Saturday, October 3, 2015

Family Updates

Many fun things have gone on at home recently.  We have sure missed being there and also especially missed summer in Utah.  But there is also an overriding feeling that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing right now.  Luckily, we have pictures, emails, phone calls, and Skype.


We have been busy enough that we haven't really thought too much about the house, yard, and cabin.   We are really glad that Jared and Janelle and their families are taking care of things for us.  We know that it is ALOT of work in the summer and we are so thankful for their help!  We are glad that some of them have been able to enjoy the Utah summer there for us.  We got these cute pictures from Jared's family that did make us miss High Mountain Drug, the good ol' Smith and Morehouse, and good times at the cabin.  We will be looking forward to next summer!


We think Carson looks like he has grown two feet and is almost as tall as his dad, Jared.  We are glad that Jared is teaching his family to fish since being fishermen has never been a strong point with Jim and I.  Out talent seems to be eating the fresh mountain trout that others catch.




Another fun family activity that we heard about this summer was Grandma's Irresistible Raspberries.  This little business was started by Janelle, Luke, and Heidi.  Since they were already helping to take care of our large raspberry patch at home they decided to make the most of it.  They asked our permission to advertise, pick and sell our raspberries to some of their neighbors and friends.  The kids each put in an initial investment to order containers.  With Janelle's business and accounting background, she helped them to plan their business strategy, advertise, make a logo, and even created financial statements!!
The kids said it was a lot of hard work, but they both think it was worth it.
We think it was a wonderful learning experience for all of them and it makes us feel good that the raspberries have again had a successful summer.

Another big family event was Kennedy's baptism on
September 5th.  It was wonderful to talk with her, receive pictures, and hear about the event from other family members.  With Emily's help, we continued our family tradition of giving each of our grandchildren a "Heritage Book" at their baptism.    We were able to get most of the book done before we left on our mission and her mom finished it up for us.  We got a "thank you" note from her the other day saying that she has been reading the stories in it each night before she goes to bed.  It sounds like she is almost done with the whole book!  All these things have really helped to make us feel like we were "almost" there for this important time in her life.


Most everyone is back in school now also.  We got some good pictures sent to us of Courtney, Jackson, and Natalie as they started their first day of school in Georgia.  Courtney is a junior in high school (yikes!!).  She is a straight A student and loves science.  She is also playing the flute in the school marching band this year.

Jackson is also a very good student and is growing tall... right along with Carson.  We have heard that he and Carson are looking and acting more and more alike even though they live across the country from each other!  Jackson is in 9th grade and is still really involved in basketball and scouting.  From what we hear one of his other outstanding talents is "eating, eating, and more eating"!


Natalie is in 7th grade this year.  She tried out for cheerleading and was delighted to make the basketball cheerleading team at her school.  She has also been excelling in science and last May received a special award as "Student of the Month."  She turned 12 at the end of August and has really been enjoying being part of the "Beehive class" in the church Young Women's organization.

We are hoping to write some more "family updates" about other family members again soon.  The only bad part of them all growing up is that it makes us feel SO old.   I guess we can't do anything about that though.

 We hope that we will still all feel close as a family even though the years and the miles separate us at times.  We just LOVE everyone SO much.

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