The Mergenthaler Family

The Engar wedding was the highlight of our summer. They have been married three months at this writing, and I'm still so happy for their goodness. I love when they call on the phone to share their silly adventures. They are going to accomplish great things together. Logan fits right in with our family; from what I can tell, Emily is also a valued part of the Engar family. They bring light, joy, fun, and goodness to every association. Gavin insisted on sitting right between Logan and Emily when we met Logan for lunch on our first day in Utah. He loves his big sister and new big brother. Weddings are a lot of work. I knew I was out of my depth in planning and organizing details. I had excuses like living across the country and not being crafty and stuff like that. But honestly, I know I didn't do everything I wanted to do to make their day special. Emily, Logan, and Rick organized everything regarding the bride's responsibilities. The Engars also put on a lovely dinner, which...

The kids have been reading my old blog posts in the form of books I printed covering 2008-2017. They love the snapshots of everyday life. Many of the captured moments would be forgotten if I hadn't recorded them on our family blog. I have been in survival mode for the last few years. My updates are lame because they're not frequent enough to capture the daily adventures. Even though the kids are past the silly toddler years, we still have plenty of everyday life to share. I want to make it a priority. First, though, I feel I should fill in the last months. So, here's another lame picture dump lacking in details, just to catch up. And I will do better. I will. I will. The last picture dump went through July. Our summer continued with more swim team, visits to the library, and playing board games in pajamas.  At the beginning of August, Makayla started a new phase of life. She wasn't sure if she would live in Utah or California, but she knew she was finished living in her...

Hey, what's going on with all of my wonderful people?! I'm sure it's not much, ahaha. No, I'm kidding. I'm sure you're all doing well and can't wait to read about my week as a missionary.  I spent Monday with my zone leaders chilling out until the evening, then we got to work. Our first contact was this guy who's an evangelist. At first it's like the normal evangelist conversation. You know, like, we don't believe in anything else but the Bible and the common things. Well, at the end of it, we're like, "Yo, man, we've got to go, so can we end with a prayer?" He's like, "Ya, no problem." Well, he wanted to pray. We let him because if you want to pray, that's amazing. So he starts his prayer and it's all normal until this man starts speaking gibberish and saying a ton of weird stuff. Eventually, he stops and he's like, "Do you want to join me??" We respectfully decline and leave. So that was a...