Another great week for Elder C

This week was another great one for Luke.  He spent the week preaching the gospel to the people of New Jersey.  He had lessons with Reginald and Jackie.  He also was able to spend some time with Gerry.  He took them to IHOP to thank them for all of the help they have given him lately.  Such a nice guy.  Luke also heard that Kamari was baptized this week.  So amazing!  Luke also finished the Book of Mormon for the first time in the field.  He said it was the first time he truly studied.  When he finished he knelt down to thank Heavenly Father for allowing him to be a part of His church on earth.  What a perfect example Luke is to me.  I love reading him emails and testimony each week as it continues to strengthen mine.  

Happy Birthday to our favorite missionary!

Luke is 19!!  I seriously cannot believe it.  So weird to not be together to celebrate but we did our best to make it special for him.  We sent him a package full of gifts and asked him to wait to open it until we were on the phone together.  He got a cotopaxi fannie pack, a new shirt, some pre-workout, sock ties, some protein bars, and some treats.  He was super excited!  We also sent him a pie, candles, ice cream, and monster drinks.  I made a cake and we sang to Luke before all having some dessert together.  It was so good to chat with him.  He has grown so much in the last six months and I just know that this year is going to continue to be the same.  Hope you have the happiest birthday Elder C!  We love and miss you so much.

Gray's Friend Party

This year was a party year for Gray.  He decided that he would love to go see the new Spiderman movie. He invited Easton, Kai, Sam, Erik, Tag, and Nash.  So nice of him to invite his brothers!  They all went to see the 3:20pm movie and then everyone came back over for pizza and donuts.  Gray's friends were all so generous and Gray got $85.  So nice!  I am so glad that Gray has such great friends and felt celebrated as he goes into his life as a legit teenager!

Last Zone Conference with the Rolfe's

It always makes me so excited when I log onto FB and I have a new post from Luke's mission page.  Today Luke had his last zone conference with President and Sister Rolfe.  Luke has loved serving with them and has learned so much from the Rolfes.  His new mission president is actually Elder Mower's uncle.  Elder Mower was Luke's trainer and still holds the number one spot in the companions competition.  Hopefully Luke will love the new President and his wife just as much.

Joey-less trip to SG

About a month ago Joey found out that he had to go to Poland for training for work.  He is going for one week, coming home for two, and then back to Poland for another week.  He left on Saturday and will be back next Saturday. I decided to help pass the time, we would leave on Sunday morning and drive down to SG for a few days.  We spent time swimming, celebrated Gray's birthday with Porkbellies and Pink box, went to the mall, went to DI, ran to the park as a family, bbq and another dinner with Jamie and Mindi, and played us some four square.  It was a really fun trip just missed Joey and Luke.  No here is hoping that the next few days fly by and Joey will be home soon.

Another great week for our missionary

I seriously love Monday's and getting to chat with my favorite missionary.  He had a great week last week.  He had Zone Conference and got to see his buddies, Elder Johns, Elder Davies, and Elder Polei. It was the last conference for President and Sister Rolfe.  They will be going home soon.  Then he got to spend some time with Jerry and Joyce this week.  He made sure not to have any plans so Joyce did not feel like her time was interrupted.  They had hot pockets and played cards.  On Saturday he got to go on exchanges with Elder Crittenden, one of the Spanish elders. They had a lot of fun together.  I am so happy for all of the experiences he is having. He has thrown himself in 100% and I couldn't be prouder.  Love you Elder C!

Early Birthday Celebration

Joey is leaving today for Poland.  Gray's 13th birthday is on Tuesday but we decided to celebrate early so Joey could be a part of it.  We all got up early and went to Village Baker for breakfast- Gray's choice.  We then came home to open presents.  Gray got some clothes, a video game controller, a rubber chicken, new sunglasses, pickeball racquets, and airpod pros.  He was super excited.  We then had cake and sang Gray a special birthday song.  I am so glad that we could fit in a little celebrating before Joey had to leave.  Happy early birthday Gray!  Excited to have another teenager in our house!

Last day of school

It is for reals the last day of the school year!  Even though the older three students have not been going for the last week, Tag went to school.  Each day they did a fun day and today was super short.  We all went to meet him at the corner for the annual popsicle party.  So fun!  Looking forward to a super chill and amazing summer.

It's that time again...

Since Harlee isn't going to school this week we decided to get the garden going.  Having learned from the previous two years, we planted a lot less this time around to allow for space for things to grow.  In the white box we planted Cherokee purple tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. We bought a bigger cherokee purple starter this year so hopefully we will get more of my favorite tomatoes.  In the smaller garden box we just planted one strawberry plant and the raspberry plants came back this year.  Hopefully if we do not get berries this year, we will for sure get some next year.  Here's hoping for a fruitful garden this year!

Dance Recital

It has been a long weekend of dance and I love it!  Tonight Harlee had her dance recital.  She has been moved up to the oldest class and it has been so good for her.  It has pushed her and her technique has really improved.  She was in the production number that started the show.  Then she performed the same three dances that she competed with on Saturday.  Then she had a special part in the finale.  Har just shines on stage and is such a beautiful performer.  I love watching her dance.  Grandma was able to come and watch her tonight which was great.  Amazing job Har!  You are my favorite dancer.