A little late on this news, but Cameron has been called to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Brasil Rio de Janeiro South Mission. I'm so excited for him! When he opened his call it was a flood of anticipation and the Spirit. He knew he would be called where the Lord wanted him to be. We had a map up on the wall and everyone was guessing where they thought Cameron would go. Cameron put on a sticky note above the map, "Where the Lord Wants Me" or something along those lines. We've raised a good kid!
We've prepared Cameron his whole life for him to go on a mission, and now that he's going to leave soon, it's a little bitter sweet. I'm going to miss him terribly. And I'm kind of concerned about the crime in Rio. People keep telling me to have faith, but guess what? Sometimes good missionaries with faith still die on their missions. :/ But, I have to have faith that he is doing the Lord's will. Cameron is constantly trying to live the Gospel and I have no doubt he will be an excellent missionary. Like his Dad, once he learns something he doesn't forget it, so he knows a LOT about the church and its teachings. I'm so grateful he will have this opportunity.
Cameron was also accepted into BYU. After years and years of striving for this goal, I was really nervous for him. But, he made it! Yea! I'm so excited he'll have a chance to go to school with lots of people who share his beliefs. I love raising my kids out of Utah because it helps them become leaders and its easier to see the black and white of what is wrong. But, after an entire life of having to stick up for his beliefs and be the different one, I think it will be good to finally be around a lot of people who believe the same things and are their to support and lift him up in his beliefs. I'm excited!
Errolyn is doing so well in basketball that they've moved her from the Freshman team to the JV team for off-season. Yea! And she's also on a small club team and plays YW basketball so she's getting more experience at dribbling.
Errolyn and Cameron both received 1's on their solos for Solo & Ensemble. Cameron is debating if he should compete in State or work to save more money for his mission. He's $1600 short... but he's working any chance he can, so I think he'll be able to save it all before he leaves. Cameron isn't doing tennis this year, but instead has been participating in Quiz Bowl, Science UIL, Math UIL, and the Ultimate Frisbee Club. He's been having a blast his Senior year and has made some good friends that he plays games with at lunch.
Logan is doing well in his French Horn lessons. He enjoys playing sports, but realizes they will conflict with band a lot, so he's not really choosing "a" sport. Emma is good at soccer, but we see some natural abilities in basketball with her, so we're trying her out on that now. Allie is just happy and loves doing her chart and chores at home to be like the other kids.
I just returned from a trip to Utah to see Abigail's baptism. I really loved being able to see so many from my family! I loved hanging out with everyone and catching up. I had some travel mishaps with delayed flights and a rental car that was left in transportation mode, but other than that, I had a great time seeing everyone.
Mike is doing well. He was on TV yesterday being interviewed on the news, which was fun to see. I wish I wrote more. There's still a lot I need to improve on with my family, but there are some things I feel I'm doing really well in. We've decided to scratch our FHE lesson list for the next 3 months and instead we're focusing on social skills, conflict resolution, being teachable, etc. but from a gospel perspective. I've found some good routines with going to the gym in the morning, cleaning, and making my daily "to do" lists, and I feel like I'm getting a lot accomplished. We used to eat dinner as a family every single night, but the last few years (since having Allie), we haven't been great about it. I've made a renewed effort to make that a priority for the day by preparing dinner in the morning, since I'm always too busy in the evening to cook. And it's made all of the difference. I love talking with everyone around the table... it makes my momma heart proud.
I'm sure there's a ton more... but, that's it for now. Life is good!
