June - Erana's 9th, Tyrell's 22nd Birthdays

6/2/19

Hi Mina,
We had a good Memorial Day. Was a little cool and windy but we went across the road and sat by Grandma’s grave and listened to the Utah Pipe band play the bagpipes. We ate at Scott’s and relaxed before going on a walk along the Jordan River like we did last year. There is no more Ward scout breakfast for Memorial Day. I guess because scouts is going away. This spring has been the rainiest in recent memory. The snowpack in the mountains has been the most it’s had for ages. It’s at 200% above average. If really hot temperatures come and stay for a bit then we could have flood dangers. We got another tree to replace one that died. The roots look so much better than the ones we planted last year, I think that could have been the problem. We got a bunch of duds. We hope all is well.
Love Mum and Dad xxx

Hi Mina,
Sorry I haven’t written to you in awhile, but life has been going good. I’ve gone on two dates now from using the mutual app, haha. Now I’m talking to like 8 girls… Anyways, I had a sleepover at Tyler’s one day, his wife was out of town. We played a star wars version of Dungeons and Dragons, it was really fun haha. My characters name is Dante Black and I have a raging addiction to killing, haha. Anyways, I’m enjoying work. I enjoy it a lot because I’m out on my own driving and listening to music, and don’t really have to deal with people. If your wondering about the dates, for the first one we just went out to eat and then walked around the temple. For the second one we played uno bowling and then we watched she’s the man. They were fun dates, but neither of them are the one for me haha. And don’t worry I didn’t kiss either of them. I’m not seeking to quench my two year thirst hahaha.I’m looking for the right one first. Pray for me! I’ll keep you in my prayers to. Hope you are doing well. Oh yeah, I got a new car to ;) it’s a 2014 Ford Focus, I like it it’s pretty nice. Remember, forget about yourself and go to work! The mission is your time to give back to the Lord. Think about all that he has done for you and blessed you with, now how are you going to repay him? That’s how you should be on your mission. You are not out there on your own time, you are on the Lord’s time. You are not out there to do what you want to do, you are to do what the Lord wants you to do. Always be seeking his will, and you will see his hand in the work, and witness many miracles.
Love you! XOXO Tyrell

Hello Mina,
We watched some of Coco before Tyrell left to sleep at Tyler’s house. Then we watched Fantastic Beasts: The  Crimes of Grindelwald. For Memorial Day, we went across the street because a bagpipe band was performing at the cemetery. Then we went to Uncle Scott’s for lunner. We went on a walk on the trail. Erana and I had piano lessons on Tuesday. For Young Women, we planned stuff for the Talent Show and then we went our separate ways in our classes (beehives, mia maids, and laurels). The Mia Maids did pedicures. We soaked our feet in warm water while eating cinnamon rolls and then got feet massages with lotion. After that, we got our nails and toenails painted. Mom, Erana, and I went to Target, Lucky’s, and the Bank on Thursday. Then we went with Jaxon to the castle park (which there IS NO CASTLE!!! because they tore it down) because mom doesn’t want him and his girlfriend Katya to be alone. After that, Tausala had a pizza party so they can thank us for coming to both shows to perform. We went behind the building outside to eat and play games. Jaxon, Erana, and I saw Aladdin at Regal on Friday. Yesterday, we went to King Buffet for Kage’s birthday. Then we went to his house to sing happy birthday and have ice cream cake. His grandparents were there and they brought Aggie, their golden retriever. She got chubby and old. Her fur is turning white. Dad told Tyrell to bring the cricket set, so we played cricket in their backyard. Erana and I stayed longer and dad, mom, Tyrell, and Jaxon went home. We played Minecraft in survival found a very deep cave. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!
Love, Leila XOXO

Hi Mina,
Are you having fun and seeing some relatives?  We went to King Buffet for Kages meal it was Kages b-day after that we went to his house did some active stuff and then we had the best store bought cake ever and it was a cookies and cream ice cream cake and you could barely taste the frosting it was so good then kage opened our present he already opened the other presents then Mom and Dad and Tyrell and Jaxon left we stayed to play some more then we had to go.
Love Erana xoxoXoXoxOxO

6/9/19

Hi Mina, 

I ate way too much these last days, I feel GINORMOUS!!! Had Vuna Schaap’s farewell he’s going to Japan. He gave a great talk. Then we went and ate in their backyard, which is so beautiful. I sat and talked with Uncle Jono and Aunty Louisa they are so funny I love being with them. Last night went to Tama Peterson’s wedding reception at ‘This is the Place’ it was a Luau and had the ‘Salty Pineapple’ food truck cater. It was really cold outside though. Hiona performed we did a couple of oldies and then the guys did the haka and messed up!! LOL 

We went to Vernal on Thursday for Erana’s Birthday she turned 9yrs she opened her bag of goodies and violin and bike that morning before we left we stayed at the Dinosaur Inn, their pool was being fixed so we couldn’t swim but they had the best yummiest breakfast, eggs any way you want, sausage, ham, bacon, hash browns, waffles, pancakes, hot cocoa etc…. Went to the Dino National Monument and the girls got some ‘Junior Ranger’ books to fill out and earn some badges and patches. In town we had dinner at the ‘Wood fire grill’ it was good, the steak was yummy. Then we went to the ‘Heritage Museum’ and then to the Library and looked at a ‘Pigeon exhibit about WWI & WWII. They had a band playing just outside and every Vernal entrepreneur kid selling their lemonade, popcorn, choco’s etc and they were going to have a movie in the park as well. Jay and I left the kids there and went to Ross lol I bought Erana an outfit and me a pretty summer dress. 

Went to ‘Red Canyon’ visitors center and the girls filled out a book there and got a patch. Then went to ‘Flaming Gorge’ and went on the tour. And then on the way back that’s when Dad got sick!! haha

We had a nice time in Vernal and Dad wants to go back every year till he’s done all these pamphlet ideas on what to do in Vernal! Lol

Nice talking with you sorry this is long you don’t have to read it all seeing we already told you! Lol We love you take care be safe and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost! 

Love Mum and Dad! xxx

Hi Mina, 

This week was pretty boring for me. The family went on  a vacation without me. I stayed home and worked.Haven’t gone on another date yet. I was supposed to go on three this week but they all fell through. Tama’s wedding was really fun, that was about the only fun I had the whole week. I’m going to be a groomsman for Josh so looking forward to that, oh yeah Ariana got a thousand dollar bengal cat and its part leopard haha, it has the leopard spots its pretty cool. Anyways love you and hope you have a great week, stay safe! 

Love Tyrell XOXO

Hello Mina,

We watched the rest of Coco and then a little bit of the Hobbit. Erana and I had Tausala on Monday. We had piano lessons on Tuesday and I finished making my bloomers! They’re not perfect, but I’m just so happy to have made something myself with a little bit of help! We went to Zion and Kai’s high school graduation on Wednesday. Then Kage and Dray played over a little bit. Aunty Heather took us to Sodalicious to get a soda and a cookie. We did a Trek activity for YW, and they told us to come in our pioneer clothes if we had them. We had peach cobbler and ice cream for our treat. We sang happy birthday to Erana on Thursday and she opened presents. Then we went to Vernal and looked at a lot of dinosaur places. We ate at a buffet for Erana’s birthday dinner. We saw interesting pigeons in a building by our hotel. One had curly feathers, and two others had long feathers coming from their feet. We watched a magic show that was going on and he wasn’t very good. He screwed up once and I saw how two of his tricks worked. On Friday, we went to Flaming Gorge and got a tour of a dam. It was very beautiful. We saw bighorn sheep close up. Yesterday, we went back to Dinosaur National Monument that we went to on Thursday. Mom had Erana and I do these Junior Ranger books that she bought from the Dinosaur National Monument to fill out so we can earn badges and patches. There was a Dinosaur activity book, a Night activity book, a Fishing activity book, and a Paleontologist activity book. The Dinosaur, Night, and Fishing book each had a pledge, and I memorized them all. Erana and I earned a patch for filling out an activity book from Flaming Gorge. When we got there, I didn’t have to memorize them and we only said one pledge, which was the Dinosaur activity book. We earned three badges and one patch. Then we went to a Museum near our hotel. They had an activity book too, so Erana and I filled them out and got another patch. I learned a lot of things from those Junior Ranger books like light pollution and the life of different types of stars. It was pretty cool to do those and earn stuff. After that, we went back home and went to Tama’s wedding reception. Today, we went to a cousin’s Farewell. He’s Aunty Olga's youngest. Maya and Gracie are sleeping over. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Leila XOXO

Hello egg,

On Wednesday we went to Kai and Zions graduation. After the graduation I went with Aunty Heather and Uncle Scott to Paradise Buffet to eat with Zion and Kai and their family. On Thursday we went to Vernal and saw the fossils on the wall at the Dinosaur Quarry. After that we went to the WoodFire Grill Buffet for Eranas birthday, it was surprisingly good lol. Then on Friday we woke up early to eat breakfast. The hotels breakfast was delicious! Later that day we went to go see a lot of nature things lol. We went on hikes and we went to the Flaming Gorge Dam, it was a little scary because of how high it was lol. On Saturday we went to the Dinosaur Museum, it was pretty cool. Then we drove back home and got ready for Tamas wedding. The wedding was fun and the food was yummy. But when we did the haka it was embarrassing because we did ka mate once through and then everyone stopped but then uncle Scott kept going so then we did it again lol. I got to hangout with Zion and with Charbris kids, Grayson, Ari, and Taeya. Api has a cute son named Kyden. Today we went to Vuna Schaap’s farewell. Me, Kage, Jonah, Dray, Vuna, and his friend played the clap game with the rugby ball. They had pork and salad. The pork was really good. Ariana has a cool kitten that looks like a leopard. That’s basically everything I can remember lol, hope you have a great week! 

Love, Jaxon XOXO

 

6/16/19

Hi Mina,
We had Gracie and Maya sleep over at the beginning of the week, then Maya and Jonah at the end. The girls had a couple Tausala shows. Josh's fiance Louisa had her bridal shower Saturday. Mum brought me home some left over chicken and waffles. That's what Louisa likes. It was like chicken tenders and Waffle Love waffles. We went to the pool and I had my first sun tan for the summer. I was out for 2 hours in 80 degree sun and didn't get burned, not like I did in NZ in 30 minutes in 70 degree cloudy weather. We also bought another tree to replace ones that died. I think these new trees are going to grow good. The roots are so much better. I had a steak pie, cinnamon roll and yoghurt for my Father's Day breakfast this morning. It was Stake Conference today. Hope all is well.
Love you, Dad and Mum.

Hello Mina,

We went to free lunch and then we went to the pool. They painted the slide and now it’s yellow and blue. We had 2 pretzels with nacho cheese. Maya left before Erana and I had Tausala practice. Erana and I had piano lessons on Tuesday. We went to that free dentist place that we went to last year and had cookies, chips, creamies, soda, and corndogs. Then we went to the pool with Kage. Kage played over for a while and Gracie went home. We went to free lunch and then Erana and I had a Tausala show at this country club on Wednesday. I was one of the greeters who had to say ‘Aloha’ and put lei’s on people who entered. Jonah and Maya came when the show ended and we ate the food that was there, which was Mo’Bettahs. Then Maya and Jonah slept over. On Thursday, we went to free lunch and then went to the pool. Erana and I went to our first class of Tahitian, because we went to Vernal during the last one. It was easy, but hard. After that, we went to Kapa Haka and had some Sagato’s. We went to free lunch and then to Bluetopia which is the Jetblue party by the pool that we went to last year. Jonah and I played 9 squares, got in those big ball thingies, went on a bull ride, played ping pong, did an escape room with other people, and went rock climbing. Then we swam at the pool and had cream cheese pretzels. We saw John there, he’s the guy who tells the other life guards when to whistle at the same time for us to get out. Jonah, Jaxon, and I played Minecraft 'till 3 in the morning! Yesterday, we went to Louisa’s bridal shower and we had Waffle Love and fried chicken. Erana and I had a Tausala performance at that horse place that we performed at when you used to dance with us. Aunty Fina was so proud of us. Mom bought us Wendy’s for dinner. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Leila XOXO

Hello egg,

Nothing much happened this week. Maya and Jonah slept over for 3 days. We just went to free lunch and this one Maxfield Orthodontist party. They had yummy corndogs. Katya came over to our house to hangout. I showed her Toys of Fury and Toys of Fury 2. And then we watched Spiderman Homecoming. That’s everything for today, hope you have a nice week. 

Love, Jaxon XOXO

Hi Mina,
I hope you are seeing lots of relatives.  On Saturday Leila and I had a show and before that we had Joshua’s feonce’s bridal shower it was disney theme because we wore minnie mouse ears I wore nightmare before christmas ears Leila was trying to match her ears with her clothes. 

Love Erana xoxoXoXoxOxO

Hi Mina,

It’s your big bro. This week was a good one. I’m house sitting Uncle Scott’s and Uncle Jared’s house> I gotta take care of Bronx, and Uncle jared’s bird. I’ve also been sleeping over at there places to and eating their food haha. On Thursday I went to Kapa Haka, ever since my trip to New Zealand before my mission, I’ve gained a desire to learn and embrace my maori culture more. I might be going on a date this week with a girl named abbie. Anyways that’s pretty much it. We are watching all the Hobbits and Lord of the Rings for our family movies right now. Love you! Stay Strong!

Tyrell Wihongi XOXO

 

  

 

6/23/19

Hi Mina,
Since Leila will explain the whole week I will just write a little. We went to the Taylorsville pool a little but had to leave after a couple of hours because of a lightning bolt in the very far distance and then the next time we went we were there for about just an hour because of a chemical imbalance in the pool! lol  Haven’t been working a whole lot because it’s summer and I don’t want to work a lot! lol Dad wants me to work more though but too bad! lol Nice seeing and talking with you today and with Aunty and Uncle, there excited to be going to NZ, hope you’re able to have lunch with them. Julie bought by some Japanese treats for you and bought Dad yummy passionfruit cheesecake and cake for Father’s day, and took the kids to a farm. Well gotta go having family prayer.
Love you Mum and Dad xxx

Hello Mina,
We went to stake conference. We watched the rest of the Hobbit 2 and the Hobbit 3. Then we watched Ephraim’s Rescue. We went to free lunch on Monday with Kage and Dray and then we went swimming. We played over at their house after. Erana and I had piano on Tuesday, I forgot what we did after that because I’m writing this on Sunday, and I wrote the beginning of my letter on the days that I did those stuff. I went to free lunch with Kage and Dray and then we went to the pool. We went on a hike on Ensign Peak for YW. We had donuts for a treat. Aunty Heather took Erana and I with them to Jonah’s house on Thursday and we played there for a while. Then we went to Kage’s and Jonah was with us. Erana and I had our Tahitian dance class and Kapa Haka. Erana and I slept over at Kage’s house. On Friday, we went to the wAIRhouse and then we went to a delicious ice cream place called Cold Stone. We slept over one more night. Julie came to pick Erana and I up to go to the farm. We bottle fed baby cows. Julie’s mom made noodles for our lunch. Kage’s family came over for dinner today. I think I forgot a few stuff, sorry about that. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!
Love, Leila XOXO

Hi Mina,
Today Aunty Heather and Uncle Scott and Kage and Dray came over for dinner after that when they left we watched the new movie called “ The Upside” it was a little funny but it was a little boring to then we watched “Shazam” only a little little little bit then we said prayer and then Leila and Jaxon are making their lunch for tomorrow cause their leaving for trek.
Love Erana xoxoXoXoxOxO

6/30/19

Hi Mina,

It’s been a nice week and busy too, Jaxon and Leila went to Trek Mon-Wed. Jamie and Gracie stayed Mon-Thursday. Leila and Jaxon were all dirty when they got home and pooped! But they loved it. Thursday was Maya’s baptism and she sang ‘Gethsemane’ after she was baptized. Friday went to Taylorsville dayzz and we got KFC and sat over in our usual spot. Girls went in the petting zoo and went on rides. We listened to ‘rock the 80’s’ and then watched the fireworks which was cool. Saturday was Joshua and Louisa’s wedding in the Timpanogos Temple it was a beautiful day and we had a lot of photos taken. Reception was in another nursery it was nice inside though. We performed with Hiona, only 3 people showed up to perform so Dad and Jaxon also joined in Tyrell didn’t want to, but we did awesome! Louisa was trying to set Tyrell up with her bff from England, and he was dancing next to her but in a group. 

Jaxon gave an awesome talk today about Trek - thanks to Dad who corrected and added to his talk so it makes sense! Lol. For Tyrells bday we just have a picture of his mission that Ariana painted and a tie and then will transfer some money to his bank. Of course we have TresLeches for his cake. 

Well we love you and pray for you keep up the good work.
Love Mum and Dad xxx

Hello Mina,

Trek was very fun! My family’s color was dark blue and we were the Lee Family. My parents were Jared and Jaqueline and my siblings were Sam Ballard, Colin, Camden, Bryn, Kenadi, and Makena (sorry I don’t know the other’s last names). We had lots of fun and we had yummy food too. Throughout the three days of Trek, we learned about stories of pioneers like Levi Savage and Ephraim Hanks. My favorite story that we listened to was by Eric who was in a wheelchair because he was paralysed from the chest down from diving into a wave in Hawaii and he dislocated his neck. His story was about how he overcame those trials. We did Square dancing on the first day and played pioneer games on the second day. The missionary games were stilts, sawing, lassoing, and other stuff I don’t know what they’re called. I played missionary tag with a group at nighttime, it was really fun. On the third day, we did the Women’s Pull in a deep, dusty, sandy, long trail. Then the men carried us over a “river”. I loved Trek and would definitely do it again. I got 14 bug bites from it. I forgot to say that we would wake up to bagpipes. Erana and I went to Tahitian practice after we got back from Trek and mom got us Arctic Circle. Gracie and Jamie were there when we got back and we decided to play and sleep at Kage’s house since they were gone. We went to Mia’s baptism on Thursday and she sang Gethsemane and she did a great job. We ate at their house afterwards. We went to Taylorsville Dayzz on Friday and we bought some KFC for dinner. Erana and I did the petting zoo, ferris wheel, and 2 more rides. Then we watched the show and the fireworks. Yesterday, we went to the Timpanogos Temple to have pictures with Josh and Louisa. We went to their house for about 30 minutes, and then we went to reception. The garden place was better than Serina’s in my opinion. The food was yummy and we did great in our maori performance. We danced a lot and we saw Louisa’s dad dance and it was so funny, my favorite part of the wedding. We lit the sparklers and said goodbye to Josh and Louisa. Today, we had ice cream at the linger longer. I hope you have a great week, stay safe! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Leila XOXO