From our Missionary

"This Saturday we woke up, did our studies, and drove to the Stake center in Albany. Walking into the Relief Society room I say Elder Fisher handing Tammy a white jumpsuit. Dresses were hung over my arm just in case she would rather wear a dress. We showed Tammy through the door to the font and into the bathroom. After trying on a few jumpsuits and dresses she finally decided on a jumpsuit that fit. She asked if she should wear her hair up or down and we said up. I told her about how Grandma had to be dunked a few times because her hair kept coming up (hopefully I did not make up that story myself ha ha). We then made sure Mike had a towel, because as her husband he would get the privilege of baptizing her a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Tammy hadn't come out of the bathroom yet so we knocked on the door. It was cute as she sat on the bench with a colored towel in her had waiting for her turn to be baptized. How grateful I was and am to have been there to be a part of this special day. The service was sweet, it was simple. I gave a short talk on baptism and then Sister P. and I showed her to the font. We got to watch from the side of the font. I'm sure what I felt must have been similar to how my Mom felt as she stood where I stood 12 years earlier. Mike did wonderfully and she only had to go down once. As she came up she asked "Every hair?" I grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her. A few minutes later when she was dressed I asked her how she felt and she said "So many emotions, but I'm happy!" I could see it. Pretty sure I gave Tammy 20 hugs in one hour. The thing about this baptism is that the spirit was there and it was oh so good, but I did not feel complete. I think that is because since day one with Tammy the goal I saw was for her and Mike to be sealed in the Temple. Baptism is just the first step. I cannot wait to be able to witness her make additional covenants in the Temple in a years times. I love Tammy and honestly I do not know why I got to have the honor of delivering the message of this gospel to her. Knowing Tammy has taught me how much God loves us. He is so good to us and so merciful. My life is forever changed because of Tammy. I'm just grateful I got to see it from the beginning to the gate and hopefully to the end!

Our Graduate

We are so happy for Judd who graduated from BYU 

with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.  

Judd  has worked very hard and we are really proud of him.

Capstone

Judd was the Team Lead for his Boeing Senior Capstone Project. He led students from BYU and University of Washington as they designed, manufactured and successfully flew their airplane.

Congratulations Chloe!

At the annual BYU Department of Design Awards Night, Chloe received a Talent Award as well as The George and Geraldine Swenson Watkins Endowment for Excellence in the Arts. In addition, two of her photographs were selected to appear in the student art show. We have leaned that photography is an incredibly demanding major. It takes enormous amounts of creativity and an eye for detail to develop a concept. It takes a tremendous amount of time to find just the right shot and even more time to edit, enhance and develop each individual image. Chloe has worked very hard and we are pleased she is being recognized for her talent and hard work.

Chloe is headed to New York City to spend her summer as an intern for a commercial photographer. She will graduate with her BFA in August.

Let's go fly a kite!

The speck over Emily's
head is the kite

Having an engineer in our family takes kite flying to a whole new level. Judd made a kite using a dollar store shower curtain and then added 500 meters of string. It’s way cool having a park in the backyard because we just walked out the back door and flew his awesome kite.

From Our Missionary

Every once in a while we will get a text and a photo of Sadie from a stranger in Oregon. This photo was especially sweet because it was sent to us by an less-active sister, grateful that Sadie had reached out to her.

Sadie's companion is her second "greenie" and Sadie has just been called to train a third new missionary.

Sadie's companion's mom had this to say on the mission facebook page.

"My daughter's fantastic trainer is going off to train a new sister. Thank You Sister Mehr! 

New Home

On January 14th we moved into our new home.  Our home is a half mile from our old house, and a half mile closer to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. This photo was taken from our front lawn just days after we moved.

Sweet 16

Hard to believe our baby is 16. Emily got her driver license
and had a quite birthday celebration at home.

Christmas

Christmas was a little different for us this year because we spent it with Grandma and Grandpa C. The girls took the train up early on Christmas Eve and they boys drove up later.  We had fun baking cookies and making Christmas Eve dinner.

 On Christmas Day, Uncle Ron and Aunt Becky joined us for breakfast at IHOP. We had a great chat with Sadie, a pre-birthday celebration for Emily and came home to a foot of snow.

Grandma and Emily
Each granddaughter receives a string of pearls for her 16th birthday

SOUL

Chloe's talent was showcased during her BFA Show at BYU.  Her exhibit, titled SOUL, is fabulous!!! We are so proud of her hard work and commitment to do her best.

You can see the photos and the quotes she selected to go with them on her website.

chloemehr.com

Scary Story Contest

Emily was the 2nd prize winner of our town's annual Scary Story Contest. Her story, titled "The Cage,"was one of 117 entries. Writing a Scary Story was a required assignment for her Sophomore English class.  Emily's pretty excited because contest winners were promised an "A" grade for the term of their choice.  

From Our Missionary

"I memorized The Family: A Proclamation to the world! My goal was to do
it before the 23rd because that is when it was read to the Church for
the first time. It has helped my testimony so much! We have had many
miracles involving that document!

So we met this Pentecostal man a couple weeks back and he said we
could come back. We went back this week and talked to his wife. She
loves people who are dedicated to their faith in Christ. She said we
could come back and teach her! Well before we left Sister L. was
totally inspired by the Spirit to give her The Family: A Proclamation
to the World!!! She said she had been wondering recently why God would
put an emphasis on Family if we could not have them after this life.
So inspired. she said she would prayerfully read it!!!"

Another School Year

Emily is excited to be a Sophomore this year. In addition to her core classes she is taking a second year of ASL, Latin, Choir and Drives Ed.

Chloe had a summer full of adventures and now has to settle back into school. She has a busy Fall semester finishing up classes for her Photography major and her Art History minor. Chloe is also working hard to prepare for her Senior show in early December. Chloe plans to do an internship in New York City next summer and graduate in August 2016.

Judd was selected to work on the AreosPACE Engineering Capstone project. The project is a multi-university collaboration effort funded by Boeing. Judd is applying for graduate school programs and plans to further his education after his graduation in April.

From Our Missionary

“Well I have been a missionary six months. It doesn't seem possible. I have made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot. I have learned about the importance of love and the need to overcome fear. I am grateful to be a part of these people's lives and that they are a part of mine. We have five people on date for baptism in the next three months. It has been amazing to be a part of all of them finding the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 


I have been called to be a trainer. We are getting 32 new missionaries this transfer five of which are sisters. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing, but the Lord has called and I have accepted. I just hope that I can do what the Lord would have me do and be the example I need to be" 

Sadie and her companion with a family they are teaching.

August Adventures

M-2 Priest Quorum on the roof of the Utah State LDS Institute Building

While David was hanging out with his Priest Quorum

RaDawn, Judd, Chloe and Emily took a trip to Capitol Reef National Park. 

It was Chloe's goal to visit all five National Parks in Utah this year.

The rest of us were happy to join in for the last of her 2015 National Park adventures.  

Chloe and Emily on top of Cassidy Arch

Judd- Capitol Reef

Summer Trip

Emily and Judd - Crazy Horse Memorial

RaDawn and David - Mt. Rushmore

Steamboat Springs, CO

Emily touches a real dinosaur bone at Dinosaur National Monument

For more about our trip, check out RaDawn's Blog  as i am

Happy Birthday America!

After 5 years, it has become a tradition!  

Each 4th of July we serve homemade root beer and snow cones on our front porch.  

A developing Independence Day tradition is an early morning hike to Battlecreek Falls. 

From Our Missionary

Sadie and her companion
helping with the music in Primary

"So I have made it my new goal to bear my testimony to one stranger everyday. Because we have a lot of people we are teaching it can get crazy running from appointment to appointment so I want to make sure that especially on the days when we are all booked that I share the gospel with someone new! It occurred to me this week that I am happy sharing the gospel. I am not perfect and that sometimes consumes me, but I really am happier than I have ever been. Also I liked the scripture Helaman 14:18 this morning which says " yea, and it [the atonement] bringeth to pass the condition of repentance . . ." repentance is the plan. We aren't meant to be perfect, we are meant to learn and grow!"

Zion National Park

In June, we all enjoyed exploring one of Utah's treasures, Zion National Park.

Chloe hiked the Zion Narrows with some girl friends and ended up getting caught in a hail storm.
She also visited the Grand Canyon.

David, RaDawn and Emily went with our ward to girl's camp at Zions.

And "simply to break up the monotony of life for a weekend" Judd hawked his hair, died it blue, 

and spent a few day at Zions hiking with friends.  

From Our Missionary

P-Day Hike

We had a fun chat with Sadie on Mother's Day. She looked great and is doing well! Her mission experiences have allow her to see that the gospel really does make people happy.  The following is Sadie's testimony from a recent letter.

"I know this gospel is true!  I know that we have a Savior who loves and understands us. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and is a God of mercy. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that the atonement is real. I keep thinking I have to be perfect as a missionary and a person, but all I have to do, all we have to do is use the atonement. We will make mistakes, but Christ is always there to help us fix them! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove. I Love you all and I love this gospel.

Judd

Judd just finished up a busy Winter semester and started his Spring coursework. We were excited to learn that he has been awarded a department scholarship. Last weekend Judd traveled with BYU's Human Powered Vehicle team to California to compete. Judd served as the team lead this year as they designed, built and raced a human powered vehicle. Judd continues to work as a teacher assistant for several of the Mechanical Engineering classes. He's excited to also begin working at the Magicc Lab where he will be able to focus on his interest in aerial robotics.

Visit with Grandpa and Grandpa

We enjoyed a fun day with family yesterday. Grandma and Grandpa C. came and shared some of their life stories with a few of their grandchildren. It was fun to catch up with the college aged cousins and listen and learn from Grandma and Grandpa. (Thanks to Dallen and Melissa for bringing Mom and Dad down.)

Grandma and Grandpa C. with Emily, their youngest grandchild

Spring Break/Frozen Four

Emily's Spring Break and David's annual trip to the Frozen Four Hockey Tournament 

coincided this year so we headed to New England for a week.

We flew into Boston and then drove to Vermont where we visited the birth place of the prophet Joseph Smith. We had lunch in New Hampshire and then spent a night in Portland, Maine.

Portland Head Lighthouse

It's on RaDawn's bucket list to visit all 50 states so we decided to drive to Providence, Rhode Island and make a quick stop in Connecticut before returning to Boston for the Frozen Four.

David at TD Garden, Boston

The final game was pretty exciting as two local teams, Boston University and Providence, played for the national championship. We rooted for the Providence Friars who ended up winning their first National Championship 4 to 3.

For more on our trip check out RaDawn's Blog

Chloe

We are so proud of Chloe who was recognized at BYU's Department of Arts and Design Awards Night. Chloe, who is majoring in photography with an art history minor, received a talent award scholarship and had two of her photographs selected for the student art show.

scholarship recipients

In March, Chloe went to New York City with other BYU photo students to learn about careers in photography.

New York City

From our Missionary

"Well we had another baptism! Jean was baptized on Saturday and it was a wonderful experience. Some of her family who are already members came down and it was neat to be a witness to their sweet reunion. 

We were able to watch the General Women's Conference with a lady and her daughter who attend our ward. It was nice to hear the speakers and I loved that they talked about family. Our goal for our investigators and the less actives we work with is to make it to the temple to be sealed. This gospel really is a family centered gospel. It teaches that we have a loving Heavenly Father and an older brother who atoned for us. Everything points to families. I have realized how much of a impact it has been to have grown up with family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, and attending church as a family."