Best Weekend!

We had the best weekend.  We started it off Friday night watching a movie with Hallee.  We watched Wonka.  I haven't seen it yet and it was really good.   

On Saturday Gary and Julie were in town so we all met at Leatherby's in Orem. Mel came over early so we had time to visit and that was really nice. 

Hallee and Tessa planned to wear matching outfits. 

They even ordered the same thing!

Wyatt was sad Ammon and Rockwell weren't there, but he had fun. 

Wyatt showed Keith how to make AI videos and they had fun making those at Leatherby's.  My favorite was Keith doing karate and Keith and Wyatt as missionaries in Paris.  AI is crazy and scary!

After ice cream we all went over to my house to visit. 

It is my favorite thing to sit around and visit with my family. 

We caught up on our lives and talked about all the crazy things going on in the world. 

Caitlyn was so happy she had the evening off work so she got to come.

It was nice to have some time to visit with Gary and hear about Jacob's mission.

We were talking and all the sudden dad stopped us and was laughing hysterically and said, "your dog has problems."

He laughed so hard at Jackson and the crazy things he does.  He especially thought him sitting up like this was funny.  He said, "look at my sweater." At one point he was laughing that Jackson was disoriented, but he was laughing so hard he couldn't get the word disoriented out. I have never seen dad laugh that hard and it was the best.  

He kept laughing and that kept us all laughing, especially Paul, he couldn't stop laughing either.  It was so much fun.  I think we all needed that! Life has been so heavy these last few years, it felt so good to laugh! It was so great to have Gary and Julie here, I love visiting with them. 

On Sunday Wyatt showed me a picture of a haircut he wanted and I gave it a try. 

We were both very happy with how it turned out.  

We had tithing settlements that evening, so I took quick picture of Wyatt.  His one on the wall is so old. We made a deal that he could drive home if he let me take his picture.  He sure is looking grown up lately, and so handsome!

Sunday evening we all watched The Grinch and worked on puzzles. It was so fun! Tiff gave us a Paris puzzle and Wyatt has loved working on that.  He made a lot of progress with Damon on Saturday night and we did pretty good on Sunday too.

Caitlyn bought a horse puzzle so her and Hallee worked on that. 

On Monday Caitlyn went to grandpa's to watch a Christmas movie with him.  She had the best time and said that might be her new favorite Christmas movie. 

Yesterday I went to Mel's after work to see all the kids and hang out with Mel and her girls.  It was so much fun!  I got to hold the babies and play with the girls.  Wesley took a nap on me, that was fun! I just love my family and this weekend full of family time was the best!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

I've been dreading the holidays a bit.  It's going to be hard without mom and having Jonah gone. 

Last week I went to dad's with Mel and Tiff and we went through the Christmas stuff.  On Saturday we decided to put up our Christmas decorations.  Wyatt and Hallee were anxious to get them up, so we decided to do it early this year to try and help us get in the Christmas Spirit.

Wyatt put Jackson's Christmas sweater on him.

We had fun decorating while we listened to Christmas music.

I always love to go through the ornaments and see the cute pictures of the kids when they were little. 

Wyatt was happy to get on the roof and take care of the lights. 

They lights look good!

Wyatt set up the tree downstairs. Jonah always loved having that outside his bedroom door. 

I love having the house lit up with Christmas lights. 

Jackson looks cute in his pajamas. 

I love when the young women leaders share pictures of the girls. They raked leaves one night. Hallee enjoys young women's. 

On Sunday we had Sawyer over to play games. We always love when she comes over.  We surprised Jonah and she answered the call when he called that night.  He said it was the best surprise!  Jonah's mission rules are very lax compared to other missions.  He can message people on P-Day and use Facebook.  They are trying to crack down a little and asked all the missionaries to only message immediate family on P-Day for the rest of the year.  Jonah and I message while I'm at work at the end of his P-Day.  While we were messaging he told me about the new rule and how he hasn't been able to message Sawyer.  I asked if it was okay that we had her over and he said, "I felt like it was God's timing, blessing me for choosing to obey." I thought that was cool. 

Caitlyn wanted a happy picture with Jonah.  It's always so great to talk to Jonah. He had a busy week so it was fun to hear about what he has been up to.  He always asks everyone about their week and likes to hear what is going on at home. 

Hallee's friends were in the school play so she wanted to go support them.

She asked me to go with her and I'm so glad I did.  Spending the evening at a middle school play didn't sound great, but spending the evening with Hallee was very fun and she was grateful I came with her.  She gave me a hug on the way out and thanked me. 

Back Together!

Matt and Cody have had a trip planned to Spain for a while.  Before Jonah left on his mission Matt told him that they were leaving one day open and if Jonah's mission president would allow it, they would try to come see him.  Jonah loved the idea and we hoped somehow it would work out.  When Jonah got to know President and Sister Munns he knew they would be fine with it.  The next obstacle was Jonah is in Northern France, which would make it hard to get to him.  Jonah told the AP's the situation and asked if him and his companion could come into Paris that day to see them.  He said they played a joke on him and called him and told him sorry it wouldn’t work out, but then they said just kidding and told him that would be fine! Jonah and his companion took the train into Paris Monday night and stayed at the AP’s apartment. Cody and Matt flew into Paris early Tuesday morning.  

Matt promised me he would take lots of pictures and videos and he did not disappoint!

He got the best video of them seeing each other and giving each other a hug. 

I love the video so much!  They hug and talk for a minute and then hug again. Jonah shared the video and wrote, “First time seeing twin in 2 years QUOI”

Then Cody took Matt’s phone and recorded while Jonah hugged Matt. It was amazing and I’m so glad I got to watch it on video! 

They met at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Matt and Cody went inside while they were waiting for Jonah. 

They took Jonah’s sibling gift and some pants we ordered for him. 

Seeing these two together makes me so happy! It was so hard for Jonah to say goodbye to Cody two years ago.  I’m so glad they didn’t have to wait another two years to see each other. 

Matt took videos of them walking down the street together.  I loved watching them.  

They walked over to church so Jonah could leave his stuff there. Matt said it was fun to look around the church.

After that Matt bought them all lunch.  Elder Sheen is one of the AP’s, the other AP went to the temple with Jonah’s companion.  Matt called me while they were at the restaurant.  I thanked Elder Sheen for making this happen and he told me that I have an amazing son! 

Jonah wrote, “first French restaurant did not disappoint.”

After lunch they went to the Eiffel Tower. 

Jonah was excited about that because he hasn’t been there yet. 

Matt called me and told me all about the day. He said when they got on the train to go to the Eiffel Tower Jonah and Elder Sheen got right to work talking to everyone on the train and trying to find people.  Matt said Jonah seemed very comfortable with the language and talking to people. 

Matt said Jonah told them that he has grown a lot and is excited to learn and grow more.  Matt said it was so good to see him and that he seems like he is doing great. 

It’s so crazy that Cody and Jonah were just hanging out in Paris. 

Matt said Elder Sheen was very complimentary of Jonah and said he is one of their best missionaries.

After that Elder Sheen and Elder Loosli had to leave for an appointment and it was almost time for Matt and Cody to fly back to Spain.  I’m so grateful to Matt and Lori for making this happen.  It was such a blessing for Jonah and me! After I talked to them at the restaurant and watched the videos, I just laid in bed and cried (happy tears). I could feel my mom with me.  I just knew she was so happy watching them together. I kept thinking about the song, "The Goodness of God" so I turned that on and laid there and cried and felt close to mom.  Missing mom and missing Jonah is so heavy sometimes.  I'm so grateful for this experience that helped me feel close to both of them.