Family trip to Moab

As one of our COVID monthly trips, we rented an AIRBnB in Moab and went down for the weekend to explore the area.  We met up with Ethan and Maddy and hiked Mary Jane Canyon.  It was a longer hike, with lots of water, and it was beautiful.  We enjoyed exploring the canyon and finally gave up on trying to keep our shoes dry.  We ended the day with a great meal at a burger place in Moab followed by games and a movie.  On the way back we stopped at Dead Horse State Park and enjoyed the views. Perfect family getaway!  

 

Evan's unexpected birthday...

Since Evan was originally going to be in Peru for this birthday we had bought some small, light things to ship to him in a package that I had dropped off a few days before word came that he would be being sent home.  Luckily I was able to retrieve the package and had some of those things for him.  We were so grateful to be able to celebrate him and have him "in real life" with us for this birthday.  Evan is a smart, quirky, fun, loving son/brother/friend.  It's an honor to be his mother and I am blessed to see his loving heart and kind nature...keep smiling!!

 

Evan home from Peru!

So the world has gone completely crazy with the COVID-19 pandemic and all the foreign missionaries currently serving were sent home to their home countries.  That meant that Evan would be coming home AGAIN.  It was a long process that involved 18 days of strict quarantining in their apartments while the US government tried to convince the Peruvian government to let the missionaries out.  Finally with just a little notice they were wisked away to the military base and all put on a plane to return to Salt Lake where we were able to pick him up just in time for General Conference.  Evan was able to serve in Peru for 3 months and was just starting to get his groove on as a missionary serving there.  Now he has to be home and decide whether he wants to be reassigned, wait and return to Peru later (who knows when that could be) or even go to school for a year and reapply as a missionary again next year (12-18 months from now).  All the missionaries were given honorable releases and are told that they have fulfilled their mission assignment to the best of their abilities.  We shall see...but he gave it his all the Lord know that!

 

Ethan and Maddy are engaged!

Thanks to help from Ethan's BFF's Tyson and Parker, Ethan was able to surprise Maddy on their weekend trip and asked her to marry him!  She said YES!!  They have set August 22, 2020 as their wedding day.  We are so excited to officially welcome Maddy into our family.  We can't wait.

 

Evan's time in Peru

I'll make an entire book from the experiences Elder Smith had in Peru, but I wanted to include some of the photos here in our family book so we can know what he was up to while he was serving in Peru.  His first companion (trainer) was Elder Acevedo from Mexico and they served Torra Blanca.  He was then transferred to Bayovar to serve with Elder Garcia from Ecuador.  He had some amazing things to eat, some fun and adventurous p-days, and several baptisms that he was a part of.  Such a great start and so sad it was cut short.  He did all he was asked!  God speed Elder Smith!

 

Cheer Nationals and Disneyland!

After winning JV state championships the Alta JV Cheer team was off to Nationals in Anaheim California!  They competed the first day and fell one point short of continuing on....so they were able to enjoy Disneyland and California Adventure together as well.  Such a fun trip for all the hard work of the season.  Way to go girls!