!!!!!!!Mission Call!!!!!!!!

Hey family! Arland here! Today around 5:30 I got a text from Mom telling me that there was a surprise in the mail. Apparently it was a white envelope for an Elder Arland William Hudkins. I was super pumped! So when Dad got home from work I opened it instantly and read where I am going on my mission! 

*Drum roll please*

I have been called to serve in the Chile, Santiago West Mission! The day I report is on Wednesday June 29, 2011 to the Provo MTC and I will be preaching the gospel in Spanish! 

I am so very grateful for this opportunity to be a representative of Christ and serve by spreading the gospel message to all those who are ready to accept. I am thankful for all of your support and look forward to doing the work of the Lord.

Love you all

-Elder  Hudkins

Quality Uncle Time

This passed weekend Camilla got to spend some quality time with her "Un-toe Mut" and her "Un-toe Kees". Some of the family was able to go for dinner to celebrate "Mut's" birthday. It was fun for Camilla to sit between her two uncles and dinner and enjoy some quality time with them. I'm thinking the name's she's assigned them will stick! 

We are all doing well and counting down the last month until baby Stannix arrives. It's fun to see Camilla play with her dolls and I can't wait to see what she will be like as a big sister!

Check out the link if you want to hear about our little snorter.

Love,

Costa Maya

Another update on the Cruise we took in March. Our first stop was in Costa Maya, here we had booked a tour to see some Mayan ruins. The ruins were discovered around the early 1970's and are considered new compared to other ruins in Central America. We really enjoyed the history shown here and it was kind of neat to stand on the ruins and imagine what it would have been like to have lived there a few thousand years ago. The guide said that the ruins in this area were dated about 400BC and peaked at about 200AD.

This picture shows one of many pineapple stands we passed on our way to see the Mayan ruins. The pineapple was very fresh and tasted great!

This picture shows one of the temples that had been painstakingly uncovered, the ruins are mostly excavated by hand so they do not damage the structure.

 This is the same temple with some random tourists getting in the way of a professional photographer trying to perform his craft. (Camrie and Emma)

 Another Temple uncovered, this one was up on a hill with a great view of the landscape, you could literally see for miles around. And being above the jungle floor made it refreshing with the breeze. If I built a house this would have been the spot I would have chosen.

 This picture is of trees and a small hill under the trees. The area is completely littered with these small hills with jungle growing over them. Under each of these hills, or mounds, are small structures made of stone. They say that these dot the landscape for about six miles in any direction. This was, at one time, a very large city.

I am told that they will probably never uncover these smaller ruins because there manpower is spent uncovering (by hand) much larger ruins in the surrounding area. The ruins are so numerous in this area that they pick and choose the larger ones and spread out in different areas so they get a better feel for the lifestyle of the inhabitants.

To my way of thinking... if they keep choosing the largest ruins then they will keep uncovering temples and ignore the rest. Not sure if I understand this process as it does not allow them to see, aside from the temples, how they really lived. Maybe its a prestige thing... the archeologists do not want to be known for uncovering a bunch of small dwellings, when they can instead, uncover these wonderful temples.

 After the visit to the ruins the other part of our excursion for that day included the afternoon at a freshwater lagoon. This lagoon is spring fed and is about 24 miles long a few miles wide and on average about 20 ft deep. This area is mainly limestone, and is very pourous. Because of the limestone the freshwater lagoon cannot support vegetation which in turn does not support fish because of the lack of vegetation. I was happy to hear that it did not support alligators either.

We were able to do some kayaking and enjoy the clear, refreshing water.

Below are some random pictures that I thought you would enjoy...

These steps took us out from the jungle floor and onto the plateau where the other two larger temples were located.

 It was kind of fun having two clowns along to entertain us!

This is a picture of a couple of serious tourists.



and back to the clowns!!!

On top of the plateau looking over the jungle floor, you could literally see for miles from up here!

All in all Costa Maya was a wonderful stop, the ruins were really neat to see and I was amazed at how flat the land was.

The next post will be of Belize. Until next time, love you all!

Garth, Janene and Emma

72 Hour Emergency Kit

Today I decided we should update our 72 hour kits.  It is amazing how much updating needs to be done.  The following is what we looked at:
*  Do the clothes still fit?
*  Bottled water needed updating
*  Food needed updating
*  Contact telephone numbers needed updating
* Photocopies of ID needed updating (passport, Drivers License, Credit cards,
   medical cards etc. etc.) 
*  Medications needed updating

Why do I share this with you??
Because I would ask each one of you to update your kits.  If you don't have one, please make one.  We have ours just in a backpack so it is easy to carry.  I keep thinking of the lady I saw who was rescued in a canoe.  There is no way she could have carried a big tub of stuff.  If each person has a backpack, they can easily carry the essentials to exist for 72 hours.

Love you all,
Gramma & Grampa

PS:  The other day we went to the Wild Bird General Store and bought feed called "Scratch" to try and entice the grouse to stick around -- We haven't seen them since the day before we bought the food!!

Grand Canyon

I promise I won't be as long winded as Garth! LOL.  We took a chopper out to the Grand Canyon and landed down in between the walls of the canyon and had a few minutes to look around. Here are a few pics of the grand Canyon, the Colorado River and some plant life in the desert.

On the way back we flew over the "Strip".

The new bridge over the Colorado River was built to help the flow of traffic. The Hoover Dam is built on the Black Canyon. Upstream is Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon is upstream of the lake in the state of Arizona. 

I believe this is the Joshua Tree. There are only a few places it will grow in the world, The Grand Canyon and Israel are 2 of them. If you try to transplant a Joshua tree it will die unless you plant it facing the exact direction that you found it, due to the magnetic field of the earth and the angle of the sun.

We met Carlos and Virginia from El Paso. We had a late lunch together in Vegas and traded e-mail addresses. They were very friendly and easy to talk to. Carlos is a Customs Officer. Virginia is a Loans Officer at a bank.

New Orleans

Hello everyone,
Janene and I, along with Emma and a friend of hers (Camrie), recently went on a cruise to the western caribbean. Our cruise left out of New Orleans and we were advised to fly out a day early just in case air travel was disrupted and therefore eliminating the possibility of missing our cruise.

I decided to google New Orleans and see what there was to do there for one day. I had heard of the french quarter in New Orleans and had a desire to see Bourbon Street and some other land marks. As I studied up on the area I noticed that Mardi Gras was 3 days after our cruise ended. I was a bit disapointed that we had missed it by such a narrow margin. However...when we arrived at our hotel we were suprised to find out that Mardi Gras was alive and well. The hotel that we booked was 1 block off the french quarter and 2 blocks from Bourbon Street more specifically we were located on St. Charles avenue and Canal Street (didn't realize this was the major parade route). I also didn't realize that they celebrated the event weeks before the actual Mardi Gras day.

This got me to thinking, what are they celebrating anyway? I asked a few locals and they did not have the answer for me. There was a couple who overheard me asking and they proceeded to educate me about Mardi Gras and what the celebration is about. For those of you who are interested please read on...

Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday in English) in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well-known throughout the world.
The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany (January 6). It is a season of parades, balls (some of them masquerade balls), and king cake parties. It has traditionally been part of the winter social season; at one time "coming out" parties for young women at débutante balls were timed for this season.
Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French), the day before Ash Wednesday. Usually there is one major parade each day (weather permitting); many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the season. In the final week of Carnival, many events large and small occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities.
The parades in New Orleans are organized by Carnival krewes. Krewe float riders toss throws to the crowds; the most common throws are strings of plastic colorful beads, doubloons (aluminum or wooden dollar-sized coins usually impressed with a krewe logo), decorated plastic throw cups, and small inexpensive toys. Major krewes follow the same parade schedule and route each year.
While many tourists center their Mardi Gras season activities on Bourbon Street and the French Quarter, none of the major Mardi Gras parades has entered the Quarter since 1972 because of its narrow streets and overhead obstructions. Instead, major parades originate in the Uptown and Mid-City districts and follow a route along St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street, on the upriver side of the French Quarter.
To New Orleanians, "Mardi Gras" specifically refers to the Tuesday before lent, the highlight of the season. The term can also be used less specifically the whole Carnival season, sometimes as "the Mardi Gras season". The term "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras Day" always refers only to that specific day.

Well what do you know, this is a religious celebration, go figure. It does not resemble a religious celebration at all!

Well here are some of the many pictures that Emma took while we were there.

This is a picture of a typical building in the French Quarter. I cannot remember if this was on Bourbon Street or not.

Another French Quarter Building. Notice all the balconies. These seem to be very important features.

And yet another French Quarter Building. Again with the balconies...

Emma and Camrie behind bars!

New Orleans is the home of Jazz!!

We were eating lunch in a courtyard and this was the balcony above us.

Three ladies who were performing in a park in the French Quarter. Lots going on prior to Mardi Gras!

A fire hall in the French Quarter. This is certainly sub standard compared to Michael's fire hall in Edmonton!

I thought this was a fun picture. This looks like a statue, but in fact is a real person. He stands perfectly still and will easily scare unsuspecting passers bye.

The next bunch of pictures are of the parade that went in front of our hotel on St. Charles Avenue. Notice as you look at the floats the trinkets and beads that the people are throwing. This seems to be a very important part of the celebration.

I was talking with the ladies working the front desk of the hotel and they said that when they were in school they marched in the parades during Mardi Gras. They also said that you would be hard pressed to find any locals who have not participated in a parade.

Emma and Camrie enjoying the parade. They collected a pile of beads and other stuff from the floats.

I think this is one of the coins thrown from the parade.

Well there are a tonne more pictures but I do not want to bore you all and become a blog hog...Ha Ha.

I will in the near future, post some pictures of our first cruise stop at Costa Maya. I thought it was pretty cool because we took a tour of some Mayan ruins. To realize the size of the cities is somewhat amazing.

Until my next post...Love Garth

TBA II

On Friday we had another ultrasound to check on TBA II, things are going good, my doctor is just cautious which I appreciate.  We will be 27 weeks tomorrow so only roughly 13 more until we get to meet this woman.

This is a 3D pic of her little face on the left with her hand at her mouth. (Hope you can make it out!) Her hand was at her mouth in most of the pics and we had the tech double check that 'yes indeed she is still a GIRL!!' I've already purchased some matching/co-ordinating dresses so that is good.   We had Amelia with us and she kept pointing to the screen then looking at my tummy saying 'baby', it was pretty sweet.  Little TBA II busts a move all the time which is cool and different then Amelia.  How thrilling it will be when she arrives and we can get to know her.  We are starting to prep the den for her new nursery, which is such fun dreaming and decorating.  Graham is working away alot so it was wonderful to go the ultrasound as a little family and see our future 4th member on the screen.

Much love from the Polischuk's

PS I'm enjoying the recent posts!

All Settled

Well, the Stannix's are all settled in! We are enjoying our new home very much. The sunshine has been great! It's been a while since I haven't had to turn a light on in the house during the day! Gone are our basement suite days...They were good, but we are glad to be above ground finally! We even have a little garage in the back for our car! It's been great! Lately it's been too cold to go outside much, but Camilla and I enjoy sitting on the couch in the afternoon, soaking up the sun, and watching Daddy come off the bus from school.

In other news, Camilla got her very first pet the other day from her Nana. She was super excited and picked up the tank right away. Poor little fish. She settled on the name "Nemie" after Daddy suggested Nemo. It sits on our kitchen table and Camilla likes to watch it swim while she eats. In the morning we feed it and watch it. Camilla waves goodbye all the time and says "Bye Bye....(pause)...fishhhh". It's a lot of fun watching her.

The other morning, she even gave her fish a kiss! We're on day two and little Nemie is still alive. The fishy has been saved from little fingers in the tank, and being pulled off the table a couple of times. Camilla is obsessed with feeding it. This is going to be one fat fish... Curious to see how long it will live!

That's all from us for now! Love you all!!