Starting his last July in NJ

Our missionary had another great week on the mission.  He got to go on a transfer to Irvington with Elder Galindo.  He said it was crazy how much teaching they did.  Plus he said that Elder Galindo pushed him with his Creole which was scary but good.  So grateful for great examples!  He also got to do an exchange with Elder Christopherson, one of his favs, and Elder Larsen.  Busy week.  I thought for this post I would share the last part of his email for the week.  He just amazes me!

That's it this week folks, and we are at the end of another transfer! Time is flying, and I hate it. This week, during MLC we talked about Elder Renlund's talk from the most recent General Conference. It was a good reminder as to the importance of momentum & helping everyone build positive spiritual momentum. Not to trunk out, but that's been one thing on my mind concerning going home. I don't want to lose the momentum I've built out here. However, one thing mentioned during MLC is that there is always a guide helping us along the path. I am so glad to have Jesus Christ with me as I walk this Covenant path. I have seen His hand in my life and I know He'll continue to guide as long as I keep following Him. I know Jesus is the Christ, and through Him we can have true happiness here on earth and Eternal happiness in the life to come.

Love you Elder C!

Three seasons in the making...

When growing raspberries it typically takes 3 seasons to see the fruit.  We have been anxiously waiting and this year we have fruit!  We actually have way more than I ever thought that we would and they are delicious.  I cannot wait to make fresh raspberry syrup to put on homemade vanilla ice cream.  So yummy!

Gray goes to FSY

This week Gray had FSY at BYU!  His roommate is Luke Bullough.  They also went with Bridger Eden and with Cole Bullough.  They were in different groups but were able to go to all of the classes together and were able to hang out a ton.  Gray loved his experience and even got up and shared his testimony.  He talked about how he learned in one of the classes to study the Book of Mormon better and he said he felt the spirit of it's truthfulness.  They took away slow dancing this year but Gray said that everyone had fun moshing at the dances.  I am 

Back like he never left

This was what Luke titled his email this week.  This is because he got to go back to East Orange for Tanasia's baptism.  I love that they let them go back to to see all of the work come to fruition.  Besides the baptism, he had another busy week.  He had an exchange with Elder Taggart and Elder Lopez.  He went down with Elder Taggart to a walking area in Perth Amboy.  They got to walk to the beach but did not break any mission rules.  They also had an amazing lesson that night.  He also had interviews this week which means as a zone leader, he spends the whole day at the church.  He also had an interview with President Durrant and said it was great.  He just loves his mission president which is such a blessing.  So another great week for the books.  Can't believe how quickly the weeks are going...

Joey's latest Amazon find

Joey is always getting deals from Amazon.  I was joking with him that we have a basement storage room full of deals but we are running out of space.  His latest find is a blow up ice bath.  The kids are loving it.  Nash even asked if I would wake him up early tomorrow so he could do an ice bath first thing.  So fun!  I am going to try to find some courage and try it after my next long run.

Missionary Monday

So good to chat with our boy today!  It is just amazing how well he is doing.  He had a busy week!  They had zone conference and had to do a little teaching.  He had the opportunity to go to Irvington and could not believe how many Haitians were in the area.  He also had 12 people show up at their English class this week.  So crazy!  Luke has met with the mission president and has decided that he is not going to come home early.  We did get the good news that he will be coming home on Dec.12.  Cannot believe it!  He will be home in less than six months.  Can't believe how fast time is going.  So proud of him.

Har's first few days in Romania

Har landed in NYC on Tuesday morning.  She had a 12 hour layover before they left for Romania.  It was so fun for her to get have all that time to get to know her group.  She said they all sat at tables for a bit and got to know each other.  They also spent a lot of time playing games.  They flew out of NYC right before 7pm on Tuesday night.  They arrived in Romania on Wednesday.  They spent the next four days traveling around and seeing the sites.  They were to Transylvania and saw Dracula's castle.  They went on this crazy hike where they needed to climb up a super high and steep ladder.  They went to several castles which Har thought were amazing.  They also went to a mine and paddled a boat through the mine/cave.  Seriously how cool is it that she gets to make all of these memories.  Life changing for sure.  She got to send a message to Joey today for Father's Day and it was so good to see her and hear her voice.  This next week they start the teaching of the refugees.  I 

48 Hours in our favorite place

 

Even though we were only in SG for 48 hours we managed to have a little bit of fun.  We spent some time in the pool but it was super HOT!  Bathtub HOT!  Next time we come down we will definitely be buying some ice to try to cool it off.  We of course made it to Pork Belly's and it did not disappoint.  We also tried Chubby's which has recently opened down there.  We got some scones with our lunch and they were so good.  We also made it to Fiesta Fun.  The kids beat the heat by doing the bumper boats.  They had so much fun and were soaked.  It true Joey Childs fashion, around 5pm on Saturday, he suggested that we drive home.  It was truly so hot that we were all ok with it.  We had the fastest clean up and were on the road by 6:30pm.  It was so fun to get away and to get the bed down there.  I will look forward however to driving down next time in the spacious Sequoia.

St George room makeover

With Harlee gone, we decided to take a cozy trip down to SG in the truck.  We had purchased a new bed and night stand and decided to drive it down.  It is from Downeast and Joey got a great deal on both the bed and the nightstand.  I LOVE it!  We had updated the rug the last time we were there and the new furniture just takes it to the next level.  Can wait to see what is next for our forever home!  Little by little...

Ike's new hang out spot

Today while I was working Ike hopped up on the chair and just hung out there for a bit.  So funny!  He looks more and more human every time that he does something like this.  We sure love this puppy.  He is such a part of our family and I am so grateful for the joy that he brings to all of us.

She's off...

Harlee left tonight for her HXP trip.  She is going to Romania to work with the refugees from Ukraine.  She will be gone for 18 days and they do not take their phones.  It will be so hard to not text her.  We will be able to see updates on Instagram.  She flies to JFK and that is where she will meet her group. When we went to check her bag, she was seven pounds over the limit.  We had to take out things so get her bag to 52 pounds.  Good thing she also took out a bunch before we left.  So funny!  I was so excited that she saw this cute boy Crew who will be in her group as soon as we checked her bag.  They said hi to each other which was such a comfort to me.  I know that he will watch out for her.  I hope she has the best time ever.  So amazing that she gets to see a different part of the world while serving others.  What a life changing opportunity.  I will miss her so much but know that she will never forget this experience.  I feel so blessed that Joey and I can give her this opportunity that we never had.