It was another great week for Elder C! They had transfers and learned that no one in the Creole area were being transferred. So he will spend another 6 weeks with Elder Golindo in Irvington. Luke only has one more transfer before he comes home. I cannot believe it. I am so proud of him. He has given 100% on his mission and I hope he is proud of the work he has done.
I can't believe how quickly time is going! Luke will be home in 79 days! Luke's email was so funny this week so I will let him do this blog post!
Twas' the night of September 22nd, and all through the house
When we went to St. George the weekend before school started Har and Miah met some cute boys at Dixie Rock who were actually from Farmington. They have kept in touch with them and decided that it would be fun to ask them to Sadie's which is in about a month. Harlee is asking Jace and Miah is asking Jack. The made super cute posters and went to take them to the boys. They heard from them that they are excited to go and we will see if they answer in a creative way. I am just so excited for her to have a fun dance experience.
At the end of last year, Tag came home and told me that he wanted to play the trumpet in the band. We are a music loving family but besides Har's short stint in piano, we do not play musical instruments. Tag has really taken it seriously and is actually loving it. Tonight they had their first concert. Joey, Nash, Gray, and I were so excited to go and support him. Har had to work but asked me to video his performance. They have only been playing these instruments for 3 weeks and they all did a great job. Tag played Hot Cross Buns and We Will Rock You. The concert was 15 minutes long and perfect! Can't wait for the next one.
Elder Childs had another great week including a baptism of his friend Rosedaline. It has been a lot of work to get her ready for baptism but it happened. Luke also had an interview with President Durrant and said it went really well. He really loves and respects President Durrant. They also had zone conference and some of Luke's buddies gave their final testimony. In two more zone conferences, that will be Luke. So crazy. I am so proud of the growth and how hard he has worked his whole mission. Such an example.
About a year ago, Marcae and I came up with a plan to go to New York. Joey is not a big fan of the city and was completely supportive of our girl's trip. New York has been a bucket list trip for me so I was so excited. We flew to NY on Wednesday Sept. 11. Kind of a scary day to fly there but there were no issues. We splurged a little and stayed right in Time Square at the Marriot Marquis. It was so great to be right in the middle of everything. We got in late on Wednesday and took a lift to our hotel. We finally got to bed around 2am. We did not want to waste any time so we woke up at 7:30am. We went to the beautiful fitness room and worked out. After we went to the special room for members (Marcae's hubby hooked us up) and had a delicious breakfast. After breakfast, we made our way to Central Park. We rented bikes and rode around the park twice- over 12 miles! It was so much fun. We went back to the hotel, got ready and went out site seeing. Our first stop was Stardust Cafe. It was this little restaurant where the waiters and waitresses are working on Broadway. They sang songs while we ate and it was pretty amazing. After lunch, we went to Grand Central station and walked all over the city. We made our way back to the hotel to get ready to go see my first Broadway show as an adult (saw Phantom on for my first date). We chose to see the Notebook and it was amazing! All the music was written by Ingrid Michaelson. I could not believe the talent. May have gotten choked up during some of the songs. It was such a great experience. After the show we went back home to rest up for the next day. On Friday, we work up bright and early to go try a SoulCycle class. It was so hard but so fun. We both were so sweaty! We then went home for breakfast and get ready before making our way to the 911 memorial. WOW! It was so touching and heavy but I could have stayed there all day. We spent a lot of time listening to the stories of those that were lost. They played voicemails of loved ones calling before the plane went done. So heartbreaking and the museum experience made it more real. After the morning at the museum, we went to lunch at this Italian restaurant nearby. Turns out Joey ate at the same place when he went for work. Small world! The food was delicious. After lunch, we walked to battery park and saw the Statue of Liberty. We made a quick stop back at the hotel to change into comfier clothes and then went to the Empire State Building. We went up to the 86th floor and the views were incredible. We were starting to master the subway system and decided to go see the Temple. It was so crazy how it was right in the middle of the city. We walked passed it a few times. After the Temple we walked about 20 blocks back to our hotel. We had so much fun at the musical on Friday night and decided to go to another. We bought tickets to Six. It is a story for King Henry the 8's six wives. It was seriously so good. It was more pop music and all of the singers/actors were so talented. It was all women in the cast and the band. So amazing! We got home from the play around 9:45pm, changed and went to enjoy some people watching in Time Square. We first went and got some true NY pizza! It was so good. Then we went and sat in the bleachers in the middle of the action. I could not believe how many people were there. We people watched for over an hour and just had the best time. We made our way back to rest up for our last day. We let our selves sleep in a little on Saturday and made it just in time for breakfast. After breakfast we took the subway to High Line park. It was so fun to walk around the park and get another amazing view of the city. We then hopped back on the Subway and made our way to Chelsea Market. Chelsea Market is an indoor mall that reminds me of Trolley Square in Utah. We went to this little Mexican restaurant and had the best lunch. After lunch we and checked out of the hotel and they were nice enough to hold our luggage for us. We then went to see the Brooklyn Bridge and walk across the Manhattan Bridge. It was so fun! After we went to a few stores and then to the Eatery to grab some dinner. We went and sat at a table outside with a beautiful view of the park. We chatted for hours and it was perfect. We then made our way back to the hotel to get our luggage, stopping to buy some souvenirs along the way. We then took a lyft to Newark where we were going to stay since we flew out super early on Sunday. Our hotel was 3.8 miles away from Luke. So crazy! We stayed up late chatting and finally went to bed around 2am. Made it difficult to get up at 5:30am to get to the airport but we made it. This trip was so much fun and Marcae is seriously the best travel buddy. I just love her. We are already planning next year's trip. So grateful for her!
Tonight, Jeremy and Audrey came to stay with us. Jeremy is taking Audrey to BYU Idaho to start school. She did BYU online high school and graduated a year early. So they flew into Utah and are driving to Idaho in the morning. It was so fun for Har and Audrey to catch up. I so wish that they lived closer. I just know that they would all be great friends! So excited for Audrey and the amazing experience that college is.
I seriously cannot believe how quickly time is going. Luke only has 13 more pdays before he comes home. I think the only thing he is excited about is not having to write anymore emails! I so treasure the emails though. Here is his rundown:
Well we did it again! We woke up super early on a Saturday morning to go to the temple as a family. This time we all were baptized except for Joey who did all of our confirmations. What an amazing experience. There is really nothing like serving in the temple surrounded by my favorite people. We celebrated our service by enjoying some Einstein's bagels. I have made our next appointment for November 16th. If we keep this going, maybe Luke will join us for our January appointment! Love this time together.
After 3 years of wearing braces, Gray was able to get his braces off today. He was so excited! His smile looks amazing! He has a few more appointments to get his retainer, have his gums contoured, and then to do final pictures and impressions. Once Gray is done I will only have one in braces. Exciting day for sure!
Joey and I have a mental list going of everything that we want to get done before Luke gets home on December 12. One of the things at the top of the list, was to get rid of the gross carpet in his room and in Nash's room. Last weekend, we tore out the carpet and decided to paint both of the rooms white. The floor guy came on Monday and Tuesday to install the floor. We did the same flooring that we used in St. George in the kitchen. I love it! Brightens up the space so much. We hope to one day install this same flooring throughout the basement! It would look so good. I love how the rooms turned out. Feels and looks so much cleaner. Check one more project off the list!
I cannot believe the subject of the email as I write it! Luke only has 15 more Monday's on his mission (including today)! Where has the time gone? It has seriously been a privilege watching him grow and serve. Such an example to me. Here is is rundown for the week:
- Jean, Lysette, and Chris all got baptized on Sunday. It was awesome, they are all so humble and have strong testimonies of the gospel.
Nash has been thinking about getting his patriarchal blessing for a little while now. Harlee told him of how they did a devotional at HXP b...
