Happy Birthday!!

Oct. 17, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

Happy Birthday tomorrow!!! I’ll be thinking of you all week…well, not just because it’s your birthday, but because I always do anyways. haha But I sure hope you have a wonderful 21st birthday. No better place to be than on your mission!

Our week here was fairly usual. Dad had his birthday though, but he had to work on his birthday, so we celebrated on Friday which is when your card for him came, so it was perfect timing. That was so creative, by the way, his card and very funny. He loved it. I gave him tickets for a play, actually a monologue of stories from a book he used to read when he was young. The author’s name is McManus, so that was the name of the play. It was very funny and entertaining and it brought back some fun memories for dad. He said Charmaine actually found the books by McManus and she would sit and read them to dad. His stories are about growing up as a young boy, fishing, hunting, etc and the crazy situations he would get himself in.

Then after the play we got to watch the BYU game on TV since it started so late. They won in double overtime so it turned out to be a fun birthday celebration for dad. Before our date we all went out to dinner at the Happy Teriyaki here in Eagle. I’m pretty sure the girls persuaded him heavily on where to go. haha BSU won their game on Saturday night, so it was a good football weekend.

Jessi Groesbeck texted me last night and was hoping you’d live in Condo Row with her at BYU. I told her where you’d be living and that it was close to there.

Last night we got to facetime with all 3 boys since they were making their birthday calls for dad. We laughed a lot with all 3 calls. It was fun. Nikki kept changing up her hair and making us laugh too. Here’s a pic of one of her creations. She says she can’t wait to wear it that way to school today. I’m waiting for the girls to get up so we’ll see if that really happens. :)

Kirk and Sarah went to Thanksgiving Point over the weekend with the girls and had fun with the pumpkin patch and corn maze. Here’s some pics that they sent:

With her best friend Lucy

Addie has been sleeping in her big girl bed now and loves it. Kirk said when they came home from church yesterday, she asked to take a nap and got right into her bed. Here she is:

Yesterday another new couple spoke in our ward. We’ve been having so many new people move in I’ve lost track, but they all seem so wonderful and strong members. The husband told a great story that the girls loved too. He talked about when he was 6 yrs old and used to walk to school with his older brothers and sister. Every day they walked the same way. Then after school they all met at the flag pole so they could walk home together. But one day he waited and waited and no one showed up at the flag pole, so he started to walk home by himself but he quickly realized he didn’t know which way to go even though he had followed his siblings every day, he had not really paid attention. After being lost for what seemed like a week haha, he broke down and cried and a mom in a minivan stopped and talked with him and took him back to the school where his family was waiting and had been looking for him. The way he told the story was so funny. The point he made though was that a lot of times we just follow along in life doing what’s expected of us but not really knowing why, we get baptized, he passed the sacrament, stood by the back doors of the chapel as a teacher and then blessed the sacrament, etc etc But then he said there’s a point in everyone’s life where we need to understand why we are doing what we are doing and many of his friends never seemed to get to that point and they have left the church and left everything they once did. He said that’s the difference between being a follower of Christ and a disciple of Christ. True disciples understand why they are doing what they are doing and help others understand. He told us parents that we need to be more than just examples. We need to also teach why we live the way we do. I really loved his talk and it made me think.

Well, the girls finally got up and Nikki had her hair all done up that same way. :) I loved it. I had to go down and get Leah out of bed. She has such a hard time getting up in the morning. Dad took them to the bus stop though, so they were happy.

Sarah sent us a funny picture over the weekend too. Maybe you saw this one on Facebook, but Haylee threw up right into Sarah’s face and mouth. Sarah told us that the throw up on her shirt was because she had quickly spit the throwup back out of her mouth and it dribbled down her shirt. haha We were all grossed out and laughing about that. Aaaaah, the joys of motherhood.

I realized today that I only get to write you two more letters. I’m sure you’re feeling the countdown too, but I hope you can look back and see how far you’ve come, how many new wonderful relationships you’ve made and how your relationship with Heavenly Father and your Savior has grown. I can see it and feel it in your letters and love who you’ve become—a true disciple of Jesus Christ, no longer just a follower.

Have a beautiful week, your birthday week!!! 

Love you soooooo much,

Mom xxoo