Grammie, Jichan, and Sendai

HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS PAST WEEK TO JONATHAN!

So happy he was brave enough to join our crazy family😳 He is a wonderful husband to Kate, and an amazing Dad to Sayre - He is generous, kind, talented, and funny and we love him so much ❤ Happy Birthday, Jonathan 🎈🎂

And - Happy Heavenly Birthday to our sweet sister, Francie, whose birthday was yesterday. We miss her! I am always so grateful for her example as I was growing up - She let me practice my babysitting skills on Matthew and Steven, and she was always so patient and kind. I am so blessed to have such wonderful siblings ❤

OUR FAVORITE MISSIONARY is alive and doing well!

His mission just posted some photos of a recent zone conference and I found this one of Elder Hopkins 😀

Last week, he sent a short letter that made me smile -

"This week was kinda crazy, we got to have a fire on the beach which was super fun. We also got to throw axes which I'm pretty sure isn't allowed but we can just say its a grey area. Then I got bit by a dog so that was stupid👎 but me and my companion got to be in the primary program which was sick!! I honestly don't have a lot this week but it was still a great week!

Spiritual thought: Elder Bendar has a devotional called "As Long as the World Shall Stand" if you get a chance please listen, it has changed my view on temples and made me realize how lucky we are to have temples so close to us. Please please go listen and then tell me what you think!

Also keep sending me emails I love to read them and hear about how everyone's doing!"

I loved this talk by Elder Bednar, who talked about the profound sacrifices made by the early Saints when trying to complete Temple ordinances while at the same time, being driven from their homes in Nauvoo.

Elder Bednar compared that time in history to our time, when the world was hit with Covid-19, and temples within the United States stayed open for 3 days, 24 hours, before the required closing date of midnight on November 13th, 2020. Many temple workers worked through the late hours of the night and through to the early morning hours of the next day, assisting patrons who had to change their temple appointments to meet the new deadline.

One of my favorite quotes from this talk is by President Ballard, who said," Sometimes we are tempted to let our lives be governed more by convenience than by covenant. It is not always convenient to live gospel standards and stand up for truth and testify of the Restoration. It usually is not convenient to share the gospel with others. It isn't always convenient to respond to a calling in the Church, especially one that stretches our abilities. Opportunities to serve others in meaningful ways, as we have covenanted to do, rarely come at convenient times. But there is no spiritual power in living by convenience. The power comes as we keep our covenants. As we look at the lives of these early Saints, we see that their covenants were the primary force in their lives."

Thank you, Paul for sharing this talk with us!

FAMILY NEWS

Did you know our very own Chris Ellsworth played a huge part in the $2.6 Billion Terminal B transformation at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston TX? Chris was there this past week to celebrate the opening of the new terminal which includes 22 new main gates, the largest United Club in the United States, and several new eateries.

Congratulations Chris!!! It looks beautiful

United Airlines (this is just a short clip of one of the new restaurants)

These two cuties also scored big this week -

Jonathan took Sayre to mini golf, where Kate said after 30 tries, he finally got a hole-in-one. I love the determination to not give up! Watch out, Uncle Ken! Sayre might have your number 😎

Jake is getting close to the end of his outdoor soccer season, and on Saturday he was excited because his team won and they remain undefeated for the last two seasons. AND he scored, which doesn't happen often as a defender!

And if there is anyone who knows how to live - it's Ben.

He had his first pedicure this weekend, and learned how to make bread.

I think I'm coming to your house 😁

Blythe made it home for the weekend and had a sweet reunion with her puppy

FINALLY - HAPPY HALLOWEEN WEEK!

Adam called earlier in the week and asked if I had any photos of him on Halloween when he was little. I am so sad to say this was the only one I could find -

We had a good laugh at his "black face" (what was I thinking???) and Kim's pumpkin costume. As I was looking through the photos I found some real treasures I thought you might enjoy -