Baker Family Pictures

Mission CallS!!

I'm so proud of Julia and Jordan, two of my younger sibs, for preparing for and accepting calls to serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They got their calls back-to-back...Jules on Wednesday, Jordan on Thursday.

It took some finagling for all my family to be able to watch them opening their calls. Somehow we managed it.

Julia's call...

Russia Rostov-na-Donu Mission

!!!

In her own words, "It's just crazy. I can't pronounce the name of the mission and it has two dashes."

Julia is proficient in American Sign Language, so we thought she had a pretty good chance of being called to a signing mission. Nope.

And Jordan's call...

Korea Seoul Mission!!! 

Craziness! No South America for this guy. Korea was the furthest guess from my mind, and Jordan is so beyond stoked. 

Jules and Jordan are going to be the most fantastic, hard-working missionaries ever. I admire their testimonies of Jesus Christ and their strict moral standard. We are all going to miss them terribly...as well as benefit from the blessings of their service. I love you both!

Home

We were able to be home in Southern California for the last month. It started out as a weekend of fun and ended up a roller coaster month of emotional ups and downs. The biggest down was that Dad Baker had some devastating health news that rocked our whole family. Things are fine for the moment--in fact, there were several miracles, small and large, in  response to a lot of prayer and some faithful blessings. At this point the family is trying to remain hopeful while Dad Baker waits for more treatment. We know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and that we just need to have faith. We feel really positive about the potential of the treatment he'll be getting.

Some other rocky points were observing the second Mother's Day since Mom Pace died, and Dad Pace selling the home. It is really painful to me knowing I'll never be in my mom's home again, and that my kids won't be able to grow up visiting that house.

On the upside, we spent the whole month creating invaluable memories that are warming my heart even now as I think of them.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

At a Lakers playoff game.

One of our favorite activities with Dad Baker.

A fantastic family date while the kiddos chilled with a babysitter. =)
The boys were there too.

Bubbles in the backyard. It doesn't get any better.

Fun in the Pace backyard for the last time.

Laynie loves her daddy.

She said "Nick" 100,000 times. And counting.

A family tradition--breakfast at Side Street Cafe

Visiting the cemetery with Jake on Mother's Day.

McLayne's new favorite thing. Can you tell from her smile?
You should hear her say the word "jump."

I think sunblock is actually the most effective hair gel.

Cruise and McLayne had a blast with all their cousins, Baker side AND Pace side!