Taya is officially a missionary!

Taya is officially a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

She got set apart, put on her badge, & started her 2 weeks of home MTC.

Every day she attended 6 hours of language & missionary classes, 2 hours of missionary workshops, 1 hour of tagalog tutoring, & 1.5 hours of personal & companion study.  She was BUSY.  We only saw her for meals, but she loved every minute of it.

Video: Taya puts on her missionary badge for the first time

We had the whole family together for her setting apart.

She really thrived in home MTC.  She learned SO MUCH & prayed in Tagalog for our family prayer every night.  We are so proud of her.

Videos: Taya learning Tagalog in Home MTC

Now she is at the MTC in Provo until September 1st, when she'll be headed to Manila, Philippines for the last 3 weeks of her training.

Taya we LOVE you so much & are so proud of you.

Taya's Missionary Farewell

Taya's farewell fell in between performances of Canyon's play.  It was a CRAZY week.  But it all turned out beautifully.  We had the married kids all come over on Saturday night (after 2 play performances) & sleep over so we could all be there bright & early together on Sunday morning.

We woke up early & practiced the FSY Medley song we planned to sing.  We invited all of Taya's friends to come up & sing with us & we were hoping we'd get a good number of singers up there.  But we practiced just as a family too to make sure we could carry the song on our own if we needed to.

Her farewell was beautiful.  She gave a beautiful talk & we had TONS of her friends come up & sing with us.  It was one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard in my life.  I was bawling as I played the piano for it.  I'm so happy with how it all turned out.

Click here to listen to Taya's Farewell talk:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nbB4bfXZQWMsJKQV6X-HqNdCiDdete3q/view?usp=sharing

Click here to listen to the song we sang at Taya's Farewell:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16gX9JKLdPOGBMZSrfZJEgtUHku6tc5j0/view?usp=sharing 

After church we had everyone come to our house for desserts & visiting.

It was a wonderful day full of family & friends.  After everyone left, we had a fun little family smore campfire & enjoyed our time together as a family.  I cherish these moments we are together.

Congratulations Taya, you're going to be a great missionary.

Germany "Family" Reunion - 2026

What's the best thing to do when all your Germany friends are in Utah either dropping kids off on missions or bringing them to college?  Throw a party!

We had TONS of our Germany "family" come over for one night to catch up, visit, eat, & just have fun together.  We played boardgames, soccer, football, & more.

It was such a treat to see people I haven't seen in over 3 years.

These are MY people.  I love them.  Family isn't always blood.  This is my family!

Until next year my friends.

 

Boys Camp 2026

My boys had a blast at boys camp this year.  Trek was able to go up with them (as bishop) & stay most of the week as well.  I think they all had a great time hiking, playing gaga ball, doing teamwork games, archery, axe throwing, volleyball, tubing down the Provo River, & more.  They had lots of great stories when they got home that Thursday.

Video: Craiger Balance Rope:

Video: Boys Walking on Planks

Video: Bladen Balance Rope