Luke and Mark had a great baseball season this spring/summer. In all the years of coaching, none of Mark's boys have hit an over-the-fence home run, in part because many of the high school league games for Boston and Cooper were played on a completely netted outfield. They did hit the back net a few times, but the umps don't give them the round-the-bases signal for a homerun, etc., and it just plays out like a regular hit.
Lucky Luke is our third-time's-the-charm. He was able to knock it out of the park more than once this year. Let the ice cream celebrations commence! Luke was also able to hit a home run with Elder Cooper Day watching in the stands, during the week of home MTC. Cooper coached him up a little before the hit and called exactly what would happen. The two of them were also able to get in some pitching and batting practice at the high school batting cage in the evenings after Cooper's online classes, while I lounged on the pristine diamond lawn.
Another fun thing we did during Cooper's MTC week was to attend a large community banquet hosted by Utah County Parks and Rec. Mark was not included on the emails about this banquet and I had told him it was something thanking the coaches. That was a partial truth. I had been asked not to say anything about the purpose of the banquet because Mark was receiving the award for Outstanding Volunteer of the Year for Spanish Fork Parks n Rec. He was pretty surprised. He was nominated because over the years he has coached 24 different teams, in multiple sports including basketball, flag football and baseball. And, as they joked, he has a few more kids still at home, so...
Here are "the Bruise Brothers" in all their mischievous glory, several years ago.
The other day Cooper told us that the two of them were talking on a video call, Boston in Spain, Cooper in Guatemala and 8 hours behind. Cooper pointed out the split screen showing both of their name badges. "Look Boston! We are both missionaries! Just like we always said we would be!!"
(Be still my heart!) I'm putting this picture here to prove that it's worth all the blood sweat and tears. Also because they are adorable then and now. And look at Boston's grubby little boy fingers!!
Cooper and his best buddy Kali'i, who still has another year at home. You can see that Cooper is wearing his blue and white Guatemala bracelet that Leslie made for him.
Cooper at his setting apart to be a missionary, in Pres. Funk's office. Mark and I were both invited to give him some counsel, and then I was invited to sit right next to him during his blessing. I put my hand on his knee and poured my whole heart right into him without him even knowing it.
Cooper's friend and teammate Thys was able to participate as well. Thys is called to serve in Samoa.
A little bit of a basketball break after Cooper's MTC classes. Ironically, he learned how to easily dunk the ball with two hands after graduation and the end of his basketball career. He has been enjoying that little trick very much in the Mexico MTC where he says the rims are "low and loose" and also in Guatemala, where all the little kids want to see this tall gringo in a white shirt do some stunts.
We stopped in to see Grandpa Day and Grandma Frances on our way to cousin Carson's wedding, right before Cooper started his missionary service.
Missionaries are allowed to golf on PDay, and you can bet Cooper took full advantage of that. The first picture he took of Guatemala was from the plane...a beautiful golf course.
I love this picture. As my friend Kristin the quilter quipped, "A Mancub on a throne of quilts is a job well done!'
The goodbye at the airport was a little rough for some of us, although it was cool to see all the missionaries gathered at the gate. (Cooper stuck out, being a head taller than most and sooo handsome. Funny for him to meet his online MTC district in person. He slouches in his chair for Zoom calls and looks teensy.)
We have decided that saying goodbye to a missionary is a little easier when it is also marks less than a year until we have his big brother coming home. We are on the downhill slope for that countdown, yay!
And here he is, cropped from a photo of a full auditorium of new arrivals at the Mexico CCM. We could "Where's Waldo" him pretty easy because of his long legs on the front row.
After a few short weeks cramming in as much Spanish as possible, he arrived in the Guatemala Antigua mission. He and his companion, Elder Guzman from the DR, are assigned to the suburb Jocotenango. Cooper has greatly benefitted from having a trainor who only speaks Spanish and he has quickly come to love the mission, the language, and Guatemala. Despite getting bitten by a yappy dog and needing another round of rabies shots. He is so tall that the dogs see him and kind of lose their minds.
When Cooper was little, he was watching a Donald Duck cartoon and told us, "Wow...what would that be like...living in a cabin all alone and makin' pancakes!?" Here he is, sort of living the dream, haha.
Here he is twirling a ball just like one of my Dad's mission pictures--without knowing it was my Dad's birthday or that I had already asked Boston and their cousin Cash (serving in England) to recreate the same picture that day to send to my mom. A little wink from my Dad, one of the angels at his shoulder.
You can tell he is in his first year out because he takes lots more pictures than Boston does anymore.
Isn't this such a pretty picture under the Antigua arch with all the pastel Hermanas?
I guess he has gained the ability to sleep pretty much anywhere, especially the "chicken buses," probably from all the basketball trips in HS.
The Antigua mission has some major volcanos. I think this one is Vulcan de Agua. Another one is Vulcan de Fuego, where they can frequently see the burning lava glowing at night. No notable earthquakes yet. Also no notable sicknesses, which is a huge blessing considering everyone told us he would be sick a lot and lose weight (that he does not have to give.) Nope. He had to adjust his watchband because he is even gaining weight. I think mostly he just finally stopped growing, and maybe the pancakes and all the bottled sodas are fattening him up.
Elder Dia numero uno Boston had a great, and hot, summer in sunny Southern Spain. The areas so far on his mission have been Ciudad Real, Caceres, Puerto de Santa Maria, and Mar Menor, where he currently resides in a house right across from the Mar Menor lagoon on the Mediterranean Sea. He says maybe he could live there.
Boston serves as district leader in Mar Menor, and his current companion/trainee is Elder Matt Hastings. The two of them were great friends and classmates before their missions. To be able to have a previous best friend as a comp is extremely rare. Boston is very spoiled, and we hope Elder Hastings comes out of the experience none the worse for wear!
Back in the USA, we celebrated our tiny new household and the 4th of July at a very windy Yuba Lake. At least the snacks were great, good job Rosie!
Later in July we had a great trip to Montana to see cousins and my mom and Grandma Heagy. It was Elise (and her Dad's) first time there, and Big Sky Country did not disappoint.
Jeddy was such a sweet boy and didn't even care that Elise was stealing his crocs.
Mom's flower bed is beautiful but I noticed that she spent some extra time making it fun for the kiddos. See the dinosaurs? I said something about them and my sister remarked that they are actually guarding the flowers from the deer. Mom swears that it works! Too bad the dinosaurs don't scare off her raccoons and grizzly bears as well!
My sister Brooke, who used to work at a dude ranch, looked the whole herd of horses over (my mom rents the pasture) and said, "That one will be good and gentle." Then she hopped the fence, put the bridle on, and gave rides to the kids. Rosie was thrilled.
Macy had also gone horseback riding with friends above the Scofield Reservoir earlier that month.
I made Macy play dressup with Grandma Heagy's wedding dress that was hanging in my mom's closet. Isn't she lovely, especially with the rays of light from the sunset? I thought it would be a nice surprise, to show Grandma the pictures. It kind of backfired though because when I show Grandma, she looked dismayed and said, "She...got married?" That possibility had not crossed our minds, haha.
Tonka rides again!
This is the first time, I think, that almost all of my mom's granddaughters were assembled in one place. We missed Addy. Here they are, arranged by age. Leslie, Macy [Addy] Hallie, Rosie, Brielle, and Saylor.
And then here is sweet Saylor being so nice with her parade candy to the next generation of girlies.
One reason we were so excited for Leslie, Cole and Elise to come to Montana this year is so that we could get a 5-generation picture. Everyone except Grandma Heagy is the eldest and first of their entire generation of cousins. Since my mom happens to be the eldest cousin, Elise is also the eldest great-great grandchild of Rolland and LaRue Ely, and possibly further out, I don't know.
Too many Grandmas, I guess.
And then it was off to Lake Mary Ronan for some more cousin time.
My Mom brought her guitar and Macy sang for us. Mark was going to sing with her but was too emotional. So pretty.
Mark was a gold medalist this year in the Haynes family olympics. Included such things as cornhole, horseshoes, shuffleboard, frisbee golf, lightning, coin throw, etc. Mark thinks it was the cherry seed spitting, however, that put him over the top.
I think Luke preferred the milkshake to the tube ride with Jett.
I LOVE this picture of Mom. Sunshine, grandkids, and riding on your son's boat. Total contentment. She is also rocking three bracelets representing her missionary grandsons right now.
Stopping over at the Idaho Falls Temple.
We weren't ready to be done in the water yet so we took the kids to Burraston Pond. Luke and Rosie love the kayaks.
Macy brought her friend Lyla. The water was so glassy this picture looks like a painting.
Leslie and Cole invited us to a fun new waterpark in Lehi for Family Home Evening with them. The kids have been asking to go back.
Mark was in Detroit a couple times for a UWM training, so he went to a game. His buddy sent me this picture and said that he stood that way the whole game, but no luck.
School started way too early this year. Here is Macy, trying to count and figure out what grade a Junior is.
I can't remember why Mark was saying 8th grade, but I think it was because Remarkable Home Loans is in its 8th year, and off to work he went, a little happier than the kids who now have to do homework.
Look at my cute girls, on the same lavendar wavelength.
Macy was asked to homecoming, which was cool, but to Rosie it was simply scandalous. This was her face when we got home from our evening and she, Rosie, ran to the door to tell us the exciting news.
I'm including Luke in his new BYU shirt to explain why we all got new BYU shirts. Much to our surprise and excitement (about as much as Rosie in the previous picture,) Mark and I were called to serve in a BYU Freshman stake--several congregations made up of young college students. Mark serves as 2nd counselor in a bishopric of the 120th ward (a single congregation made up of three dormitory floors) and I serve as an advisor to the women's organization of that ward. The calling is expected to last for about 3 years (six semesters of students.) It feels like a mission to us, especially since we travel to BYU a few times a week and also that we get to serve together, learning about and loving the students, attending their activities and hosting them often in our home. Good thing I like to cook! Such a cool blessing for us because Mark and I would like to eventually serve a senior mission together, but it's going to be a looong time away since Rosie is still so young. During our BYU "mission" time I will most likely be attending church twice every Sunday, once with my own kids here while Mark is in meetings, and once with our BYU ward. (The kids are invited to come with us, but the BYU ward does not have classes for littles.) So far it has been really, really fun and also reminiscent for me because I was also a BYU freshman in a ward just like this.
Mark, Bishop Schow, Brother Larson.
Macy gets to come play with us sometimes. The students don't necessarily know she is a bit younger, haha. Some of them were surprised when she said something about how they are all her brother's age. I think it's fine. Lots of people used to think she and Cooper were twins, so that's close enough. Mark and I feel like we have 110 new kids, stand-in siblings for our children while Boston and Cooper are gone. Luke is playing many games of Foosball in the dorm commons.
When Grandma doesn't have a cat or a dog, you have to improvise with the straightening iron.
Yep, I'll claim her.
September is the best month of the year because it's the most pleasant and beautiful in Utah and also because it is birthday month for four of us. We tried to get out and about as much as possible. One day the kids had off of school and I took them, the kayaks AND the ebikes all with just my van up to Payson Lakes for the day. So pretty and we mostly had the place to ourselves. Next time we will bring Mark, but Luke did great helping me to heft things around.
These two missionaries are the best present any madre could ask for.
I stole Macy out of her last period of school to go hiking with me up to 5th Water Hot Springs in Diamond Fork Canyon for my birthday--something that had been on my bucket list for years. It exceeded expectations. Kinda wish I would have worn my swimsuit like Macy did. I guess I'll need to go back. Mark and I celebrated the next day with a Salt Lake getaway including visiting the Taylorsville temple and the new International Art competition exhibit on Temple Square (without kids to rush me, haha.)
Perfect hot tub temperature, and it was so surreal to feel all of these hot waterfalls. Also, the leaves were gorgeous. So many pools, surrounded by boulders.
Macy did a lot of hiking that week as she also hiked Stewart Falls with her Homecoming group.
Macy and Jacomo. Mark didn't even tag along.
Luke does a good job babysitting Rosie. Although they like to argue about silly things, they have a lot of fun together.
These two are also part of our birthday month.
For Luke's birthday adventure, he wanted to make an attempt at ebike camping, meaning that he and Mark packed their tent, bedding and supplies onto the ebikes and pedaled up the canyon several miles to Whiting campground, where we met them with firewood, a watercooler and dinner. They spent the night rather cozily in a very tiny tent and then hauled everything back the next day. Pretty cool!
Rosie turned 8 years old and is excited to get baptized in November.
We sit in leaf piles around here. Happy fall!
And for your viewing enjoyment, here is Elder Day numero uno throwing a pie into his Zone Leader's face. I guess they earned the privelege somehow, and Boston relished the duty. Be sure to turn on the audio.
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We stopped in to see Grandpa Day and Grandma Frances on our way to cousin Carson's wedding, right before Cooper started his missionary service. 
Missionaries are allowed to golf on PDay, and you can bet Cooper took full advantage of that. The first picture he took of Guatemala was from the plane...a beautiful golf course. 
I love this picture. As my friend Kristin the quilter quipped, "A Mancub on a throne of quilts is a job well done!'
The goodbye at the airport was a little rough for some of us, although it was cool to see all the missionaries gathered at the gate. (Cooper stuck out, being a head taller than most and sooo handsome. Funny for him to meet his online MTC district in person. He slouches in his chair for Zoom calls and looks teensy.)
.HEIC)
Cooper at his setting apart to be a missionary, in Pres. Funk's office. Mark and I were both invited to give him some counsel, and then I was invited to sit right next to him during his blessing. I put my hand on his knee and poured my whole heart right into him without him even knowing it..HEIC)
Cooper's friend and teammate Thys was able to participate as well. Thys is called to serve in Samoa.
A little bit of a basketball break after Cooper's MTC classes. Ironically, he learned how to easily dunk the ball with two hands after graduation and the end of his basketball career. He has been enjoying that little trick very much in the Mexico MTC where he says the rims are "low and loose" and also in Guatemala, where all the little kids want to see this tall gringo in a white shirt do some stunts. 
.HEIC)
.HEIC)
And here he is, cropped from a photo of a full auditorium of new arrivals at the Mexico CCM. We could "Where's Waldo" him pretty easy because of his long legs on the front row.
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Later in July we had a great trip to Montana to see cousins and my mom and Grandma Heagy. It was Elise (and her Dad's) first time there, and Big Sky Country did not disappoint.
September is the best month of the year because it's the most pleasant and beautiful in Utah and also because it is birthday month for four of us. We tried to get out and about as much as possible. One day the kids had off of school and I took them, the kayaks AND the ebikes all with just my van up to Payson Lakes for the day. So pretty and we mostly had the place to ourselves. Next time we will bring Mark, but Luke did great helping me to heft things around.
.HEIC)
