We are Thankful

Dear Family,

We're happy to report that we've had a good week. We've worked every day, enjoyed FHE with the senior couples, went on a great excursion to the New Territories and have had a quiet Sabbath. All is well in Hong Kong as we look forward to Thanksgiving week.

This morning as we were sitting not he couch watching the cousins dance-asking line-dance for the third time, and laughing harder every time, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about today, and what I was most grateful for this Thanksgiving week: Technology! Yay for technology!!!


I couldn't help but think about my grandparents, Reese and Ruby,  who went on a mission when I was in 7th grade, and your grandparents, Lowell and Renee, who went on a mission when I was pregnant with AJ. I'm not sure I every even wrote any of them a letter, and phone calls if any, were few and far between.  As I kept thinking about it I realized all the things they for sure never got to see pictures of or participate in that Dad and I have come to expect, to look forward to, and to depend on:

School plays!

Injuries reports!


Ball game trash talk!



Watching birthday presents get opened


Family vacations!


Dance Recitals!



Primary Programs!

So many dance pictures..from ALL the high schoolers!  Plus the conversations about dresses and shoes.


Peeking in on grandkids reading in bed!

Fall colors in real time!

Celebrating mountain tops!

Listening to beautiful musical numbers in Sacrament Meeting!

Or a surprise picture of a granddaughter for no reason, except that she's cute!

 
How about sharing the moment 3 brothers get an online lesson from their brother on a mission.


Or actually get to talk to the missionary who's in Guatemala!!!! 


More Primary Programs.

Even conversations about persimmons!


And thank you to the BeRealer's who give us a daily dose of life!


It's hard to overstate how great it feels when Gemma comes running out of her room yelling "Pampa, Grandma!!" just because she hears our voices on FaceTime....


....Or when we get to see Rosie take her first steps, and then a few days later she squeals and kicks her legs until she can see us again on the phone.

This Thanksgiving we feel so very grateful for you and for technology!!


For generations (even a couple of centuries) grandparents and parents have been going on missions and leaving their families behind, but they did it with little, and sometimes no communication from home. How grateful we are this Thanksgiving weekend for you and for the technology that keeps you in our lives on a daily basis. The ball games, tours of new houses, baptisms and baptism lessons, musical numbers of all kinds, going through  the mail, or going on walks with you brings a huge smiles to our days. We are profoundly grateful for our time in Hong Kong. We love every experience we are having here and we wouldn't want to trade it for anything, but thank you every phone call, every text, and every FaceTime. They are magic.

Please enjoy your turkey and pies this week, we will enjoy our dumplings and noodles!

We love you most!!!

Mom and Dad/ Grandma and Pampa


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