in my letter last night. It's so good to see his face, and he looks so happy! One other piece of good news - he was called to be a District Leader on Sunday. Go get 'em Elder!

Great Aunt Me

Hello World! Meet my nephew. Porter J. Munson arrived on Wednesday, March 19th. He was born to my nephew Patrick and his wife Skye. He weighed in at a whopping 7 lbs and is a 19 pounder. We are so happy to have a new baby in our family! Lucky us and congratulations Grandpa Kurt and Grandma Lori!

Click here to see more... http://www.patrickandskye.blogspot.com/

No "Naan" sense

Indian's make this bread called Naan (pronounced Non), that I fell in love with. It's sort of a flat bread, almost tortilla or pita style. I wasn't so much diggin' the other Indian food, so I have had Naan just about every day.

Here is a guy that is making Naan in his "restaurant"...

Here is why I didn't buy any Naan, from this vendor.... reason? You have to walk the plank over the river of garbage to get to his Naan... Suddenly... I'm not feelin' so hungry!!

I'm thinking of starting a carpool... any takers?