My Manly Men

My boys like to do something they call "power struggles" .

They battle with sticks while rolling back and forth on our empty water barrels.
At least we know they've got good balance!

They also love to hike.
Here's Aaron on the top of "Sunset Peak".
It is a hike of less than 1/4 mile from our house.

Evan enjoys the great view from the top!

I am so grateful that my boys enjoy nature. John and the boys love to hike and mountain bike. Sometimes they even bring Marianne and me along.

I've never really been an "outdoorsy" type of person and I am a terrible athlete. In fact, the word athlete probably shouldn't even be in a sentence about me!

When John and I were first married, he suggested we go to the park to play frisbee one Saturday afternoon. I told John I couldn't play frisbee and he didn't believe it. When we got to the park and attempted a game of frisbee he realized I wasn't joking. I really couldn't catch or throw a frisbee. Fortunately, my husband proved himself to be unbelievably kind and patient. For about a month we went to the park once or twice a week to practice. John very lovingly taught his completely uncoordinated wife how to throw a frisbee. Most people would have given up, but not John. I am pleased to say that 20 years later we love to play frisbee together at the beach or the park. I'm by no means an expert and I still make the occasional wild throw. I can't imitate John's fancy moves and catch it under my leg or behind my back, but I can play catch!

I am grateful that we live in an area where it is easy for our family to go biking or hiking or spend time at the beach. It only takes one hike or one walk or one game of frisbee to help us relax and remember what is really important in life. This is another example of the power of one.

President Gordon B. Hinckley wrote,

Our lives are so busy. We run from one thing to another. We wear ourselves out with our studies and our social lives and our pursuit of money. Please don't misunderstand me: I am not saying that any of these things are wrong or bad. But we are entitled to spend some time with ourselves. We need to spend time out in nature where we can think and breathe deeply and feel the earth and listen to the sounds of the ocean or the woods or the mountains.

Find some time to drown out the noise of the world . . . . and take occasion to think about your life. Take time to think about the kind of man or woman you want to become. The scriptures admonish: Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10