Time with Sara

This is Sara's last year in Elementary School. Her school starts later than the other kids, so we have an hour and a half together every morning after everyone else leaves for the day. We have been reading together every morning which I hope will help Sara's comprehension. Also, I decided not to join carpools this year for the first time in years. Mostly because my summer was too crazy to wrap my head around scheduling one. It has been nice to talk with my kids to and from school everyday. Plus, we get to do spontaneous things like stop at Menchie's for a frozen yogurt after school occasionally.

Luke is taking early morning seminary all year, so Mary drops him off on her way to school everyday except Fridays when I take him for late start. Mary also picks Luke up from school on her way home except for when she has dance. It seems to be working well so far.

Sara has started driving the golf cart and she is a great driver. I've been a little scared a couple of times but Nana never flinches- she loves every minute of it!

I love serving in Primary during Sara's last year. She will enter Young Women in January and I will miss her so much! Love this girl!

Sara felt like she had something in her throat for a couple of days so I took her to the doctor. An x-ray showed no obstructions, but we decided to get her flu shot while we were at the doctors office. Sara has a history of fainting, vomiting, etc... during vaccinations, but this time she did great! Way to go Sara! Whew! Flu shot done.

Pep Club reminiscing

Sara and I were discussing Halloween costumes. When she mentioned she might want to be a cheerleader, I remembered my old pep club uniforms tucked away in a cedar chest. 

The girls tried them on and we had a lot of fun. I was in Pep Club 30 years ago. I was a junior in high school just like Mary is now. It's crazy how fast time flies. 

School pictures

Mary's 11th grade school picture.

Luke's 9th grade school picture.

Sara's 6th grade school picture.

Duolingo- Italian

I started Duolingo on Christmas Day 2019 in order to brush up on my Italian before our trip to Italy in February 2020. I have done at least one lesson EVERY. DAY. SINCE. Today I completed my 1,003rd day of Italian practice. I am on the second to the last unit of Italian. Once I complete the Italian course, I am going to start to learn Spanish. 

Ben is in Badalona, Spain

Our family talking to Ben on his p-day in the MTC. This is the day before he departed for Spain.

Barcelona, Spain

We watched Ben's flights carefully. His flight from Chicago to Barcelona sat on the runway for more than two hours due to lightning delays.

Arrival in Barcelona

When Ben met his trainer Elder Willoughby and received his first assignment to Badalona.

Ben's group of 29 missionaries

Ben with his mission president and his wife (President and Sister Villar).

Ben (and the other missionaries in his apartment) at Manuel's baptism.

Badalona

Sunrise in Badalona

Elders Stepan and Willoughby with the ward mission leader after a lesson.

Yard clean up, general conference choir rehearsal, new family portrait

Hi Ben,

It was so fun when your mission president posted about your arrival on Facebook yesterday so we could see where your first area is and who your trainer is. We are praying for you and Elder Willoughby in Badalona. We pray that you are getting enough sleep (recovering from jet lag) and that you are adjusting well to Spain (and speaking Spanish). We went to a ward picnic last night and everyone asks about you. We all miss you like crazy and you are always in our thoughts and prayers.

Yesterday we went to Lorettas house to help her clean up the front yard. My two cousins and their spouses and kids came to help which was so nice. With a group of us working, we were able to get it cleaned up pretty good in two hours. We planted tulip and daffodils bulbs so she can enjoy them this spring.

Mary and Luke practiced their songs for general conference at the conference center. Their dress rehearsals were yesterday and today. They said it was incredible. Dad, Sara and I are driving some kids to the rehearsal after church today so we can sit in the audience and listen to their rehearsal. We are really looking forward to general conference next week too.

We received our family portrait and hung it in the cove by our stairs. We love it. It is a very sweet reminder of our family and the great summer we had together.

Other happenings this week; Michael climbed to the meadow of Mount Timpanogos yesterday afternoon. He had to work until 2:00, so he climbed from 4:00-9:00. He said it was really cool. Mary had her homecoming date yesterday even though homecoming isn’t until next week. Their group switched things around because they are all singing in the general conference choir. Luke is done with mountain biking races. The last race is on Oct 1 in Manti but Luke is singing in the choir so he can’t go to the last race. He was finally moved to group 4 for practices. He was glad to be moved up but sad he wasn't moved up earlier in the season. Sara is doing well. She really likes her teacher and we are grateful. Sara and I are reading everyday together. I hope it is helping with her comprehension. Sara has started babysitting Lexi Shoell for a couple of hours each Friday. She loves it! Dad is super busy with work. They have a big project that they are working on. He stays at work till 8:00 some nights and other nights he comes home to go to stake meetings and then he goes back to work to finish things up. We’re all doing well. Fall is in the air and it feels nice to get a break from the heat.

We can’t wait to talk to you on p-day. We love you so much!

Love,

Mom

Weekly update

 I've realized that my weekly letters to Ben sum up our week really well. So, rather than duplicate my work, I'm going to update the blog with letters and pictures sent to Ben. These letters include more journaling than I would normally do on blog updates.

Hi sweetie,

This is the last letter I will write to you in the MTC. It was exciting to receive your travel plans this week. I am so excited for you to experience Spain and tell us all about it. It is wonderful for our family to add the country of Spain to our list of favorite places that have a special place in our hearts.

Luke is reading every free moment he can. He has an assignment to read FORTY books this school year in his language arts class. Luke is on fire with this project! I think he just started his seventh book.

Michael came on Saturday and he and Luke drove to Vernal and back in one day for Luke’s mountain biking race. Luke said it was his favorite race of the season. He gained a couple of spots and this is the first race where the weather was nice. Soldier Hallow was rainy and Mantua was so hot! Luke won’t be able to do the last race of the season in Manti because it’s on General Conference and Luke is singing in the choir.

Speaking of the general conference choir, Luke and Mary had a dress rehearsal today. Next Saturday and Sunday they will have dress rehearsals at the conference center. So cool! I am so excited that they get this opportunity. AND they are singing my favorite hymn, Redeemer of Israel. I will be in tears! It’s fun to imagine you watching from Spain. I hope the camera shows Mary and Luke so you can see them.

We got the suburban back. It’s all fixed from Mary’s accident. It looks like a new car! They shined it up nice and cleaned the inside really well and then Michael and Luke drove it to Vernal and it is dirty again but that’s ok. We’re happy to have it back.

Bingham beat Herriman on Friday night. Also, Mary went to the Lany concert last night. She had a blast and saw a lot of your friends.

Mary spoke in Stake Conference today. She spoke about sacrifice and hers was the best talk. She told the experience of having to chose between her dance competition and singing in the general conference choir and how she has been blessed for choosing the choir. Tommy also gave an amazing talk. He told his conversion story. It was incredible. He talked about the first time he attended church with his host family. He said he was an atheist and the first time he went to church he confirmed to himself that church is boring. Then he talked about playing basketball with you guys and how you made him feel like he was part of the family. He shared a scripture in Genesis about how God said, “Let there be light and there was light.” He talked about the light of the gospel. It was amazing. We all thought of you and the roll you played in helping him to be converted.

Something else that was really special in stake conference; Dad was reading the sustainings today and he got teary twice; when he read the name of our prophet and when he got to your name as being sustained as an Elder. We both love and sustain our prophet and we love and sustain you as an Elder. We are so proud of you and we miss you. Much of our stake conference was about missionary work and it made me happy to know you are doing the work of the Lord right now.

Grandpa Orton had surgery on his back this week. We took dinner to them this afternoon. He seems to be doing ok. Grandma had her flu shot and third COVID booster a few days ago too so they are both a little under the weather. It was nice to visit with them for a while.

Well, my boy, my prayers are with you as you prepare to travel to Spain. You are an amazing young man and you will bless so many.

I love you with all of my heart.

Love,

Mom

Weekly letter to Ben

Hi sweetie,

I’ve been thinking of you on this September 11th. I’ve thought about how special it was to visit the 9/11 memorial with you. There was a very special spirit there and I’m so grateful that we were able to share that experience together with Dad for your senior trip. It’s hard to believe that 21 years have passed since that terrible day when terrorists attacked our nation. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation that helps bring me peace when awful things happen.

BTW- the Mets won yesterday. They beat the Miami Marlins 11-3. Go Mets! (The Mets game we went to was epic!)

The Suburban is in the shop getting fixed after Mary’s accident so we’re down to 2 cars right now. It’s ok. I don’t mind driving everyone around but it will be nice to get the suburban back on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Also- our dishwasher broke. We’ve been hand washing dishes for nearly 2 weeks now. It’s ok. I don’t mind doing dishes. However, it will be nice to get a new dishwasher hopefully this week. Dad and I researched dishwashers and now that we know what we want, we need to find a store that has them in stock. 

As you know, it has been so hot last week. We broke heat records (105 in South Jordan in September!) and we were under heat advisories for many days. The heat has eased a bit but now we have bad air from wild fires in California. Poor Luke had a coughing attack last night because of the bad air. We’re supposed to get rain on Tuesday so hopefully that will help clear the air.

Yesterday was a big football day. Dad and Luke went to the Utah game with Grandpa and Grandma Orton. The Utes beat SUU 73-7. Yes you read that right! It was pretty bad. The more exciting game was last night when BYU played Baylor. You probably heard the crowds from the MTC. BYU beat Baylor in a double overtime 26-20. After a boring first half, it got exciting. Michael went to the game with Jacob Dishman and Joe. He barely has a voice left today. He said it was fun.

I’ve been thinking a lot about our time in England as we learned of the Queens passing this week. It has been fun to think about our many amazing times together. We are so blessed to have had great experiences together and I am excited to add Spain to our list of countries that is special to us. We are excited for you to share with us.

I made pickled red onions this week. It’s a new recipe and they are so yummy. I add them to sandwiches and salads. I’ll make you some after your mission.

Mary went to Copper Hills homecoming yesterday. Their day date was at Top Golf and she said it was fun. She said the Copper Hills dances aren’t as fun as Bingham’s (more standing around), but she still had fun.

Love you so much! As always, we can’t wait to talk to you on p-day. You are a champion and we are so grateful for your desire to serve the Lord. Our family is blessed because of your service.

Love,

Mom

I love a really good sandwich for lunch. These onions have taken my sandwiches to the next level!