Yes. I am still plugging along trying to keep this going for family history. We have had many good times the last few months as a family. Some of these are not just good times-but the best! As I have been reflecting on all that is going on these last few months, I have had the distinct impression that I need to not just try to survive all the craziness, but to appreciate and savor these moments. I admit, this is hard for me to do because sometimes, things seem so overwhelming. However, life should not just be about getting through, but also enjoying those good times when they come....
Nathanael and Lindsay Ann have been extremely busy with school and work. Nat is studying and getting ready to take the MCAT in June while also dealing with a chronic sinus infection. Lindsay Ann has been amazing as she has been working, going to school, and trying to take care of Nat and their home. I was so grateful and pleased that they were able to come to East Canyon with us in March. It was wonderful to have everyone from my family there to hang out together and participate in our St. Patrick's Day traditions. Those were definitely some good times with them!
One of the best times-not just good times these last few months was that Lindsay Kaye returned home from her mission in the San Diego California mission on February 5th. I cannot describe the joy that I feel when a child comes home from serving a mission. She has grown so much in maturity and confidence. She has made eternal friends and learned to love those she has served. After she got off the plane, we went to eat at Michelangelo's on Main as a family. She wanted to try it out because Nat and Lindsay Ann had had their wedding luncheon there. The food was amazing as always. Lindsay then wanted to go to Temple Square to see if she could talk with a former companion who spent some time in the San Diego mission. This sister was leaving the next day to go home to China. After asking around etc., we found out that she was involved in some of their farewell activities and so we waited for a while in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. The sister then came out and Lindsay Kaye and she got to talk and visit for a bit before we went home. When we got home, we got to show Lindsay some of the performances of her siblings of when she was gone. Later that night, she was released from being a full time missionary. When she took her name tag off, she cried. It is an emotional thing to be able to wear the Savior's name close to your heart and spend all your days representing Him. That night, we watched Coco. Lindsay Kaye spoke in church the following Sunday and I was so touched by her strength and testimony. We then had the family come over to eat and visit. It was just a wonderful day. Such good times. Later in February, Lindsay Kaye was invited to go to New Orleans to spend the week with a former missionary of the male persuasion that she had met on her mission. He and his family paid for the whole trip and they found that they are great friends and also that there is a spark between them. More on that to come.....Needless to say, she had a wonderful time in New Orleans. She then was able to get a job working to take care of children at an after school program. She seems to be the perfect fit for this job. Definitely some very good times.
Ethan has definitely had a lot of good times recently. Of course, we celebrated his 18th birthday in January. I cannot believe that he will be graduating in just a couple of months! Another one of his good times was being invited to go to Girls' Preference and MORP. He has had many good times dating lots of different girls in high school. As a fundraiser for choir tour, the students performed a Movie Knight and Ethan sang, "Singin' in the Rain" choreographed by his sisters. He was amazing! Ethan then had the opportunity to go on choir tour to New York City again. He had some wonderful experiences. One of them was that he got to perform with the A' cappella choir as the featured choir in Carnegie Hall. That is a big deal and so exciting! One of the neat miracles that our family has experienced is that Travis was able to go as a chaperone again and experience some of these really good times with Ethan. Another neat experience that they shared was one morning, a friend of Ethan's had called and reserved a time to do baptisms for the dead at the Manhattan temple. You could only have 5 kids in your group and you were supposed to bring 2 Melchizedek priesthood holders. They had to be at the temple right at 6:30 am. In order to get there at the right time, they needed to leave at 6:00 am. Ethan had been woken up to get ready, but when the group was meeting downstairs, they ended up waiting and waiting for him. He had fallen back asleep. By the time he came down, they were late and if they took the trains, they would not be able to make it on time. Ethan felt so bad. They were discussing not going when the other Priesthood holder suggested taking Taxis. So they did. They made it exactly at 6:30 am. The temple president welcomed them and talked to them about how impressive it was that they chose to come to the temple when there are so many things to do in New York. There was another young man there with his 2 sisters, mother, and Grandmother to do family baptisms. They did not have the 2 Priesthood leaders and so Ethan's group were able to help them complete all their names. What an amazing experience! Good times for sure! Finally, Ethan received his call to be a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Independence Missouri-Spanish speaking mission. He reports to the Provo MTC on July 10th. Because he was on tour when his call came in, he opened it the next night at home and we had treats instead of our dinner of favorite mission foods. He had a ton of people come and support him. I am so grateful for his desire to serve the Lord. I have to say, I do enjoy being a missionary mom in some ways. I also know that Ethan will have so many really good times on his mission by serving and loving the people there.
Clarissa has been working so hard in school these last few months. She has experienced good times with our family at East Canyon and reconnecting with Lindsay Kaye. Clarissa worked really hard and auditioned for Lone Peak's Musical Theater and Productions programs for next year. We had heard that Sophmore girls rarely make it but she wanted to try out to be "on their radar". She felt really good about her auditions but did not expect too much. Weeks went by and finally, she received an E-mail letting her know that she had made both the Musical Theater and Productions classes! Wow! She was the only Sophmore girl to make Productions. This program is very competetive and so this is a big deal. I know that she will have many good times in high school as she participates in these programs. I am also proud of her for working hard and trying for something that she didn't think she would be able to do. Yep. Lots of good times ahead.
Zachary definitely had some good times in the last few months. First of all, we celebrated his 9th birthday in January. We did a Nerf themed party by taking him and some friends to play Blaster tag at a Nerf arena and then had pizza afterward. He had a really good time. One thing that I was so impressed with was that he had invited a boy who has some sensory issues- but still wanted to come. The friend wanted to watch for a while before he joined in. The young man running the games let the boys have more time than I payed for so that this friend had some good playing time as well. This year was crazy busy for Zachary's birthday and I try to do a fun cake when they are in elementary school- but I did not have a lot of time. I decided to make a target which actually was very simple -except for the fact that the cake was too warm and frosting was falling off etc. It still tasted good! Zachary did not care-he was happy :) Zachary has also had many good times watching and playing basketball recently. He took a fundamentals of basketball class which I wish would have been offered for my other boys. Zachary has learned to love basketball and is practicing daily-either on his little hoops in the house or on the big hoop outside. Zachary also earned his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts. He enjoys Scouts and has had a lot of good times with the boys in his troop. Zachary earned the Eagle of the Month award for being responsible. His teacher wrote, "Zachary is accountable and responsible. He makes smart decisions, admits mistakes and listens to opportunities to improve." Finally, Zachary participated in the Battle of the Books competition and his little team almost made it to the finals. I was so proud of him because reading is not his favorite thing. We spent a lot of time reading as many books on the list as we could and studying for the questions. He was nervous about participating but seemed to gain confidence in himself and tried his very best. I am confident that there are going to be a lot of good times ahead for Zachary as he continues to try new things and do his best.
Once again, I have had too many "moments of joy". I am not able to choose just one so I will just say that Travis and I have had so many good times because of our children. I am impressed and proud of each of them for striving to do their best in all they do, for having the courage to try new things, and for watching each of them overcome trials and disappointments making them stronger and becoming people that I admire and love. This deer came to our door at East Canyon wanting to make friends...or maybe hoping we would give him food ;).
