October

October 4

Temple Square and General Conference 

Hi Lincoln,

Happy Pday! I'm so excited to share our weekend with you.  What's more, I'm so excited that you'll likely be able to do the same thing next year, if you want.  I'll explain.  

But first, a recap of our week.  

Ned had his last team tennis matches and while they qualified to go to State, he opted out to join us for General Conference.  

Gwen is looking forward to a choir concert tomorrow night at Basic and then getting her braces off on Tuesday!  

Nyle and West have been enjoying soccer practice, but missed their game on Saturday as we were out of town. I don't know how their team did in their absence.  

Dad has been enjoying his SketchUp but is nearing completion. He's also enjoying being an amazing Soccer coach. 

I'm ramping up for parent-teacher conferences this and next week.  

Above all, we had a wonderful weekend.  We drove up to Annabella Friday night.  Then woke up and rolled out at 7am to catch the Front Runner train from Orem to SLC, then hopped on the UTA Trax Blue Line to Temple Square.  We found their transit system to be really convenient and comfortable.  We were joined by a lot of BYU students who had hopped on in Provo. That's something that wasn't available when I was a student.  You may want to take advantage of it when you're up there.  It's super convenient and cheap!  We didn't have to pay anything at all because we had General Conference tickets.  But even if we had, they never checked anyone's tickets!  We did that to avoid having to pay for parking, and it saved us on gas as well.  

We met a young couple, the women had just returned from a mission on temple square so she was able to give us some great tips on how to get there and what to do.  Upon arrival, we walked into temple square and were immediately overwhelmed with the beautiful landscaping and peace.  The first session had recently begun as was being broadcast from speakers all over the grounds.  It was very reverent as we walked passed the beautiful assembly hall, and looked at several of the impressive bronze statues.  We went through the tabernacle so the kids could see the tabernacle pipe organ. Then we went over to the newly opened visitors center and jumped into their new guided tour.  The tour took us through replica rooms of the temple.  It was really special!  After that, we continued walking through the grounds and then went across the street to the mall to get some lunch.  It was a good thing we did because as soon as we had ordered our food (at Costa Vida) and sat down, the 1st session rush of people started coming into the restaurant.  In no time, every restaurant in that mall was FLOODED with people. 

Once we finished eating, we headed over to the conference center to find our seats.  The conference center is so beautiful!  We were seated on the top balcony, up against the wall (the nosebleeds), but it didn't diminsh our experience.  We enjoyed the talks, some of our favorites included the one by the new YM general president, the one by Elder Fale and the one about tithing. We also loved the music, which was so rich in that giant room!

Afterwards, we headed back to the blueline to catch the light rail back to the train, then back to Annabella.  It was such a full and good day!  

Today, we watched the first session with Jodi and Chris' family and then had a birthday lunch for Libby and on the road again for home during the 2nd session.  

It was so fun to be at the church's headquarters.  It really is an impressive church we belong to! Nyle mused during our walk around and amongst so many people, that he wondered what Joseph Smith must think as he looked at the majesty and scope of the church now.  

We look forward to speaking with you tomorrow and hope you're doing well!  

Love you!

~Mom and Dad

October 11, 

Hi Lincoln,

Here goes another week.  We are doing well. How are you doing?  How are the Chapins?  

We had a good week.  

Gwen had her braces removed on Tuesday and is now enjoying eating whatever she wants;). Ok not really, but we do intend on throwing a braces-off party with caramel popcorn and starbursts etc.  

We had a somewhat calmer week now that tennis is over for Ned.  Friday night, Dad and I went to the temple while Gwen took West to Lake Las Vegas to participate in a special concert by an Italian singer who wanted a choir of youth to sing part of the chorus of some Christian songs for his show.  (Bishop Battistone orchestrated it all).

Saturday, we went to watch the soccer game.  Nyle and West dominated again, each scoring several goals.  Nyle scored at least two from the kickoff, where he beautifully landed the ball in the upper corner of the goal box.  They sure love that game!  

Ned enjoyed being ball boy at a Lake Las Vegas tennis tournament.  Then Saturday afternoon West went with Dad to a primary activity about Family History.  Finally that night, we went out to LLV to attend the concert that West participated in.  It was really fun to watch West.  The singer (Sunny Santino) was fun as well. ;)

Last night, Hurricane Rachel finally rolled in, and we experienced a bit of rain and wind, but not too bad.  Mostly, it brought in some cooler weather, for which we are very grateful.  

Today, I made some cinnamon rolls to make up for not having any last Sunday because we were out of town during General Conference weekend.  We sure love you and hope you're doing well.  I'm looking forward to talking to you tomorrow.  

Love you!!

~Mom and Dad

Holey Socks! He refuses to break out the new ones until there's nothing left of these?

October 11, 

Hi Lincoln,

Here goes another week.  We are doing well. How are you doing?  How are the Chapins?  

We had a good week.  

Gwen had her braces removed on Tuesday and is now enjoying eating whatever she wants;). Ok not really, but we do intend on throwing a braces-off party with caramel popcorn and starbursts etc.  

We had a somewhat calmer week now that tennis is over for Ned.  Friday night, Dad and I went to the temple while Gwen took West to Lake Las Vegas to participate in a special concert by an Italian singer who wanted a choir of youth to sing part of the chorus of some Christian songs for his show.  (Bishop Battistone orchestrated it all).

Saturday, we went to watch the soccer game.  Nyle and West dominated again, each scoring several goals.  Nyle scored at least two from the kickoff, where he beautifully landed the ball in the upper corner of the goal box.  They sure love that game!  

Ned enjoyed being ball boy at a Lake Las Vegas tennis tournament.  Then Saturday afternoon West went with Dad to a primary activity about Family History.  Finally that night, we went out to LLV to attend the concert that West participated in.  It was really fun to watch West.  The singer (Sunny Santino) was fun as well. ;)

Last night, Hurricane Rachel finally rolled in, and we experienced a bit of rain and wind, but not too bad.  Mostly, it brought in some cooler weather, for which we are very grateful.  

Today, I made some cinnamon rolls to make up for not having any last Sunday because we were out of town during General Conference weekend.  We sure love you and hope you're doing well.  I'm looking forward to talking to you tomorrow.  

Love you!!

~Mom and Dad

October 18,

Hi Lincoln, 

October is halfway done!  How did that happen?  How has your week been?  

We've been enjoying the improved fall weather; October is such a beautiful month!  This past week, we enjoyed a calmer week as well.  Here are just a few of the highlights of this week:

• Ned attended Driver's Edge course at the Las Vegas Speedway with dad and learned how to drift, among other important things. 
• Gwen and I went out to BC to take some of her Senior photos.
• Gwen and Ned went out to UNLV to attend the Church's youth music festival.  It was Ned's first concert!  They had food, games and then the concert.  I think they both had a lot of fun and it's super cool that the church put that together. 
• Dad and I went up to the Rec center to watch the BYUvNotre Dame football game- which was pretty exciting. 
• I got back into baking and was able to make some pizza and sour dough.  We love baking season!  

We love you and are excited to hear from you tomorrow.   Everyone at church always asks about you.  We tell them that you're doing amazing.  I'm sure you have bad days, but that's normal and we're so proud of you.  

Love you!

~Mom and Dad