20 April 2025
VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 604
Family with Rebecca’s mom at temple
Just about finished my first year at BYU! This week was super chill with school for me. I really am just coasting into summertime! I had my last class lectures earlier this week, took my finals, and I just have one more on Monday, which should be super easy! All of my finals were really easy anyways.
I love school a lot, and I love all that I learn. I'll miss these classes, and I hope what I learned in them will stick with me!
The family temple trip was a highlight like always. Because it was Easter week, this time we went on Friday morning (Good Friday). We visited the Draper Temple and got some Cafe Rio afterwards. Endia and Cougar also invited Aunt Rebecca’s mom to come with them (Endia is currently her caregiver).
At work, I don't have a district of missionaries, so I'm just spending my time studying the morning curriculum, so that I can be ready for when I switch to the morning shift in a couple of weeks.
I'm looking forward to that, so that I can actually do some more social stuff! Summer is going to be good!
Caleb playing basketball with Owen
This week, Kai and I have been watching a lot of Stranger Things (edited), trying to get him caught up for when Season 5 releases.
I’ve already watched all the seasons that are out, and Kai was interested when he saw me watching. We decided to go back and rewatch all of them, since Kai didn’t remember a ton from the earlier seasons. We just finished Season 2, and I’m so excited for him to see the newest season!
Misha on her 7th birthday
This week is Misha's birthday. She turned seven. It is crazy how fast time flies! When she woke up. I told her happy birthday, and she was so excited. She was acting like a puppy, which is really cute.
We went to stake sports, and I did Nine Square. It was really fun. After a little while, I played basketball with some of my friends. I have been practicing basketball when I have a chance. Sometimes I practice when I take the dogs out.
Veidi with nieces and nephews
This was the last week of school, and it was a grind! I took three of my tests, and now I just have one last project left to do before next Wednesday, and I’ll be all finished!
My friend Daniel Seaman (who was also a student in Dad’s MCOM 320 class this past semester) was selected as a finalist for a public speaking event that BYU has, and I got to go see that on Wednesday evening.
He didn’t expect to get selected, but they promised him an A in the class if he participated. As part of his submission video, I sat on the floor beneath the camera and scrolled over his speech for him like an impromptu teleprompter.
Selvin’s game at Easter dinner
This week we had monthly family dinner. We had burritos and pancakes. Most of the family came, and Braden gave a little lesson before dinner. It was a good lesson.
He went to a document that he made that combined all of the Bible accounts for Easter, and we read the different verses of the accounts of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the cross, and his resurrection. It was very spiritual
We then ate dinner and played some really fun games.
Easter display
For Easter week, Mom and Dad took Joanna and me to see The King of Kings in theaters. They also took us out to eat at In-N-Out for dinner.
On Easter, we read a book that Braden and Monte finished. We read it on the screen, since the book is still coming in the mail. Braden also gave us an Easter session about what was happening to Jesus in His last week.
Dad, Mom, Joanna, and Quinn
For the older young womens class, we learned how to make bread. Sister Haymond had made a loaf of bread beforehand for us to try. It tasted really good. We all took turns putting things in the bowl. After letting our bread rise, we put them in small tin pans.
On Thursday, I had a monthly mandatory meeting for work, I was not able to attend, because I was back in Memory Care and was doing activities, but by the time I was finished my shift, there was an Iceberg truck outside the building, and we got free ice cream for all staff.
Easter family dinner
For all meetings, we always do a fun activity, so we also decorated cups. We added stickers and they heated the stickers on the cups with the machine.
At 4:10 PM, Riley came to pick me up, and we went to Walmart to get snacks. We had bought tickets to see The Minecraft Movie with his siblings Taylor and Ethan. I really did enjoy watching it. It had the right amount of funny and comedy. The theater was pretty much us and two other people in the whole theater showing.
Owen
On Saturday I also got my hair cut and had highlights put in it. It took about six hours to get it all done. The first few days it was kind of weird and I had to get used to it.
On Easter, my biological mom came to sacrament meeting, and and when she first saw me, she asked about my hair. After sacrament meeting, we went back to the house and we just chatted. She also helped Veidi take down an unfinished birds’ nest under the deck awning.
Easter family dinner
I've been working a lot the past few weeks, as much as you can for a two-hour job. It's been nice being able to do my job while listening to my book, Stormlight Archive.
My job is really easy, and sometimes I wish I could get more hours in a day, but I'm really grateful for it, and the money that I get from it.
Once I turn 16, I'd like to apply for another job, so I can get more hours and better pay.
Ellie, Joanna, and Charlie playing
Happy Easter! This week was sort of packed. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to officiate in an endowment session on my temple shift. It was an amazing experience for me.
On Wednesday, I flew out to Phoenix so that I could get my Mexico visa. I met up with two other guys at the airport, who also needed their Mexico visas for their missions. It was my first time ever flying, and it was so cool!
Monte on the way to Phoenix for visa
My flight left at 6:00 AM, so I had to get up extra early—3:00 AM—so I could make sure that I was gonna make my flight. Our plane was super empty, so we got to pick where we sat, and every one on the plane got their own row. Seeing the sunrise from that high up was amazing.
After landing in Phoenix, we got some McDonalds for breakfast, and went straight to the consulate. We were expecting to be there for a few hours, but we got done in like 45 minutes. There were several other pre-missionaries there, so we were able to chat with them as well.
Pre-missionaries in Phoenix
Then we went back to the airport…and waited for 11 hours for our flight home. We wandered around the airport for a while, and had lunch. But most of the time we just sat there at our gate waiting to leave. The flight home was pretty cool. We joked around that this little trip was our trial run for our missions.
On Good Friday, we went to the temple for an endowment session. Afterwards, Braden led a really cool discussion about the reason of the weekend leading to Easter Sunday. I love the emphasis that we’ve had on Easter this year. It really is the lost important moment ever, and we definitely need to put more focus on it.
Joanna and Quinn at In-N-Out