Loving the mission and serving in Orange City

Yay it is Monday!  I seriously love when I get to chat with my missionary.  Luke was not in the mood to write and email today but I am so glad that he did.  He writes a recap of each day of his mission and I know that he will be so grateful that he took the time to do this.  He will seriously have a journal of each day of his mission.  Such a blessing!  This week was full of highs and lows for Luke.  They had a baptism for Desmond.  What an amazing blessing to help bring others to Christ.  The low for the week was that Gerry passed away.  Gerry was such a blessing in Luke's missionary work.  It was amazing for Luke to watch him give his life to Christ and become so prepared to work on the other side.  He was baptized last September and the strides he made in less than a year were amazing. He received both the Aaronic and Melchezidek priesthood, he received his patriarchal blessing, served as ward mission leader, took out his endowments, repaired his relationship with his daughter, and spent everyday loving and serving the missionaries.  What a great example.  I know that Luke will see him again and it will be a beautiful reunion.  

Our day with the Virginia Lovelace's

Jeremy's family planned to come to Utah for a family reunion backpacking trip with Steph's family.  They camped last week and then had a few more days in Utah before heading back.  We were able to meet this afternoon at South Fork park in Provo Canyon.  When they pulled up it was so crazy to see how old all of their kids look.  We sat around and talked for a few hours.  It was so good to catch up and for the kids to spend a little time with their cousins.  I sure love their family.  Jeremy and I have always been super close.  He is a safe space for me and such an example.  So grateful we got to spend some time with them.  Love his family.

They sure clean up nicely...

School is starting next week- seriously cannot believe it.  This has definitely been the fastest summer ever.  Nash and Gray have both been growing out their hair for the last few months.  They both were reluctantly ready to choose a style.  So I took them to GOAT and they both had pictures to show the stylists.  They lost a lot of hair but they were both happy with the end result.  They both look so handsome and too old!  Love these boys so much.

Our week with the cutest twins ever

I had forgotten how much work it was to have babies, let alone two at the same time.  On Monday the kids were in bed at 7:45 pm and I am pretty sure I was asleep by 8:15pm.  Exhausted!!  But then I went to wake them up on Tuesday and was so excited to see their cute faces.  The mornings were the best.  They were so smiley and so snuggly.  Lucy was my girl and Sophie so preferred Har.  It worked out perfectly.  We spent the week playing, going to the park, watching too much Miss Rachel, going on walks, lots of shopping outings, and just loving on them.  It was truly a blessing to have these cute girlies in our home.  Thanks so much to Cory and Holly for trusting us with them.  Love them so much.

First Week in Orange City

Elder Childs was right!  He is now serving in Orange City which is right on the border Newark.  He says that it is pretty hood like but not as hood as Paterson.  I am a little happy about that but I do know that he will be ok.  Heavenly Father promised Luke and me that before he left.  He is a trainer of Elder Christopherson, not the apostle as Luke joked with him.  Elder Everton is the other trainer.  Funny story is that a guy that came home from Morristown in Grandma and Grandpa's ward, served his last area in Orange City with Elder Everton as his comp.  He said that Elder Everton was his favorite comp and he is super funny.  I love hearing that.  Luke needs a good one.  He worked hard his first few days in the new area and loved every minute of it.  He even got up and shared his testimony in his new ward.  So amazing.  To see the growth in my boy is awe inspiring.  So so proud of him.

Haven's Baptism

Today was a special day for Haven but I was a little nervous about how it would go.  This was the first family event since Don and Charity's divorce became final in March.  There have been some pretty strong feelings and I just worried that those feelings might overshadow Haven's big day.  Thankfully it went perfectly.  Har and I took the girls with us and they were pretty good.  It was beautiful to watch Haven be baptized by D and her confirmation was amazing.  So grateful that we could share in her special day.

He's off...

Nash left this morning for High Adventure camp with the priests and teachers.  They are going up to the Uintas.  They took their packs and provisions up to a certain place and they needed to work together to find them.  So proud of Nash!  This does not sound fun to me.  They had a great time full of hiking, fishing- Nash actually tried fish, eating ready made meals, and many bug bites.  He had a great time.  So glad he gets to go and have these experiences but I am so glad that he is home.