October 30, 2017

Email day is just the best.  I just love hearing from Elder Draper - he inspires me and makes me laugh and humors me and is a great kid. 

October 28, 2017

Our last full soccer Saturday pretty much summed up the season - a win, a tie, and a loss.

Also, I love coming home after being out with D and seeing evidence of the girls doing things together (monster pics) and finding Ry and Cam laughing and playing games on Cam's bed.

October 24, 2017

After a long day of traveling and a very long layover - Mason made it to Arkansas.  It was great to email with him today and hear his awesome story of giving away his first Book of Mormon.  Love that Elder.  I prayed for a smooth journey for the missionaries but if not let them figure it out.  I got the - figured it out - after a cancelled flight.  It probably worked better that way anyway.  God is good.

(Mason and companion Elder Nelson)

October 21, 2017

Red Cliffs Reserve sand hill is awesome.  I love the feel of sand on my feet and it was so pretty.  Sitting with the girls on the hill was relaxing and fantastic (D hiked to Babylon Arch).

Swimming at the hotel got me mom points.  The girls loved it and I'm glad we took to time to let them enjoy that.

October 20, 2017

I love the Taylor Creek hike.  Walking across the creek lots of times and seeing orange walls plus the yellow leaves as we got farther in was awesome.  The alcove was cool.  The girls hiking six miles was an accomplishment.  Love chatting with Sadie on hikes.  Dinner with D's parents in Mesquite was a good end to a good day.  As was seeing Gma O. 

October 19, 2017

This year's pumpkin patch was sort of a creepy Halloween experience with beetles all over most of the pumpkins.  We still accomplished getting some pumpkins.

October 18, 2017

15 for Rylie.  Happy birthday to this great girl!  She is just fantastic.  One of my favorite things about her is how she gets along with anyone.  To celebrate there was the movie last night, shakes and shopping with her friend Jordyn, and a party with some other friends.

October 17, 2017

I got to go with Ry to the movie.  That doesn't happen enough as I totally love it.  It was a pre-birthday movie seeing The Mountain Between Us.

October 15, 2017

Good Sabbath with three sacrament meetings.  First was Bri Peterson's homecoming.  So good to see her and Emma who I coached with AF softball.  Second was Chris Whatcott's farewell.  He and Mason will overlap in the MTC for a week.  Third was our ward.  It was an uplifting and good Sabbath.

October 14, 2017

It was a soccer Saturday but mostly a miss Mason day.  For some reason he was on my mind all day.  Miss that boy.  I have to remind myself that if he was home he'd most likely be at work or playing video games and not necessarily hanging out with me.  :)  Still miss that boy. 

On the soccer Saturday part of today, Sadie played so well.  She had such a great game - passing and defending and chasing and hustling and smiling.

October 13, 2017

What a good hiking day.  7.5 miles up Grovecreek, over, and down Battlecreek.  Then for date night D and I hiked up Dry Creek to the first meadow.  Fall was on display with beautiful leaves.  Battlecreek was so pretty yellow while Dry Creek was more red.  All of it was so fall pretty.

October 10, 2017

Email day! Yeehah! So good to hear from Mason.  Like so, so good.  And cool to hear my prayer was answered.  I'd been praying that he would laugh each day and Mason told me his companion is super funny and makes him laugh all the time.

Elder Lee, Elder Cundick, Elder Draper, Elder Nelson (companion), 

Elder Collins, and Elder Gillmore

October 9, 2017

The good thing about not having a soccer carpool is that I get to ride with Rylie to all (almost all) her practices and games.  We decided seat heaters are such a great invention and are especially wonderful after cold games.

October 8, 2017

Mockshnow.  Such a great get together with my Snow friends and spouses plus kids.  It's been quite a few years since the boys have gotten together with us.  In the past few years they've taken a back seat to letting the girls get together without having to juggle as many schedules. Good hang out at Tara's house.  I just really like when I can get together with my friends.  25+ years with these ladies.  And 20+ years with all the spouses.

October 7, 2017

Happy birthday to our now teenager Camrie!  Party last night with friends that included games outside and inside, some Psych, and a campfire.  Today was lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory, presents, her soccer game, and Spider-Man.

Cam makes life better.  Whether it's through her humor, her thankfulness, her silliness, her peacemaker-ness, her thoughtfulness, and everything else about her - she just makes life better.

Thirteen things about Cam:

1. Her favorite restaurants are Spaghetti Factory and Panda Express.
2. She loves popcorn almost as much as Mason.
3. Soft blue is her favorite color.
4. She talks in different accents - often for most of the day.
5. She wants her bed "perfectly made".
6. She is always coloring or drawing or creating or lettering.
7. She does not like school.
8. She is so good to hang out with just family.
9. PB M&Ms are her favorite.
10. She likes her room clean and does a good job at keeping it clean.
11. She doesn't really like long sleeve shirts.
12. California beaches are her favorite place to be.
13. She has awesome dance moves when she hears the right music. 

October 5, 2017

Rylie's having a rough time as she just sent away her new best friend for two years.  When Mason's friends left on a mission and to school, Ry got to hang out with Mason a lot.  She'll get through this.  I'm doing better today and am patiently waiting for the first email and picture.

October 4, 2017

Miserable joy.  That is the only way I've been able to remotely describe what it's like to send your son off to the mission and MTC.  We had a great morning all together eating at waffle and fry place on Center Street in Provo and then walking around the Provo City Center Temple (where we avoided all the missionary crowds who were at the Provo Temple).  And then Mason walked through the MTC doors and we all cried all the way home.  Some people are so kind bringing treats and flowers and sending texts.

October 3, 2017

Awesome experience of Mason being set apart as a missionary!  He's got this.  President Raines gave him a great blessing and we had good conversation leading up to it.  There were a few tears shed.  Happy tears from me.  And feeling the Spirit tears.  I feel like he is ready and there are good humble people in Arkansas that he will help.  Rylie had a rough time at first with lots of tears but we had a good evening afterward.  Some of Mason's old young men quorum friends and leaders came over and then we sat around and chatted and looked at old pictures from two years ago and decided that two years didn't seem so long ago so two years for a mission is not too bad.  ELDER MASON DRAPER!

Disclaimer - we may have wasted a lot of the day away playing Dr. Mario.  Good choice.

October 1, 2017

Amazing day!  Conference watching surrounded by my kids with an awesome family soccer game in between sessions.  My mother heart was bursting with happiness as we laughed and listened and were together.  The mountains behind our soccer game had clouds and red leaves and I tried to soak it all in.  And then the tears flowed from many as Kenzie said goodbye to Mason.