A View of the Hills: September 2026

Hi Lincoln,

Daphne, Nyle and West enjoying the swing

We saw some of your temple open house pictures on Facebook. Looked like a great experience!

We've been doing well. This week we enjoyed watching Ned play at a SECTA tennis match against Bonanza. They played him as their number 3 and he did so well! He won two of his matches and only narrowly lost his third to their number 1 player, who incidentally does the same thing the Battistones do. He spends most of each day with his tennis school and part of the day doing online schoolwork. Needless to say, we were impressed with Ned's improvement.

Gwen had an exciting end of the week when she received her mission call!!! She received a text message Friday on our way up to the cabin. She hasn't opened it and plans to open it with family and friends tomorrow night at 6pm our time, which would be 7 pm your time; hopefully you'll be able to be on the call to hear her.

We've enjoyed being up at the cabin. The cabin is relatively big, but also cozy. We enjoyed playing around the yard, going for a walk and Dad took the boys on a nice mountain bike ride-pictures included. I guess it was a little hairy because Dad ended up riding West's small BMX bike downhill and burned through his brakes in the process. They had to stop many times to lift their bikes over downed trees. Today, we went to the Alton ward, which is a tiny farm town along I-89. It was an amazing meeting with TONS of visitors. We felt so uplifted by this powerful ward.

Sunday Dessert

Ned stayed home to work. He lifeguarded all day yesterday and will do landscaping all day tomorrow. He's such a hard worker. Just like you!

Tomorrow, we'll head back home, clean up and prepare for people to come for Gwen's mission call opening.

We're so excited to talk to you tomorrow!

Love you so much!

~Mom and Dad

Nyle got a little dirty

The boys ran into our neighbor Angela at Duck Creek Campground

Hi Lincoln,

How have you been this week? Hopefully you and your companion are well?

After Gwen's mission call opening, it has been a whirlwind of a week. We were busy with normal fall stuff- tennis, school, and piano for Gwen.

Dad had fun working on SketchUp. I had to spend much of Saturday writing lesson plans, but I was able to start the day accompanying Gwen to do baptisms at the temple. We had a fun surprise of running into Scott Hafen there. He had just returned this week from his mission and he told his mom that he wanted to go do temple baptisms since he had worked so hard to get baptisms in the mission. It was lucky he and his family were there as we had no priesthood to baptize us so Scott performed the baptisms for us.

Today, Gwen was invited to give a little testimony in Sacrament about her mission call, and why she chose to serve. She did so amazing. I'm excited for her. Dad took her to city hall to get her passport on Thursday. This coming Friday, she'll be getting her wisdom tooth out and then in two weeks, her braces off. We have a lot more to do to get her ready, just like you. She has to get Tdap shot, maybe a flu shot and Typhoid, just like you. But fortunately for her, no rabies shots are required.

Tomorrow we may be able to talk to you from Basic as we watch Ned play in a match there. We're so proud of you and can't wait to talk to you tomorrow.

Love you tons!!

~Mom and Dad.

September 20,

Hi Lincoln,

We sure love you and are so proud of you! How were things this week?

We've been doing well. Last week, Ned had three tennis matches. Monday was against Basic at Basic, Wednesday was against Liberty at SECTA, and Friday was against Green Valley at SECTA. I believe Ned has bumped himself up to the number 3 singles spot on the team. He has really grown by playing your dad. Since dad doesn't take it easy on him, it has really helped him grow.

Nyle and West are in the thick of soccer with two practices this past week. Gwen had her wisdom tooth removed on Friday. West was so excited to see how loopy she would be when he got home from school shortly after her procedure. He was sorely disappointed that she wasn't loopy at all. Since she only had one wisdom tooth in need of extraction, she only received a local anesthetic, not sedation. She's been eating mostly mashed potatoes, smoothies, applesauce, and other mashed/soft foods. She's pretty swollen today, but I expect it will recede by tomorrow. She's been a good patient and has been following all the instructions from her oral surgeon.

Nyle and West had fun attending Angel's (Jerez family) birthday party yesterday at Dave & Buster's, and we also enjoyed our end-of-summer pool party. We sure love this neighborhood!

Dad and I are doing well. Dad is busy with work and enjoying Football season and SketchUp. I'm as busy as ever with work and this amazing family.

Hopefully it will be a good Pday for you tomorrow, even with the possibility of transfers. We sure love you and look forward to talking to you tomorrow!

~Mom and Dad

Recovering from her wisdom tooth extraction

September 27,

Hi Lincoln,

Happy first week of your recent transfers! How are things going with your new comp? Were you able to get some good work done?

We've been doing well. This week was a little exciting when our water heater went out. Dad had to come home on Tuesday to get the heater out and then quickly called Brother Cagle to order a new one. Wednesday night, Dad worked hard and was able to get the water heater up and running so we had hot water for showers that night.

Ned had two tennis matches last week and has two more this week, and then it's time for State! His team is doing well and will likely make the playoffs.

Dad, Nyle and West had their first soccer game on Saturday. They did so well. I think Nyle scored something like 5 goals and West scored 2 or 3. Their team won 13-3. It was a little sad for the other team.

Gwen enjoyed participating in Homecoming Festivities at Basic this past week. She's found a new/old friend in Sierra Larsen, who switched over to Basic this year. It's been nice for Gwen to have someone to do stuff with.

Dad is doing amazing as a soccer coach and cheering at Ned's tennis matches. It's an exciting season!

We're looking forward to talking to you and seeing how things are going with the changes from last week. We sure love you!

~Mom and Dad