A Charitable Moment and Changes

Ha ha, the title makes it sound like me having a charitable moment is a rarity. And I suppose in this particular instance it is. Today I drove girls to Girls' Camp and actually enjoyed the experience.

I have driven to Girls' Camp many times, but it was always out of a sense of obligation because Katelyn was attending camp. Even when I didn't initially volunteer, I still wound up either driving up or picking up girls because we had an SUV and could haul gear and girls. And even though it was mostly voluntary (self-imposed guilt if I said no always meant I would say yes), I still didn't enjoy the experience or wasn't really a willing participant.

But this year, Katelyn was not attending camp. I had no obligation whatsoever for driving, but when they asked for volunteers I found myself raising my hand. I couldn't stop myself. I wanted to drive this year because today, the day they needed drivers, I had absolutely nothing else to do. Carson was off on a wrestling retreat, Katelyn and Dave were at work, and Josie was content due to a long run this morning.

So this afternoon at 2 o'clock I picked up three 4th-level girls and headed out on the 90 mile drive to Girls' Camp. I enjoyed the drive. I enjoyed listening to the girls. I didn't care that they didn't say "thank you for the ride." I didn't care that it was 90 miles up and 90 miles back. I was just happy to serve in this way.

Speaking of Katelyn and change, this morning I got a glimpse of what my grocery shopping trips might look like next year. Today, a week's worth of groceries fit into the small shopping cart. Now, Katelyn isn't a huge eater, but without her home it will mean one less gallon of milk a week; 2 less loaves of bread; a couple of less boxes of cereal; and in general smaller amounts of prepared meals. It was a strange moment when I realized that shortly all of my grocery shopping trips will only require the small cart.

Flathead Fun

My grandparents have a beautiful lake house right on the north shore of Flathead Lake.

I have gone there since I was little.

Sometimes we make it over every summer

And sometimes there are big breaks.

But we made it over this summer

And I am so glad we did.

My brothers, Nathan and Dan,

And my sister, Rachael

And all of the kids associated with those siblings

were there.

I was so happy to spend time with all of them...

Even the lacking-of-common sense teen-age boys.

After a very late night, they all squished onto the tiny little "table" bed in the travel trailer.

Dave helped me accomplish a long-standing goal of mine...

to swim to the island.

"The Island"

The island is somewhere between 1/2 mile and 3/4 mile from my grandparents.

Dave said "Let's do it!" and I said "OK!"

The kids played on the tube

Even played on the tube when it wasn't in the water

Carson threw rocks in the water and gave rides on the paddle lounger

Katelyn rode the tube, gave rides on the wave runner and held the baby



The adults enjoyed catching up with each other

I thought it was a great time

And I'm glad we got to go.



Somebody Had a Birthday

This little boy

turned 16 on Monday!

This was his birthday wish list:

• Godfather I and II
• Shawn Kemp Sonics jersey
• Bottled RC cola
• Charleston Chews

What he got was 6,000 calories worth of junk food in the form of:

• 12-pack of RC cola
• 4 bottles of Coke because I couldn't find bottled RC cola
• 4 boxes of mini Charleston Chews
• Swedish fish
• 1 box of Twinkies

He requested I not do a birthday post because apparently I always make them too serious, giving him advice of ways to improve, and other things he doesn't want to hear. So I will honor his request and just post some of my favorite pictures of him from this past year...

Planting flowers for me

Cheering on his dad at the STP...does that sign count as "cheering on"?

Fly fishing in Yellowstone July 2011. That's a big can of bear spray!

Walking the dusty trail with Grandpa

First day of school September 2011--last "first day of school" pic with his big sis

I couldn't leave out a picture of "Colette"

Pre-op just after receiving the Versed

Post-op. Hopefully that shoulder is good to go.

Logan Canyon

Palouse Falls

Oh yeah, Tour de France girls!

Proud to wear the Red, White, and Blue

With the big sis in front of Notre Dame

It was a busy year with some fun photo memories.

Now, get busy and do what you need to do
so you can get your driver's license!

How a Potential Blog Post Became a Relief Society Lesson

Yesterday during the sacrament I was thinking about the words in the sacrament prayer, our recent trip to Europe, the crosses that were displayed in all of the cathedrals, and the Atonement. I was thinking about how in our Mormon culture we don't focus much at all on what occurred on the cross, but talk about the suffering that Christ endured while praying his Intercessory Prayer in Gethsemane. I then began composing a blog post in my head about how seeing those crosses over and over again transformed my feelings about the Atonment and made me appreciate even more Christ's sacrifice for me. I was thinking I would write about how much I think we miss by not spending a bit more time talking about Christ's crucifixion. Because the Atonement is also about the spikes driven into His hands, wrists and feet; the crown of thorns plaited on his head; the spear thrust into his side and all of this Jesus willing endured, absent of His Father's comfort, so that we might be saved. I would share in my blog post how because of this sacrifice, I know I will never have to suffer this kind of pain and torment if I accept Christ as my Savior and Redeemer and allow His goodness to work in my life. All He asks of me is come unto Him and share His "good news" (the gospel) as I work to become a true disciple.

Then sacrament meeting ended and we moved on to Sunday school and I didn't think too much more about my developing blog post. At the conclusion of Sunday school I leaned over to the elder's quorum president and asked where we would be holding our combined meeting (yesterday was a 5th Sunday and usually the men and women meet together during the 3rd hour). He said we weren't having a combined meeting. Really? sez I because when I was texted our RS president on Tuesday to make sure it was combined she said yes it was, she had checked during ward council last Sunday. The elder's quorum president said that an e-mail went out on Wednesday and didn't the RS pres forward it to me? Nope I sez because SHE IS IN EUROPE and the bishopric knew that. Oops he sez right back to me.

So in the 10 minutes between Sunday school and RS, I played some prelude music for RS on the piano, grabbed a couple of pictures from the library, rifled through the Ensign that I had in my bag to see if there was a talk that would go with the blog post I had been composing (and yes there was. It was entitled "Redemption"), and then conducted opening exercises before turning the time over to myself to teach the lesson. Somewhere along the way I did manage to say a quick prayer that I would be able to teach by the Spirit. By the discussion generated and the feeling in the room, it seems that the Spirit was there and that the message was uplifting and drew the sisters closer to Christ.

And that is how a potential blog post became a RS lesson.

Life Marches On

While I was busy blogging about our summer to trip to Europe, regular life continued to happen. I guess that life can't be a vacation all of the time, although you would be hard pressed to tell that if you took a glimpse of my life during summer. Sometimes it is a whole lot of nothin'. Wait, maybe my regular life is vacation since when we are on "vacation" we tend to pack in so much we come back exhausted.

Anyway, this week did have some fun things. I took Katelyn to get things for her apartment. That was weird to type...her apartment. I didn't intend to pick the stuff for Kate, but she was a little disengaged and saying she hates to shop, even though she had been bugging me to take her. Anyway, I tried to keep the colors young and upbeat, picking towels that are torquoise with washclothes that were stripes of torquoise and a dull lime green. Katelyn actually became interested in shopping when we got to sheets and comforter sets. And amazingly she stayed with the same color scheme that I had started. I figured she would want to go a completely different direction just get away from what I had picked. She also picked out some plates that are torquoise and black and then used red for the bowls as an accent color. She still needs some silverware, but we'll get that in the next couple of weeks.

The boys felt a little left out of the fun so they decided to go and have some fun of their own. Dave was drawn to participate in the RAMROD (Ride around Mt. Rainier in a day) so he and Carson left on Wednesday for Puyallup to stay with Mike and Kristi. Mike is Dave's older brother and the one who keeps talking Dave into these crazy adventures. And yes, Mike, was also drawn to ride in RAMROD. Anyway, the ride was yesterday. Dave made it. It took them about 10 hours to complete. When I talked with Dave last night he said there was one climb that he wasn't confident he was going to make it up, but then he pictured Carson and I yelling "Oop, oop, oop" (which is the Tour de France version of up, up, up) and that got him up the hill. Ahhh, isn't that sweet. Dave and Carson are extending their fun by seeing a Mariner game tonight. Bummer that they don't have a camera so no pictures to memorialize the event.

So a few fun things and a whole of regular life stuff like Costco shopping, training for Spokane to Sandpoint relay, killing earwigs which have invaded our house (so gross), and some garage sale shopping to look for kitchen stuff (pots and pans, silverware) for Katelyn.

Versailles and the Louvre

Versailles was my favorite place that we visited. I was blown away by the opulance and over-the-top living. It seemed like every surface was covered in the finest material; either gilded in gold, lined with velvet, painted, etc.

There was imported marble and exotic wood furnishings throughout. And even though it was very crowded and there was really weird modern art displayed all over the main palace, I really enjoyed my time here.

Just one of the really weird modern art pieces.

Once we left the main palace, we headed out to the gardens. Oh, the gardens. I could have spent all day wandering through those lovely gardens and discovering all the nooks and crannies. I wanted to just drink in all of the beauty in a leisurely manner.

We worked our way to Marie Antoinette's palace and her mock peasant village. They were just as amazing as the main palace.

Finally it was time to head out but not before we took a minute to enjoy the swans and feed the cignets.

Was going to make some comment about the "Ugly Duckling" but I didn't want anyone to think I was referring to my hubs.

We also toured a small portion of the Louvre (not on the same day as Versailles). The Louvre is sort-of like the Smithsonian--impossible to see it all in one day. Since Carson had actually studied up about the Louvre, we let him choose the areas to be seen. He wanted to see the Mona Lisa and Wedding in Canaan as well as some of the Egyptian exhibits.

Trying to see the Mona Lisa was a bit of an adventure as it is very popular and everyone wants to see it. The area in front of the painting is roped off and people just pack in to the area. There is hardly any elbow room, but if you want to see the painting you just have to elbow your way up to the front.

Yes I did elbow my way to the front to get a picture.

Look at the colors and movement in this painting. Incredible.

Winged Victory --we passed this sculpture several times

Dying Slave --another "must see" for Carson

This was an amazing trip. I am so grateful that we, along with my parents, were able to provide our children with this experience. 

We Toured It All...Well Almost

Eiffel Tower? Check, including climbing the 670 stairs to the 2nd level observation deck. Sure we could have taken the elevator, but the line for the elevator was ridiculously long. And it was more expensive.

Champs Elysees? Yep walked up and down that twice. It was very busy! Even though the Louis Vitton flagship store is on the Champs, the boys and I preferred touring the car dealership stores that are also on the Champs Elysees...Mercedes, Peugot, we skipped Toyota, but loved Citroen. Citroen has some really funky concept cars.

The passenger sits in a recline position facing the driver and the passenger seat is lined with red velvet.

Conciergerie? Saw that too. It is the place where Marie Antoinette spent the last months of her life before she was sent to the guillotine.

Random picture on bridge outside of the Conciergerie.

Notre Dame? That one took us two visits. One visit for touring the cathedral and then another visit to climb the tower. The line for the tower was too long the first visit, so we went back first thing Friday morning. We were in line about an hour early and still had probably close to 70 people in front of us. But the wait was worth it, and so was climbing the 700+ stairs it takes to get to the top. Katelyn, Carson and my dad made it to the very tippy top, but Dave and I got separated from them and didn't make it before they roped off the tower stairs to change a light bulb. After 20 minutes of waiting after seeing Dad and the kids go back down, Dave and I just bagged going to the top because we still had 3 more museums to try and see.

Anciet Roman (?) ruins under Notre Dame

Peek-a-boo

Hello down there. Mom, how's the book?

On the day we climbed Notre Dame, we also saw the Orsay Museum and the Rodin Museum. At the Orsay we saw the works of Van Gogh, Monet, Manat, and others. For me, the most striking painting was Golgatha. At first glance it might appear as just a landscape with a moving shadow, but upon closer inspection one sees a small corner of light at the bottom of the painting. In that light there are three shadows of three personages on a cross and it becomes apparent that the shadow growing across the landscape is the darkness that enveloped the world after Jesus was crucified. It was heartwrenching.

At the Rodin museum we saw The Thinker and other works by Rodin.

OK this post is becoming too long so tomorrow will be about our visits to the Louvre and Versaille. And then the documentation of the European Vacation will be complete.