Mamma Mia

 Ginny and I had the opportunity to go see Mamma Mia at The Orpheum. It was not something I initially wanted to do but by the end of the night, it was good for the soul. I smiled, laughed, and during the encore danced with my daughter.  I am glad she pressed wanting to to go and that we made it happen.  Trying to figure home-school things out for Will have been very time consuming. I want so bad to make the best decision for him to be successful and happy. I have a few concerns and know it will be tough but we think it may be the best overall decision for him.

July, July, July

It seems like this summer has quickly been passing by. It has been a good summer for our family.  Michael's entire family came to visit mid-June and we were able to see them.  We are enjoying Ginny back home and she actually enjoys doing things with us these days too.  June ended on a high note for me.  The last Sunday of June, Ginny and I were able to speak in the West Memphis Branch.  As she spoke, I realized even more the wonderful young lady she is.  Her message began with a question that her dad asked her early in her college years.  He had asked her "why she stays", particularly speaking in the church or adhering gospel standards.  She shared that when there are things she may want to question, she remembers her why. There were 3 points that were considered her why. First that she had Heavenly parents that lover her.  Second, that Christ loves her. Ginny shared that she talks to him often and throughout the day in prayer; some are really short about random things and not necessarily formal prayers.  Secondly, all things work together for her good. And the third, all things denote there is a God.

The Donalds (Travis & Debbie), Ginny, and Us

Jake and the kids were able to go to Atlanta for a four day end of June- July 2 to visit and see his parents and Sarah's family. I as able to spend and evening with my friends, Candice Marshall and Jessica O'sick one evening while my family was gone as Jessica was passing through moving. The first weekend of July, Jake did a ring ceremony for a couple that was married that morning but wanted a ring ceremony before the reception.

Me, Candice Marshall, and Jessica O'sick

Ring Ceremony of Max and Annie Miskelley

Jake and Travis Donald

 

 

 

I am happy to report that as of last week, every room affected by water December 2022 has been repaired.  Jake finished the pantry last week and it looks marvelous.  We also splurged and purchased a few new appliances: stove, microwave, and dishwasher. Jake has worked so hard on making our house, our home again and all still finds the time to "bishop".  He spoke beautiful words to a young man that was baptized last Saturday.  The family speaks no English and is the United States on political asylum from Mexico for the past month or so. Jake had sent everything to be translated in Spanish so he could try to do things in their native language.  Here are his closing remarks:

"Ethan, you remind me of Ammon in the Book of Mormon.  Do you remember Ammon?  What do you remember?

He went to a different country like you.  Let me share the good he did.  First, he served others.  In fact, he served the king.  He protected those he served with.  Because he served so well and helped others, the king was astonished.  He thought Ammon was a god.  Ammon taught the king he worked for God.  And he taught the king about god.  Because of that, he brought many people to the knowledge of god.

If you serve and love others, you will be able to do just as Ammon did.  Others can learn about god through you.

I want to share with you some of my favorite things.  First, a ding dong.  Just like people, the good stuff is found on the inside.  Second, a Coke.  Not just any coke but a coke from Mexico.  Coke from Mexico is better than coke from America.  Also, please pick your favorite bookmark and keychain.  They remind you to choose the right.  Finally, I would like to share my testimony."

We are heavily considering home school Will this upcoming year so I have spent several hours this week looking more deeply into that. We will talk to Will about it when he and his brother are back from FSY this week.  We sure miss Aubree this summer but she seems to be enjoying her summer in Utah.

 

Happy 14th Christopher

 

Happy birthday to our baby boy, who isn’t so much a baby anymore. He makes our days better, is needed in our family, and continues to strive to be a disciple. We love you and hope your day was the very best- or as good as it could be at camp.

Facts about Christopher by Christopher:

I love spiders and family.

My favorite thing to do is play games (board and video).

I love learning new things about a variety of things but probably baking/cooking.

You currently want to be when you grow up: dream job is an arachnologist but I will probably be guidance teacher.

Your favorite color is: teal and grey

Your favorite show is: I do not really know

Your favorite game is: Fortnite

My favorite activity is: swimming or playing games like poker

Your favorite girl is: mom

You are really good at: making noise

Your best friend is: Jonah Donald and Brandon Sniady

You want to vacation to: Alaska or where the Northern Lights are

Your favorite ice cream is: birthday cake

Your wish is  to get more wishes.

Your hero is: my brother

Your favorite thing to do with your friends is: play games

Your favorite holiday is: Christmas because of the fun activities we do as a family and the traditions. 

Your favorite person in the whole world is: the question so difficult but mom or Will.  Dad, I love him but he may not be my favorite, favorite. 

Your favorite song(s) is: I do not think I have any favorite songs

Your favorite restaurant is: Five Guys or Freddy's

Your favorite foods are:homemade pulled pork burritos

If you had $1000 you would buy:I would probable invest it to get more money if the stock market is up. 

God hears my silent prayers

 This past week was full of adventures. Ginny started her first job as a hygienist and Will was hired for his first job. We worked Italian Fest with our freeze-dried candy Thursday- Saturday and Jake went to bishop's night at girl's camp Friday night. He was telling me Saturday that he played "Guess Who" with the girls and gave them each flashlights.  He conveyed to them after the game that they never need to guess who they are because they know.  They are daughters of God and can be a light to others.  While I was not the intent of his message, I am glad he shared it with me because at times I get discouraged and do not remember my worth and I too needed to hear it.  I have decided that the Lord is reminding me I am his between being the "one" on the bus and Jake's message.  I felt prompted to share my testimony on it Sunday but almost did not, why, because I looked down and realized I and neglected to put my bra on for church. How embarrassing but I will blame it on such late nights at the Italian Fest, as it went until after 11:00pm each night.  I was not as focused nor polished when I shared and neglected to mention Christ goes after the one and at times, we are the one, maybe there was someone who needed to hear what I shared or maybe I needed to share it for me.

Cozumel (5/19-5/26)

 

While I know my life is extremely blessed, I was in awe this week of a few things: the beauty of the earth, kindness of others, and above all the exceptional young women that our girls have become. I was able to see my girls in a different lights as developing young adults.  The things they talked about and argued over have changed since they last lived together. We are proud of the women they are becoming.  They (Ginny and Aubree) are beacons of light and constant reminders of God’s goodness. Jake and I enjoyed a full week in Cozumel with our girls. We tried new things and spent countless hours together. We snorkeled (or I attempted, it’s not my thing), burnt, ate all kinds of new things, rode bikes, sat beach side, played cards, got sick, saw Mayan ruins, saw crocodiles in the wild, shopped, laughed too hard, and all but me attempted to scuba. 

On one of the days Jake was sick, there was an excursion and decided to be brave and take the girls.  As we loaded the bus, the guide asked if all spoke Spanish, the girls and I were the only ones that did not. Okay well me, they both know enough to understand and get by. The guide would speak everything in Spanish and then translate to the best of his abilities into English. I was reminded of the story of Jesus leaving the flock to rescue the one and thought of the importance of one. While I try my best to notice or help the "one", I realized that day I was also one of the "one" and was cared about enough by a stranger that he tried to speak in my language.  

It was not easy for me to leave knowing Aubree was headed back to Utah, I just wanted to make her come back to Tennessee with me.

Dad was sick this day, so mom took the lead for the excursion.