Last Wedding For Now

Oct. 10, 2015

Dear Sister Kristina,

We got home an hour ago from a wonderful weekend. The girls had their first concert of the year on Thursday night. It was a dinner and an auction and then the concert. The food was from Bodacious Pig here in Eagle, the auction went well and we stayed for the first two songs of the concert so we could take off and drive to Salt Lake that night.

On Friday we went to the temple in the morning and it was great. It was fun seeing all of Carolina's family from Spain outside the temple afterwards too. Isaac was also there and he came up and gave me a huge hug hello. He looked good and he was fun to talk with over with weekend. I told him how much we miss having him live closer.

Then our family went to lunch and then over to Noah's where Dakota and Downing had a ring ceremony so that her Spanish family could attend an event. Devin Durrant (1st counselor Gen. SS presidency…aka Ponderize speaker) did the ring ceremony and he made it very light, fun and was able to speak some of it in Spanish since he served his mission in Spain. It was so fun seeing him again. He was at the temple too, so afterwards I took the family over to meet him. Alex was so funny cuz he didn't believe that I actually knew him, but lo and behold, I did. I became friends with him when he played basketball with Steve at BYU.  He told the family to call him Devin and when I introduced Nikki to him, she actually said, Hey, you're the ponderize guy. 

After the ring ceremony, they served dinner from Magleby's and it was just for family and close friends so they had some time for the parents, grandparents and even Dakota and Downing to say a few words. Their brothers and sisters also spoke (kind of like how we did in Canada), so it was fun getting to know Downing a little better. He is so soft spoken and even his family said he is a man of few words, but has such a large heart. He and Dakota look so happy together. Also it's fun seeing Kassie getting bigger and bigger with her little baby!

Then we just hung out at Noah's until the reception started. During the reception there was dancing and Carolina and her sisters and Dakota all did a little flamenco number that was so fun to watch. It was a long day, so we didn't end up staying until the very end, but it was all wonderful. Dakota's dress was so beautiful. I have never seen anything like her dress before and it's so much prettier in person and it was so Dakota!! She's an angel. I know you've seen these pics before, but thought I'd send them again.

The next day the girls and I picked up Sarah and Addie and went to Mary's baby shower. Sarah was in charge of the games, so we got to play with Addie. We also played with Henry (Patrice's little boy). Here's Nikki with Henry.

Mary is due the first of December and is having a little boy and they are naming him George because it's a family name from Brian's side of the family. Mary's getting very excited. McKenna and Heidi were also at the shower representing our family.

Then we went to the Young's to visit with Paula and Tani and family. Tani ended up coming with us for the evening and he and the girls hung out with Alex for the night. 

Leah is hoping we will take the snake to our home. The Youngs are trying to get rid of it, but I told Leah our dogs would just attack it.

This is a car that Rod worked on for three years without even telling Paula and brought it home last night. It's a 65 Mustang and it's beautiful. I really love the color too.

Savannah was working with the Cougarettes because there was a game that night. We got to have Alex's tickets, which are so awesome, front row!! So dad and I had a little date night…thank you Alex…we needed that little getaway. The game was great and Tanner is really doing well. Everyone loves him. Then he pulled his hamstring and the next quarterback came in and had a tough time and the score got tied. Then late in the 4th quarter, Tanner came back in. Everyone cheered so loud, it was great. With four minutes to go, he took the team all the way down the field to score and only left a few seconds on the clock so the other team couldn't score.

Here's a pic I took while at the game. It was so beautiful I had a hard time watching the game!

We met with Savannah after and Alex came to pick us up and we went to Steve's new place so we could see their finished basement. Their home is gorgous!! Can't wait for you to see it. We visited a while there and said goodbye to everyone. 

Today we went to church with Kirk and Sarah, chased Addie around. haha She is getting so fast and just runs everywhere and thinks it's so funny. She starts to take off away from us, turns around to see if we're looking, smiles and then turns and runs. Leah, with her broken leg, can barely keep up with her. haha Today at church she was running down the hall and Leah was trying to catch up to her and she just reached down and undid her diaper and it fell to the ground and she kept running. We were laughing so hard. I guess she can run faster without her diaper!

Little miss one year old going on 15. :) she even has her own couch.

So what's going on in Northern Cal? By the way, when we got home, Leah got your letter. She cried and brought it in to me so I could read it too. I cried. I told her that you're living very close to the spirit and that you were writing because of strong feelings you have felt. I know it meant a lot to her and it really meant a lot to me too. Had a few hard days in there last week, so I know the spirit has been softening her heart through angels like you. She loves family so much. She is really trying hard and we have awesome talks about life, etc. She has come a long way. I'm proud of her. I really hope she will start praying because I also know the power of prayer. I also know that Heavenly Father knows her heart and her mind and is watching over her. I am so grateful to know He is there because there is no way I could do this by myself without heavenly help. 

How is Camilo doing? Sometimes Word of Wisdom trials are so difficult to get past even though their hearts have been converted. The natural man can be so strong and so stubborn sometimes. Maybe there's a member who joined the church and had similar problems. They could talk with him and give him someone to relate to. Have you been meeting with Brandi again? 

I hope you know that even though we are going to all these family events lately and you aren't there, we always feel your spirit with us. There's such a strength we feel knowing you are serving the Lord by serving His people.  I also feel your prayers. You are always in my heart. I love being a missionary mom!!

Love you so much,

Mom xxoo