Random October

11th - Heather informs me that multiple water bottles by her bed are for the Zombie Apocalypse

12th - Helen, Heather and Emma get silly in the locker room after baptisms

 16th - Jenna makes super fun jack-o-lantern modgepodge candle holder at Activity Days

 18th - I find cute circle tags on Pinterest and use them for decor and gifts

Jenna's make up soccer picture day happened and resulted in cute soccer pic!

Soccer Season Ending

Today was Jenna's last regular season game.  Next week is a Bye, and then the girls do their playoff games.  Today's team was tough, but the girls did a great job.  Jenna is growing by leaps and bounds.  She loves, loves, loves soccer and would practice every day if she could.  We're so happy that she has found something she is passionate about.

Family Time with The Festags

Aunt Kim and Heather checking out the Divergent movie characters

My cousin, Kim, and her family were here for KC and Liz's temple sealing.  We weren't able to make the sealing on Saturday, but we were able to get together for taco dinner the next night.  Thank you Kim, Sean, KC, Liz, Connor and Nicholas for making the drive up to see us and spending the evening with us.  It was wonderful to spend time with you.  We love you!!!

Dance Night

Saturday night was the Fountain Valley Building church dance.  This was Heather's first dance that wasn't connected to an event (Monster Mash, Youth Conference, Graduation).  Most of the older kids were at Homecoming, and Heather said it was really fun with the smaller crowd.  She took her friend, Madi, from school, and they had a great time.  Heather wore make-up to this dance which was a first, and while I was busy fiddling with camera settings and trying to capture her make-up look, she kept posing.  The sequence cracked me up and reminds me of how cute her personality is.

Soccer Summary - Two Game Week

Thursday evening, Jenna led her team in warm-ups and got into the "using your head" drill.  She was excited to play during the evening when it was cooler.  She also played a new position, center midfield, and loved it.  The position combined both defense and scoring ability, and she left the game pumped at the prospect of playing that position again.

Before Saturday's game, we popped over to check out Jenna's friend's game.  It was fun for the girls to see each other for a few minutes.  During our game, I shot a lot of pictures of the other girls to make sure I was getting everyone's child in the photos.  I didn't get a lot of action shots from Jenna, but this first one I snapped shows Jenna up against an old team mate from her first team.  Delaney (pictured), Jenna and Rachel were unstoppable defenders on their first team, and Delaney was also one who could break away and score.  I asked Jenna if she was intimidated knowing what Delaney was capable of, but she was not.  She looked forward to the challenge.  That's our girl.

Sunrise and General Conference Take Aways

Heather and I walked out to leave for Seminary this morning and saw this sunrise.  Had we been even three minutes later, we would have missed it as it was gone by the time we finished taking pictures and got in the car.  The second photo was zoomed in a bit to catch how the light was hitting the clouds from underneath.  These are not touched up; the color was breathtaking.

It was General Conference weekend!  As usual, we missed some of it on Saturday due to soccer, and I snacked way too much, but I also took notes like I've tried to do for the past several years.  It helps focus me, keep me awake, and cause me to be more in tune with the Spirit.  One of the speakers even mentioned taking notes in just the way I've experienced taking them--sometimes I jot down the topic or a phrase that means something to me, and sometimes I am inspired to make some personal notes to myself about ways that I can personally improve something in my life.  I have a binder of these notes, and I will look over them now and then specifically for a reminder of those personal notes in the margin.  This weekend there were three specific things that I took away and want to remember--of course there were many more things I will ponder later, but these three were zingers.

•  Becoming "one" takes time (in reference to marriage) - Henry B. Eyring

I think a lot of people give up before they see this happen.  Somehow we think that we automatically become "one" just because we get married.  We're on year 27, and I see the oneness more now than ever, BUT we are still progressing and have some path to travel yet.

•  Make spiritual development of family members a high priority - Richard G. Scott

This is a priority for us, but sometimes it slips down the ladder.  I loved this reminder.

•  Our body was created as a gift by God to you...How you use your body affects your spirit - Russell M. Nelson

This was probably the biggest lightbulb of the whole conference for me.  We don't think of unhealthy eating as something of large concern like we might a substance addiction.  But I was reminded that when I am eating right and exercising, I can better connect with my spiritual self and overcome some of the barriers to accomplishing things in my daily life.  The opposite is true when I do not eat well and fail to be active...I am more easily overwhelmed and discouraged because I feel lousy about myself and my choices.  The Adversary must know this about me because body image and self-acceptance have been issues my whole life.  Healthy living feels better and I know it is because of the boundaries that are set and the self mastery that is required to accomplish this style of living.  Both boundaries and self-mastery are in accordance with the things our Father in Heaven wants for us.

What a great conference.  I am excited to take my notes, review them and make some goals.  If you don't know how to get in and comment on the blog, email me and tell me what your favorite messages were from Conference.  I would love to hear about them.

Soccer Windy Saturday

Santa Ana winds, 90 degrees and a soccer game.  I don't know how these girls did it except for possibly sweat plus the wind is cooling?  They girls played so well.  The girls won 2-0, but I usually don't post the scores because for us it's really about how well they played.  You can't ask for more than a well-played game.  Their passing as they moved the ball down the field was textbook amazing.  Jenna spent all, but one quarter as a defender, and she didn't let anyone by her.  I had to take a picture of her pony tail in the wind as she stood listening to instructions.  The last photo is of Kelly and our coach which was so perfect with Kelly in his Cross Country volunteer t-shirt.  We're really grateful to these coaches and assistant coaches who volunteer their time so our girls can have this experience.

(Jenna stopping the ball mid run to change directions)