A Perfect Sunday

I love Sundays, but sometimes they are crazy busy. I still love them, but it can be tiring.

This Sunday was perfect! No early meetings and everyone was up and ready to go on time.

At church, Evan passed the sacrament to me and then he gave a wonderful talk about the importance of testimony. We had a gorgeous musical number O My Father by two very talented young moms in our ward. John was next. He is the Young Men's president and he spoke about the new Duty to God program. It may sound like a bit of a dry topic, but John made it interesting and uplifting. Best of all, Evan played it cool and kept a straight face when things started flying through the air. While sitting up on the stand, Evan took apart his pen and accidentally sent a piece shooting straight up!

Next was Primary and I love hearing the children sing with such enthusiasm! We have such amazing teachers and leaders that it makes my job easy. Cammi & Dallin both gave great talks in Primary, so I heard from lots of family members today! My counselor gave a very inspiring sharing time about the pioneers and I got to sit back and enjoy it.

After church, I almost got a nap, but it was happily interrupted by kids who wanted to talk and snuggle on the bed with me. Then John and I got out an old photo album and reminisced about our first dates and (less than 3 months until) our engagement.

In the evening we headed to a lovely spot in LaJolla for a picnic with two of my favorite girls, Molly and Brianne.

Thanks to (my other favorite girl) Marianne for planning the menu. We had BLTs, fruit and brownies. I tried a no-cook brownie recipe from Marianne's Martha Stewart magazine and she made the more traditional kind in her new edge pan. We got to see lots of cute babies while we were there.

The ducklings were adorable, but . . .

this girl takes the cake!

Back home I got to take a walk in the beautiful cool air while holding hands with my husband. Later we got a call from our favorite BYU student. We seem to miss Aaron the most on Sundays, so it was good to hear from him. He got to take part in the world's largest water balloon fight a few days ago. Take a look at the video; he was one of the yellow shirt "referees" in the middle.

I feel very grateful for such a peaceful and relaxing Sunday!

No Flips, Only Flops

I really love wearing flip-flops. They are cool and comfortable. At home I am usually barefoot, so flip-flops are easy to slip on when I absolutely have to wear shoes. Recently, I had a series of unfortunate events that caused me to re-think my feelings about flip-flops.

Event #1
Last week I was in Palm Springs. The kids and I went to see Toy Story 3 in the nice cool theater and afterwords we walked across the street to our hotel. Halfway there, my right flip-flop broke right between the toes. Normally, I would have just taken them off and continued on barefoot, but since it was approximately 110 degrees outside, I wasn't willing to risk the pavement. There was no way to keep it on my foot so I slid along slowly with my kids laughing at me until we found John. He was very sympathetic and kindly suggested that I just run up to the room and change my shoes. It was at that moment I began to regret my ability to pack lightly. My kind and sympathetic husband thought it was hysterical that I didn't have another pair of shoes.

I thought we could quickly find a store and pick up some shoes, but my family claimed that they were all starving and we needed to get dinner first. They weren't going to miss a moment of my entertaining one footed shuffle. After dinner we finally did make it to the store where I bought not one, but two pairs of flip-flops!

Event #2
A few days later I was out shopping with Marianne when it started to rain. When we got out of the car, we discovered that our flip-flops and the wet parking lot were a dangerous combination! Both of us began slipping and sliding around. It was actually pretty funny until I realized that Marianne is a lot more flexible than I am. She was no worse for wear, but I wrenched my knee and wasn't able to exercise for several days.

When I told my Mom about these two events she recommended that I consider giving up flip-flops. "Get yourself some cute sandals instead" she suggested. I was about to defend my flip-flop habit, until I remembered something. You know those two pairs of flip-flops I bought in Palm Springs? Well, one of them turned my feet black and the other pair made my foot bleed.

July Faces

My summer has been filled with gorgeous faces!
Thankfully, Marianne loves to capture them with her camera.

This is my niece Cammi with a teardrop and pouty lips after she fell during a walk. She wanted to hold Roxy's leash, but it didn't quite work out like she planned.

Dallin pretty much looked this way the entire two weeks he was at my house.
For some reason he loves to have his tongue hanging out.
Kind of reminds you of a puppy, doesn't he?

Alyssa looked thoughtful after she came home from dance class.
She found out that she successfully completed her exams
and brought home the certificate to prove it!

We were so glad this cutie pie was able to visit for a few days.
Riley is full of expressions and we loved seeing them all!

We can't get enough of Brianne's beautiful face.
She is our family celebrity. Everyone rushes over when she enters the room and she is constantly followed by fans and the papparazzi!

One beautiful face is all it takes to make my heart sing!

I Recommend . .

A couple of great ways to spend your Sunday afternoon (or any time when you have a few free minutes!)

1. If you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, take a few minutes to create a profile on New Mormon.org. It is a fun and easy way to share your testimony with others. My goal is to answer one new question every Sunday. Click HERE to check it out.

2. Read an uplifting story from F. Enzio Busche's book Yearning for the Living God. This book is filled with miraculous accounts of the Lord's hand in building up His kingdom on earth. Reading for just a few minutes will inspire you!


Here's hoping you can find the time to "be still" this week!

My 3 Favorite Days

Yesterday . . .

My brother and his cute 2yo Riley came to visit
My mom brought chocolate chip cookies
We played at the park and fed the ducks
We ate In 'N Out
Riley yelled "quack quack" when he saw our dog
Riley jumped on Alyssa while she was stretching for ballet class
Our huge container of Duplos got lots of use!

Today . . .

I woke up with a cold
My baby brother moved to Texas for his first "real" job
I did lots of laundry
Evan started a new on-line math program that he really likes
Marianne did lots of sight reading at her flute lesson
We took Cammi, Dallin & Alyssa home to unpack and get ready for their parents' arrival
Another earthquake
I watched this great video about motherhood
Jenny, Brian & Emma came home from London bearing gifts
I got cute jewelry and fun Shakespeare stuff!

Tomorrow . . .

I want to feel better!
I need to find someplace to buy Stainstick (no luck at Alberstons, Target or Costco)
My house will be a little too quiet. (I miss my Aaron!)
I hope J and Riley come to visit
I hope to read more of Till We Have Faces
We're going to the temple

Riley reading Elmo instead of
Till We Have Faces

Hope your yesterday was full of summertime fun, your today is joyful, and tomorrow holds some excitement!

Fasting on Independence Day

What a wonderful day! Fast Sunday on the 4th of July.

It reminds me of what Abraham Lincoln said in 1863 when he issued a proclamation declaring a national day of fasting.

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

These are harsh words. Words that are certainly truer today that they were in 1863.

On this Sabbath day, I am grateful that I can fast (as Lincoln requested) and remember the words spoken more recently by President Harold B. Lee.

This nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail . . . I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America. If we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

May you have a happy 4th of July, full of fasting, faith and family.

That We May Be Redeemed,
the founding fathers and Wilford Woodruff.
Painted by Harold I. Hopkinson
(The original, beautiful, full-color version is in the St. George temple.)

Thank you Corrie!

Have you ever read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom? It's an amazing book--one of my all-time favorites. One of the most memorable parts is when Corrie and her sister Betsie are placed in flea-infested barracks in a concentration camp. Betsie insists that they must be grateful for EVERYTHING and she prays to thank God for the fleas. Corrie can't see any possible reason to be grateful for fleas and she doubts her sister. Weeks later, they discover that because of the fleas, the guards don't enter the barracks. They have privacy and are able to read the Bible and teach the women about Christ. The fleas were a real blessing!

Today I woke up annoyed at the birds who disturbed my sleep last night. I decided to follow the example of the ten Boom sisters and be grateful! And it really wasn't hard because nothing in my life is even remotely as bad as fleas in a concentration camp.

Birds sing and chirp outside my window in the middle of the night . . .
I am grateful to live in a quiet neighborhood where I can leave my windows open and not hear anything other than birds!

I have 3 extra children at my house for 10 days . . .
I am grateful to have a full house since all of my boys are gone right now (even my husband!)

I spent the day running errands and taking kids to various appointments . . .
I am grateful to have a reliable car!

Due to appointments, lessons and classes, we haven't been able to go the the beach or anything and I feel kind of "stuck" at home this week . . .
I am grateful to have been here for a couple of friends who have needed help (and don't usually ask!)

Both my microwave and my dishwasher broke this week . . .
I am grateful for a repairman who only charged $19.95 and told me a way to fix the dishwasher myself. Later we went to buy a new microwave and it was on sale!

It is kind of fun to look for these "unnoticed" blessings. Give it a try! What are you grateful for?