Sister Melanie Lamb

My sister Melanie entered the MTC on August 31st. Unfortunately we were already in Minnesota, but I was able to talk with her on the phone before she was dropped off in Provo. Cody and I had already gone to the Visitor Center in Omaha so I was able to send her pictures and tell her about the tour that we had just taken. She seemed excited to begin her mission and from the emails she has sent recently she is very busy and ready to get out into the mission field. I know she will be a great missionary. I love you Melly!

Here is Melly's address if you would like to write her a letter:

Mission Address

(beginning September 27)

Nebraska Omaha Mission
11930 Arbor Street Suite 203
Omaha, Nebraska 68144-2998

For her current address, email my mom at lamb@xmission.com

Melly also set up a blog before she left that we post her emails, letters, and updates on. Go check it out!

http://melaninacornfield.blogspot.com/

From Sandy to St. Paul

We got home from Bear Lake and had 3 days to pack everything we own and say our last goodbyes. Thankfully we had already packed most of our stuff so we just had to box up the odds and ends and hope that it all fit into the trailer. We left Sunday morning and drove for 14 hours until we arrived in Omaha. The next morning we drove to the Winter Quarters Visitor Center, where Melly will be serving her mission for the next year and a half. We took a tour guided by one of the sisters and she was able to take us across the street to the cemetery and find the burial site of one of Cody's ancestors. We told the sisters at the visitor center about Melly and they were all excited to meet her. After a few short hours there we had to leave in order to make it to St. Paul. We drove for another six hours until we finally made it to our new apartment.

Our 5x8 trailer that all of our stuff had to fit into.

As you can see it was a tight squeeze, but Cody is an expert packer and we were able to fit almost everything.

Said our goodbyes and ready to hit the open road. 

Asleep at the wheel already and we hadn't even started :)

At the Winter Quarters Visitor Center in Omaha, NE

Some of the sisters at the Visitor Center. Our tour guide is third from the right with the blue scarf. 

"Minnesota Welcomes You"

Bear Lake

My sister Melanie received her mission call to the Omaha Nebraska Winter Quarters Visitor Center with a report date of August 31st to the MTC. August 31 also happened to be the day that Cody started his orientation for school in Minnesota and we still needed time to drive to MN and get settled before Cody started. So Melanie spoke in church on August 21 so that we could be there to hear her speak. So the day after Melly spoke in church we headed to Bear Lake to spend a few days as a family. Ryan and mom really came, they just decided not to be in this picture, but we caught them on camera later :)

We started off the trip by renting jet skis and a paddle boat to explore the south side of the lake. We enjoyed it so much that we spent another day on the jet skis. 

We also took a trip to Minnetonka Cave  

Mini golfing- Cody won by a landslide even with his trick shots

Mini golfing again. Notice how red the legs are- we got fried in the sun :(

 We rented these fun two person bicycles and cruised around town. The only mishap happened when my mom who was riding a normal bike decided to fall off and roll down a hill.

More Bikes

Hot Dogs and S'mores

Cody and his steak

On the steps of the condo we stayed at. My dad is taking the picture.

Minnesota License

After waiting nearly 3 months for my Minnesota License, it finally came in the mail! It's nothing fancy, but it is a very important piece of paper. I am now licensed for School Counseling K-12 in both Utah and Minnesota. 

Boise/Homedale Idaho

Before we left for Minnesota, we headed up to Idaho to visit Brandi (Cody's sister) and her family and some of Cody's friends in Homedale. We stayed at Brandi's new house and had a blast spending time with Brandi, her husband Kyle, and their kids Chandler and Emma. As part of the festivities we took the kids fishing and also on a bike ride. Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures while we were there, but we do have a few of the bike ride that we took Chandler and Emma on.

 Here we are on the river parkway. Emma's bike is too big for her so she needed some help getting started, but she did great once she got going. 

 At the end of our bike ride was a bmx bike track and everyone had a turn going down the big hill. 

We also spend a few days in Homedale, Idaho where Cody attended his senior year of high school. We attended church there and it was fun to meet people that Cody has told me about. We were also able to spend time with Cody's friend Chris and his family. We had Sunday dinner at his house and I was so impressed when almost everything on the table came from their garden. We had a roast that came from one of their cows, we had potatoes, green peppers, corn, and cucumbers that were straight from the garden! On Tuesday we went fishing with Chris and his wife Brittany and it was great to get to catch up with them and also to meet their baby, Blaize. While in Homedale I also got to meet Cody's friend Amber and her family, I have heard wonderful things about them so it was nice to finally meet them. We had a great time playing the game Scum with Amber, her husband Ross, Chris, and Brittany. We like it so much that we taught the game to my family when we got back! Amber was also kind enough to cut Cody and my hair while we were in Idaho. We packed everything we could into this fun trip and enjoyed every moment of it.

Pelican Point

As one of our last hurrahs before we moved and Melly went on her mission, we decided to go camping in the West Desert. Our friends Megan, Tom, Nathan, Justin, and Shannon also came along for the fun.

 We had previously been to the same area earlier this summer for another camping trip but did not make it to this spot. Last time, the boys took the jeep up the side of a mountain in a hunt for doves. What they found at the top was this fine camping spot which we decided to come back to for our last campout.

Poppyseed Muffins for Breakfast- yummy

 The Mountain-Women

Shooting Targets

The Camping Crew- Justin, Shannon, Nathan, Cody, Katie, Melanie, Megan, and Tom

A Call to Repentance

As you can probably see I have been MIA for over a month now. The guilt set it when I realized that my good friend Andrea, who had a baby a month ago, has posted on her blog 3 times in the past month. She has got to be lots more busy than I am so I am apologizing to you all and will try over the next few days to get caught up with the recent events of the past month. In my defense, Cody and I have been extremely busy. For those of you who do not know, in the last month we visited Cody’s sister Brandi and her family in Idaho, we went to Bear Lake with my family, my sister Melanie entered the MTC, Cody and I moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota, Cody started school at the University of Minnesota studying Healthcare Administration, we unpacked and set up our apartment, and I have been interviewing for jobs. Say that in one breath! More details and pictures to come about these events. Hope you enjoy!