Singles Ward, parts 31-45

I went to a singles ward on Sunday for the first time in a while. This singles ward is different than anything I've experienced before. It's a ward for singles aged 31-45. The only singles wards I've gone to are for 18-30. I've been on the older end of things for those types of wards. In this new ward, I'm on the younger end. A very strange feeling. It was amazing to realize how diverse the ward really is. There are people there who've been divorced and who have children. There are some, I'm sure, who are widows/widowers. Then there are those like me who have never been married. It's quite the mixture of people. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about attending a singles ward again. I'm tired of all the games that people play in the dating world. But I figure that I need friends in Logan, since the 2 I had last year moved. I have friends in my program, but they are all married. I need friends who are single....thus my decision to attend a singles ward. Plus, I was reminded in my institute class last week that every person needs to keep marriage as their first priority, even those who are single. Most days I'm okay with being single. It's a lot easier than being married for sure. But with that reminder, I guess I need to keep my options open. (Ug. Thanks a lot, Brother Harding.) What better way to do that than attend a singles ward for old people like me. ;)

Perry the Platypus

All of my nieces and nephews are amazingly talented. (That statement has no bias whatsoever.) Once in a while I am able to record their amazingness. While visiting Bryan and Chelsey last month, Hannah amazed me with her Perry the Platypus immitation. For those of you who don't know, Perry is a Platypus that stars on the Disney show "Phinneas and Pherb". She is an avid watcher. (It's actually pretty creative and funny. I've laughed during every episode I've seen.) Anyway, one day she made this noise. I called her Perry and she thought it was great. So, this video is of us singing Old McDonald had a Perry on his farm. For a reference of what the real Perry sounds like, you can see that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONgjXrOShlc. Definitely not as good as Hannah, though.

Happy Birthday, Kirk!

I can't believe that it's that time of year...Happy birthday to my youngest brother, Kirk. I know I cried when you were born because I wanted a sister instead of another brother, but I am so grateful that you are you. I cried more tears as the years passed by, either because I was frustrated that you wouldn't listen or because of how special you are. I have laughed because of the funny things you've said at the most inappropriate times (like during church when you yelled 'shut up' during a talk). I have been frustrated by your incessant asking to go the Red Apple. I have loved sitting on the couch with you to tickle your feet and arms. When you sing your songs, it brings a smile to my face. It's been amazing to see how much you have grown through the years, and especially this year working with Janet. I would give anything to be able to know what you are thinking at any given moment. But most of all, it brings joy to my heart to know that one of God's special children was sent to be my brother. I love you, Kirk.

Miles and Motorcylces

Summer is over. Can you hear me sighing? I can't believe it went by so quickly. At the beginning I thought, "What in the heck am I going to do with all of my free time?" I look back and wonder where all that 'free time' was. I guess being lazy was easier than I thought.

I did a calculation of the miles I traveled this summer. The sum? About 6,500. That's right. I could have driven across the US and back with all the driving that I did. Well, I did drive half way across (to MN, IL, and IA) making up 2600 of my miles. I also went to Bryan's house in Gillette about 5 times. It's 400 miles each trip, totaling 2000 miles. I also drove to Logan a few times, each trip about 1000 miles (more when coming from Gillette), for a total of 2000 miles. This doesn't count the trips to Billings (200 miles round trip) or to Cody (100 round trip). So you can see that I was on the road....A LOT this summer.

On one trip from Gillette to Lovell, I decided to count the motorcycles going the opposite way. It was the weekend before the Sturgis rally (Harley Davidson circus), so there were lots. (Gillette is half way between Lovell and Sturgis.) On the 200 mile trip, I counted over 400 motorcycles. That means 2 motorcycles for every mile I traveled that day. NUTS!

On the trip back to Logan, I drove from Gillette and was on I-80 most of the way. As many of you know, I-80 is the road of truckers. They OWN the road. I decided to count how many trucks I passed on I-80. There were over 150 that I passed....they were going the same way as me. If I had counted those on the other side of the freeway, my brain would probably be fried right now...too many.

Anyhow, a summer of traveling is done. I expect that I'll be stuck in Logan until Thanksgiving. That's so sad because Ethan will be 5 months by then, and the little one who'll be born in a few weeks will be so big! Can you hear me sighing again?

One Last Visit

Before heading back to Logan, I wanted to see Bryan's family just one more time. I spent a few days with them just hanging out. Here are some pictures of us outside.

Hayden being his cute self.

Hayden and Hannah playing in their sandbox.

Hannah showing how to pose.

Cute, cute

It's kind of a two-edged sword when I visit. It's good to get my fill, but then I miss them that much more.

Being Aunt Shawnee

At the beginning of August, I took Hayden and Hannah to my mom's to give Chelsey a small break during her last month of pregnancy. We had some good times. We went to the pool (shown previously). We also just played lots outside. Following are some of the pictures of the good times.

Hannah and Wilson riding bikes.

Hayden with a bow on his nose.

How cute. ;)

Hannah after eating some yummy ice cream.

Wilson riding bikes.

Hayden riding bikes.

Swimming in Lovell

At the beginning of the month, I had Hannah and Hayden with me in Lovell. One day we decided to go to the whale pool that's at the park a block from my mom's house. They were so excited. Hayden was pretty excited after his last time there. He finally got comfortable going into the water. Unfortunately, this time he tried to drown himself by being too independent. After that he stuck pretty close to me at the side of the pool. Whitney and Hannah had a blast. They're just the right size/age for this type of pool.

Whitney going down the whale.

Whitney and Hannah on the way to the park.
(They are so cute in their suits!)

The girls enjoying the pool.

Hayden being his cute self.

Whitney

I LOVE this picture of him.
(He usually avoids the camera as much as possible.)

Hannah enjoying the water.

Family Time - July

It was great being home for some of the summer. Being near the nieces and nephews is always a treat. This summer was no different. Here are a few highlights from the end of July.

Wilson being his cute self. He usually pushes or crawls all over the cart. This time Uncle Erik helped him take a ride.

Typical boy avoiding a kiss. (Who could blame him in this case? Scary!)

Ethan has gotten so big the last month. He loves 'talking' at people. He's getting pretty good at it. He is now making all sorts of different noises. He hardly ever cries and loves to smile.

Whitney holding cousin Ethan.

The kiddos reading a book. They like to do this a lot. Sariah is good and usually reads to them. Wilson sometimes wants to turn the pages too soon, so he usually ends up reading his own book.

Wilson eating an ice cream cone. He loved it.

Whitney after eating her ice cream cone. Not so messy.

Summer Trip - Stage 6 - Winter Quarters

On our way home from Nauvoo, we stopped in Omaha to go to the Winter Quarter's temple. Omaha was out of the way, but we never knew when we'd get a chance to go again. The temple is in an old and random part of town. Glad we had Atty (Ms. Attitude, aka GPS) so that we could find it easily.

The inside setup reminded me of the St. Paul temple...small. There were beautiful windows depicting different pioneer things. Beautiful.

After going to the temple, we went to the visitor's center across the street. It was a great way to end our trip.

Summer Trip - Stage 5 - Nauvoo Temple

Mom and I were able to attend a session at the Nauvoo Temple. What a special treat! The wood throughout the building was amazing. The locker rooms were even out of wood rather than like normal locker rooms. Gorgeous! It was surprisingly small. I kept expecting it to be like the Salt Lake temple (aka huge), but the rooms were about the size of the Billings temple. One unique thing was the large meeting room where they used to hold conferences and such. It was neat to see things that I'd only ever seen in pictures.

The view from the front of the temple. You can see the Mississippi in the distance.

Me by the plants. I couldn't believe how large all of the foliage was in the area. I guess that humidity is good for something.

Summer Trip - Stage 4 - Carthage

Carthage, the prison where the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum were martyred, is only about 1/2 hour from Nauvoo. (I'm lucky my pictures turned out. My camera did not like the muggy air.) The tour started with a movie at the visitor center. Then one of the missionaries takes you into the actual house/jail.

This is the room where they stayed. The window is the one that Joseph fell out of while he was shot by the mob. It was a very small room. It was air conditioned for us. I could only imagine how hot it would have been for them.

This is mom looking out the window that Joseph fell through.

This is the cell that the men stayed in for the first few hours. There is only a tiny window in the room and it got above 100 degrees while they were in here. The owner of the jail took pity on them and allowed the men to stay in his family room, which was the next room over (the one pictured above).

Another picture of the cell.

The top window is the one the prophet fell out of.

The whole tour was neat. It felt like we were a little rushed because of all the people there wanting to go through, but I'm glad we had the chance to go.

Summer Trip - Stage 3 - Nauvoo Pageant

The day we got to Nauvoo, we were a little late to visit any of the sites (they all close at 6 p.m.). We went over to the visitor center and walked around in the cool Women's Garden outside. They have various statues of women. We then went and waited for the pageant to start. I am not made for muggy weather. As we sat waiting, an elderly gentleman came up to us and started giving us a survey. He then shared information about the pageant, such as it's the only pageant to be commissioned by a prophet (Pres. Hinckley) to be written. He then moved us to some great seats that are reserved for mission/temple presidencies and their guests. Very good view. It was an amazing experience. We went again a few nights later. It was just as good then.

The view of the temple from where we sat.

During the pageant, they build a miniature model of the temple on stage. This is the first part.

Second part

And it keeps getting bigger.

The cast was huge. There are 5 different casts that are each there for 2 weeks. Some of them stay for the whole summer, many of them families.

Pictorials de mi Familia

Over July 4th weekend we were able to get our family pictures taken (THANK YOU KRISTIN!!!). We try to do this every year so we have updated pictures to send out at Christmas. This year we took them a little earlier than normal this year, which is A-OK. Except that we'll have a new little one by the end of the year (Bryan and Chelsey). Here are a few highlights.

Mike & Nicole's family

Erik and Sandy's family

Bryan and Chelsey family
The girls

Another of the girls

Grandma and the kiddos

Me and Boy #3

Momma and me

The whole familia (pretty darn cute!)