Email from Mom: Saturday, January 21, 2023

From: Mom
To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org
Date: Saturday, January 21, 2023
Subject: Swapsies?

Hey!

Happy Saturday to you. How are you this week? How are things going? I know that you must have had a small setback with having to travel for your companions Visa but how was the week with your ami's? How are things in your Dassa?

This week has hit my heart pretty hard with how quickly time is going by. I get up every morning and I see the countdown on my phone of your mission. I knew Kaitlyn was going to get engaged this week and on top of all of it, we finish Middle School this year and we NEVER have to go back!! I don't know, just lots of thoughts with how I can bottle up the moments I do have right now, cherish those that we have shared, and trying to compile ideas of things to do in the future in order to bottle up even more memories. Can you believe you only have 136 days left? I would love to hear your thoughts on what kind of goals (if you have any) you have set to try and accomplish in these short few days left. What kind of things do you want to be certain to do before you head home? Are you feeling ready to come home? What are some of your goals/plans when you get here? Is there anything I can do for you now to help facilitate some of those wants/goals?

Other than 'Mom's heart' coming into play this week, it has been a good week here. Brooklynh didn't have school Monday or Tuesday and she loved that. She is definitely feeling the 9th grade blah....she is ready to be done and ready for Summer for sure. She dropped Spanish this week too and found out that Mr Workman is sad and may even send her a personal email to invite her to come back to class. I know for certain that she will say no way no way no no no!! But I do think it is good for her to hear that a teacher values her and appreciates her and enjoyed having her in class. She is funny and I am really enjoying watching her as she continues to grow up way too fast.

Brooklyn wants to go on her birthday to take her permit test so I printed off the driving handbook for her and showed her the website to take practice tests. Anyways, she stood at the top of the stairs to announce that she took her first test and got like 88%. Then she decided later that she would take another one and got 90 something. She is feeling pretty good and I love to see her happy and excited. Tyler sent her a text one day this last week and told her to take another one and send him the score so she did. And she got 100%!!! He told her "you can't cheat" and she was hilarious when she said "you go take it". So he did...and he got like 80 something percent. We all died laughing. So freaking funny. She wants a new piercing in her ear so I made her a deal that if she passes her test I will take her and get it done for part of her birthday. I love that she is going to be 15 and I cannot wait to see where a drivers license will take her. She wants to get a job and I am sure that with some money in her pocket and a car to drive she will never be home. Just more of the time passing too quickly moments. Ahhhh

Tuesday felt like the LONGEST day ever. I knew Eric was planning to propose and Kaitlyn had school until 5:15pm. I knew part of his plan was outside so I seriously kept pacing and waiting for a call to come in! Tyler left for young mens (they went to the Mission Presidents house to learn what it is to do his calling...totally cool btw) and finally her FaceTime came in. She was acting like it was just a normal call to say  hello but B and I were like 'so...what do you have to say? Why did you really call?' and she just beamed with happy when she showed us her ring on her finger. I am so so happy for them both. I am also so proud of Kaitlyn for recognizing that she wasn't 'stuck' with a relationship with Brittan. 4 years is a LONG time to date someone and you almost expect everything to end up in marriage and life you know? Eric is so good to her and he is good have in life. I am grateful she put herself and her wants and dreams first. The Lord made up for the questions she had in her mind in the end and sent the perfect person to compliment her life. I can't wait for you to meet him. You will love him too. :)

With all of this happening for Kaitlyn I of course think of what is next for you. I know you talk of moving down to UVU with one of your companions and I am sure that will come with dating plenty of girls too. Do you think about that kind of stuff? Is marriage something you want? What kind of qualities do you want in a spouse? I am sure you have had great examples of women in your life as they have helped you in these last 2 years. I pray you realize your worth and that you will be able to put yourself and your dreams at the forefront as you come back into real life and I hope you will never settle for what you think should happen. Never ever settle in life. No matter what it is that the situation is...settling is never an option. :)

Tyler is in LA for a show that hopefully will bring new suppliers to our work world. Things have slowed down so much that even the Jane 'moms' that come into fill orders (Reagan, Marci, etc) have been told that they aren't needed. Sad and hard but it is what it is and we just have to make changes for our bottom line. I know a paycheck is needed in homes but it is needed in our house too first and foremost. It is hard but it is also business too you know? I have been building a new 'cookier' Etsy store all of this last week while Tyler has been busy building a new store of his own too. Hoping to have the both of them up and running by the end of next week. You forget how much work goes into getting a store set up and 'findable'. There are millions of stores on that site and you need to have key words in certain places ( I think there are like 13 or 14 ) on your store in order to play with the big ones you know? It's a lot when you have even just 50 products you want to load. Anyways...plenty of work to happen in order to get revenue coming back in. It has been good for us both to have something to focus on again and to really pour ourselves into. Good for our brains to be moving at the paces they are. Ha ha ha...

I have a nail appointment this afternoon and Brooklyn is planning to make and decorate a cake to look like a cover from The Weekend. It's his Starface cover. She is obsessed with him and I love that she is going to attempt this. Maybe we will save it for dessert for tomorrow night since Kaitlyn and Eric are coming to dinner. That would be awesome!! Tyler lands at 10:15pm tonight (ugh...so late!) and I will have to go get him. I am hoping there isn't any snow or ice on the ground when I leave that late at night. It is cold here at home. Highs in the low low 20's and it just sets down on the valley you know? We had snow yesterday but today it is just bitter cold. It is times like this that I hold onto your countdown for sure! I feel like if I can see that you have 136 days left and that puts us in June, we plan to open the pool in April so it will be warm enough then...that puts me like 65-70 days of cold and then the sunshine comes out and this brutal Winter season we have had this year can go into the past! Fingers crossed anyways.

Well...I won't keep you any longer. I have you in my thoughts in prayers always. I know that life must be moving at warp speed for you too and I pray you are taking full advantage of the hours of the days you have left. I am hopeful that we will be able to chat, even if it is just on Messenger, on Monday. Enjoy the warm weather for the both of us! Never forget you have your #1 cheerleader here at home and that I love you very very much.

Have a great Sunday tomorrow! Talk to you soon.

Mom