4 May 2025
VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 606
London and Keaton
So Keaton and I are officially engaged! Here's the story for those who haven't heard it yet. On Thursday night, I went to Keaton's soccer game and ended up leaving early to go sit in my car because my kidney started causing me pain. The pain never subsided, so I took my pain meds, but they knock me out, which means I can't drive.
So Keaton drove my car back to his house, where I was just going to spend the night. I had no idea that his plan had been to get everything ready at his house for the proposal the next day. Luckily the drugs knocked me out, and he was able to run around getting some things ready without me knowing.
The next morning he went to work, and my plan was to head to Mom and Dad's to hang out there while I worked. I was kind of in the groove with my work though, and ended up working at his house longer than I originally planned.
London and Keaton
Keaton was worried when he saw that my location was still at his house. He texted Mom asking her to casually get me out of his house ASAP, so Mom then texted me and let me know she could really use some help with Quinn and Joanna. She asked if I could bring them lunch.
I left right away to go help out, and I felt genuinely needed and suspected nothing. Keaton then had time to go home and grab everything to give to his sister, Josie, to set up.
The plan that evening was to go rock climbing with Josie and some of her friends. I left Mom and Dad's house and headed to our meeting point. I first met up with Keaton, and he let me know Josie was waiting for us at the trailhead.
When we met up with her, she said all of her friends had bailed. I looked around and there was no rock wall in sight...so at this point I was kind of suspicious, but the three of us headed up the trail. Eventually Josie realized she "forgot her climbing shoes in the car" and said she'll be right back.
London and Keaton
Keaton then said we should come look at the overlook while we waited for her. As we walked into the opening, there was a tree strung up with lights and pictures of us and a letter with my name on it. There were also chairs, and a fire set up and ready to go.
We sat down as I read his really sweet letter. At the end of the letter, he asked me if I'd marry him, and then he pulled out the ring. We then spent the rest of the evening by the fire with the beautiful view, ate some tin foil dinners and just talked for hours. It was honestly pretty magical. I could not have asked for a more perfect proposal.
I am beyond excited to marry Keaton. He is one of the kindest people I have ever met, and I Iove that he is always looking for ways to serve others. He does that in ways that don't demand others attention, but just simple acts of kindness that mean so much.
He helps me feel loved and supported in the most genuine way. We have so much fun together, and I can't believe we'll get to continue going on adventures forever now. I love that Keaton helps me to want to be the best version of myself, and he helps me to want to grow in my relationship with God. I could not ask for a better partner in life!
Mom at tulip festival
I got a full-time position at work—not full time like 40 hours a week—but full time instead of just being on call. It won't be much different than what I've been doing previously, because I've basically been subbing every day. It is nice though that I don't have to stress about whether or not I have work each day—I just know now that I do.
This weekend has been very busy. On Friday, we had a few dog visits, and then we had to lower and prepare one of our rafts for something later in the day. After that, Dad had to get our rental car replacement for Nick (everyone else calls him Nico, but I call him Nick).
Once he picked up the car, most of the kids went to Endia and Cougar's place to help them move. I had work so I couldn't go. Once they got back, some of us had a little bit of rest time, so Isaac and I played a new game that Isaac found, called R.E.P.O. It was really fun.
Family eating dinner
At 7:00 PM we had guests come over to learn about what the friends river trip this summer would be like. Things were pretty tight, but we managed to make things work. The river trip introduction went really well.
After the intro was over, Riley, Ethan, and I all wanted to play crazyball. We ended up going to the North Chapel. Everyone had a fun time, and my team is still undefeated against Isaac's.
I love crazyball, maybe a little too much. We came home at 11:00 PM to be briefed by Dad about how busy Saturday was going to be. We had dog clients, a temple sealing and reception, Mattias' birthday party, wedding receptions, and temple sealings with the Ashtons.
Saturday started off pretty quick with a few things to be done at the house, like taking apart the raft from yesterday, and babysitting Charlie and Ellie.
Charlie, Joanna, Ellie playing with Legos
At four, we headed out to Mattias' birthday party. The food was amazing, and the games were fun. We cracked out spikeball, which I haven't played since the last time we went camping as a family. Everybody was pretty rusty to begin with, but after a few games we started getting familiar with it.
Once we got home, I sat down and drank a lot of chocolate milk. Isaac told me that Keaton was down to play some R.E.P.O. with us. Playing with Keaton was hilarious!
I almost forgot to mention that on top of the chaos of the weekend, Keaton and London got engaged! Congrats you guys!
Nico (Tesla Model Y) rear ended again
This week was packed with fun stuff, and one not so fun thing. On Tuesday, I went to pick Isaac up from work, and he wanted to go get Swig. On our way down, we ended up getting rear ended!
It was one of the most stressful things I’ve had to deal with. Everything went smoothly, thanks to Isaac helping to calm me down, and then we went home.
This is the second time in the first year of owning Nico that he has been rear ended, and it happened in almost the same place where Dad was read ended back in August.
Almost immediately after that, I went and watched Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith in theaters! I went with Hazel, and we both agree that it’s our favorite movie of the saga. It’s my number two for all Star Wars movies, Rogue One being my favorite.
I will say that even though I’ve seen this movie countless times, it was spectacular seeing it on the big screen. It was really funny because when the Star Wars intro started, Hazel and I started clapping, but nobody around us joined! We stopped immediately and just started laughing quietly.
Now when I say that a movie theater makes it feel like you’re watching something for the first time, I mean it. It was such a crazy experience, I even cried at the end. Once the credits started rolling that’s when people actually cheered, so that made us happy.
Dad taking Monte and Isaac to lunch
Then on Thursday, Braden took me, Kai, and Isaac to the movies to watch The Thunderbolts*. It was absolutely phenomenal. The writing was spot on, and the comedy was hilarious! I really haven’t felt this way about a Marvel movie in a while. It was such a good movie.
It made me a little sad that now that I’ve got all this hype back for Marvel, I’m gonna leave for two years on my mission! Oh well, they’ll be there for me when I get back. Thank you, Braden for taking us to see it.
On Saturday we went to Mattias’ birthday party. We ate some real tasty food. We also played some spikeball. Nate was on my team, we were cooking—that was until we played Braden and Keaton. It was overall a fun night, and I really love spending time with the family.
By the way, congrats to London and Keaton on the engagement!
Caleb on his new motorcycle
I drove out to Heber and bought a motorcycle. It's got a smaller engine, so it has a 55 mph max. It's nice, and is a ton of fun.
At the beginning of this week, I went to a hot spring in Springville called Fifth Water. The hike was a couple miles long, and was pretty flat overall! It was super easy and a lot of fun!
I got a Provo Rec center membership because I have a goal to work out regularly! Cougar and I went a few times this week, and it has felt good to feel sore!
Luis and I got lunch and then went back to his place to hang out. Had a good time catching up. He's fun to spend time with.
After helping Endia and Cougar move, which by the way I'm excited for them, I met up with a mission friend to have some Chilean street food. We've tried a couple of times and have not been successful, and insanely enough, we didn't have success this time either! The food truck wasn't there so we ended up eating some tacos and some mango smoothies.
Owen on Caleb’s new motorcycle
This week has been really eventful for me with work. The last few days of work have been a little rough, just because everyone is declining and most of them were just getting really bad, especially memory care.
On Saturday, while I was working, I was doing housekeeping. I was vacuuming, and the vacuum started to smoke! It really scared me, and it reminded me of when that same thing happened to me as a sweeper at Falcon Ridge.
Now school only has one more week left! I’m so close to finishing last few years of doing school. I usually finish a few weeks early every year, but this year I’m gonna finish right on time because of the time that my job takes up each week. In each class, I have about four more activities. I’m just so excited to finish.
On Thursday we went to the tulip festival. Riley came with us. I really did enjoy walking around and looking at all the different types of tulips. The scenery was just so pretty.
Gloria and Riley at tulip festival
On Friday some of us helped Endia and Cougar move into their new apartment back in Springville. It didn’t take too long but afterwards, we had pizza for dinner, and that was really good.
Later that night we also had the family river trip party with the Danielsons, Zimmermans, and the Grappendorfs. Dad and Isaac spent a little time describing the river trip, and then the families just hung out for a while.
Saturday we went to Matthias’s birthday party. I was only able to make it for a little bit because Mom, Dad, Me, Quinn, and Veidi left the party a little early.
Mom and Dad also had a wedding reception for Tristan McFarland and sealings in the temple with the the Ashtons. I also went, and I really did enjoy the reception. It was super pretty. There’s a lot of food, a lot of people, and lot of dancing.
River trip prep party
This week Monte and I got in a car accident! We got rear ended on 7800, just before the light at Bangerter. I wanted to go and get Swig, so that’s the reason we were heading down that way.
Monte likes to blame me for the accident, and say that he wanted to go home, but he was kind and took me to Swig.
Luckily no one was hurt, and it wasn’t our fault. We just got rear ended. We had to fill out a couple of forms the officer handed to us, and then we were on our way to get some Swig.
We even got the drink free, since Monte told his co-workers about us getting in a car accident!
Quinn and Joanna at tulip festival
We went to a tulip festival. It was so fun, crowded, and lots of fun. Everyone was there, and we just got to hunt for clues, We also saw geese and ducks. I saw lots of different tulips. It was so fun.
When we finally got to the waterfall, we sat down and ate dinner. Then we raced to a bounce house. It was so fun. We played other different games down in the ditch, and we finally left.
Family prayer
Well, school has started again, and after the first week I still have A’s in my classes—ha ha! Honestly, I was a little worried about my semester, but after one week I think I’ll manage. I originally had a sewing class that I was going to take, but after the first online lecture I decided that was not the class for me, and luckily I got into interior design.
Caleb, Cougar, and I went to the gym once this week, and it was the first time I’d been in such a long time. Then on Saturday, after watching and reading Hamlet for most of the day, I got to take a break and go to Mattias’s first birthday! It was such a nice little break and he was so cute!
Mattias’s first birthday party
This week I finally finished school! Now I am on summer break, which is nice. I am able to have more time in my day to do things.
I got a digital camera, and I really like it. I've never really used one, so it is going to take some time to get used to it.
We also helped Endia and Cougar move, and we went to the tulip festival. It was so fun seeing all of the flowers. We did a scavenger hunt, and I had a fun time there with all my nieces and nephews.
Unloading trailer to help Popes move
This Friday was very busy because we had to first take care of nine dogs while getting a double raft fully set up so that Dad could show the people going on the family and friends river trip what a raft looks like.
Me, Quinn, and Joanna had to stay downstairs making sure that the dogs weren't barking the whole time, and as a bonus we would often get some treats from upstairs.
The next day, Mom and Dad were gone most of the day, so we had to clean the house, take care of the dogs, and put away the raft.
Then we went to Mattias’s birthday party in our Tesla rental car which was a 2023 Model S Plaid, one of the fastest production cars in the world. It can go 0 to 60 in 2.1 seconds! When Mom pushed down on the accelerator at a stop light, it was fun but also scary because we went so fast.
Once we got back from the birthday party, I had to do a little bit of dog work, but then I was able to go to bed.
Lowering raft for river trip prep party
What a wonderful, crazy week! First of all, Mom and I are so happy for London and Keaton. A mom and a dad pray often that their children will find the right match, and we believe that Keaton is that match for London. Welcome to the family, Keaton!
What else happened this week? A car accident, I started teaching for Spring semester, the children played crazyball on multiple nights, I took Monte and Isaac out to eat at Cup Bop, Mom stayed at Natalie’s until about 3:00 AM doing nails, we visited the tulip festival, dropped off the car for repairs, and we performed temple baptisms.
And that’s just what we did during the week! Here is the weekend: we lowered a raft and set it up for a river trip prep party, unloaded the trailer to help Endia and Cougar move, went to Tristin McFarland’s sealing, did a couple client dog trainings, Ellie and Charlie came over to visit, helped Endia and Cougar move, attended Mattias’s birthday party, and somehow made it back to Tristin’s wedding reception, and a sealing session in the temple with Matt and Amber.
After such an impressive, but very long list, I can’t help but think of the following scripture: “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33–34).
After temple sealings with the Ashtons