A Stake Conference Spiritual High

      Our last Stake Conference hands down was the best conference I have ever attended!  We were so fortunate to have an apostle of the Lord, Jeffrey R. Holland there to speak to us.  But apart from his words, all of the speakers that Sunday morning were amazing!  They all shared messages that left me feeling inspired, re-energized and yearning for more.  I wrote down just small snippets of their talks, but it won't convey how powerful their messages were in person.  How grateful I am for the faith and testimony of others, I left with a spiritual high.

      President Waite spoke about Eternal Family.  He said that teaching our children the correct path should be our highest priority.  He told of a recent experience where he was driving and came upon some road construction.  He said that the worker who was directing traffic stood before him holding a stop sign in one hand, while waving him on with the other.  He said he didn't know if he was supposed to stop or go.  He then asked parents the question, referring to our children, "Do we hold the Word in one hand and then motion them on with our actions?" Do we send mixed signals?  If we do, what will our kids anchor against?  We need to be their anchor in word and action.

      Sister Jackson shared a wonderful message about not shrinking when we are faced with challenges. She asked us why we are so fearful?  We have the faith, and as we come closer to the Savior life may seen harder, but that's the whole point.  God's grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before him.  Not shrinking is more important than surviving; and Great Challenges make Great Men! 

      President Taylor, our Mission President, told of a time when he found his daughter sitting outside her son's bedroom door sobbing.  Her son is autistic and was currently throwing a major tantrum inside his room.  She was at a loss as to what to do.  She looked at her Dad and said, I'm a horrible Mom, aren't I?  He just looked at her with empathy and shared a quote by Elder Maxwell, "You are probably doing better than you think".  He wanted all of us to know that we are probably doing better than we think.

      President Giles, our Portland Temple President, encouraged us to come to the temple.  He asked the question, "Where is the best place to become like God?" In his house, the Temple.

      Elder Call, of the Quorum of the 70, talked about feelings.  He said when we feel, our understanding is enlightened.  Feel with intent to Keep.  He also said nothing is better than a little bit of struggle so you can learn to lean on the Savior.

      Elder Holland held my attention the ENTIRE 45 minutes or so that he spoke.  The way he speaks, his directness, his tone, is just commanding.  He does not refer to notes, he just speaks through the Spirit.  His talk, although directed more to the youth of the Church, was powerful.  It was on Children coming to Conviction.  He talked about how we are always 1 generation from extinction, and therefore we are always obligated to reach back.  As strong as we are individually, we are a lot stronger together.  The youth were challenged to pay their tithing in advance (on their life).  They are to give 10 years, dedicated to the gospel of Christ, and they get 90 years in return.  The 10 years he wants is the teenage years.  He explained to them that more life changing decisions will occur during this time of their life than any other. He then said, "Your life is unfolding.  This isn't a dress rehearsal, this isn't a practice round."  That he is willing to "gamble" although that isn't a good choice of word to use, that if you give him those 10 years, the other 90 you will also give to the Lord as well. 

      He then left us with an Apostolic Blessing:

• That the Brethren will embrace the Priesthood
• God bless the Women who have faith, hope & charity
• Bless the Youth with safety (moral & physical) 
• Bless the sick, those who are mourning
• and He extended all of these blessings to our loved ones as well     

      This was such a memorable Stake Conference.  You could not deny the power of God was there!  It was a very humbling and exciting experience that I will never forget.  Even though we are in the midst of being tried, tested and true, my testimony that God loves us and is with us, if we invite Him to be, was strengthened even more! 

A Drawing by Cameron

 

      Cameron loves anything arts & crafty, especially drawing pictures.  After church one day he came home and drew this cute picture.  What I love about his drawing is: 

1. The bride & Groom are holding hands, and
2. There are 3 boys following behind

      This drawing is just precious to me!

Pacific City, Oregon

      Last summer we were invited to join Spencer's boss and his family for crabbing & fishing in Pacific City, OR.  We went and had such a great time, so when the invitation came around again this year we didn't hesitate to go, and even decided to stay a couple of nights.  Due to weather, the guys were only able to get in one good day of fishing & crabbing, but they slayed it while they could.  I was too afraid to go out in the ocean for fear of getting sea sick because last year we all did.      

      The beach house we stayed in is really nice.  It sits on an inlet to the ocean; so when the tide is in it fills with water and when it's out the kids can run and play.  Pattie was so kind and kept giving the kids bread so they could play with the seagulls.  We were also introduced to the card game 'Russian Rummy' during our stay.  Playing cards at the beach when the weather is so/so is such a great way to pass the time.  We did manage to skate on down to the Lincoln City Outlets for a little back to school shopping, which is always fun.  And the kids had a blast playing red light, green light with a real intersection lamp they have upstairs. 

      In the beginning, I was a little hesitant on staying as long as we did.  I only know these people so well and I wasn't sure how excited they would be to have us bombard them for so long, but they were such gracious hosts!  They made all of us feel right at home and went way out of their way to make our stay enjoyable.  Having a boss like this, who gives you not only a paid family vacation, but feeds you well too, is definitely a big perk!  But more than that, I am grateful he has a boss in this economy!        

A day on Lake Washington

      I love spending time with our friends Mike & Amanda.  They have 4 boys, all under the age of 6, and I can't even imagine how crazy busy their lives must be!  But they are good friends who love to have a great time and several weeks ago we went to their house to spend some time with them.   Mike & Amanda live on Lake Washington and as soon as we arrived our kids went straight for their dock and fished.  Austin spent the entire time on the dock catching small fish while Cameron and Andrew took advantage of the neighbor's floating trampoline.  Later we ordered pizza for dinner and then Mike took us for a ride on his boat to Coulon Park for shakes.  Now I know it's not healthy or Christ like to covet, but I do find myself coveting parts of our friends lifestyle.  I would LOVE to live on Lake Washington!  I would LOVE to have a boat waiting for me on my own dock when ever I wanted it!  There are certain aspects of their life that seem so glamorous, but they are such salt of the earth people that you can't help but feel happy for them.  To have all that they have and be as humble as they are is certainly rare and I definitely cherish their friendship!  What a great example they are.

Zac Brown Band Concert

      Before Spencer and I were married, I used to go to concerts all the time.  That is of course back in the day when you didn't have to take out a loan to afford a ticket!  Now-a-days, ticket prices just seem way out of control if you ask me.  But every now and then when a band comes to town whom you love, it just feels worth it.  That is exactly how I felt about the Zac Brown Band concert we attended Friday night.  I had such a great evening with Spencer!  It had been way too long since we attended a concert together.  All evening he spoiled me; first with dinner at the event center, along with cotton candy and a red rope; and second, he bought me a keepsake t-shirt.  What a nice guy!  I definitely caught him in a generous mood that night ;-)   

      Our seats for the concert were great!  We were seated directly behind the VIP section which turned out to be a great benefit for us.  Of course one of the perks of sitting in the VIP section are the endless platters of food for your enjoyment.  And as it turns out Spencer wasn't the only generous man in the complex.  One of the guys in front of us turned around and offered us his platters of food.  So there we sat passing around platters of croissant sandwiches, cheese, fruit and vegetable trays and later one with cookies.  It was actually quite comical. 

      The concert itself was AMAZING!  The band sounded just as great live as they do recorded and they played all of my favorite songs, which made me happy.  It was worth every penny!  Thank you to my wonderful, generous husband for a fabulous night out!  Let's not wait so long to do it again.

September 11th

      At 11:00 a.m. on September 11th, county workers congregated next to the flag pole for a moment of silence.  It was a neat feeling being among a group of people and feeling united.  I may not be happy with the direction our country is going, but I love living in a free country! 

God bless the U.S.A.!!! 

HTC Van Decorating

   Even though HTC technically began Friday morning on Mt. Hood, the festivities started Thursday evening when our team (minus a few members) got together to decorate vans.  Actually, Van 1 rode in an actual van, while Van 2 rode in one sweet suburban, thanks to the Habels!!  Our team name was Road Surfers so obviously we had to go with a Hawaiian type theme.  We had surf boards zip tied to our roof, but my favorite decoration was definitely the grass skirt along the front of the brush guard of the suburban.  It rocked!  I kept thinking that if our van was a character in the movie Cars, he would be one hardcore dude!  Probably with an earring or two, lol!

      So you would think that getting a good nights sleep on a night like this would be top priority, right?  Yeah, that didn't happen!  I spent the night at a teammates house with the other girls from Van 2 and we did what girls do best, stayed up late talking.  But I'm not trying to kid anyone, I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway ... too excited!!

Hood to Coast Relay Race

      Participating in the Hood to Coast Relay Race was by far the toughest challenge I have ever tackled.  It was tough because running, for me, is not only a physical challenge, but a mental one as well.  I KNOW my body is capable of running great distances, but mentally I fight it every step of the way.  But, I love to challenge myself physically, and so no matter how much anxiety or blood, sweat and tears it was going to take, I knew I wanted to participate in this relay race.  And I did!  And I learned a valuable lesson; That even though I may not have a natural ability to run, with hard work and discipline, I became a good runner! 

      My overall experience with Hood to Coast was amazing!  It was fun; it was exhausting; and it was interesting!  Having never participated in an event like this before, I had a lot of anxiety wondering what it was going to be like spending 36 hours in a van with 5 other people, most of whom I barely knew!?  But now that all is said and done I couldn't have hand picked a better team than what was given to me.  These guys were awesome!

      I was the final runner on my team, which meant I ran legs 12, 24 & 36.  I chose this leg because it sounded exciting to be the one to run through the finish line in Seaside.  And also because it was relatively one of the easiest legs overall.  Running in the middle of the night with a head lamp on as your only light was pretty cool.  I thought it might be intimidating, but it was actually really peaceful.  The hardest part of the entire race was the lack of sleep.  I think I got about a total of 3 hours of sleep the entire time.  But adrenaline is a funny thing, it can keep you going for a long while. Here is a breakdown of my times:

• Leg 12 (5:15 p.m.):  3.07 miles  Average Pace:  8.51 min/mile  (6 kills)
• Leg 24 (4:00 a.m.):  4.92 miles  Average Pace:  9:03 min/mile  (12 kills)
• Leg 36 (3:45 p.m.):  5.23 miles  Average Pace:  8:54 min/mile  (12 kills)

Archery Hunt & Camping





      Our archery hunt this year turned into one wild and crazy camping party, which I LOVED!!!  In the planning stages it started out with our normal hunting group of 3 families, but as we got closer 3 families quickly turned into 7 families.  It was awesome!  Now granted only 5 out of the 14 adults who came actually hunted, but I think everyone had a great time whether they hunted or just camped. 

 

      This was our first year of using our new 14X16 canvas wall tent, with carpet flooring; and as far as camping goes, I definitely felt pampered!  It was very spacious and comfortable.  It gets really hot in the afternoon where we camp with temperatures reaching the high 80's so every afternoon our routine consisted of sun bathing in the creek, followed by a trip down the road for ice cream.  That's 5 days straight of ice cream for lunch, oh yeah!         



      So I guess the good news is, I shot a buck and filled my tag, which is what I hoped would happen, but this time around my experience was much more emotionally charged than my first.  After shooting 3 arrows and missing 3 times, I came upon this spike and let my arrow fly.  I knew I'd hit him, but I didn't see where before he took off.  As with almost any shot you need to wait a considerable amount of time before you follow the blood trail which will lead you to your deer.  Well unfortunately, it was getting dark so we had to leave him and come back in the morning to find him, which is the right thing to do.  The following morning we went back and found him quickly, but I was not at all happy with my shot.  As it turns out I hit him on his side near his butt which pierced a major artery, but it wasn't as quick and as clean as I would have liked and so I cried for about an hour afterwards just because I felt SO awful.  In fact, in the picture below that is a fake smile on my face, all I wanted to do was cry!  It took a good portion of the day, with lots of positive comments from other hunters, to bring me around.  Like I said, this was a WAY different experience then my text book success I had my first time.    

      Despite the fact that I struggled emotionally with the hunt, I had an absolutely wonderful time otherwise!  It was truly a great finale to a great summer.  I loved being with my own family and I loved laughing and spending time with our friends!  We played hard, we ate well, and both Spencer and I brought home some meat for our freezer!    

Back to School

      As much as I LOVE summer vacation, it's kind of nice to send the kids back to school and establish routine again into my day.  This week while I was perusing all of the pictures I took over the last few months, I realized I have a lot to journal about!  Not really knowing where to begin, I decided to start with the most recent events that are still fresh in my mind and work my back.  So here goes ...

      Beginning a new school year has been the most exciting event around our house this week.  This is the first (and only) year that all 3 of my boys will attend the same school.  Yay for that!!  Austin has now entered the 6th grade; Cameron the 3rd grade; and Andrew is now a Kindergartener.   

      I always thought that I would jump for joy the day that my baby entered Kindergarten, but it really wasn't as epic as I thought it was going to be.  Truth is, I love spending the day with Andrew.  He is so much fun and a good little companion to have around.  He is super excited about going to a big boy school and he likes his teacher and classmates.  In fact, all of my boys scored wonderful teachers this year! Austin has his first ever male teacher, who everyone says is amazing.  And I can't help but wonder if having a male teacher will make a difference in his performance!?  We'll have to wait and see...  So what do I plan to do with my 3 hours of quiet each day?  Work!  Only for the next 5 weeks though, then for some odd reason I have a strong desire to make a quilt.  Of course I'll have to squeeze my quilting in between my shows on Netflix and Bon Bon obsession; but it can be done, I assure you, lol!