Off He Goes

Almost three years to the date, I left another son at the Provo MTC. Elder Matthew Blanding entered the MTC on March 2, 2016. He will be serving in the Georgia, Macon mission. It never gets easier and in some ways it gets harder. For Jason it was new and exciting. Mike was a delight to send off (boy was he ready), but Matthew was hard. I knew I was coming home to a house with only two kids. The quiet and stillness was going to be a new adjustment and I wasn't sure I was ready for it. 

Matthew will be a great missionary!

Some of the great things we were able to do in Utah. We visited the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square. Toured the Provo City Center Temple (we were able to be there for the last week of the open house), dinner with a bunch of cousins, visit with Jason and of course drop Matt off at the MTC. A great thing happened late Monday afternoon. We were walking around BYU when Steve's phone rang. It was MIKE!! Mike's mission president let him call Matt and talk to him for a few minutes before he went into the MTC! How COOL!!!

Dance Team: Districts and State

Jessie's dance team qualified for Districts and then qualified for State! Way to go Jessie!!! 
Jessie decided to participate in Drill Downs. She ended up being 14th in state. That is out of 100's of dancers. Imagine a basketball court full of dancers that are only an arms width away from each other. She ended up being number 14! And she never practices! 

Chris: An Honor and such a Nice Guy

Chris finished his second semester at Bellevue College and has a 4.0 yet again! In fact he was asked to join an honor society, Phi Theta Kappa! He got some pretty cool "hardware" to wear the next time he graduates and walks! 

Doreen offered to babysit a family in the ward while the parents went to the temple. Chris helped her while she made them pizzas. He is not just a dog whisperer but also a child whisperer! This guy has the magic touch.

Dancing Runs in the Family

Jason is taking a dance class at BYU and for extra credit he entered a Dance Sport Competition. He and his dance partner finished third! He didn't think he was going to last very long but he kept going back out and then he lined up and was one of the last on the dance floor. He was so surprised and excited! He was 3rd in the Cha-Cha! 

Running again! 

Doreen is coaching a dear friend, Roy, run a marathon in June and for a "workout" Doreen ran with Roy in the Lake Sammamish Half. It was a day that was supposed to rain and rain a lot. Doreen (and I'm sure many others) prayed for it not to rain during the race. Well, it didn't rain at all during the race!!