Since my mother has been strongly suggesting that Glen and I go see the movie "Sound of Freedom," we decided to go see it.
The subject matter was very disturbing, the movie was interesting and I left feeling thankful there are people in the world willing to risk their lives trying to rescue children in bondage.
We pretty much had the whole theater to ourselves until another couple walked in.
It's that time of year when school is starting again. Logan and Claire began school in Omaha. Luke also began school, but I didn't see a photo of his first day of school.
The Excell boys are all now in school--Eli, Carson, Lincoln and Jonah.
The Goldens--Brooke, Caroline, Spencer and Madison--started school the same day as the Excell boys.
Newland had a BYU-themed 11th birthday celebration.
First day of school photos of Newland, Wynne, Magnus and Monty in South Carolina. I have never before seen jars of Nutella with various grades on their labels. Cute idea.
With school in session, it looks like Magnus is now getting anxious for Halloween.
Ben and Haley have returned from their vacation to New York to see Haley's family. Going out on the water in the boat is one of their favorite activities to do while they are there. Ben impressed us by his skill at surfing behind the boat.
I think these photos are at their home pool, but I thought I would include them since Haley said she doesn't get many pictures taken of her on vacation because she is the one behind the camera.
More New York fun included a Mexican restaurant, an escape room, and an amusement park. I also know they took baby Maverick to urgent care because he had an earache and was not eating. They also went to a concert and a dinosaur museum.
It was fun to go to the airport and pick up the traveling family and hear a little about their vacation.
Three days later we were back at the airport picking up Laurie and Emma. We took them to dinner at a pizza restaurant in Salt Lake City where we had recently taken a former missionary and her family. We like it when we find new places to eat.
Laurie had come out to spend a few days with Emma to help get her settled in her new dorm at BYU.
Natalie was anxious to spend time with her mom and sister, so she was here the first night and the last night Laurie was in town. The rest of the time they were all in Provo.
One of the things Laurie wanted to do while she was in town was go to the BYU football game. Natalie sat with her and Emma sat in the student section with her new roommates.
It looks like they all had a fun time. Meanwhile, back in Omaha, Claire was getting into the BYU football game celebration. She is as big of a BYU fan fanatic as Jacob is and has been his whole life.
Jacob let the family know that Vala's Pumpkin Patch is now open. Some of us are going to make the trek to Omaha in a couple of weeks so we can experience Vala's once again.
Laurie loves to hold babies and had her turn holding Maverick. She did a great job getting him to sleep.
Of course Caroline has to get in lots of baby time as well.
I just kept marveling at how big that little teeny, tiny, preemie baby has gotten lately.
Haley posted a comparison photo of each of the three boys at Maverick's age.
Speaking of getting big... Levi started his first year of pre-school.
Kade has been in pre-school the past couple of years. He will be in Kindergarten next year.
Kade has started his first year playing t-ball.
Spencer was thinking of Nani when he was craving the Rice Krispie treats she makes and decided to make some himself. Impressive!
The Goldens presented me with a beautiful basket filled with their garden crop--carrots, tomatoes and the most delicious nectarines off their tree. Funny thing is they thought they planted a peach tree, but turns out nectarines are growing on it.
Speaking of surprises... One day Dad bought a new computer for Mom without her knowledge. She kept saying she does not need a new computer. Hers is so old and so Dad just took things into his own hands.
He bought the computer, contacted Glen to get it up and running, and then while I kept Mom busy visiting, the guys got it all hooked up to her printer and then showed her what they had done.
Shockingly, she took it pretty well. Glen got the things she likes transferred over to the new computer and then we took some time with her to get her familiar with Microsoft Word.
She had been using Word Perfect and wasn't anxious to learn a new program, but she practiced for a bit and, hopefully by now, she is feeling more comfortable with her new computer.
Our dinner date with Glen's sisters and their husbands was at Longhorn.
We took some missionaries out to dinner. Former Elder Joram Maglio and his wife Celine were in the states visiting for a few weeks. They live in Switzerland.
We treated them to dinner at the Dodo Restaurant, complete with dessert which they really enjoyed.
They, in turn, gave us some sweet gifts. They had visited our mission and brought with them some bottled alkaline water from Carlsbad and also some chocolate from Switzerland.
I said I had eaten Lindt chocolate before and he assured me it was not as good as the Lindt Swiss chocolate. Sure enough, I checked the label of Lindt in our stores and it definitely does NOT say "Swiss Made."
I also did a taste test and they have a distinctly different taste. I determined I like Swiss chocolate better myself.
Former elder Brendon Anderson, who has been living in New York, stopped by for a visit with his girlfriend Alison.
They both have gotten jobs in the Los Angeles area and are anxious to no longer carry on a long-distance romance. Their apartments will be within 15 minutes of each other.
Former sister missionary Caroline Jackson suggested a new restaurant for dinner with us and her family--Taylor Anderson and daughters Noa and Lucy.
This restaurant was Slackwater and was the reason we suggested taking Laurie and Emma upon their arrival in Salt Lake City.
Laurie commented that it didn't look like a restaurant we would frequent and we told her it wasn't, but since our missionary suggested it, we decided we liked it, and wanted to share the experience with them.
