Remember when my nephew left on his mission and I had people leave him advice for being out in the field? I tried to do the same thing with Makayla, but it did not have the same turn out I anticipated. Instead of the classic, "love the people," "go to work," etc, we got, "Enjoy all the alone time you have right now," and, "stay away from boys." hahaha! Both valid points, I might add. Makayla reports to the Mexico MTC November 6th, from there she will return stateside and serve the Louisville, Kentucky mission. - Spanish speaking

     Makayla is my second sister to serve and fourth sibling overall. Austin (brother just younger than me) served in Calgary, Canada - Spanish speaking. Robert (Jones kid #3) served in Arequipa, Peru - Spanish Speaking. And Julie, (Jones kid #4) served in Kingston, Jamaica - English(ish). My husband, Danny served in the Dominican Republic and also speaks Spanish. The secret conversations are only growing at the house, and let me tell you, my high school Spanish does not cut it! 

     When we planned Makayla's missionary pictures, we did not account for all the smoke and hazy light caused by the ongoing wildfires. As a result, the light was very different than I anticipated and it got darker so much faster. We shot at my favorite patch of sunflowers and then explored the rest of Dimple Dell park. On top of the poor light quality, there was also an air show or something going on overhead. The jets were so loud that, even yelling, Makayla couldn't hear my directions. At the end of the shoot we decided we needed a part two to her pictures. So the next week or so later we went to Potato Hill and it was just perfect! I am so happy we decided to do part two - they are by far my favorite.