Last Weekend: Visitors From Texas, A Trip to Missouri, And More!

We had a lot going on last weekend.  Zac and Emily finished their school year on Thursday and spent the weekend at school's out parties and hanging out with friends.  I took Steve to the airport Friday morning for a quick trip to St. Louis.  One of his best friends he grew up with passed away and he was going to a memorial service.  Friday night we had some dear old friends from Dallas come to visit.  My brother Sam's best friend from his growing up years, Tommy, was just stationed at the air force base near our house.  He and his family just moved from Turkey.  Tommy's dad, Henry and his friend drove Tommy's truck from Texas to Utah for him.  The Perez family are good friends of our family from Dallas.  We had them all over for dinner Friday night.  My mom and Lauren came too.  We had such a nice visit with them and it was so good to see them after all these years.  After dinner we skyped with Sam and Teresa in Ohio.

 The next day, Saturday, I had to opportunity to go to the Brigham City Temple with Steve's cousin Jake who leaves next week for his mission to DC.  While I was at the temple, my kids went to help my mom in her yard.

A picture we sent to Steve Sunday morning to tell him we missed him.

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day.  It was so perfect outside.  Warm sun shining and cool breeze blowing.  I had to send this to Steve and rub it in since he was dying from humidity in St. Louis.

 A leisurely Sunday afternoon drive.  I could not be more excited!  Alicia, the one driving, and I were just released from serving in the Relief Society in our church.  Just a few weeks later we were called to be assistant directors for our stake youth conference next summer.  We will be putting on the production Savior of the World.  Veronica, the lovely lady on the right, is the director.  I am seriously dying of excitement.  Not only for the chance to work with all the youth in our stake, but also to work so closely with these two ladies who are two of my dearest friends.  I'm also dying from laughter because I'm looking at this picture I took when I made Alicia drive through the "shortcut" to take us home.  She was so mad at me because she had just washed her vehicle the day before.  I told her that was OK because she was on the every other day program so it was due to be washed tomorrow.  She didn't think that was funny.  I'm pretty sure her vehicle along with herself have never been off a paved road. 

 Before Steve left for St. Louis, I told him to make sure to take pictures while he was there, since he would be getting together with old friends and also his family.  I felt pretty confident that that wasn't going to happen so Saturday morning I sent my Sister in Law, Lisa, a text asking her to take pictures for me.  She sent me back this picture of "Steve at 10:30 Saturday morning".

Later that day she sent me pictures from the memorial service.  This is my brother in law Mike, their old Sunday School teacher Dan Odom, and Steve.

Mike, Rick Daleen (an old friend and adopted brother of the friend who passed away), my father in law Roy, and Steve

On Sunday after church, I knew Steve was getting together with his family at his sister Heather's house.  We always have so much fun when everyone is together, so I wanted to know what I was missing out on.  I sent a group text to them all and requested pictures of what I was missing.  This is what my brother in law Ed sent.

I didn't realize Mike and Sheila had already left to go back home to Kentucky.  Sheila sent me this and said this is what I was missing.

My sister in law Heather sent me this picture, she was at work.

From Mike, my brother in law Steve is the master gardener.

From Lisa, they were watching Pirates of the Caribbean 

 From my niece, Sierra

 From Lisa

From Sheila, a picture she had taken earlier that weekend.  I wish my kids could have been there with their cousins.

It was a busy fun weekend!

19 Years and Counting

19 years ago yesterday, I made the best decision of my life when I married this man.  It wasn't long after we met (less than a week) that we knew without any doubt that we were supposed to be together for the rest of forever.  That knowledge has only been strengthened through time.  So much has happened in that last 19 years.  We have both changed so much.  I know without a doubt, it is because we have kept God first in our relationship, that our marriage is still holding strong today.  Stephen, I love you.  Thank you for loving me back!

Yesterday was our anniversary and we spent the entire day together.  It was fabulous.  We spent the first half of the day in the temple.  We decided that since we were celebrating our eternal marriage that day, we wanted to give another couple the same opportunity.  We found a husband and wife in Steve's family line and did all the ordinances in the temple for them yesterday- from baptism through sealing.  It was an awesome experience and we were able to be the witness couple to boot!  (I tried to tell Steve this was a bad angle to take a selfie from, but he wanted the temple spire in the background) (want to find out more about forever families, Mormon temples, and family history work- read to the bottom of this post)

We were dying of starvation by the time we left the temple so we went to Costa Vida for lunch.

Then we went to see a movie- Godzilla.  This is a picture I took of us in the movie.  If you could see it, what you would see is Steve having a hard time sitting through it, me sound asleep and apparently snoring, and both of us giving it a big 2 thumbs down.

After the movie we drove a little way up the canyon, found the perfect grassy shaded area, laid a blanket out and I read a book to Steve.  We read for over 3 hours.  It was absolutely lovely.  When the time came to leave, neither of us wanted to.  If it hadn't been for hunger, we would have stayed there a few hours more.  We both agreed we should have skipped the movie and spent the whole day on the blanket.

Dinner was at The Mandarin.  It was delicious.

After dinner it was time to come home to the real world.  Real World = a disastrous house, strawberry jam all over every surface of the kitchen, video gaming, a missing teenager, small children up past 10 on a school night, everything the kids ate yesterday on display on the kitchen island, and much much more!

I am so thankful for my husband.  I am so thankful that we have been sealed in the House of the Lord.  I am so thankful that our family can be together throughout the eternities.  I am so thankful we live close to a temple.  I am so thankful for the life Steve and I have built together with the help of our Heavenly Father. 

Want to know more about Mormon Temples?

We believe that family relationships continue after death.  We believe that the sealing power spoken of in Matthew  has been restored to the earth today.  Families can be together forever.  When a couple is married in the temple or a family goes to the temple together to be sealed, they are sealed together not just for this life, but for all eternity.

  “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to be baptized and receive other sacred ordinances, such as being sealed to their family.  Even those who did not have that opportunity in this life.  In the temple we are able to perform those ordinances on behalf of our ancestors who have passed on.  We stand in as proxy, acting for them.  It is their choice to accept those ordinances or not in the spirit world.

 "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?"  (1 Corinthians 15:29)

We believe that the family is central to the plan of our Heavenly Father.  You can read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" by clicking here.  Because the family is so important, because family relationships last beyond the grave, and because we have the opportunity to perform sacred ordinances for family members who have passed on, family history work is an important part of our church also.  Our church has an awesome website, available to anyone, that can help you trace your family lineage, find out more about your ancestors, and it also gives you a place to store photos and stories of your ancestors and family members.  I have been able to trace some of my family lines all the way back to Adam and Eve (for real!).  You can find that website by clicking here.

To find out more about Mormons and temples, click here.  I am also happy to answer any questions or to help you navigate your way through the Family Search website to help you build your family tree.

What the Heck is He Even Talking About???

This is the actual conversation I just had with this kid:

Zac: Mom, I'm going to need a new binder.
Me: Why?
Zac: Because my old one is all messed up.
Me: But what do you need a binder for?
Zac: (looking at me like I'm crazy)  For.  School.
Me: (looking at him like he's crazy) ZAC!  It's the FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!  What in the heck are you even talking about????
Zac:  I'm just letting you know that I'm going to need a new binder when school starts.
Me:  O...K....I'll try to...get you one...before then....

Memorial Weekend Days 3 & 4: Great Basin National Park

On Sunday morning we had a family devotional.  Then we all took our camp chairs off to a quiet place and read a church book or church magazine.  Emily and Addy read The Friend together.  I found a lovely spot and sat and read my book for a few hours.  I might have dozed a little.  It was lovely.  It was quiet, peaceful, I had a wonderful view, and you can't tell from the picture but there is a lovely little stream providing the perfect soundtrack.

That afternoon we went to Lehman Cave.  We tried to tour it the day before but they were all sold out for the day.  We arrived early for our scheduled tour so we could go on the little nature walk around the cave.

 They had a little pamphlet at the cave that explained the different things you could find around the cave.  Emily acted as tour guide.

The original entrance to the cave.  I wish I had taken a picture of this entrance inside the cave.  It is literally a hole in the top of the cave that you drop down through.  I can't remember the exact year but I think this is the entrance they used for tours through the 1930's or 40's.  

Our tour guide "Ranger Austin".  I don't really know his real name but he reminded us all of our nephew and cousin Austin so we nicknamed him that.

 I almost backed out of this tour at the last minute.  I was already nervous about it.  Then to begin the tour we had to walk through this hugely long narrow tunnel to get into the cave (I think I would have preferred the original entrance better).  The door at either end of the tunnel was shut tight and I kept thinking, OPEN THE DOOR!  OPEN THE DOOR!  OPEN!  THE!  DOOR!  But the tour guide wouldn't open the dang door!  He kept blabbering on and on and on.  Then he asked how the tunnel was making us feel.  I wanted to scream out, "IF YOU WOULD OPEN THE DOOR IT WOULD MAKE ME FEEL A WHOLE LOT BETTER!!!!  OR YOU CAN STAND THERE AND IN ABOUT 10 SECONDS I WILL CHARGE YOU AND OPEN THE THING MYSELF!"  But I just stood there trying to remain calm gripping Steve's hand.  Ranger Austin S L O W L Y explained that they like to torture claustrophobic people by making them stand in that tunnel for extended amounts of time.  I was about ready to claw his face off.  He said he was just kidding.  ha.  ha.  freaking.  hilarious.  OPEN THE DOOR!  He then  S L O W L Y  explained that they use it as a test for claustrophobic people because if they are uncomfortable in the tunnel, they have the chance to turn around there and go back outside before getting too far into the cave.  I turned to Steve and told him I thought I should go out and wait.  He helped me to be brave though and I decided to stay.  Once I FINALLY got into the cave I was fine, except for a few tight squeezes we had to make.

After the cave tour we enjoyed a little ice cream on the lawn.

And the girls had fun wrestling.

 Addy took a break from wrestling for another lick of ice cream.

And then she was back in the middle of things.

There was a dog sitting on the lawn waiting while it's owners were taking a tour.  The entire time we were sitting there, Zac kept eyeing the dog.  I finally said, "You want to go over there and play with that dog don't you?"  He said yes.  So I told him to go on over.  Pretty soon all the kids were there loving on the dog.  

We had to stop for gas in the middle of nowhere.  Literally.

Back at camp we played some games.

Zac taught us a fun version of Frisbee.

Addy took one too many Frisbees to the head and she went to pout inside a sleeping bag.  Zac took care of that.

That night we went to a Dark Sky Program.  The Great Basin National Park is one of the few places left in the United States with a truly dark sky at night.  Their motto is, "Half the park is after dark."  It was a fun night and we learned a lot.  We were also able to look through a telescope and see Saturn.  It was so awesome!  It didn't look real.  We could see the planet and the rings around it.  It was so cool!

I didn't take this picture, I stole it off the internet, but here is a picture someone took at Great Basin.  We didn't see that many stars when we were there because we had some pretty cloudy nights, but what we did see was beautiful.

Monday, Memorial Day

We had cell phone coverage for a brief moment the day before when we were getting gas in the middle of nowhere.  During that brief moment we found out that there were some people trying to get a hold of us.  Steve's two Uncles, Dave and George were in town.  Not the town we were in at the time, but the town where we would be returning to once our trip was over.  It has been over 15 years since he has seen them.  Everyone was getting together Monday evening at his Uncle Harold's house.  We were so glad we got this message.  Otherwise we would have packed up and left just a few hours too late.  We woke up early Monday morning and started packing up camp so we could get on the road and get home.

The town's stop sign

On our way out of town we had to stop at the Visitor's Center so Aubrey and Addy could be sworn in as Jr. Night Rangers.  They had completed a packet they received the night before.

 It was a long drive home.  We were excited to get to this sign, but we still had a ways to go.

We passed this interesting tree on our way out on Friday and I had to take a picture on our way back.  Those are shoes hanging on the tree.

And we made it!  Just barely.  We got home, showered real fast like and left for Harold's house.

Uncle Dave, Uncle George, Aunt Callie, Uncle Harold

These are Steve's mothers siblings.  Steve's mom, Myrle, passed away 24 years ago.

Aunts, Uncles and the cousins that were present (plus Zac)

The next generation

 Hey!  It's us!

Steve and his cousin Steve who was visiting from California

Telling fun stories of their younger years growing up in Blanding Utah.  And we also got to hear some Cowboy Poetry.

We had a wonderful weekend topped off with a wonderful night.  It was so fun to visit with family and hear fun stories.  I am so thankful for the  family God has given me and for the fun memories we were able to make together last weekend.

Click here for days 1 & 2