Last Days of Summer - M-T-W

Oh was Monday a HOT day!  The Moshers picked Heather up bright and early as they headed for a special day at Disneyland.  Jenna and I joined them later in the afternoon and found the group sipping cold beverages in the shade.  As you can see, however, there was fun to be had, and had it we did.  What a wonderful activity to do with wonderful friends!  Thank you Mosher family for inviting us to spend the day with you!

Have I mentioned the heat?  Yes, yes I have, several times.  The monsoon and hurricane conditions around us are wreaking havoc with our ocean breezes.  On Tuesday evening, the whole yard turned a peachy yellow color and when I went to investigate, I found a gorgeous, full rainbow.  Too bad the camera couldn't get the whole thing.  It was a treat to see such beauty while we're sweltering from day to day.

Another blessing in the heat is when a good friend calls a swim day at her house.  Heather went to spend sometime with her good friend who has a pool, and Jenna met up with her buddies to swim at the Hanson's pool.  The pool and backyard were recently redone and boy, was it beautiful!  Another super fun day.  Thank you Hanson family!

MacKenzie, Sarah and Jenna

Highlights From The Past Week...

Wednesday...Watching Eliana and Alex on SYTYCD.  She finally got to show her stuff!  And Alex...HELLO?  Link provided.  Go, click, watch.  Stunning.

Thursday...Weather dryer, little breeze...kinda heavenly.

Monday through Saturday...Heather at Los Cab volleyball clinic.  She has some coordination to develop, but she pretty much looks the part, wouldn't ya say?  Fall will be indoor on Wednesdays and sand on Saturdays.

Saturday...Stopped by the Holbrook's house to drop off a movie and card for the newlyweds...and there they were!  Just back from their honeymoon and packing for the next adventure.  It was good to see them before they head back to college.

Any day...Target, Reeses's, enough said.

Sunday night...We broke out the Mexican Train set and played some Dominoes.  Only made it to 10's, but it was fun to have some family game time.

Our Day-to-Day Time

The following is an excerpt from the talk I presented in church on 8/19/12 regarding looking up to the Lord more often.   It is possible that I have posted one of the quotes before because it is one that spoke volumes to me.  At any rate, using my time wisely is still a challenge for me, especially when unscheduled time is before me.  I thought it would be a valuable topic to leave in our family journal for future review.  I'm learning, slowly, but learning all the same.

         Failing to look up, to remember the Savior and to consistently turn to Him may not be a problem for everyone.  Because making this a consistent habit is an ongoing process for me, I’m constantly wondering what is wrong with me and why I struggle so much to create this habit.  For several years I have appreciated the words of Sherri Dew in her book, No Doubt About It.  As a young and busy mother I read the following passage and realized what kind of battle we are all fighting when it comes to spiritual maters.  She writes,

“The Holy Ghost blesses us with optimism and wisdom at times of challenge that we simply cannot muster on our own.  No wonder one of the adversary’s favorite tactics is busyness--getting us so preoccupied with the slurry of daily life that we fail to immerse ourselves in the gospel of Jesus Christ...The adversary will do anything to separate us from the Spirit.  Lucifer wants us to feel alone and isolated.  He wants us to try to live drawing solely upon our own genius and without the influence of the heavens, because he knows that we will never do as well or feel as well on our own as we do when we have the Spirit to guide us, strengthen us, protect us, and soothe us.  And if he can keep us off balance, never really realizing our potential or capacity, he can undermine our progression and the welfare of our families as well as the entire Church.”

We are wise to remember the adversary and his cunning.  Part of my issue may be my own stubbornness or bad habits, but he is constantly working against my good efforts.  As in any battle, we need to fortify and strengthen our defenses.  I believe that there are greater obstacles and distractions today than we have ever seen in our history.  In addition to the unavoidable busyness of our daily routines, we can also find ourselves getting caught up with distracting activities that drain us of valuable time.  In the same General Conference, Elder Ian S. Arden gave an address regarding the use of our time, admonishing us to devote our time to the things that matter most.  He says, 

“With the demands made of us, we must learn to prioritize our choices to match our goals or risk being exposed to the winds of procrastination and being blown from one time-wasting activity to another....We must devote our time to the things that matter most, and the things of God matter most.  As we engage and study each day from the scriptures, ponder on what we have read and felt, and then apply and live the lessons learned, we draw nearer to Him.”

Random Facts About Our Week

There are times when I post pictures on Instagram, but I don't get those pictures off the camera every day.  I selected these from a recent download that give a snapshot of this past week of our summer...

 The Summer Olympics obliterated any bedtime schedule we had.  The girls were going to bed quite late for them (ten-ish), but since the Prime Time airing was done from 8PM - 12AM, we now have some new night owls.  We knew three people personally who played in the Olympic volleyball matches that aired after 9PM.  What can you do?  The downside is that they have to catch up on sleep in the morning, so we've also been eating breakfast after 11AM.

 Pinterest led me to a great website with all kinds of fun dating ideas.  We pretty much know what we like to do, but I really appreciated the new twist on presentation.  These are movie tickets I printed with our date night information, and I left them for the hub in an envelope so he could open it before work.

 The humidity is a KILLER energy drain.  Some folks wouldn't think 91 was all that hot.  But with the humidity, it's awful.  I snapped this screen shot one day when I was walking around trying to get things done and just wilting.  I was thinking the forecast was only in the 80s, and 80 doesn't feel like this.  When I double checked, the forecast was still 82 degrees, but the thermometer was reading 91.  That explained a lot!  Oh how I'm living for our beachy weather to return.

 Jenna is our resident entrepreneur.  She knows babysitting is where the big bucks are, but she's only ten.  So she has set up shop in her room.  She has an art studio, and fix it shop and a beauty salon, and she charges a small fee for her services.  Kelly got a three-dollar manicure, and was a very good sport about it.  Way to do Daddy!

 Monday was hair cut day.  Everyone got one, even Winston

 Poor Winston picked up some fleas at our beach campsite.  He was at the vet before his grooming appointment getting a steroid injection.  Who knew that dogs could have allergies to flea bites?

 The girls found the Dominos a couple of days ago and have gotten quite creative!

Grace and Daisy are on the same softball team for winter ball, and they practice here in HB.  Tuesday the moms and daughters met after practice (Heather is playing volleyball this week), and we had dinner at Corner Bakery.  It was a blast!

Wedding Weekend

Our weekend was busy, but so fun!  Our dear friends married their children to each other on Saturday.  What?  Was that confusing?  I'll explain.  Our dear friends, the Holbrooks, and our wonderful friends, the Neuberts, hosted a wedding for daughter, Brittany and son, Matt.  How fun is that that we know and love both of these families?  Brittany is very dear to us as we have watched her grow into a beautiful young woman.  Her family moved in two doors down when Brittany was just nine years old.  We watched her grow through glasses and braces and broken bones (well, I think just a sprain, but I can't remember), and she has blossomed into the most beautiful of young adults.  Matt is pretty spectacular too.  We couldn't be happier for them.

Michelle had asked me to shoot some candid photography, and I was able to shoot both at the rehearsal dinner and all day during wedding festivities.  My pictures are nowhere near professional, but they will hopefully be fun for Brittany to look through.

I also spoke in Sacrament meeting on Sunday.  It was a great meeting, not because of me, but because of the speakers, the music and over all, the Spirit that was in attendance.  Our Bishop assigns General Conference talks/topics to speak about, and mine was one that I LOVED when I first heard it last year in General Conference.  I had even included a post on our blog, Look Up, after being inspired by the message.  If you are interested in reading the original address, click HERE.  It was fabulous.

Spontaneity

Kelly and Heather had a youth group activity at the beach tonight, so I picked Jenna up from her friend's house and let her pick her dinner option.  She chose Rubios, and we enjoyed some fish tacos and taquitos.  We also took silly pictures while waiting for our food.

On the way home, we stopped by another friend's house who didn't appear to be home.  Since we were driving by the park I said, "Let's go swing," not thinking Jenna would be interested.  She was, and we had a silly time together.

Jenna can be so fun and silly, and not many people get to see this side of her.  I have worried about her so much because of her difficult side (same one I possess), but she has opened the door lately and is inviting me in.  She wants to hang with me and cuddle, and she is wanting to please more than tantrum.  It's been very nice, and I'm totally taking advantage.

Soccer Already?

It has been hot.  Hot and humid.  Hot is not bad, but when paired with humidity, I like the flowers in my garden, wilt.  This picture of the palm tree was taken at Target a few days ago.  I drove into the parking lot and found a spot in the shade of the palm.  This probably doesn't count as a "tender mercy," but I count it as one.  It was a gift on a hot day in a city lacking in shady tree parking spaces.

Jenna began soccer practice for the fall season on Tuesday.  She'll practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays this season at a later time than she's used to.  I'm sure it will be nice on the warm days to have a later practice time.  The coach's husband is her assistant, however, in his absence on Tuesdays, an assistant coach was needed.  Can you tell who the co-assistant coach is in the photo below?

We got Jenna's approval before signing him up.  Jenna is a perfectionist, and she expressed concern that her Dad would "yell" at her (Kelly doesn't have a yelling voice).  She doesn't like correction from us, but hopefully she'll be okay with this.  It will be a good experience for her to learn that she doesn't know everything yet.  I know, shocking, right?  Hee, hee.

Beach Camping - San Elijo State Beach

We were able to spend a few days at San Elijo campground last week.  Our reservation was Wednesday through Monday, and we arrived Wednesday evening.  Our campsite was on the ocean side, and we haven't had that luxury in years with the way those sites always disappear first.  The view out our picture window was awesome!  Another thing that was different was the weather.  It was HOT.  We are used to overcast days that may or may not burn off to sunny afternoons, and we're definitely used to cooler temperatures.  Fortunately, our hook-up site offered us the use of our air conditioning when we were inside, and the beach offered us refreshing dips in the ocean.  Another first was not having the massive amounts of seaweed.  It made swimming so much more enjoyable.  Our main activities included watching sunsets, Jenna learning to surf, lots of boogie-boarding, boat play and swimming, some sand play, and lots of reading for mom.  We ate at our favorite restaurant, Best A Wan, and visited V.G.'s doughnuts a few times.  Our friend, Sarah, joined us for a few hours on Saturday while her Brittany went to the San Diego temple for the first time.  Michelle, Brittany and Matt came to pick Sarah up, have dinner, grab V.G.'s, and watch the sunset with us before returning home.  On Sunday we enjoyed the view from our air conditioned trailer while we played games, and then we packed up and returned home Sunday night so Kelly could go to work on Monday morning.  It was a great week and a nice way to end our summer rambling.

Reminiscing, Again

Watching the girls grow at one moment delights me beyond words, and the next moment, it makes me yearn to hold their tiny, little, snuggly bodies all over again.  I'm sitting here tonight scrolling through pictures with a full heart and...reminiscing.