Called to Serve!

Today, Daniel received his mission call! We had always been hopeful that he would receive it this week, but after speaking with the bishop and discovering the status of his call was not yet "assigned", we honestly thought it wouldn't happen this week. We checked his missionary portal in the morning with no change in status so he went to school and started to let people know it wouldn't be this week. Fast forward a couple of hours, I was in the grocery store when I got a very excited text stating that he did, in fact, receive his call! He wanted to wait until the evening to open it so more people had a chance to join us. He also had lacrosse tryouts that night so he had to wait until 9:00 p.m. to finally open it! Two of his friends, twins - Luke and Levi, also receive their calls so they decided they'd open them together. After an agonizing several hour wait, it was finally time. Because of the large group of people we were expecting with three mission calls to be opened, we held it at the church. I went earlier to set up a few decorations and Luke and Levi's family provided some refreshments. The wait was finally over! The boys drew straws to see who would read his call first. Danny won. (And yes...Danny was wearing the now infamous flowered shirt that each of his older siblings wore when they opened their mission calls.) The boys read the body of the mission call letter before opening the sealed envelope that contained the actual location and date of service. Daniel has been called to serve in the Kansas Wichita mission! Yes... that's the exact mission that Laurin served in nearly 8 years ago. Because I had printed out the mission call, Daniel, at first, thought it might be a joke. He looked at me, almost pleading for me to tell him it was a joke, but I confirmed that it was not. To be honest, I think there was a little disappointment when Levi reported that he would be serving in El Salvador and Luke would be going to Guatemala, but, after the initial shock wore off, Danny has more fully embraced his call and trusts in the Lord. He will start his missionary training at home on June 26 then move to the Provo MTC on July 5. That's only 112 days away (no...I did not count it out. It states it on his missionary portal.)! It will happen so fast! I know he will do well. I know this may not have been what he had hoped for, but I know Danny. I know he'll embrace it and make the best of it. Ready or not, Kansas here he comes!

Luke, Danny, Levi

All the kids in the flowered shirt...

President's Day Weekend

It was a PACKED President's Day weekend! Normally, this would be just another long holiday weekend where Jonas and I perhaps go out on a little date but not much else. This weekend, however, was full of family and fun! This weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate my in-laws decision to serve a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Utah Provo mission. Yup! They get to live at home and serve right here. Because of that, I think they felt like it was no big deal, but we made it one. It is a huge deal to dedicate 18 months to full time service...no matter where that service will be. I contacted Jeff's brother and sister-in-law in Idaho and they agreed to come down to celebrate as well. On Saturday, February 18, we loaded everyone up and headed to the snow. We spent the majority of the day in Fairview with the snowmobiles. I have to admit, snowmobiling is not my favorite. I still feel nervous as I maneuver those big machines, but I love being with my family so Jeff actually took Jonas and I up on Thursday (February 16) to spend some time on the machines before Saturday. Jonas got to ride his own machine...and did really well! I loved his cautious confidence. I'm glad he's brave enough to try new things. He even managed to climb and descend a pretty big hill. By the time Saturday rolled around, I had honestly had my fill of snowmobiling so I was more than content to sit and watch everyone else ride. We actually towed in a little fire pit and some camp chairs. Jonas rode around for awhile on the machines before he decided to do some sledding. All of Stan's family loved buzzing around the mountain! I was impressed with how well they did. At one point, they boys pulled out their snowboards and skiis. They created a jump and would tow each other up the hill with the snowmobile then ski or board down off the jump. It was a chilly day but a fun one. When we finally decided to leave, we stopped at Wheelers in Mount Pleasant for our traditional post-snowmobiling burger and shake. (Gma Penny, Katie, and Greg met us there too. We were all too busy enjoying our burgers for a picture.)

Jonas and Jeff

Jonas

Jonas

Kristi, Jonas, Bennet, Maci

Grumpy

Danny

Dallin and Grant

Dallin

Dallin (on the board)

Dallin

Dallin

Danny (on skiis)

Danny

Danny

Jonas

Jonas

Jeff...at our little camp (the cardboard was to prevent the wind from extinguishing the fire)

Sunday was the big day. My in-laws gave a talk in church and we gathered as a family to enjoy a big lunch together before they were set apart as full time missionaries. I'm grateful for their example of services - not just for the church, but for us. They are always willing to help in whatever ways they can. My boys love having them right next door (that could also be because of the snack drawer my mother-in-law keeps fully stocked). I'm thankful that my boys will get to see their service first hand.

Stan, Kristi, and their kids headed back to Idaho on Sunday evening. I honestly thought the party was over. Jonas and I planned a little date to Lowe's the following day (Monday, February 20, President's Day) then the other kids started talking about wanting to get together again. What was going to be a mildly chill day turned into a very active one! As promised, I took Jonas to Lowe's. He is such a good kid. I'm glad that he is still willing to do these dates with me. I let him jump, flip, and soar for about 2 hours then we headed to Y mountain. Jeff mentioned that he wanted to hike the Y. Casey, Laurin, and Jacob decided to join him. They were supposed to leave earlier, but their delay meant that Jonas and I could sort of catch up with them. While they hiked (with the kiddos) to the top, Jonas and I only made it half-way before we met up with them coming down. I was more than ok with that because we weren't really prepared for the snowy trail. Jonas slipped more than a couple of times. I was lucky to remain upright for the whole hike but it was sketchy in some places. When we reached the bottom, Jeff, Casey, and Jacob decided to traverse the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to Jacob and Amber's house. The rest of us just decided to drive. We hung out at Amber's until Jeff, Casey, and Jacob returned then met up with Dallin and headed to Spanish Fork for another hike. Thankfully, this one was much easier! Danny, Penny, and Rodney met up with us too. We enjoyed the paved trail with relatively little elevation change to end our active day. By the time we finished, we were more than ready for a good steak meal at Texas Roadhouse. It was a crazy busy weekend! I was literally exhausted after it was all over, but my heart was full. I love that our kids still like to gather. I know they will get busier and busier as they get older and as their own individual families grow...but for now I'll cherish these crazy weekends.

End of the Y hike

Starting Dripping Rock Trail in SF