Saturday, September 21, 2013

Temple Time

 
As I mentioned, Bowen recently turned the ripe old age of twelve. In our church, this means he graduates from Primary, moves into Young Men, gets ordained to the priesthood and is old enough to go to the temple.

With Drake, we were able to make a special family trip for the first time. This was because we attended a larger temple with a more expanded schedule. With Corbin, we waited until our ward had a scheduled youth temple day. You can read about that here.

And so, with Bowen we would again wait until a scheduled youth trip to go to temple. It is a wonderful experience to do baptisms for those who are no longer able to do it for themselves. I am so grateful that we are blessed with a temple close enough to visit on a regular basis. Being able to be in the temple with my husband and three of our four boys is joy beyond joy!



To read more about why we do baptisms for the dead in our temples, visit here.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Triple Threat

This year, we have three boys that are running cross-country. Corbin was pretty excited to make the high school varsity team as a freshman at Randall. He worked hard all summer to earn his spot. Bowen started with the Westover junior high team under a brand new coach. And Rex has been busy training with the Amarillo Striders, a local running club. All three have done well and grown a lot.





Friday, September 13, 2013

Best Month of the Year

Have I ever mentioned before how much I love this girl? It is my big sissy, Michelle. In early September, she called up to see if by any chance we would be able to join them on their houseboat for a very extended weekend of fun and frolic. Who could say no to that?
 
I took a couple of days off work, yanked the little kids out of school and headed home to Lake Powell. Theo and Drake would join us a couple days later. And poor Corbin was left behind so as to not miss one of his cross-country meets.
 
Let me just say that if you have never been to Lake Powell in September, you are missing out! It is the most beautiful month of the whole year! The water is nice and warm. The days are hot, but not scorching. The nights are balmy with skies full of stars! Best month of the whole year!
 
Michelle and I congratulate ourselves for launching the boat on our own.
 
Tyler joined us, and kept all of the littles entertained until his big kid cousins could join us a day or two later.

 
Grandma and Grandpa Ross also joined us on the houseboat, and lucky day, we were able to celebrate Grandma's birthday while we were there. A yummy chocolate cake along with some soft serve we wrangled from the marina restaurant were just the ticket.



 
The weather was perfect! We felt especially fortunate as Page had been having an unusually wet end of summer with lots and lots of rain. The clouds swirled around at times, but never moved in on us. Best month of the year!




 




 
 
On the last morning of our trip, Drake had an extra special treat. John has recently acquired a small airplane and a pilot's license to help with his travels between Colorado and Utah. He got up extra early Sunday morning to take Drake on a flight over the lake. Drake was thrilled!!
 

 
Thanks John and Michelle! Until next time, Lake Powell!