Have I mentioned that both Annabelle and I have a goal to visit all 23 operating temples in Utah this year? I hit my last one when we made a trip out to Vernal in August. Annabelle has a few more left, but we've been able to visit several this month. I have a couple Jesus pictures below that are in temples here that I love.
I've been asked if I have a favorite temple. The older ones have character (Manti looks pretty different from others on the inside, in its own beautiful way) but I don't really have a favorite. I love going to any temple, and the feeling inside is the same. I haven't always loved attending the temple. For many years we'd struggle to get there monthly and it felt like more of a check-list item. But a couple of years ago Scott and I made the goal to attend more often, weekly whenever possible, so we could do each ordinance monthly, and President Nelson's promise didn't fail when he said, "If you don't yet love to attend the temple, go more often-- not less. Let the Lord, through His Spirit, teach and inspire you there. I promise you that over time, the temple will become a place of safety, solace and revelation." The temple has become exactly that: a place of safety, solace and revelation and I love being there." Who doesn't want to add more light and goodness to their life? Well, maybe some don't, but I do! I need it! Light automatically dispels darkness, and our world could use more light and less darkness. We've also tried to follow the counsel our stake leaders have given us to always have a temple appointment scheduled. That way you're making it a priority, you're not just letting the time slip through your fingers without doing the things that matter most to you. We schedule weekly temple time, we schedule daily family scripture study, we schedule weekly date nights(this includes temple), I schedule morning exercise and personal scripture/prayer time, as well as daily family prayer times and family counsel meetings. I want to be better about scheduling regular time to read and write as I do it sporadically now, but I would love to do it more consistently.
Here are some other happenings for the month:
Elisabeth and I are on duo lingo, learning languages, me Spanish and her Italian (since she already knows Spanish). I hit my 200 day streak in August and we also have a friend streak going between the two of us which isn't as high, but it's still impressive. I wouldn't say Duo Lingo is the best way to learn a language, but it does help. It helps me learn the correct tenses and it increases vocabulary. But you also still need lots of 'practice with native' time in order to get really good.
The girls attended girls camp and had a really good time. Jane only went up for a day because of cheer, but she enjoyed herself. Annabelle is in the oldest youth class now and she was in charge of planning some of the activities and schedule which was fun for her.
The Hepworth's came to visit and while they were here we did the Alpine Slide in Park City (we'd never done it and they'd heard about it and wanted to try so we gave it a go...although I'd never do it again. It's way overpriced for what you get and the amount of time it takes. But it was good to try it once) and then me and the girls and Tayson did a 5k Mud run in soldier hollow which was fun!
We got SO muddy, and you had to pay money and stand in a really long line in order to use a water spigot (which only trickled) to wash off, so we decided to drive until we saw some water we could jump in, which was actually just a few minutes away! The water was FREEZING, but it felt SO good to get all that mud off before the hour drive home.
That evening we went to the BYU women's soccer game with the Hepworth's, and with Scott and Nora's soccer team. They're always fun to watch.
The week before school started, Nora got bit by a dog, in the face. She was out walking penny in our neighborhood and a mini mixed pitbull dog got away from it's elderly owner who was walking him and it ran to Nora and Penny and was barking and trying to bite penny. Nora tried to grab her collar so penny wouldn’t get bit, when the dog jumped up and bit her on the mouth. The dog still wouldn't let them pass, and was blocking the path and barking, but as the owner drew nearer, it ran away. Nora came home and luckily I hadn't left yet for my scripture class and was able to take her first to the neighbors (I knew this elderly woman had just moved in with her daughter so I wanted the homeowner to know) where I showed them what happened, asked about the dog being current on shots, and let them know I'd be taking her to urgent care. When I took her in and they cleaned her up and gave her a couple of stitches.
The Hepworths have come to visit us multiple times and we hadn't gone to see them in Pocatello, so we found a weekend that would work and we went out to visit. We went boating with them in American Falls. We had a great time. Everyone got up and boarded for a bit, except me; I only got up when Payton helped me and then I was only up for about 2 seconds. But that's okay, I'll keep trying until I get it. Thank you Hepworths for a fun day!
The kids got creative and tried out skiing on the shoulders of the boys. Jane and Tayson made it look easy.
See Payton in the water behind me? Yeah, it totally helped me stand up on the board :).
My niece Leia is going through a type of rehab program at the other side academy and has been doing so well! She's been there for about a year and a half now and has about the same amount of time left. Her mom, my sister and I, were able to go visit her in SLC and see how the program works and how she's doing.
I got to attend a couple of days of BYU education week. Not full days, but I'd go down for a few hours, get into 3 or so classes, and then head back. One of my favorites is always the Marriage Class with Tamara (and now Jake too) Fackrell. She's a divorce attorney who 10 years after practicing, got her Phd in Marriage, family and human development and teaches marriage enrichment seminars in the evenings. She says she divorces people by day saves marriages by night. She has a unique perspective and tons of experiences to share as she's mediated so many troubled marriages. Her and her husband Jake just started a podcast called Mindful Marriage.
During that same week of BYU ed week, the kids also started back to school and I started back to work (I only worked a day or two that first week back; just preparing things). I was excited to be working with my multi-lingual kids again that I've missed all summer.
I love getting out on hikes, with friends, with Scott or with Penny. On this particular Saturday morning we hiked to Dog/Desolation Lake. It was a beautiful day for a hike. Unfortunately, once we got back to Shauna's house and I got in my car and backed out of her diagonal driveway, I didn't see the fire hydrant on the edge of the driveway area and I backed right into it and dented the back, with a little cut in the car and some nice red paint to finish it off.
We were able to pop that dent out some and a little nail polish remover took off the red paint, so although not fixed, it's looking much better now.
I love our weekly date nights! A couple of years ago we set a goal to go more often, weekly whenever possible, and we usually are able to go weekly. The LDS tools app is nice and allows us to book appointments easily from our phones so we try to always have one scheduled in there.
Tayson and Elisabeth have decided to get married (although no ring at this point...not until October). They picked a day in day in December; and since Elisabeth was heading out to Rexburg for school, the week before she left we decided we should probably go wedding dress shopping and she found one! Yay! Glad to have that done!
And last but certainly not least, we love our Monday visits with Charles! Charles got a new companion, Elder Teraka, from the Solomon islands and they get along great! He also got a guitar and him and his companion like to sing together when they've got time.
