Happiness

  Every Monday, on their Pday (preparation day), Ethan and Jonah get to FaceTime. The day starts out promptly at 6:30 am when Jonah calls Ethan. He does this every Monday. Often they call us several times that day- including at 2:30 pm when Asher gets home from school and can talk. It is so nice to talk to them! Sometimes they are walking to and from places like the grocery store or an outing. Often Jonah will show us the outside of his apartment in Queens and Ethan will show us how snowy it is in Idaho. I never realized how much snow they got! It’s so fun to talk to them and I’m so glad we get the chance to. Both are doing really well! 

Our kids started school on August 1st! Elizabeth, Ethan and Jonah attend Highland High school, a mere quarter mile from our home. They walk unless they have their instruments (Ethan plays the French horn and Jonah the Baritone) and then I drive them- which has made life easier! They are in the Marching Band and have their first field show on Friday at the Football Game which I am super excited to see! It will bring back memories from when I was in Marching Band. Asher is in 8th grade- can you believe it?!- and also plays the Baritone and Trombone in Jazz band that he recently joined and really likes. He has a close friend George in that class. Asher is in a gifted and talented program where he has the same teachers and students for two years. It’s been really fun for him and he’s been thriving! Declan started Kindergarten! He likes to observe everything before he jumps into the situation so it took he a few days to get the hang of it all, but he’s doing amazingly well! He lear...

  Asher got into the top All State Jazz band! They had two full days of practice and a concert the evening of the second day. Josh got to go and he said that they sounded amazing!! Awesome, Asher!!

Ethan has been out on his mission for 6 months! He started the At-Home MTC Monday August 1st. He’s been loving it out in the field! Yes, it’s cold and frigid and gets to do service helping milk cows and move chickens but he loves it! He’s had three companions and two areas- just like Jonah! Doing a great job, Elder!

** This post was written on February 4th, 2023** Twenty two years ago today, Josh and I met. We were both attending BYU Provo- Josh majoring in Math and I was majoring in Elementary Education. I had just returned from my LDS mission to Bilbao, Spain in July of the year before (2000- what an awesome year!) and Josh had just returned from his LDS mission in September and this was his first semester back at the Y. We met at a surprise birthday party for my roommate. She invited a lot of people to come who lived in our apartment complex (we both lived in Centennial 2 just South of Campus). He came over and we introduced ourselves. He said that his major was math. I was nervous we would have nothing in common. Oh, when I first saw him earlier, I was wondering if anyone cute had move into our apartments. I saw him with his glasses on and said "nope!" We like to laugh at that! After our brief introduction, he go some cake and sat down on the couch. The light from the lamp was glowin...

  Jonah has been out six months! He served in Brooklyn for 3 months and has been in Jamiaca Queens for three months. His trainer was pretty intense and adjusting to the inner city life was hard, but he has learned to find joy in the work. He helped baptize several people while in Brooklyn as well as in Jamaica. Keep up the good work, Jonah! We are praying for you!

                      Hello, All! About 6 weeks ago which was one week before Christmas,  I came down with a crazy stomach bug. I was making a mad dash to the bathroom 10-12 times a day- everything I ate went straight out of me. Within a few days, I was weak and gaunt and wondered how in the world I would make a 6 and then 4 hour road trip to California to see our family after Christmas. I couldn't eat the Christmas ham or rolls or beans that I normally cherish. No pies were baked or made by my hands (a sweet friend brought over a frozen cheesecake from the cheesecake factory). The chocolate in my stocking that I normally love, sat uneaten. My diet consisted of water, unsalted saltines, chicken and broth and veggies and rice and tuna (I needed some protein to make it through the day).  And so, we postponed our vacation for a day. I gave myself a hard line that if I ran to the bathroom even once the day before, we wouldn't ...