Dorothy

Sunday, July 10, 2011
Dear Family,
Well, just as I stated in my last letter to the Lingo in May, Ariane graduated from high school and is working at “Cub Fort Frontier,” and Kevin left for his mission to Mesa, Arizona. May was an especially busy month for me because of these two. With all the senior graduation activities, awards programs, and other graduation stuff for Ariane, it was busy enough… then I had all the shopping with Kevin to do to make sure he was prepared with everything he needed going on all at the same time. He also had the huge task of cleaning out his room, going through all his stuff, organizing it, and packing it away for safe keeping while he’s gone for two years. He was feeling a lot of pressure to be totally ready by his deadline of when he entered the MTC on June 8th, exactly one week after Ariane’s graduation. I thought by now things would die down a bit, but I feel like I’m still catching up!
Way before Christmas, before Kevin submitted his papers for his mission, we reserved the first full week in June for our family vacation. At the time, it seemed like the best week for our family. As it turned out, Kevin’s MTC date fell right in the middle of that week. So we had to do some adjusting… it was just a good thing we didn’t plan on going out of state this year. We stayed at Wolf Creek in Eden, Utah, at the same condos we had sister’s week a few years ago. It was fun to relax in the same place for a few days with the family, playing games, watching movies, doing puzzles, and going for a hike. Taking Kevin to the MTC as a family in the middle of that week was the highlight of our vacation.
Our 4th grandchild was born the evening of June 20th, named Benjamin Loyd Tomlinson. Ariane and I were able to spend last weekend with Jason’s family, helping them with a few chores around the house and holding the baby a lot! Their children are so precious, smart, and lots of fun. The week before when Alan, Penny, James, and I were able to spend a day, Becky commented about how her other three were unusually “energized” the whole time we were there. They were just naturally excited to have family come and visit, excited because of their new sibling, and loving the extra attention grandpa and grandma gave them.
Marcus celebrated his halfway mark just yesterday! He is currently serving in Eastbourne which is south of London on the coast. He has some promising investigators and a good companion.
Kevin has been in Mesa just two weeks. He likes his “trainer,” his first companion in Mesa. And naturally, he doesn’t like the extreme heat! He said it was 116 degrees when he stepped off the plane.
Penny and Heather spent almost a week in Alberta, visiting their mission areas and attending the sealing of one of Penny’s investigators who was baptized during her mission. I’m anxious to hear all about their trip as soon as they return tomorrow!
Alan was released as a member of the stake high council and called as the new Stake Executive Secretary! He was also given a special assignment from the Oquirrh Mountain Temple President to serve as Baptistery Coordinator for Saturday mornings. These assignments were given within a week of each other, so needless to say, Alan has felt a bit overwhelmed but grateful for the confidence the Lord has in him to take on these responsibilities. Because of this new calling in the stake, he has to be able to communicate not only by e-mail and telephone, but also by texting. So he upgraded his phone, got some lessons from his children, and is now texting the stake presidency to communicate to them about their appointments. I think he’s enjoying having a good reason to have to keep up on technology!
We hope everyone is well! We look forward to the reunion.

Love, Dorothy