5 February 2023
VOLUME 11 – NUMBER 490
Family murder mystery night
Isaac and the other kids did such an incredible job with the murder mystery party! I wasn't really sure what to expect, and I'm not the greatest at staying in character, but I loved that we could all laugh at each other.
I feel like there are so many different reasons to get together and have a fun time, and all it takes is a creative idea and some initiative. I was Ms. Peacock, and I actually ended up being the murderer, although I didn't know that until we were putting all the pieces together.
It was funny because Ashton tried pointing out how suspicious I was earlier in the night, and then it actually ended up being me! But he would have picked on me any way and just happened to get lucky!
Anyway, it was a lot of fun piecing everything together with the Greens, Professor and Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet, and Dr. Orchid!
Family murder mystery night
I got a new job, working for Dad. He asked me to be the editor of the SwirlyConeFamily newsletter, so that he could get newsletters done faster. I'm also getting paid, which is really good, because I'm kind of in debt to Mom and Dad! He even gives me a bonus every week if I can get 10 articles submitted by Monday night.
I really like this job, its a lot to remember, but I'm sure i'll get it down at some point. We also got a new Clue-based, escape room. I really like these escape rooms, because they are a mix of board games, and... well escape rooms.
On Sunday, we went to some of Mom and Dad's old friends, the Hoggan’s. They are super nice, and really funny. They made us some Brazilian hotdogs, which were just pure amazing! Their house was also super nice—the decorations were really cool.
I made about 70 cinnamon rolls for the dinner, with a little bit of Isaac's help. It took me like three to four hours to make all of them. On top of that, it was a fast Sunday! Meaning it was super hard, because you're smelling all of the deliciousness of the rolls. In the end, I got to eat a few cinnamon rolls, and some Brazilian hotdogs, so yeah, it all paid out.
Hoggans making Brazilian hot dogs
This week we had a very memorable experience during fast and testimony meeting, and not for the reason you'd think. I was holding Charlie as the sacrament was being passed, so it was super quiet in the room. All of a sudden, I hear three loud, juicy, toots!
My initial thought was that as soon as the sacrament was over I would have to take Charlie out and change her so she wouldn't leak out onto her dress.
A minute or so later, I realized that I have a handful of baby poop in my hand that was under Charlie holding her. I repositioned Charlie so that I could clean my hand, only to see that she had blown through her diaper and there was poop all over both my pants and the bench pew!
We tried to clean up what we could and then rushed out so we could change her. There wasn't much in her actual diaper since somehow it was all either on me or the bench. We will definitely never let this story die, and Charlie will probably hear this at her wedding one day. She seemed to be pretty proud of her poop after we got her changed!
Braden and Charlie after diaper accident
This week was super great! I've been able to play basketball a lot more throughout this semester, as I bought a rec pass and am on an intramural team. We won our first game last week (the other team only had four players for the first 3/4 of the game) and then we lost the one this week.
It was a little frustrating, because it was a very winnable game but it seems like everyone on my team kind of gave up with like 10 minutes left, and I felt like I was the only one trying.
It was still really fun, and I think a good learning experience for our team. The hope is that we can fix a couple things and hopefully have a couple more guys show up next time because we only had one sub.
Isaac invited all the adults to the murder mystery night, which was a ton of fun! We had a lot of good laughs with so many jokes and things that I can't even remember now, but it was awesome.
And we guessed it right! Thanks to Dad, who was Professor Plum, or "Plumpy" as he liked to be called. We kind of made fun of him when he took 10 minutes after each clue to think about the final solution, but his notes actually came in handy at the end.
And takeaway of the night? I learned what a "plant doctor" is because Yaretzie was Dr. Orchid, a botonist. All in all, it was an awesome week!
Family members at Hale Centre Theatre
This week has had a lot of ups and downs for me. I will start with some of the highlights! Cougar and I got to go watch the play See How they Run and I was laughing so hard, pretty much the whole time. It was funny and one of those plots were each of the characters thinks things are different and watching them all interact creates some really funny moments.
Then we got to go and do some acting of our own in at a murder mystery night the kids at home put on. It was really funny to get in character and all the jokes going around. I love the solving the mystery part and putting the puzzle all together. We did end up solving the mystery too! I was also relieved to know I wasn’t the murderer.
The final high of their week came in the form of delicious food. Brazilian hot dogs! I hadn’t had them since I was pretty young, and they tasted delicious and nostalgic!
The hard part of this week was learning that Brother Valdez passed away. He was one of our old neighbors, and a good friend of Dad’s. I talked with his daughter Leslie, one of my good friends, and really wanted to make it to Texas for the funeral and to support her, but it didn’t end up working out so last minute.
I remember him and his love for his Texas football team. Almost every time you would see him he would flash his Texas Longhorns sign. When BYU played Texas he we went over to their house to watch, and he brought out his flag and sang the fight song, dancing around the room when they won. He was a very fun, loving man.
Caleb and Elder Miranda
One lesson we had with this lady named Nery was very special. Nery has a 9 year old boy who has a lot of enrgy, he's also super kind, who's name is Sebastian. She also has an adult daughter that helps her out. Her daughter's been baptized but it's been a while since she participated.
On side note, a visit we had last week with her family, we showed Nery's son a cartoon from the church named "Sofia's Baptism" where the character explains to her friend that because she's now eight years old she can get baptized. When Sebastian heard that, he said "ya tengo nueve años. Me quiero bautizar," which means "I'm already nine. I want to get baptized," so that was awesome.
But in this other visit we had with Nery this last week, we taught about the plan of salvation, because when she came to church she heard about baptisms for the dead and temples and that interested her a lot.
The lesson we had was super special, and she had hinted that she wanted to be baptized, so when it came to invite her to do something, the spirit came super strong when we said we want you to pray about “when” you want to be baptized instead of “if” you want to be baptized. She's really kind, and the gospel will help her so much.
Elder Miranda, Joaquin, Kevin, and Caleb
Also there's been a bunch of wild fires around us. Purén, a neighboring city 30 minutes from us had a whole block burn down, so since Friday night until just now 10 of us elders have been sharing an apartment.
It was crazy, and also pretty fun with the unique opportunities, and attending two baptisms. But we had some awesome miracles working in the other missionaries sectors.
In a baptism, we were talking with a family that the sisters are teaching, and I asked this kid named Matias if he'd like to be baptized and he said yes, I let those sisters know, but it was pretty cool. Those were just a few miracles, I could tell a few more but I'll leave it there.
Also the temple trip didn't happen because of the fires, but we helped out at PFJ (FSY in English) for a day, and Kevin and Joaquin got the priesthood!
Gloria with her learners permit
This week has been a great week for me because I got my permit! I am nervous and excited at the same time to drive. I have also been working really hard for wrestling divisionals. I have been trying really hard to work on the moves I am getting excellent at.
I have also been really trying to get school finished early. My grades are all above the 80s and I am trying to get them to the 90s. On the day of the divisionals, I wrestled two times and the second time really hurt my neck.
On the second day, I went to cheer on the girls who were still in. For lunch we went to my coach's house for a few hours while the boys were wrestling. I tried to take a nap but It was too loud. They had a lot of pets. I was able to hold their snake called Goda. They also fed us lunch and it was delicious.
At 4:00pm we went back to school and watched the finals. We got first place out of the girl's teams that were there.
Eating Brazilian hot dogs at Hoggan’s house
We had Brazilian hot dogs at the Hogans House. They put mashed potato, tomato sauce, boiled cabbage, small fried potatoes, corn, mustered, and mayo. It sounds weird but once I tried it it was so delicious.
We also had a dog named Samson for the week. He was the fifth labrador we trained. I would sleep near him so he knew I was there, because he would not stop barking and whining. Once I slept with him, he did much better and it was easier to sleep. I am happy to help mom with the new dogs she gets to train.
Monte with training dog Bean
We had just got two cute little mini Aussie shepherd dogs for Mom to train. They are half brothers named Blu and Bean.
We also played Minecraft, and Kai and Isaac were making secret door and traps. They said that I could not look because they wanted it to be a secret. Kai said that I was going to get a keycard so that I could go into his hideout.
We also did a real life clue with all of the adults. I was watching the little kids and I was able to help them settle down.
Sil Hoggan preparing Brazilian hot dogs
Gloria was able to get her learner's permit! We left early in the morning and dropped Ashton off at the dentist and then headed to the Draper DMV. Gloria was so happy to finally have passed the test.
This week the kiddos wanted to do a murder mystery party. We spent the day setting up the house so that they could do this. It ended up being a Clue murder mystery escape room and dinner.
It was so funny as we all gathered in the dining room to begin this night of fun and excitement. We laughed until our sides hurt. Luckily no one spewed their food. Everyone got into character and had a great time.
Arkin and I were Mr. and Mrs. Plum. Our characters were adventurers who were always looking for their next investor. We all played up our parts so well.
Family murder mystery night
Isaac did a fabulous job of being the butler. His name was Mr. Mulfred. We all kept calling him anything but that—usually Mumford, Mulfry, or something. Sometimes it was on purpose but usually it was because I couldn't remember what it really was.
Mr. Body (Monte) and his staff did an excellent job at serving us. Service was quick and efficient. All of the orders were correct and they cleaned everything up so quickly and turned the dining room into a billiard room and we didn't even skip a beat.
We were finally able to get together with our friends the Hogans to have Brazilian hot dogs. They are such kind and generous people. We had a fun time reminiscing, laughing and eating delicious food. I'm pretty sure some of the kiddos have talked about what the hot dogs are like.
Eating Brazilian hot dogs at Hoggan’s house
Joanna
We ate cinnamon rolls, and Brazilian hotdogs. We played Eye Spy, and a bunch of other games. We played with Itzel. We watched Itzel. I got to play Kitchen downstairs.
We went to church, and I got to go to Primary. We got home and then I took a nap, which I didn't really like, but I did like lunch—peanut butter and jelly! We did the game called Umbrella. We played with Troy and Cougar. I love life!
Caleb on Preparation Day activity
Quinn
So last week Me, Troy, Itzel, and Joanna watched Moana, and some Clone Wars while everyone else was playing Clue. Then everybody left, and Me, Troy, and Joanna ate dinner.
On Sunday, we went to Mom and Dad's old friends house to have Brazilian Hotdogs. Their last names are the Hoggans. The hotdogs were the best! And then we ate some delicious cinnamon rolls made only by Kai and Mom.
We played a lot of games. One of the games was called Black Magic, we also played Eye Spy, and a game that Cougar taught all of us, called Triangle. We did another game that Kai taught us. It's called Snaps. Finally, Sister Hoggan told us what all of the statues and cups meant in her living room. And then we went home.
Dad eating Brazilian hot dog