Austin's mission call!

On December 23 we received the letter in the mail we had been waiting for!!!! It was a large white envelope addressed to Elder Austin Michael Lynn...we had only been waiting 2 weeks since we had submitted his papers so we were a little surprised to have received his call so quickly!  We waited until that evening for him to open the envelope and find out where he had been called to.  There was a lot of anticipation building up to it.  He opened the envelope and read his call to Korea Seoul South Mission! To report to the MTC in Provo, Utah on February 26! What???!!! That is only 8 weeks away and Korea! Wow! We were surprised and thrilled and a bit overwhelmed.  Austin will be an amazing missionary. He is ready to give the Lord his all and I know it won't be easy for him or us (esp. his poor mom who is going to miss him tons!) but, I know 100% that this is what  he should be doing.  I can't think of a better way for my 18 year old son to spend the next 2 years of his life than dedicating to the Lord.  We are so proud of the young man Austin has become.

Austin is 18!!!

Yikes! The time truly has flown by!

Austin celebrated his 18th birthday on December 8! 

18 things about Austin:

1.  Austin is an amazing young man who is always considerate of those around him!

2.  Austin is a strong leader.

3.  He has a knack for knowing when his mom is stressed and pitching in to lighten my load!

4.  Austin has always been close with all of his teachers or leaders at church.

5.  Austin loves to sing!

6.  He also knows how to play piano.

7.  Austin is a fabulous writer.

8.  Austin is a wonderful big brother who is always trying to set the best example he can for his younger siblings.

9.  He is teaching himself to play the Ukulele.

10.  Austin is an Eagle Scout and he earned it on his own without our help.

11.  He loves to give service.

12.  He loves Chicken haystacks.

13.  He loves desserts with peanut butter. (esp. the peanut butter bars his Mimi makes)

14.  He loves to read.

15.  He loves movies.

16.  He still tells us that he loves us no matter who is around him.

17.  He loves the Lord and is not scared to show those around him his testimony.

18.  He has chosen to serve a 2 year mission for the Lord.

We are so very proud of Austin and the man he has become!

Austin's Graduating! (December 6)

My oldest child has graduated!   My first home schooled kiddo and he made it (of course we knew he would)!!  We had a fun little ceremony at the house where he performed a vocal musical number, we presented him with his diploma, both his grandmas shared a few words about him and then his father and I shared with him how proud we are of him for the amazing young man he has become.  I also admonished him to continue to learn and educate himself throughout his life!  Then we had the "fun" part...his open house.  It was a lot of fun. He had lots of people come and congratulate him!

We truly are very proud of Austin.  He has applied to BYU Provo and Idaho.  Hopefully we will find out if he is accepted here in the next couple months or so.  Austin is an amazing person.  He was not always the easiest kid to parent as he definitely thinks outside of the box which sometimes confounded us as parents.  But I love him just the way he is and wouldn't change a thing about him!  He plans to serve a mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and then attend college.  The colleges he has chosen will defer for 2 years while he is out serving the Lord.  I am excited and scared all at the same time.  This is my first child all grown up and ready to leave home.  I don't know if I am ready!!! Sometimes I wish I could turn the clock back and slow things down a bit.  I can not believe that my baby is going to be out on his own.  I truly feel blessed that Lord put him in our family for us to learn from one another.    

Noel's 7th Birthday (November 2)

We had a fun family birthday with Noel this year. We decided to go to the zoo and it was a blast.

7 things about Noel

1.  Noel is mom's biggest helper.

2.  Noel likes to be a little mommy to Tyler.

3.  She loves to just hang out with mom or dad.

4.  She is best friends with her sister Grace.

5.  She loves to learn.

6.  She has a sweet, shy disposition.

7.  She loves to do cartwheels, 5 million of them, every day, all over the house!

We love our sweet Noel!

Charity's 14 Birthday (August 22)

Our sweet Charity has turned into a lovely young lady.  

We are so proud of the young woman she is becoming.

14 things about Charity:

1. She is an amazing big sister. 

2.  She loves to read.

3.  She wants to join the military when she grows up.

4.  She finished her Personal Progress in 2013!

5.  She has beautiful hair halfway down her back.

6.  She has a compassionate heart.

7.  She is a good friend.

8.  She is an amazing daughter who is thoughtful of her parents.

9.  She has a servants heart.

10.  She wants to graduate early.

11.  She loves political stuff...(she didn't get that from me)

12. She adores her big brother. (she may not admit it but it's obvious)

13.  She is hilarious when we watch movies. She gets so into the movie you can't help but giggle with her or get startled when she screams!!!

14.  She is an amazing, beautiful daughter of God. 

We are so blessed to have had the privilege of raising our sweet Charity and are grateful we still have at least 4 more years with her!

Tyler's 2nd Birthday (August 2)

Tyler is an amazing little boy who looooves his big brothers and sisters.  He kind of a thing for his mom too! ;)  He is a bit spoiled with all these older sibling to dote on him but, I guess that is the way it goes when you are the baby.  Tyler loves to play with cars.   He also loves to play outside.  He is a bit shy around those he doesn't know and takes a while to warm up to people but, once he does he can be kind of crazy.  We love this little guy so much and love watching his personality continue to develop! 

 2 other things about Tyler

1. He loves to pretend he is a dog!

2.  He loves to give kisses but, first he HAS to make a fish face with his lips all puckered up and that is how you get to be kissed!!

 He's not so sure about this whole cake thing!

He quickly decided he was ok with it after he tasted a bite!

Grace's 9th Birthday (August 1)

This little girl of ours as vibrant as they come!  She keeps us on our toes and we love it!  

9 things about Grace

1.  Grace is not a shy girl...she is outgoing and says things like they are (according to her of course!)! 

2.  She is an amazing big sister.

3.  She loves to craft. (especially with tape)

4.  She loves the outdoors (which would be why she got all camping stuff for her birthday)

5.  She likes anything sporty.

6.  She is a bit of a tomboy.

7.  She talked us into getting 2 kittens in July and she adores them!

8. She is best friends with her sister Noel.

9.   She is my only child who is an early riser!

We are so grateful to have Grace as a part of our family.