Dorothy

May 8, 2011 Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful ladies connected with the Lindgren Family in any way!!! I claim 7 of those “beautiful ladies” whose last names happen to be Tomlinson. I feel so blessed to be known as their mother, mother-in-law, or grandmother.

It’s been a great day already because Marcus called this morning. Kevin, Penny, Ariane, Alan, and I all visited with him by way of “Skype” for over an hour and a half. We enjoyed our conversation with him. He is doing great. It’s still a challenge for him and probably always will be, but he is gaining more self-confidence, his testimony is stronger, his knowledge and experience with the world is expanding. I appreciate the good companions he’s had to work with, and a generous mission president that allows them to “skype” home on those two special days each year.

Penny came home from her mission to Calgary on February 24th and spoke in church the following Sunday. It was wonderful to have her home again while she diligently looked for a job. She started working at “Canyon Breeze Senior Living” in Orem as a CNA the middle of April. So on days she works, she lives with Heather and Daniel in Pleasant Grove. She comes home to visit when she doesn’t work for 2 or 3 days in between her scheduled time. It’s a lot of back and forth for now. This fall she plans to go to school full time and room with a former roommate closer to Utah Valley University.

Ariane directed a one-act play at the school’s “Drama-Rama” this past weekend. She has learned a lot being in the director’s chair rather than just acting on stage. She will be graduating from high school June 1st, so this month is filled with those end of the year activities including a theater awards banquet, the Senior Dinner Dance, and seminary graduation. She plans to attend UVU this fall and go into Theater Costume Design. This summer she chose to work at “Frontier Fort” with some of her friends, so if you have any little cub scouts planning to go to cub country this year, tell them to look for Ariane and say “hi.”

Daniel has continued working at Thanksgiving Point since he graduated from UVU in December. When auditions came up for a couple of musicals in Utah Valley this spring, he decided it was time to get back into doing something he loves again. He was cast in a community theater's production in Orem of “Annie the Musical,” which is running for one more week at the Scera. I was very impressed at how professional the entire cast was. Daniel is in the men’s ensemble and plays a wide variety of parts throughout the play. He and Heather have also been singing in a community choir together. We enjoyed their performance at the American Fork Tabernacle last week. And Heather has also continued singing with the Sterling Singers.

Our big news is that Kevin received his mission call to the Arizona Mesa Mission. He reports to the MTC in Provo June 8th, so it’s coming up fast. You are invited to come and listen to him speak in our Sacrament Meeting, which will probably be Sunday, May 29th at 11 AM. I’ll send out a note when that date is confirmed.

It has been a thrill for me to prepare and send off a missionary each year for the past three years. I especially love to see them come home with the good habits they have developed and more firm in their testimonies. We have been blessed as a family in so many ways because of our missionary children. Thank you for sharing in our joy!

Love, Dorothy and family