Luke's 16th birthday, Ben's 20th birthday

Hi sweetie,

Happy 20th birthday! I thought about you all day and we have been praying that you have felt loved on your special day. I peeked at your birthday pictures on Google and it looks like you were well taken care of which makes me happy. Dad and I re-read our journal from the day you were born and we were both teary as we remembered the moment when the doctors and nurses left the room and the three of us were all together. Dad offered a prayer and we thanked Heavenly Father for you. We felt so much love for you then and that has continued to increase over the last 20 years. You are an amazing person and we feel blessed that you were sent to our family and that we are your parents. Keep working and doing your best as a missionary but know that your mom is counting down the days until I can give you a BIG hug again.

We had a very busy week. Mary had her ballroom concert for three nights (Wed, Thurs, Fri). On Thursday night, Sara also had a band concert at Bingham and it was Luke’s birthday. So, we did Luke’s birthday dinner and presents at 4:00 before heading to Bingham for band and ballroom. Dad and I feel so fortunate that our kids are involved in good things. It means a lot to us that you are all engaged in life and developing your talents. 

Michael finished his finals and went to St. George for a friends wedding. He did some hiking at Zions and stayed with Mike and Kelly. He is back in Provo now and is working 2 internships over the summer.

We sustained and Dad set-apart a new bishopric in our ward today. Mike Miller is our new bishop and Brad Greaves and Brian Watson are his counselors. Elder Watson (Brian’s Dad) also ordained Brian as a high priest which was really special.

This afternoon our stake had a mission prep fireside. Sienna Jenson spoke and she did amazing. Dad asked me to share the blessings we feel as a family from having a missionary serve and I talked about how much it means to us to be able to pray for your investigators by name. Dad spoke about preparing to serve and reading the Book of Mormon. It was a sweet meeting and the spirit was strong.

I think you already know how I feel about my kids birthdays. It is such a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the joy that each of you brings to our family. What a privilege it is to be your parents. 
We love you dearly and hope you have an amazing week.
All my love forever and ever,
Mom

Prom, Duolingo, Springtime

Hi sweetie,

We’ve had a good week. Our biggest event was Prom. Mary’s last and Luke’s first. Not only was it Luke’s first dance but it was his first date. Prom was a success and both Mary and Luke had a great time. I’ll include some pictures. Mary was asked by Noah Campbell. Luke asked Miranda Salisbury.

Luke’s group played pickle ball at the stake center for their day date. Since Dad and I were the adults at the stake center while they played, the two of us organized and cleaned his stake president’s office. I’ll include a before and after picture. He is going to get some new art work and a TV (for meetings) but it already looks so much better than it did.

I reached 1575 days on Duolingo. My Spanish is coming along nicely. I still struggle to speak in Spanish but I am understanding pretty well.

The blossoms are so pretty right now. I love Springtime. We are so blessed with such a beautiful Earth.

I went to the 3rd ward conference yesterday to hear Dad speak and to try to get to know more members of the Stake. It was such a nice meeting. Dad spoke about D&C 109 and President Nelson’s talk from conference. He emphasized attending the temple and teaching our children to love the Lord. 

We are excited to celebrate Luke’s 16th birthday this week. Michael has finals. Mary has her ballroom concert for three nights this week and Sara has a band concert. It’s going to be busy!

We love you and you are always in our prayers.
Love,
Mom

Junior class officer, pictures, state capitol visit

Hi sweetie,

Our biggest news is that we found out Luke was elected as a Junior class officer. He hasn’t found out his position yet but he petitioned for President or Vice-President so we’ll see. There were 13 kids running for 4 positions so Luke feels really fortunate to have won. Also, he had an amazing track meet this week. He was hoping to complete the mile in 6 minutes and he did it in 5 minutes and 44 seconds. He wants to run a 5 minute 30 mile by the end of the season and he will! He is doing great!

During general conference I felt strongly that I need to attend the temple weekly in the 6 months between sessions. So, Tuesday morning I went to the Jordan River temple and I knew it was going to be crowded but I had no idea it would be THAT crowded! I parked in the very back of the parking lot near the rest home because the parking lot was so full. The session was completely full. And this was at 10:00am on a weekday! Clearly many people heard general conference and felt impressed to attend the temple. When the kids were out of school on Friday, they tried to do baptisms at the Oquirrh temple but it was a 2 hour wait, so they did some confirmations. The youth in our ward had 21 kids show up to do baptisms at 7:00am on Saturday morning. They didn’t get home until after 11:00 am (but they did have breakfast at the Watson’s after the temple). We will be so appreciative when the Taylorsville, Salt Lake and newly announced West Jordan temples are completed. My heart is so full to see so many faithful people attending the temple. We are being blessed with more temples because of this faithful temple attendance. I have an appointment to attend the temple at 9:30am tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it.

I took the three youngest to Thanksgiving point for Mary’s senior pictures but we also got pictures of Luke and Sara. I’ll include some of those.

Mary is busy with ballroom. Their concert is the end of April so they are working hard to prepare for it. Mary leaves the house at 5:30am and sometimes doesn’t get home until after 10:00pm. It is crazy but she loves it and she works with great kids so that’s good.

After Sunday dinner yesterday we went to the state capitol to see the blossoming trees. We were a couple of days too late and it was really crowded but it was still beautiful. We also visited temple square to see the progress on the temple and the new sitting area outside the tabernacle. Angel Moroni was put back on the temple so that’s good. It was a lovely day and it was wonderful to enjoy the beauty of Springtime.

One of Dad’s counselors (B.J. Jenson) was the bishop of the 5th ward so Dad called a new bishop to replace him yesterday. I went to the 5th ward sacrament meeting (I’m trying to get to know members of the stake) and it was lovely. The spirit was strong and Dad did a great job. He talked about how the most important calling in the church is the one each one of us has right now and how we all need to work together to progress the work of the Lord. It was great. The new bishop is Bishop Spencer and his counselors are Brother Shoemaker and Brother Duquette.

We love you forever and ever and we want you to know you, your friends, and your companion are in our thoughts and prayers.
Hugs and kisses,
Mom

Dad's birthday, general conference, solar eclipse

Hi sweetie,

Luke ran a great campaign for SBO but sadly he didn’t make it. He’s campaigning for Junior class officer this week. We are praying for him. In President Eyring’s talk at conference he talked about siblings praying for each other so we decided on Sundays we are going to discuss everybody’s needs/desires so we can pray for each other throughout the week. We are praying for you and your companion that you can find people and that your friends will progress in the gospel. 

Mary is busy with ballroom preparing for their spring concert at the end of April. She has to be at the school at 6:00am every day this week. It is intense but it is going to be a great concert and she performs with great kids.

Sara got braces on Friday. Her mouth is super sore but she’s doing ok eating soft foods.

Dad did some taxes for Milner’s so they took us to dinner at Little America. It was so yummy! I’ll send a picture of the buffet.

We loved celebrating Dad’s 47th birthday! He got 4 pairs of new shoes cause he needed them so bad. He also got some new sunglasses for the cruise and a couple of shirts for work. Having general conference on Dad’s birthday was a special treat too because he was able to be home and not have church meetings for his stake president calling. I love your dad and I am so grateful for him.

General Conference was wonderful. On Sunday afternoon I had that feeling of sadness when something ends and you don’t want it to be over. We will continue to study the messages over the next 6 months like President Nelson asked us to though. Weren’t the temple announcements exciting?! A second temple for Brisbane and one in West Jordan and Lehi and also Honolulu and Scotland. Amazing!

We love you so much Ben! Keep up the great work and know that you are in our prayers.

Me and Nana are going outside right now with my eclipse glasses to see if I can catch a glimpse of the 58% solar eclipse. It’s so cool! Apparently there won’t be another one in the U.S. until 2044 or 2045.

Have a great week.
Love,
Mom