Dorothy

September 23, 2013
Dear Family,
    We had a very fun, but very fast paced summer.  It started out with us welcoming Kevin home early in June and Ariane receiving her mission call the end of June.  Heather left soon after for two weeks of being involved in the Nauvoo Pageant. Jason and Becky moved into their new home in Taylorsville around the 4th of July.  As soon as Heather returned, 7 of us went on a “temple hopping” vacation trip.  We were home one day and then went to the Tomlinson reunion. Then we had just barely two weeks of final mission preparation for Ariane.  She spoke in Church on the 11th of August and we dropped her off at the Provo MTC 3 days later.  A week later Marcus began his fall semester at SLCC, then Kevin, Penny, and Lynnette went on a 9-day road trip to Arizona.  The day after they returned, Kevin started his temporary job at the Utah State Tax Commission.  Now it’s the month of harvest and we are enjoying the fruits of the season, including tomatoes and zucchini from our garden.  The weather has been warm and lovely, and with the recent rains everything is green and beautiful.  Our family has been blessed over and over.  What an exciting and wonderful time to be alive and involved in the last days of the Lord’s Harvest. 

Heather on the stage at the Nauvoo Pageant with a visitor

mermaids at Bear Lake

Stalagmite Sand Castle created by the fam

Ariane's first day in the field

Now for a little more detail….
    Ariane received her call to the Tennessee Knoxville Mission.  She loved her 13-day stay in the MTC but said it was way too short.  Her first area of assignment is in Lafayette Georgia, in the Chattanooga Stake, just 10 miles from the southern border of the mission.   Her companion is from Colorado and they are doing well.  I was impressed by the number of missionaries from the picture we were sent, who all began their mission on the same day… I was especially impressed that there were so many more Sisters than Elders. 

at the Logan Temple

On our family vacation we went to the Brigham City, Logan, Idaho Falls, Rexburg, and Twin Falls Temples.  In between our temple visits we spent a day at Bear Lake, we visited Alan’s brothers Robert, Albert, and Leland, spent a day at Craters of the Moon near Arco, Idaho, and looked at Shoshone Falls. Penny joined us for the first two days, but then she had to go back to work. 

awfully windy at Craters of the Moon

Kevin, Penny, and Lynnette drove to Mesa and back together.  Lynnette spent most of the time visiting her sister there.  Kevin and Penny visited the wards and some of the people Kevin came to love on his mission.  Penny was able to spend an evening there with a former missionary couple from her mission in Canada while Kevin went on a date.  One their way home they stopped in Snowflake and spent some time with Priscilla and her family.

Alan and I spend a huge amount of time with our church callings, but the benefits are well worth it.  We also continue to love our callings as temple ordinance workers.  We are very thankful for our testimonies.  We love our Savior Jesus Christ.  We know he loves us because we have been so blessed. 

May you continue to enjoy His blessings.
Love, Dorothy and Family

June 2013