Hey, do you want to go on down to Ghana?

Hey, do you want to come along, my brother?

 Hey, do you want to go on down to Ghana?

 And as we’ll travel we’ll sing this happy song.

Tu-e tu-e (clap, clap) 

Tu-e tu-e ba-ri-ma tu-e (clap, clap)

The other day, we went with Britton to the

 Ogden Temple to take pictures.

I can't believe that in a little over a 

month, this kid will be in Ghana.

At least 3 times a day Britton comments on 

how EXCITED he is to go to 

Ghana and serve a mission.

One of my favorite quotes about missionary work comes from President Nelson

"Be we reminded that the gathering of Israel is not the ultimate endpoint. It is but the beginning. The true endpoint is eternal life. It is that God’s children, in a covenant relationship with Him either by lineage or by adoption, will be able to dwell with Him and their families forever. That is God’s glory-eternal life for His children!"

Man, I can't believe how much I am going to miss him. 

After Alyssa left, I struggled immensely. I started questioning everything about missions. It was too painful to have her gone. I began complaining rather forcefully to JD that this mission thing could not be a good thing to do. 

Then one day Alyssa's mission President called and said that she wanted to return home early. She was homesick and struggling. He allowed her to call and when she did all I could do is testify to her of "WHY" her mission was going to be a pivotal moment/blessing throughout her life. 

I could not believe what I was saying! Previously, I had wanted her home everyday. 

Why was I know telling her to stay?  

As she and our other children have served missions, I have come to understand the WHY. 

Yes, it is for the gathering of Israel in these latter days. 

However, what I have found to be true with each child who has served is that their conversions, and the blessings that come into their lives through the people that they serve, are the blessings they bring home. It is a gift they carry with them for the rest of their lives. 

Britton, I know that as you are obedient and

 faithful, the choice to serve a mission

will be a decision that will bless you throughout your life.

Remember the wise words of President Hinckley on those hard days

"Forget yourself, and go to work."

"There is NO substitute for hard work. "

-Thomas Edison

For Youth Conference a few weeks ago, 

our ward was able to visit the Provo MTC.

Each one of the youth spoke of the spirit that they felt there. 

I am excited that Britton is only going to do one 

week of home MTC and then he 

will be able to attend the Provo MTC and experience 

the spirit of being there on a daily basis. 

One of the things Britton loved about visiting the

 MTC was how strong the spirit was. He realized that his time to 

be here in this amazing place was coming soon. 

Man, this day came quick. Crazy how fast time flies!

I would LOVE to believe that our home would be as 

spiritual as the MTC, but we are a continual work in progress. 

JD and I re-evaluate and make a plan almost daily with one goal in mind...

"tonight, scriptures and prayers are going to be peaceful and spirit-filled."  

I mean, we have been doing this for 26 years now, some of our children have left the home, 

and we should have a few things figured out by now, RIGHT?

Somehow, a more accurate assessment for our study around here most evenings are, 

noisy and chaos-filled.

Perhaps we need to set a new goal:).

I love you, Britton! 

As you serve the people in Ghana, remember the two quotes I remember my dad telling me often,

"People never care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

"Awareness is the greatest form of religion."

Sounds a little like the first and great commandment:).

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 

and with all thy soul, 

and with all thy mind. 

This is the first and great commandment. 

And the second is like unto it, 

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy

self."

Matt. 22:37-39

 

Hey, hey! We want to go to Ghana. 

Hey, hey! We want to come along.

 Hey, hey! We want to go to Ghana, And as we travel we’ll sing this happy… 

Tu-e tu-e ba-ri-ma tu-e (clap, clap) Tu-e tu-e ba-ri-ma tu-e (clap, clap)

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JD!

About a month before JD's birthday, we were discussing what he wanted for his birthday. 

He felt a pellet smoker/grill would be an awesome birthday gift. We looked at a few, and I told him I did not want to spend that kind of money on something right before we moved into a new home. 

A day later, his sister Shari called to inform him that she had won one of them in a drawing. He was beyond excited for her and may have been a little covetous when he hung up the phone. The following day, his sister showed up with it in the back of her car. She opened the trunk and said, "I don't have any idea what to do with this. Nor do I have a place for it. Happy Birthday."  Since that day, JD has been like a kid at Christmas. He loves inventing new recipes and finding creative ways to use his new smoker. 

It is safe to say her gift to JD has benefited our entire family.

Today JD tried his hand at ribs...

They were DELICIOUS!

I can't believe how thoughtful that was of his sister. 

For at least 2 weeks after JD's sister gave him the smoker, 

I would catch JD pausing in the middle of something and making comments such as, 

"I can't believe she did that for me." 

Since the day I married JD I have admired 

the way JD and his sisters get along. 

JD, we love you and are thankful for 

everything you do for our family. 

Recently I started going walking in the morning.

 I love that you join me, 

even when you don't love walking. 

This last semester I was in a math class that actually taught me a lot of valuable concepts. 

However, I am terrible at math. 

JD would go through the entire lesson with me and try to help me understand

 what the heck it was I was supposed to be learning. 

We both learned a lot about math this term.

I'm thankful to be married to a man who is willing to help me with math, 

even during ROYAL meltdowns.

When it came to this class, 

neither of us knew the answers, most of the time.  

I am thankful JD would stick with me until we figured it out together. 

That's True Love:)

It makes me smile at how much our children love their dad. 

HE loves to facetime Alyssa in the morning so that he can talk to Luke. 

He is such a wonderful grandpa. Whenever one of his children needs help, 

he ALWAYS has the answer.

If he doesn't, our children know it will only take Dad 

a minute after the call to find it. 

We LOVE you, JD!

Thanks for the blessing you are in all of our lives!

Happy 48th old man:)

 

I Love to See the Temple!

The TEMPLE is an ever-present reminder that

 God intends the family to be ETERNAL!

-Ezra Taft Benson

June 18th was a wonderful day. 

Trisha, Brandon, my dad, Granny, Gramps, Shari, Riley, 

Madeline, Alyssa, Jake, our Bishop and his wife, JD, and I were all able to

 be with Britton at the Brigham City Temple 

when he received his endowments. 

"Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances

 in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, 

after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk 

back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels 

who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the

 key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the

 holy priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation."

 (Discourses of Brigham Young, Sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954],416).

I am thankful that Britton has amazing 

family members who love and support him.

I am thankful for the pattern 

we are taught in the temple of 

how to live our lives to obtain a 

FULNESS of TRUTH and JOY. 

I love the advice our bishop gave Britton on this special day. 

He said, 

"Britton, never let any amount of worldly deception tell you 

THIS gift is not special. It is all that matters!"

I love the sign I came across on Amazon. 

It fits how Britton feels about the man above

PERFECTLY!

GRANDPA

-noun-

1-Like a dad but with fewer rules.

SEE also...Best mate

Granny & Gramps 

a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, 

and best of friends!

Aunt Shari

Not just a cool aunt, but a great friend

 and inspiration to me every day! 

Brothers

More than best friends...

My HEROS!

Consider this...

What matters most is what lasts the

 longest and families are forever.

-M. Russell Ballard

MoM & DAD

Gonna miss me like craZy

while I am in Ghana!

                                          

These pictures make me smile. 

Madeline is so thoughtful, 

especially when it comes to family events. 

She is a light and true blessing in our family!

I love how these pictures show the fun personalities 

Madeline and Trisha have. 

I am thankful for the blessing of temples in our lives. 

I am thankful for the sealing power 

that they have to bind families together forever. 

I can't believe our FOURTH child 

is LEAVING on a MISSION!

JD, we are only going to

 have ONE child at home😳

Families are Forever!

I am thankful for the blessing it is to be a mother. 

Britton, take the opportunity to attend the temple often. 

I love what we are taught in D&C 97:13 about the purpose of the temple.

 They are a place of Thanksgiving and a place of Instruction. 

The main reason we serve missions is to gather Isreal and build Zion in these Latter Days. 

Section 97 of D&C explains that the more often we attend the temple, 

the more pure in heart we will become. 

Verse 21 states, "let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion-The pure in heart." 

I believe these verses tell us that Zion is not simply a place, 

but a way of living, or state of our hearts.

 Perhaps this way of living, and being 

pure in heart is obtained through faithful temple 

attendance and covenant-keeping.

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

The Fourth of July this year was on a Sunday. Daxon was 

in town and so we had all the kids over to celebrate the

 holiday.

I love how much ALL the kids ADORE Luke.

Here we are all trying to teach Luke how to walk.

These pictures were not taken on the Fourth.

Not sure why they are mixed in.

I had to add them.

 They make me smile.

As I walked into Brittons room this is the scene I beheld.

I smiled inside for the rest of the day. 

Man, I love being a mom!

Happy Fourth of July!

AMERICA

built on courage, imagination and an 

unbeatable DETERMINATION!

☆

-Harry S. Truman

 

Lagoon 2021

We decided to go to Lagoon before Britton left on his mission. 

We have found that the 4th of July weekend is the BEST time to visit amusement parks.

People are so busy with family events that the parks are pretty empty. 

Britton is such a fabulous brother. 

None of us, including him wanted to go on this ride with Ashlynn. 

As you can see he caved and went on it with her.

Looks like they had a pretty good time.

JD and I did not have the stomach for this ride.

The favorite of the day was the sky coaster and Cannibal.

We went on Cannibal at least 5 times.

As fun as the sky coaster looks, 

I would never have the courage to pull that string.

Ashlynn did not seem to have any fear. 

Then again, she never has. 

JD and I are getting weak stomaches in our old age. This is another 

ride that made our stomaches churn just looking at it.

It was a HOT, and FUN day!

Scattered thoughts

Ashlynn was pretty excited when her medium 

sno-cone was as big as she was.

We bought this mirror for Ashlynn so

 that she would get ready in her room. 

Nope, her makeup and hair stuff are still 

scattered all over in the hallway.

It makes me smile when I see that Daxon 

liked one of the brilliant Ed Mylett quotes.

Ashlynn decided to make an apple pie the other day. 

I must say it turned out better than any apple pie I have ever made. 

I wish I would have applied the principle of 

this quote when I was younger.

It is wise counsel and I find myself considering 

it in the decisions I make now on a daily basis. 

Ashlynn had the privilege of getting some teeth pulled. 

Next is her wisdom teeth. 

My other children had theirs pulled much later. 

It seems that in order to get her adult teeth to come in, 

we need to get the other teeth out. 

My dad gave Britton a cowboy hat and he LOVES to wear it.

 The other day he was mowing the lawn with it on and 

singing away at the top of his lungs.

 I am going to miss that boy 

so much when he leaves to Ghana. 

I bought Ashlynn some STEM books. 

Why is it that she is drawn to 

the messiest activities in the books:)?

Daxon and Brigham ran into one of our good 

friends Anna Finch in Fresno California. 

She is serving a mission there.

One of the boys in the ward had a graduation party this year at his families cabin. 

He invited a bunch of the other boys who were graduating.

I received this text message from his mom. 

"Britton taught Gage how to gut a fish. He was so good with my younger boys."

Speaking of fishing...

Daxon came home for a few days. He and Riley 

were able to go fishing and it looks like 

they were able to catch a few.

This is a quote I have needed to repeat to

 myself NUMEROUS times a day as of late.

I LOVE IT!