Angels Landing

Brad and Brooke climbed Angel's Landing in Zion's several years ago and he's been wanting to take the rest of us since we moved here. Finally, this weekend we all made the journey. It was magnificent! A wonderful way to cap off our weekend retreat in the mountains:







































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Temple

I ended up with some sweet free time during my Utah trip .... This afternoon my mother in law and I attended the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.


Oh my WORD! It is a gorgeous temple! The view is magnificent, and the feeling, as in all the temples, is unmatchable. Inside is indescribable. I so enjoyed this afternoon building memories with Brad's mom in this heavenly place!



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Bragging on Bryan

Senior picture time, so Sierra grabbed her professional camera and drug Bryan along.

I don't have a clue why Bry is so reticent about having his picture taken.

These few photos are proof that he's not only gorgeous, but oh-so-photogenic!

Bryan is in all AP and a couple of Honors classes. He's acing them. Which proves not only that he's killer smart (we've known that forever) but that this year he's also very self-motivated.

(*relief*)

Yeah, he'll be 18 soon, but Bryan is still the*most*tender*hearted*person in. the. world.

period.

His love-language is gifting. So when he crams his last nacho down your throat, realize he's saying "I love you". (and then eat it)

Pretty quiet around here ...

With Sierra gone for so long, it's not only quieter, but a little lonely too ... Can't wait to get her home.



Last night Bryan made Stuffed halibut ...YUM. We've divided up nights for cooking, and much to my delight, Bryan took 2 nights (if only he'd take my two nights too!).



Azure looked so cute coming home from church today that I jut had to snap a photo.

Other news this week: I'm definitely getting acclimated to my job. And the kids and I got some good school shopping in. They're all set look great and take notes!


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Cali's Blessing

It was a busy week which included traveling for work, 2 weddings and the blessing of little Cali. And because a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let this picture do the speaking:


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I'm Back!

It's about time I update, dontcha think?

In the 6 weeks I've been AWOL lots has happened.

I am now an employed woman. I am the Marketing Director for ASL Communication. It is the perfect job for me, as it allows me to work a whole lot from home, or from whatever location I may be at, and it actually requires that I travel regularly to Utah (oh darn! I'll have to stay with my family there!) When I'm not researching and setting things up from home, I'm visiting with clients and potential clients, taking gifts to them, buying them lunch, and basically schmoozing. LOVE IT! (Plus, this job has motivated me to learn ASL. Thankfully my parents are signers and this past 10 days I've been tutored by my mom!)

I've also spent some time with a lot of my extended family this past little while. I've been with kids and grandkids, inlaws, and with my parents in Texas. It's been a blissful month and a half.

Meanwhile, my motivational blog, Silver Strands, is really thriving. I feel like Silver Strands is the raft that is taking me on my divine current.

Today Bryan completed his Duty to God and even had his Bishop's interview. Our 17-year-old is a motivated young man who makes us very proud.

A big thanks to my Mother-in-law who has motivated me to get back to the family blog. I've committed to her that this will be updated at least every Sunday.

winners and heroes

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife.

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

Winners of Kevin Hall's book, ASPIRE are:

Liz Schroeder

James & Michelle

LyddieGal

Shari@LittleBlueDeer

Please email me your mailing address for your personally autographed copy of this amazing book!

(Can you believe he's giving us 4 copies?!! He's just a great guy ... you'll want to check out his book if you're not one of the winners ... well worth reading!)

And for those of you who didn't win - new giveaway starting Monday!

Happy 4th to you all.

nothing like having family together

together

Yipee ... we have Brooke and Gage with us!

Caci & Jace get here tonight and Trevor arrives from the Ukraine on Monday night.

... all together again ...

the girls went for a run yesterday morning and every one of them plopped, exhausted on the ground as they stumbled in the front door.

Gage's 1st swim

sunday thought

Sunday afternoon ...

Bry's in Texas with the Calls for his cousin's Eagle Court

so it's been just Dad & the girls.

Today when the sacrament hymn started and the priests realized there was no bread ...

the drama unfolded. I have to admit I was distracted.

I watched as the YM pres zipped out to find bread,

then found my thoughts wandering to where he would find it ~ the freezer? the closest member? the family with lots of kids who probably brought bread?

Finally I let go of my secular thoughts and listened as our organist played, and played some more. When he switched to "I Need Thee Every Hour" I found myself completely in tune and grateful for the prolonged sacrament service. This week it took an extra several minutes for me to do what I should do every week. Ponder on the Atonement.

This week I'm grateful for forgotten bread.

Keyhole Canyon Adventure

While Denalee was in Dallas, we went out to Keyhole Canyon on a Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful day. We had a great time climbing around on the granite cliffs photographing Native American rock art.

We spotted several Chuckwalla lizards and Bryan decided to try to catch this one.

SUCCESS!! We were so proud of Bryan. Catching a lizard with your bare hands takes concentration and nerves of steel.

Our girls are always ready to pose for a beauty shot!

This is a photo of me climbing up to photo some petroglyphs.

A cool petroglyph of a Lizard.

it's been a while ...

I've so enjoyed being home with everyone

INCLUDING

Caci and Jace. Wow - I've missed them!

They've been in the Ukraine for a couple of months.

Trevor will be joining them here in two short weeks.

If Brooke & Steve can make it, we'll all be together for a couple of days.

OH HOW I LOVE HAVING EVERYONE TOGETHER!

My time with my parents was so, so precious.

But it's also wonderful to be back home.

time flies

Isn't she gorgeous?!!! This is my Mom yesterday.

I'm reminded of a song Brad wrote years ago

"Time flies ... old days and old ways pass by;

but love stays, and all our faded memories never die"

it goes on, but as I sit here in my parents' house,

sometimes looking at an old photo from my childhood or theirs,

sometimes playing games,

sometimes just watching them ...

at times I'm transported back to being a child,

other times I'm enjoying the moment of being in the presence of two incredible human beings who (thankfully) are my parents.

This is an amazing experience for me.

I plan to soon compile a list of lessons learned on this trip.

For now, let me say that I am one blessed individual.

And not just because I have a mini-fridge (completely stocked) in my room;

or because Dad makes gourmet breakfasts for us;

or because I can take anything from the candy-bar at anytime

But because I get to be my parents' child.

Here are some pictures sure to make your mouth water:

below is my fridge ... any snack, any time :)

down side? yup ... I have to get out of bed and brush my teeth before I really fall asleep

As always, for more on my visit with my parents check out my inspirational blog:

Silver Strands

ta-ta for now.

busy, busy, busy!

I'm completely enjoying my time alone with my parents.

There are 6 of us kids, so time alone with them is really precious - even as adults.

Here's how we've spent some of that time:

Mom & I went to the wig shop and got matching hats.
The night I arrived I cut off the rest of my Mom's hair ... no, she didn't NEED to be in a straight-jacket for it, but it was a lot more fun that way :)

Dad not only made an AMAZING Sunday dinner, but his presentation ... well, it was a feast for the eyes!

You know how people have "wet bars"?

Well, this is my parents'

candy bar

is this heaven, or what?

For more pictures and lots more details, go to my inspirational blog,

Silver Strands