I love new beginnings.

And man alive, we sure have had a bunch of them around these parts lately!

There have sure been a lot of first days of school this year! There was the first day of online school for the “little girls” (HERE), and the first day of in-person school (HERE), and today they start their first day of in-person school with everyone at the same time (for the last two weeks it has just been a hybrid schedule with only half of the school each two days per week). Crossing our fingers it all goes well!

But there was also a 1st day for Abby at her school (no picture because Max isn’t as good as she is at taking pictures…), and Max and Carson both had their first days the same day (back on August 31st). Max was in the beautiful mountains of Provo…some classes in person but most online, and Carson was sitting in his new kitchen in Miami, at his make-shift counter desk since they couldn’t find a desk for the life of them. (I guess everyone in Miami was looking for the same thing with so much online school going on because IKEA, Target and Walmart were all clean-out of any semblance of tables or desks, isn’t that crazy?)

(He, like Max, has mostly online classes except for his labs.)

Here these two are, living their best newly-married lives 😉

Another new beginning with Grace and all her missionary work…first day of the home MTC when we were still trying to set up her working space:

Lots more about how that’s going this week, but look at that glowing face…that’s how it’s looked pretty much since she started last week.

And as long as we’re talking about “firsts” and new beginnings, Elle is sure trying to find her first post-college job in the big-wide graphic design world. She got so much good experience under her belt during her internship with a big graphic design firm last summer, and worked for a graphic design company in Hawaii the last couple years she was there, and now she’s trying to find a good fit going forward.

In the meantime she’s been doing some freelance graphic design and it is so fun to see the logos and ideas she comes up with.

Here’s a screenshot of her webpage which I think it pretty awesome:

And you can check it out HERE.

Hit her up with any advice or leads or work needed!

And there we have it: a whole slew of firsts.

Similar Posts

15 Comments

  1. Seeing your daughter study another language reminded me about a question I had for mission selection. If a prospective missionary has taken a second language or even had exposure to it, would they be more likely to serve in an area where that language would be used? if I recall your son served in China after living there? Did/do your kids take a second language in middle and high school? And if so, would they choose French/Spanish/Chinese etc in hopes of serving a mission in those counties?
    Thank you! Just so fascinated by the missionary process and I love following along on your journey 🙂

    1. We believe that missionaries are called of God and that those choosing their destinations are guided by the Holy Ghost when making those calls. I think speaking a second language can sometimes influence where missionaries are called, but not always. My husband and two of his brothers all learned German in high school, two went to Germany on their missions, but one went to the Phillipines and learned Tagalog. Each of them had unique opportunities and great blessings that came from the places they served.

    2. Good question. I think Hilary explained it well, you just never know! Grace studied Spanish in high school and Chinese in China as well as during college in Hawaii. She would have loved to learn Chinese like Dave and Max, I was secretly hoping she’d learn Romanian, (ha!), and none of us would have ever guessed she’d be called to Uruguay, but she is SO excited about learning Spanish (it is tough work I tell you…they are delving deep fast!)

      But in answer to your question, I have heard of people taking one language their whole lives and getting called to an English speaking mission or to somewhere speaking a completely different language. I took French in high school and I was so grateful for that base when I learned Romanian.

  2. Wait, did we miss Lar’s graduation? I thought he was behind Elle … I remember seeing pictures of her in a cap and gown, but not him. But he must have finished if he’s now in med school. I must be confused …

    1. No you’re not confused, you are right, he hasn’t graduated yet. It was kind of crazy how this all worked out, really because of covid, he was accepted sooner than he had anticipated and was able to work with counselors to figure out a way to finish his last class remotely during his first semester in Florida (all Hawaii classes are remote anyway this semester). It’s been a whirlwind for these kids, and it’s a crazy semester but they’re going for it!

  3. Seriously, essential travel is not traveling to Miami to hang out with your daughter. We believe in obeying the laws of the land.

  4. Just a thought that this might be an option for Carson. Below is a link to a small, round, adjustable height table on Amazon that is only about $70 and is very versatile. I have two of them and my sons used them for school until they went back to the building last week….and I have used them for lots of other stuff over the years. They come in very handy.
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00683WLSC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    If the link doesn’t work, search for “Roundhill Furniture adjustable height wood and chrome metal bar table”.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *