Relaxin' and Chillin

We sure miss Daddy and Noah, who are at Scout Camp.

After the excitement and business of yesterday, today was a relaxing day at home.

I love my family and am grateful to be apart of such a good family.

Happy 10th Birthday, Hiram!

Hiram turned 10 years old today.

He was so excited to wake up and find his presents.

The Legos, piñata, and many treats were a pleasant surprise for Hiram.

He spent the morning building his new Lego set.

Aunt Linda and her family came over with us to celebrate.

They loved bouncing on the bounce house with water.

The piñata was exciting, but Grant knocked it down with 2 swings.

He's got quite the power swing.

The day was great, but we missed Daddy and Noah.

We sure hope they are having fun at Scout Camp.

Celebrations

 
Saturday was a very special day.
We celebrated the wedding of my cousin Kristin.
The weather was beautiful.
Visiting with cousins and other family was the highlight of our time.

 
We also were able to visit Aunt Jamie and family.
We went to American Fork Days and enjoyed free activities, including awesome bounce houses and amazing face painting.

On Sunday, we celebrated my nephew, Michael, returning home from his mission.

We enjoyed his talk in church and the delicious food afterward.

But we most enjoyed visiting with family.

What a great weekend we had!

Spiritual Experiences

After church, yesterday, James came running up to me with excitement.

He proceeded to tell me how he came out of the primary room after church to look for Grant.

He said he started to go one way, but then felt in his heart that he should go another way into another room.

He then found Grant.

I mentioned that the Spirit was guiding him.

He was thrilled that he finally felt the Holy Ghost.

We were visiting family that day, and he excitedly and literally told everyone about his experience.

We all had a Spiritually high day at church yesterday as we visited my brother's ward.

Joyanne loved her lesson in Sunday school because the teacher was so prepared and she felt the spirit.

Daddy enjoyed the teenage girl who spoke in Sacrament, and was impressed by her knowledge of the gospel and the strength of her testimony.

I, too, had a wonderful missionary experience.

We were talking in Relief Society about temples.

My sister-in-law's mother, was visiting from France.

She commented how she was not a member of our church.

She was sad and didn't understand why she couldn't go inside the temple, especially when her daughter was married there.

I was astounded when no one answered her, and they just went on talking about how wonderful the temple is.

I sat praying and pondering on an answer.

As soon as Relief Society ended, I moved by her.

She said she shouldn't have said anything because no one cares any way.

I told her I did.

I then asked her if she knew about Science.

She said yes.

So I asked her if she knew about the stars and their constellations.

She said no, that she said she would have to go to school to learn about it.

I related that the temple is also a school for higher learning, but before you can go there, you have to learn and accept the more simple doctrines of our church.

The spirit was there to confirm the truth of my words and she understood.

She thanked me profusely for helping her understand a question she has had for years.

I was grateful I could be an instrument in the Lord's hands.

We went to Thanksgiving Point on Thursday and picnicked at the Gardens.

There were such beautiful waterfalls.

Joyanne had fun playing in the sand at the museum.

The fish loved being fed and would jump to the surface by the dozens.

Joyanne reached in the water and touched quite a few of them.

We loved resting and playing around with such beauty all around.

The drive

We spent the morning doing our chores.

Then we drove to Alpine.

I thought Joyanne looked so pretty as she read.

Both Daddy and I are tired from the drive.

That makes for ornery parents who don't put up with the silliness of the kids.

Hopefully after a good nights sleep we can have a happy day tomorrow.

A Week Long Birthday

Hiram's birthday is next Wednesday.

Daddy's going to be gone to scout camp with Noah, so Hiram gets a week long birthday.

Yesterday we went to Lagoon.

Today, Hiram received his big presents.

He was thrilled to get a Ripstick and a Kindle fire.

He had such a happy day playing electronics and trying out his ripstick.

Boys

Cute Grant loves his Thomas the Train costume.

We loved Lagoon today.

We all rode the new ride, the Cannibal.

It was awesome!

Joyanne and Noah and their cousin, Ben, went on the ride 10 times.

James, Joseph and Grant couldn't go on the new ride and they were kind of sad about it, but they had fun being together and going on the other rides.