Pretty in Pink

The [final color-coded] missionary care package I did for August was PINK.

 {the contents}

While shopping for PINK, I realized that so many pink items are.....well, feminine products!

Which he has no use for (obviously).

But, with three younger sisters helping me, we just HAD to include some first-rate pink goodies like....

Princess fruit snacks (they all taste the same, right?)

Hello Kitty band-aids

Candy bracelets & necklaces

A baby powder scented pink candle

hee hee.

(I reminded him these packages are meant to be shared with his peeps - like a family with little girls, how fun to pull a surprise out of his pocket/bag for them!)

 {the packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four pink flaps say:

"We are 'tickled PINK' about your missionary service!" 

"We hope everything in B.V. (Buena Vista, VA) is 'in the PINK of perfection!'"

"We continue to pray you 'feel in the PINK' on your mission!" <3 font="">

"PINKie promise to keep writing your detailed, fun-filled letters!"  :) 

So, that completes the Year-of-Colored-Themed-Care-Packages.  All the colored strings/cords should be cut off his secret package I sent him at the beginning of his mission by now.

 Which means he can open it up and find his special message.

Now, to decide what to do the final year......I can't waste the opportunity/easy shipping options due to his stateside mission.  My other kids may not be so fortunate with their future missions!  ;)

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To see past missionary care packages, click HERE. 

Paint the Town Red

The missionary care package I did for July was RED.

THIS was the one I have been looking forward to doing the WHOLE time!  Red things are found in abundance!  Ryan has ALWAYS loved the Utah Utes and U of U = RED!  He also is fond of cherry anything!  Plus, I've had some "RED" catch phrases swimming around in my mind to use!

So, without further ado....

{the contents}

(you might not think those "black" pencils don't belong with this month's package based on their outward appearance, BUT they are actually RED scripture marking pencils that he can give out to people or use himself.)

{the packed and ready-to-ship box}

 (I have a feeling it will probably be his favorite one yet!)

The four red flaps say:

"You are an incREDible missionary"

"Go ye into all the [WVCH mission] and preach the Gospel to every.....kindred, tongue, and REDneck!"  :)  hahahaha.  (That's a reaction he got from others before he left, and that I get here at home still, but it is not necessarily Ryan's opinion, who is actually there!  But, I couldn't resist using the word, "RED" in that context!)

"We hope you have many 'RED LETTER DAYS' this transfer!" 

"Enjoy (or endure) your 'RED HOT' (& humid) Summer!"  ;) 

********************************

To see past missionary care packages, click HERE. 

Back in Black

The missionary care package I did for June was BLACK.

{the contents}

When I was thinking about what catchy phrases or advise I could use that contained the word, "black" in them,
I realized that most of them would be inappropriate and unencouraging for a missionary.  ;)

For instance, there's: 

"black as the devil"

"black eye"

"black list"

"black sheep"

"black mark"

"black out"

"black magic"

"black and blue"

"black day"

"The Black Knight"

"blackmail"

See what I mean?...I didn't have much positive stuff to work with - so I had to do more thinking!

Here's what I came up with.

{the packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four black flaps say:

"We {heart} our 'Men in BLACK'" 

"White shirts and ties are 'The new BLACK!'"

"Our hero wear a BLACK name tag!"

"P.S. Keep your bank account 'in the black.'"  :)

That last one was kinda a stretch - I've heard rumors that sometimes these young Elders have trouble making their money last the whole month long, so I was just throwing in some counsel - he might not even know what the heck that idiom means, though!  ;)  haha.

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To see past missionary care packages, click HERE.

Good Morning, Sunshine!

The missionary care package I did for May was YELLOW.
Which translates into SUNSHINE for me.

{the contents}

Note: this was all divided (unequally, with Ryan getting more than the others) to make up

"Sunshine Boxes" for a couple of my daughter's teachers at school for an 

end-of-school-year gift. (my favorite gift idea lately)

{the packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four yellow flaps say:

"Sending you a little box of SUNSHINE to brighten your day as you are brightening ours!!"

"Here comes the SUN.... (A.K.A. Elder Brenchley) ....and I say, 'it's all right.'"

"A dark world aches for a splash of the SUN." (meaning "The Son")

"Always look on the SUNNY side of Life!" (& your mission)

When I had barely sent Ryan off on his mission, another Missionary Mom came to visit and shared with me how she sends her son a package every month because it's the closest thing she can do to giving him a hug.  Her "wisdom" made an impression on me.  I do agree with her - it's a way for me to send my love and hugs.

This was confirmed in my Mother's Day card I got from Ryan with this P.S. at the end of it, "I know you love me, Mom.  If you didn't, you wouldn't send me monthly packages and weekly LONG emails!  Best Missionary Mom Ever!"

(He's learning so much on his mission!)  ;)

**********************************

To see past missionary care packages, click HERE

Of Course it Happened That Way

Probably for my first time EVER, I did not dread Mother's Day!  This year, there was actually something to look forward to.
It's because Mother's Day is ONE of the two-times-a-year that missionaries are allowed to call home!!! :)
Christmas is the other day that they are allowed to call.  And last Christmas, Ryan informed us he'd be calling at a certain time.....and then we waited 3 HOURS until he actually did! (When they are at someone else's house, they have to wait until they can set them up on their device - and if they're busy making dinner, it isn't a good time to ask for help, etc.)
So....we were kind of suspecting that his Mother's Day call would be the same; we took the time he told us, then added 1+ hours.

With this theory in mind, we had our children stay at church for Primary.  It is tradition in our ward that the Youth take over teaching/leading/directing the Primary children on Mother's Day, so all the usual Primary workers (many women) have the "day off" and can attend the adult classes in church that day.  Well, Kyle & Haylee got assigned to sit with and teach Brookelle's class.  They were so excited!  Especially Brookelle! 
Kyle & Haylee planned together.
They divided up the sections of the lesson.
They studied the concepts and the scripture stories.
Haylee even put together a bag of props to use in the lesson.
AND they assigned their other helper to bring a treat for the class.
They were ALL set!

Meanwhile, Matt & I returned home, just for the odd chance that he called on time, and set the Skype up.
Before the time he said he'd call, I went upstairs to my bathroom to brush my hair and teeth and put on some lip gloss.....and lo, and behold, he called EARLY!!!
Only Matt was in the room when Ryan's face filled our TV screen.
Apparently, Matt started calling my name, but I can't hear a thing from anywhere else in the house when I am in my bathroom....so I didn't even know he was already on.
When I did come down the stairs, just on my own time (without knowing he was on yet), I heard voices.
This is what I overheard:
Ryan: "Hey, Dad!  How's it going?"
Matt: "Good."  And then....silence.  (Seriously, he said just one word....to our son who we haven't seen in real life for 8 1/2 months!?!?!) 
Ryan: [laughing out loud] "Oh, wow, Dad.  You're still not a man of many words."
Matt: "I need your mother!  Where is she, to help me out?"
(Then I enter the room)
Matt: "Oh, good!  Here she is!"
And then he sat back, and visibly relaxed, and mostly listened to the rest of the [1 hr. 40 min.] conversation!
Hahahahaha hahahahaha hahahaha.

Oh, and I texted Kyle that Ryan had called and to come home now, so he gave his Primary class over to another young man, gathered up his little sisters, and they ran home to see/talk to Ryan!

And they didn't even get to teach their Primary lesson!!!  :(
It's because they were actually prepared.
YOU KNOW if they would've just bagged the lesson, thinking they wouldn't have to teach it, Ryan's call would've come late again, and they'd been lookin' like idiots in front of the Primary children!!

So, the moral of the story....
When you're expecting/counting on something, it doesn't/won't happen.  (I told you my life is governed by Murphy's Law!)
When you're NOT expecting/counting on something, your expectations are EXCEEDED (in this case, an EARLY call).

*****************************
As another interesting side note about the day, my other teenager son started asking me to take a picture with him.
WHAT?!?
Since WHEN does he want to take pictures with me?
When I couldn't get to it right away, he kept pestering asking me to do it.
Finally, I obliged.

Turns out, he had an ulterior motive.
Our photo ended up on Instagram later that day.....just like A LOT of his friends & their moms pictures did.  He can't miss out on what "all the other kids are doing" now, can he?!?  ;)

P.S. Besides the Skype with our missionary, everyone made & cleaned up a fabulous breakfast & dinner (the menus of my choosing), the talks at church were done well, I got a gift I had been wanting for a long time, I had the opportunity to read my book (undisturbed while everyone else was busy), and we stayed home TOGETHER.
I think this was my BEST Mother's Day to date!  ;)
(Lest you think I'm now a different person with a new opinion [or that someone is impersonating me on this blog post].......under different circumstances, my previous recorded feelings about Mother's Day still stand.)  ;)

Not to be Confused as White Elephant Gifts

The missionary care package I did for April was WHITE.

{the contents}

Ya....I over-estimated what would fit in a box - I just kept putting all the white things 

I saw at the store into my shopping cart.

And then, when it didn't all fit, some of my kids called, "dibs" on some of the overflow,

but I did have to return some of the stuff to the store.

Did you know that Target just throws away any food item that is returned?

(Because they think I might have poisoned it, EVEN IF IT IS UNOPENED/UNUSED, so they don't want to sell it to someone else.)

At the Returns counter, the "Customer Service" employee 

(I'm using that title very loosely because I think she *forgot* she works in Customer SERVICE when she was "helping" me) 

made sure to SIGH audibly (many times) as she processed my returns, 

and gave me a discourse about the "fate" of the returned food items, 

sneaking in a comment that some people just donate it without asking for their money back.

(I don't think the Customer Service department is a "good fit" for her, what about you?!)

*End of sidetrack*

On with the care package....

{the packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four white flaps say:

"For behold the [WVCH mission] field is WHITE already to harvest..."  D&C 4:4

"You are the 'great WHITE hope' of the WVCH mission!"  :)

"...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as WHITE as snow..."  Isaiah 1:18  (a great scripture to share with your peeps!)

"Make sure to give "WHITE glove service" to each person you meet!"

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To see past missionary care packages, click HERE

This is Not Going to Sit Well with Someone

Today is Kyle's "half-birthday," and as such, we performed the traditional (and ceremonious) measurement of his height, and marked it on the growth chart.

As you can see, his line is now JUST A SMIDGE higher than his older brother's line!!!
{due to growing 1 1/2 inches in the last 6 months, and 4 inches in the last year}

Now, of course, it's been a whole year since Ryan has been measured since he's been away on his mission for 8 months, and the 4 months before that was one huge whirlwind with High School graduation activities/mission prep/last family vacation/last ever family photo with our family as we know it/bidding farewell to dozens of his friends when they left on their missions.....

So, who knows?  Ryan MAY HAVE grown some more in our absence.
But, if NOT.......Kyle is SO PLEASED with his current standing!  ;)

And he's convinced that he is going to pass up his [6'3"] dad.  Lately, so many people have made comments to him that he is totally starting to resemble Matt, so naturally, he assumes he'll end up as tall or taller than his dad.  Ha!  I seriously doubt that!  Because first of all, he has ME as his mom (a mere 5'3") but also, way back when, I took note of the height predictor test.  (The one where you take a boy's height at age 2 and double it to get their future full height).  And, according to that, he's only going to be 5'8" (which is right where he's at).  According to the "test," his older brother's potential isn't much better at 5'9" but it would be one inch taller than Kyle, so that's mostly what matters in their minds!

I intend to write about this fun little "happening" in my next weekly letter to Ryan......and I already know what the reaction will be!  :)
Horror
Disbelief
Displeasure
Disturbing
Annoyance
Pain
Mental Torment
Justification
Denial


I just hope this news doesn't knock him off his "game" to the point that he becomes disabled in his missionary work!  ;)

***************************
POST-EDIT NOTE:  Ryan promptly replied to my letter stating, "I want to see pics (proof) Kyle has passed me up!"

Did I call it, or what?!?  haha  ;)

Don't Wait for Old Age to Wear Purple

The missionary care package I did for March was PURPLE.

{The contents}

Except, I discovered that popcorn box had been opened a little and it only contained 2 pkgs. instead of the usual 3 in it..... 
What?!?  Did I buy it like that?!?  No, I wouldn't be that unobservant, would I?
And then I had a moment of clarity.......

Katelyn!!!!

(I was right.)

(NOTHING is safe around here, I tell ya!)

{The packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four purple flaps say:

"You are doing a 'GRAPE' job!!"

"Remember: You have been 'born to the PURPLE'."  (1 Peter 2:9)

"Your mission is 'a PURPLE patch' in your life!!"

"When teaching the Gospel....'lay it out in lavender'."  :)

(Is it lavendar or lavender?  woops!)

The next time Ryan wrote to us after receiving this care package, he told us he got it (ya never know with rural "mail people" - he says they just put a sticker on a car and a flashing light thing on top and call it good!), but that there was a slight problem with the V8 Energy drinks, though!  :/

(and he sent me this photo to show me):

Oh, wow!  Don't I get the "MM of the Year" award for sending him that?!!?  Yea for me!  MAJOR Ooops! 

(We, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, do NOT drink tea.)

I didn't even read the label!!  I assumed they were the V8 Fusions (100% juice) that we really like.  You know what 'they' say about assuming!

See!  Don't they look alike?!!?

Now I literally KNOW how the phrase, "Looks can be deceiving" was coined!

Good thing he was paying attention and caught it before consuming it!  ;)  He was forgiving and said he'd have fun getting rid of them!  Whew!

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To see past missionary care packages, click HERE.

Invest in Your "Fuchsia"

The Missionary Care Package I did for February 

(which really was delivered the first week in March because he was getting transferred, and I had to wait for his next letter to learn his new address - which meant he didn't get to open it on his "click date")  

was FUCHSIA: 

{the contents}

Matt helped me on this one!  I originally had collected what I thought would fill a medium-size box, 

but when I put it all in, it looked pretty scarce.  If it's not full, everything will tumble around

inside during shipping, 

so I sent Matt back to the store, near midnight, but I couldn't think of anything in particular to get, so I told him to just roam the aisles with his eye out for anything FUCHSIA!

He came back with about 9 more things - much better! - he saved the package! :)

{the packed and ready-to-ship package}

Did you know that there aren't that many (if any?) sayings that have the word, "fuchsia" in it?

And can you think of any NORMAL, REAL words that rhyme with "fuchsia?"  Neither could I.

So, instead of writing something on every single flap like I have in the past, I used all the flaps for one message:

"Your "fuchsia" (future) is so Bright!"

The crazy thing is: THIS package (that I'm sending to his direct home address) will probably get to him before his birthday package that I sent to him (to the Mission Office address to be forwarded) 10 days prior.  Hopefully, he thinks it's a good "tie me over" until he gets his Birthday one!

To see past missionary care packages, click HERE.

A Birthday Away From Home

HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to our favorite missionary!!! 

19 years old!

It is his very first birthday without us.  {So, I'm feeling kinda weird!}

To "celebrate" without him, here's a look back...

1 years old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

7 years old

8 years old

9 years old

10 years old

11 years old

12 years old

13 years old

14 years old

15 years old

16 years old

17 years old

18 years old

And TODAY......(the most recent photo I have of him)

He is serving as a full-time missionary for 

The Church of 

JESUS CHRIST 

of Latter-Day Saints 

in the West Virginia Charleston mission.

We have a lot of birthday traditions that I obviously won't be able to do for him this year, so I hope he doesn't mope about missing all of that.  (But, honestly, I don't even remember my own birthday out on my mission!  It might be because it was so long ago ;) OR it might be that it's really not a time when you focus on yourself!??)  

I'm sure he won't even have to worry, he has a WONDERFUL "second family" out there who take such good care of him and are so generous with their time, food, gifts, fun memories they GIVE to him!  

{I'll ALWAYS be so grateful for the Young's and the Heller's!!!} 

I trust he is in good hands! (theirs and Heavenly Father's both!)

Thank goodness for all these other great people who serve, because, there's a high likelihood that he will be transferred tomorrow, and he didn't want to deal with packing up an extra box of birthday stuff I'm sending, so he told me to just mail it to the Mission Home address and then they could forward it to him, whether he stays where he's at or if he gets sent to a new area.  Knowing the USPS, though, and not knowing how quickly mail gets attended to in the Mission Office.......I don't know if he'll get any birthday from home until WELL AFTER his birthday has past!  So anti-climatic. :(

101 Things to Do with a Treadmill

Probably one of the most well known things to do with a treadmill is this: 

Hopefully, I will put my new one to GOOD USE - in the proper way it was meant to be used, that is!

I shouldn't have this problem because the treadmill's going to be in the "weight room" READ: unfinished room of our basement that currently houses our weight bench and other exercise equipment.  And that happens to be FAR AWAY from my clothes - it'd be a farther trip to the basement - and more effort - to leave my clothes on the treadmill than to just put them away in my closet!  Now, the boys who reside in the basement?.......I can't make any guarantees about where their clothes might end up!

But, here at the Brenchley household, we've found another thing to do with a treadmill.....
WEAR IT ON OUR BACK.
(we always have done things a little differently).
Allow me to explain:
A couple of days ago, when Matt was trying to move the treadmill from the front room down to the basement, he recruited Kyle to help him.
I was sitting at the computer desk minding my own business (actually I was emailing back & forth with Ryan, it was his P-Day) when all of a sudden, Kyle yells, "Mom!  HELP!"
I went down the stairs and found Matt was laying face down on the stairs with the big treadmill box on top of him!  Apparently, the distribution of strength was not equal?  Kyle was standing at the bottom of the stairs just watching, telling me his dad was crunched underneath it!  Kyle claimed he couldn't do much from his position....so, I had to go lift the box off of Matt!

Thinking of other uses for treadmills, THIS memory from two houses ago comes to mind:

{Ryan, circa 1997}
A CLIMB ON TOY FOR TODDLERS.

THIS treadmill didn't get used much because it was a manual one - as in non-electric!  (I KNOW!  What a silly invention, right?!?)  You had to push real hard with your feet to get the belt going, while moving the arm handles.....which meant your speed was never constant.  And sometimes it would stop.  And it was super hard to get it going again...yada, yada, yada!  It was simply too much of a hassle, so it sat ignored by the adults, but it was too irresistible for baby boys to leave alone!!  ;)

While someday I may complete my "treadmill uses book," similar to the idea of this one:

For now, I will share just one more thing to do with a treadmill.

KISS IT.

Back in the day when I went to a real gym to workout, I liked to walk/run on their treadmills.

The only problem was:  so did everyone else, and the availability was a problem.  OPEN treadmills were few and far between at certain times of the day (the time I always happened to be at the gym!)  So, my strategy was to bide my time on the nearby stationary bikes while keeping an eye on the row of treadmills....

THEN, as soon as someone got off, I'd jump off the bike and sprint over to the treadmill to get on it.  And, I had to move fast because sometimes, other gym-goers were lurking in other corners, ready to pounce on an open treadmill, as well.

So, ONE DAY, when I saw a treadmill become open, I rushed over to it....yes! I was the first one there!  And, I hurriedly stepped right on....

And just as quickly, my feet flipped out from underneath me, and my face ended up just inches from the MOVING BELT.  And then I may or may not have let out a little scream!  Just a little one.....that everyone within 50 yards of me heard!

Did you get the picture from my description?  Here, does this help?

Apparently, the previous user had NOT turned the treadmill off, and I, in my haste to secure a rare open treadmill, stepped right on without bothering to check if the belt was still running.  WHO LEAVES THE TREADMILL GOING WHEN THEY'RE DONE WITH IT, ANYWAY?!?

Everyone else was much amused....at my expense.

BUT!  I DID finish my workout, I'm proud to say!

 

Good thing, because the rest of my pride was surely GONE!

Combatting the Winter BLUES

The Missionary Care Package I did for January was BLUE.

He likes to open them on his "click date" (the 27th) and I thought I still had several days, but then I realized the few days before his "click date" was a weekend when mail isn't delivered, so I had to do it really fast all in one morning.  I literally bought the stuff at the store, took the picture in the parking lot, filled the box, then drove it to the post office.
So you get really nice backgrounds this time for these photos!!

{The contents}

Why the 2,000 Flushes? (well, it is "BLUE plus bleach!")  And because I REALLY AM afraid of those Elders' bathroom conditions!!

Disney's Frozen cereal?  (well, it BLUE, as well!)  Also, "Frozen" was the last movie his 1st companion had seen before leaving out on his mission in Jan. '14, so that is the movie that got quoted by the two of them together, so that makes it a bit fun.

{The packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four flaps say:

"You are a BLUE ribbon missionary!"

"Our life would be BLUE without you!!"

"You're the 'BLUE-eyed boy' of the Brenchley family! (and our Heavenly Father's)"

"Keep teaching the Gospel 'til you're BLUE in the face!"  :)

Ryan, actually guessed that it would be WHITE this month, probably because of Winter and the snow......but, NO! That wasn't on my mind.

The SNOW is where he is in West Virginia, NOT here in Utah (see the grass showing in my great photo background, at the side of the parking lot?)  A WHITEOUT is not something I have seen for a month!  (Very UNUSUAL for Utah this time of year!)

Links to past care packages:

December

November

October

September

These are a Few of my Favorite things -- THIS Christmas

My favorite "Neighbor Gift" we received:

It's Rudolph the Red-Nosed [E.O.S. lip balm] Reindeer!

The Christensens are always so clever/cute with their gift & "packaging."

My favorite reaction to a gift I gave:

Haylee was SOOO happy (like jumping around & talking giddily) about her PJ's this year!  Namely, she loved the hood, the pockets, & the owl print.

She opened them on Christmas Eve and actually said that she'd be JUST FINE if that was her whole Christmas!  She was fulfilled!

It reminded me of a Christmas several years ago when she had a very emotional reaction to a ROBE she received.

{She doesn't have extravagent wants!  I LOVE it!}

This is not MY favorite, BUT the kids' favorite Christmas wish came true:

The kids were having a hard time FEELING like it was the Christmas season because we hadn't had any snow in December - AND it had been in the 40's & 50's (no coat weather!)

But, THEN they got a WHITE CHRISTMAS.  

It literally started snowing late Christmas Eve, and we woke up to a blanket of snow everywhere. 

THEY thought it was the best thing ever!

My favorite part about Christmas 2014:

Talking to/Seeing Ryan (Elder Brenchley) via Skype!!!

We waited forever - he'd told us it would be in between 3-3:00p.m.......we finally heard from him at 6:05p.m.

BUT, it was worth the wait!

It was so fun to talk to him - we got to be reminded of his playful, amusing personality, but also got to see HOW WELL HE IS DOING and how mature and solid in the gospel he is becoming! 

He absolutely loved the #sharethegift focus this Christmas season.

He testified again & again to us that HE IS THE GIFT.
We got about an hour with him, and 10 min. with his companion (he talked to us while Ryan HAD to go to the bathroom - some things never change! ;) haha. 
We didn't want to hang up and have him call us back because it took SO LONG for him to do it the first time!!)
He also witnessed Haylee smack Kyle while we were skyping....he laughed his head off about that!
Like I said, some things never change!  ;)

**********

What were your "favorite things" about Christmas this year?