9/24/23

LaVonna passed away last night. It was her birthday, and so I had stopped by to see her that evening. She had been getting more and more tired, and when I was with her, she barely woke up, so I just held her hand and talked to her for a bit. I got the text soon after I got home, so I was REALLY grateful I'd been able to be with her for some of her last moments. The quote of the day on my phone that day was Pres. Nelson: "Jesus will heal you from sadness and fear. He will heal you from the wounds of this world." and I kept thinking of how it applied to her--being born to teenage parents that didn't want her, sexually abused as a teen, and then two difficult marriages, but she became so amazing through it all---finishing college in her 50's, keeping ties to her children and siblings, helping family and friends whenever she could, and even making peace with her parents as she came to understand they were just young and doing the best they could. She did not talk tons about spiritual things, but loved having a picture of Jesus in her room, and somehow believed in Him through everything. All of her time was spent making things or doing things for others. Dad & I went to an incredible production of Ragtime in Logan Friday night, and I saw Jacob Hess--my mindfulness teacher from so many years ago--there with his 2 sons. He immediately recalled teaching Maddie and Emily in the teen group, and talked about how amazing they were. Today, I found out that his 3yo daughter (born with health issues) had just died unexpectedly on Thursday. Maybe they needed a break or his wife needed a break, but I was stunned that he had been there lifting and encouraging US, while he was in the depths of so much suffering. I've just felt really grateful for such awe-inspiring people intersecting my life and blessing me with their strength. Including my family! And so great having time with Grandma for a couple of days this week. We took a walk on the Holmgren trail, fixed my bike, watched Anne's tennis match, and finished up some plum jam before she left Wed morning to visit a LONG list of loved ones out here--old roommates, mission companions, family, and friends. I love how much more I love myself after being with people I love--whether it's a visit, or chat on the phone, or your facetime calls--connecting just makes my heart so happy. Hope your week is going well, and love you SO much!! Love Mom ps--Anne got a mild concussion playing TENNIS on Thursday--the sports trainer has had her report in every day---a friend was taking a GIANT swing, and didn't realize Anne was standing so close, so a huge whack to her forehead--she's done pretty well, just random weakness, crying, and exhaustion, (which doesn't seem like too big of a change for her ;) ). But she is already mostly better, and should be fine to get to play at STATE on Thursday!! Lucy's soccer team keeps winning, Jane climbed one of our Aspen trees higher than the house, and Seth told me today he felt Jesus. (also bonus picture of your cutie cousin Heidi and her delicious chubby cheeks!)

9/17/23

So excited to have Grandma here! She flew in Friday afternoon, we went to the temple Saturday while Lucy was at orchestra, then went down to Bountiful for her soccer game before dinner with Mildenhall uncles that night. Anne got to play Varsity T & Th, then had a fun trip with the team to Spanish Fork for a 2 day tournament. Seth thinks turning 4 has made him an adult--he has twice now, put on his helmet, and ridden his scooter over to the church! Thank goodness for great neighbors that are always there to intercept him! He had fun playing with Ryan this week--they made quite the creation from fresh raspberries and the leftover gender reveal cake. Had some sweet visits with LaVonna and other sisters in the ward this week--she was moved to a nursing home in Logan, and mostly sleeps all the time now, but she is still really cognizant and sharp! BYU had an AWESOME game Sat night against Arkansas!!, and Dad did an awesome job speaking about the Constitution both in Sac mtg AND at a fireside tonight for Constitution Day. Tyler and Sami's baby was also born!--Baby Oliver, so two cute grandsons close together for them. Our mornings are really cooling off, and leaves are already starting to change, so Fall, here we come! Can't wait to visit with you tomorrow! Love you, love you, Mom

9/10/23

After a nice rainy Labor Day with Maddie's family, we started into a full day school schedule this week. Three days of tennis matches for Anne, two soccer games for Lucy, plus Dad & I found a FABULOUS El Salvadorian restaurant in Logan for date night. Emily started school sick!!-& ran into Rachel the first day. Enjoyed ward temple night with Neal & Diana, had lots of visits & brief presidency meeting, bottled 15 quarts of tomatoes when Joan dropped off free boxes, picked more plums from our 2nd tree, installed the smart thermostat, got help with the garage door (again!), mowed the lawn, and got caught up on bills. Some really happy times with Masina's baby being born Thursday night!: Everett Ty Lowry 💙, then Pres. Nelson turned 99 on Saturday!!! (9/9) AND Brent and Breely found out they're having a GIRL!! (they let Anne & Lucy see first, so they could get a "gender reveal" cake ready for a little party Sat morning--their cake and frosting efforts {IN SECRET} were pretty hilarious). So lots to celebrate, even during the sobering things of life: hearing about my good friend Kristy's mom recovering from a stroke, Uncle Wayne still in the hospital for weeks with his aneurism, watching LaVonna's life fading, and other health issues. G&G's 50th anniversary was also on Thursday, which is kind of a combination of celebration and mourning mixed together (like most of life!). I heard two things I liked recently--one was that our lives here are kind of like renting space--we know it's temporary, and we can either improve on what we've been given or make things worse. Regardless of what our lives look like, we all have something to offer to make things better. Like the spiritual gifts that Paul taught about that we've been studying--EVERYone has something to contribute. The other one was from a psychologist (Paul Conti) that boiled down the key to mental health/peace of mind as: GRATITUDE & AGENCY There is so much about life that we have so little control over, but there IS always something to be grateful for, and the more we focus on the things we CAN do, the less trapped and victimized we feel. I think it hit me because it's a perspective I really need to work on myself. Love you love you! Hope things are going well with your new comp! Love, Mom

9/3/23

Survived the first week of school! We didn't have to do 2nd day of school pictures, Emily took Lucy's, Anne took her own, Jane's had 2 invaders, but then her teacher sent one the 2nd day, so we gradually got it covered! They only had 1/2 days ALL WEEEK, so this is what our schedule looked like: 7:00 breakfast 7:20 Anne leaves 7:30 Lucy leaves 8:30-9:00 Jane leaves 11:20 Anne comes home 12:00 Lucy comes home (she couldn't leave at lunchtime like Anne could) 1:15-2:15 Jane comes home (stopping under EVERY tree for shade along the way) I ran Emily home via Frontrunner Monday morning in between older girls and Jane leaving, came back for presidency mtg until Anne came home, went out to lunch w/ Laura Finlayson after Jane arrived, and then had fun family time for a bit that night. Anne had 2 great tennis matches this week--I actually LOVE watching good tennis, and you can tell when she's having so much more fun--even without winning, it's so satisfying having matches with long rallies, strong hits and speed on the ball, and so many great shots right to the base line or putting spin on. She did win good games even losing the set, and loved having good playing experience. I went on visits, worked on the garage and yard, washed the car, made zuchinni bread, and picked up LaVonna's daughter who flew in to stay with her a while until they find a long term solution for her not living alone. Dad & I took a late night shift at the cannery Wed night (8PM -12) which was fun, but threw off sleep the next couple of days! Fortunately his trial scheduled for this week pled out, so he was able to catch up on a lot. Usually at the cannery, you sit at one station for a while, quality checking cans or labels or food product, but this time I started off on "sweep duty" which was just keeping the floors cleared off wherever the corn would fly the most (these are amazing machines, but it is still so messy!) I took advantage of the chance to see the whole process of how the system worked, and found sweeping spots all along the line. I thought how much life often feels like one station, where you feel like you are seeing the same thing day in day out, without much change, but when you can take a step back to see the entire process, you see pallets and pallets of fresh corn getting dropped off, miraculously shucked and cobbed, then the stacks of 85000 cans filled in just one day that can then go all over the world to anyone in need. So much of life does not look or feel glamorous or even that impactful, but that "by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass" is so true! We drove up to Idaho Friday night to spend time with G&G, enjoying Aiden and Landon this weekend as well. I got to go to the IF Temple Saturday morning, and then ran around their green belt right after--they have beautiful trails around the snake river right there, but we also had fun playing cards and visiting while the cousins bounced between gaga ball and mariokarts. We got home last night just after Maddie & Brian arrived for the weekend, so it's been a fun time having more family around. Dad and Brent suffered through the BYU game last night while Emily watched live--we pulled off a win, but considering the lack of a school we were playing, it should've been much better, but ready or not, we're all officially into the school year now! Love you so much! Love, Mom