Scorpion In A Box

Each week, we look forward to the emails from our two youngest sons who are serving full-time 2-year missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And it's extra fun when those emails include pictures.

I recently shared a couple of pictures sent to us by our youngest son who's serving in Arizona.
Well, this past week he sent a few pictures of a scorpion that had been caught by someone he knows. This is one of those pictures. Can you say yikes?!



This is what he said about this picture:

"This is a bark scorpion, the most common and most lethal scorpion. It just so happens to be able to blend in with carpet and can squeeze through something as small as the width of a credit card."

Double yikes!!

I did a search online for the bark scorpion and yes, this does look like the Arizona Bark Scorpion. You can read about it HERE.

Did you know that the Arizona Bark Scorpion is nocturnal and that it glows in the dark under ultraviolet light?



I found this picture of an Arizona Bark Scorpion on the Wikimedia Commons website. We actually purchased a UV ultraviolet LED flashlight blacklight for our son to take with him on his mission to Arizona. I don't know if he's used it yet though. But, it's nice to know he has it in case he wants or needs to use it make sure there aren't any scorpions in his apartment.

He's been serving in Arizona for just over a year now. And so far, he hasn't mentioned finding any scorpions in either of the apartments where he's lived. And I'm thankful for that.

Thanks for stopping by!


© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Music Monday ~ Go Mom Bloggers Everywhere!

I just love this video by Alex Boye, which he dedicated to moms and mom bloggers throughout the world. It's just so much fun and makes me smile. I hope you enjoy it too!

Alex Boye also dedicated this video to the kidnapped girls in Nigeria, West Africa.

If you haven't checked out Alex Boye's YouTube channel, I hope you will. He's amazing! Here's the link:

Alex Boye YouTube Channel

Thanks for stopping by!


© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Exciting News In The Mail

Last week we received something exciting in the mail. It was the travel itinerary for our third-oldest son who's currently serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He's serving in the Massachusetts Boston Mission, which includes most of Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island, and parts of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut. This is a photo of him taken in December of last year. He was serving in Massachusetts at the time.



The travel itinerary we received gave us the date and time of his arrival at our local airport. Yay! It's so exciting! He will be arriving home in less than two months now!

My husband and I each write a weekly email to our son, which he responds to in his weekly email that he writes and sends to us on his P-day (Preparation Day). That's the one day in each week that missionaries are allowed to take care of personal business like food shopping, laundry, writing/emailing family, etc. The rest of the week is totally devoted to missionary work.

In our weekly emails to our son this last Sunday, my husband and I told him about receiving the itinerary. It turned out that he hadn't received it yet. He already knew what day he was coming home, but he didn't know what time, etc. So, this must have made it very real for him.

His reaction was actually wonderful to read. It sounds like the end of his two-year mission is coming up too fast for his liking. And that he doesn't feel like he's been out on his mission for very long at all. Those words are music to this missionary mom's ears. It shows how much he loves his mission and that he loves serving the Lord and the people in New England. And I know that that's true. He really does love his mission and loves sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We look forward to the day when our son steps off of that plane and into our arms. Until that day arrives, we know that he will finish his mission strong and will continue to serve with all of his heart. And we wouldn't want it any other way.

Thanks for stopping by!


© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Dusty Skies In Arizona

Our youngest son is currently serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arizona. I had heard that there was a haboob, or dust storm, last week in or near the area where he's serving. So, of course, I had to ask him about it in my email to him a few days ago.

In his weekly email, he replied that when the dust storm hit, he and his missionary companion happened to be at the church building, so they waited in there until most of the dust storm passed. Then they headed home.

While he was waiting at the church building, he took pictures of what the sky looked like and sent a few of the pictures home via email. Here's one of the pictures he sent.



You can see how windy it was at the time of this storm by how the trees are bending in the wind. And the sky certainly is a dusty color.

For those unfamiliar with what a haboob, or dust storm, may look like, this is a photo from Wikimedia Commons showing a haboob in Texas.

Haboob in Ransom Canyon, Texas 2009
Wikimedia Commons - Photo by Leaflet

That looks pretty ominous and scary to me. I definitely would not want to be caught out in one of those dust storms! And I'm glad that our son was inside at the time the dust storm hit in Arizona this past week.

Contrast the dusty sky picture at the top of this post with this one taken by our son a couple of days after the dust storm in Arizona.



What a difference! And what a gorgeous sky!

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© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

The Unconditional Surrender Sculpture

My husband and I spent a few days vacationing in San Diego last month. We took lots of pictures of the places we visited. Last week, I shared some photos of Seaport Village, which is located next to San Diego Bay.

Today I'd like to share a few pictures from our visit to the Unconditional Surrender Sculpture. It's near the USS Midway Museum, and is just a short walk away from Seaport Village.

As you can see from the photo below, the sculpture is huge! See how small the people look next to the sculpture? The USS Midway aircraft carrier is in the background, along with a smaller boat.



This is the informational plaque that stands next to the sculpture.



And here's a photo of the sculpture from a different angle.



I'll be sharing more photos from our trip to San Diego in future posts.

Thanks for stopping by!


© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 238th Birthday America! And Happy Independence Day to all of my wonderful readers!

Please enjoy this rendition of "America the Beautiful" by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Thanks for stopping by!


© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Strolling Through Seaport Village

Recently my husband and I vacationed in San Diego. We enjoyed beautiful weather and gorgeous scenery.

We were only there for a few days, so we tried to squeeze in as many activities and see as many things as we could in those few days.

We arrived on a Saturday in the late afternoon and after checking into our hotel, we decided to go see some of the sites. After we had dinner, we headed down to Seaport Village. We had been there before, but that was over ten years ago.



It's such a beautiful spot along the San Diego Bay waterfront, filled with shops, restaurants, and of course, beautiful scenery.

Here's a photo of their lovely pond.



We saw a mommy duck and her little ducklings resting on the banks of the pond. So cute!



Isn't this pretty? It's part of a colorful display in front of one of the shops.



If you're in San Diego, I highly recommend a visit to Seaport Village.

I'll be sharing more photos from our visit to San Diego in future posts.

Thanks for stopping by!


© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved