Summer recap

I really haven't said much about summer. It went by so fast as I was working a lot, and we did day trips with the kids, and went to parks and swimming and swimming and swimming. So here is a much overdue recap of some summer highlights.

Vegas Vacation with grown ups!

 

  Nathan and I went to Las Vegas with some friends, the last week of may. It was a great, and much needed,  get away.

Then end of June was William's birthday and we went to the Tyrell museum in Drumheller. We took a road that brought is across a river by ferry which the kids loved! The day was great both at the museum and the splash park after, then we finished with an ice cream cake at home.

the bleriott ferry

a short but fun ferry ride

the littlest chuch

girls racing for the pool in Drumheller

Happy Birthday Will...Mike is eyeing your cake!

We took the kids to the Westerner days which were a big hit because...ALL KIDS LOVE RIDES! I think one of the funniest moments was going to the Bentley fair. We watched the parade and the kids collected as much candy as their little hands could grab (and that is a lot of candy), then we did a little mutten bustin'. Emma, Michael and Allison all decided that it would be really fun to ride some sheep while they are running. It was the best 10 seconds of summer (and that is their combined time!).

The crew with their bags of candy after the parade

In 2 seconds Mike is on the ground (behind the sheep), and the girls await their ride.

Lessons from the Spirit

At the Salt Lake Temple Visitors center in 2011

I have had a couple of moments recently that have reminded me of how much my Father in Heaven loves me and how He teaches me and others by the Spirit. One experience was in the Temple, my favourite place to be. I knew from an experience there that this was where I needed to come more often for the guidance I have been wanting.

Then, a couple of days ago, a woman from my old ward in Okotoks called me to thank me for a talk I had given at church in 2008. She told me she had taken notes while I was speaking, and that I had spoken about my conversion to the gospel. She told me how I had compared my conversion process to finding an old  painting in an attic and wiping away the dust to reveal a beautiful picture, one I had seen  and known before. I was grateful for her call, and instantly thought of a talk given years ago by Sheri Dew in which she spoke of the many experiences in public speaking in the church she has had. She said how on many occasions people will thank her for her words and say that they were just what they needed to hear at that time. Sister Dew then said that when she asks people what it was that she said specifically, the answers she gets are almost never what she said in that particular talk. She explained how it really is the Spirit that speaks to us when we are ready and willing to learn, and often the thoughts that come to mind when a speaker is speaking are what the Spirit is teaching us.
   I thought of this talk because I know I have never used that painting analogy, although I would like to take credit for it as it is rather poetic. When I prepare a talk I always start with a prayer that I will say the things the Lord would want me to say for the congregation at the time. I am glad that this kind woman who called me was taught something she would remember and may have been useful to her, and that she was taught by the Spirit.
   I think I will try to prepare myself to be taught the things that are important for me and my family, instead if just trying to pay attention to the things people say in their talks.