Dorothy

Dear Family,

In the past two months James and Lynnette celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary and Jason and Becky their 7th! The weddings seem like they were just yesterday! Kevin turned 23, Jason turned 30, and Ariane will be that wonderful “sweet sixteen” this week!

Just as I stated in our last Lingo, the next visit we had with Jason’s family was to see our newest granddaughter, Dorothea Rose. She was born January 30th, and just as Jason described her over the phone, she is “cute, gorgeous, little, and perfect in every way!” We not only celebrated her birth during our visit, but Jason’s 30th birthday as well. It was fun to see the comparison of Father and son when Lucy sent us pictures to remind us. At age 30 Jason and Alan could have been twins (facial hair and all). Alan also had 3 children at that age and had moved into a new home, just like Jason.

After the family left I stayed an extra three days and enjoyed our grandchildren. I read stories to Katherine and David, watched them explore and be creative with play-dough, held Dorothea as much as I wanted, observed them soak in “story time” at the library, and watched as Jason’s family interacted with one another. I am so proud of Jason and Becky and how they are raising their family. They are an amazing example to the rest of us.

I am also very proud of Penny for making the decision to serve a mission! She will be fabulous! I’m looking forward to helping her with all the preparation coming up as good memories come back to me of that wonderful time with each of the first four children that served missions. She has begun the “paper work” and in doing so discovered she has “hypothyroidism.” I bring this up only because I am curious to know if anyone else in the family has this or something similar and their experience with it. We are both learning as much as we can about this new health issue and how she’ll need to deal with it. So far we are finding out that because of her choice to serve a mission, it has led us to find out about this condition earlier than we would have otherwise, which is a blessing.

At our Stake Conference in February, our family was asked to sing “Love At Home” as the special musical number. Kevin accompanied us on the piano. Then Heather invited us to sing in her ward, which will be tomorrow! I’m so glad our children are willing to do this and I’m pleased at their ability to do so.

Kevin was called and sustained last week as the new primary pianist in our ward. He’s excited and has been practicing Primary songs everyday this past week.

Mom and I toured the Draper Temple together Feb. 13th, Grandma Doelling’s birthday. Then Alan & I and our children took the tour on Presidents Day when they were all off school and work. The sun was shining and it was beautiful, but it was sure cold! We are very excited for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house June 1st to August 1st, because that’s “our” temple. I was recently called to be a sub-committee chair for one of ten committees for the open house from our stake. I am honored and thrilled to be involved in this way. My title is “Historical Records and Badges Committee Chairman.”

Heather, Penny, and I are planning on going to Womens Conference April 30 and May 1st… if any of you ladies are also planning on going, let us know and we’ll plan to get together with you for lunch or something!

We are looking forward to the cultural celebration for both temples coming up on May 29 and 30 at the Conference Center. Ariane will be involved in that exciting event with all the other young men and women in both temple districts.

Thank you Jennifer and everyone that writes on this Lingo Family Blog. We love reading about all the doings in your family as it helps us feel more involved in your life. Please continue to share.

Love, Dorothy and family