Rendezvous

One weekend S invited us to go to the Rendezvous in Wyoming. It was super fun and I'm glad I could go. You were able to get into the fort if you were wearing clothing from that time period. So his mom brought a whole bunch of trek clothing. We played a whole bunch of games and got to play soccer. Super super fun weekend!

School Pictures

I love pictures! Here are some pictures from the beginning of the semester.

S and I right before heading into B's Endowment.
Right before the first week of school. 

First Manti Temple trip of the semester

First week with no homework....hours of free time = hours of Minecraft

School

I'm pretty excited for this semester. The first day I just sat in on the classes and they pass you the syllabus and they give you all of these due dates. This was a little overwhelming because a lot won't be homework but it will be projects and quizzes. Yikes! But you just take it one day at a time. You stay on top of things. You turns the nerves into excitement to get things done.
In my sewing class the other day. I anticipated it would be a pretty fun class, I enjoy sewing quite a bit. I know how to sew my basics. I'm pretty confident about it ya know. But then as she went around the room and had people talk about their past experience, I felt as though I wouldn't be able to sew a small button. These others were saying they have made wedding quilts and someone made all of their own dresses for their high school dances. Definitely humbled. I have a lot to learn. So I'm excited to learn new things and realizing this is a really neat opportunity to learn from others. So here I am also multitasking, thinking about the sewing projects I get to decide to work on. I'd really like to make a dress and so I have some ideas for it. Thank goodness for tutorials!

(Hand-Painted Front Zip Lemon Dress)

(Embroidered Fit and Flare Dress)

(Lime Lace Pencil Dress)

I really like her stuff. Credit for these pictures and tutorials. Follow the link: Merrick's Art

Cali

I had plans to post this sooner but now is as good of a time as any before it's too late. Just before school started, one of my best friends offered to take me and my other friends to go to San Diego with him. He served his mission there and wanted to go before things got busy again. I love these pictures. I will hopefully get some more pictures from my friends. We visited people that he taught. This trip was so much fun. We went to the beach for hours and then after being so burned, we went to the temple the next day. It is beautiful. There is so much more I would say but I feel very fortunate to have gone. We are family. Everyone around us.

Visiting a family S taught. They were so sweet.

At the temple still, waiting for K to help someone take a picture.

Hoover Dam

We met up with S's friend L and had breakfast and
then headed to the beach.

S and K with mermaid tails

Pho and Boba

San Diego Temple. S and I did a session
and the others did baptisms.

Went to Julian and got some pie.

Had to stop to take a picture. It was sooo hot!

The view from someone's backyard/porch

Hoover Dam

The beach! We literally spend most of the day here.

K and I standing in front of a cooling
station at the Hoover Dam.

The Happiness Project

Today in Relief Society we had a fantastic lesson about the Book of Mormon. We discussed how powerful it can be in our lives and what it's purpose is. At the end of the lesson they challenged all of us to read it again and this time with a specific purpose in mind. This may not be the norm for some people but I LOVE it when I get a Book of Mormon challenge. They gave us our own copy and they challenged us to be done by December 5. So....as I have mentioned before, I don't think people really read my blog but if you do, I challenge you to join me in this. Either find your own theme this time or join me with this one. It's called The Happiness Project. The promise is that we will find greater peace and happiness through reading. Some quotes they gave us:

"If you will study the scriptures diligently, your power to avoid temptation and to receive direction of the Holy Ghost in all you do will be increased." - Thomas S. Monson

"The Book of Mormon is an endless treasure of wisdom and inspiration, of counsel and direction."
-Boyd K. Packer

"Don't yield to Satan's lie that you don't have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games, or social media." - Richard G. Scott

They had figured that in order to make it, you read 2 chapters a day. That's not bad at all. In reading you can find answers to your questions, feel peace, find something you need help improving on, find/recognize God's blessings, etc. It will bring you happiness.

I have read this book before and I know it's true. Everything about it. It brings me peace and has given me guidance. Those in the book were actual people and events happened the way it says. I know that the prophet Joseph Smith did translate this through the power of God. Enjoy!

If you don't know what I am talking about and you want to know more you can go here: https://www.mormon.org/

Day at the Lake

Yesterday we had a family reunion at Rockport Reservoir. We had family here from Idaho and New York. The weather was perfect. There was a slight breeze which made it kind of hard to paddle if you got out too far from shore. But it was sunny up to the end and then it threatened to rain. We brought up lunch and of course mingled. My cousins all have kids since they are a bit older than my siblings and I and so we have fun with our little second cousins. I played in the mud which sounds kiddish but it was fun. It reminded me of the beach and the little ones tried to make mud castles which didn't work too well but it was fun trying. It was cute to see their faces light up when you got a big scoop of mud and then dropped it from higher and it would splat everywhere. We brought up paddle boards and kayaks. I'd never been on a paddle board before. My uncle got me out there and my legs were super shaky. He made it look so easy. But he was kind and encouraging and I made it. It was a running joke that when he first sent me out there I almost got as far as the buoy and the wind kicked up and I about fell over. So the tease was that he sent me out to my death. It was fun. We also saw the Tour De Utah bike race go past us. I wish I would have gotten a picture of them.

Yep, that's my uncle behind me photobombing

One Week Left!

Gosh I remember when the summer started and although the weeks were great, it seemed as though the number of weeks were increasing. At least it felt that way. Now we are down to one week and I can still remember some of my kiddos from the first and second week. As the weeks have been winding down, more of my coworkers have left to be done for the summer. Now we have just enough people to finish with two counselors in each group. At the end of last week, we got a picture as staff. We are only missing Kenzie because she is setting up for her new classroom at the elementary school she now works at.

As you can see, we tried to make a pyramid. Last minute my knee slipped and I was fully laying on Caroline. It was so funny we couldn't stop laughing.