Benson Boone

Joey and I offered to drive Harlee, Ari, and Nicci to the Benson Boone concert in St. George.  We left on Saturday at 9am and made it to SG around 12:30pm.  Our first stop was of course Porkbellys.  The food was amazing and it was so fun to chat with Har and her friends.  In true Joey fashion, he suggested we drive to Gunlock Falls.  Poor Ari had to hike in her slippers.  The falls were so beautiful.  We came home and the girls got ready for the concert.  We dropped them off at the concert at 6:30pm so they could meet up with Claire, Benson's sister, and give her the pants they made for her and Benson.  The girls loved the concert and said it was so good.  They also got to meet up with Papa Boone who totally remembered them and Benson's other sister.  They may have promised to make all of them pants for the next concert in June. Benson sent them a video thanking them for the pants- they were dying! We woke up at 5:45am to drive back to Lehi so we could make it to church.  I am so glad that we could help make this happen for them.  They are the best girls and I love that they get to make these amazing memories.

Our baby is 11!

Where has the time gone?  I seriously cannot believe that Tag is 11 years old.  We couldn't be more blessed to have him in our family.  He is the best teacher of honesty, kindness, and unconditional love.  We celebrated Tag today with pizza from the Pie that he did not eat, presents, and cake with green frosting that he did eat!  Tag got a nintendo 3 DS with a few games he wanted, some pickle ball racquets, and a couple new shirts.  He was most excited about the 3 DS.  We were all excited that Luke was able to call and chat for a few minutes. We are going to go tubing at Soldier Hollow tomorrow to continue the celebration.  Happy Birthday Tag.  Thanks for being the most amazing caboose to our family.

5th Grade Hope of America

This year, Traverse Mountain Elementary chose to do a patriotic program instead of participating in the big Hope of America.  I was totally ok with this decision.  Marcae and I went together to watch the boys.  When I showed up, instead of Tag wearing the nice Hollister white hoodie, he was just wearing his white undershirt.  So funny!  Love his confidence.  Tag did an amazing job.  He knew all of the words and the actions to each song.  The night before his program I let him know that I was going to come watch him.  He said "Mom, are you going to cry?"  I let him know that I did not plan on crying.  He then said "If you cry it would be so embarrassing!" I love his honesty.  I can say gratefully that not a tear was shed and hopefully Tag's embarrassment was spared.  So proud of you Tag!

Another week in the books...

This week was a big one for Elder Childs!  He had his first baptism.  Bunny was baptized on Wednesday and Luke was able to confirm her a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  What an amazing experience.  Minus the fact that she did not have a baptismal suit that fit and they had to baptize her in the sacrament table cloth, it went off without a hitch.  She had more than 20 friends show up to support her.  What a beautiful day.  The rest of his week was good.  He is living it up in Patterson and changing lives.  So proud of our sweet missionary.  I live for his emails and calls every week.

Three months DONE

This week marked Luke's three month mark.  I would love to say that it has gone by quickly but I have felt each one of those days.  I hope that it will get easier the longer he is out.  It for sure helps to know that there is no where he would rather be.  He actually referred to Paterson NJ as Heaven on earth.  It his was a great week for Luke.  He got to go on splits his zone leaders and Elders Brewer and Pack.  Those four are some of Luke's favorite missionaries.  This week was also Bunny's baptismal interview and it went so well.  She is scheduled to get baptized on Wednesday if all goes well.  The rest of the week he did a lot of calling and try bys as they call them.  Miss my boy but I am so proud of him.

Girl's weekend in St. George

We always celebrate birthdays for our little friend group: Alison, Cami, Jackie, and me.  We decided that this year that we would do two girls trips- one in the first part of the year to celebrate Alison and Cami and then one in the second part of the year to celebrate Jackie and I.  We decided to go to St. George and stay in our house.  We left Friday morning around 10am and took our time getting to SG.  We stopped at the Creamery in Beaver for lunch.  It was so fun to chat and the drive seemed to go so quickly.  Once we got there we chatted until we went to Cafe Sabor for dinner.  After dinner we came home to play games.  I was nervous since games are not really my thing but it was super fun.  We ended up playing games until 2:30am.  We all went to bed and then woke up for breakfast at 8:30 am.  We ended up sitting around and chatting until 1pm.  Then we went to Pizzeria Limone for lunch.  It as so nice to have no schedule and just to be able to relax and take our time.  After lunch, we went back and took naps.  Then we chatted and ordered Street Eats from DoorDash.  We ended up playing games again that night.  Such an amazing trip with such amazing friends.  I am so grateful for them.  Can't wait until the next one...

Another great week in the NJ

Cannot believe that another week has passed!  It was so good to hear from Luke today.  He had another good week.  He met with Muhammad and he actually got a picture for me.  Nothing could have prepared me for what was to come.  I love it!  He had zone conference this week and he loves getting to visit with all the other missionaries in his zone.  President spoke on focusing on everyone that you are teaching, not just those that are progressing.  Saturday Luke got to do an exchange with Elder Myers and he was super excited about that.  His comp, Elder Pollei, is nice but is not too motivated.  Luke was excited to go out and do some work.  I am so happy that he is having success and loving his mission.  As much as I miss him I would not want him to be anywhere else.  Until next week Elder C!

State Swim Championship

Gray made state with his 50 back a few months ago.  Since he qualified, he was able to do a few more events and was asked to be in the relay.  On Thursday night we went to Bountiful for the first of three days.  This night he swam the 200 free relay.  He was so fast.  He actually got his first sub 30 50 free.  His time was 28:08.  So crazy!  On Friday morning we went back and he swam the 100 Free and the 50 Back.  He was able to cut time on both events.  His new time for the 100 Free is 1:06:38 and for the 50 back it is 35:24.  He did such an amazing job.  Joey took him last night for the 400 Free relay.  Gray was the anchor and he got 1:04- almost 3 seconds faster than the day before.  Way to go Gray!!  You should be so proud of yourself.

Crooked teeth no more

I am not going to lie, the one benefit of the broken teeth is that I have been able to chat with Luke more than once a week.  He called me today after his dental appointment to show me his new straight grin.  Our insurance will cover the teeth but we will need to pay $500 for a new permanent retainer that he will get on Friday.  Can't wait until Friday is done and he can move on.  I am so grateful that there was a dentist and an orthodontist within walking distant.  Definitely a blessing.  Let's hope this is the last mission accident for a while.