Fall break in Turlock

Hi sweetie,

We just returned home from Turlock for Fall break. Luke received his patriarchal blessing from grandpa and it was so nice. That was the highlight of the trip for me. We spent the day at the Oakland temple with grandpa and grandma and then Luke’s blessing was a wonderful way to end the day. I always knew that Luke was a special son of God but during his blessing I felt so deeply how much Luke is loved and I was so impressed by Luke’s spiritual gifts. You are all amazing people and Dad and I feel blessed to be your parents. I was also reminded that patriarchal blessings are a wonderful and very personal guide for which I am so grateful.

Grandpa and Grandma are doing well. They are slowing down a little bit and they get tired more easily but they are both healthy which is a blessing.

We went to visit Chuck and Jane. It was so much fun! They were harvesting their olives so we got to ride ATV’s to the orchard, watch the harvesters and learn about how the olives become olive oil. AND Chuck let Mary drive his tractor. One of Mary’s math of personal finance bucket list items was to drive a tractor so Chuck gave her a lesson and let her drive. It was awesome! We also got to see his 6 seater plane. His farm is full of awesome things!

The kids drove the go-karts in Modesto which was fun. We also washed the windows, installed two fans and installed new smoke detectors for grandpa and grandma. We also put up their Christmas tree and decorated it for them. 

Remember the old gold mining town Columbia with the candy shop? We went there too. It was great.

The hardest part was sleeping on the air mattresses. Our backs are hurting but it will make us appreciate our beds tonight that’s for sure. You can’t beat the California weather though. It was 65 degrees and sunny everyday. Utah got really cold this week. We came home to a high of 45 degrees and a low of 28 degrees. Brrrr. Our house was 55 degrees when we got home this afternoon. 

Nana had a great time at Dan’s. She cried when she got home today. It made us feel good to know that she missed us because she never hesitates to jump in Dan’s car to leave us.

Tim and Jen England sold their house and moved out this weekend. We’re not sure who our new neighbors are but we will keep you posted.

I love you dearly and hope you have a wonderful week. You are always in my thoughts and prayers.
Love,
Mom

School updates, Halloween parties & football

Hi sweetie,

The kids finished up their first term of school on Friday. It was a busy week as they finished up last minute things. Mary is especially busy because she is applying for colleges right now too. I’m starting to realize that three of our kids are adults. I took the girls to Dr. Valentine for flu shots and Mary had to sign her own papers since she is 18 now. It was crazy. I am so grateful for all of you. I am so grateful for the good choices you are making and I’m so excited to see the wonderful experiences that you will continue to have throughout your lives.

Michael is really busy right now. He has hard classes this semester and he’s working and serving as elders quorum president. I called to check on him this week and he was in the tutoring center for his statics class. He mentioned that he was kind of stressed so I drove to Provo the next day with some food and a football. It was wonderful to spend a few minutes with him.

Sara performed in her first band concert this week. She’s only been playing the flute for a couple of months and their band did awesome. We talked to Ms. Johnson after the performance and she told me how much she appreciated having you as a student her first year of teaching. She wanted us to tell you hi.

Luke was able to play in his basketball game this week with his arm splint. His wrist is healing nicely. Unfortunately their team lost but it was a close game! It’s nice for him to have a mostly winning team this season.

Grandma Orton had her Halloween party last week. It was fun to do caramel apples and Bingo.

Dad pulled the peach tree stump from the garden. He hooked up a chain to the truck and got most of it out but he had to dig away the rest by hand. That’s 3 tree stumps gone from our yard in the last couple of weeks.

Dad and I went to the Jordan River temple early Saturday morning. It was lovely. A wonderful way to start the day. I’ll include a picture.

Dad and I went to Tya and Brandon Nelson’s Halloween party last night. Dad was such a good sport to dress up with me. He doesn’t like that stuff but it is fun for me every once in a while so he was a good sport about it.

The Utah vs. USC game last night was so awesome! Utah won in the last 3 seconds with a field goal. The final score was 34-32. I’m glad Dad was able to show you the highlights when you called today. We were all so nervous but they pulled it off! It was so fun to watch.

Hope you have a great week!
We love you so much,
Mom


Tomorrow is the 23rd. Here are our questions for October;
1. What was the best activity you did today?
2. What are three things you are grateful for right now?
3. What have you been listening to recently?
4. Who cooks your favorite home cooked meal and what is it?
5. What is your favorite Halloween costume memory?
6. What is something that always makes you smile?

**I also need a photo of you with your companion.

Ben's responses:

1. The best thing I did today was study the life of Jesus Christ in the scriptures. 

2. Family, temple covenants, Jesus Christ, and college football (I know that's 4 but they are all important to me today)

3. I've been listening to a lot of talks by Elder Packer and they are super awesome. My favorite so far is The Mediator 

4. Mom's home made Mac and cheese 

5. When me and Michael dressed up like Mario and Luigi 

6. The dog eating peanut butter 

Mary's 18th birthday

Hi sweetie,

It was so wonderful to meet President and Sister Villar at Max Swensen’s homecoming today. They are wonderful people and they said such great things about you. They talked about how you are respectful and helpful and such an amazing missionary. Dad and Michael and I commented that we feel like we have been friends with them forever. Sister Villar and I were both teary when she discovered that we are your parents. I could feel the love that they have for you and I’m so grateful that you were sent to Barcelona and were able to serve with them and learn from them.

Last Monday I went on a hike to Cecret Lake with some of the ladies from our neighborhood. It was beautiful! The autumn leaves were amazing and the weather was perfect. There was already a dusting of snow at the lake but it wasn’t too hot or too cold- it was lovely.

We had a dumpster delivered for our fall yard cleanup and we removed the two front trees that were planted on August 4, 2018. We didn’t realize at the time that the bradford pear trees are an invasive tree and we were concerned that the roots would lift our sidewalk. I was really sad to see the trees go because I love the shade they provided but it was the right move. We didn’t want to wait and risk damage.

We celebrated Mary’s 18th birthday this week. Her ballroom team performed on her birthday so we had her birthday dinner the night before and went to the performance on her birthday. I can’t believe that 3 of our children are adults now. Crazy!

Good news this week- Luke had his second x-ray and his wrist is NOT broken. He has a bad sprain so he has to continue to wear the splint and go see a doctor if he doesn’t start to regain mobility soon.

Yesterday we watched a solar eclipse in the Northern Hemisphere. Luke went to a Bingham activity and was able to view it in a telescope. The rest of us viewed it from our driveway. It was very cool.

Dad and Mary were able to go to the Utah game yesterday. The U beat Cal 14-34. They said it was really fun.

I made extra sourdough bread today and we took it to the VanCotts and the Greaves. I love it! Learning to make homemade bread was on my bucket list and I’m so grateful that I have become pretty good at it. I love sharing it with others.

Our Primary had their sacrament meeting program today. It was our first year not having one of the Stepan kids participate. I’m still in the Primary as the secretary and I love the women that I work with. I especially appreciated Elder Bednar’s talk in conference when he thanked the members for our service in the church. I felt his love for me as I serve the Primary children.

Hope you have a wonderful week. We love you and you are always in our thoughts and prayers.
Love,
Mom

Hike to Secret Lake

Mary's ballroom performance at Herriman High on her 18th birthday

Mary's birthday dinner- beef stroganoff, green beans, salad, homemade rolls

Planting the trees in 2018

Tree removed in 2023

Watching the solar eclipse with the Primary presidency after our Primary program practice.

Cool shadows during the eclipse.

President Villar, Elder Swenson, Elder Rodgers, Sister Villar

Delivering bread to neighbors with a beautiful sunset.

Possible scaphoid bone fracture

Hi sweetie,

We went to the sweetest baptism today of Tommy’s little sister Meiling. Tommy baptized her and it was a great occasion. Our ward filled the chapel and the Primary children sang. It touched my heart.
Please say your prayers for Tommy. He is dealing with some immigration stuff which is hard cause he’s supposed to leave on his mission soon.

Our sad news this week is that Luke broke his left wrist at basketball practice. Brian Matthews is his coach and he met me at the car after practice to tell me that Luke needed an x-ray cause he possibly broke his scaphoid bone in his wrist. We went straight to Instacare and his wrist was too swollen to see the scaphoid bone in the x-ray so Luke has to wear a splint for 7-10 days until the swelling goes down. Later this week we will get the second x-ray to know for sure if it is in fact broken and if he needs a cast. Sadly Luke missed his last mountain biking race at Butterfield canyon yesterday because he is unable to grip the bike handlebars. He was really disappointed because he was hoping to qualify for state at that race. We’re helping Luke tie his shoes and everything these days.

Dad has been working super hard to clean up the yard for fall. He has been trimming trees and bushes, pulling the garden, hanging the kayak and paddle board, and covering the trailer and air conditioners. We have a dumpster coming tomorrow. We’re a little ahead of things this year which is nice. It will be great to not be doing the yard cleanup in the freezing cold. 

We took Nana to the dog wash for a bath yesterday. Wait till you see this place- it’s awesome. Nana shakes like a leaf when we pull up but she smells so much better after a bath.

Dad and I went to dinner with the Milner’s this weekend. It was lovely to see them.

I took a new pair of pants and some deodorant to the Olson’s this week. I’m so grateful that Elder Olson is able to return to Barcelona and it was so nice of him to bring those things to you.

We’re so happy to hear you got to Lleida and that you have enjoyed your first few days of being a zone leader. Can’t wait to be able to talk to you some more tomorrow.

Love you so much,
Mom

Bingham homecoming and middle school field trip

Hi sweetie,

Hope you had a great conference weekend. I can’t wait to hear about your experience watching conference with President and Sister Heckmann in the mission office. We are so grateful for the 6 months you have been able to serve in the office and we look forward to the next opportunity that you are given. We are praying that all will go well with transfers this week.

We had a great weekend. It was so wonderful to watch conference and hear instruction from our leaders. We are so thrilled with President Nelson’s announcement of 20 new temples. The gospel is moving forward and it is so exciting! What a great blessing to people all over the world.

Bingham homecoming was this weekend. Mary had a good time with Tyler Atkinson. Luke went to the dance with a group of friends and I was a chaperone so we got a picture together. Bridge invited the parents of the trouble making kids to be chaperones (in fact she said their kids couldn’t attend the dance unless their parents were there). In addition, there were about 6 police officers in attendance. It was remarkable how well behaved the dance was! I chaperoned with the Evershed’s and it was fun to talk to them. 

In other events this week; I went on a field trip with Sara’s 7th grade to the equestrian park. Mary performed ‘rewrite the stars’ with Ballroom in the Homecoming assembly. Bingham won their Homecoming football game against Riverton and the chalk throw was fun. I went to parent teacher conferences at SoJo and Bingham.

Life is good and we feel so grateful for our many blessings.
You are always in our thoughts and prayers.
We will miss talking to you on Saturday but we will look forward to next Monday.
Love you so much,
Mom