Dear Sweet 16 Emmy,

Happy 16th birthday Emmy! Just like your sister's letter, this one is a bit late . . . we've been a bit busy, especially this past week. We flew out Tuesday afternoon to South Carolina and just arrived back home yesterday evening. So that's my excuse . . . 

Well another year and now your 16th birthday. It's kind of big one, but, unfortunately, is also kind of lame. . . Sunday birthdays just aren't the best, sorry! In fact, you're extra-grumpy today because there's not much excitement happening. Which you knew about and I talked to you about and you were like totally fine about. But now, today, you are a bit bummed of the boringness of the day. I've tried to engage you - go for a drive (with you driving), etc., but nope. Sadly, this is kind of how birthdays go as you get older - they aren't all that different than a normal day.

But one fun thing about your day: Micaela, a past YW leader and current bishop's wife and one of your favorite people, had her baby today - just like you were hoping she would! You were quite ecstatic to tell me today at church. You were hoping that would happen - even though Micaela was due on the 22nd and probably, herself, wasn't hoping for the 27th. We know so many people who share your birthday - fun.

You did just get to spend four days in South Carolina: seeing Jonas, Erin, and cousins; having a sleep-over with your best-friend Abby x four nights; playing at the beach, etc. So I told you that was a pretty great pre-birthday party. You agreed earlier. :)

Last year, your first year in high school, was a bit rough. You hated it in the beginning. I was helping you navigate lunch quite a bit in those first few weeks/months. As a freshman, you weren't allowed to leave campus - including for lunch. Most (all?) of your friends those first couple of months were in older grades, including Jonas, and would leave for lunch. So you were left with either trying to sneak off and not get caught or with staying on campus and eating lunch alone. Which you did a lot of and it was hard on you, of course. You got used to lunch and would either be semi-okay with eating alone, or you would actually find some people that you could eat with. By the end of the year you had your lunch group (Layla, Drew, and Landon) and lunchtime wasn't so dreaded. Hallelujah. School was kind of like lunch, too - you hated it in the beginning, but it got better as the quarters came and went. You kind of stopped caring and it was both good and bad. It was good to be confident and okay with the situation, but not good to be apathetic about it. I think you fell somewhere in the middle.

But school is a bit better this year. You have more friends in your classes. You can leave, legally (!), for lunch. Etc. Let's hope this year just gets better and better for you, too.

You found great friendship in Abby - who also is in some type of relationship with Jonas. Girlfriend? I am not sure at this point and not sure if they are sure either. Haha. But you two became close (she's in gym with you, too, so that's fun) and hung out a lot - especially during the summer. Abby is Jonas' grade and she has a sister your grade - Layla. You and Layla became good friends, too. They spoil you with taking you to Starbucks, plus out to dinner quite a bit. Lucky you.

You were part of the high school cross country team and so that a good experience for you. You hated every race as soon as you finished (tears of hard work and frustration always), but give it a good 30 minutes or more and you were *usually* better. You loved being a part of the team and having "sleepovers" and bus rides and missing school, etc. You just didn't love the practices or races haha. You even secured a spot for your team to make it to state last year and so that was pretty darn awesome. You are doing cross-country again this year and are a bit bummed because you are slower than you were last year. But, as I've told you: you want it real bad at the end of the races, but you don't want it bad enough all the other times. Meaning, you could try harder and push yourself harder. But you are doing great and are still doing gymnastics, too, so I don't blame you! It's just I get to deal with you after your races and it's a bit rough on me girl . . . :) But I'll still come to every race I can and love and support you, even knowing that you'll be upset and frustrated with your time and physically exhausted - which makes most of us, but definitely you, grumpy.

Yep, I've mentioned grumpy quite a few times huh?! You've been a bit of a grump this past year. Partly because you're a teenager. But, also, partly because you're wanting an amazing social life full of friends, exciting weekend activities, a closet full of the cutest clothes, boyfriends, all the teen works. And, like most teenagers, you find it mostly lacking in your life. Just hang in there - one day you, too, will realize those things weren't as important as they seem now.

You're a good girl and you make good choices. You want to choose the right and you do. You don't shy away from your beliefs or your standards. You have a testimony of the gospel. You desire to marry in the temple. You want to become a wife and mother. You do hard things - both physically and socially. For all your grumpiness and other junk we get from you, I am proud of the girl you are and the beautiful woman you are becoming. You will get there - one lousy, perhaps, semester at a time. Hang in there. Life does get better as we continue to make those tough but righteous choices.

I love you,

mom

Back to School 2023 and Lucy Turns 13!

The girls both started their first day of school on August 16th - Lucy's birthday. I think it was actually fun for Lucy - to see all her friends, etc. 

Lucy, 8th grader at Centennial Middle School.

Emmy, 10th grader at Montrose High School.

Cute sisters, 2023-2024 school year.

The girls had a pretty good day at school. Emmy was bummed to not have more friends in her classes, but the next day (and different classes) she ended up having some and so that was better.

Once Emmy got home from cross-country practice, Lucy's birthday celebrations started. We ate dinner (chicken salad sandwiches with Olathe Sweet Corn), opened up gifts, and then watched the movie, "Are You There God..." It was cute and we girls really liked it! I am not sure what Ben thought of it . . . Halfway through the movie we stopped for cake (avocado cake - weird texture but not bad) and ice cream - avocado of course.

(Lucy bumped the cake and messed it up a bit... Oh well. It didn't affect the taste and I already had taken a picture, ha.)

A fun day for a fun girl!

Sister Hardy, AKA Blythe

Sister Hardy served in the Black Canyon ward for 8 1/2 months. We adored her, to put it lightly. Like all of us. She's just the best and most fun and wonderfully spiritual and super fun and just everything. We've tried to get together a few times post-mission, but it's never worked out. Until last weekend! She made it over to our home (she's in Provo now attending UVU) Friday night. Miles was busy with his MTC stuff, but we visited for a bit and then she grabbed the girls and took them out for ice cream. 

On Saturday, my friend Molly joined us (myself and girls) as we took Blythe on the Ouray Via Ferrata. She loved it and it was fun to do it again! We ate some lunch at Maggie's Kitchen (a Ouray classic) and then made our way home. She hung out at Taviwach that evening with Lucy, while Emmy was at a party. She and Lucy went out front on hammocks while Blythe read to Lucy. :) Blythe took Lucy and they picked up Emmy from her party. They then went to the Black Canyon to get pictures and had a good time doing that.

Blythe, who stayed in Emmy's room, came to church with us that Sunday and got to hear Ben and Miles speak. Then, right after church, she headed out to Vail - where she practically spent the rest of her mission at.

We were so lucky to know Sister Hardy and even luckier to have Blythe come and stay with us. She's a beautiful gal - inside and out. She's a great example to not only my girls, but to all of us. We love her tons.

Elder Maxwell

We got back from our Idaho trip on Saturday, and the following day Miles was set apart as a missionary. 

That's President Yost towering behind the Maxwells. :) The tag looks good on Miles! 

The next day, Monday, Miles started his home-MTC experience. It was awesome for Miles - he really loved it. He was happy and engaged. My only critique: he had class from 6-9pm every evening. Boohoo. I was expecting to at least have the evenings to do things with him, but no. So I was pretty bummed about that. But Miles never complained and was just engaged with it all!

In his few minutes of free time here and there, Miles did some painting. He painted two awesome tiny canvas magnets - this one for Melody. She is going to Japan on her mission and is on the same timing as Miles - well starting off at the same time. He made another one, this time with a Mexican theme, for his friend Aiden. Finally, he painted an awesome picture of Brigham for Lucy's birthday present. So cool.

The following Sunday was Miles' "farewell." Both he and Ben spoke and both did an excellent job.

My parents were able to make it out and we had a good time with them here in Montrose - it's been awhile since they've been here! Jim and Diana were able to watch the meeting via Zoom, that was great they were able to catch it, too!

Miles was originally going to go to the Mexico MTC, but due to his Visa not coming in, he was reassigned to the Provo MTC. No hard feelings as Provo is so iconic and just awesome. Plus, Melody was going to be there and so maybe, must maybe, he could hand-deliver his painting (spoiler: he does!).

So Tuesday was his day to fly from Montrose to Denver to SLC. The four of us took him to the airport...

Yep, that's kind of how we all felt. Sadness. But joy, too!

Nice Miles. Our last goodbyes and hugs were pretty rough. Miles held it together, but the rest of us couldn't speak - we were too choked up. Oh it was sad. Tears still fell as we drove away, but now it's all good. Honestly, I think it was harder for me when we dropped him off at college. That was our first, big separation and it was rough. This time was a little easier. I am still sad and miss him and would love him home, but there is no other place I want him to be right now than on a mission serving God. 

I got to Facetime him via Facebook on my lunch break this past Friday. He was doing well and was happy. One of the first people he saw on Wednesday was .... Melody! Crazy. Crazy because there were like 600 new missionaries there that day. Every missionary got to meet with someone from the MTC presidency and Miles lucked out in getting the president's wife, Sister Calderwood. She is from Montrose (which we knew) and so Miles told her where he was from of course, and she was all excited. In a "Get to Know Us" presentation to all the new missionaries, I guess she stated that she was from Montrose, "just like Elder Maxwell." So that was cool!

Miles sent me two pictures:

Godspeed Miles!

Where's Waldo, Jonas style

I follow all the Facebook pages from Fort Jackson. They post a lot of pictures, but with a lot of trainees there, they can't get everyone! But I have been able to catch a few with Jonas. So fun!

Jonas is all done and we fly out this week for his graduation! Wow! We are proud of him and he did really excellent out there. We usually heard from him on Sundays. Once he had gotten through the awful "reception" week, he was upbeat and pretty positive about what he was doing. He was successful in each and every challenge they had every week. He, personally, got in trouble twice while there: once, for not having his utensils in the proper setting (or something) during a meal his first week or two there - one of the sergeants got mad, took his utensils, and chucked them across the lunchroom (hehe); second, he fell asleep when they were doing absolutely nothing and got yelled at. Otherwise, nothing personally was directed at him - but constantly yelling at his platoon because of some trainee not following orders. He definitely was in the top in all that he did - from his physicals to his shooting skills. He attended the branch there and apparently baptized two boys last Sunday (yes, we were all shocked as well). I think these boys were already meeting with the missionaries before coming out to boot camp, but had befriended Jonas at church and asked him to baptize them. Pretty darn cool.

We are excited to honor and celebrate him this week! Yay!

Mack's Inn and Yellowstone, 2023

So our trip to Idaho this year was a bit different - just four of us went. Jonas was still in South Carolina and Emmy had a cross-country camp that she didn't want to miss (and it was good she didn't for many reasons...). But we wanted to take Miles up there one last time before his mission, and it would be a good vacation for the rest of us as well! My parents joined us up there and that was awesome. 

We got up to Mack's on Sunday evening. On Monday, Ben and I went for a run to start out our day. Then the four of us rode our bikes to Johnny Sack's cabin. As always, it was gorgeous. Riding our bikes made for a fun trip, too. My parents ended up there, too, and so mom joined us in the cabin. On our way back, we saw 3 moose - a mama and two babies. Awesome.

After lunch, we headed out on a float trip down the Henry's Fork river. I could do this everyday! It's just so great and so gorgeous. We saw another moose and one baby. :)

We ended the day with a yummy dinner (prepped by my mom and grilled by Ben) and chillin' at the cabin.

On Tuesday, we all headed to the park. My parents did their thing and we did our thing. We brought our bikes along and that was something fun and different! We headed to one of our favorite spots: Imperial Geyser, via the Fairy Falls hike. We parked at Fountain Flats trailhead and biked to the Fairy Falls trail. From there, we locked up our bikes and hiked the 5-mile roundtrip of Fairy Falls and Imperial Geyser. I love this hike and the geyser! The waterfall is pretty, too!

After the hike, Miles and I headed over to the Grand Prismatic Overlook because why not? Lucy and Ben hopped on their bikes and headed back to the trailhead/car because I guess they had a reason why not...

After that, we headed to Lone Star Geyser. It's one we discovered a couple years ago and some day we might actually time it right to see it erupt! But it was one where we could ride our bikes and it's just a beautiful trail/old road. It makes me happy! :) This geyser goes off about every 3 hours. It doesn't list it's prediction anywhere . . . but there is a log at the geyser. Which told us we had missed the eruption by 30 minutes. Dang! We weren't going to hang out there for 2 1/2 hours, so that was a bummer. But it's still a beautiful trail in and a cool looking geyser spout! (My brilliant idea: have the log-book at the beginning of the trail so people can gauge the time better...)

We finished the day at the park by stopping in at Old Faithful. The timing wasn't going to work to see OF erupt, but we did get huckleberry ice cream at the lodge - but, sadly, it was gross. Ha. 

We made our way out of the park and visited a few stores in West Yellowstone. We then met up with my parents and had our traditional and delicious dinner at The Gusher. Followed by the always-enjoyed show at The Playmill. We watched Beauty and the Beast and it was really great! (At least my family thought so - not sure about my parents . . . ??) We got home close to midnight - so a long, but fantastic, day.

Wednesday the weather started turning south (actually, on Monday night there was like the biggest thunder/rainstorm I had ever heard - but all cleared by the next morning). We had planned on a chill day at the cabin and so that's pretty much what we did! We did the fire tower hike and while I enjoy the hike, I do not climb the tower. Well, I did like the first two sections and then that's good for me. Ben, Miles, and Lucy enjoyed their climb and view at the top. Fun for them. :)

Crazy kids - and Ben! I am sure Uncle Randy is still disappointed in me that I don't climb it. Oh well, ha!

The rest of the day we sat around the cabin, painted these alphabet blocks I was doing for a friend's baby, watched a movie, ate dinner, etc.

My mom, after playing a couple of games earlier in the day with my dad, played some Scrabble with Miles and Lucy. Good times.

Thursday was another park day and we started early! We left by 6am so we could get in to Hayden Valley early and see all the animals . . . Usually, especially when early, you can catch at least a couple hundred buffalo, maybe a bear or two, and perhaps even some wolves. Well.... we saw a total of 3 buffalo! Ha! It was actually pretty rainy and so not sure if that's why. But it was so weird to not see the herds out. So that was a bit disappointing, but it's still Yellowstone and still gorgeous and so it wasn't a total bust. Plus, as we were leaving Hayden Valley and heading to the Lake Lodge (to get some rain ponchos for our hike...), we did see a mama bear and two cute and bouncy cubs. So that was cool! 

While we only saw three buffalo, but this one was pretty great! He had stopped traffic, of course, as he was just leisurely walking down the road. It was about as close as we've been to one - and thankfully we were in our car!

We had to wait a few minutes for the lodge store to open, but they finally did and we got our rain ponchos (and maybe a few other things) and headed to our next adventure for the day: Mt. Washburn. It's the tallest peak in Yellowstone. We've never hiked it. It wasn't ideal weather at all - heavy clouds and rain, but it was still beautiful and quite an adventure hiking in the fog and all! You are supposed to have this amazing 50-mile view up top, but we were socked in by clouds. There is a weather station and fire tower up top and so we were able to get some cover and dry off a bit before heading back down (It was probably 45 degrees at the top that day). The wildflowers were incredible and just the whole scenery was beautiful. Rolling green hills. We'll definitely be doing this again and hoping for clear weather! But it was an adventure we won't forget!

We did make one stop at the Mud Volcano loop - it's always a fun one! So many oddities - love Yellowstone.

Now on to the hike...

We ended our day at Mammoth. The kids and I hiked the big loop, while Ben got a nice hour-nap in the car. :)

Mammoth is so unique!

We then just made the drive out of the park and back to Mack's. My mom had dinner all ready for us and we watched a movie that night. Friday we basically just got up and packed up and helped clean up. It was another dreary day... We left a couple of hours before my parents, but they beat us home because we had a few stops on our way: first, at the Army Surplus store outside of Idaho Falls; second, to visit with the Joe Maxwells as they were in Pocatello helping get Sam situated as he is attending a master's program there; and, third, in Layton to pick up a gift from Lila to Lucy. Unfortunately, Lila forgot to leave it on the porch and no one was home. Haha. 

Joe, Grace (in BYU's nursing program), Sam, Nicholas (10th grade), and us. :) We were missing our kids, plus Emma (at BYU) and Brittany (taking the picture).

As Ben just said while I've been typing this up: "That was a great trip and I wish we were still there." Yep, that's about how we all feel about Mack's Inn/Yellowstone! :)