Matilda

I saw an advertisement for 50% off tickets at Tuacahn this month on weeknights and so I got some tickets for the girls and I to see Matilda. I was really excited to see it, but I was disappointed with the story and the messages it presented. I love some of the music, but I was bothered by the language and disrespect displayed among the adult characters as well as the abuse and cruelty shown to children. It has been years since I have seen the movie and I am not sure if I have ever read the book. The talent was great though and the little girl who played Matilda is a local 11 year old girl and she was amazing. The song "Revolting Children" was really powerful and the boy soloist was incredible. In spite of the talent, it is most likely one I won't go see again.   

Jared MTC!!

Rick and I left at 7:00 a.m. to take Jared to the MTC!! Jared was able to take a nice nap in the car after his emotional evening last night (saying goodbye to his friends). Then Rick and I told him stories from our mission. We ate lunch at Golden Corral in Orem and took some pictures at the Provo temple and then did the quick drop off! They changed the drop-off point to inside a big parking garage. They had lots of missionaries there to greet the new missionaries! We are sure going to miss this kid! I am already looking forward to his first letter!

Jared: Missionary Setting Apart

Tuesday August 14: This evening we had Jared's setting apart. Rick gave Jared a blessing before going (instead of on Sunday with the rest of the kids). We wanted to take some pictures before the setting apart but the setting apart was at 9:00 and it was so overcast that it was too dark out to really get any good ones and the lighting inside the church wasn't good either. Jared invited a few close friends to his setting apart too and they were able to stand in the circle too since they have already been ordained as elders. They all have their mission calls too. So Jared received two neat blessings tonight. Rick had each of the kids write letters to Jared for him to read on the way to the MTC the next day. 

Back to School!!

School started today!!

Playgroup at House of Jump!

Jenna and Anna had a great time at House of Jump for their fourth grade playgroup today!

Janika and Brandon's Wedding Video!!

Here is Janika and Brandon's beautiful WEDDING VIDEO!!!

Jaiden EFY (2018)

Right when Rick and I were checking in Jaiden and Gracie we got a text from Alicia saying that she and her girls were meeting their friends for lunch in one of the BYU buildings. Since we were also on campus we decided to run over and meet them for lunch! I guess it was Harry Potter week and so the whole place was decorated with Harry Potter decorations and characters!

EFY (written by Jaiden)
 
          Efy was so fun! I had such a good time and it was a great experience! I learned so much about how to choose and find joy, recognize the holy ghost, and so much more! I went with Gracie Newby. To start off, we met our counselor. My counselor's name was Ashley. She was super fun! The efy theme was "Choose Joy" and Dad was the session director. After we went over all the rules, we wet our company. Our company name was "Bound in Promise." I had a super fun company! After that we went to orientation to learn about everything. After orientation, we went to dinner with our company. Then, we went to the FHE lesson which was taught by dad. It was a really good lesson about the theme. Later we met with our company for Family home evening games. Then we set company goals and personal goals for the week. After that we went back to the dorms, had reflect and review, and got ready for bed.

         The next morning we had a devotional and then left to go meet our company for gospel study. Our gospel study spot was soooo far away. We had to walk for so long. After gospel study we went to breakfast and after that we had a morningside taught by dad. Then, we went to classes. There were a lot of different classes and so I got with a group of people from my company and we went to classes together. The first class that I went to was "Recognizing the Spirit" and it was taught by Jeff Mckenna. The second class that I went to was " Finding answers to questions" and that teacher was Brother Thorpe. After that, we had lunch and I had a musical program rehearsal. Then, I got back with my group and we went to the afternoon classes. The next class that went to was "Now and Later: Missionary Efforts." that class was taught by Brother Thorpe. (if we got lost, or classes were full, we ended up going to the same teachers. But at least the classes were different.) The last class that we went to was called, "Is it True?" and the teacher was Trevor Wright. Then we had free time, and I had a musical program rehearsal. After that, we had dinner. Since I was in the musical program, I got to dinner kind of late, but at least there were a couple of boys from my company still there. They waited for me and we walked to the place where we were meeting with our company for the dance. After that we went to the dance and it was super fun!!!! I danced 5 out of the 6 slow dances. After the dance we had reflect and review, showered, and went to bed.

          On Wednesday, we had a devotional and went to gospel study, breakfast, and the morningside. Dad had me sing a song called "There Is One" for his lesson. Later on we went to the classes. First we went to "The Winning Team" and that was taught by Brother Mckenna. The next class I went to was taught by Brother Roe and the class was called "Successfully Navigating Life's Challenges."Then we had lunch and I had a musical program rehearsal. The next classes that we went to were "Spiritual Goal Setting" by Sister Tanner and "The Perfect You" by Brother Hales. After those classes I had another rehearsal and then dinner. Then, we met with our company to plan our cheer and banner. After that we went to games night and it was a party! Our cheer was like a wedding kind of, it was really funny. After games night we went to the dorms for pizza night, reflect and review, and went to bed.
   
        On Thursday, we had to wear church clothes. We had a devotional and then went to gospel study and breakfast. Then the young women and young men split up. The young women went to an activity and then to the morningside. It was opposite for the guys. The young women lesson was super good! We talked about the importance of women and the Family Proclamation. We also talked about divine identity and destiny. Then I had lunch and a rehearsal. After that we went to the variety show. It was really good! Later, I had a musical program dress rehearsal, and then dinner. After that, we had the musical program (I had a solo in "One Voice") and a fireside. Then we sang the EFY Medley and wrote our testimony. Then we went to our testimony meetings. After the testimony meeting we went to the dorms, had reflect and review, and went to bed.

       On Friday, Gracie and I had to do the devotional. After that we had gospel study and goal setting review. Then we went to breakfast and the morning side. Then we did a sharing the gospel activity. We played a game and related it to missionary work and then we discussed different scenarios and how we would share the gospel. After that we went to lunch and got ready for the session showcase. It was kind of like the week in review. If was really fun! After that, we watched the slideshow of all the things we did during the week. It was awesome! Then we had free time and I went to the creamery with Mom and Dad. After that we had dinner and we took pictures. Then, we went to the dance. It was a party! I danced all of the slow dances! It was super fun! Later we went to the last lesson. It was the taking it home message. Then we went to our company spot and had a little lesson/testimony meeting. Then we went through a couple more goals. After that we all hugged each other and said goodbye.
   
      The next morning we got ready and left EFY. It was a super fun week and I am so glad that I went!