Pioneer Day!

Hi Mr. Bud!

First of all, I am so sorry about your companions mom. That is so horrible. Was she sick? Did he know that she might die or was it a surprise? That is so tragic, I can't believe it. I bet that has been difficult for the work this week. I hope that everything is working out ok. You are very sensitive and kind, so I am sure you have been able to help him through this week. I was also blown away by how good your Spanish is! You are learning so quickly, I can't believe it. Today is pioneer day ya know? So, Chris, Raleigh, and I have been celebrating all weekend. Its been really fun. On Saturday we went to this place called, "This is the Place Monument" it is right by the hogel zoo. It is the place where Bringom Young said, "this is the place." You know that story. Anyways, they have all of these old pioneer homes and gathering places. It was really fun, they also have Indian village with T.Ps and mud huts and stuff. THey also had ponie rides and a petting zoo. Raleigh loved it and so did we. Then we went to a SWEEET rodeo. It was crazy good. It was in this huge arena and compared to Rupert, I was blown away by the quality. I mean there was no "We know you can Rain for Rent but can you RIDEEE for rent." Do you remember that? However, at the beginning they started playing this crazy loud heavy metal, I mean LOUD. Poor little Rlaeigh boo just started crying his eyes out. He hated the noise, but then he saw all the horses and he got pretty excited about it. TOmorrow we are going to the parade in the morning, so I hope he enjoys that as well. I have really been thinking a lot about the pioneers today and how incredible they were. I'm so grateful for the founders of our religion, it is incredible how much faith they had to accomplish what they had to do. Expecially Joseph Smith and the early apostles, it would be so difficult to stand up for what you believe to defend such a small group of people. I have been thinking about how Joseph SMith must have been truly convicted. He did not care about what anyone else thought except for God. I hope to become that way. I want my relationship to God to be the deciding influence in the decisions I make. I feel like in order to do this I must be having meaningful prayer, scripture study, and pondering time. I miss going to the temple every week SO SO bad. It is so tough to find a babysitter, so Chris and I can only go once a month now and I miss it so badly. I'm sure you know how I feel. I also miss you really bad! I have been thinking about you a lot this week, and praying for you and your companion. Chris did surgery witht he doctor he works with this week, he loved it. He also got back his MCAT scores, they were lower than he had hoped. I was really disappointed, but hopefully we will still be able to get into medical school. Keep us in your prayers. I feel bad because I have a hard time of being really supportive and trusting Chris to provide for our family at times. I have never been blessed with the gift of Faith. But thankfully, Christopher has, he is so faithful and believing. He never really gets scared, he just trusts in Heavenly Fathers and does his best. I am thankful for his example. I can't wait for you to meet Liam and Ravinia! They are SOOOOO cute. Liam is so handsome, he looks so different from Ethan and Gabe. Its crazy, he weighed exactly the same amount as Raleigh and he looks kind of like Raleigh to me. At least similar coloring. Raleigh is getting really tan though because him and I go to the pool and stuff. I put him out in the water where he can barely crawl and then he crawls his way out and looks at me and claps his hands, like, " Hooray, I escaped!" Its really funnny, he doesn't really like the water too much. He loves the bath, but not the pool. He also got a top tooth this week! He is had diahrea which means diaper rash which means an unhappy baby. He has been sleeping with Chris and I and keeping us up all night kicking us in the ribs, pinching our necks, chewing on our collar bones, and pulling our hair...HARD. He likes to wrestle and fight a lot. It is fun. Well, buggy boo, I sure do miss you. I am praying for you. I know the church iis true, I KNOW it is. I know how much Heavenly Father loves you and wants you to have success and learn faith and patience. You are doing so well, keep it up, be brave and just think of ol' capn carbud pushing you on when you want to quit.

Loves,
yo one and true only lil' bud