Elder Lewis Update!

Click here to read Gavin's latest letter.

Enjoy!

More News from Elder Sommer

Click here to read Elder Sommer's June 25th Letter
Click here to read Elder Sommer's July 2nd Letter
Click here to read Elder Sommer's July 9th Letter
Click here to read Elder Sommer's July 16th Letter
Click here to read Elder Sommer's July 23rd Letter
Click here to read Elder Sommer's July 30th Letter
Click here to read Elder Sommer's Aug 6th Letter
Click here to read Elder Sommer's Aug 13th Letter

I (Matney) would like to apologize that it has taken me so long to get all of these letters up on the blog!!  The summer is flying by and I haven't been as on top of things as I should have been!  I hope you enjoy Maguel's letters and I will be more diligent in getting them to the blog as I receive them!! :)

Lewis Family Update

Wayne and Emry and kids

Happy Summer Everyone,

These few summer months are flying by and the kids will be back in school before we know it.  I'll catch you up a bit on what is going on in the Lewis household.

Hayden turned 11 years old on June 27th.  He was very low key about his birthday this year, didn't know what he wanted for gifts, didn't know if he wanted to have a party,  etc.  He finally decided it would be fun to take a few friends (actually all brothers) to Air Time.  They all had a great time jumping on huge trampolines, diving into the foam pit and playing dodge ball.  His dinner of choice was chicken tacos with black beans and rice.  One great thing about turning 11 is that now Hayden is in 11 year old scouts.  Since our ward doesn't have very many boys his age, he gets to meet with another ward in our stake.  He has made some new friends and had his first overnight camp out this past weekend!  The camp out actually took place in his leader's backyard and it was 100 plus degrees all night, so Hayden only slept about 2 hours he said.  All the boys were up swimming at 5 am.  An 11 year old boys dream!!  Hayden is SUPER excited for school to begin in 2 weeks -- summer boredom has hit the Lewis household:)

Chloe is looking forward to school beginning also -- says she's ready for a set schedule again, SEMINARY, and even her school classes:)  Her school begins next week, but she is going to miss the first 3 days, because she and Wayne are going to hike Half Dome with the crew that is going.  She wasn't sure if she wanted to miss the first few days of school, but decided that this chance might not come around again for awhile.  Chloe's summer has been a busy one filled with EFY in Flagstaff, Girl's Camp, and Soccer Camp at BYU.  If she had to choose a favorite of all of those, EFY would win hands down!  Cute boys couldn't possibly be the reason!!  Chloe is a great example for all who know her, she is a great friend and an even better daughter:)

Wayne is doing great and is working hard at running his business and serving as Stake President.  I really don't know how he does it all!  Coming up in the latter part of August our stake (along with other stakes in the area)  are to have a special priesthood training session with visiting general authorities.  Then another letter arrived informing Wayne that out of 27 stakes 3 had been chosen to have a special stake conference the same weekend.  Our stake was one of the ones chosen.  We don't know who will be visiting -- but another letter should be arriving soon with that news!!

I am doing well and loving serving in the Young Women's program as the one and only advisor.  It is fun to get to be with Chloe and the other young women.  Lots of projects are in the horizon for me -- organizing, food storage, sewing, a little bit of everything.  

We hope you are all well and would love to have any of you come see us!  

Love,

Wayne, Em, Chloe and Hayden

Gabe and Avah Family

I have to agree that this blog idea was genius. I am loving all of these pictures of all your cute families...who seem to be photographers or have one on hand. You will soon notice that I do not have such skills. Well I don't feel like our family has any real 'big' news to report on but I will fill you in on what we have been up to.

Gabe has been busy with work and school of late. He is ingrained with that hard-working Lewis/Comin spirit and seems to always be doing something to take care of our family. Currently he is working in quality control at probably one of the craziest production plants. His job seems to be always put to the test when he has to catch errors and make sure the company is not losing money because of oversights. I think it is perfect training for a career in medicine...where his mind will need to be honed into the small details.  This coming fall he will start his nursing classes up again. I know he is excited to get back to the grindstone and work in terms of school. 

He continues to run daily and is currently training for his second marathon this coming September. He is probably one of the most determined people I know when he has a goal set. I often find myself playing the devil's advocate telling him to take a break and relax but he is ever diligent and continues to get out there and run. I have tried following in his footsteps with running and have found that I really do love it. I am no where near him in terms of skill but I have enjoyed getting outdoors and building my miles.  

Our lives are really centered around our sweet children-Noah (4), Ember (2) and Adelle (8 mo.). We often wonder how such small things can have so much energy but they constantly keep us in motion and having fun.  Noah is mom's big helper in our house and loves his sisters dearly. He is starting up preschool again soon and can't wait. You can often see the wheels turning in his head as he is trying to figure out how everything around him works. We love to hear him think out loud and learn how his little mind is working. Ember is our wild child who has had more accidents this summer than I think Noah has had in his 4 years of life.  We were excited to get her cast off (from a broken wrist) before the family reunion and family pictures only to have her come home from the reunion with a rug rash down her entire face from falling out of a Jacuzzi.  Oh but she keeps us busy and smiling. She really is the cutest little thing and brings such joy to our lives. Adelle is our sweet little cherub. She is such a good baby and I can't stop myself from kissing her. She loves her big brother tons and can't help but smile or laugh with him nearby. They must have been terribly close in another life because there is a connection there that I can't explain. I truly feel blessed that my children are mine. Writing this I feel as though I am bragging and then realize we all must feel that way about our own children and how blessed we are to have and be a family. We love you all dearly and are grateful to be a part of such a loving family. 

Ember with cast

Adelle

Ember, Gabe and Noah

Jarom, Cole, Ember and Noah

Jason and Whitney 

Jason and I are still in Iowa City and loving it more the longer we are here.  Jason finished up his 2nd year of his PhD program at the University of Iowa and has about 3 years left.  Time is flying!  This summer was not as relaxing for him as one could hope as he has been working on his "2nd Year Paper" all summer long.  It was a long and hard process, but he turned it in on July 31 and feels like a new man!  I feel like a new woman too actually.  Jason has picked up long boarding this summer.  He liked to go out and ride when he got burnt out from doing too much math working on his paper and it helped him relax and clear his head.  

In June I finished up my nannying job and was very ready to do so.  That job was quite a challenge for me, but I'm grateful the experience is behind me!  Jason and I moved this summer into a new apartment and we are now the apartment managers here.  We just couldn't pass up on the free rent deal!  So this is my new job of sorts, but it's nice that I get to be home a lot and work with lots of nice people.  Right now it is a little hectic because the landlord is out of the country so Jason and I are in charge of everything during the busy moving in and moving out season.  We sure are thankful for such a wonderful opportunity though.  Man, what a blessing!  

Earlier this summer we had the chance to go to Wisconsin with some friends and had a blast.  Our favorite part was kayaking down the river one afternoon, we both loved it and thought Wisconsin was just beautiful.  In July, Jason and I traveled to Utah and visited both families while there.  It was great to see everyone and the drive out there wasn't too bad either.  We've discovered the magic of books on tape.  Being with family is wonderful and it's so fun to see how much all the nieces and nephews have grown and changed.  It was so fun to be there for Wesley's (Josh and Jess' newest) blessing too!  Jason's family was all in town for the first time in a couple of years too which was really fun.  

The day after we got back, we moved into our new apartment and started managing so we are busy little bees these days.  Jason will start school here again soon and I might be too actually.  With the new time on my hands I may go take some classes this fall and am really enjoying the thought of that.  The community college here has some great courses and I could become certified in something that may help me be able to work from home. We'll see.

Well, we sure do love you all and hearing about you.  Hope you are all doing well!

Jason and Whitney at the Wisconsin Dells

Elder Gavin Lewis

Gavin has been serving his mission for about 13 months now and doing really well.  He has been transferred around a lot lately, but has such a great attitude no matter what happens.  Currently, he is in area of Donetsk called Obyedinyoni with a companion, Elder Young, who he has served with before.  Here is a snippet from his most recent email:

"One of my favorite families is the Selutin family.  They are a couple with 3 children.  Last week he had a great lesson at their home about the role of the Holy Ghost in preaching the gospel.  We had prepared a lot for the lesson and we even had an object lesson to go along.  It went well.  This week we planned a follow-up lesson- about the role and importance of testimony in our efforts to share the gospel.  We had planned to give them some Liahonas to give to their friends and even have them practice with us, testifying and giving the Liahonas.  But, when we got to their house, something even better was in store.  Sister Selutin had a non-member friend over!  Afterwards when we asked them if they had intentionally had the friend there when we would be there- they said it was about half and half.  We were super glad she was there.  Her name is Lera and she is a work friend of Sister Selutin.  We taught the Restoration.  The Selutins really did most of the teaching, question answering, and testifying.  We couldn't have asked for anything more perfect.  Lera accepted a Book of Mormon and agreed to read, but was a little tentative about prayer.  Lera was out of town this last weekend and couldn't come to church, but we should be meeting with her at the Selutins' again this week.  It was an excellent example of how much easier and more effective missionary work is when investigators are introduced to us by members of the church.  Lera already has friends to sit with at church and who can answer her questions.  We were glad that the Selutins felt they could trust us with their friend."

Gavin is such a good example to all of us and we LOVE reading his letters every week.  We are planning on adding them to the blog now, along with Maguel's so everyone can enjoy them!

**Josh and Jessica's computer has died so we won't be having an update from them in this post, but hopefully soon!