Utah...So far

Utah is so wonderful for visiting! I have had a blast for the beginning of this week. Lots of love and kisses and hugs from the babies. I was greeted at the airport by a super smiley Seth, a somewhat cautious Rachel and my beautiful sister Kimberly. We had Chadders for lunch (which is a version of in and out - pretty good stuff). Elise had early release so I got to have her hug me right after lunch. Trent and Hailey came home with more than enough love to share with me :)

Tuesday I was able to see Stacy, my dear Stacy. I LOVE her!! I wish I could transplant her to WA with me. That would be never ending fun-ness....maybe that is why the Lord hasn't helped in that department....too much fun at church? :) I also got to have dinner with Megan Wooton who got me addicted to Biggest Loser this season. All four of us watching it, were crying by the end it was so good. We had Cafe Rio for dinner, which I totally miss in WA, and caught up since I hadn't seen her since I got married. There was much needed girl talk going on Tuesday evening. I could have talked for hours. OH and we both share a boyfriend: Simon Baker from The Mentalist.

On Tuesday I also had TONS of fun with the kids. I will post pics and videos when I get home. Constant cuddling, hugs, kisses and MUCHO tickling. My sis and I went in the morning to Fashion Place for some Bare Essenctuals and cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. It was a fun girls outing and I love having the chance to spend some time with her. She's a great mom and I hope I can be like her someday.

Today was shopping for groceries. YEAH!!! That was actually fun with Rachel and Seth. They were cute looking around at all the stuff. We had lots more tickling, kisses, hugs and cuddling. It is the perfect way to spend the day. I also got to see Jon Lefrandt, his wife and little girl (Lily), but I also got to see Diane. I haven't seen Diane in years!! I wasn't able to make it to the service for Harold so I wanted to see her and catch up. It was so wonderful to see such good family friends and find out what all their family is up to. Lily is super cute and was very entertaining as she walked around "talking" on my phone, making faces etc. It was great to meet Ashley too. Wow my days here have been jammed packed but what an awesome vacation!!!

And it's not done yet!!!!!

NOVEMBER

Ok where do I start? Hmmm....Well because of the lay offs in October I was VERY busy in November. I was already busy before that and then we added NoCal into the mix and it got a little crazy. I got to go with one of my bosses to NoCal for a week. We worked our tails off but also had a BLAST. It was so much fun. Here's a quick recap of the trip: We traveled from Sacramento (Got this beautiful white mustang for me to drive - I love free upgrades!) to Angels Camp to Lake Tahoe (Almost died on the way because of scary U-Hauls and mountain passes of death. Not to mention irritable, hungry bears that growled at us when we were at the resort in Tahoe) then to Reno, NV. Then we flew from Reno to San Francisco (almost died in San Fran too - stupid bikers) then to Windsor (did an in car movie for Paula based on the Pirate Queen musical which is my fave) then to Clear Lake (where we almost died again because of scary people moving bodies out of cars, being in the middle of nowhere and the SCARIEST mountain pass of death ever experienced in the existence of my life). Then we went back to San Francisco and flew home after some sightseeing. Quite the week huh? Let me know if you have any questions :) There will pics of that below.

We had Thanksgiving with the Elders and that was so much fun. Elder Van De Graaff and Elder Bradshaw got to spend the day with us. Bradshaw made his famous rolls for us and they were yummy! There will be some pictures of this adventure too.

I think that is about it for November...I could have sworn there was much more in that month but I think those were the highlights. Ok picture time!!

Review of NoCal 2008:

Thanksgiving 2008:

Here is Fall 2008:

Thoughts on the Atonement

So this post is mainly for me :) I am supposed to writing this in a journal but I am the world's worst journal keeper. In fact I started a blog so I could feel better about "keeping" a journal. I figure if I keep my blog updated it's like a journal that I can leave behind right??

In my last church ward, I worked with the Young Women and I started the Personal Progress program with them, since it has changed since I was a teenager. Well during the move I lost my book but I found it yesterday!

I decided to do a value experience on Faith. I was asked to read a bunch of scriptures and share my feelings. I know that my savior loves me and the most important thing he did was to atone for our sins and make it possible for us to return to live with our Father in Heaven someday. I was reading in Isaiah 53 and these verses really touched me:

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

I feel so strongly that I don't think I will ever fully understand the full burden He was asked to bear. I know that I make plenty of mistakes and that just like me, He Feels the hurt, disappointment, anger, bitterness etc that comes with the poor choices I make. I know that the way I can make sure His sacrifice will not be in vain is to be more like Him. There are always a list a mile long of the things I need to improve on. However one thing really stood out to me in this verse:

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

If He can find it within Himself to keep his mouth closed and not rebuke others when he was being whipped and put to death...Then I can definitely keep my mouth shut concerning petty day to day things. The thing is I know that it is so much easier said than done. I get so wrapped up in the small things and if I were to just take a step back and look at the eternal purpose of my life, it would be so easy for me to let the stupid things go. I like to be right and have the last say, but that is not going to draw me closer to the Savior. Having Him near is important that it is something that I need at this time in my life especially. I hope we can all resolve to work a little harder to be kinder in our words and love those around us. Have a great day and stay tuned for November and December!