When You Go to the River

Sometimes when you go to the river you get to hope across streams.

Sometimes when you go to the river you find great rocks to throw into the river.

Sometimes when you go to the river you have to take off your shoes and socks, roll up your pants, and slosh through the cold, cold water.

 Sometimes when you go to the river your dad will help you walk to the middle of the river and you can feel the river pushing you.

Sometimes when you go to the river your pants get a little too wet.

Sometimes when you go to the river and your pants get a little too wet you have to wear your jacket like a skirt . . .

Or a dress.

Always when you go to the river you smile and smile and smile . . .

Because going to the river is great fun.

Balance

Ethan and I have had to think about balance lately.  Life is pretty stressful right now.  Ethan's been looking for work since April when he graduated.  As any of you who have had to look for work know, it takes a lot of time to apply for jobs.  A lot.  Ethan spends hours every day looking for and applying for jobs.  It's pretty much a full-time job.  We haven't done as much as we would like in the way of fun this summer mostly because of this.  Ethan feels a lot of pressure as the sole provider and I think he let's that keep him from having fun - why have fun when finding a job is so critical?

But that's where balance comes in.  He's been working so hard and not off-setting it with enjoyment.  That only creates stress.  Stress makes life miserable.  Life is to be enjoyed.  Sometimes that's harder to do than other times.  But that doesn't make it any less important.  We realized we need to have more fun.

And so we went into to mountains.

I love how excited my kids get when we tell them we're going to the mountains.  I love how it only takes us about 10 minutes of driving across town before we get into the mountains.  I love how, as we were walking through the mountains, Ethan sighed and said, "I feel more like me now."

As a family, we're getting better at hiking.  We hiked the Jardine Juniper Trail and made it farther than we ever have before - and that's with all the kids walking the whole time!  That's a major accomplishment for us.

That hike was good for all of us.  I love what being in the mountains does for our souls.  

I don't know what our future holds.  I don't know when relief will come.  I do know that where ever we go the Lord will take care of us.

And I hope that, where ever that place is, there will be mountains.

Autumn's Approaching

Can you see the hints of it?

Brigham City Temple

I'm behind.  I've had so many blog posts running around in my head not getting out for you to see.  I actually enjoy blogging - it's fun to look back and see all the great times with my little family - so I'm going to try to do better this next week.

It's been a couple weeks now since we've been to the Brigham City Temple Open House.  It was a great experience and the whole family enjoyed it.

Here are a few photos from the outside:

This window is a peach blossom.  As many of you know, Brigham City is famous for peaches and the peach blossom is present throughout the temple.  There are many beautiful landscape paintings and murals in the temple as well.  It was absolutely beautiful.  

Here is a photo gallery of the inside of the temple.  Take a look, the pictures are amazing.  What a wonderful temple!  I love it!  

I actually grew up in Brigham City and my parents still live there.  They were lucky enough to be called as temple workers in this temple.  What a great experience that will be!  

Here's a funny fact for anyone who doesn't know this:  Ethan's dad grew up in Brigham City, too.  Although our families never met, the Nuttalls actually lived in the same ward I grew up in.  Ethan's dad and I went to the same schools.  Isn't it a small world?

Moments

It Makes Me Smile

Here's what made me smile this week:

• Having our first week of school done with.  Whew.  That was rough.
• Thinking that, with practice, school and our new chore schedule will get better . . . and faster.
• When, during school, Hudson told Maria, "get your smiles up!"
• Knowing that Maria chose to read Calvin and Hobbes for her independent reading time.
• When I was reviewing what we'd learned about Joseph Smith Jr. in school I asked, "Where was Joseph born?"  The answer is Vermont but it cracked me up to hear Hudson yell out with confidence, "Velterham!"  That kid.
• Seeing the kids smile when they complete their daily duties.  I'll blog more about their new chore schedule later.  We are having much success!

And here's a quick story:

As part of their morning duties, each child is to read the scriptures by themselves.  I was counting on helping the little ones read but they've all been wanting to do it by themselves.  This morning Lincoln sat down to read and, taking a que from Libby, I guess, asked me, "What's the password?"  I said, "And it came to pass."  He repeated that, rambled on a bit and asked again, "What's the password?"  "Yea, verily," I said.  He repeated it then asked again, a bit later, "What's the password?"  "And thus we see," I replied.  That must of been it because he stopped asking and finished reading his scriptures.

Isn't it Great to Be Eight?

Maria turned eight recently.  I can't believe my kids keep getting bigger!  Who said they could do that?  Don't I say that same thing every time I post about a kid's birthday?  

Turning eight means Maria has reached the age of accountability and she chose to be baptized!  We're so happy Maria is officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  She had a wonderful baptism.  She loved every minute of it, although, she did say the water was too warm.  Maria said she felt warm inside when her father and those other wonderful priesthood holders in her life placed theirs hands on her head to confirm her a member of the Church and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost.

 Doesn't she look beautiful in her new dress?  It was a gift from her Grandma and Grandpa Nuttall and Aunt Elise.  Her pretty shoes were a gift from her Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins.  What a lucky gal to have such generous people in her life.

Here are a few pictures from Maria's birthday.  She's always such a fun girl on her birthday.  It's a pleasure to celebrate her life.

Maria got to celebrate her birthday over two days!  The day before her birthday we went to Grandpa and Grandma Hawkins' house to have cake and open presents from them.  The next day, her actual birthday, we had a birthday dinner chosen by her - hotdogs of course.  Then she got to Skype with her Grandpa and Grandma Nuttall while she opened presents from us.

She had so much fun.  And she is such a fun girl.  Maria is so helpful at home and is a great example to her brothers and sister.  We love her.  Our family wouldn't be the same without her.