Payne Nation: May 2024

May is always such a busy month. Finishing up school and extracurricular activities is so fun and its exciting to look forward to summer.

Tess and her friends celebrating the last day of tumbling for the season...

Somedays we were just too worn out...

We had another Mission Activity for Activity Days and taught them about Japan...

Funny dog...

Devin had a work conference up north that had had to be to and he worked it out so that I could join him. While he was at work I visited as many temples up north as I could fit in. It was a special experience and i enjoyed it so much. First, I was able to take Grandma Ruth to do initiatories in the new Orem Temple. This temple is so beautiful and the experience was even more special because Grandma, who normally attended the temple weekly, had found it much more difficult to get there the older she gets. I invited her and although she was reluctant at first decided to join me. Her eyesight has been getting worse and worse and so she asked me to describe the detail of things to her. She is such a sweet woman and I love spending time with her.

I also had an opportunity to meet up with Jess for dinner one night. It had been several years since I had seen her and was so glad she could make it work so we could catch up. We met at the Bombay House in Provo and while we were waiting for our food, Peter and Simon the zealot from The Chosen walked in and right past our table. I basically lost my mind and lost any ability to control my excitement. I grabbed my phone, ran back to their table, and began gushing about how amazing they were and how grateful I am for their work, gush, blah, gush, blah. I think I even introduced myself at some random gushing point in the conversation, as if they cared. They were so kind and thanked me for coming over and I walked away thoroughly mortified by my gushing and thought of all the things I could have talked to them about... like our shared testimony of Jesus Christ. But now we both have a funny story to share instead!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple...

One night Devin and I were able to go see May We All at the Hale Centre Theatre. It's always fun to get out with him.

I was even able to meet up with mom to go through the Layton Temple open house and then out to lunch after. It was a good day.

Mother's Day 2024 with our crew...

And all of a sudden it was time for Kindergarten Graduation! Hard to believe that this year was coming to an end. It was so fun to see all that they learned and how much they have grown. It was a great year.

We especially love her teacher Mrs. Gonzalez... she was so wonderful and Coco learned so much!

After graduation, they had a Kindergarten Festival to celebrate their accomplishment. Fun to see the kiddos enjoying their special day.

It was so fun working in the school where my 2 youngest were but with the end of the year we decided that needed to come to an end as well. Giving 100% of myself to my family and to God needed to be my priority. So I quit my job and left some people that I had come to love. Here's to more time with my family!

End of summer pool party for the neighborhood kindergarteners...

And then came the last day of 4th grade... cute kiddos.

On the last day of school I met up with my co-workers for lunch as a last goodbye (several of us were not returning). While we were outside eating I noticed a man rummaging through the garbage, pulling out any leftover food, and eating it. I couldn't help but do something. I went and asked if I could order him some fresh food and he was very grateful. After ordering his food I stopped and talked with him for a bit. That's when my friend snapped this picture. He told me that his name was David and that he had come up from Vegas hoping to figure out his life. I told him that I would keep an eye out for him and stop to see if I could help in any way. I happened to come upon him a few more times and bought hime some meals, but the most memorable was when Devin and I took him some clothes, brand new shoes, and sleeping bag. He was extremely grateful and I always left him wishing that there was more that we could do.