Christmas Festivities

My good friends Renee' and Louise at the Cookie exchange Party hosted by Renee.

We all brought 5 dozen cookies and then made plates of all the different varieties to drop off at the sisters we Visit Teach.

Nothing like good friends...we have all been friends for 40 years!!!!

My sister's Ann & June, we had a wonderful visit and some delicious tamales & beans, which tasted like they had been blessed.  June is a wonderful cook and everything she makes is delicious!

Here is the family getting ready to go through the neighborhood singing carols and giving out our Christmas Popcorn.  (which was a complete bust in St. Lucia)  our annual Caroling Party.  This was the first year we did not freeze to death, the weather was so nice

Jake, Jaxson and Drey, the Three Musketeers, at the first annual Kindergarten Overnighter at Papa and Nana's home.

We had a fun Scavenger Hunt,

decorated cookies, played Hide and Seek, and

a few other games.

The boys had a such fun with the Potato Gun

fights.  Fun boys...great memories!

Ember, Cole, Kensley, Keaton and Zach

Our annual Older Grand kids Christmas Party.

We had so much fun, making pizza, playing "Rock Band", Taboo, Jump Rope and the hit of the night was "Potato Guns"!!!

Good Times!!!

Okay, so I can't figure out what is happening with the posting...I can't get this writing to go underneath the pictures anymore...someone who is smarter than me, please tell me what I am doing wrong!!!

Temple Lights 2008

Thanksgiving starts the Festivities!

December 1, 2008

We have a tradition of going to Pete's Fish and Chips and then over to the Temple to see the Christmas lights.  It is so beautiful and the children delight in seeing all the lights and watching the movie, Luke 2.  This was the first year the weather was nice and not cold at all.

Thanksgiving was a great day of delicious food followed by our Annual

DANCE OFF!!

It was fun to watch all the little children rock out, and even more fun was watching all the grown children dance!!  They could move it like the Lucians!!!

Spending time with the Grand Kids is the best!

This day I was spending some time with Cade and Gracie, very adorable!

Tuesday is Temple Day for some of the Sherwood's

I always want a person in the picture, Neisha was glad to assist...but you can barely even see that she is there!

Here is the Arizona Temple.

The Magical Homecoming

Our children found this picture and had it on the wall when we walked in our home...it wiped us out!!!

We arrived at Sky Harbor Airport Monday, November 3, 2008.

Nervous and excited all at the same time, we walked fast towards our family.  When they saw us, they started chanting, WE ARE....SHERWOOD!!!  And that continued until we got close enough for them to run and surround us...it was the greatest thing ever!

Elder Sherwood home with his boys...he is in heaven!

We are so very proud of the men in the family, they help out in the ward, serve where ever there is a need, and more importantly they help their wives with house work, as well as watch, bath and take care of the children!  Quite simply amazing!

Neisha - Karissa - Jaimi - Taffy - Kinsey

The Sherwood women "Stand Firm and Immovable"

We are so  blessed to have such loving, capable daughters!

After just a few days we are reminded just how wonderful they really are!

43 yellow balloons were launched,

 representing the 43 baptisms that we were blessed to be a part of in St. Lucia.

The grand kids wrote some new words to Called To Serve,

and they sang their little hearts out!

They are adorable!!!

Called To Serve St. Lucia Style

Called to serve him, on a little island.

In the Car---i---bbean Sea we serve.

Far and wide we drive from here to Castries

Far and wide we preach his word.

Onward ever onward, as we cook and feed them all

Onward ever onward, and the portions aren't too small.

Forward pressing forward as we watch them grow and learn.

We can leave our mission strong for we know they will stand firm!!

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The whole experience of coming home was magical 

because of a lot of time and hard work by our children.

The yard was beautifully green with fresh sod, trees trimmed, fresh flowers and greenery planted.  Burned out light bulbs replaced...the

house was sparkling clean and smelling great!

I must say that every detail had been attended to and everything was

Spit-Spot!!!!!

To top it all off, they had a delicious meal prepared,

Steak, Baked Potatoes and Tossed Green Salad

( we could not get good beef in St. Lucia, so the steak was a real treat!)

It was a night never to be forgotten!

How blessed we are to have such wonderful children and 

grandchildren ...family is everything...and now we have two families, the one in Arizona and our family in St. Lucia!

Heavenly Father has poured out his blessing on us!

We will be forever grateful.

God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again

Some our Lucian Family

Never to be forgotten!

Leaving them was almost harder than leaving our family back home 18 months ago!

Saying good-bye to Agatha & Jen, our landladies, very nice ladies - I will miss them.

Elder Sherwood and Marie

This was our last time to attend Home, Family and Personal Enrichment in St. Lucia

Marie was in charge, she taught us how to make Accra, a favorite fish cake for the Lucian's.

Then Sister Santos made some delicious fried Plantain with Guacamole, so delicious!

Mel & Melvina brought Salt Fish...another Lucian favorite.

Miss Justina made Hot Bakes.

Others brought green fig salad, and several other Creole dishes.

We enjoyed all the food very much

Marie - Justina - Shermin - Hygena

A powerful foursome! 

 These sisters are strong and will be a huge blessing in helping the church to grow in St. Lucia.

Elder and Sister Hymas will replace us in St. Lucia.

They are so wonderful and are the perfect pair to love and strengthen the members.

We know that they will lift the Castries Branch to new heights.

How grateful we are for them.

Wrapping It Up in Vieux Fort

President Nicholas & Elder Sherwood

This was our last Sunday in Vieux Fort.

  When we first arrived in ST. Lucia, a small group had just started on the other end of the Island.

We drove 1 1/2 hours one way, to attend Sacrament meeting once a month and every Tuesday we made the trip to teach the Gospel Study Class.

We also attended all the baptisms.  After doing that for 6 months, we became very close to the people there and made lasting relationship.

About a year ago, a senior couple, the Williamson's, were assigned to serve in Vieux Fort, since then we would only visit occasionally.  But we still feel very close to the members there.

They invited us to speak in Sacrament Meeting and afterwards they had a delicious "Munch and Mingle".  What a lovely day it was, we enjoyed it so much we stayed for hours!

The couple that replaced us, Elder and Sister Hymas, arrived the day before and  we were thrilled to introduce them to the Vieux Fort Branch.

Sister Sherwood -  Sister Williamson  -  Sister Hymas

The Sister Missionaries

Shanelle - Zephina - Jennette

The Vieux Fort Primary Presidency

Shanelle was so shy the first time we met her, she would not even look up...on this day, she said the prayer...she has come a long way.

Zephina is the Branch Presidents wife. 

 She is an excellent cook and prepared all the food for the "Munch and Mingle".  She is a warm, fun person and we love her dearly!

This is Lilly!  

President Nicholas' & Zephina's daughter.

She is a pistol, full of fun and laughter, a very delightful child!

These are the missionaries,

 and future missionaries, giving it a big "Hurrah for Israel"!!!

Our Last Week in St. Lucia

It was Creole Week in St. Lucia!!

They all celebrate their old customs, the way they used to cook on the cole pots,

dance and dress.  I love the madras plaids, they are all bright colors, and against their beautiful black skin, it is absolutely beautiful.

Some of the Young Women surprised us with some really fun, Creole Dances!

It was such a highlight for me.

The girl on the left is Teddianne, she just turned 13 last week, Oct 26.

We helped celebrate her birthday ---sweet girl!

D'Anne, Kacy and Sarah, went with us see some entertainment at the 

Windjammer Resort....the best dancers ever!  

I could have watched them dance all night...amazing

Ethan, the boy is the middle with the mostly blue shirt on, is such a sweet little boy, we went to pick him up from school and couldn't resist snapping a few photos of these darling children.

Elder Sherwood is so close to all the youth, he loves them dearly, as do I!!