saturday night

Yesterday was a quiet day.  Rob and I went on a date in the evening. Thai food.  Yumm.  

Also yesterday I noticed that my passport expires in December.  I don't know what made me check but you can't come back in the country if your passport doesn't have 6 months left on it...which begs the question what does that expiration date mean anyway??  Our trip is in November so I had to take care of it that day.  Luckily I didn't have much on my plate.  I had the missionary training to help at and carpool but that's it. Now it's in the mail and with any luck it will be back in 2 weeks.

Today was a different story though, as you can see. It is the beginning of general conference weekend.  My favorite.  We watched the morning session and it was amazing.  Then we had some schedule issues and ended up running here and there and I was late to the eye doctor but it worked out okay.  Rob and Ethan went to the gym and when I went to get them we noticed that my brakes were squeaking like crazy.  The brake pads were worn away so our whole afternoon changed and the boys ended up spending many hours getting it fixed.  I was able to watch the other session between trips to the store and cleaning up a little.  Also I have a cold or something because my sinus's are achy and my nose is stuffy and my chest tight.

the mechanic

 Ethan and Rob at the  gym.  They had fun together.  Both of them.  Which is awesome.  They don't get a long as well as they did when Bub was a little guy so I know it meant a lot to R to find something they can both enjoy.

I don't think the boys enjoyed this part of the day as well.

assistant mechanic

cute bear candle

I'm looking forward to a lazy lounging in the house day tomorrow.  Watching the last two sessions of conference . Enjoying each other's company.  Feeling better hopefully.

I ❤️ seeing pictures of life in Idaho! And then saving them to my phone! These girls are having a blast! 

Grace has been babysitting this week after school. She walks down to the elementary school and picks up Finley. Then they walk home and she fixes him a snack, helps him with his homework and then plays video games with him. It's been awesome. I wish she could do it regularly. I babysat after school when I was in middle school and it was a great way to earn money. And I loved those little kids so win win!
We had a fun mutual night this week. We made really cute conference caddies and then played spoons.  

Last week at mutual Jon Silva challenged the boys to give a Book of Mormon to a friend. He also gave each boy a book to carry in their backpack so they would be ready if the opportunity came up.  On Monday Brody gave one to a friend before school. The boys were hanging out and I don't know what precipitated the giving but they all saw. Then Kapps, another friend, said he'd like one. Ethan spoke up and gave him his copy. Later that same day E was talking with another boy who asked him why he couldn't play soccer on Sunday. Ethan told him about his commitment to honor the Sabbath day and gave him his for the strength of youth pamphlet.  The next day when I was picking up the boys after school Noah got to the car first. He told me he had given his book to Jill (a girl he likes). So in 2 days, 3 teenage boys shared 4 books with their friends. That is a miracle in the desert! They will grow up to be good missionaries!

Grace had a private clarinet lesson today. She's to the point where she needs that. She is going to be a good musician I think. She sounds really good. 

Stuff

Last night while Ethan was at soccer practice and dad was at the gym Grace and I watched counting on. Joy was shopping for her wedding dress. This led to Grace wanting to try on my dress, in case she wants to wear it someday. It was a little big but she looked very pretty and the day may come when it fits her. She is taller than me already but if she doesn't grow too much more it might work for my shopping hating girl. 

Or she might learn to love shopping. Who knows?

After the boys got back and showered we had FHE. We started a self reliance booklet that will fill up a month of lessons. It's all about getting an education, getting good jobs and being prepared to be financially responsible. 

I made pumpkin cookies to make up for our dinner fail:)

When you go to BYU-Siberia, and it's devotional day, you wear boots. Hannah on the left and Kenz on the right. Today Elder Renlund is speaking to them. Lucky girls!!

I've been looking forward to this week because it's TV premier week and I do love a little evening TV time. Tonight is the NCIS premier and I've been waiting for months to find out if Gibbs and McGee escape the guerrillas. Also there are a couple new shows I'm excited to see and some old favs. Can't wait for Madam Secretary.. We've been netflixing it the past month to review. 

This little dog loves to watch with me. 

Tomorrow mom and dad leave on their 3 week European cruise. So fun for them!!

women's conference & a sunday lesson

Saturday night was the first session of the 187th semi annual general conference.  Conference always starts with the women's session the weekend before.  Some day I would love to go to it in the conference center.  Ideally it would be me and my daughters, and their daughters, and my sisters and their daughters, and my mom.  Then we'd go out to eat.  We'd be dressed in nice clothes, and ideally it would be the fall session so it would be chilly outside and cozy in.

But what usually happens is we are busy on Saturday so I record it and then I watch it in my pajamas in my bed...and sometimes I fall asleep and have to watch it again the next day.  That's okay though because I usually re-watch all the sessions multiple times between conferences anyway.

This one was really wonderful, as they all are.  But really wonderful.  I loved all the talks.

Sister Sharon Eubank spoke first and she was really a powerful speaker.  I loved her story about the 80 person chain.   We all need each other to make it thru life and sometimes being there for someone means being in the water chest deep (or treading water even) in order to reach them and save them.  And we need the 40 people between us and the beach to be there for us while we are being there for someone else.  It's never ending.  I am so grateful for my chain.  I know there are many good things that I do that I can do only because someone else is doing something for me.  For example taking the girls to girls camp this past summer.  A really good thing.  I couldn't have done it without the other leaders, the the men, and Kim who kept Ethan, and whoever kept Ziva (I now can't remember who).

I love Sister Neill Marriott. She is just so cute! I loved her talk about forgiving and "borrowing love" from the Savior when we are hurt and don't feel like we have it in us.  His atonement covers everything about our weakness, including our hurts and sorrows and shortcomings. Not simply our sins.  I am ever grateful for Him.  Sometimes I am surprised that as old as I am my feelings still get hurt.  This summer was kind of a hard one for that.  My feelings were hurt, and I hurt feelings, and in both cases the love of the Saviour was necessary to heal.  I am so glad we can pray and ask Him for help.

Sister Joy Jones, what a rock. She lives up to her name.  She gave a beautiful talk about knowing our worth as daughters of God and how that knowledge guides our daily lives.  She told wonderful stories of faithful sisters around the world.  She bore a powerful testimony never mentioning that the day before she attended the funeral of her son.  A father and husband who had been fighting colon cancer for 3 years and just passed away.  Her sure knowledge that there is life after mortality and that families can be forever must have sustained her and lifted her even in her grief.

And then there was our beloved Dieter Uchtdorf.  Everyone loves him.  He talked about choosing joy and being glad.  It was a good shot in the arm of enthusiasm and a renewal of faith. What a tender and kind parent our Father in Heaven is to know that we need that and to provide it for us as often as we will turn to Him and listen to His servants.


And then on Sunday I was teaching the Laurels and our lesson happened to be on the power of words.  How important our words are, and how we can hurt others with mean words.  Also how our words shape our perceptions of life.  If we are of good cheer and optimistic and hopeful and express those feelings we lift ourselves and others in our times of trial, and in the good times.  It was just Paige, Emily and I and Sister Jarvis.  Paige was so upbeat and courageous during her cancer treatment, I really admired her for that.  Emily is good at looking out for and befriending the underdog.  She uses her words to life those around her. We had a really good discussion.  Then I gave them each a fancy chapstick with a quote by Elder Holland about watching our words.

It was an instructive weekend.

Band

The band played at AVC today. It was quite fun to hear them play. Grace is a talented musician and I am hoping this is the beginning of several years of band events for us!

This morning Lu and I ran errands. Some fun, some not. She was a good helper and partner and kept me laughing with her funny stories.

R went shooting. E played games. 

After the performance we took Grace to Catherine's birthday party.

Rob and I watched the women's session of general conference.

the weekend, ahhh

This morning I slept as long as I wanted, which turned out to be until 7:45.  It was great.  Last night Rob and I went out to dinner with Alec & Kelly, Kyle & Kristi, Norm & Peg and Devin.  They are here because Kristi and Kelly's dad died and the funeral is today.  We had a really fun visit.  It goes without saying that I always wish we lived closer to family.  As that is not an option I am grateful when we get to be together.  I had not seen the Beria's in a long time and it was fun to catch up.  

It was a busy and productive week for me.  I enjoyed seminary a lot but when Karen called me on Thursday and said she would be back at it on Monday I rejoiced!  

So, as soon as I was awake I grabbed my laptop and went to start preparing for my lesson on Sunday for the Laurels.  Of course the Facebook tab caught my eye so I went there first and ended up getting sucked into an article a friend posted.  It was about one woman's journey to God and finding faith.  It was very well written and moving.  One idea really stood out to me and I loved how she put this into words. She was talking about obedience, and specifically in her case of choosing not to act on her feelings of same sex attraction.

"In the end, it came down to trust. I knew Jesus was worthy of trust, because he had made a greater sacrifice. He had left the bliss, the comfort, the joy of loving and being perfectly loved, to live a sorrowful life on earth. He took the pain and shame of a criminal’s death and suffered the Father’s rejection, all so I could be welcomed. Who could be more deserving of trust?

The obedience of faith only works when it’s rooted in a person, not a rule. Imposed on its own, a rule invites us to sit in judgment, weighing its reasonableness. But a rule flowing from relationship smoothes the way for faithful obedience. When a child doesn’t understand her mother’s command, the mother’s character plays a strong role in what happens next. A cruel, capricious mother is likely to meet resistance. But an affectionate, nurturing mother inspires trust, because you know she’s on your side, profoundly."

 Rachel Gilson
CHRISTIANITYTODAY

I loved her use of the word trust.  It is very powerful.  I have often thought about this idea, of believing Jesus Christ.  Believing that He is who He says He is and that He will do what He said He would do.  The idea of giving my will to Him.  The idea that He knows better and that when things in my life don't look the way I want them to, for whatever reason, that it's okay and He has a better plan. I love the label TRUST for that.  I do trust Him, and will follow Him and do love Him.  

It was a nice way to start the day.

and now on to my lesson.

Thursday

We are down to two babies. Sophie keeps eating them. Grace took them away from her and is hand feeding them. It's been 2 days and so far they are alive. This one is Matilda. She looks cute. Tiny.

It is snowing in Rexburg. We ordered some boots and tights for Hannah. I think Nana is making robes for her and Kenz, and sending scarves for the girls. They are super excited.

Tuesday Pres. Eyring and several apostles came to BYU for the innauguration of Pres (of the school, son of) Eyring. Hannah is a devotional usher and therefore got great seats!

Tonight we are supposed to have a RS swim party at our house. Yesterday Grace and I went out to clean the pool ( see the wetsuit....that lets you know how warm it is outside. ) last night R went out in the dark and did some touching up and cleaning of the filters so the vacuum would work. Today it's sparkly ....and it's raining. So we are having an un-pool party instead. 

Oh well:)

I can't believe what a good artist Sierra is! This looks just like Penny!
I've been teaching seminary this week. It's been good. Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to work the Alec plane crash story into a lesson. We were reading in 2 Nephi 10 and talking about making choices but not being able to choose the consequence. I showed a picture of Alec and told the class that he is my brother. That he loves adventure and fitness and that he is an awesome man. One day he and a couple of his buddies went on a back country hike. The flew up early in the morning when the weather was cool. Enjoyed hiking and nature. Then in the heat of the afternoon decided it was time to head back.  The problems were not a few, high weight makes flying harder. High heat does too. There are a lot of reasons why this is but I won't go into them now. (Mostly because this is all I remember about it but trust me there are a lot)  The point is at the time they took off many factors were not in their favor. 

The pilot, at least, should have known this. He decided to try anyway. 

As they were going down the runway things were not right. They could have aborted. They choose to keep going. 

Then they were in the air and soon after they were crashing. Then crashed. The story ends, thankfully, okay,  everyone lived. 

The parallel we drew this morning was that when they were above the trees, moments away from crashing, it was too late to decide anything. They were in the middle of their consequences. The time for decision-making was when they were on the ground. Or maybe even while they were taxiing down the runway.

In our life there are many times when we make decisions and making the right decisions, righteous decisions, can keep us away from harmful consequences. At some point it is too late to change our course and we must live with the consequences of our choice. Much like Alec and his friends when they found themselves crashing towards the treetops, at that point they had no choice but to live with a consequence. I think the lesson was very well received and had an impact.

This summer I was pondering my understanding of the words of Isaiah and feeling bad that I was very much lacking in that department. I decided to study, and to make a real attempt at understanding his words. I bought a study guide, which I have been using, and it's been really great. Still I have struggled and have sometimes spent quite a long time trying to understand even a small portion of the text. I have prayed for better understanding. This is been ongoing for the last couple of months. When Karen called and asked me to sub of course I said yes and the very first morning I found myself knee-deep in the Isaiah chapters. As I have been studying these last two weeks in preparation to teach the youth each morning I have had several sweet and enlightening experiences. It has literally been an answer to prayer and I am so grateful and humbled to be tutored by the Holy Spirit. 

It has been a "delight to my soul."

Update: 10pm, finally. Today was busy. Seminary. Then subbing special Ed. Then rush home to clean. Then help Kayla set up for the RS un-swim party. Then the party. Which was fun. Then finally time to prepare tomorrow's lesson. Now I am tired. Phew!

my day

• taught seminary this morning
• took Grace to school
• took Ethan to the orthodontist
• came home and cleaned the backyard with Bub who was too "sick" to go to school after the orthodontist
• went to ihop for brunch with my boy
• did laundry
• prepared tomorrow's seminary lesson
• facetimed Hannah
• picked up Grace
• bought tickets to JFK, where we will catch our flight to Tel Aviv!  
• talked to Nana on the phone
• made dinner
• talked to Val on the phone
• fed the missionaries.  Elder Olds had never heard of apple cider??? We had a welcome fall dinner because I felt like it and I'm tired of being hot. 
• we had turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, salad,  and for the dessert pecan pie and hot apple cider
• bub went to soccer
• I cleaned the kitchen
• Rob went to the gym
• Grace baked pumpkin muffins
• went to bed early (at least that's the plan) 5am comes early in the morning!

Camping report

Rob's horse was named Pepper

So the men went camping.  Wes, Marc, Larry and Rob.  They rode in on horse back, it took about 5 hours to get to the camping site.  They were very remote.

There were some big surprises.  Larry and Wes camp here often, over the decades, and have built up a little camping spot with all the amenities and things they want.  Unfortunately some time in the last year a huge fire came thru and many things were burned.  They had tents with them and enough to survive but there were things that were sorely missed.  It ended up being a time of rebuilding.  Rob said it was good, but hard.

The nights were pretty cold.  Wes is a mean camp cook and they ate well.  The fish were biting and Rob caught a lot.  Larry is an all star story teller.  The campfire conversations were pleasant and team building.  Everyone enjoyed each other's company and the time outdoors and unplugged.

fishing

It looks like such a pristine, beautiful place.  It sounds like everyone agreed that it was a good trip.  Just also hard.  I think they were glad to get home to their wives, hot showers and soft beds (not necessarily in that order)

fishing

five star facilities

happy camper

Sunday

Hannah and Kenz ready for church. These girls are having a great time. I'm so glad they are living together and enjoying this college time!

Fun!

Dani and Greg are in Austin this weekend for Nazli's wedding. She looks so beautiful. Dani and Nazli were BFF's when they were teenagers. I'm so glad she and Greg got to go to the wedding!

We had a ward ice cream social tonight. There was a good turn out, who doesn't love ice cream?

We also had our primary program today. It was very sweet. 

This afternoon we had a presidency meetings: lots of fun stuff coming up. While we were meeting Grace and Z walked to the mailbox and brought back a surprise box that Maggie sent from Maryland! So fun. She wrote a cute note saying she missed us and sent Lu a little elephant and me this cute necklace that she made. 

Poor Karen is still not allowed to drive and is still suffering from her accident so it looks like it'll be one more week of seminary teaching for me.

I ❤️to see the temple

We had our youth temple trip today. It is always very special to go with the youth. 

It was a long day with a couple of delays but no one complained and we had a great time. 

After we went to Fatburger for dinner. 

Rylie, Mia, Paige, Heather, Emily, David, and Collin in the back row.

Charlotte, Brynn, Levi, Kelly, Noah, Brody Preston, Connor, Garrett, Grace and Patty middle row.

Ethan and Ty first row. 

Grace and Travis not pictured.
Brody and Ethan waiting for their burgers. 

a little interview

I sometimes like to ask Ethan thought provoking questions while we are driving together.  I have to force him to answer because he almost always says "hmm, I don't know" at first. I am training him for when he's grown and I am not there to see what his life looks like on a daily basis, then he will know how to tell me about it. Boys :)

This morning I asked him what he would do if someone gave him $10,000 and he had to spend it this week.  He opened with "IDK".  Then after a minute he said he would buy a soccer ball.  I agreed that he needed one and then said "assuming you bought a really  nice one that still leaves you will $9,990." So he said he would buy a backup soccer ball. Then he came up with: some clothes, "pants and stuff "and a car for when he can drive.

Yesterday I asked him, besides dad who are your male role models? He thought for a few minutes and then said definitely Bro. Silva and Bro. Pincock.  He also admires Alec, Bro. Chronis, Greg and Clayton and both of his grandfathers.  I was really happy to hear his list.  These are good men and I am glad he has mentors he can look up to and emulate.

Interestingly he came up with that answer rather quickly.

I love that boy and am so happy to be his mom.  He's a good, smart, kind, calm, giving young man.

the internet is a wonderful thing...

 This morning it brought to my attention some photos that I haven't looked at in four years.  Jenna and Clayton's wedding!  It was so fun to look thru them and to remember that special day.  Their wedding really was so beautiful.

 Ethan and Tatum dancing is one of my favorite shots.  Look how happy she looks.  He is a sweet and tender boy and always kind to everyone.  I love that.  Also look how small he looks!

 We had the dinner catered and it was yummy and fun to have the chefs right there!

 I love these beautiful shots of these two.  

Mystery, murder (of the hamster variety) and scripture

It's been a kind of crazy week. My good friend Karen got into a pretty bad car accident. She is also the jr class seminary teacher so when she asked me to sub for her, even though I knew it wasn't going to be an easy week, I said yes. Because that's what you do. I do like teaching seminary. It's hard and early though. Today we were in 2 Nephi 4 where some beautiful ideas are discussed. We talked about the importance of scripture study. Nephi said his soul delighted in the scriptures, I am not always there. I do honestly love them but sometimes my reading is mechanical and obligatory. Sometimes I forget all together. And sometimes it's a delight. I am trying to tip the scales more and more to the delight side of the spectrum. 

We talked about the importance of letting go of our sins and our past and putting our trust in God's plan. Nephi eloquently described this process as he talked about feeling anguish at his wretched soul (he as a little hard on himself...like we all are) and the peace that he feels when he forgets himself and remembers God's goodness and grace. This is one of Satan's most effective traps. He wants us to get so down on ourselves that we don't forgive ourselves and move on after we repent. There are two voices in our heads: one that says "you are not good enough, you can not be forgiven. Everyone is better than you and if they really knew you they wouldn't like you". That is Satan's voice. Christ's message is the opposite. He says "I atoned for you, personally, so you don't have to keep suffering. Believe in me and in what I can do. Do your best. You are good enough." We have to choose Christ.

The last concept we covered was personal prayer. This chapter has a beautiful, heartfelt prayer in poetic prose that can't help but touch the readers heart. It also schools us in what elements we should have in our prayers. To introduce this idea I brought a bag full of random things: a flashlight, a can of soup, a name tag, etc. The kids pulled an item out and said prayer is like _________ because __________. They came up with some great ideas. 

It was a fun morning except Grace tried to FaceTime me like 6 times. Finally I became concerned that she was trapped under something heavy or the house was flooding or something so I gave Kelly the phone and told her if Grace called again to step out and talk to her and to give it to me IF it was an emergency. 

It turned out that Sophie was eating her babies. All but 3.  Gross and vicious and upsetting. Yikes!! Ugh! 

I have also been subbing a lot this week so I have to rush home from seminary grab Grace, who is supposed to get ready while I am gone, but who so far has not, drop her at  school and rush to my job. It has been a little too rushed! 

One more day! I can do it.

This month it was the Laurel's turn to plan the combined activity. They wanted to do a murdur mystery dinner. We invited the Somerset ward and had almost 50 kids there!

We went early to set up and brought Noah and Rylie with us. Everyone helped and it looked great.   We had a 3 course meal with an introduction to set the scene and then clues revealed at each courses. In the end several kids figured out who the murderer was.

After everyone's guesses I read a wrap up that basically said: this wasn't taken from a modern day drama but from the greatest book in the world "the Book of Mormon". We took the story from Helaman  1 & 2 about the gadianton robbers, the murders of Pacumeni and Pahoran and the traitorous attempt at  Helaman's life.   The evening was a big success. The kids enjoyed it. Were surprised at the connection and listened with rapt attention to the scriptures to find out what happened. Also the dinner was good :)

Also, in the middle of all that Rob is on a camping trip with Wes and Larry and Marc. Hope they are having fun. It's supposed to be pretty cold where they are (in the high 20's at night and 50's in the day).  I'll be happy to hear all about it when they return.