Random

I found a few stray pictures on iPhoto. They each deserve their own post, but this will have to do. Sometimes I post things on Facebook, and I forget to blog about them. But I always like to have it written down on here, too. 

I have to wake-up early in the morning to take Sammi to Junior High. I am not a morning person, but I am learning to enjoy it. I just need to get to bed earlier! (That is a whole other story.) One of the perks of the morning is being able to watch God paint the morning sky. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful Country. 

Sammi started Junior High and she LOVES it. 

Sammi came home from school and told me a story, that made me smile.  She said the guy with the locker next to her, pointed to her Temple picture and said, "Hey that's the churchy-thingy." Sammi said, "Yeah, it's the temple. Have you heard of Mormons?" The boy answered, "No." And Sammi said, "Well, I am a Mormon." And he said, "Alright, I'll see you later..." 

I was kind of surprised that the boy had never heard of Mormons before, seeing how we are in Idaho. But at least now, he knows a Mormon. 

The halls on Registration day. 

When it was so smokey from the fires I had to run at night. For some reason the smoke was really thick in the morning, and it would clear out in the evening. I had forgotten how beautiful evening runs can be. I really enjoyed it. 

Here we are doing our nightly Scripture study as a family. It is never, ever, reverent. The kids are always chattery, and often wrestling on the floor -- BUT it is still a beautiful thing. And I KNOW that the stories of Jesus are sinking in. And they will remember our wrestling-match/scripture time with great fondness, I am sure. 

 Daddy and Henry watching a movie together. 

Our kids love Legos. They build them all day long. And they are SO lucky, because the Legos they have nowadays are so stinking awesome! I mean, who makes these things? Just look at all those details! 

 A pretty moment after the big storm we had. 

The next day, after the storm, I went out to survey the damage. There were so many trees down it was crazy! 

 On my running trail 

 It almost looked like this tree was hit by lightning. 

Last week, I had the opportunity to go to a weddings at the Temple. Shandra (one of my Young Women from Church) was married. It was so beautiful. It was an honor to be there with her family. It was so special. I can remember teaching lessons about temple marriage and family, and Shandra would look up at me with a big smile on her face. It was so sweet to see her same adorable face smiling inside the temple, next to her husband. I also got to sit next to her other Laurel advisor, who took over after I left, and we got to wipe tears of joy together. Thanks Shandra for letting me come! I am so proud of you! 

I love the temple. I love that we can be sealed together for "time and eternity", and not just til "death do us part". I know I want to be with my family forever and ever. I am so grateful for the temple, especially having one here in Boise! 

 Just a random beautiful night full of clouds like marshmallows. I love clouds. 

 "Clothes People." They are a tradition the day before school. 

Sammi loves to read. I mean, like A LOT. She reads everything. The other day I found her lying on the kitchen floor, reading? Weird? They have so many great and fun books to read now. Much better than the Sweet Valley Twins stuff I grew up with. The kids are so much more cultured than I was in the reading department. Thank goodness! 

This is how we all felt on the first week of school. It was exhausting trying to adjust to the new schedule. We were used to partying all night in the summer, but that did NOT translate well into school times. I feel a little better adjusted now. The kids were super tired, William just could not fight the tired. 

Sammi is loving school. Her Life Science class teacher wanted them to decorate folders with things that they love, or "geek-out" about. 

I have been Family Search Indexing for 2 weeks now, everyday, without fail, and it has been wonderful. I also signed-up the kids (Sam and Dan) with their own accounts, and they took to it really fast. I figure by doing the very minimum of 1 batch a day (10-20ish names), I will have done about 7000-8000 names in a years time (just by doing the minimum!). "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass." That means those thousands of people will be in digital form on the computer search engines, so that they can be found by those who are searching for there family names! (Anyone can search/do Family History, not just Mormons!)  It is a great way to give service from the comfort of your own home. 

 The kids really enjoyed it. And if they can do it (Age 10 and age 12) then anyone can! 

I just wanted to show how beautiful my grass is. When we got back to our house (after renting it out for a year) the renter had destroyed our yard. But after singing to each individual grass blade, and petting it everyday, it has come back to me -- all lush and green. (That big drenching storm helped, too!) I raised this grass from seed, and so I am just a little proud. 

And here is the place where the renter had his swimming pool, that killed our grass, and left a dead circle. It took the whole summer to grow the seed to good sturdy grass, but I fixed it! Yea! It is amazing what a little work can yield! 

That is all for now! Sorry for the topic whiplash, but that is just kind of how life goes now!