School's out...

May 27, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Well, I just can't believe that school is actually over with. This getting out in May business is too soon for me and I wasn't ready for it. But the girls were definitely ready. 

Kirk called today and said that Sarah got the package from the embassy in Vancouver yesterday, so she just needs to fill out some paper work, get a copy of her police record (or lack thereof) and some birth certificates, mail everything back in, at which time Vancouver should contact her again and let her know when her doctor's appointment is and when her embassy interview is. At the embassy interview she will then receive her official visa to enter the country and be married to an American. So we are pretty close now, but not close enough to actually make a date for things.

Kirk is talking about getting married the week before finals, but dad and i think that's a recipe for disaster-not a marriage disaster, but a finals disaster. So we'll have to figure some things out. Kirk graduates from college on July 21. Anyway, we'll keep you posted.

It was good to hear a little something from you last week about your new area, duties, etc. Sounds like you cover a fairly large area. How many traveling zone leaders are there in your mission? It will be fun to see pictures of your journeys.

That's fun that you got to go back to Paducah for a musical fireside. How many more of those are you going to do? Do you guys get referrals from those?

We just returned from an Eagle court of honor. One of the guys was Sean Pinder and he asked Kristina to come, so we all went. It was very nice. There was one of the largest eagle's nests I've seen at this court of honor. 

So tomorrow is Memorial Day and we don't really have any big plans-a little working in the yard, then the neighbors are having a swim party/bbq.  These past couple weeks it's been so cold around here, but looks like we're in for some warmer weather now, finally. 

Our big news from last week was Kristina's lacrosse team won STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS!!  It was an awesome game against Centennial at Rocky Mountain.  There was a pretty big crowd there too which made it even more fun. The girls played great and we were never behind during the game, but it wasn't a blow-out either so that made for fun tension. Kristina scored a goal left-handed!! She was going in towards the goal and got blocked on her right side, so she quickly changed her stick to her left hand and shot it in. It was a beautiful shot. They won 13-9. Here are some pics from the game (Kristina is #32)-

Some of the guys came to the game with the girls' numbers painted on their backs and when the girls scored, they'd lift up their shirts, turn around and scream. It was very funny, so we had them all line up with their counterparts.

And here's a pic to take you on a little trip down memory lane:

Also the other thing from this past week was my trip to academies. I went up the first day with my presidency and I taught the girls the infamous numbers game and afterwards we sat outside by a fire pit where we read a poem that we changed the words to, Dr. Suess's Oh, The PlacesYou Go. Then I had each of my presidency talk for a couple minutes about an experience they've had with Relief Society. Then I spoke for about 20 minutes at the end. Afterwards we had them play the game one more time, this time for a large candy bar prize and we gave each girl a long licorice rope signifying the lifelines you establish with Relief Society sisters throughout your life. All in all, I think it went well and it was very fun. I enjoy going to Academies and talking with the graduating seniors. They're such amazing young women and being up in the mountains is always a treat. 

Well, I'll sign off now with a thought from our RS lesson today. We talked about Elder Hallstrom's conference talk where he talked about being converted to His gospel(the glorious plan of God) through His "church"(classes, meetings, camps, scouts, mutual, etc)  and how the purpose of the church is to help us live the gospel. I love how he said, "It is possible to be active in the Church and less active in the gospel...activity in the Church is a highly desirable goal; however, it is insufficient."  "Activity in the Church is an outward indication of our spiritual desire...by contrast, the things of the gospel are usually less visible...but they are of greater eternal importance." Great talk and great lesson today.

Have a wonderful week. Hope you're keeping cool as the southern summer starts making its appearance. Can't wait to hear from you. We pray for you always and know you are doing the Lord's work.

Love you,

Mom xxoo

End of school year

May 20, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Can you believe that the girls only have one week left of school? Well, maybe you haven't really been keeping track, but it's weird having them get out so early. They are very excited to be out and moving onto another grade. Kristina still has to take finals this week and was studying tonight with Caleb and Claire, so she's not looking forward to the week as much as Leah and Nikki who get to have field days, watch movies, have parties, clean their tables with shaving cream, etc, etc.

One thing I'm looking forward to this week is Kristina's state championship lacrosse game this Tuesday evening against Centennial. It should be a good game. Last time we played them, we won in a sudden death over time, so it may be close. They play at Rocky Mountain.

Leah had her championship game on Saturday, but they lost by a couple points. They went undefeated the whole season until the very end when they lost one game, so they really had the best record, but had a bad day on their last day at Ann Morrison park. Nikki is convinced more than ever now that she wants to play next year and she was even talking about how you'd be able to come to her last game of the year next year. Now that's thinking and planning ahead.  :)

Kristina had her end of the year concert last Tuesday. I thought everyone did a great job and Seth managed to keep things moving along at a pretty good clip so it didn't go on too long. Kristina is very excited to be in Sonous next year and she's also going to be playing bass in Premium Blend the first semester and singing in it the second semester. So she brought home the big bass to keep over the summer. One of my friends, Erika Soelberg, will be the choir booster president next year, so you know what that means when you're friends with the president. She's already given me the word that I'm in it with her. So we'll see how busy that keeps me.

Also this week I have academies to go to. My presidency and I will go up this Wednesday to Legacy. We'll do much of the same as we did last year, but I'm the only one in my presidency who actually went last year. The other two have now been released, so the new ones don't even know what this is all about. We'll definitely play the numbers game with them again, that's always a winner, then we'll each take some time talking with them. I remember it being a lot of fun last year, but this past week I've been working on what I'm going to talk about. Kristina goes to her first academy the following week. I'm excited for her.

Tonight we also had Quinn come over for games, etc. He's taking off for Missouri in two days, so he's making the rounds with all his friends one last time for the summer. I heard some SSB's going on downstairs. He's very funny and has been taking his mission president's admonition about getting married very seriously and has been putting in quite a bit of flirting, but he's always had a flirty side. Today in Sacrament, one of the seniors, Preston Tiegs, who spoke said he learned an important lesson from Quinn Hugentobler when he came to mission prep and spoke. I thought to myself, wow, I wonder what great insight Quinn shared with all of them. Well, Preston said he learned that all the girls loved Quinn and they really loved all returned missionaries, and even though he was always planning on serving a mission, now more than ever he had even more motivation to serve. I thought that was very funny.

Thank you for slipping a little note in during the week. You know I love hearing from you and that you were in your new area. I can't wait to hear all about it.  I was telling the elders in our area about what you were doing and they thought that sounded cool. One of them said his brother or cousin served in your mission just last year but is home now. His name is Elder Ika. Did you know him? He's Tongan.

Last night I helped at Melanie Hugentobler's wedding reception. It was fun being there the whole time and getting to see everyone and especially getting to help Jodie. Melanie looked beautiful and happy. Her husband Christian is a very patient young man which will come in handy... :) Many people there asked about you and wanted to know how you were doing.

Dad had to work again today. He seems to be doing his full share of Sunday shifts now. It was truly a tender mercy for him that while he was Bishop he worked at a place that totally understood his calling and he rarely worked on Sunday. I know he's feeling a bit out of it with our new ward because of that, but I told him I still don't know over half the people there and I go every week.

Be sure to give us your new address too so we can send a couple more packages your way and let us know what your days are like now, what your responsibilities are, all about your companion, etc. I hope you are doing well, meeting lots of new people and having plenty of opportunities to share your testimony. I pray that you will have the power of discernment in the work you are doing so you can led to those who are pure in heart and have pure intent. 

Have a great week and remember always who you are and who's guiding your very steps each day.

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Mother's Day 2012

May 14, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

It was GREAT talking with you this weekend. You look good, you sound happy and even through all your fun humor I could feel a sweet spirit of Christ coming through and into our home. I love that you are serving the Lord 24/7. This one decision alone, deciding to serve a mission, will be source of happiness throughout your whole life. I love serving the Lord in any calling I receive. It's always an honor to be doing my part in building the kingdom one soul at a time.

Well, not much has happened since we spoke  haha. I'm just cleaning up from all the cooking that took place yesterday. Here are some pics of my wonderful mother's day meal. Hope you're not hungry, because my food was delicious.

 Making bruschetta with the artisan bread

 Caprese salad-my new all time favorite salad

 Artisan bread loaf-prep time 5 minutes. Sean made it.

Chicken alfredo casserole-yummy

Jumping for the ball after the draw...we love how the ball is actually on its way down.

We'll try to get some pics of Leah this week. Playoffs are this week for both of them. Kristina plays in the quarterfinals tonight, semi-finals on Wed and next week is the championship game. So we'll keep you posted.

I forgot to tell you that Zach Crosgrove got his mission call-Guatemala, leaving in August. Megan Leifson put her papers in yesterday, so we should have her news in a couple weeks.

I hope you're having a fun time with all the Elders in Franklin, sounds like a party apartment to me. Can't wait to hear about your new assignment and keep me posted about Drew. I know I don't know her, but I think about her and pray for her.

I'll close with one thing that I remember from the talks yesterday at church. The graduating seniors spoke.  One of the guys spoke about inspiring women in the world and mentioned a few of them and the wonderful things they accomplished in their lives, Juliet Howe and Audrey Hepburn. Then he talked about inspired women, his grandmother and mother and what they have done in their lives in their families, callings and with friends. He talked about the difference between being inspiring and being inspired and that we should always strive to be inspired in our actions and all else will fall into place in the Lord's plan in the Lord's way-don't worry about trying to be inspiring. I loved what he said. It was very profound. 

I love you so much Alex, just can't really put it into words, but I hope you always know how I feel, how tender it is to me (oh, great, now I can't see cuz I'm crying) and how happy it makes me to know that you know for yourself that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that we are Heavenly Father's children, away from Him for a brief moment in time, learning our lessons, developing faith and then helping many others know the same things. I love that we get confirmations of the spirit constantly throughout our lives, not just once. It would be like me telling you I love you just one time in life and expecting that to be good enough. 

Have a wonderful week!!

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Sean's birthday

May 6, 2012

Dear Elder Alex,

Just finished some rousing family games. Well, actually it was just Sean, Leah, Nikki and I, but it was a lot of fun. It's a new game that you and Austin and Cameron should like a lot. Kristina just returned home from the Braithwaite's where she was working on her personal progress with Tracey. Tracey has some of her young women over occasionally and helps them with their personal progress goals. Kirk left earlier today...oops forgot to mention he came home for the weekend. I think he just needed to get some wash done and he's getting bored living in an apartment all by himself. Dad had to work today so we did most our b-day celebrating yesterday.

Yesterday we went to the mall where Sean was working and we took him out to lunch--well, not actually out to lunch. We took him to the food court-woohoo. Then in the afternoon we all went to the new Avengers 3D movie. It was really good.

Today was a good Sabbath day. I enjoyed our testimony meeting because it gave me a chance to get to know some new people and hear their stories and feel their testimonies. There are still a ton of people I don't know yet.

Still no word on Kirk and Sarah's visa. Technically we're supposed to hear something this week. It will officially be five months since they sent it in and that's how long it's supposed to take. So they're very anxious about it and frankly, so am I. I would like them to just be able to move forward in life.

I'm going to call BYU tomorrow morning to see if your paperwork has been processed yet. If so, I will email you again so you can let your president know to get his endorsement in. They said it would take 3-5 days to process your end of it. At least I got you a place to live in the same ward as Austin and Cameron. Cameron's mom can't believe that he has changed his mind and wants to go to BYU. She's still in shock about that. Also I called Elder Prudencio and he knows we'll be coming to pick you up, so it's all arranged. We just have to make the reservations now. We're going to wait until after we talk with you on Mother's Day. 

I couldn't believe when you said that Drew was taking off for a month. I'm praying for her because I know that will be difficult. Have you made any other contacts this week?  I spoke with my friend Maria this week and she is anxious to start getting her copies of the Liahona in her home. Maybe if it's laying around, her husband will pick it up and read it.

So you survived the quilt expo, huh? I told you there'd be tons of women all over the place. Those are like the places Jan and I would go to to sell to those ladies. They come with tons of money, in good moods and ready to talk. It's pretty fun being on the selling end.

Pres. Stafford was asking about you last week in my ppi. He was asking about your future plans, etc and I told him you changed your mind about chemical engineering. He said that was his degree and even though there are varied fields you can go into with that, he's glad he's out of that now and really enjoys appraising commercial sites for businesses. He said the chemical engineering degree is one of the most difficult also. He says he knows you well and also knows you will do very well in whatever field you pursue so he's not worried about you at all.

Just so you know for this coming Sunday, Mother's Day, our ward meets from 11-2 MST. We're usually home by 2:20 or so, so whatever time works for you, we'll be home all day just waiting for your call. :)  Are we going to skype again? Our skype address is Thompson6idaho. Or if you want us to call you on a cell, just let us know.

The rest of the family is doing well. You should be getting a package from us this week or maybe you already got it. Dakota sounds really happy on her mission and Cole is trying to figure out what to do in life. He's thinking of going to LDS Business College. Axel is almost through with law school, Cameron is officially practicing law now but is finding it very time consuming, more than he ever thought. Grandpa is still not letting go of the Winn (probably for good reason). I need to plan another trip to Calif to get more of his life history done. Jan and Jeff are moving this week to Santa Maria in central Calif. Things are always changing.

I'm keeping busy with Stake Relief Society. I love the work, the sisters and I honestly feel the ward RS presidents are awesome and I learn a lot from them. I'm also still typing blessings for the new patriarch. He doesn't get as many per week, but it's slowly picking up. I think no one wants to be the first one. :) Dad and I have been making plans for the yard, trying to get it in shape especially if we're going to have an open house here this summer. 

We've have so much rain lately that the Boise River is overflowing and there's a danger of flooding in some areas. It's beautiful to see it overflowing and running so high and fast though. I really miss seeing all the water from Hilton Head.

Have a fantastic week and share your testimony as often as you can, that's why you're there.

Love you,

Mom xxoo