Now that you are dividing out your belongings I guess I better stay on your good side and blog. Lol! The only things I want I need from you now, not after you are gone...memories. Honestly, I will say it now and in writing I do not care about the stuff, I am just grateful for all the moments and memories we make with you and you with our kids. That is priceless and all we want!
Our family had a great time visiting with everyone. It was a great few weeks, and we loved that our kids had an opportunity to spend so much time with their cousins. Thank you Sherri, Brett, and family for allowing our kids to stay at your house and come a week early. Thank you Rick for shuttling our kids down early. Thank you Mom for the many wonderful breakfasts, and thank you for all of those who provided food and opened their home to allow us to visit, play games, and make memories as a family. We had a great time!!
This past weekend we had an opportunity to visit with Angela's sister and her family. They came up to Salt Lake to go to Lagoon Amusement Park, and stayed with us Friday till Monday morning. We spent the entire weekend with them, including a day at Lagoon. It was a lot of fun, but only made me miss Cedar Point more. I am worried that age is catching up on me, as I sat out a couple rides, Tilt a whirl and the pirate ship, because my body and stomach just do not love those rides anymore. I still rocked all of the major roller coasters, but enjoyed the food more than I used to. The transition to old age is happening. I remember the years going to Cedar Point as Mom rode less and less, to pretty much saying she just loves the atmosphere, watching us kids have fun, and the food. Yikes! Becoming more like Mom is not a bad thing, but I feel so young in my head, surely I am not there yet. It was a fun time, and I loved watching my girls run around and laugh and just have fun being a kid. We got there 17 minutes after opening, thanks Angela for making us late, and left right as it closed at 11pm. What a good time! The tradition of Cedar Point can never be beat, and maybe some year all of our families can make a trip to Cedar Point for one huge family reunion and let our kids experience the greatest Amusement Park in the world, and more importantly experience a little of our own childhoods. It will always be one of my fondest memories. We had a nice visit with her sister and family. They have two kids, a girl and a boy, close enough to our girls age that the kids loved it. It has been a great summer just because of all the family time we have been able to enjoy. We kicked off summer with a wonderful trip to Yellowstone with Mom and Rick. I am so happy my kids will have fond memories of time with their grandparents. That trip has been followed by numerous opportunities to spend time and have fun with Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. It has been a great summer!
Last week Angela and I had the opportunity to go to the temple for Baptisms with Mason for her first time. She was so excited, and it was such a fun experience. She missed out on the youth temple trip experience that I had as a youth, but I had the opportunity to perform the baptisms and confirmations with her, so that made it that much more special for all of us. We went to the Mt. Timpanagos temple. It was a beautiful and spiritual experience. We then rush home to get her to her Young Women's activity. She is so close to being a teenager, I just hope she stays as sweet and innocent as she is right now. Haha. She is excited to do more baptisms, so we are going to try and visit more temples throughout the valley with her. Poor Connley has two more years before we can turn them into family temple trips, but Mason will set a good example for her so she will be prepared when she does turn 12.
Finally, we wanted to say our final good-bye to McKenna. Your talk was excellent, and your delivery was even better. You sound far more prepared than myself, so you have nothing to worry about on that end. Plus the Lord only needs you to go and open your mouth, He and the Spirit will do the rest. You will have experiences on your mission that will be yours, and you will never be able to explain fully or forget. Eighteen months is a long time, but I promise you when you get to the end you will look back and think, it went too fast. You will be a wonderful missionary, because you are already a wonderful Sister (both in your family and in the church). We look forward to hearing about your mission, and sharing with you the Spirit and love that comes from missionary work. Everyone has their own feelings about missions, some would describe it as, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I always told my new companions, that there are bad times on a mission, but I have never had a bad day. That was true. There will be times that are hard and sad, and the hardest will be watching people you have come to love fall away from the gospel or decide not to be baptized, or struggle to understand something and let that eat away at them until they give up on the church or the gospel message all together. Most missions probably have more disappointment than success, but the Inglands, Zulekas, Eastons, and Carters make it all worth it, and provide the rose colored glasses with which people view their mission experience. We will pray for you, and for the people of the Philippines, that they will be prepared for your visits. Good luck McKenna, we love you, and are grateful for the service you are providing.
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