Thursday, August 31, 2023

Family Picture Prep

The main thing on my mind this week has been getting clothes ready for our family pictures. I was able to make some good progress today. I think we're going with a earthy fall color palate - you know, colors that are outside - sky blue, white clouds, yellow sunflowers, green grass, tan wood and brown dirt. 
It has been great to have Melodie home here to help watch the kids while I try to go gather clothing ideas and get other stuff done. She took the kids to the park last night - 
She was playing with Peter and Katharine in the back yard after I returned from my clothes hunt.
She is great to have around. And not only cause she's a great helper and sitter. She and I were also able to go on an hour long walk-and-talk around Bell Canyon today, which was really nice. We should have done that more this summer. We live in such a beautiful area. It's good to get outside and enjoy it and especially having good company. Taking a pic of Mel on a rock.
Mel taking a picture of me doing a headstand to add to my collection. 
So anyway, I got quite a few things today - so that there are options to choose from, depending on what each kid thinks looks good on them and what they want to wear. I picked up two dress options for Katharine. I'm very grateful for Kid to Kid and the DI. Thank you, dear thrift stores, for saving us a lot of money over the years.
White dress, pearls, and new white shoes! Katharine will be the princess of our family photos for sure. I don't think she's quite ready for pig tails in her hair though...
After I did my shopping, I let Mel take the van down to Provo so she could go move in and get settled in her new apartment. I let her take two chrysalides. All bucked up in the passenger seat ~
I trust Mel with caterpillars. Unfortunately, Corey also gave two chysalides to Ethan, and he left them in his hot car and they got cooked. So that was sad. It's been a bit of a rough year with caterpillars so far - I've been sharing them more freely with others, and that might prove to have been a bit worse for the butterflies, but I won't know for sure until I crunch my numbers later in the fall. Still, even with the few deaths we have, it's probably still better, number wise, than not trying at all. Now as for the strength of the monarchs that are babied inside, that is still up for debate. They might not be hardy enough for the migration trip, but we'll keep our fingers crossed that they'll figure it out. Katharine is learning how to find butterflies - looking at the milkweed leaves!
It's cute to see her imitate so much of what we do (like the kisses and push ups from Wednesday).
So this week has been kids, caterpillars, and finding clothes. I think we'll be ready for Saturday! It will be a bit of a crazy day, I'm sure, but no matter how crazy the build up is, the pictures have always turned out nice. I'm so glad that Hyrum is home and that Wesley is still here (he's started his mission papers!) - I'm excited to have family pictures with "everyone" again!

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Take a Deep Breath

Well, here we are. There are two more days of August, and I have only done 5 posts to record the happenings of our home. AND I still need to catch up on May ...and every month after that. But right now I can't find where I put my planners, which is where I keep my notes of what happened in all those past days from months ago. Some of my other current obstacles are a computer that is glitchy and slow that I often need to reboot when I go sit at it and think I'm going to be able to blog for a second. Also, usually when I'm at the computer, that is when the kids ask to use it for homework, or they knock on my door and wake up Katharine. The computer Corey got for the kids a years ago hasn't worked for years, I don't know why. Also, when I try to blog and I go to add photos, the google photos thing says it can't find them, so then I have to upload the pictures via my phone. The kids are also always asking for my phone so they can check Instagram, or to send themselves pictures, or so they can listen to music... Here's one Lily sent to herself, I don't know why. 

I get it, it's funny and cute, but I struggle with all the requests. I think I'm going to just start saying "No." Those are all my blogging problems. It could also be just because the days are passing by too quickly. Sister Beck said there would be days like this (I put in bold): 

A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do. Life is not calm for most women, and each day seems to require the accomplishment of a million things, most of which are important. A good woman must constantly resist alluring and deceptive messages from many sources telling her that she is entitled to more time away from her responsibilities and that she deserves a life of greater ease and independence. But with personal revelation, she can prioritize correctly and navigate this life confidently.

The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.

That's from her April 2010 talk "And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit", which is one of my favorites. I do not think I am not currently tempted by feelings of needing or wanting more time away from my responsibilities. I've gotten pretty good, I think, at not having a life of ease. Corey and I work hard and are usually giving 100%, and I think we've both come to enjoy the hard work. It's quite rewarding! I would like more time though. If only I didn't need to sleep. Then I could start getting ahead maybe! I definitely have enough to do that I should probably not be farming caterpillars, but alas, I have been doing that. Seems like instead of bringing them all inside and then bringing milkweed inside, that God already had it worked out for all of that to happen outside? What!?! Hmm... interesting. I do like letting the kids see it, but most of them have gotten their fix of caterpillars and don't care that much at the moment for this side hobby of mine. They do like to see the butterflies when they emerge and all the work has been done. Then they like to come and see. It's like the little red hen - they want the bread without helping plant, harvest, mill, knead, or bake it. But that's ok, cause I like sharing my bread/caterpillars with my kids, cause I think it makes them in awe of God, cause the whole creation of the metamorphosis process is super crazy amazing! 

That's a pic I took of Natalie to send to a neighbor as I was trying to get people to lighten my load share the joy. So we have like 17 chrysalides right now and over 40 caterpillars (I haven't even been trying to count them this year, we're just counting final butterflies. I have given quite a few away, should probably give away more... Maybe I'll offer them to the kids' teachers at school. 

But I shouldn't focus on the problems and obstacles, right?! I need to focus on what to do - how to solve them, and then work at that. So a few wins - yesterday I invited some friends to a salad night with our neighborhood church ladies, and they BOTH said they're coming! So that was good. I also have family pictures scheduled for Saturday evening. Hyrum and Mel took the car today to run errands and get ready for school, and I'm using it tomorrow morning to go clothes thrifting to find stuff for pictures. We're thinking of going for this look - 

What else... I've been doing probably too good with exercising. Today Corey and I rode up the quarry trail. On our way home, Owen was at the bus stop. 

It was 8:30 and he was ready and claiming his spot at the first kid in line. He was the only one there (they mark their place with their backpacks). I think, thankfully, that he did wait at home until 8:20 to leave, so it was only a 20 minute wait for the bus, which is an improvement from last week when he and Daniel left at the same time that Natalie did when she left at 8 for Safety patrol. That made them have a 40 min wait! I think they were a little excited for the first week of school. 

After our ride, Corey got ready for work and I did this Fit Test with Hyrum. It's my 4th week doing that. Good workout. I could/should probably spent less time exercising and do more stretching. Wes and I still take cold showers. I think, if I remember, I'll try again to keep it simple by sharing important events and funny moments, and BeReals for the college kids. Here is a recent BeReal of Ethan's, similar to his other BeReals for the past two weeks because of a certain someone standing close to him. You might have noticed her from the picture at the airport on Friday. This is Bella. Ethan is pretty smitten. The airport was the first time we all met her. She seems awesome! We wish you luck Eth!


Last cute thing from today: Katharine learned how to give kisses tonight. 
That's right Katharine! Pucker up your lips! Squeeze in those cheeks!
We were all laughing, it was so adorable. 
Video of Wes stealing her away
Wes was doing some push ups in the kitchen for some reason, and then K saw him and she started to do push ups too, but hers didn't look like push ups and we were all laughing. Trying to get her to do it again for the camera, it was funny. (I have <--that video unlisted but you should be able to see it with the link. I just don't want that one public on youtube.)

Monday, August 28, 2023

BeReal with Nicole

Well, we weren't able to convince Nicole to stay for a morning bike ride. That's ok. She runs a tight ship. Saying bye to my Best Friend!
(Best girlfriend. Corey's my best and only boyfriend). Quick pointless tangent... I'm wondering why I take BeReals right now. Cause I usually want to show the selfie AND the other photo shoot, but with BeReal I don't really have control over them. Like, if this was a photo I had chosen to take, I would have zoomed in a bit more so I could see Nicole's kids better. And I also tend to want to post both BeReals, so if I'm going to show two photos anyway, why not have them be normal photos I am able to control and take rather than BeReals... Hm, something I am going to think about. 
Somehow it's a game that I've gotten sucked into that I am not sure how to get out of or stop doing. Just had to get that out as I'm looking at the two BeReal photos I above. You can also always see my popsocket in the bottom left corner of the wide photos too, blah. Anyway... by the time I was done getting kids off to school (almost) Nicole and her crew had already been up for hours and walked the dog and packed up their cots and were ready to head out. Owen saying bye to their dog Kaylie. 

One last chat before they pull away. 

Nicole has a Velocirax. It's a shame that they brough the bikes out all this way and weren't able to use them. It would have been nicer to have more time to visit and to do things together. I should have gone down to BYU Education week with her. Next year? Er... probably not... blast. I guess I'll go in a few years, when my toddlers are gone (sniff, I'm going to miss my babies if the day ever does come when I'm done with babies and toddlers.) BYE HERMANA!!! She's off to drive across the country once again. 

And despite my tangent above, here's my BeReal from a ride Wes and I took after Nicole left. 

We were biking in Corner Canyon when BeReal went off, but that's ok cause it was in a spot where I was ok with taking a quick break. Wes is going to do some biking for the next 45 days for his BYU Fitness for Living class. We parked at Coyote Hollow, went past the Silica Pit, did Rush the end, then took Canyon Hollow up to the wide Corner Canyon road, took that to the Peakview trailhead, then took Rush down, did Rush the trees. Rush is fun. And then it was a normal Monday with kids. Mel and I watched Peter and Katharine dancing in the front room, I took care of caterpillars... I cleaned a bit in the basement, and saw this house that Sophi has been working on - a replica of our house! Pretty cute! I was way impressed. 

Sophi walked to Wayne's house from Churchill today, and I picked her up from there for her violin lesson. It took a few phone calls back and forth, and sending her some screenshots of maps with arrows, but she made it, Corey met her in the street. She was proud of her almost newfound independence. Good job Soph. Mel and Abi made dinner while I was gone at violin, so we had a sit down dinner, yay, go team.
Then it was homework and helping the kids practice music. I help Owen, NOT that I know how to play the trumpet, but I do go sit with him during his lessons and I take notes, so I know what his teacher is telling him to do. I can't make a sound on the trumpet, but I can coach ok. Corey took this picture of me, I guess he was proud/thankful. Corey and I make a good team.
Life is busy, but rewarding. It's great.

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Hyrum Homecoming

Today Hyrum shared a message in sacrament meeting, giving a report of his mission. We had arranged for is message to be today, because next Sunday is fast and testimony meeting, so he couldn't do it then... and then he'll be gone to BYU Idaho on Sept 8th, so today was it! That is also the reason why we are having family photos taken this upcoming weekend (Sept 2). Joseph should be back from Guatemala on Wednesday, so this weekend is our only chance before they all start going their separate ways. Anyway, here is the talk that Hyrum shared:
_______________________

Good morning brothers and sisters

It is a joy to be with you and to be back home again. It is good to see so many familiar faces, friends and family members. For those who I have not met yet, my name is Hyrum Wride. I am the 4th oldest of the 13 Wride kids over there (wherever they are). This past Friday I returned from my full-time mission in the California, San Diego Mission. I will be home for about 2 weeks before going up to BYU Idaho for school and I am excited about what the future will bring.

My Mission was an amazing experience and I will be forever grateful for it. It all now feels like a dream. How one condenses 2 years into 1 talk is beyond me, but I will do my best.

The California, San Diego Mission covers San Diego county and the Imperial Valley. San Diego is the second largest city in California, and the 8th largest in the U.S. The mission has a population of about 3.5 Million people with 8 stakes of the church. Right now there are about 170 missionaries serving in 9 different languages: English, Spanish, American Sign Language, Haitian Creole, Tagalog, Arabic, Swahili, Farsi and Mandarin Chinese. One of my favorite parts about San Diego is that it is a super diverse place with people from all parts of the world. Despite being called an English Missionary, I was able to spend 12 weeks in a hybrid English/Tagalog ward, and my last 3 weeks fully in Haitian Creole. I tried to learn, but I don't speak much of either.

On my mission I had 9 different areas: Poway, the area around SDSU, Otay Lakes, Lakeside, Encinitas, National City, Brawley, Del Cerro and City Heights. In these areas I had a total of 17 different companions.

Having grown up in the church, with a legacy of missionaries and good examples, I had always planned on serving a mission. As a young man the time got closer and closer, and it scared me. I knew it would be hard and really had no idea what I was getting into. My initial reason for submitting my papers and getting on the plane was because it made sense to serve a mission! It is a big part of our culture and it just made sense. But as my mission went on, my reason changed. As I continued to serve, I decided to stay on my mission because I gained a testimony that the message was true. Missionary work was hard, as I thought, but I needed to be true to my conversion. At least 90% percent of the days on my mission I woke up not feeling like doing missionary work. But at the end of every day, I felt best when I had given the day my all.

I would like to share with you a list about some of the things that I have learned on my mission:

- I learned how to properly iron a dress shirt
- I learned that there is a difference between shampoo and conditioner
- I learned how to solve a Rubix cube
- I learned that some bleach and stain remover can work wonders for white shirts
- I learned how it hard it can be to be with someone 24/7
- I learned the importance of recording and journaling because of how easy it is for us to forget
- I learned how to talk to people better
- I learned that communication and giving 100% are both very important practices in companionships
- I learned that there is great truth in paradoxes
- I learned that persistency is more important than perfection
- I learned that there is nobody you would not love if you knew their story
- I learned that we are actually given more than we give up when we sacrifice to the Lord
- I learned that how we spend our day to day is important because its how we spend our lives
- I learned that if the Bible is true, then the church is true
- I learned more about the grace of Jesus Christ and who He is

One of the big surprises of my mission is that missionaries are basically still high schoolers. I always knew that kids in high school could be crazy, irresponsible, or wild punks, but I guess I always figured that there was some point of maturity in between high-school and the mission. That may be the case for some, but there were a lot of missionaries that I’ve met where that wasn't the case. The older I've gotten, the more crazy the concept seems of the Lord's work being largely entrusted in the hands of such young people. What other organization besides the church, trusts tens of thousands of young adults to go into all parts of the world without wreaking havoc? A wise man once said “If the church wasn’t true, the missionaries would’ve destroyed it a long time ago”. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland also once said that it’s one of the wonders of the world that missionaries do what they do.

I again, am so grateful for my mission. There is just so much that happened and changed. In just a homecoming talk I feel that I could not share "a hundredth" of all that happened: the miracles, blessings, spiritual experiences, and amazing people that I've met.

One of my favorite people that I’ve taught, was a lady named Amy. Amy is an older single lady who is taking care of her aunt Patsy who has Alzheimer’s. Amy is a wonderful example of having her joy be swallowed up in Christ. She does not have a lot of family support in taking care of Patsy, and told us that it gets really hard sometimes to take care of her and see her fading. She is very busy and does her best to take care of her, but feels like her burdens are heavy. It was while she was taking care of her aunt that she sought out the church and wanted to learn more. We had a couple of lessons with her and were excited for her progress. Not long after meeting her we got transfer news and found out both my companion and I would be leaving. The night before transfers we had a lesson with her and she was having her hardest time. She told us a lot about how she was feeling and we were glad to be there for her. At the end, she asked what kind of music we had in our church and I pulled up “Consider the Lilies' ' by the Tabernacle Choir. A very special and powerful spirit came into the room during the song. Amy told us that she feels the spirit when we come by. Despite her trials, and people telling her bad things about the church, she said she knew she was feeling drawn. Today Amy is still meeting with the missionaries and I am hopeful for her progress.

As we develop faith in the Savior, we recognize that if He really did perform His sacrifice for us, then we have no reason but to be of good cheer, regardless of our circumstance. Any and all kinds of adversity become small when compared to the gospel, promises of the Lord, and the grandeur of eternity with Him and our families. His promises are sure, so long as we focus and hold onto Him. One of my favorite scriptures in Moroni 9 says:

"25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever."

It will all work out. He will take care of the mortal messiness of our lives, and we will see our loved ones again. We can have joy and good cheer because of Him. 

My personal testimony also grew a lot on my mission. Whenever I have been asked what I learned on my mission, the most important answer is that I have learned that the church and the gospel are true. From the beginning of the online MTC, one my favorite things about being a missionary was the opportunity to sincerely and fully dive deep into the gospel. I quickly fell in love with Personal Study time to read the scriptures and pray. My favorite thing to study was The Book of Mormon. Although I always knew the stories, on my mission I felt like I was reading it for the first time. Its purity, simplicity, spirit and complexity was amazing. It was no longer boring to me, but it came alive. Reading and praying about it, I have received multiple witnesses, again and again, that the Book of Mormon is true. The promise of the book is that those who read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon sincerely will gain a testimony of its truth. 

Additionally, President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that “those who have read [the Book of Mormon] prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power.” He further taught: “Without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God”.

I am very grateful for the Book of Mormon, and the keystone that it is. It was one of my favorite things to share as a missionary because it is our unique message, and is God's compelling witness of the gospel.

I feel and see now how clear the gospel and truthfulness of it is. I have felt and experienced undeniable witnesses that it is true. I resonate with the scripture Luke 24:32, after 2 disciples have an interaction with Christ. “And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”

Earlier this year Elder Mark Bragg, who gave a recent General Conference talk "Christlike Poise", came and spoke to us at a Zone Conference. He shared an analogy with us as it relates to these moments of clarity. He said life is like driving in a car in heavy rain. When it's raining, our vision can be obscured. But, with our windshield wipers on, we will have moments of complete clarity to see where we are going. In a similar way, the adversary is constantly raining distractions, temptations, and anything else he can on us to obscure our vision in our day to day lives. But as we make consistent efforts to live and learn the gospel, we will have moments, fuelled by the spirit, of great clarity. Sometimes these moments take time, I know it has for me, but it does come. I have had countless experiences where I feel like my vision is a little obscured, or I have doubts, but every time I come through with greater clarity and understanding.

When I feel like I don’t see clearly, I remember that when you boil it down, the most important things we need to ask ourselves are these questions:

1) Is there a God in Heaven who knows and loves us?
2) Did Jesus Christ really live, die, and rise again and enable us to live with God and our families again?
3) Is the Book of Mormon true? Was Joseph Smith a Prophet?

These are really the only questions that make all the difference. The answer to all of these questions is Yes, but we each need to find these answers for ourselves. The work of finding out is worth all of the effort in the world, because it is true, it means everything. Knowing the answers to these questions for ourselves allows us to press forward when we have different wrestles. For example, maybe you struggle to know why good people go through hard things. Do you know that God knows and loves you? If so, you can be assured and hopeful that God is mindful of His children, and is taking care of them, despite the difficult circumstances. Or maybe you struggle with negative things you've been told by friends or online about the church, leaders or the Prophet Joseph Smith. Do you know that the Book of Mormon is true? If so, you know that the negativity, even if it's true, does not invalidate Joseph Smith being a true prophet or the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Knowing the answers to these important questions gives us firm hope in any circumstance.

As I grew in understanding of the gospel, I also grew in understanding of the disparity in the world. It was the most intense kind of sorry I experienced to realize how many people are lost and do not have what we have. I often related to these words in Alma 29:

" 1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! 2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth"

I remember wishing so strongly that everyone knew what I know. It was so hard to realize that there are millions of people out there suffering, and their lives could be so much better if they had what we have. There is so much despair and confusion in the world, and there are so many who do not see.

Within the church, I was also shocked to realize how many people fall away. At least in the wards I served in, most baptized members who were on our record list, were no longer coming to church.

As a missionary I have been able to meet so many different kinds of people and see the great difference in the quality, joy and fruits of people's lives. From my experience, I feel very strongly that the Latter-day Saints are the best kind of people. In the same way I got to know non-members, I was also able to come to know the members of the church on a deeper level. Rather than just seeing them at church, I was able to enter their homes, feel the spirit there and learn about their stories and testimonies. I was able to see the fruit of their lives and their goodness. One of my favorite quotes by the Prophet Joseph Smith is “let me be resurrected with the Saints, whether I ascend to heaven or descend to hell, or go to any other place. And if we go to hell, we will turn the devils out of doors and make a heaven of it.” There is no other group of people that I would rather be a part of than the Latter-day Saints. I have grown to know and love the members of this church so much and I want to be wherever they are or wherever they go after this life. 

In my own life, growing up in the gospel has been a huge blessing. And although I have been in the church all my life, I have not always lived it as I should. But when I do, I am simply better and happier. As I am now moving forward as a returned missionary, I hope the best years are ahead. I hope I never forget the things I have felt and seen, but continue forward with the foundation built on my mission. Coming home from my mission has reminded me of when I came home from an EFY camp. EFY was a joyful and spirit filled week and I will always remember the special love that I felt there. It was a very powerful experience for me. Upon returning back home, I remember feeling very sad and I started to cry. All I could think about was how amazing EFY was, and how badly I did not want to return home. I felt that the short week had changed me in a small way, because I was so involved in the gospel. I was scared of losing what I had felt there, and did not want to return to being who I was before: distracted, confused, and not purpose driven. I didn't develop the spiritual strength that I needed, and eventually did fall back into the distractions of life, and the malnourishment of my testimony, but I always remembered the impact EFY had on me. In comparison, the impact of my mission has been much greater, and my resolve to be a life-long disciple of Christ is firm.

I am so grateful for my mission and the blessings I have received. It is all true, but I feel like I could not even be mad if it wasn't true because I have been given so much because of it. Brad Wilcox told our mission that nothing would overwhelm us as much as realizing how much we are blessed when we really see it. I don’t know that I will ever fully see it in this life, but since then, I have recorded in a little green journal of mine, all of the blessings of the day every day. Without fail, every day, I have received blessings. My greatest blessings include my parents, my siblings, extended family, my personal growth and happiness, the opportunities I have to get an education and work, my temporal needs, and of course, growing my testimony of Jesus Christ. But there are so many little blessings that add on top of each other and become great. I don’t know why I have been given so much, but I hope that I can live up to the blessings that I have been given and also give. I strongly believe that striving to give as much as you have been given is one of the greatest calls and needs from the members of the church, despite how far we will fall short in that quest.

God is with us. Even though we may not see it, or understand how, He is mindful of us. I once heard a member share a story in a testimony meeting of a young men's hike he went on with his son. On the ascent, one of his young sons was complaining and wanted to be carried. He picked up his son in his arms and carried him. All the way his son was asking different things of him: to cover the sun from his eyes, or to hold him a different way. Although he was being carried, he told his dad that he was getting tired and that this was hard. His dad also felt tired, and that this was hard for him. What did his son know? Wasn’t he the one being carried? He told us that carrying his son on that hike was a profound spiritual experience for him. It reminded him of the Savior and how He carries us. Christ carries the real burden, but we don’t fully see or appreciate it with our perspective. We can still feel tired, but that does not mean Christ is not with us.

I would now like to bear my testimony in English

I do not know the meaning of all things, but I know that God loves His children more than we realize. He wants us to be happy, and to become like Him, and He’s provided those great possibilities through Jesus Christ. He wants to connect with us and help us. I think sometimes we just need to take time to feel His love. In your prayers, I invite you to not only speak, but also listen. Make time for silence in your personal prayers to feel the Spirit and to slow down. Make it more of a conversation, and less of a one sided list of needs, wants, and thank yous. From personal experience, some of my most powerful moments have been when I just sit in silent prayer. Not saying anything, but just being present. I think this is what Jacob meant when he said (Jacob 3:2)“O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.”

I love you and thank you for being here today. I leave you with my testimony that Jesus Christ lives. I love Him all of my heart and devote my life to Him. May God bless each of you.
_______________________

We had lots of family come to hear him, and also a special guest appearance from Nicole and her kids who have been out here for BYU's Education Week! We stayed for both hours, so Nicole joined me in Relief Society which was wonderful. After church we went home for lunch and some visiting. Corey's brother Mark had set up all the food, which was super nice. Ham sandwiches, chips, fruit, lots of desserts... How's that sandwich, Peter? 

Cute little guy is his white shirt and tie. I bet, given our track record so far, that this little boy is going to grow up to be a missionary for Jesus too. I hope that all of my children grow up learning a love for the Lord. Tables and chairs in the back yard, visiting with Nicole and her kids. Katharine liked their dog. 

Neil is the bishop in his ward in Layton and wasn't able to make it down for church here, but he did come down after and had a nice visit with Hyrum. 

Katharine, being snuggly and not sure she wants to be awake from her nap. 

Nicole and her kids are staying the night here with us, yay! and we're toying with possibly going biking in the morning before they head back to Maryland. But they have already had a long week, and might be anxious to get going back home, so we'll see. The kids played 5000 and had fun visiting, and of course I love talking with Nicole. It would have been fun to be with them more while they were here, but they were busy with BYU Education week and with other friends to visit. And we had a regular school week, and busy Saturday with our last time cleaning the church and soccer games. On Saturday I didn't think I'd be able to get out on a ride, but later, Corey and I did have a moment to escape and we went to corner canyon for a ride. It was perfectly overcast and not busy, really just perfect!  I was just going nice and easy and enjoying myself on the descent. It would be really fun to share those trails with Nicole and her kids. As we were immersed in conversation for the better part of the evening, we brought up maybe trying to go there before they leave tomorrow. I think I secretly wish Utah had something that would be a strong enough bait to get Nicole to move here! I wouldn't mind moving out east again, maybe I can find a lure for that option too. Anyway, we had a nice visit. As I was in conversation most of the evening, it was not surprising to me that Wesley and Natalie took selfies on my phone. 
You two are as bad as Katharine! (K is probably the most camera happy of the children, atleast with my phone!)

K time for scriptures. It's been a good and rewarding day. So grateful for these kids and the amazing people they are becoming. I'm grateful I get to watch the amazing things they'll do and see the wonderful people they will become. 

Friday, August 25, 2023

Welcome Home Hyrum!

Today was a happy day! Hyrum has returned home from his mission! Yay! 
I walked into the greeting room where I could see through a glass window past the security gate, so I was the first to see him coming, and I tried to run back to tell everyone! The little boys were watching and all ran to him. 
That was cute. One of the best moments there. Hugs around for everyone. 
And Hyrum meeting Katharine for the first time! 
She did pretty good!
And a BeReal! I'm sure Hyrum's siblings will let him know all the apps he needs to get now that he's back in the young and modern crowd.

Thank you to the nice gentlemen that took that photo so that Bella could join us in the picture! We'll give details on that later, but Bella is the name of that pretty girl in Ethan's arms. More details to come!

Right after picking up Hyrum, he wanted to go see JeNeal's graveside. He said "I know she would have been there to see me if she could, so seems appropriate..." 
Hyrum was tearful on the drive over. I'm sure just a ton of emotions to deal with coming home today - saying goodbye to the mission life, meeting Katharine for the first time, hugging Grandpa without JeNeal there, it's a lot.
I had food and treats prepared at home (took this pic of Peter and Katharine on our trip to Costco for party food - cuties!) -
...so we came home for dinner instead of going out - which we hoped would be a bit less expensive, but would also be better for visiting. Sit down dinner, oh yeah, go me. 
The Stake President came over to release Hyrum at 4. 
I'm glad Hyrum was watching the clock, cause all of a sudden it was 3:55, so we hurried and cleaned the front room!
And then we all celebrated with ice cream cones after. 
Katharine liked that. 
Playing Compatability, to see if Ethan and Bella are more compatible than Hyrum and Wes, or Mel and Natalie!
Hyrum passed out gifts that he brought from San Diego. Swords and legos for his little brothers, jewelry for his sisters, a lovely framed picture of the San Diego Temple for me. 
We're so happy that he is safely back home.