Last night I got the sweetest call from my old friend, Hal Briggs. Recently he was working with his first trumpet player on a difficult part in a musical they are preparing. He sat in the pit to play it along with him, and was reminded again of the fact that their pit and auditorium are laid out just like ours had been when we were in High School. He said as he sat there, it must have taken him back to our school days. As he looked up the isle he says he "could see (me) walking down the isle toward (him) carrying a hamburger and a milkshake." I had forgotten the incident, and so had he, but suddenly he remembered that evening when he had school, then work, and then rehearsal and wasn't going to have time to eat. I went to Shirley's, where I worked part time, and brought him some supper. It was just a little thing, but it was a sweet memory for two old friends. He and his wife, Leslie, and their kids live in Richmond, Utah; he teaches in Logan, and she teaches in Preston. They're talking about moving to Franklin, so she won't have such a long drive to work, since he will retire in the next 3 or four years, and she, being 10 years younger than him, will be working a lot longer.
Dad got home from meetings in New Jersey and Boise on Friday night. Then Saturday morning he helped conduct Catherine Swensen's funeral and today gave his first Temple recommend interview! So it's been a big week for him too!
We would love to hear what's going on where you all are. Thank you, Elder Mobley, for your emails; they are always fun and interesting to read.
Hello Everyone-
It’s been a while since I’ve shot a note out, so here is a quick update from the Minnesota Crew! Our summer is off to a great start – great weather and lots going on. We camped a couple nights over Memorial Day weekend with friends and had a great time. Bradley spent his first week of summer in Jackson and a little bit of time in Egin, which he really enjoyed. As usual, we have been spending a fair amount of time outside doing yard work, trimming trees, and just chillin in a hammock – we have two in the yard now. Lots of time being spent on our bikes as well – that’s always a good time. Bradley joined an Ultimate Frisbee camp that gathers every Thursday and Saturday and is really enjoying it!
Brad helped me move my office to our basement last week. The lease is up at the building the Stanley Branch has been in for the past 11 years, and corporate asked us to find a space that had fewer offices, as they are asking myself and other members of the team to work (from home) remotely. So, here I am in our basement – sitting at the same desk I’ve had for the past 10 years, only it’s in a different room now. It’s surprising how may less distractions there are for me being at home vs being in the branch – I kind of thought it would be the other way around, but so far our basement is much more quiet. I certainly don’t miss driving into the office everyday – even tho my commute was only 15-20 minutes.
I’m going to include pics and some commentary for the balance of my email – not a whole let else coming to mind that I need to update everyone on. Hope everyone is happy and healthy!
This is Alida in her new helmet – she has a new nick name, “Plum Head”. She loves her helmet so much that it’s not uncommon to see her wearing it around the house or on the swing set.
Natalie was able to join Macy for her final field trip of the year – they went to Como Zoo. This is Macy and some of her classmates.
We built a little bike jump last summer out of a couple 2x4”s and a 2x10”,which was a lot of fun – all the kids loved it. However, our neighbor, Brian decided to “one-up” us a while back and built this multilevel jump that is way better than our old one – good times!! Our neighbor is in the pic below Alida’s pic – he is jumping off the red section. Brad also gets some serious air on the red portion of the jump as well. Most of the other kids stick to the green and some do the blue.
Me and Macy on her most recent date to Mc Donald’s – she decided to give Wendy’s a break.
All the kids in the cul-de-sac and one (Sawyer) from across the street enjoying the warm temps and being outside. From left to right: Bradley, Emmitt, Sawyer, Maddie, Audrey, Macy, and Plum (Alida) Head!
Bradley and I served on the Storehouse truck his first Saturday in Minnesota. We stopped for some butter burgers at Culvers in Rochester once we were finished with our route. We were ready for some grub after starting our day at 5am and unloading a bigger-than-usual truckload of groceries!
Natalie and Bradley were able to attend Alida’s preschool graduation last week. I wish I could have seen her in the cap and gown – looking a little more mature but super cute all at the same time! I was out of town, but am happy Nat and Brad were able to attend and snap some pics.
REI has a pretty neat hammock set up in their courtyard – each of the kids don’t hesitate to try it our when we go there.
We have all been to Lebanon to ride single-track multiple times so far this summer. Each of the kids is doing really well. The other night Natalie had the idea to grab some firewood and smores fixins and we made ourselves a little fire and fixed treats after a fun ride. The kids thought is was crazy were the last ones there, but it was such a nice night, it was hard to load the bikes and go home. Bradley recently switched from traditional platform pedals to SPD clipless, and is loving it! I’m surprised at times how fast I need to go to keep up with the young man! Haha!
Even tho it’s summer – these girls are true Minnesotan’s and can’t resist the chance to try on a new winter hat. They strutted around the scratch and dent section at REI not long ago in these hats. It was a very quick “NO, we don’t need more winter clothes, especially in June!”
Samuel Humphries
Hello Everyone!
This is the letter I sent to Stephen last week...
We had quite the week here. It kind of felt like a long week to me, but there were lots of really good things happening. Lots of people being brave!
On Monday James went back to the doctor where he got a prescription to help him get over whatever it is he's had. They took a chest x-ray and said it wasn't pneumonia. So he has a steroid inhaler that he uses twice a day and is finally seeing some progress! Hooray!!!
Then on Tuesday Ellen finished driver's ed and got to bravely drive from there to go pick up Spencer from karate, then home. She's been driving for a few minutes almost every day this week and is doing well. Still a beginner, but she gets a little better every time. It's exciting!
Wednesday was Noah's day to be brave. It was 5th grade graduation and he was asked to speak! There were 5 other kids that also spoke, each about favorite memories from a specific grade. Noah got 5th grade, or as he said in his talk, "the easiest grade to talk about." He did an awesome job. He also got an award for Math Olympiads. He got the highest score in his class, which also happened to be in the top 10 percent of the whole competition which includes over 160,000 kids from all over the world. He did have a hard time at the end of graduation though. He has been dreading leaving Lena Whitmore and he was kind of emotional. He will miss Lena! He's such a sweet guy! We also got a letter from the Middle school saying that he has been assigned to be in the 7th grade math class next year.
This is Noah with Mr. Briggs and the Genuine Quality Club right after graduation. Mr. Briggs gave each of them a bow tie.
Noah and Paul - friends since birth.
Spencer with Mr. Cole
Then school was out! Summer vacation is officially here! And the Hessings came just in time to get it started! We headed up to Moscow Mountain that evening. James, Zach, and Noah all biked the Blonde Jeans trail while the rest of us drove to the cedar grove. We had a picnic, then the rest of us drove down and met the guys at Warnick's road.
Thursday got cold and rainy so we went to Ferdinand's for ice cream and to see the grizzly bears.
That night was Spencer's turn to be brave. At karate he was tested to become a yellow belt. He was SO nervous and wasn't sure he wanted to go. But he went and he passed!!!
Dad went and watched him test, and the rest of us went to the Library in the Park show, which had been moved to the gym at the rec center because of rain. It kept us busy for the evening!
Friday we went back to see the grizzly bears, then went to the science center for a couple of hours, then went to Lions Park.
Saturday morning Dixie, Stella, Ellen, and I went to the farmer's market. Then the Hessings had to go home. We had such a good time together! We're all excited to see each other again next month!
Then, Saturday afternoon was another brave time for everyone! We all went up the Headwater's road to a rock James had found so that anyone who wanted to could practice repelling. All the kids did it! It was so awesome!!! Spencer and Noah started out on a shorter repel, but Annie and Ellen went right for the longer one. I think James estimated it to be about 30 feet. Then Spencer said he wanted to do the long one. He was worried at the top, but he kept going. By the time he was almost to the bottom he was singing the Spider Man song. After that, James talked Noah into trying the longer one, and he did it too! And he liked it!
And, funny story...so I bought some fruit snacks at the dollar store last week and brought them with us. Noah was the first one to open one. He asked why there were gummy bears in his angry birds fruit snack. I thought he must have switched them and was playing a trick on all of us. So Annie opened one and found...gummy bears. All of them had a combination of mostly gummy bears with a couple of emoji fruit snacks mixed in. SO WEIRD! I had also brought some war head candy that came from the dollar store too. Everyone had had a piece or two when Noah opened one and it was missing a chunk. Then Annie opened hers, of the same flavor, and found one whole warhead and the missing chunk from Noah's. What!?!? We were laughing so hard! It actually really makes me want to buy more candy from the dollar store and see what else we might find.
Sorry, kind of long, but a very eventful week.
We love you so much! Remember Mosiah 2:41. This is a plan of happiness!
Love,
Aimee
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