Elder Ames Sighting

Elder Ames and Elder Connelly near Yankee Stadium on P-Day. They look like they fit right in!

Brigden "Baxter" Heap and The Green Tomatoes Bandits

Now that's better....

This is my mom and dad, Bud and Netta Ames, standing by the holly hocks along this same river. Near the same location as the winter picture.

Brrr...........it's cold

Winter cold along the Blacksmith Fork River, Cache County, Nibley, Utah. This is where I grew up. Sure glad I live in Arizona!

Elder Ames & Elder Rowley's Christmas Card

Christmas Pajamas

My family is as crazy as I am! They gave me this T-Shirt for Christmas.

Sam the S.C.A.M.!

Kenesha's 13th Birthday Frog Cake

Ames Family 2008 Christmas Letter (Thanks to Allie!)

Dear Family and Friends, (from Allie, the dog)

“It’s a wonderful life” and I have it made here at the Ames residence in Peoria, Arizona. Life has been busy for them this year. I watch them come and go, they go, I stay. “Go to your kennel, Allie”, they say, and I obey. But, they are good to me.

Carl, the one that feeds me, and picks up after me, is doing pretty good. I follow him around and stay close to him. He goes to work, takes care of his church responsibilities, (he was released as bishop last March) and enjoys being at home with the family. He’s slowed down a bit this past year, and has enjoyed planting a winter garden. (Winter garden? Those of you that live in northern countries are jealous aren’t you?) He even has decorated some cakes for family and friends. I hope he makes me one someday, hopefully not some Christmas fruitcake though.

Leisa, bless her heart, I occasionally cause problems for her. I can be a little mischievous, and when she comes home after I have gotten into something I shouldn’t have, I usually have to go outside or to my kennel, and usually I know I am in trouble and show it when the door opens. (You better watch out, you better not cry} She is busy with the girls, being a missionary mom, trying to keep the household going, being a counselor, and looking forward to being a grandma!

McKelle and Casey are living in Provo, UT and are attending BYU. They are happily married and are about ready to celebrate their first anniversary. (I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus). I was able to see them at Thanksgiving and they will be here during the holidays. They are very excited for their new baby due in April 2009. I can hardly wait myself for a new little one to knock over!

Jordan, my favorite, is serving a mission for the church in New York City. He had an exciting senior year, performing in the choir, was Linus in the school musical, and taking 2nd place at National competition in Kansas City for the SKILLS USA Carpentry competition. I miss him, but he is doing really well, and is working hard to learn the Spanish language and to share the gospel. This will be his first Christmas away from home. (I’ll have a blue Christmas without you!) See the blanket I am snuggled up in? That is really his but I had to get my hair and scent on it before they sent it to him so that that he would know that I miss him. The family is very grateful for his missionary service and his great example.

Jacie turned 17 this month. She is a fun girl who loves to be goofy and have fun! She is selling jewelry with Leisa and enjoys that. She is a creative young lady and the family loves her. She is driving and running all over the place – (dashing through Peoria, in a GMC truck)

Kamrie just made the school softball team and enjoys that. She is 14. I never really liked playing ball but I am glad she does. (I broke my bat on Johnny’s head, somebody snitched on me) My fetch isn’t so good anyway. Kamrie has really grown tall lately and still sports the blonde hair. She was excited to get Jordan’s room when he left. She also sang the National Anthem at the school’s Veteran’s Day assembly and what a great job she did. She has a beautiful voice. The family is very proud of her.

Torie, what can I say about her? She is 9 and is a real live wire. She is one of my favorites because she likes to spend time with me. (Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Kittens? Grrrrrr………) The other day she was playing with me and I heard her say to Carl that I lost a couple pounds just in that short time we were playing. Boy, did that make me feel so good. You know how a dog feels about its weight. I’m lucky though that I have black & grey fur. You know how slimming black is. Anyway, enough of that, and more about Torie. She just broke her arm. She took a tumble at school and got a buckle break near her wrist. Poor little girl. But she is taking it well and shouldn’t have it on too long. She is a great student, she loves to read, and has beautiful handwriting. She loves to write to Jordan.

Well, I think I have told you all enough. I better go to sleep and wait for Santa to come. Merry Christmas to you from our home to yours!

Alex's 7th Birthday Cake

Sam Has Left NYC!

Sam got snowed on in NYC and decided it was high time he got out of there and went some place warmer. Don't know where he will show up next. Just wait and see!

Jacie's 17th Birthday Cake

Jacie had a birthday party tonight. There were plenty of kids over to enjoy the evening. They went on a hayride on the Hancock's trailer pulled by a tractor. They had white elephant gifts and seemed to enjoy the time together.

It's A Dog's Life

My friend at work, Veronica, captured this picture of her great dane, Brutus, enjoying the glow of the fire.

Torie Broke Her Arm

That's not Sam, that's Torie in her new cast!

"The Savior of the World"

Sam's On Vacation

Our family had the opportunity a couple years or so ago to take a family vacation back to Church history sites and other places such as Niagra Falls. I will be posting pictures so that you can see the beauty of the places we visited.

Family for Thanksgiving

The family here for Thanksgiving has left :(. We had from Utah, McKelle & Casey, Grandma Ames, and Tareisa & Anthony, Rudy, Tessa, and AJ. We had on Thanksgiving Day as well, the Metzel Family, and the Charlton Family. It was great to have them. Thanks for coming!

We Love Our NY Missionary

While the family was together for Thanksgiving, we thought we would show our love for our missionary.

New York Times

Last we heard Sam had went into The Radio City Music Hall and disappeared. Well, after a thorough search of the place, he could not be found. Sly yam he is. But, he was seen leaving on the Madagascar bus as it was leaving town. Who knows where he will end up next.

Sam the YAM sighting

Barcelona Spain!

Jaxon Ames received his mission call to the Barcelona Spain Mission and will report to the MTC on April 1, 2009. Sam can hardly wait to go to Barcelona!

Thanksgiving Bakery at the Ames Home

Great Quote

Pres.Harold B. Lee Prophet of the Church
"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won't fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges.I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through." (Ye Are the Light of the World 350-51)

NYPD S.W.A.T. (Secret Weapon Attack Turkey)

The NYPD have chosen their top turkey to track down this strange creature that is loose in the streets of New York, most recently seen going into The Radio City Music Hall. They hope to have a capture soon and have a restful Thanksgiving Day.

New York Times

The same strange creature was seen today walking into Radio City Music Hall. When it was attempted to be stopped by the ushers, there was no way that it could be apprehended. It quickly disappeared into the actors dressing room areas and could not be found by security.

Elder Ames and his Spanish Progression

I thought you might appreciate how Elder Ames is progressing in his Spanish. You can see it coming to him and that he is relying on and recognizing the help of the Lord and the spirit of the Holy Ghost.

S0... the Spanish is coming along well. we actually started a goal today where we would only speak in spanish for the rest of the mtc, it is going to be super hard but so rewarding. We can only speak in english when we absolutely have to! Almost our entire district agreed to do it, and so far it is going pretty well. But of course, with every law there is a punishment affixed, so if we have an outburst in english, we have three choices: #1- to do 15 pull ups, #2 to do 40 push ups, #3 to have a piece of mail withheld for one day. I think its a pretty good system. :)

Family, our life is always going to be full of dificult situations. Always. Sometimes it may seem like things are impossible. The gap may just be too big. School work may seem overwhelming. Work may be crazy or health may not be so well. You may be trying to learn a language. There will always be difficult situations. But I know with out a shadow of a doubt that if we turn to Our Savior, He will be our stepping stone to help us across the gap. A gap that may be impossible to overcome on your own, you can turn to the Savior and He will help you safely across. But, in order for us to have His help, we have to ask him. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you. He will help you with school, with work, with health, not having your son for two years. If we turn to the Savior and put all of our trust in Him, He will help us through any hard time. He will carry our burdens for us, that they may be light. Turn to the Lord and He will help you. I promise you that, I have witnessed it here in the MTC. It is impossible to learn a language and become a missionary that fast with out the help of the Savior

Elder Ames, in one of his letters to us on the day before he left the MTC said this, “Well it has been a great week. Although it has been really hard. It seems like everything is trying to keep us from entering the field at full strength. Last night at the fireside a man came and spoke to us and he had brought his friend who was a hispanic man who was recently converted. He didnt speak any english and so he bore his testimony in Spanish. While the speaker translated. But we could have understood it with out the translation. It was the perfect way to end our MTC experience. It was difficult to understand though, he talked really fast and slurred his words. It is not going to be an easy task to learn the language in the field. But I know that if we trust in the Lord, that we will be able to do it. I have no clue what to expect tomorrow. It is going to be crazy.”

I am sitting in a room right now, and no one is speaking english! I had to talk to a man in spanish yesterday fearlissing and I had know clue if he understood anything I said.

So on Saturday we had the baptism of Trinidad. I will send some pictures home today. I printed some out. But they probably won't get mailed till tomorrow. The baptism was incredible. The Spirit could be felt so strong. She was so ready, the only thing holding her back was her dad. She didn't want to disappoint her dad. Elder Rowley performed the baptism, and I ended up giving a talk. I wrote it in my journal so I will have it forever. (I am starting to figure out better ways of how I can preserve all of my memories :) ) The talk went surprisingly well. I knew that I wasn't the one talking, that I was receiving help of some kind, because the older ladies afterwards were saying, " He talks really well, are you sure he doesnt speak spanish" And I was even told that I had a good accent. There must be something in the water here. But Trinidad is incredible. She is going to be an amazing member of the church. I was so blessed to be a part of her special day.

Barns Across America

Sam the YAM will post pictures of barns that are found throughout our country. Why barns? Barns represent to me hard work. They also "store" the memories and history of those that lived there.

How Did Sam Get to New York?

Recently one of Sam's fans asked the question, How did Sam get to New York? Well, it has not taken long for the notoriety of Sam to spread across the country, so when the New York Botanical Gardens heard that there was a new YAM in town they immediately sent an agent out to Arizona and before you knew it Sam was on a leer jet heading back to New York City to be the official mascot of the NYBG. Sam will be there to meet and greet the people as they come to the gardens. The news of this famous yam has already caused the daily attendance to double. Parents and children are flocking to the gardens to see a real live yam. Sam has armed body guards and 24 hour care. Please check out the garden website at the link on the left side of the blog.
www.nybg.org

New York Times

Special Forces from the NYPD have been called on to track down this strange creature. Hoping that from high above the city they will be able to spot him and catch him. Good luck M&M Man! You have not seen the likes of Sam the YAM!

Personal Note from the Editor of Sam the YAM

I have been told that people have probably started to think that I have gone crazy with this Sam the Yam stuff. It's just simply a side effect of medication. As you read the side effects of modern day medication, it can scare you. Why, if the illness that you have isn't going to kill you, the medication that you are prescribed to take to combat the illness will! But in my case, and the indication that I have gone crazy, the side effects I am having have, increased my sense of humor, allowing me to focus on some wholesome and creative family fun that I have not experienced before, utilizing the resources of photographs, internet, and other material, and has increased my appreciation for my friends and family, which hopefully brings us closer together and gives us the opportunity to share experiences that we otherwise would miss if we fail to take the time to share them, which, in the fast paced lifestyles that we often get caught up in, we truly can miss out on experiences that will help us cherish our associations one to another and hold them close in our hearts and memories. So, with that said, I carry on with my silly sense of creative energy and will keep posting the life and times of Sam the YAM! The Editor.

Excerpts from Elder Ames emails

"We are able to see so many cool different things, everyday brings a new adventure. We ran into a homeless man the other day who didn't have any teeth. And he knew exactly who we were so he came up and talked to us. Called us elders. And he knew so much stuff. He spoke seven languages. Had stopped several robberies in front of McDonalds. and put one of them in a coma. He knew that Elder Holland was going to come talk to us this Sunday, he knew the address and he was really cool. He was selling Hockey sticks he had gotten from the dumpster. It was awesome. So many crazy things and crazy people.

So many sirens and horns and people yelling. Fast walking and crazily driving. A car slammed into the Dolex store underneath us last week."

New York Times

Taxi cabs drivers in New York City were brought to a screeching halt today when the same strange creature spotted yesterday in Central Park was jay walking on Broadway. No one could seem to get close to him as he was rather a fast mover. The busy streets of New York have never seen the likes of such a creature. Where did it come from? It certainly is the talk of New York City this evening. The taxis are now moving though, but where he will be next is another guess. Stay glued to the KYAM for the 10:00 news.

New York Times

A strange looking creature (not Elder Ames) was seen in Central Park today by at least three different reports from concerned citizens. They said it had vines, leaves, and some type of protective shield around it. When approached to see what it might be, they were squirted with an orange colored chemical that stunned them right out of the park. It was obvious that this was something not to be messing with. The mounted police were notified but by the time they arrived at the point of sighting the creature had escaped and was no where to be found. It definitely was a strange experience for them. Better luck next time officer.

Elder Ames is sighted at Central Park NYC

Elder Ames with his first companion, Elder Rowley

Elder Ames is sighted at the MTC in Provo, Utah

Their running away trying to escape!

Baby Update

McKelle & Casey went to the doctor and had an ultra sound this week. It's a................

A little baby longlegs!