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Brenna The Angel

It's about time

 

Hello, Friends and Family,

I know.  I know.  Miracles do happen.  We are finally updating you on our small little world.  There actually has been quite a bit happening.  So much so, we have hardly had time to update.

Back at the beginning of June, Gordon had a total ACL reconstruction and is still recovering.  It kills him every time the family gets out the cones and a soccer ball and the only thing he gets out is a camping chair.  It was quite a sad sight when we took a trip to Lake Powell with his family only one week after his surgery.  I had to do the wake boarding for him.  It was the least I could do.  He does his therapy regularly and is doing really well.  He thinks he will be back playing indoor by December. 

All four kids are on competition soccer this year-AGAIN!  Mom gets sick of it sometimes, but we sure love that our kids love it and are doing so well!  Aaron's team won the Striker's Cup in Utah County today!  He scored 2 goals during the tournament.  Hooray!  We have tournaments 3 out of the 4 weeks in August.  Thus, no camping trips will be planned.  I volunteered to coach Hannah's team which will begin after Labor Day.  The PTA wasn't keeping me busy enough.

School starts Aug 20.  We have a brand new school one block away from our house.  It is really nice and I really like our principal.  There are 2 portables already as the west side is bursting at the seams with as many kids as the Pied Piper took out of Hamlin.  2 out of my 3 kids at the school are in the 2 portables.  What are the odds?

Gordon and I were asked to be the chaperones for our ward for stake Youth Conference.  We were so excited!  It turned out great!  Kudos to the stake leaders and youth committee!  They did a fireside on temple work for the spirits that are waiting on the other side.  It was fabulous.  They surprised Gordon and I with an invitation to bear our testimonies about it.  Gordon is always so eloquent with his comments.  He commented on how Brenna always wanted to serve a mission.  Now, she is doing that and probably converting so many souls that we need to keep going to the temple to keep up with her!  A lot of the kids there we did not know, but they knew Brenna from school.  There were a lot of teary cheeks and loving hugs.  Camp reminded me when she went to youth conference last year with our new ward.  She had a fabulous time.  She braved up and did the zip line.  She loved having her brother, Jordan, there.
 
We miss her at every turn.  Every family function, every vacation, every time we leave the house, we think of how it is different without her with us.  Gordon got a picture of our 4 kids in their soccer uniforms for Father's Day. It was sad that only 4 out of our 5 were in the picture, but, we will always remember her when we look at it because we will be missing her. And we never want that feeling to leave. But when I let myself get too emotional, I just have to remember that she is soooo happy and free and she will see us in ‘just a minute.’ It seems so long to us mortals, but we will realize that ‘our time is not the Lord’s time’ when our time comes. It won’t come soon enough when we see our sweet angel again.
 
Our dear friends, Bryan and Jolayna Arndt, got some shocking news a little bit ago.  Bryan was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  Fortunately, (is there any fortune in cancer?) this is a very curable form of cancer and he started the chemo right away.  I told Jolayna that God knew what a very strong spirit she was to go through donating part of her liver to her dying baby 10 years ago and then getting another trial so soon after.  Please pray for Bryan and his family as they go through this trying journey.
 
Now, I have to get back to my church calling as Personal Progress leader.  I usually do my best work at midnight!
 
Happy hot summer to you all!  Much love, Gordon and Racquel and Family

 

Brenna The Angel