Week #71 - Gabriella's Baptism, a Funeral, and more Rain

Gabriella's Baptism!

There are times Landon can't get an email off, but his camera can auto-send pictures if there is wifi (and while not as common as here in the USA, there are still some spots). So sometimes we get a picture of a written letter. So here's Elder Blackham's last week, in his own handwriting. Ironically, we've noticed he writes MORE when he writes and actual letter! (click on the image to enlarge). 

... you can see Landon included steps there at the end (as always, one of the "mommy" requirements) and here's how his steps stack up to family and friends this past week ....

*** Step Stats ***

For the first time in a loooong while, Mommy is in the top spot! I create a capture as soon as I receive and input Landon's step counts and even though that was several days ago (until today, when I'm actually updating the blog), I'm still holding! Cooper, Colton and Callahan are the only ones who made the Top10 from our immediate family (Keaton just missed, and Grayson's been struggling with pinched nerve pain). We've got our old neighbor's the Maxfields (Curt and Terrilynne) with impressive numbers. Tenille is Grayson's cousin. They've moved to Georgia, but are in Utah this week. I've seen her Facebook posts about family hikes, and seeing those steps show up here in the Top10. Uncle Chris loves the mountains and hiking too. Aunt Wendy nabs the final spot this week.

Cooper's Charge  band ripped, but Fitbit sent us out a replacement (upgrading to the ChargeHR). I do think band integrity has been an issue, as the new Alta has replaceable bands (it is replacing the Charge in the Fitbit market). Cooper would have preferred the new Alta, but has been liking some of the new feedback the ChargeHR provides too.

Personalized planners ... Landon wrote in his letter to me, that he is appalled that we haven't gotten "the girls" (the waverunners Suzy and Roxy) up to the lake yet this summer. He even selected a picture of him on Roxy for his current planner.

*** Between Brothers ***

Dear Landon, not much happened this week besides NBA stuff. In the draft, my favorite college player went to New Orleans, ugh. The first two picks were Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram. The third pick was surprising. It was Jaylen Brown, Cooper and I though it would be Khris Dunn or Jamal Murray would be the third pick. There has been a few trades but my favorite one was Victor Oladipo to the Thunder and two other players for Serge Ibaka. Kevin Durant is most likely going to go to Golden Staten or stay with Oklahoma however, he is meeting with a bunch of teams. That is all I got for this week because Summer is here and there is nothing to do. Love ya! ColtBolt

Dear Landon, now with The Finals taken care with, it's time for the draft and free agency. Free agency doesn't start for another week, so I'll keep you updated with the trades and draft picks right now. The draft had many surprising picks with people I've never heard of before. But Ben Simmons went at #1 (PHI), Ingram at #2 (LAL), Brown at #3 (BOS), Bender at #4 (PHX), Dunn at #5 (MIN), Hield at #6 (NOP), and Murray at #7 (DEN). I know you don't know them, but these were the main picks and I wanted to let you know. There has also been some big trades that have happened: Jeff Teague to IND/ George Hill to Utah/ the #12 to ATL. Derrick Rose to NYK  and two others/ Robin Lopez to CHI and two others. Thaddeous Young to IND. Serge Ibaka to ORL/ Victor Oladipo and two others to OKC. The most surprising one was definitely D-Rose being in a Knicks jersey, but it'll be cool. The one that effected me the most was Oladipo to OKC. If Durant stays, that'll make on heck of a big three. I was not feeling well this week, and I my legs were feeling kind of weak, so I didn't go to the church as much this week, but we still made some trips there. Colton and I like playing on the tramp, but it's summer so it is very hot. We put the sprinkler under it to cool us down, and when the tramp is wet, we jump like 2 times higher, so we play different games on it. Anyway, I'll update you next week on more of the free agency rumors and tell you where other people have been traded to.     Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, Dixie was way awesome but it seemed a lot shorter than last year. Out of all the CH teams, Varsity was the only team to win something. They won the 2-minute tournament this year. I remember winning it last year. It was way fun. No one won the whole thing, but the coaches didn't really care because it doesn't mean anything. The ride back was really hot in the bus because we couldn't figure out the AC until we were about half way home. It was still awesome though and I was put on a good team and I roomed with my friends. Star Wars Battlefront has gone through a bunch of patches and updates. I haven't played it for like 2 weeks. When I played it today, there was a bunch of different things. Doesn't matter though, it makes the game better and I'm still amazing lqtm. The Bespin update is almost released. If you have the Season Pass then you can have access to it right now. When I played it today I saw people with it because they were using some star cards that were only available if you had the DLC. So yeah... Wuv, Keat

• Dear Colton: Well, what do you WANT to do during the summer for fun? Make a list and make it happen! You need to do fun things so you can tell me all about them. Ha ha, New Orleans still gets first pick? Yikes, they haven't improved much.I don't know this Victor Oladipo, is he new? Kevin Durrant giong to Golden State? How would that work? Doesn't he play the same position as Curry?
• Dear Cooper: Basketball season never truly ends, does it? You are correct ... I don't know ONE of the players you mentioned! I do remember Derek Rose. That is pretty crazy that he'll be leaving Chicago and going to New York. But it is pretty cool about George Hill heading to Utah ... that is if he is still good! Enjoy summer, be careful with it being so hot!
• Dear Keaton: Time flies when you are having fun, so the saying goes! Yikes to be on a hot bus for a long time. Here, ALL the buses are HOT. It is a bit annoying with the constant updates, having to wait 30min for dowloads. Good you remembered it though. Be careful on the roads!

Week #70 - Meetings, Rain and Father's Day

This week wasn't quite as productive as the last, maybe because we lost quite a bit of time to meetings. I had an interview with the mission president at the stake center on Tuesday, Wednesday was our weekly planning, Thursday was Zone Conference ... nothing on Friday, so that was our best day. 

Tuesday after my interview, it was a downpour! It was NUTS. We wanted to wait it out, but we didn't have that option. Within seconds of leaving the stake center, we were soaking wet. So that was super fun ;)  The Zone Conference was probably the highlight of the week. One of the topics was marriage. Not for US missionaries of course, but for investigators, as living in a "free union" is common here in Mexico. If we can help investigators who are living together get married, baptisms would easily double! Especially for us (as I'll outline below). Sunday, we were only expecting two investigators to come, but we had a surprise of two others. That was pretty awesome.

To give a little update on the people we are working with. Gabriela is doing great. She is excited, we are excited and the whole ward is excited for her baptism coming up on Saturday. Evsevia accepted a baptismal date for the 23rd of July. We didn't get to see her this week, and she didn't make it to church though. Omar and Marisol are also doing well. We are hoping the 23 of July will also be a date they get married! As soon as that happens, Omar can be baptized. Another person to mention is Elizabeth, a young mother of two adorable little girls (ages 6 and 4). Right now she and her "husband" (they aren't married either) are living with her in-laws who are members. Elizabeth is desperately seeking, but scared to come to church. 

Happy Father's Day back home! Feliz dra de Padre! Here in Mexico we've seen too many families and children with no father present. I know I have been blessed to have my father in my life. He is one of the greatest teachers and mentors I have ever known. I know I wouldn't be who I am today without my father.

*** Between Brothers ***

Dear Landon, this week Cal and I are gonna be in Dixie! We leave tomorrow at 6:30 in the morning. It's going to be really hot all week long too. Like 110! Yesterday Shane and Alicia and the Jensen family came over to see the duckies, and today we're going to the annual Father's Day party at Scott and Amy's. This morning I drove on the roads for the first time. It was really easy because no one was out. It was like a 30 minute drive and I went on 3 freeways. The freeways weren't hard at all. The only thing that I still kinda struggle with is overturning. I usually turn too fast and everything in the car gets yanked. So yeah... Wuv, Keat

Dear Landon, The Finals has taken an unexpected turn and it is going into Game 7 at Oakland. The Cavs were facing elimination, and they did what they had to do and won two straight. And in both of those games, LeBron stepped up and got 41 points, not just one game, but two. He is leading every player in every stat in The Finals right now which means even if they lose, he still deserves Finals MVP. And a lot more basketball at the church. I'm wanting to learn more drills to do there,because it is fun to do them. I learned something in which you hold a tennis ball/racquetball in one hand and bounce a basketball in the other. While dropping the small ball, you do a dribble move and catch the small one before touching the ground, because you don't want it to bounce more than once. It's kind of complicated, but I caught on quickly. And I have been doing more drills involving dribbling two balls, which I think is fun to do, and helps with your ball-handling. Colton and I have been playing on the tramp a lot lately doing the ten-second game. It's basically like the five-second game in the living room that I've told you about, but on the tramp. It's so much more fun too, because we can dunk and block so much more. And I always posterize him and give him a dirty look after because it's funny. And he always trash talks me like he owns the game, but I will just swat him and he will forget about what he said and be scared of me.      Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, well we just finished watching the Game 7 of the finals and surprisingly Cavs pulled it off. They came back from a 3-1 lead and won game 7 by four points! Cooper keeps on joking that all of the Golden State fans are going to turn into Cleveland fans. Kyrie hit a clutch three with a minute left for the lead. When they got ball back, Kyrie fed Lebron for a dunk that he got fouled hard and hurt his shooting hand. He made only one of the free throws but still won the biggest game of his life. Cooper and I have been playing a lot on the tramp and doing fun things. Today I blocked him a lot but he is still much better than me. I really don't have much to say this week because nothing big happened besides the finals and that is the thing I really wanted to tell you about. Anyway, love you man!            ColtBolt

• Dear Keaton: Ah, Dixie, I'm sure basketball camp will be fun, but 110°? Be careful! You guys can be cooked alive at that temperature! I can't believe Dad took you driving on roads already. It's pretty cool behind the wheel huh? It will be weird for me to drive again when I get back, as I haven't driven for two years! Maybe I'll be as bad as you!
• Dear Cooper: Wow, I had completely forgotten the status of the finals! I just remember when it was 3-1 and thinking "Oh yea, Golden State's gonna take it" but boy was I wrong! Sounds like LeBron REALLY wanted another ring. Mom has mentioned all your practicing and drills, you are going to be a wicked-sick dribbler with mad skills! You guys and your games, they're sure silly, just don't let it get too intense!
• Dear Colton: I've heard a lot about the finals! Pretty crazy right? You know, I'd almost forgotten we even had a trampoline at home. It's good that you boys are using it.

Weeks #68 and #69

Sorry no letter last week, we were super sick but we finally got better and back to work. This last week was a lot better for us. I thought I'd share a little bit about who we are working with ...

Evsevia is about 30 years old with three kids. She has already talked to the missionaries a while back, but they only talked that one time. She came to church with us on Sunday.  Oman and Marisol ... Marisol is a member, reactivating in her old ward, Oamr, her husband is investigating the church. They moved here about three weeks ago. They are a very young couple, but they are living together, not married (common in Mexico). They came to church Sunday too. Then there is Alvario, a young man, 21 years old. We've known him for a while but just had the first lesson with him on Wednesday. He told us he's had an addiction problem since he was 10 years old.

Sunday almost the entire stake presidency and leaders of every organization showed up to our services. There were good talks the first two meetings, but then in priesthood, the stake president chewed out the priesthood holders of Teotlaltziana. It is a little surprising it is a ward, not a branch, but the stake president basically said that if attendance doesn't go up, if there aren't more full tithe payers and more people going to the temple that they will close the ward and divide the area into the neighboring wards. Yikes! I was a little worried about Omar, it being his first time and him not even a member, but he seemed okay. 

We had a district activity which was pretty fun. My companion and I took charge and made a quite successful "Minute to Win It" type activity. And just a quick shoutout to my Mom ... in the latest package I received, there was a little plastic frog game. When I saw them, I honestly thought "Ha, when sill I ever use these?"  But now I think that they are awesome. How we played, was everyone had their own frog and one by one they would try to make it into a little dish. We've now played with members, investigators and other missionaries. It is a hit! Who knew?

I guess that's it for this week.

Love you all. 

*** From the Brothers ***

06052016 #68

Dear Landon, now school is out. This week I had two really cool games. One was the championship against a team called Mayhem. They were are only loss throughout the whole season and we were their only loss. They started out the game with a 15-0 lead. We came back at the half still losing by 7, 21-28. At the end of the game, we lost by four points. 30-34. We almost won the title but we played good. One of Princess's kittens died. It is really sad. now there are only four little kittens. I got to hold one though. The Mamma duck and the babies left too, but we still have our six ducks. The warriors beat the Thunder to go to the Finals. Golden State took game one against the cavs and are probably going to go all the way for two years straight. That is all I got for this week so Love ya!          ColtBolt

Dear Landon, well the last week of school is over, and summer is finally here. I will miss school because I got to hang out with my friends everyday and play basketball. But in summer, I won't be doing it everyday. The school talent show was cool, and field day was really fun, and the hot weather is just amazing. We got our report cards, and I got all 4's once again in this term. So throughout the entire year, I only got two 3's, which I'm proud of. GSW won OKC in Game of the Conference Finals, which I'm ticked off about. You're up 3-1, but still manage to lose 3 straight, losing another trip to the Finals. And KD is a free agent this year, so this could mean he could go next year to a team that is worthy of going to the Finals. GSW won Game 1 of the Finals against CLE, but I don't really care who wins it. Memorial Day was fun, and I was out of the house for most of it. We went to Maga's house first to see the kittens. They are opening their eyes a little bit more, and we are now allowed to hold them. But Maga told us that one of them died and I didn't know about it, which is really sad. It was the yellowish one, and Maga thought it was just not laying down by them, but it was cold. She tried to start her up again, but it didn't work. R.I.P. little fella. After visiting them, we got Jamba Juice. I got the pineapple flavored on, and it was delicious. They are kind of like the smoothies we make from time to time here at home. Then we went to the Memorial Day cemetery. It was huge, and we got to find our great grandpa's name on one of the WWII signs. And that basically summed up this week.     Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, Dad got the new iPhone SE. It's pretty much just the quality of an iPhone 6S inside of an iPhone 5 body. When he was waiting for it to come release he was using the Samsung Note 5. Now that he's got the SE, I got his old iPhone 6. It's so much better than my old phone. I finally got the Touch ID for my phone, but it doesn't always work for me. Still, a much better phone than the 5. School is over and I got a 4.0 the entire year! For some of the 9th graders, we went to the Presidential Achievement Award ceremony. They gave out awards to one boy and one girl in each category, but not everyone got one. I actually got the PE award for most athletic and good sportsmanship nominated by my teacher. Thursday was Lagoon day for the 9th graders, but I didn't want to go. Instead, I just got a month pass to Gene Fullmer. So yeah... Summer! Wuv, Keat

06122016 #69

Dear Landon, I didn't have much to write this week cause nothing really happened. Right now, Warriors have a 3-1 lead against Cavs and will win. But for the Warriors in Game 5 they are not going to have Draymond Green with them. Cooper and I have been going to the church a lot to play basketball because Mom's Zumba instructor is going to be gone and she gave mom a key. There is this fun game I got called MYNBA2K16. It is really fun but I played it so much that it started to get boring. My basketball season isn't going to start up again for four weeks. As I said, I didn't have really anything to write this week anyway, Love ya!            ColtBolt

Dear Landon, The Finals are almost done as Golden State has a 3-1 lead on Cleveland. Everybody expected a rematch and Cleveland having a chance, because last year they had no Irving or Love. But now they have no excuses, and they have to win or go home. One thing I can't wait about this year is the free agency. A lot of big names are standing out like: KD, Lebron, Drummond, DeRozan, Whiteside, Howard, Wade, and Rondo. It will be weird to see some of them next season in different jerseys. I got back into a game called MyNBA2k16, and it is really addicting. You get all of these different cards of NBA players from the past or the present, and go against other people. There are common, uncommon, rare, super rare, ultra rare, epic, legendary, star, and playoffs cards. It's always so fun to draft cards and get the good ones. Mom's Zumba instructor will not be at the church all of this summer, so she gave the keys to the church to her, so we could go there and play basketball from time to time. So now we won't have to go to Gene Fullmer that is always packed and no room for us to play. It was a basketball packed week this week, and it might be that way every week. And I'm fine with that.      Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, we went to see the kittens today at Maga's and all of them have finally opened their eyes. They're so cute and light and one of them crawled into my shirt. My team at the U of U tournament made it to the semi-finals and ended up having our first loss during single-elimination. We had beat 5 other teams before Highland, but all of their players were 6' and either black or bearded. So what do you expect lqtm. This week we got the CH training camp to get ready for Dixie next week. It's not really fun because it's pretty much practice with JV and Varsity. I'm excited for Dixie next week except that the weather said that it should be about 110 degrees everyday we're there. The new update for Battlefront is coming close. It'll release on the 5th of July, so I just barely played it today for the first time in a while. It's still way fun! So yeah... Wuv, Keat

Weeks #65, #66 and #67

This photo actually came a few weeks ago, picture proof that he FINALLY received his Easter package (unlike our other packages, this one got stuck in customs for a few weeks). I just realized I hadn't ever put it up on the blog ... Now for Landon's Letters ... three weeks, combined into one blog post.

ANOTHER change has come and gone.. Too fast!

And as for the changes, I will remain here in Teotlaltzingo for another 6 weeks at least. But my companion Elder Trillo will not. He already left for his new area, and I am here with Elder Villaseñor!  He his my first companion from the capitol of Mexico, know as "Chilango" jajaja.. It is a Mexican joke...  Anyway, just wanted to let you all know briefly of the changes! 

We had quite the busy first week for my companion and I... In the beginning of the week, the both of us were really excited to experience miracles together in Teotlaltzingo. We were finding many new people to teach, visiting them often, working together with the members of the ward, and all that fun jazz. But then the second half of the week, we got sick. :( Fevers, aches.. That kind of fun stuff. That slowed week incredibly.. My company and I feel this has been one of the longest weeks of our missions.  Waking up was the worst part for us being sick. Having such a busy schedule as a missionary doesn't help, but that is why we are here! We continued working for the rest of the week with a lot of help from the Lord. Although on Sunday we were expecting at least 3 investigators that said they would come, none of them came.. But there was a mircale.. We had the expectation for 3 investigators, although the 3 we were expecting to go, didn't go, A brother from the ward brought 3 of his nephews to church! Bam, miracle of the week!

Also on Sunday, we had the chance to give a little training to all the adults in the ward. We decided we needed to work better along side the members of the ward to find investigators that will eventually be baptized. So we had in mind to help the members invite their friends/ family/ work/ neighbors... EVERYONE. Needs the Gospel! So that is my invitation to all of you, to invite someone to church, or whatever church activity this week! If you invite people already, well good for you and keep doing it. 

So the seasonal rain has officially started. Meaning around 3-4 o'clock in the afternoon, if you look to the west, you'd see a clear beautiful and blue summer sky. But if you look to the east... You see the darkest clouds covering the sky, coming your way! Then those clouds usually get to you within the next hour or so. Like right now. It starts so fast! It will sprinkle for about 30 seconds as a warning to seek shelter. Then it is just downpours. We got caught out in the several times this week, getting SOAKED.  

(Cooper and I have put "Puebla" on our weather app, just another small connection to Landon, seeing what the forecast is there on his mission. Cooper happened to glance at this coming week and said "I'm sure glad I'm not there!" (He is doing SO much better with his weather phobia, but that's a lot of lightening!)

So I know... I haven't written a lot lately.. Sorry for that. Hopefully this week's writing was better . I tried to write in my journal again too... but that worked for about a day... Yikes. It is just that there is so much to write about the day, but by the time we arrive to the house, we are exhausted. 

It's been fun to hear about the ducklings at home, and Maga's new kittens.  One of the families we are teaching, one of their dogs had a litter a few days ago. They also look like rats, but I still love to play with them. 

*** Step Stats ***

Monday, May 9 - 19171

Tuesday, May 10 - 11216

Wednesday, May 11 - 9075

Thursday, May 12 - 17199

Friday, May 13 - 18494

Saturday, May 14 - 19830

Sunday, May 15 - 11911

Monday, May 16 - 10117

Tuesday, May 17 - 11232

Wednesday, May 18 - 22921

Thursday, May 19 - 18846

Friday, May 20 - 18125

Saturday, May 21 - 22595

Sunday, May 22 - 10449

Monday, May 23 - 21345

Tuesday, May 24 - 22792

Wednesday, May 25 - 14924

Thursday, May 26 - 21414

Friday, May 27 - 12384

Saturday, May 28 - 13557

Sunday, May 29 - 11561

Cooper is back on top! Our good friends and neighbors, the Maxfields (Terrilynne and Curt) moved this week. We will really miss them! But I'm sure we'll still be seeing them here on Landon's Fitbit Friends list. Uncle Derek may be forgoing his Fitbit for a Pebble .... in which case we will lose him from the Fitbit Friend list too. No Uncle Derek, don't go! Even when Keaton switched to an Apple Watch, we also switched him from a Flex (wrist) to a One (clip on) JUST to keep his step stats here on the list!

Now time for three weeks worth of ...

*** Between Brothers ***

05152016  #65

Dear Landon, I forgot to tell you about a new app that came out that everyone plays. I didn't bother telling you because I thought that you didn't play Clash, but then I remembered that you and Cal Clashed and played Boom Beach. The Clash of Clans people came out with a game called Clash Royale and EVERYONE plays it. I convinced Colton to and while we were waiting at Red Robin a week ago, we heard some people talking about their Clash Royale and I just said to Colton that I wasn't kidding when I said EVERYONE plays it. It's nothing like the gameplay of Clash of Clans though. It has all of the characters as playable troops that you can send in against another player. Each player has 3 towers. If you get all 3 you win. If the timer runs out and it's tied, it heads into 1-3 minutes of overtime. It can still end a draw if you end overtime with a tie. There's an elixir bar at the bottom that can store 10 elixir. The elixir is constantly being filled 1 elixir every 2.8 seconds. Every troop has an elixir cost. Usually, when the timer runs under 1 minute, it will go into double elixir. Cal plays it too, but not Coop. Yo vi Captain America Civil War ayer con mis amigos de basquetbol. It was way awesome! Ant-Man was easily the funniest character. My favorite Marvel character is Spider-Man. He was pretty funny, but it was weird just to see him my age as a superhero and everything. No one died in the movie. Black Panther was way cool. So yeah... the duckies are getting bigger too. Wuv, Keat

Dear Landon, now the 2nd round of the Playoffs are over. It was fun to watch, and now the conference finals are going to be sick. So... OKC wins SAS 4-2, GSW wins POR 4-1, TOR wins MIA 4-3, and CLE swept ATL. I'm VERY surprised the OKC won the Spurs, because I thought that they were going to take the title. Toronto is known for choking in the Playoffs, but Miami were the ones who choked in Game 7. The Raptors got away with like 15 offensive rebounds in the 4th quarter. So the match-ups for the Conference Finals are good, with OKC against GSW and TOR against CLE. I can't wait for the Western Conference Finals, because in the regular season, it was an epic matchup. Although OKC got swept in the season series, they are looking for some payback, and I hope they get it. Some more awards for the NBA have been announced. Steve Kerr won Coach of the Year, Stephen Curry got MVP, and Karl Anthony-Towns got Rookie of the Year. The Fun Run for school was this week, and it was pretty fun. We practiced for it everyday, and I beat everyone in my class... every time. I'm definitely not the fastest in my class, I just have the most stamina, I never stop jogging/running. Then it came to the real Fun Run, and I still beat everyone. This included everyone in the grade, and there is a lot of fast people in 6th grade. Captain America Civil War came out a few days ago, and we finally got to see it. It is an amazing movie that includes basically every Marvel superhero. Ant-Man and Spider-Man were the funniest, but it seemed like they were only in it for the big fight-scene. I also got a new haircut that I have been wanting for weeks. It is good, but my hair might grow back just next week. Ha ha, just kidding, but my hair does grow really fast, so I won't have this haircut for awhile.   Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, just a few hours ago, Dad, Cooper and I went to go see the new avengers movie, Captain America Civil War. Let's just say that iron man and captain america don't get along. Spider man and Ant-Man were both in it. The fun run at school was this week. We had to run a mile and I tied first with my best friend Mason. The ducks have gotten so much bigger already. We let them outside for most of the day and we found like 50 worms for them today. OKC ended up winning the series 4-2 against SAS which is really surprising. Toronto won Miami in game 7 today because Miami really choked. OKC against Golden State is happening tomorrow and I cannot wait! I had three games this week and my last pair of Tuesday games. In the first Tuesday game I did really good in the start. I had 7 of our first nine points. I got a fastbreak layup, left handed layup, and a three pointer! So that is about all of the stuff that I have for this week. Love ya!  ColtBolt

• Dear Cooper: Haha wow.. you never disappoint! Filling me in with the news of the Playoffs.. Sounds like it is going to be pretty tight! Wow.. The Spurs are already out? Well, makes sense, all of them are pretty old. Haha I remember doing Fun Runs like that. But is it a specific distance that you are running like a mile or something? Or just running until you are exhausted? Haha Captain America Civil War?! Ugh! Dying to see that.. But I will have to wait.
• Dear Colton: Wow, three games?! Haha that is a lot of playing! Last Monday, we played some basketball (finally) with some other missionaries, and during the game, I made 3 back-to-back 3´s! It was prettys awesome.. Haha I tried for the fourth, but I had already lost the fire.. Hahah
• (... and the internet wifi went out before he got a letter off to Keaton) 

05222016 #66

Dear Landon, Friday morning I was brushing my teeth and I here Mom yell at the freaking top of her voice, "OH MY GOSH!!!" I was scared for a second as she was stomp-running to the back-yard door and I run out there because I thought that our duckies were out there and that kitten had like killed and eaten every single one of them because , SERIOUSLY, she sounded pissed at something. I booked it out with her only to find Pedra with 13 little moving puff balls. It was really cool, but I was actually mad at Mom for seeming angry because it about gave me a heart attack. She could've been like, "WHOA! LITTLE DUCKIES!"I was tardy to 1st period that day because kitten had knocked over the bucket of worms that Dad had left on the table and I had to clean it up. All 20 ducks are still living in our backyard. Colt and I were playing on the tramp earlier and I did a dunk that kind of moved the hoop, so I tried to fix it but instead I just tipped the whole thing over. We put it back up, but there was this huge hole in the back of the net where the ball kept falling through and off the trampoline, but I fixed it up with paracord. So yeah... Wuv, Keat

Dear Landon, the Conference Finals have started, and it is awesome right now. So the OKC and GSW series is tied at 1-1, and CLE has a 2-1 lead on TOR. I thought that Cleveland was going to go undefeated in the Eastern Conference part of the Playoffs, but Toronto pulled it off in Game 3. OKC won the first game, and GSW won the second one. This is definitely the best rivalry in the NBA right now, and that's why it is always cool to see them in match-ups. After GSW-OKC games. there is something called, "The Dunk King," and it is awesome! They gather 32 of the best dunkers in the world, and they do amazing dunks. They eliminate half of the contestants every night, who have the worst score. Right now the best dunkers are Guy Dupuy and Porter Maberry, and they both have something insane about them. Guy has a 59' inch vertical, 11' inches higher than MJ, the highest vertical leaper in NBA history! And Porter is only 5'5', and he got insane hops. It is coming on later tonight, so that is cool. I got 3 new basketballs, but mom isn't allowing me to use them, unless something happens to them. Like if it has NO grip, or it has a hole in it, but I have already used one of them. We have 13 more ducklings that we were not expecting. So Pedro has been coming back, and right after Colton and I went to school, mom spotted them. They must have been like less than a day old, and they are just little fluff balls. But that has made Pedro overprotective, so if our duckies go near her, she'll yank them by the neck until we stop them.      Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, the Thunder, Warriors series is tied at 1-1 and the Cavs, Raptors series has a lead taken by Cleveland 2-1. Pedro the duck is in our yard with 13 new ducklings! Pedro is really overprotective and will grab our ducks by the neck if they get to close. Pedro wont eat worms from my hand anymore. She also sits on the duckies so they can go to sleep and she looks funny when she does it. Today, one of our duckies Uno, fell in the window well and I had to get him out. There is a cool show going on called the dunk king and it has got some of the best dunkers in the globe. They have been doing some nasty dunks so far and is going to do more tonight! Im playing this game called Clash Royale a lot. Keaton and Callahan play it to but they have much better stuff than me. I don't have anything else to write this week so Love ya!          ColtBolt

05292016 #67

Dear Landon, LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!!! We don't have school tomorrow (Memorial Day) and my last two finals are Tuesday for Biology and Geography. I have a 4.0 right now, so I'm not too worried, but still a little scared if I missed anything for any classes. This morning I had gotten up before everybody and I looked out for all 20 ducks. Ours were in the pen by the shed, but I couldn't find Momma duck and her 13. I looked out front and heard her quacking in the neighbors yard that the Hyers used to live in. I found her by the well. I looked down the well and two of her duckies were down there. I was about to jump in to get them out, but she had flown right into my face not allowing me to get anywhere near her babies. I got Mom to block her so I could get down and get the ducklings. When I got them back up, they walked back to our backyard, but Mom and I both counted 12. We looked for the last one, but couldn't find it. It was actually a surprise that we'd finally lost one after a week. Dad told us it was actually a surprise that there were still 12. That's probably why you can't find Momma ducks with more than 10 babies in the canal, because many get killed or lost. Yesterday, Cal wanted to play Mario Kart Wii. He just mentioned that out of the blue. The Wii was in the little boys' room, and that made Cal suddenly not to play. (But it was reasonable because the mixture of cat poop, spoiled litter, and sweaty socks didn't make it the most appealing place.) Mom and I had gotten the Wii out of that room and into the main basement room with the three other consoles. I'm still caught in between Mario Kart Wii and Double Dash. They're both fun. So yeah... Wuv, Keat

Dear Landon, there is one week of school left until summer, and it just seems this year has gone by so fast. I'm definitely going to miss school, because it is my last year of elementary until middle school. I will miss having one teacher, recess, and less kids in the school, but it will still be fun to experience it. The last week is always fun, and since I'm in 6th grade, it is going to be teachers vs students, right after field day. The Dunk King was shorter than I had expected, with only 4 parts, but it was still awesome. They narrowed it down to 4 dunkers to get the $100,000 prize: Jordan Kilganon, Porter Maberry, Kenny Dobbs, and Guy Dupuy. I thought Kenny was going to win it, but I wanted Jordan to win it (b/c my favorite, Gary Smith, was eliminated). They all had INSANE dunks, but Porter at 5'5'' was crowned the champ after he jumped over Shaq, 7'2'', and did a reverse dunk. OKC pulled of a 3-1 lead on GSW, and only 9 teams in NBA history have come back from such a deficit, so I thought they were going to the Finals. GSW pulled away in Game 5 in Oakland, so I was not surprised. But Game 6... was a disappointment for OKC. They were keeping it neck-and-neck the whole time, until the final 5 minutes. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry just went off and went on a 14-4 run to end the game to force a decisive Game 7. Thompson had 11 threes, 1 away from the NBA history record of most threes in a game (Steph tied it earlier in the season against OKC)! And CLE shut TOR down 4-2 as they get their second consecutive Finals appearance. Joy is now 1 year old, as we celebrate her birthday on the same date of Grandpa's at May 28. She is also in heat again and can't stop meowing. But I do like her being in heat 'cause she tends to be more snuggly. Speaking of kittens, Princess, Maga's cat, had kittens! There are 5, and they are tiny and cute. We are now down to 12 ducklings after this week. They had been escaping the house and falling into wells, so someone had to get them. So after a little bit, one probably just got lost or died, but it is pretty sad.  Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, it is now the last week of school and we also have no school tomorrow. I can't believe it's already the near end of school! One of the 13 ducklings has gone missing or have died and we are all kind of surprised that we didn't lose one earlier. We know that the Cavs are going to the finals and OKC started out on a 3-1 lead against the Warriors but they came back and forced game 7 which is happening tomorrow and I can't wait to watch it. Joy is (we think) a year old now! We celebrated her birthday on the same date as Grandpa's birthday. She is also in heat again and WON'T stop meowing and rolling around. But it is really cute and funny. Keaton, Callahan and I have now started playing Mario Kart Wii and Double Dash. In the dunk king, surprisingly Porter Maberry won the whole thing when Cooper and I really thought that Kenny Dobbs was going to win. So that is about all I have this week so Love ya! ColtBolt

Weeks #63 and #64

The District Crew

Well, these last couple weeks, there hasn't been much in the way of Landon's letters. As I got a small (and I mean tiny) note Monday May 2, I realized Landon hadn't mentioned anything about the Mother's Day call. He did send a quick email a couple days later asking if Sunday was better, or if Tuesday (which is Mother's Day in Mexico) would work. I told him Sunday would be best, and so he made arrangements with a family to use an iphone and their wifi (which is pretty rare in his area he said) and we had a Skype session on Sunday.

Skype Selfie

It was good to chat with him for a bit. He mentioned that there have been very few new Elders, that Sister missionaries have been more prominent recently. That the number of missionaries had dropped from about 220 to 130. Not sure if that had to do with the influx of mission applications after the new age announcement tapering off or something else. Landon said both he and his companion had been a bit under the weather (thus lower steps reported) and that everyone has their own family remedies they swear by, but that nothing had been helping really.  At least he didn't leave us having an allergic reaction (as he did during the Christmas call) *Ü*

After talking for an hour, the little boys didn't feel like they had much to write about, so there is no "Between Brothers" week #64, but as I hadn't updated the blog last week, their letters from then are posted below. But first ... catching up on step stats!

 *** Step Stats ***

Monday,April 25 - 18727

Tuesday, April 26 - 16846

Wednesday, April 27 - 18797

Thursday, April 28 - 10519

Friday, April 29 - 22127

Saturday, April 30 - 18840

Sunday, May 1 - 9010

Monday, May 2 - 8681

Tuesday, May 3 - 18111

Wednesday May 4 - 21896

Thursday, May 5 - 9110

Friday, May 6 - 12606

Saturday, May 7 - 19683

Sunday, May 8 - 12949

Finally ... Mommy is at the top of the Fitbit Family list. Although I must admit, it didn't last long. Cooper has surpassed me as of this post, but it was nice while it lasted (for about a day). 

*** From the Brothers ***

May 1, 2016  Letter #63

Dear Landon, ONE OF THE DUCKIES HATCHED! It is so small. It is one of the cutest things on earth! It can already chirp really loud though. It gets really annoying, believe me. One of the other eggs has a pretty good chance on hatching tomorrow. The others are looking fine, but not fine enough. Hopefully more than two eggs will hatch this year. We held a surprise party for Maga's 70th birthday. It was really fun. In the parking lot there was a GOOD basketball hoop and Cooper and I took shots that were really far the only way we can make them was chucking them up one handed. I made 4 of those shots while Cooper only made three, so I "won." Princess, Maga's cat is now pregnant! Anyway, that is what I got for this week. Love ya! ColtBolt

Dear Landon, the 1st round of the Playoffs is officially over, and some things came my way, some others left me kind of upset. So here we go: GSW wins HOU 4-1, SAS wins MEM 4-0, OKC wins DAL 4-1, and POR wins LAC 4-2. The Oklahoma-Dallas series was the one I really cared about, the others not so much. That was the Western Conference, but let's take a look at the Eastern: CLE wins DET 4-0, TOR wins IND 4-3, MIA wins CHA 4-3, and ATL wins BOS 4-2. I am not disappointed in Charlotte, they fought back from not even being in the Playoffs last year, and also forced the Game 7. I think that is all of the Playoff talk for now. So what else has happened this week, oh yeah, DUCKY! One of them has hatched, but we are still waiting for his/her brothers and sisters. The duck is so cute and tiny. SAGE Language Arts is now done because I have finished it. It is probably the hardest for me, because I do struggle in reading, unlike all of my friends. Only four more weeks of SAGE, and five more weeks of school until summer. There was a lot of "Family Stuff" this week. First of all, Maga's 70th birthday. We held a surprise party for her at a church close to her old, old house. Lots of food and people were there along with a slideshow of her life. There was a hoop in the parking lot where Colton and I shot long shots with one hand. I made three, and he made four. We ended up going to their house to have the cake that was at the party, and to find out that Princess (their cat) was pregnant. It would be amazing to see that in a couple of months to see all these little kittens. Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, the first ducky hatched while we were at Chris's house for Waffles and Westwa Welatives (Westra Relatives). I had seen it move the most before we had left. I was sad though because I wanted to see it come out because that is so cool. Maybe we'll get a few more to and I get to them. One of the eggs, we concluded, died about three weeks in. We candled it and it had stopped maturing after the halfway mark. We could possibly get five more duckies! Yesterday was really fun. We had a Birthday Bash for Maga's 70th at the church that she went to when they were living in her first home! I wish we'd had gone to see that house. Cal and I both ate so many pulled pork. We also had the chocolate fountain. My favorite was the bananas. The Washington Blackham's even flew in for Maga! We all had breakfast here this morning. It was really fun. So yeah... Wuv, Keat

Week #62 - Talking About Teotlaltzingo

Teotlaltzingo ... I know. It is a mouth full.

To tell you all a bit about the area, it is a lot like Apizaco. A lot of area, and a lot of pueblos. Although Apizaco is about twice as big as Teotlaltzingo, we don't share the ward with anyone. It is all ours. And the fact that it is a ward and not a branch is quite surprising.

When I saw the church that we use, I said "Wow, really?" During my whole mission, in every area I have been in, the church building have always been good sized, and fairly new! But our church building here is super small! And not very new.. But it does the job at least! 

Generally every Sunday, there are about 60 to 80 people, which fills up the little sacrament meeting room. The members are great, there are 3 pueblos that we generally work in, with a family that basically owes the whole pueblo! Haha it is pretty funny to contact someone in the street, and ask them their name, and to say Castro, or Atlixqueño, or Gamelia (the three families that make up 90% of the ward.) Now you know all about Teotlaltzingo!

We sure got hit with rain this week... Everyday, it would just come and go! On Saturday, we got stuck out in the rain.. I even brought the raincoa tmy folks sent me several months back, I and think this was the real test.. But it failed.. I got super wet.. At least my books and all that made it through without damage. 

I am still using my beloved Underarmour sling bag that bought about six years ago! Haha everyone comments on my bag, saying that it is cool and ask if it is new, I say "Nope! I had had this thing for 6 years!" And they are often surprised. Haha I guess that $30 was worth it, right? :)

*** Step Stats ***

Catching up on Step Counts ...

Monday, April 11 - 22306

Tuesday, April 12 - 13058

Wednesday, April 13 - 19372

Thursday, April 14 - 18430

Friday, April 15 - 15773

Saturday, April 16 - 26069

Sunday, April 17 - 8252

Monday, April 18 - 12005

Tuesday, April 19 - 21159

Wednesday, April 20 - 17791

Thursday, April 21 - 14364

Friday, April 22 - 14231

Saturday, April 23 - 15654

Sunday, April 24 - 11246

Super Cooper is STILL at the top of the list! Landon has dropped beneath his active brothers. Aunt and Uncles beat out Grandpa and Daddy on the Top10 this past week ...

We also got a note from the mission president, posted on the mission Facebook page as followed ...

Dear Family and Friends, we want to advise you about the recent news that has been published about the Volcano Popcateptl and its recent volcanic activity, it is true that there was a little of said activity but we want to tell you that all is under control and that you can be calm knowing that everyone of the missionaries of the Mexico Puebla North Mission are well. We love you!!!

I hadn't heard anything about volcanic activity ... I guess it wasn't big enough news to surpass the earthquake in Equador. Landon had posted a picture of PoPo a while back (Week #11).

*** Between Brothers ***

Dear Landon, all of the SAGE writing is over, but next week starts the reading. I don't really care about the reading. The writing is just annoying. It's pretty much SAGE prep in all of my classes now. It's the worst time of the year. We ran the mile on Friday and I got my new best time. I got third in my class at 5:37. The two guys ahead of me were both some of my soccer friends. It's always soccer guys that are good at the running, but I was only behind by about 20 seconds. Last week, Dad used the smoker for the first time and we had ribs. This week, he's trying pulled pork. It makes the garage smell amazing. A week from tomorrow is the due date for the little ducky eggs to hatch. We candled them last week and all of them showed signs of life! One of them even moved. We went to Grandpa Gordy's grave yesterday and then Crown Burger's. Crown Burger's is a lot better than I remembered. I guess that's because I actually eat burgers now lqtm. So yeah... Wuv, Keat

Dear Landon, the Playoffs are getting better as we are going deeper in them. Right now, I 'll show you where every team is standing. CLE leads 3-0 over DET, TOR and IND are tied at 2, MIA leads 2-1 over CHA, ATL leads 2-1 over BOS, GSW leads HOU at 2-1, SAS leads MEM 3-0, OKC leads DAL 3-1, and LAC leads POR 2-1. Yep, the Warriors lost the third game against the Rockets with a game-winner by Harden. But the NBA later said that it shouldn't of counted because there was an offensive foul committed by Harden while doing it. There were four other missed calls in the final two minutes. Miami embarrassed Charlotte in the first two games, but Charlotte came back strong in the third game at home. Oklahoma-Dallas and Boston-Atlanta have both been very competitive in all the games. There has been a lot of fights, technical fouls, and flagrant fouls. That basically sums up the Playoffs, but there is still many stuff that has happened. Awards are being handed out right now for the NBA. So far, Jamal Crawford won 6th Man of the Year, C.J. Mcollum won Most Improved Player, and Kawai Leonard won Defensive Player of the Year. I am jumping much higher than I have at the beginning of the school year. I could barely touch the rim on >7.5 feet. Now I am able to touch that easily, and I can touch 8.5 feet. At school this week, we did Ryan and I (the best players) against everybody, because of something Ryan had done. So we had already picked teams and then Ryan said, "If I make this, it is Cooper and I against all of you!" He shot it from about ten feet above the three point line, and banked it in. I got like three and-1's in that game. Then the game after, I had one of my best games. I had 18 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds while going 8-9 shooting, in windy weather! I started with 6 assists before I took my first shot. Finally, we candled the eggs. So far, all of them seem to have veins and are still alive. Are we going to get seven ducks out of seven eggs? I guess we'll have to wait and see... Love, Cooper 

Dear Landon, the playoffs having been really interesting. GSW lost the third game by a game winning shot from James Harden. C.J Mcollum got the MIP (Most Improved Player) of the year award! Jamal Crawford got 6th man, and Kawai Leonard got defensive. I had three games this week and won one of them. In the first two game we got obliterated. But in the second game we only won by 39. Not a lot. I don't know exactly know how many points I got in that game but I'm guessing 18. I hit a three pointer in the first and third game. My passing is still really good. We have seen the duckies a lot but sometimes there will only be one stopping by once in a while. We are going to have a good dinner is about an hour so anyway, I personally didn't have much to write this week unlike Cooper who probably wrote 17,000,000 lines so love ya! ColtBolt

• Dear Keaton: Poor, poor boy with all the SAGE testing.. Haha just kidding.. it is miserable. Just wait until you have to take AP tests or the ACT, now THAT is fun stuff.. I hated the ACT with all my heart.. And the AP tests are just so stressful! First, you pay a bunch of money, then you have to pass with a 3 or higher to even get the credits ofr the whole year! Luckily, I passed my two AP tests.. :) I remember being able to run.. (I am not saying that I am fat, okay?) We actually went running last Tuesday in the morning, and it felt great! My companion died out.. But I loved it. But I can't remember my best mile.. I think it was around 5:40-ish.. Maybe, honestly can't remember. But I can remember that my longest run was like 10 miles! I felt pretty boss for doing that. Haha
• Dear Cooper: Wow! That is a pretty in-depth review of what is happening for the Playoffs! Haha I can't believe Dallas and OKC are head to head.. AGAIN! Make sense for why is it super competitive between the two! Haha if you like playing so much at school, why don't you want to play on a real team? You would do awesome! Although I am sure that Mom appreciate at least one son that doesn't need rides to games and money to join.. But whatever. Haha. And I have thought of a name I want for one of the duckies! Alondra, it is a girl name, I like it. Haha but I don't think you guys can even tell.
• Dear Colton: Dang.. I guess that it is a bit tougher in the super league, right? But it doesn't sound like you care much for losing, so that is good, just enjoying the game! Have you guys named those two duckies that are stopping by yet? Hahah because it sounds like they are coming pretty regularly!

... and just FYI, Colton DID get a haircut this past week!

Week #61 - Get a Haircut

I took this phone from Adan (the young man at my side),

took a picture, and am now sending it to you!

(This is the first "surprise photo" that we have received from Landon! I keep telling him to give out our email address to anyone he's with who is willing to take a picture and send it to us!) Not much a letter today, no group letter, just a small note to the brothers (below) and this small note to me ...

Not much to report about the area for now.. We had a hard week.. But the work goes on! We arrived late to our meeting on Wednesday, so I wasn't able to send pictures off. I got the package finally! I could tell that they have opened it, but I don't know what could possibly be missing.. It was so full! It was basically exploding! Love you lots!

*** Between Brothers ***

Dear Landon, I forgot to tell you last week that it was Jake's homecoming. I'd say the only thing different about him is that he's got gold hair like a stallion. I finished the first SAGE writing test, but the second one is tomorrow and Tuesday. This one should be easier because it is an informative essay so it's, like, three paragraphs. I do better on argumentative essays though because I actually know the structure to it. I don't really understand what to do in an informative one. I don't really care about it though. The Battlefront people gave some information on the new DLC that's releasing in June. It's going to be taken place on the Cloud City of Bespin and the two new heroes are Lando and Bounty Hunter Dengar. I don't know who he is. I'm excited about Lando though, and they also said that there will be a total of 8 heroes and villains after all the DLCs. That probably means that they'll change Heroes vs. Villains so everybody will start as a hero. That'll be cool. Dad is making a rib dinner tonight in his new smoker. It takes about 5 hours to cook. The smoker is in the garage and I can literally smell it from here. It's torture! My mouth is watering. They look so good! So yeah... Wuv, Keat

Dear Landon, so the regular season is officially done, and it is time for the Playoffs. But before I talk about the Playoffs that have already started, I need to talk about the last day of the season. Sadly, Houston won Sacramento, so they clinched a Playoff spot over Utah, so they aren't in the Playoffs (again). The Warriors made history with a win over the Grizzlies, getting the best record in NBA history, 73-9. That is absolutely crazy, and the Jazz had a chance to beat them a few weeks ago, but they missed thirteen free-throws in the fourth quarter. Thirteen easy free throws!! The Jazz went against the Lakers in their final game, Kobe's final game. Ever. Keaton had told me his coach did not care how much he shot, because it was Mamba Day. Since I had already heard Houston won, I was rooting for the Lakers and Kobe in his final game. The Jazz blew a lead as much 17 points in the fourth quarter. Kobe had 23 points in the last quarter in his career, as he went for an NBA season-high, and a new career high against the Jazz, sixty points. That had to be the best farewell games in sports history. Only the first day of the Playoffs has happened so far, and nothing very big has happened. I hope you remember your abbreviations, because that is all I am going to type. IND won the first game against TOR, GSW won HOU, ATL won BOS, and OKC won DAL. I was happy about all of those games, but I don't care about the GSW-HOU series. I got a new Charlotte Hornets shootaround shirt. I paid with my own money, and it is quite comfortable. The DiFran Family came to town this week! No, we did not go to Jump 'n Bounce, but it was still fun. We played outside more than half of the day. We played a basketball game, but we were not really trying, so it was funny. Then we played handball. We didn't really try in that too, but it was really fun. And that is when they went to visit other places. There was one really fun game this week at school, where I was one assist of my second triple-double. We did not keep track of the score at all, so the other team's goal was to stop me from getting a triple-double. I had 19 points, 7 assists, and 14 rebounds at the end of the first recess. I did not take one shot (even though I'm the best player) and came up one assist short. There is still plenty I could talk about, but this letter is long enough, right?     Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, this was a pretty interesting week. Keaton and I are playing a game where we have a mini basketball and we go on Jacob's yard and shoot it from all the way of there. I have made it about 4 times and he has made it like 7 times or something. Kobe had his last game of his awesome career on Wednesday. He got a game winner to go along with 60 points! That was the season high of the league. Golden State beat the record for wins in a season. They were 73-9. Which beat the 1995-1996 Bull's 72-10. I had three games this week and 2 of them went into overtime! (Each overtime game we won.) In the first overtime game, I got a game winning three, I was about to pass it, but then this guy was about to steal it, so I jacked up a three and banked it in! We won the undefeated team in the second overtime game. We just had the most amazingeresteresterest dinner in the history of dinners!!!!!!!! We had AMAZING ribs, AMAZING mashed potatoes, and AMAZING brazilian cheese rolls. The playoffs has just started yesterday. I want the Clippers to go all the way! Cooper likes Charlotte... ugh. I don't have really anything else to write about this week, so Love ya! ColtBolt

Hey guys.. Sorry.. But another week with not a lot of time to write all you midgets.. But I do have to say something to Colton. I just saw the pictures that Mom sent me... GET A HAIRCUT. Hahaha Love you all!