3 Aug 2025
VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 620
Mom and Dad dropping off Isaac at BYU-I
This week I moved down to Idaho! It was pretty exciting. I'm hoping I can find a job really soon, but I haven't had any luck with that yet.
My classes for summer semester are all online, and I've already started them. Luckily, they are pretty easy to keep up with and do.
I set up a week where Kai is going to come down to my place. When Ashton and Caleb come down to watch Fantastic Four with us, he'll head back up with them. I'm pretty excited for that.
I live with seven other people, and they are pretty loud. That's a downside, but other than that, I'm really liking life down here a lot!
Keaton and London in Hawaii
Uncle Keric saved our lives while we were in Hawaii! We got the tsunami warnings on the day we were scheduled to leave. Soon after the first couple of warnings, the governor shut down all flights in and out of Maui.
Luckily, Keric had returned the day before. He coached us through everything and made sure we weren’t in any serious danger. We got to keep our car longer, our flights were delayed—which meant London didn’t have to rush her ER visit—and Keric let us sleep over at the Hill’s house. I had never been there before, so it was great to reconnect a little bit.
The next day, we made our way home. I spent the night in the Seattle airport, hoping to catch an early flight and get to work in the afternoon. I set up my little bed right by the gate, ready to sleep, but then got into a conversation with another guy named Repo, who was also spending the night. My flight boarded at 4:50am, and we chatted until about 3:00am. Sleep was practically nonexistent.
Instead of catching an early flight and getting back to work, I returned home and just fell asleep at my apartment. Honestly, it was some of the best sleep I’ve had in a while. Hawaii was incredible! I will definitely return at some point in my life. I wished I could’ve stayed longer, but I’ll take the extra day we got.
Keaton, London, Danielle, and Hannah
Last week was my last week at Natalie’s. I am going to miss waking up to the mountains, spending time with the kids, going on morning runs with Emma, and taking evening walks with the boys. Natalie made it extra fun by planning lots of craft projects.
We also had adventures with the chickens—chasing them and then having them chase us when we tried to get them back in their cage. We went out and did a lot of fun things like going to the splash pad, eating at McDonald’s, and jumping on the trampoline.
When I got dropped off, Mom took me to my orthodontist appointment. When I came home, Dad surprised me with popper confetti, and everyone said, “Welcome home!” Then I had to pack again for girls camp. I was excited because I got to see my friends again. It had been a couple of months since I had last seen them.
Gloria and Yaretzie
Girls camp was really fun. We went up to the Haymond’s cabin, and since we had a lot of free time, we played games and spent time talking. The next day we went tubing at Sister Haymond’s sister’s house. Being on the boat was so fun, and when it was my group’s turn, it was scary but exciting. We got flipped in the first five minutes, and it was really funny.
After that, we went swimming in the pool and ate a lot of snacks. Later, Taylor and I went swimming in the lake, and I had such a great time. When we got back to the cabin, we had ice cream, went to the park for a devotional, and then changed into our pajamas.
The next day we didn’t do much, but at night we watched a movie called K-Pop Demon Hunters and ate more ice cream. The following day we packed up, drove for a while, and visited a few places before heading home.
Brigham’s birthday celebration
This week has been full of blessings. God’s hand in the work is real. To start, you know how we thought we might have to break Laura and Jesus up? Well, during an exchange with Elder Fish, we had a lesson with them. They told us that they wanted to get married on the 29th and then baptized on the 30th! Straight milagro.
Then we had to teach them about the Word of Wisdom, and they LOVE their coffee. We taught them that these are commandments from God and explained that we don’t consume alcohol, drugs, tobacco, green and black tea, or coffee.
After we said that, they sat there for about four seconds, and then Jesus said, “Okay, no more coffee or Coke in this house.” Wow. Just wow. Jesus and Laura are amazing. To make things even better, they came to church on Sunday, and we gave them their first Book of Mormon. It was incredible.
Laura and Jesus at church
During the week, a sister from the stake asked us to go to the hospital and give a tourist a blessing. The tourist wasn’t a member of the church but was a Christian. The person who contacted us was actually an inactive member, Minerva, who Elder Larson had been trying to reach for three months without success.
Once we got to the hospital, we got dressed in gowns, masks, and gloves. The tourist, Mary, was pretty much dead. All that was keeping her alive was medical equipment, so her body wasn’t functioning on its own. I felt the Spirit so strongly in that moment, and it told me exactly what I needed to say in the blessing. It was super scary, but I blessed her that she would live and recover.
Afterward, we talked with Mary’s husband, Karl. He was so thankful and shared how God really is a God of miracles. We then met with Minerva and scheduled a time to visit her later in the week. We discussed some of the reasons she had stopped coming to church and reminded her that she is always welcome.
Then, on Sunday, she came! Not only that, but she went up in sacrament meeting and shared her testimony. It was a really good week for me, and I’ve seen God’s hand in so many ways.
Monte and Elder Larson eating postres
This week I got my filament, which is the plastic I need for the 3D printer. Now I can start to print my pieces, but first I have to create them. This is going to take a while because Dad has made some suggestions that I think will work really well.
He said to put a magnet on the bottom of the pieces and have the board be a metal plate. Now I have to design a piece with a hole in the bottom that will fit a magnet. Since I have filament, I can start designing the piece and see if it will work.
It has also been a very nice two weeks of relaxing time, but now there is a lot of work to do. There are nine dogs, which I really like. They aren't very hard to manage except for Fisher, who was a challenge, but the rest of the dogs are pretty manageable.
Troy with 3D printer and filament
We finally put the rafts away and put all the river trip stuff away. Our old backyard is back to normal, and we had Costa Vida for dinner.
I was glad to have our backyard back because we can let our dogs out and play. We can play basketball, football, soccer, and run around again.
After cleaning the Hobbit Hole
I played with Ellie and Charlie. We had a dance party, did a singing competition, and played with dolls. Then I played with Malekei and Zalea at Lodestone Park. We played on the swings and went on the zip-line. It was a little scary because I went really fast. I also went on a really high slide.
Me, Quinn, and Dad cleaning out the Hobbit Hole. Dad put labels on the shelves where each Tupperware goes, so we can clean it better. He also threw away six big bags of garbage—books and toys that we don’t need anymore. I was happy when we were done, because now it is a lot more easy to clean.
This week we went to the new baseball field, and Mom let us play for a little bit until the movie started. I played tag with my friends. Then we watch the movie, The Sandlot. We all just sat out on the baseball field. They also gave us hot dogs for dinner, and we had popcorn and treats when we watched the movie.
When the movie was over and we were leaving, they gave us some Beehive Meals to try. They are so delicious!
Joanna watching The Sandlot
This week was the annual Pope family reunion. We also celebrated my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary. On Thursday morning, with everything packed for our trip, we drove up to Wendell, Idaho. Endia had been so diligent in double-checking that we had everything we would need for camping: hats, sunscreen, extra clothes, diapers, lotions—you name it, and Endia probably packed it.
About 15 minutes after we left, Endia, who was driving, looked down and realized she hadn’t brought shoes! We made a quick stop at Walmart to buy some new ones and then made it to Idaho safely.
We stopped in Twin Falls so I could use church WiFi and take a scheduled midterm I had. Luck would have it that it started raining hard, so I huddled up against the building, trying to protect my computer from the rain while doing my best. I passed my midterm and made it to our destination safely.
Originally, we were going to camp at the park near my grandparents’ farm, but we decided to stay in the backyard of the Airbnb my siblings were renting. The first night went well, but on the second night, the sprinklers turned on, and I woke up with water in my face. We visited Shoshone Falls, spent time on my grandparents’ farm, and went to the celebration.
It was a very special time to be with family. All my aunts and uncles shared stories about their parents, and I learned a lot about their life and the journey they have gone through. Getting to spend time with cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews brings me so much joy.
Gloria drying off on river trip (last week)
This week, Cougar’s grandparents were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary! His whole family went up to Idaho for a family reunion. We got there early one day and were the only ones at their house, so Owen got to play with Cougar’s grandparents and really turned on the charm. They thought he was adorable, and he made everyone laugh. They also got to hold Emmett for a little while.
It was so neat to hear all the stories that were shared. I was a captive audience and one of the only ones hearing everything for the first time! They are incredible people. My main takeaways were that Grandpa Pope is a hard worker who is very forgiving, and Grandma Pope is always serving and creating genuine friendships as she does.
While we were sleeping in our tent on the grass one night, the sprinklers turned on and shot up under our tarp, hitting Cougar straight in the face! Driving and camping went surprisingly well with Owen and Emmett, and we had a great trip!
Joanna on monkey bars
I went to the temple with my missionaries this week! That was fun—they’re a good group of people. I hadn’t been to the temple for a while, and it felt really good to experience that peace again and recenter myself. I love temples; I’m grateful they remind me of who I am and who cares about me.
I helped jumpstart Ashton’s car with London’s. I went to the movies. I also helped Braden and Brooke move!
Emma, Mckay, and Brigham’s birthday party was fun. Happy birthday to all three of you! Thanks, Natalie and Nate, for all your cute kids.
Monte buying pancake mix
Whew! Do things ever slow down? This week we completed most of the immediate packing up of the river trip. The river tubs are all re-packed, and the rafts are squared away in the rafters of the garage. I still have to re-pack all of the river trip items we call “admiral inventory” that are sitting in the Bunkhouse.
There is an after-river-trip project that is going to take me a few weeks to complete. On the last river trip, I installed a new electronics box on my boat to hold all of our radios, camera batteries, and phone charging cords, along with a battery pack to recharge them.
It worked pretty well, but I was not able to get a solar panel installed on the top of it like I would have liked, so before I completely check the river trip off my to-do list, I want to get that taken care of. However, it has proved much more difficult than I would have expected, as I have tried multiple solar panels, cables, and batteries. One way or the other, I will get this figured out!
Gloria and Ava at their new apartment