And so...

...I am off to Girls Camp for the week. 

Wish me luck :)

 

(Our theme this year)

Saturday.

Today I went to the funeral of my friend. She passed away 12 days after her cancer diagnosis. She left behind a husband and 5 children ranging in age from 16 months to 12 years. She was an amazing woman.
Her funeral was incredibly sad and incredibly sweet.
I have never been more grateful for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation.
And tonight at the temple, I was again so moved as we were taught that plan in the beautiful language of God.
How do you ever put into words the enormity of the atonement?
Its great power is what puts families back together who are separated in life.
It is also what helps to heal the broken hearts of the loved ones left behind.
Heavenly Father knew that life would be hard, almost unbearably hard at times, in ways that wouldn't always make sense to us. I found great comfort in this scripture last night:

"(God) has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; He comprehendeth all things, and He is a merciful being,"    Alma 26:35

At the funeral, her sister shared her favorite quote. It encapsulates the woman she was.

“Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.”        Margaret Nadauld

Amen.

 

Today, according to Angie's phone camera...

...we did the Temple to Temple 5k,

which started at  the Provo  Temple...

...and ended at the soon-to-be Provo City Center Temple. (Thank you awesome unintentional photo- bombing man)

What a great way to celebrate Pioneer Day.

And the Winner Is...

Elijah proves there really was no competition.

Happy Birthday...

...to my wonderful brother Digger (known in other circles as Larry).

 

He's 53 years young today.

Love you Digger.

The Wrap Up...

When all was said and done, 

my very favorite part of the 

reunion was hearing from our three 

newly called missionaries. 

Each shared why they were serving and each one had a different story. 

Cody is serving in the Spanish speaking Lubbock, Texas Mission. I loved hearing about his spiritual journey leading to his decision to serve.

 Linsdey, serving in the North Atlanta,Georgia mission, shared a beautiful testimony of the Savior thus demonstrating why sister missionaries are so needed.

 And I loved hearing how Brady felt impressed to go at a young age, while singing a song in Primary. He never wavered from that decision. 

He will be serving in the Colorado Springs, Spanish speaking mission.

And so, in the end, that's what 

reunions are about. Strengthening relationships, sharing love, 

and having fun.

I hope that happened.

Until next time.

Part Three-Minute To Win It.

 Minute to Win It really needs no introduction.

The pictures speak for themselves....

Michaela was seriously epic at pulling Kleenex out of a box with one hand.  

Could there be a career somewhere with that kind of talent?

 Look at all that multi-colored hair...

 Nimbleness epitomized.

Oh, the intensity on those faces. For once, even Kaylie is serious :)

 Christine is a little wierded out with the idea of being a bobble head but she pulled it off masterfully.

 Elijah looks a little bored with the older generation...

 ...but he can sure shake his tush, winning this game effortlessly.

And there you have it.

This is the kind of fun that happens only on the Island (wink, wink).

Family Reunion, Part Two-The Zip Line.

I would have to say, other than the lake, the huge attraction at Anderson Island is Grandpa's zip line.

Hours of endless entertainment.

At any given time there is a line to ride that thing,

 And these boys were perpetually in that line....

 The only thing that made it more fun, was when Digger became the slinger.

First, he pulled them back, 

 and then slung them forward.

They loved it.

And of course, you can't create all that fun, without trying it yourself!

Zip lines and family reunions, 

who knew?

Family Reunion, Part One.

I am at a moment in my life where I have lots to do, yet feel I do nothing well...thus being in charge of a family reunion this year was not the best timing. 

Nonetheless, it happened. 

Really, the best part of getting together is remembering where you came from. No family is perfect, we all have our struggles, 

but we try and pass down more of the good, 

and less of the not so good.

(Missing Randy who was busy documenting the Egyptian coup).

Despite the shortcomings of one of the organizers, I think lots of fun was had.

We began with a gingerbread house building contest where we attempted to build a home that represented our individual families....

Guess whose?

The Neeley's apparently felt represented by a Gummy bear Zombie Apocalypse...

kind of makes you wonder what goes on in that home :)

The Backus family displayed their inner turmoil 

with a U of U and BYU theme.

The Woolfs decided to go big or go home.

Unfortunately it lasted about 10 mts. before collapsing. 

They definitely had the best candy though.

The Paynters displayed their love of the game....

...and this fine specimen was created by the group with the most adults...

go figure.

Regardless of the outcome, it was fun 

(unless you were one of the crabby Labit kids).

So much more to come.

Independence Day.

We have lived in Provo, Utah for almost 14 years. In that time we have been to the 4th of July parade exactly one time. 
Huge crowds and blazing heat 
were always the detractors. 

This year I was determined to do it again. 

Elijah and some friends slept overnight 
on the parade route to reserve us a good spot. 

 In the end, the spot he chose was overtaken by a group of 70 who really were not interested in sharing.

However, directly across the street was a prime spot just in front of the tabernacle. 

We had a perfect view of the parade. 

And I must say that though it was a lot of fun, 
I was a little disappointed. 
A lot of hype for a kind of mediocre parade.

We spent the evening with the Cooks.

We ate barbecue and ice cream cones, 

played some patriotic games,

  and set off fireworks. 

Lots of them.

 

 It was awesomeness.

Happy Independence Day.