Latvia, Alex Is On His Way

Families can be together forever! 

As I am writing this post, we are celebrating Thanksgiving Day (I know, super late). I am so grateful for our family! 

Grateful for Alex and his commitment to serve the Lord. 

At the end of May, Alex received his endowments at the Raleigh Temple. It so happened that Babusia was still in town and so she and Mark were able to be with us right before the temple session. 

It was good to have them both. 

Our beautiful kids! 

And the proud parents of this awesome kid! 

We celebrated Alex this night as it's a huge step in one's life to go through the temple. 

After the session, here is a picture of those Alex invited to attend with him, special people to him. 

And here we go--it's getting more real! Alex and his Latvian flag! 

And a really cool name tag. 

On Jun 16th, 2024, Alex got set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. President Bingham set him apart. 

It was a very moving experience for us all. President Bingham said some beautiful words and emphasized how Alex will love the Latvian people with his whole heart.

Introducing Elder Watson. 

Alex and Mark. It will be hard to say goodbye. 

Almost everyone together. Missing Katya. 

And a special picture of Mama and Elder Alex Watson. 

Alex started his Home MTC on Jun 17th and had it for a little over a week. Alex was still able to do a bunch of normal things during his breaks--like making crepes with Mark. I love this picture. 

We had a lot to prepare and a lot to get done before Alex left, but somehow we managed everything and Alex did all the packing and decision making on his own. He was very organized and helped me buy things on his list, which I appreciated.

Latvia is getting a good one! 

 

Katya's Special Day--Temple Day

This post is dedicated to one very special event--Katya going through the temple for the first time. It's a monumental day for those of our faith and I can't describe the feeling of joy that I felt when I was helping Katya at the temple. It's incredibly moving to be sitting next to your daughter who you remember from baby-baby through all the stages of life and realizing you are sitting next to an young woman who has become this amazing person. 

August 2, 2022. Raleigh, North Carolina temple. 

We all took a bunch of pictures before the temple session. 

No one canceled modeling photo shoots in front of the temple:)

Katya was so happy because Everett, her older cousin who just got off his mission, was able to be there at the temple with us! It was so great to have his support. 

And Katya's favorite people--the Martins (Sophie's parents) were there. She also invited Emily Blodgett but didn't get a picture, sadly. 

Wishing Katya all the best in the next page of her life. 

I am grateful for the temple, grateful for the choices that Katya is making, grateful for the blessings that the temple covenants have brought into my life and my family's life. This special occasion helped me reflect on my own commitments and faith and reminded me about when I went through the temple before I got married, in September of 2001, at Mt. Timpanogos Temple. 

Bye for now. 

 

Washington DC 2022

I am writing this almost three years later! And I didn’t even go on the trip-haha.

I was originally going to go while my mom was here recovering from her dental surgery, but unfortunately, she had some complications and I needed to stay behind. It was for the best and it really helped her! 

Robert and the kids drove to DC mainly for the temple open house, but they also had a plan to explore some of the DC sights.

So on Friday evening, they did a Night Walking Tour and they said it was incredible to see the monuments lit up with stories accompanying them.

The following morning, they drove to the open house to see the inside of the LDS Temple in DC after it was renovated. 

It wasn’t the first temple that they saw inside but it was definitely the biggest one.

After that...it’s going to be short and sweet as I have no idea exactly what the order of things was-haha. 

 

They visited the National Air and Space Museum.

And they met up with James and Michelle and family who drove up from Georgia to see the open house as well! 

Always so fun to see cousins! 

They hung out quite a bit by the ping pong tables set up for the public to use with the views of the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. 

And the gigantic foosball table. 

This is such a cool picture.

I told you it will be short and sweet because it took THREE years for anyone who went on this trip to write the blog post-hahaha. But I can’t let things stay unfinished, so this is the last post I am missing that’s older than a year. Success! 

 

What’s New With Mark?

Mark started out this year with a huge HUGE event of his life! He got ordained to be a deacon, which in our church means that he received the priesthood and officially became a Young Man. The rule is that you get to join the Young Men’s organization the year you turn 12, and although Mark’s birthday is not until December 28, he still gets to leave primary and be in youth. He was so excited for this change! In our ward, something like ten boys became deacons at the beginning of January. 

One wonderful thing for Mark is that you are allowed to enter the temple and do baptisms for the dead the year you turn twelve.


My two boys! Only a little over three years apart in age!

One Friday evening we went to the temple as a family and Robert was able to baptize all three kids for some of our ancestors. It was one of the sweetest experiences that I will never forget.

I actually have been very amazed with how much Mark is enjoying the young men's responsibilities such as administering the Sacrament, planning activities and conducting meetings. He is a solid young man according to his youth leaders--always ready to help and learn. I am very happy he is finding joy and friendships at church.

While I am on Mark’s page here, let me share a few more pictures. 

The school sent this picture with all of Mark’s school pictures taken at this school. Our cute Markovka is growing up! 

Also this winter, Mark made a decision to scale back his tennis training a tiny bit for two months and add basketball to the mix. It’s a great way to cross train, but it does make our life busier and makes him sacrifice some of the big winter tournaments as the games are on Saturdays. Mark was on the 11-12 team this year, as one of the younger kids. He did amazingly well, as expected! He is just naturally athletic and very fast. We absolutely love watching him! He actually scores quite a bit:)

He is number 12. The team name was “The Satellites”.

Mark has had quite an audience of people who came to see him play on separate occasions. Starting with Cameron and then Ms. Beickert, Caralyn (his tennis friend) and Waverly (his classmate and friend from the neighborhood). It’s always more fun when people come to support you! He has already decided he will be doing another season of basketball next year, probably one last time as the next level up plays on Sundays;).

And that’s how Mark has been spending his winter months:) 

Lyana.