July 2025

In Our Family this Month...

* It's been a long time coming, but we FINALLY did some family pictures! Yay!!! I asked Stephanie Perry to meet us down at the park and click the shutter button after I set up everything. It all went well and we got some REALLY cute pictures! Now to print them and get them up in our home!

* We celebrated a few birthdays this month! Both Sara and McKendra turned a year older. They are just a week apart and so the plan was to have a little joint family get together but apparently schedules didn't quite coincide so that didn't happen. August did plan a girls evening where we all went over and celebrated McKendra. He did a great job setting things up! He had things decorated in her favorite color (yellow), yummy snack foods and then an art activity where each of us had to paint a picture (of an animal or landscape) that represented McKendra. Everyone was super creative and we all enjoyed ourselves! Another birthday that we celebrated was Mandy Hatch. Aubrie wanted to make her a cake as her gift and so that evening we popped in to drop it off and wish her a happy day! (ps: there are nooooo pictures of Sara on her birthday! Boo!! Since we kept thinking we'd celebrate later, it kept getting postponed... but we sure love her and think she's amazing!)

* The North American Invitational 7's Rugby Tournament (NAI7s) was held in SLC, UT this month. We headed down on Thursday, July 24th and then played 3 matches on both the 25th and 26th. We ended up competing in the Bowl Division Championship game (we were up against a large, strong Polynesian team called the RazorHawks) and came up short - but still took 2nd in our Division! Our uniforms looked super sweet and the girls said that this year was the most fun they'd had in all the years of attending this tournament. Some of that might have been the fact that at the last minute, the boy's team ended up going (which meant that Charlie was there) and Dominic (although he and Lexi broke up earlier this month so this wasn't necessarily a "good" thing - lol). Having the boys there made things extra busy for me since I ended up taking pictures of 11 matches over the 2-days. We had great parent support and the girls played well! My favorite win of the tournament was when we were up again TOA (the Idaho All-Star team, which was made up of star girls from the different local high schools plus bringing in top players from Colorado and even Ireland!) in the Semi-Finals and... we beat them 26-10!! That felt good to have our single school team beat the all-star team that Idaho put together.

* We took a detour on our way home from the Rugby Tournament. We stopped for the night in Burley and stayed the night with Aunt Sam and Uncle Garth. They were wonderful hosts and we enjoyed visiting with them and sleeping in Grandma Carlson's childhood home! The reason for the stay was because the girls' good friend, Hallie Ballard, was giving her Missionary Farewell talk in Pocatello the next day and we wanted to show our love and support for her! We made it and it was fun to see her again! They had an open house/dinner that afternoon that we attended as well and then we made our way back to Burley because Garth and Sam were hosting a Mission Homecoming for Uncle Jared (Grandma Carlson's younger brother) and Aunt Joanna as they just got back from serving in the Marshall Islands! After visiting with a lot of family, they gave a report to all of us and shared lots of stories and how they had spent the past 2 years. We had to jet out as soon as they were done reporting as it was getting late and we still had to drive back to Meridian! It was certainly an uplifting and fun day with friends and family!

* Additional things that went on in July (that don't have any pictures) are: We celebrated Independence Day up in Garden Valley, ID with the Hatch family. Mom got a job! What!? It's very part time but I am the new Photography Teacher for an accredited LDS based Charter School. I'm teaching on Tuesday afternoons and will have students in Middle School and High School. School starts on my birthday this year so I guess that's what I'll be doing for my 50th next month! haha. 

Also Nathan got hired on at Panda Express. Do announce his new job to the family, dad had AI create this image that we sent out! 

Spiritually Speaking...

* In Come Follow Me this month, one of the sections that we studied was D&C 75. I wanted to write down some insights from verse 10 which reads, "Calling on the name of the Lord for the Comforter, which shall teach them all things that are expedient for them."

Expedient. What is expedient for me to know? Expedient means "suitable for achieving a particular end in a given circumstance." Not knowing everything ahead of time (no matter how much I want that!) is not expedient of the Lord BUT through the Holy Ghost, the Lord WILL give us direction in accordance with what is expedient!  I saw this next part on Instagram and really liked it! She wrote: 

"What is expedient for me to know? God knows. I know what I think I want to know. But God knows what is expedient for me to know in order to become the person I need to be. We were sent through the veil for a reason. Knowing it all is NOT part of the plan. But also, God will not let us wander. When there are things that are expedient for us to know, and we ask in faith, He will reveal that to us. And nothing more."

* Also I had some thought about section 78 verse 19 - "And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundredfold, yea more."

As I receive all things with thankfulness - I think it helps me to realize how the Lord is in the very details of my life! Even down to the warm sunshine blanketing me as I enjoy the hammock and the beautiful sites of my front yard! Also, as I reflect on my "24/7 moments" I can see how I am truly blessed! Also, this verse says "all things" with thankfulness - to me, that would also include things that might not have necessarily been good or I can try to see how I can be thankful and the lessons I can learn from them. For example, it turned out Nathan had his work shift time wrong and the manager called him telling him he was late (on his 2nd day!). Obviously, that is not a "good thing" but I can be thankful for an understanding manager that was still kind to him and also bringing attention that he needs to be more responsible and learn to write down his shift times on the calendar for the family to help him get to work on time!

24/7 moments (aka: when we've seen the Lords hand in our life this month):

* Mom interviewed well with Legacy academy and was offered the job

* Aubrie was able to get an emergency visit with Dr. Hoopes office

* The Dr wanted to put Aubrie on a new medication (in addition to her other meds) and this somewhat worried me (mom). We decided to take this concern to the Lord and dad, mom and Aubrie all prayed about taking it or not. We all got the same answer that it would be helpful and not have negative side effects. It is such a wonderful thing to be able to take our questions and concerns to the Lord! I was also reminded that Aubrie (and Lexi) both need to get adequate sleep and that sleep plays such an important part of their overall mental health!

* Nathan getting his Temple Recommend and scheduling his own endowment (it's set for August 7th). He also got his Missionary portal all opened! He's also enrolled in the BYUI Pathways Program and has lots of good things going for him! 

* Our AC went out - Noooo!!! However, they were able to find a (new) discounted unit that would fit with our system for a much more affordable price! Blessings!