December 31, 2018

Ended the year with a good email from Mason -

"We also got some news. I have a new companion! I'm still in Little Rock but there was an emergency transfer because some other missionaries were struggling so I'm here with my good friend Elder Thrasher. I'm super excited for these next couple weeks and it should be way good. We're gonna work harder than ever and start off the new year with a bang!"

He also mentioned finishing the musical tributes which he loved.  I asked him about Elder Seastrand being there because he's in a different zone and he said, "He just came cause he can sing! He's got the voice of an angel!"  I just laughed.

 (Seastrand, Draper, Andersen, Thrasher - reunited from the Cabot days.)

December 30, 2018

Having such a good time hanging out with the Randalls over the break.  Kenz even came with me to visit my parents.

December 29, 2018

D and I had an awesome little getaway to Moab:

Double arch.

Gilibertos - no me gusta.

Hot chocolate!

Watching “Terminal” chilling at the motel. 

Drive to Monument Valley to see nothing but snow and fog covering buttes. 

Park avenue. Love this hike!

Milt’s drive inn.

More hot chcolate. 

Awesome hike to jeep arch with an amazing vast view from inside the arch.

December 25, 2018

Merry Christmas! Talking to Mason was awesome. I just love hearing his laugh. We had a good day being together.

December 24, 2018

Finished the Book of Mormon challenge from president Nelson in October. Awesome. I loved this challenge. It reminded me that our Savior is just and merciful.

Email from Mason -

This week was basically only raking leaves and teaching lessons. Which I guess are kinda some of the best parts of missionary work so I can't complain. We raked so many leaves though. For those of you who don't know, there are on average about 97 trees per backyard here in Arkansas. If you do the math, that equals a lot of leaves. And guess who are crazy enough to offer to rake them? That's right, the missionaries! So we raked about 3 tons of leaves and had a good time doing it. 

This week, my invitation would just be to remember Christ more in your lives. Being as it is Christmas, it is the perfect time to do so. We are to "always remember him" so I would challenge everyone to try to do that this Christmas week.

December 23, 2018

Christmas sacrament meeting was awesome. Singing in the choir and enjoying the talks and music was a wonderful pre Christmas sabbath. Christmas lights at Temple Square topped off the Sabbath.

President Uchtdorf - First, rejoice in the birth of our Savior. We celebrate the birth of the Son of God, the Creator, our Messiah. We rejoice that the King of kings came to earth, was born in a manger, and lived a perfect life. When Jesus was born, the joy in heaven was so great it could not be contained, and angelic hosts parted the veil, proclaiming unto shepherds “good tidings of great joy, … praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

December 22, 2018

Oh Kanab. You served your purpose of getting us together. Coral pink sand dunes. Way fun. Sand as “cold as lake water” in some spots. Other spots just right. Rylie falling flat was kind of funny. Wire Pass was a great little hike with a cool slot. I mean it’s always great to sit on red rock with your family and chat and eat lunch. Toadstools were overrated and Horseshoe bend was a crazy madhouse but still we smiled and laughed. Pizza is a great end to a day. We were able to watch skyscraper and Meg and some watched a lord of the rings. “Who farted?” was said many, many times. We found a new fun game in Quix. Also Kenzie sniffing after she farted and then saying - well I needed to know if it stunk - had Ry and I laughing and laughing. Huntress Canyon was a good before drive hike. Cool light sand color that contrasted the red rock. Good stop at my parents. Don’t forget carbon nachos in Fillmore and the amazing sunset in Kanab.

December 18, 2018

Two good things today. First driving to work and Blurry Face by 21 Pilots comes on and that song always makes me smile as I think of Mason. Second, came out from work and there is a truffle on my car with a sweet note from my friend Kelly. She’s like the best friend ever.

December 17, 2018

Mason is staying in Little Rock. Little Rock Christmas. We decided that should be a song. Good email -
“This week has been good. And crazy. So it was crazy good.”  

“We also did a lot of service to try and #LightTheWorld. We raked lots of leaves and volunteered at a food pantry. I seriously love the Christmas season because it gives us so many opportunities to serve and to think of Jesus Christ.”  

“But let me just tell you how much I love the south. The people here are so kind and generous. And nowhere else can you see cars driving down the streets who's license plates say things like go2chrch and I love how everyone has so much faith down here.”

He took a picture of him sporting his new sweatshirt Cmas present.

 

 

 

 

December 16, 2018

Ry has finished 6 puzzles in the last 36 hours.  5 - 500 piece Dowdle puzzles and a 1000 piece.

We had such a great "Bethleham" dinner tonight in South Jordan.  It was the 5 of us, Clayton and Sandee, Tanner and Kenzie, and Tanner's mom.  It was a lovely evening and I do love twice baked potatoes (as does Rylie).

December 15, 2018

Elder Maxwell - October 1994 GC.  Hope beckons all of us to come home where a glow reflects the Light of the World, whose "brightness and glory defy all description" (JS-H 1:17). Jesus waits "with open arms to receive" those who finally overcome by faith and hope (Morm. 6:17). His welcome will consist not of a brief, loving pat but, instead, of being "clasped in the arms of Jesus"! (Morm. 5:11).

December 14, 2018

Cam dancing to Cmas songs at night is awesome.  Especially - Here Comes Santa Clause.

Also - sitting against a rock in the snow drinking hot chocolate is awesome - as long as it's sunny and you can warm up soon.  But it's not as awesome as Cam's dancing. 

December 12, 2018

Missionary email -

We're also coming up on Christmas so we've been trying to #LightTheWorld. We helped at a food pantry, went caroling at a hospital, and just tried our best to do some service throughout the week. Christmas time really is the best time. I would invite yall to all remember the true reason for this season and think of christ at this wonderful time of year. 

December 9, 2018

President Monson - April 1996 GC.  He who taught us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and with all our souls, and with all our strength, and with all our minds, and our neighbors as ourselves, is a Teacher of truth-but He is more than a teacher. He is the Exemplar of the perfect life-but He is more than an exemplar. He is the Great Physician-but He is more than a physician. He is the literal Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Holy One of Israel, even the risen Lord, who declared: "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. ... I am the light and the life of the world." (3 Ne. 11:10-11.) "I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father." (D&C 110:4.)

December 8, 2018

Dear Ranger Jamie -

Thank you for your suggestion to hike The Golden Throne (not to be confused with The Great White Throne which gave us a few laughs on the hike).  Your comment that we would be the only ones on the trail was only 1 person off.  Also, your comment about the echo wall was spot on - it was so cool and I was geeking out as only a hiker could.  We were able to build a little snowman and we loved the drive through Capitol Gorge.  Thanks again.

Angee Draper

PS - A shout out to Columbia for my comfy hiking pants and our hiking jackets that we love.  (I especially love the color of mine.)

December 7, 2018

Good evening with my parents where my dad shared one of his sayings but I hadn't heard it before.  "Sometimes when you don't say anything, you're saying a lot."

December 6, 2018

Another pretty snowshoe - this one up Dry Creek.  We even got to sled a little.  Fun, I know.

December 5, 2018

I do like living by the cemetery when I can walk and Baylie can run.

December 4, 2018

14 months out for Mason. It's been awesome!

December 3, 2018

Mason email - "This week has been awesome though!  We had a big stake nativity thing over the weekend which was great!  We helped set everything up and it was really cool, because there was an area seventy who was kind of in charge of it all so we got to spend like all day with him.  He has a huge 9 foot picture of Christ that we had to move and honestly it was just a great day.  We were able to talk with him for a while and I learned a lot from him.  A little homework he gave us is to look up how much the word - covenant - is used in the New Testament and compare it to how many times in the Book of Mormon.  That just goes to show how much has been lost and how much the Book of Mormon restores."  He also talked about spending the day yesterday with President and Sister Hansen and how much he loves spending time with them.

December 1, 2018

Snow College girls cabin time!  Oh how I love our 24 hour togetherness that includes the cabin.  Pats, Tara, Mary Ellen and I chatted and watched movies and slept just a little.  Next year we'll try and get 4 movies in instead of 3. 

November 30, 2018

Awesome snowshoe this morning.  When we set out we had no idea the beauty we would come upon.  I mean we hiked up the road by Mill Canyon and Tibble Fork and it was gorgeous.  It was a winter wonderland where we built a snowman.  Fun, I know.

November 26, 2018

Another good week for Mason.  "We started doing the musical tributes again for Christmas! Woohoo!  So we went and sang a bunch of songs for Christmas.  Let me tell ya, it's so spiritual and everyone's crying and it's awesome.  Honestly they're my favorite events ever.  Plus I was able to see a bunch of people from Cabot that I haven't seen in awhile so it was really good to see them.  It was just awesome.

November 25, 2018

Great Thanksgiving break.  We did stuff and we didn't do stuff and we went to the movie and watched a movie at home and I had lots of time with just my little family.

November 23, 2018

Wreck it Ralph 2 did not disappoint.  I laughed out loud quite a few times.  That Ralph.  He's so funny. 

November 22, 2018

Happy Darren's birthday.  We hiked out from the yurt and took naps and watched a video with movie popcorn.  Also had Thanksgiving/birthday dinner at IHOP.  Not quite the birthday celebration I was going for but Darren's a great sport.

November 21, 2018

Forced family togetherness at a yurt.  Expensive FFF for roughing it.  But worth it thanks to the togetherness part.  I really like our time at the yurt.  If only I could figure out a way to actually sleep at the yurt.  It was beautiful hiking in.  A little snow and blue skies and warmth.  Mountain House and games and laughing and farting took up the evening.  Yurt time is weird.  6:00 felt like 9:00.  Baylie loved the entire yurt experience. 

November 19, 2018

Email - "It's been another good week here in Little Rock, and as you can probably tell from the title, it snowed!!! Not like Utah snow where you get a couple feet, but it stuck enough to make a couple snowballs which is a blessing and a miracle.  The Lord knew that I wanted snow."

November 18, 2018

I just love Sunday evenings when the Randalls visit.

November 14, 2018

Just a little two square with Sadie this afternoon.  "Mom - you're good."  I know, right?!?

November 12, 2018

Email - "Hey!  How's everyone doing?  Sorry not a ton of time, we went to a trampoline park today as a zone which was super fun...This week has been awesome.  We had on of the best weeks ever!  I have a new companion named Elder Graves and he's fun so it'll be a good transfer."

November 11, 2018

Things I'm especially thankful for this week:

• Nieces and nephews.
• Gma O.
• Drs.
• Good parents.
• Prayer.
• My friend Kelly.
• Waterfalls and ice.
• Missionaries.
• Book of Mormon.
• Conference talks that reference Book of Mormon verses.

November 10, 2018

Gma O's funeral was nice.  We already miss her so much.  But it's like Elder Draper said, "I'll miss her but it's OK because we have the plan of salvation."  While that's pretty simple, it totally sums it all up. 

November 8, 2018

Day started off with a good hike to Stewart Falls with blue skies.  Ended up with my dad having surprise and successful heart surgery to remove his defibrillator.  It was good to talk to him before surgery and enjoy my dad.  Big sigh of relief after the surgery as it was a tricky one.

November 5, 2018

Ah email day - how I love email day.  Mason is staying in Pinnacle Hills.  "We met some awesome people this week, I did another baptismal interview, we set a baptismal date with someone we're teaching, and just overall it was an awesome week.  We were able to spend some time with our mission president and his wife which is always great."  He challenged us to have "mighty prayers".

November 4, 2018

13 mission months for Mason!

Other things I'm thankful for this week on this Sabbath Day:

• That I can draw cows.
• Chick Fil A and Park City shopping with R and C plus D.
• Dinner with my parents.
• Capitol Reef.
• Gma O.
• Hiking a slot canyon.
• Book of Mormon.
• Journals.
• Finding a new TV show with D - Designated Survivor.

November 3, 2018

Last minute getaway with D to Richfield yesterday evening and then on to Capitol Reef today.  It was good to have dinner with my parents and I do love Capitol Reef.  We hiked Pleasant Creek.  This is one of those hikes where if I tell you it's cool you're going to be disappointed, but if you go in with no expectations, you'll be pleasantly surprised.  Pleasant Creek was more than pleasant.  Good hike with yellows and CR rocks - white and red - so pretty.  CR was awesome in the fall.  D found us a little slot canyon which was fun.  It was long enough to make it cool even though it wasn't super tall.  Also cool was the log jammed in the slot.  Also cool were the cascades.  Watching the yellow leaves float down the river - sigh.  I had me a Subway sandwich at the beautiful cascades and I ate it faster than Kenzie ate her Jimmy John's at Desolation Lake.  Also super cool was how many people we saw on this hike.  A big fat zero.

We stopped in Nephi on the way home for some Chinese dinner.  Oriental Garden was way yummy.  Don't judge your broccoli beef by the bathroom because one was delicious and the other was disgusting. 

November 1, 2018

I like my two hiking friends.

(Lorien Caldwell, Sariah Kelly, me)

October 29, 2018

Grandma O passed away today.  Love that lady.  One of my favorite things was watching the relationship she had with Darren and Clayton.  Whenever they were together I would laugh as she would be keeping them in line.  It was awesome.  She was a card playing lady.  Her spunk with awesome.  As was her strength and sass. 

Today did have a good Elder Draper email saying the fall leaf service raking has begun.

October 28, 2018

Lots of good stuff this week - lunch with my parents as the girls and I had a day trip to Richfield, getting pumpkins in Richfield, Ry driving ol' Bump Bump with my dad, Sadie's ninja turtle painted pumpkin, fall beauty up AF Canyon, yellow leaves covering our backyard and Baylie trying to find her yellow bone in them, moose wandering through the meadow on Lorien's birthday hike, surprise visit from K and T and then movie with them the next day, good BYU Speech listen from April 2014 - Lloyd Newell, good April 2014 GC talk by Elder Jensen, Kaitlyn Murphy sleepover with ball heads and hoodies.  :)

October 22, 2018

Mason had a Pday excursion to Central Valley High School which is home of the Little Rock Nine.  I googled it.  Pretty cool history.  From his letter, "As far as missionary work goes this week, it's been an awesome week full of miracles galore!  We were able to find 9 new people to teach this week and to put it into perspective, we usualy get about 3 on a normal week.  The Lord really is involved in this work.  It really is amazing to see so many miracles happen each week.  It's great to be a missionary!"

October 20, 2018

I like road trips.  I like when they're to Zion.  I like when they include lesser known hikes and spots.  I mostly like when they're with D.

Day 1 - Lehi to Zion east side via Cedar Breaks.  We hiked Observation Point from the East Mesa trail.  Then it was on to Cedar City after a few quick stops on the east side of Zion.  Dinner at Chili's.

Day 2 - Cedar to Zion Kolob Terrace section.  We hiked the Northgate Peaks trail.  We also found Hoodoo city and had fun exploring there.  Then it was back to Lehi with a stop at Hermie's in Cedar City for fried zucchini. 

October 18, 2018

16?!? I can't believe Ry is 16.  She had a good time celebrating her birthday with friends.  "Hey mom - guess what.  It's my birthday!"  :)

October 16, 2018

It was nice to be able to do something today with each of the kids at home.  Cam and I went and got her some new shoes (Vans), Sadie and I took Baylie for a walk tonight, and Ry and I played a round of Dr. Mario.  (Which I finally won - that hasn't happened for awhile.)

October 15, 2018

Mason is working hard and doing it while biking in the rain.  "In case none of you know this, it's not fun biking in the rain.  But we do it anyways and I've grown to love it.  After it's over wtih.  :)"

October 14, 2018

Good Sabbath.  Ry gave a good talk today.  Amen.

October 12, 2018

Went snowshoeing this morning.  Yep - snowshoeing in October.  Kinda cool.  Now let's hope it melts fast and we get back to fall hiking.

October 8, 2018

Good older kid day.  Emails from Mason and he's doing good.  He's liking living in his apartment with the APs.  Then I had a great hike with Kenz.  We hiked to Willow Heights with the pretty yellow plus snow.  It was so pretty. 

October 7, 2018

Happy Camrie's birthday! That girl is such a joy.  She brings so many smiles to our house and our family.  Seriously, she makes us laugh all the time. 

October 6, 2018

Playing frisbee with Baylie is pretty fun.  Playing Just Dance with my daughters is even more fun.  Also, General Conference is awesome.  Especially the Women's Session.  Actually all of it. Also, Ben & Jerry's is yummy.

October 5, 2018

AF Canyon is beautiful with its fall colors.  We've had two awesome fall hikes in the last two days.  The yellows at the Summit were amazing.  And we saw a moose.  Wahoo.  Then today was another great hike.  Silver Lake had fall colors and it had some snow close to the lake.  It was a cool combination.  I do like fall hiking.

October 4, 2018

ONE YEAR FOR MASON!!!

October 3, 2018

"We all need to feel the warm hand of friendship and hear the firm declaration of faith." - Elder Holland.  Today I've been thinking about how much I love having good friends.  Friends that come and visit, friends that text random things, friends that you have many memories with, friends that you're still getting to know, friends on the soccer sideline, friends that love your kids, friends you've never met but have a connection to, friends you can tell your embarrassing stories to, friends you haven't seen since college, friends that got you through middle school, friends you hike with, friends that guess your movie quotes, friends who know that Costa Vida really is better than Cafe Rio...

October 1, 2018

I do love missionary email day. Mason says Little Rock has lots of hills to bike.  Pday had a nerf gun war with some elders.  Love that missionary boy and the hard work he puts in.

September 28, 2018

Awesome hike with Lorien to Lake Blanche.  The whole hike was pretty with lots of fall colors.  Then at the Lake, Sundial Peak was shoring off with beautiful yellow leave in front of it.  We had an awesome moose sighting on the way up.  A bull moose that totally startled us even though we had just been warned he was close.  Pretty sure he was flirting with a cow mosse across that trail that we couldn't see.  Pretty cool. 

September 26, 2018

Good temple day.  But Adrienne who I love working with in the temple is leaving.  It makes me so sad.  I love seeing her every week.  It's hard when people are in your life a little and you really enjoy them and then they're not in your life.  I'll bet missionaries experience that a lot. 

September 25, 2018

"When you go into the woods and you look at trees...some of them are bent and some of them are straight and some of them are evergreens and some of them are - whatever.  And you look at the tree and you just allow it.  You appreciate it.  You see why it is the way it is, you sort of understand that it didn't get enough light and so it turned out that way and you don't get emotional about it, you just allow it.  You appreciate the tree.  The minute you get near humans, you lose all that and you're constantly saying, 'You're too this,' or 'I'm too this,' or - that judging mind comes in.  And so I practice turning people into trees, which means appreciating them just the way they are." - Ram Dass

September 24, 2018

Mason is headed back to Arkansas.  He'll be in Little Rock in a place called Pinnacle Mountain.  Go Razorbacks.  "I'm also gonna miss our branch mission leader.  I have lucked out with them.  First Brother Simmons who's awesome and now Brother Jackson who is just as awesome!  Hopefully the luck continues.  I tried my best to pick up the work in Midtown because when I got here it was slacking.  Other than Nathan (the guy we baptized) there was nothing going on so I hope I did something for the work in Midtown and left it better than when I got here."

My favorite line from his emails - "Thanks for raising me in the gospel.  And kicking my butt outta the house to get me out here."  :)

September 23, 2018

In church I've been asking the girls to write down some things that made them smile each week.

This week for me -
Changing leaves, Darren, hiking a new part of a trail with an awesome view, road trip with Eric Church Pandora radio station, seeing my parents, watching Cam with her friends at soccer practice, BYU soccer game with Sadie, Rylie's pic from the football game, Kenzie's blog post, mission biking pics from Mason.

September 22, 2018

With soccer games being cancelled due to the wildfire smoke, D and I decided to go visit my parents.  We had a good day with them - lunch at the Koosheram Cafe which was totally crowded (who knew) followed by a drive to Fishlake to see some fall leaves.  It was really pretty and I enjoyed the time with my parents.  Then D and I grabbed some ideal dairy for the drive home.

September 21, 2018

Yeah for Friday.  It was hiking day with Lorien and Sariah where we hiked a new part of a connector trail over to Dog Lake.  The view was amazing and there was a part right before the connector trail that had awesome yellow leaves just popping in the sun.  In the evening D and I took Sadie and Jessie to a BYU soccer game.  It was the most beautiful fall evening with some good soccer.

September 20, 2018

This was a month to remember playing Rylie in Dr. Mario while eating pre-unwrapped mini Starbursts and Rylie saying, "I'm going to come back like a boomerang."

September 18, 2018

Mason sent some good mission photos this week.  Love that boy.  From his email, "This week has been a long, hard, and really good week. I know that those don't go together but its true. It was good and it was hard. We put a lot of sweat onto these Memphis streets and you know, the lord blessed us for it. He really does have his hand in this work."

I read this quote from Elder Bednar that I like.  "Ordinary people who consistently do small and simple things that are right before God will bring forth extraordinary results."

September 16, 2018

Just a good Sunday.  Good church meetings and good evening hanging with K and T with laughs from Taboo.  I had the thought that I'm especially thankful to know of our Savior.

September 15, 2018

Typical date night tonight - out to eat followed by Netflix.  Living the dream.  At least living my dream.

September 13, 2018

I like -

• New, good fitting socks.  With tennis shoes.  (Are they still called tennis shoes?  I'm thinking they're not.)
• Listening to prophets and apostles voices and identifying them.  I especially like it when I read a quote and can say who it's from.
• PB M&Ms and Chick O Stiks.  I could eat them for hours.
• The smell of pine trees and green.
• Singing along to a really good country song when no one is around.  Think "I'll Name the Dogs" and "Shotgun Rider".
• When it rains and it's warm outside.  And you can sit outside and soak it all in.
• Laughing.  Like when something is just funny and you can't help but laugh.

September 11, 2018

Took a picture of Rylie doing her homework and it makes me smile.  You can see her new backpack, she's got headphones in, wearing jeans and the maroon Vans shirt, no sling, and there's an applesauce squeeze thing that she just loves.

September 10, 2018

Mason emails and Grace Wilkins (Dale) calling me Mama D when she saw me made me smile today. 

"We did a tonnnnnn of finding this week. I swear that's all we do in Memphis. Not a ton of service and not a ton of games or sports, just a ton of finding. Which is good I guess but it's super exhausting! But it's fun talking to all the crazy people in Memphis.

We rode our bikes a ton this week too. Part of the finding is riding and riding. My thighs are gonna rip through my pants pretty soon here. Jk but my butt is definitely sore. Elder Perkins hates sitting down now cause it hurts haha."

September 9, 2018

Happy Birthday to President Nelson!

September 8, 2018

Commence fall soccer season.  It's not bad coordinating only 2 schedules.  Also - Cam scored her team's first goal of the season.

With only two games D and I were able to go on an afternoon hike with Baylie.  Summit trailhead has been our go to.  Fun, I know.

September 4, 2018

Mason has been out 11 months!  He is getting to be a Memphis expert.  He's working hard finding and teaching via bike.  I love his weekly emails.