Flakes Around the World

Your mother and I went home teaching about two hours from Kitale with the Branch President of Misikhu, President Wamalya and a pioneer member, (in the pink shirt) Patrice.  The crazy lady we visited insisted on cooking a full meal for us, which got me sick.  Her methods were typical but primitive as recorded below by your mother.

We ran across these kids playing soccer with a make shift football made of plastic bags.

 The reunion was so awesome.  It was dang HOT though, and there was no relief from the heat. 
 The Auction was the funnest part of the reunion for me.  they had me go up at the start of my item being auctioned and tell about the experience I had while drawing where I felt Grandma's presence.  Uncle Denny, Bryan, and Aaron were the highest bidders on my picture.  And Bryan and Donna won it!  It went for $300!!  I sold prints for $30 each, to go toward the reunion fund.  Aunt Carolee said the Auction made about $5000, $2000 to be saved for the next reunion. The other money to pay for this reunion.  The weird thing about the reaction I had to the picture was that hardly anyone just came up to me only once to complement me on it, but at least 2 times.  It was really special for me to see the affect the picture was having on so many people, and I was glad they could go home with their own copy. I really feel like I had divine help drawing it. 
 I'm sad this picture came out fuzzy!  We took it right before we left the reunion. Uncle Denny, Uncle Lawrence, Aunt Lova, and Aunt Carolee had the best reactions to my drawing.   Aunt Carolee and Aunt Lova started crying when they first saw it.

I told them this photo would be for my Dad, so they all were saying Hi to Dad when we were taking it. Uncle Lawrence had already headed home.


 Three expecting Moms.  We were BYU roomates.  Cami is expecting #7 just like me. 
Alena with her best pals.  The red head is Cami's.

Some other highlights of the reunion
David Grow almost winning the Fear Factor competition and falling in the pool fully dressed. 
Staying in the Grow's luxury cabin when everyone else suffered.
Staying up until 2 AM talking to my cousins.
The "Moments of Mom" at the amphitheater.
And of course, the "Flake-a-mony" which is what Melanie Moore calls it.  JaLayne and I were asked to bear our testimonies because they asked 2 from each family, and we were the only two representing the Layne Flake family   :)  Oh, and our Layne Flake Family group got the best T-shirt colors:  Navy Blue with bright green lettering that says FOREVER FLAKE.
The best part for the kids was the Swimming!

WORST parts of the reunion: THE HEAT!! 


OUR CAR BROKE DOWN LAST NIGHT.
Our car broke down on the way home from the reunion, up in the mountains of Idaho.  No cell phone service.  102 degree heat.  We stood there completely helpless.  We didn't have to wait on the side of the road more than 2 minutes before the nicest couple pulled over, and offered to drive us to Garden City. We piled into their camper and Truck and they ended up driving us to their home in Eagle (where they were headed) since there was no way for us to rent a car in Garden City.  And then drove Justin to the airport to pick up a rental car.  What nice people!  Our car got towed to Boise to get repaired.  It feels good to be home!

This could be your best yet.  We loved the note you put on the back of the frame.  I hope you have a lot of copies to sell.  It's going to be a big hit.  I suggest auctioning the original for $100.00.  Amazing!
Dad

I finished my drawing of Grandma today for the reunion auction tomorrow.  The reunion theme is celebrating Grandma Flake's 100th birthday.  I originally planned on giving the original to Dad, but he insisted on it being in the auction.  This is actually a photograph of a photocopy of the drawing because the original is already behind glass. The copies came out just as good as the original.  I made a copy for each of my siblings, if you'd like it.  

Some info i wrote on the back of the frame of the drawing:

 Justin was with Jaron at scout camp so I decided to take the rest of the kids around town on the 4th of July.  It was pretty crazy because with tourists but we had a lot of fun. 

 Face Painting done by Grant's 2nd grade teacher, and swim teacher.  We've found that Everyone seems to do at least 2 jobs in this town. 


 Ice Cream at "Ice Cream Alley".  Ally was pretty excited that it was named after her and it's the most popular place in town.  Famous for their mountain size scoops.
We went to our neighborhood beach to watch fireworks over the lake.  It was awesome!!