Abe and Newland Camp; Herbie; Tesla; Glen in a Boot; Caroline Is 16

 Abe and Newland arrived at the BYU Fathers and Sons Camp ready for some athletic fun in the sun.

Newland met Richie Saunders.

There were some friends Abe and Newland knew who were also attending.

Glen got a good chuckle when Newland sent him a photo of his step count for one of the days he was there. They were very active! 

I wanted to see the step count and flights climbed when they hiked up to the "Y" on the mountain.

Laughing at the excitement on the faces of the boys when they were attending their Sunday meeting.

Abe and Newland finished up their camp on Memorial Day, so we had a family dinner when they got home. We were all thrilled Mom felt well enough that day so she and Dad could come eat and visit with us.

They got to meet Emma's boyfriend, Wesley, too, so that was a bonus.

We had a delightful moment in that day when we went outside to see Wesley's car Herbie the Love Bug. 

Dad and Mom had a delightful time reminiscing with Abe about people they remember from living in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, which is where Abe and his family live at the present time. 

We had a grandson sleepover so these four boys would be here the next morning so they could go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead. 

Eli, Newland, Carson, and Spencer ate a little to hold them over.

Such handsome boys and men all decked out in their nice clothes.

When Dallas and Caroline (the organizer of the temple excursion) arrived, they were off to the temple.

We had promised them French toast upon their return. 

Sarah's oldest boys had another temple experience.

We were the talk (or the spectacle) of the neighborhood when this transport truck pulled up with its mile-long trailer carrying multiple vans and cars. It was delivering the Tesla Abe had bought (the white car under the vans). 

Abe made a deal with Glen that he wanted to have a car for whenever his family comes to Utah, so all Glen has to do is license the car, get a Tesla power charger installed, and we can use it all we want until they come to town and then we will go back to using our car.

Next time we went to lunch with Dad, Mom, and Nani, we demonstrated how the falcon doors open up. 

A short time later, Klarissa brought the children to Utah so the kids could go to sports camps at BYU. At the end of that week, when only Wynne and Magnus had camp, Newland and Monty stayed home with us. We invited Carson over for a play date and we took them to the park.

Boys, sticks, and bugs!

Qwirkle has always been one of my favorite games. Now these children ask to play it whenever we have the chance.

We are always sad when Mom doesn't feel up to going to a play at Hale, but Rebecca and Caroline are always happy to step in when they don't go. This time Glen even ditched out on us. 

It was interesting how they used books as the differing levels of the stage.

Another play was very interesting with the whole play taking place in a jury deliberation room. No changing of scenery and only the bailiff appearing a time or two. Despite the lack of movement and fancy scenery, it was very enjoyable.

A month can't pass by without Jan and Bill inviting us to their home for a nice dinner. 

This time it was a seafood fest. (Not pictured with the shrimp and crab is salmon.) It is always yummy!

Another fun Ward family dinner in Andy and Amanda's backyard. So happy Dad and Mom were able to attend.

Once again Caroline organized a temple visit. She is very good at getting groups together for this.

That was the last day of Glen wearing a shoe on his left foot. His foot has been killing him for months and he finally went to the doctor who gave him a cortisone shot in the sore area, but it never did any good at all. 

He went back for a follow-up visit and the doctor put him in a boot for six weeks saying he feels like Glen probably has a stress fracture. 

I lamented he got it just in time for our upcoming family reunion to Bear Lake. UGH!!

Jacob doctored up the photo to show the boot will not interfere with Bear Lake. Funny stuff!

Spencer and Eli attended FSY at Utah State and had a good time that week together.

Caroline turned 16-years-old!

She was so excited to get her driver's license, but since her birthday was on a Saturday, she had to wait until Monday.

A couple of hours later, she texted she was on her way to our home. 

She was excited to share her news with us and reminded me that Brooke had driven up to our house without their mother as soon as she got her license and she wanted to do the same. Madison happily came with her.

Quotes of the Week

 My dear brothers and sisters, here is my promise. Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world's mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement or help you understand God's magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing!

-- Russell M. Nelson

Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.

-- Russell M. Nelson

Brooke's High School Graduation and Other Activities on Glen's Birthday

It has been a busy couple of months and I have fallen behind in blogging. Here's hoping I can even remember everything that has happened.

We attended Carson's band concert. He is a percussionist, and it was fun to watch him perform.

Sarah's family posted some photos of their staycation as they were doing fun things close to home.

Sarah has been running half marathons every chance she gets. She figures she trained to run in one and is going to keep her training up to compete in others once a month.

We watched her four boys overnight so Jeff could go with Sarah to spend the night in Provo and be there for her run the next morning.

While Jeff and Sarah were loading up on carbs in Provo...

We took the four boys to City Creek Center and let each one get a meal at their restaurant of choice at the food court.

We walked to the Brigham Young Memorial Park to attend a concert. As Lincoln looked over at the world map on the side of the Church Office Building, he said, "See, there's proof the world is oval."

It is a beautiful park to hold a concert. The boys explored the area by the water wheel and checked out the pioneer statue up in the tree area of the park.

Jeff perked up when we told him we had taken his boys to the Yahosh Bonner concert and shared that he had gone to school with Yahosh. 

Lincoln brought a fancy nightlight with him to help him sleep. The boys were great and Sarah survived her run. Yay!

Sarah asked for our help one evening when Jeff was out of town and her boys needed to go in three different directions. Sarah and Glen took the two baseball games. 

I chose to go to Jonah and Carson's piano recital. I loved it! All the students did a great job and were so cute announcing their songs and then bowing after their performances.

When we were all gathered back at Sarah's home, Jonah happily played his recital song for Glen and then showed him all the cool things their new piano keyboard can do.

Brooke Golden has graduated from high school! Hurrah!! 

She had a triangle by her name on the program indicating biliteracy. She speaks both English and French as she has been in French immersion all through elementary school up through high school. 

Dallas posted a beautiful tribute acknowledging Brooke's accomplishment. 

Madison invited us to go to her volleyball game later that afternoon. Eli had invited us to go to his last baseball game, so we had to divide and conquer. 

I went to Madison's volleyball game. She was a pretty good little server. After one scoring point, she turned around to make sure we had all seen her great serve.

Glen went to Eli's baseball game. It was the championship game, and they won the championship. 

As luck would have it, the opposing team was being coached by Seth Allen, Jacob's boyhood best friend from Georgia. Two of Seth's boys were playing on the opposing team. It was fun for Glen to catch up with Seth.

Since it was Glen's birthday, the Excells wanted to treat him to a birthday dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings (with Glen paying, of course).

The birthday kept right on giving as Glen went to the airport at midnight to pick up Abe and Newland. They had arrived in town to participate in the BYU Fathers and Sons Camp. They had such a great time last year that they wanted a repeat of the experience again this year.

The next day Abe was the fun uncle who gathered the boy cousins together to have some hours of play time before Abe and Newland headed down to Provo.

More about the Fathers and Sons Camp to follow...

Quotes of the Week

 Make no mistake about it: your potential is divine. With your diligent seeking, God will give you glimpses of who you may become.

-- Russell M. Nelson

The traitorous Amalickiah urged Lehonti to come down and meet him in the valley but when Lehonti left the high ground, he was poisoned by degrees until he dies, and his army fell.

By arguments and accusations, some people bait us to leave the high ground. The high ground is where the light is. ...it is the safe ground.

--Robert D. Hales