Empty Nesters

 This last week Parkin and Adrian went with their cousin to FSY church camp in California. Which meant that Benjamin and I were home without any children. I don't think that has happened since before we had children. 23 years ago... We both have gone on trips without the children but have not been home on our own with no children. It was very different. To cope we went to the movies, ate out, went to DQ, went swimming in our pool, the beach and went to an 80's concert called Totally Tubular in Santa Barbara.. The verdict: When retirement comes and the nest is cleared we will be okay. We actually still like each other!!

New Jersey with Olivia

 

It took Benjamin 47 years to get to New York City but he made it!! Thanks to Olivia who moved to New Jersey and is crushing an internship. She was the perfect hostess and between her and Benjamin's great ideas the docket was full of fun activities....Highlights in no particular order.

1) Going to Olivia's dorm at NJIT. She greeted us with candy salad and other snakish items.

2) Riding bikes in Central Park. I absolutely loved this. It was a beautiful day and the loop is no joke with some pretty good sized hills.

3) Going to the Statue of Liberty. Taking a picture and then having that picture be incorporated in an art installation that features all the tourists that have visited the SOL. 

4) Elis island. I looked on family search and my great grandparents went through Elis Island on their return trip from Holland almost exactly 100 years earlier.

5) the 911 memorial. So powerful and informative. We were at the museum for over 3 hours. So much to see, read and hear. 

6) We rode the ferry to Long Island where we saw a small 911 statue.

7) We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and .... So beautiful

8) Renting bikes in Brooklyn and biking to a famous cookie shop.

9) Going to a shop that is known for all sorts of tapioca puddings called Rice to Riches...so yum.

10) Attending church in New Jersey. I love the diverse wards back east.

11) Going to the beach in Connecticut and eating some of the best ice cream ever!

12) Going up the Empire State Building at night. Those views!

13) Attending a Broadway Play called, "Water for Elephants." If Only Showman, Lion King and Cirque du Soleil had a baby, this show would be its child. It was awesome!

14) Ate dinner in a classic New York City diner

15) Rode giant fish in a Merrie Go Round made for children.

We had an absolute blast. One of my all time favorite vacations. Oliva is making a name for someone who is smart, self motivated, humorous and outgoing. She makes friends fast and helps others at work feel like they matter. She only has one more year of college...where to next?!

New Foyer!

Look at my lovely new storage unit for our foyer! The amount of shoes these closets can hold! Benjamin installed them lickety split.

 

Mother's Day

Adrian surprised me by wanting to have a matching skirt to address that I had bought. Of course I was in for twinning!! With only two kids at home parking in Adrian sure stepped up they made a wonderful breakfast. All the kids pitched in and bought me a beautiful new purse and wallet what a lovely morning. We had Nana and Papa and the Smiths over for a combined mother's Day dinner. It's always so nice to do a potluck, everybody provides a little bit and we all leave stuffed! 

 

Benjamin and Olivia road tripping!!

 Benjamin and Olivia took an epic trip to her internship in New Jersey. They planned and plotted this trip for months trying to maximize the maximum amount of states that they would visit. One of their absolute highlight States was in Missouri in a small town called Holman. In this small town no joke there is a cemetery called Holman Howe. Of course Benjamin and Olivia had to get to the bottom of why these two names were put together for a funeral home. They stopped into the funeral home and Benjamin explained that his wife's maiden name was Holman and his last name is Howe and they he has a son named Holman Howe.  Olivia said the funeral director showed the appropriate amount of surprise and excitement over this fact. He explained that years ago the Howe family owns the funeral home and they hired a funeral director with the last name of holman. Holman did such a good job as the director that when the Howe family was ready to sell the establishment they only wanted to sell it to Holman. Holman wanted to honor the legacy of this previous family so he incorporated both names in the funeral homes name. After hearing the story the secretary of the funeral home was like we need to get you guys a calendar or some engraved pens! Benjamin and Olivia were posing for pictures out front when they came back out to talk with them and said do you mind if we take your picture for our social media account. Too fun! Across the street there was parking for the Holman Howe funeral home. Olivia covered up the g so that we have both sons Parkin Holman Howe funeral home on one sign 😅

Elder Howe writes a letter!

 

This is an email Elder Howe sent. It's so good I wanted to be able to remember it and find it easily. He wrote this on April 21st 2024.

Hello Everyone! I think the last time I sent an email was month 8 in Thailand. I have now been a missionary for over 16 months, so it's been awhile haha. Last time I wrote I was still in Lampang up north. I finished six months there, then moved to a suburb south of Bangkok along the coast called Samutprakan. It was a pretty challenging area for me but I was blessed with being able to serve there for 5 months. I spent most days walking the streets asking every person if they were interested in learning about Jesus. I also spent everyday getting rejected by every person I talked to.🙃 I had one particularly rough day where I was about ready to give up. I layed in my bed at night exhausted from walking several miles and from the endless rejection. I felt that I was being punished for not being good enough; that because I wasn't perfect I didn't deserve success. I spent almost an hour praying and crying to God, apologizing for not being enough. I told God how sorry I was, that because I was a failure, so many people would never get to know the gospel. I tried repenting for my failures by listing every single mistake I made.  The longer the list went on, the more horrible I felt. I realized i wasn't good enough to be a missionary and that I was actively hurting the work. As i kept trying to list out my mistakes, i started to here a voice. This voice was quiet but some how was able to overpower my own. As i attempted to list yet another one of my flaws i heard the voice say "you are My son". It kept repeating that. Everytime I tried to speak and degrade myself, my thoughts were overpowered until all i could feel was love. It reaffirmed my reason for being out here. My responsibility is to invite others to come unto Christ. To understand their relationship to God and to feel the redemption that comes through Christs atonement. To understand that no matter how deserved the guilt may be, its not necessary. Jesus suffered the hell that I earned. He suffered the hell that you earned. That is my goal, to help feel the peace that Jesus offers. I spent the rest of my time in Samutprakan with a lot more hope. Telling everyone I talked to that they were God's child and that they deserved a better life. I invited them to learn about Jesus anf how He could help them with that. I didn't have a lot of baptisms in Samutprakan but I was able to walk confidently, knowing that God supported me and that the live he had for me is the love that he has for everyone else, and that he won't abandon them, even if they rejected me. As it says in Isaiah 53 verses 5 and 6 "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all"

Its a pretty simple. God loves us. We sin. Jesus took the punishment. All we have to do is accept Jesus's help. I know I can make it to heaven through Jesus and so can everyone else. As Brigham Young said "Everything that can be redeemed, will be redeemed". 

After five months in Samutprakan I was sent to the east, where I currently am. I live in a small province called Yasothon. I have loved being in a small town again. I also am in charge of all the English Groups that the church runs here in Thailand. I have loved this assignment. English Class is one of my favorite parts of being a missionary, and it has been very fun being able to improve our classes country wide😁

I am excited for the seven and a half months that I have left to serve God and my Thai family!

Weeks later on May 7th,  after Holman had this humbling experience he wrote the family this :

Just got out of a meeting where they told me I am one of the most statistically successful missionaries and asked what my secret is and how the whole mission can replicate it🥹They said i recieve one of the highest amount of refferals from members and am able to get a majority of them to church, so they wanted to know why the members trust me and I said it's cause I don't act like a missionary lol

Early on his mission Holman said, "why can't I go into an area and just love the people and try to improve their lives." I think that approach is working!!

Adrian graduates middle school.

 Adrian is our youngest and first to graduate middle school. The school the other kids attended didn't offer a graduation 😅 Kind of fun to be the last but get to be the first. Adrian attends Hermosa Montessori with a graduating class of 16 kids. They each were introduced by a younger classmate and then each gave a heart felt speech. Several friends mentioned  her by name in her speech. It was beautiful and very long....😜 Parkin came and Barbara and Ron.  It was a packed house because the actual school is small. But the schools grounds are on several acres of desert land. It has a small pool and several outdoor activities and classroom like settings. Adrian was recognized by the PE teacher as being a leader and helper. He said she introduced a new game to the class ( the missionaries taught us a made up game at mutual) . Her two favorite teachers Carlie and Aeron also gave her shout-outs. Carlie said "Adrian is my spirit animal" and Aeron said "she is her favorite shadow." She has loved her time there and we have loved the community and dedication of these teachers. She has made some great friendships and has grown so much. Can't believe this brilliant girl of mine only has 4 more years!!

We'll see...Part II

Not how we wanted this story to end. And way too soon after his surgery that brought such a great personality change.

It's with heavy hearts that we said goodbye to our Appa Prince this morning. His autoimmune disease that took his eyes were going after his nose, mouth and hair, basically anything that has pigment. His open wounds on his nose were at risk of major infection. The alternative to putting him down would be lifelong medication that includes steroids that would make him aggressive, thirsty and always hungry. Not a good way to live especially considering that he had a perfect temperament after his surgery. He really chilled out, listened and wagged his tail! He's running with Lukey now with perfect vision.. 

Our vet let us do the procedure outside under a mesquite bosque in the back of our pickup truck. Adrian and I sat with him in the truck and Benjamin stood next to it. We all just pet him and cried. I texted all the kids after it happened and Holman said later that he had a dream where he was with Appa just petting him and playing with him. Then several hours after I had sent the text he woke up to learn that he had passed on. One last cuddle from his boy. Holman said he lost his girl, and his dog now all he has is his honor.

Appa was a top tier dog at our house. Holman said he will continue to find stray dogs to look out for.