23 April 2023
VOLUME 11 – NUMBER 500
Isaac, Dad, Israel, James, Jen
First of all, I would like to point out something that only I would notice. This is the 500th family newsletter! Congratulations to all of you. Almost 10 years of weekly family histories. In the old paper format, that represents 2,000 pages of content, 5,000 articles, and about 6,000 family photos!
I hope that as we all get older, and as our family grows, that these newsletters will only increase in value. I hope you’ll all keep sending in articles!
Secondly, it’s kind of neat that the date of our 500th newsletter is also Mom’s and my 29th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary, Jenny! What an amazing adventure we’ve had. I’m so glad we have had each other as we’ve traveled through it all!
Mom and Dad
Okay, now back to the ongoing story. At the end of the last newsletter, Isaac and I were halfway through our trip to Washington, DC with James and Israel…
Sunday we left Grand Island, Nebraska and traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois. I love the feeling I get in Nauvoo. We stopped off at the temple, drove through the streets, and spend a minute or two at Joseph, Hyrum, and Emma Smith’s gravesite before driving on.
From Nauvoo, we headed straight east through some of the most rural country on the trip—little two lane roads, stop signs, and very small towns. Isaac even got a little creeped out by it all! He said it was a perfect setting for a scary movie. Then we stayed near Peoria, Illinois for the night.
Isaac, Israel, James, Dad in Nauvoo
On Monday we traveled past the Rivian factory in Normal Illinois, and spent the night in West Virginia before traveling the last three or four hours to Washington, DC.
It was great to see Jen, and to meet her aunt and uncle, and of course it was good to see how happy James and Israel were to see their mommy! Then Isaac and I flew back home and arrived at about midnight. Kind of crazy how fast we covered the same distance in a few hours by airplane that took us four days to travel by van!
Isaac, thank you for coming with me! Thank you for taking such good care of the boys. I had a wonderful time, and even as I write this article, I remember what a great memory this trip is for me.
Isaac outside the Rivian factory
Okay, here’s the second part of my trip report, since we were on our road trip from last Friday until this Tuesday. It was a really fun trip!
Tuesday morning, which was the last day of our trip, we were supposed to leave our hotel for the last drive to meet Jen, but the car wouldn't start! Dad called the tow truck guy, and he came after an hour, and said that he thought someone had tried to steal the battery.
I was surprised, but I also knew that I didn't leave the lights on and I locked all the doors, but when we came out in the morning, the drivers door was unlocked. Nothing was stolen, and thankfully I had put Jen's iPad under the seat, were it couldn't be seen.
Lunch in Des Moines, Iowa
Once we got the car started, we drove about four hours, and arrived to see Jen. We got out, and we met James and Israel's Auntie Sharon. She was really fun and I really liked her basement. I know it sounds a little weird, but when you go down, the temperature was so cool, and the walls were painted in different shades of purple, and it was so relaxing. I really liked it.
After about an hour, we left, and Jen drove us to the airport. Security went by really fast, and then we started getting on the plane.
Flashback to early that day, when Dad was checking us in on his phone. We were flying with Frontier Airlines, and we didn't realize that to have a carry-on bag, you had to pay $60 per bag. Then we realized why the general ticket was so low, but it was still a pretty good deal.
James and Israel at hotel
When we got onto the plane, there were no TV's on the back of the seats, and we forgot to download a show to watch during the three and a half hour flight! It was fine though, because I was able to work on a cool Excel city thing with Dad. Also the food cost money, and we didn’t buy any. That was a little bit of a bummer, but I still like flying on planes.
When when we got to Denver, we had a layover, and so we ate Panda Express, and then Dad got ice cream, but it was dry and old! I had Dad eat most of it, and even he didn’t like it (Dad usually likes all kinds of ice cream).
After that I was able to do some school while we were waiting for boarding, and we downloaded a couple of shows, so that this time on the plane we could watch. We saw the movie Leap Year.
We arrived at one o clock in the morning, and then went home and went to bed. It was a really fun trip, and I would take it again!
Isaac at the Smith gravesite in Nauvoo
After living in here for two years, I finally scheduled an appointment to go from a Utah driver's license to a North Carolina one. Going to the DMV always stresses me out because the employees there aren't known for being super friendly.
I made sure I had all my required documents so that I could be prepared. What I wasn't prepared for was the four-hour wait! And that was just for people with appointments. They weren't even allowing walk-ins. It was a long wait that left me wishing I had brought a book.
When it was finally my turn, I was pleasantly surprised that the man who helped me was so kind. He was quite chatty and the conversation went from how he was a former NYPD officer to talking about Dr. Seuss's book about Sneetches.
On Saturday, Ellie's friend, Jones, had a dinosaur themed birthday party. Ellie loves Jones and she loves parties, so she was pretty thrilled to go. She had such a fun time and I loved seeing her enjoy herself!
Ellie and friends at a birthday party
This Thursday, we had stake basketball again. This time I got put on a team that had some experience playing basketball. I had someone named Carson, someone named Kayson, and I had Gloria on my team. We smoked the first team we played, and then got smoked by the super team (all tall, talented kids).
But when it came time to play a team consisting of Riley, Ethan (on my team last week), Hazel, and a kid named Aiden, we knew that we were gonna start a rivalry. Their team was undefeated so far, and when we played them, we won of course.
Then we played them again, and they won by two, but we played them again and won once more. So I think that I can say that I had the better team. We then all lined up at the half court line, and went to shoot, and if someone made it then we would get donuts next week.
Everyone went through and didn't made a single one, but then they gave us all a second chance, and the kid in front of me made it! Thinking that if I had shot it I would have made it, I grabbed a ball, and just threw it up there, and like I predicted, I made it.
Misha and Mable
Misha's birthday just came up. She's five in human years, but about 35 in dog years. It's crazy to think that she's been with us for five years. I still think of her as a little puppy!
For stake sports, we played basketball, I got put on a team with no one that I knew. It was a good opportunity to make friends, but I just wasn't really feeling it.
No one on my team was really good, including me. I knew the oldest kid, whose name was Porter. Our team was really short. We were basically the opposite of the Super Team (really tall, and really good). We were very short, and very bad.
Isaac has basically been gone this whole week. He came back on Tuesday at like midnight, and then left for Natalie's like the next day.
I've been rocking in school. The only course I have left is math. I do not like math! It's just too hard. Someone once told me that math was an acronym, I asked what the acronym was, and they said, "Mental Abuse Towards Humans." All I have to say to that is Amen!
Boys playing with Legos
Friday night Ashton and Endia came over and we were playing Minecraft because Mom and Dad were gone. When Ashton came over we played Code Names. We chose random teams and my team was me, Endia, Monte and Veidi. We won first, then them, and then they won the final one. Then Mom and Dad came back and we went to bed.
The next morning we were thinking of things that we should do. We had planed a nerf war at the church in the gym, or making something, and then we decided to make a city with Legos, and so first we separated all of them, and we didn't finish, but the next day we would finish it.
Dinner was biscuits and gravy, which was so good. Then Ashton left and we cleaned up the Legos and then the boy's played Minecraft while me and Quinn watched. Then Mom called on the cameras and said to go to bed and we did.
Dad and the boys at hotel
This week I went to two different concerts to watch friends perform. One is a friend I met at volleyball who had his senior showcase, since he’s a commercial music major at UVU.
I loved how much he cares about telling stories with his music, so it was really special to hear more of his story and the stories of his friends through the music that he wrote and performed.
He shared his story about his process of coming out as gay with a family that partly rejected him, and part that has continued to love and support him. His music was just a great way to remember that every person I meet has a story that is both complicated and beautiful, and it was really powerful.
The other concert was a choir, that my friend is a part of, where they sang an assortment of songs with the theme “Hear Him.” I loved that the songs had a variety of Christian hymns and more fun and upbeat songs.
The choir had been working on the songs all semester, and you could tell they put a lot of work into it. I was grateful for a chance to really focus on Christ through music. It was honestly just great to be around so much music!
Hill family temple trip to Brigham City
For my nephew’s birthday party we went to Coconut Cove. It’s a huge indoor jungle gym with slides, giant Legos, ball cannons and more. It’s really made for kids to have fun, but anyone can go on and play. Endia and I had so much playing with the little ones.
One of my finals got rescheduled at a tough time, so I was bummed I couldn’t make it to the Brigham City temple with the family. I’m spending lots of time preparing for finals and a fun road trip to a few national parks next week!
Children playing games
It's the last week of classes! It is always such an interesting time right towards the end of the semester. You are ready for it to be done, excited for summer, but still have probably the biggest tests ahead of you. But I would say I am definitely feeling more excited. This week there was a couple tastes of spring with the weather and events.
On Tuesday, my longtime boss, Rob, who is now the manager of the English area, invited the supervisor's in our area to watch his son open his mission call. I've met his son several times and it was exciting to see him get to open it over Zoom.
On Wednesday, London, Hannah, and I went to a senior performance/concert for our friend named Esera. Honestly it was a really special opportunity. He has had a difficult life and journey to figuring out who he is, and yet he is so kind and hopeful, and seeing that was really special.
He had some really good songs, a great voice, and an amazing story. I appreciate people who develop their talents and are able to share them with others like that.
New teacher training at the MTC
This week I finally finished school. I am so happy that I finally have it off my things to do. I spent more time reading my book, and doing things that I wanted to do.
On Monday, Riley asked me out. We are planing on going on Friday. On Tuesday, we had our activity and we learned to make flowers for the Mothers Day ward BBQ next Saturday.
Jen reunited with James and Israel
On Friday there was no school for the district, and a few of us worked for four hours at Falcon Ridge. Later that day at around 5:00pm, Riley picked me up and we went on a double date with Elizabeth and Aiden.
The first thing we did was driving down to Dollar Tree, and Elizabeth gave each of us $5. We had to get stuff for our date—things they would like.
After that, we went to Copper Hills and went to the food trucks. After we ate in the car, we went to Elizabeth’s house and talked and watched some Studio C.
After a little while we all tried to take a naps, but then decided to get some Nielsen's frozen custard. After that, we went back to her house and talked. At around 10:45pm, we stated to head home and drop everyone off.
London holding Sophia, Natalie’s new baby
This week I got to go see one of my most adorable grand babies! Sophia Peggy is just the cutest little bundle of joy.
When I held her she reminded me of London—and then coincidentally, London showed up a little bit later! It was great to see everyone.
Sophia
Endia, Cougar and I played a fun game. It was called Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. Ashton and the boys and I are making a city out of the Legos that were on the shelf.
Joanna resting for quiet time
It's super crazy how much time has gone by, and all that I've learned and experienced. Today marks six months until I go home. Honestly I'm super excited, but most of all I want to make the most or my mission. There're still some things I want to learn and develop.
This week was really good, the people closest to being baptized just need more time than expected, but they'll get there!
This week was super miraculous because there are three families that are less active that made some big steps towards returning! I love all these families so much! I think a little bit about all my other siblings and their "secret missionary lives " that must be so deep, and that don't really shine through in a weekly email!
I love my mission so much! It's special to touch so many lives in such a deep way in a place I never could have imagined being on my own! There's so much more I still need to learn and do!
Wilford Woodruff’s home in Nauvoo