With All Our Love

Dear Tanner!

Hello! Now, for the rest of the story! Monday Dad left for a conference in North Carolina, and with him went his lap top. So my only way of checking for your weekly letter was to call my parents. When they checked, just your pictures had come in, ten minutes previously, so they told me to check back later as they were going out the door! Four-o'clock! I waited five hours past normal, and called them again, asking them to read your letter. Only there wasn't one :-( I was so sad. Grampy felt so bad he read your letter to me that arrived in the mail. What a delight for him to share that with me. We had a good cry over the phone together. Sometimes reading a letter from someone you love is different than reading out loud a letter from someone you love. Dad called from NC and wanted to know where your letter was. He checked the trash folder as well as spam, and then read the message from Sis. Tavares informing us that you had indeed sent a letter. Did I forget to mention we emailed her? So sorry. But a mother's got to do what a mother's got to do! Dad figured out how to get into your account, and found it still there, with the system still trying to send it. Your original letter arrived at 11 p.m. Go figure.

Tuesday was induction ceremony for Porter into the Mu Alpha Theta math club of which you belonged. Such a wonderful time of year for parents to puff out their chests a little, and watch their children go through some of the rites of becoming more of an adult. Porter probably could care less about the math club. He just enjoys an excuse to put on his sweater vest and bow tie, and hang out with all the girls. He introduced me to no less than fifteen girls I had never met. This didn't include the usual cross country girls I already know! I'm sure you'll see the pictures in your account from the blog...bring back any memories?

The only thing I can remember about Wednesday was playing a trick on Hunter. Porter forgot his lunch at home, so I drove it to the high school, in Dad's car. And when I saw the big white beast in the parking lot, drove over, let myself in, and moved it, purposely backing it in, and straddling the white parking line. I laughed at myself all the way home! I don't know if Hunter thought it was as funny, but he did get several comments on his supposed parking job.

Thursday was the golfing event that Hunter has been waiting for a long time. Bro. Mazon had the opportunity to purchase his brother's old (really new) set, and wanted to see if he liked them or his old ones better. Hunter got the clubs he didn't want. He was really needing a driver, but also got new irons and a sand wedge. Dad went as well, and finished off the fearsome foursome. Hunter drove in with the lowest score, plus scoring on the clubs. (Dad was fairly tired after this outing, but had to stay up late until Porter came home from his track meet in Chillicothe! Where was I? In the dugout. I should say in the dog house. I pulled up to drop off Sawyer and Cooper at their game, and they hopped out so I could park. Miller and I both saw some blue at the same time, and then realized he had a game as well! We zipped home with a plan...he grabbed his bag in the garage and I grab his uniform and cleats. He changed in the car, got dropped off, ran to the field, dropped his stuff in the dug out, and ran out with his bat as he is always first to hit. Sheesh! But I had to sit at his brothers' game and keep the book, with Breyer, and listen for his name to be announced when he was up to bat. Poor kid. All by himself at his game, and he's the youngest! Feeling a little mother guilt over here!

Friday Miller went and took a little test for kindergarten. Can't believe he's finally going next year! The tester said he did great. Miller's worked really hard learning letters, big and small, and how to recognize rhyming sounds and letter sounds. He was assigned Mrs. Flynn, who's SO excited to have another Schenewark. Although, Mrs. Hutchison fought just as hard to have your little brother in her class. What tilted the scale? The fact that he would know one boy in Mrs. Flynn's class, and Mrs. Wheeler thought knowing one person would be beneficial.

We visited Sis. Parrish, just a few of us, as Cooper and Sawyer had invited the two LaCroix boys over to play. We picked Porter up from a baseball game, and Hunter showed up after golfing. And we had Breyer. She's gotten better about playing with the water dispenser on the fridge. After making a huge puddle, and filling every cup and bowl, now she's down to filling her cups (really full) a couple of times.

Saturday was your typical Saturday for a family with a lot of boys. Porter had a JV baseball game; Miller, Sawyer and Cooper all had games at the same time, and I was back in the dugout with the book! It was a beautiful day, and when all was said and done, we came home and remembered the missionaries would be over in an hour for dinner! Managed to come through with homemade breadsticks, spaghetti sauce and banana chocolate cake! Yum! Just had to throw some food at my very foodie son!

Mowing season has officially begun, and Hunter still has his Barnett job, Parrish lawn, and Duncan river bank. It's just enough to fill up the holes in his schedule so he can appear to be really busy ,-) He spent a lot of time this weekend getting caught up on these jobs, AND working on his Optimist oratorical speech. Cooper and Porter joined him in this endeavor as well, and spent time Friday after school, and Saturday evening putting the finishing touches on their speeches.

So today at church I spoke in sacrament...I'll send it to you in your email sometime this week and you can print it next week. I enjoyed preparing for it. After church we went to the (annual) Optimist oratorical contest...you were missed! How fun it would have been to have you compete with your brothers, this year now with Cooper being of age. After committing to and entering this contest, no one wanted to work on it, and were not motivated to prepare. I hope they remember how much all their hard work paid off. It was a Schenewark sweep. We felt a little bad for the other contestants, but the judges were not aware they were all brothers and belonging to the same family! They just judge it like they see it! Hunter won first, and is going to try and go on in the district competition in May; Porter was second, and Cooper third. I hope you enjoy reading their speeches, but alas, they'll be in your email next week as well to print! Porter is very dramatic and lots of flair, and speaks off the cuff; Hunter had a few awkward and untimely hand gestures that made us all on the back row laugh, and Cooper, who is the only one who practiced by timing himself, got exactly what he said he would: 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

This is the news story of the week. It put a smile on my face! "A Samurai sword-wielding Mormon bishop helped a neighbor woman escape a Tuesday morning attack by a man who had been stalking her. Kent Hendrix woke up Tuesday to his teenage son pounding on his bedroom door and telling him somebody was being mugged in front of their house. The 47-year-old father of six rushed out the door and grabbed the weapon closest to him -- a 29-inch high carbon steel Samurai sword. Hendrix, a bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said it was the first time in 30 years of practicing martial arts that he's used the sword. He didn't swing it at the man, only showing him he had it.

He came upon what he describes as a melee between a woman and a man. His son stayed inside to call 911 while he approached the man along with other neighbors who came to help. The martial arts instructor didn't hesitate in drawing the sword and yelling at him to get on the ground."His eyes got as big as saucers and he kind of gasped and jumped back," Hendrix said by phone Tuesday afternoon. "As he was coming through the fence, this is where I drew down on him and told him to get down on the ground." He continued, "He was staring down 29 inches of razor."

The man ran down the street with the barefoot Hendrix and others in pursuit. Hendrix said he couldn't catch the man before he fled in his car, but he picked up ChapStick that the man dropped and memorized his license plate. "I yelled at him, `I've got your DNA and I've got your license plate: You are so done,"' Hendrix said. The suspect, 37-year-old Grant Eggersten, turned himself in to police an hour later, said Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal. He was booked on charges of robbery, attempted burglary, trespassing and violation of a stalking injunction.

Hendrix, a pharmaceutical statistician, was one of several neighbors who came to the woman's aid after she began yelling for help, Hoyal said. The incident began just after 7 a.m. when the 35-year-old woman came out of her front door, Hoyal said. Eggersten was hiding behind her carport and attacked her, knocking her to the ground, Hoyal said. He took her keys and tried to open the door into her house, Hoyal said. That's when the woman ran down the street calling for help. The woman did the right thing by fighting back and calling for help, Hoyal said. She suffered minor injuries. Hendrix, a bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said it was the first time in 30 years of practicing martial arts that he's used the sword. He didn't swing it at the man, only showing him he had it. He said he's proud of his 14-year-old son for alerting him and quickly calling 911. He said the family is still abuzz about the events. "That kind of thing doesn't happen every day," Hendrix said. "Our neighborhood is a pretty quiet place." A fourth-degree black belt in the Kishindo form of martial arts, Hendrix owns a collection of swords and weapons that he trains with, said his wife, Suzanne Hendrix. He has trained with the sword he used Tuesday for 20 years and keeps it by his bed. "Some people have bats they go to," said Hendrix. "I have my sword."

An interesting face from one of our missionary moms: "I know that many of you already have heard this, but some of you may not have yet. Did you know that last week, there were more Sisters dropped off at the Provo MTC than there were Elders?!? YES!! "

Another partial email from a missionary mom, who thought this portion of her son's letter was important to share: "This week I went to the Federal Police here in Brazil to renew my paperwork. I had my passport and my old identification, but was unaware and had not been advised that I would need one more special document. Because of this misunderstanding, I arrived at the Federal Police only to find a highly concerned officer at the other side of the table. After a wait of 15 minutes the police officer placed a stamped and sealed document in front of me with several signatures already penned in and stated in an authoritative voice that I had 8 days to leave the country and was obligated to sign as a personal testimony. I knew that something was funny about the situation, but did have several thoughts going through my mind. “This is impossible.” “What if...what if I really was deported from Brazil... how would that be...” With lots of gratitude to my companion who helped me make some phone calls and run some errands he and I were able to resolve the situation and attain the other document that I was needing. The executive secretary said I was in these moments the most important missionary on the mission as he made some calls to São Paulo, advised the Assistants to the President, Sister to the Mission President, and the Mission President. If I had signed the document or tried to leave the Federal Police Station before having called the Mission Staff I would have been warranted deployment and would have been in need of the assistance of one of the great lawyers from the Church to have processed a possibility of my staying in Brazil. However, thanks to patience and logic, I am fine and now have legal proof as well as a personal conviction of good will to stick this race out until the end."

This week was transfers, but I'm staying here in Agudos with Elder Schenewark. We have a lot to do here. Families that are opening their lives to the gospel! So I am very happy to stay and to keep a trusty companion!

There was a new announcement made by the first presidency that missionaries ought to stay in areas longer (6-8 months). So I might be here for a while. This transfer has mothers day in it! I'll get to see you guys in a few weeks! Now that we know we're staying here, we'll make sure we find a good skype spot."

This comment from Sis. Beaudoin made me smile: "Amy Jo, is Tanner going to be a writer? He must type like the wind too because we don't usually get half that in a email! Poor Hunter does his plunking best."

Porter is really wondering whether or not you read his poem? __________

Your brothers miss you! I can't tell you how many times they watch The Best Two Years, thinking of you and wondering about you and your adventures with your companions. Sawyer just came upstairs and threw out: "With all the bike riding and tracting my rear end has become quite beautiful!" He had to explain to me where the line came from!

We love you! We're glad we can hear from you weekly. I freely admit I'm a wimp, and the old fashioned way of writing letters and waiting would have killed me! So glad it's now emails, on a regular schedule! Have a wonderful week

Lots of love,

Mom and Dad