6/11/23

Let the summer fun begin! We got the girls started cooking all the meals/doing dishes, re-started violin, piano, and voice, and had almost daily practices in tennis and soccer, so minus structured reading time, there was a lot of good. I even got excited out of the blue, and found a week we could go camping IN YELLOWSTONE PARK!!!! --I couldn't believe there were openings this late, and was happy to have a family trip this summer since I just hadn't come up with anything this year. Also, presidency mtg and visits most of Monday, lessons, shots and errands in Logan on Tuesday plus Trek coordination that night with my old presidency--ahh, love them! Got the girls working hard cleaning out the whole garage on Wednesday, then set up that night for a Mother Daughter activity. Ran to the temple Thursday morning, then took the kids to In-n-Out and swimming until thunderstorms moved in (like they have E V E R Y day lately, which is glorious). We had a fun time at the Mother Daughter Bingo+Fondue night after we got home, and Friday I got to leave for my trip with Kristy and Amanda!! It was SOOOO fun! Kristy drove up from Cedar City, and I picked up Amanda on my way down to get there in time for dinner. We decided we should call it our "Old Ladies' Trip" instead of "Girls' Trip" not just because we've been friends for FORTY years, but because we decided for fun to walk around these old Southern Utah towns looking at the old houses--and touring cemeteries! We spent hours talking and catching up, LOVING how easy it was to relate to each other and share similar concerns, even after spending years barely seeing each other. We laughed a ton, cried a little, and shared what some of our hardest and best times have been in the last 25 years. While we were in the Spring City Cemetery, we used family search, and realized we were ALL descendants of George and Polly Stringham (Briant Stringham's parents- Kristy knew all kinds of Briants in her family named after him like ours)!!! 4th and 5th cousins, and never having any idea before--it was like our own relative race. The weather was perfect, and everything was SO green in that pretty Manti area, so we loved just walking around, getting fresh spring water in Spring City, and finding fun places to eat. I had a gorgeous sunrise run around the temple, then sat in the hammock swing with such peaceful surroundings. Even with our funny AirBNB, where the "bathroom" was a toilet and shower IN the bedroom(!!), we loved the fresh breakfast and garden of Eden yard, and all agreed we needed to make this a new tradition! I got home in time for pizza last night, dropped by LaVonna's and watched a Korean show with Lucy for a bit. 3 song practices and Trek meetings around church today, but it was fun having Brent and Breely join us for part of the day. Even waking up with a rough headache this morning, I have had such a full heart of gratitude for all of the goodness in my life--this is such a great stage of life, such a beautiful time of year, and having had SO many great relationships through my life--even as shy and insecure as I usually am!-- is just amazing. In getting ready for Trek, I've had to think so much about my relationship with Jesus, and I just see His hand in all of these blessings--of the right people I need at the right time, in the jaw-dropping beauty of nature, and in the ways my life has grown and expanded when I felt so small for so many years. But even the darkest times of my life have been a gift in how much they required me to rely on God, and bringing me to know Jesus so much more personally. I loved what Bobby Hannah said in his talk today--the one who suffered a huge stroke so young their first baby was born---it was right after we moved in, and soon after Grandpa died, so it hit my heart SO much when it happened--his wife was Anne's teacher in school, and I wanted so much to be like all the people that supported our family while we waited there in the hospital those last days. Anyway, it has been a huge strain on their family --he was set to be the HS basketball coach and teacher, and besides all of the time off he had to take, he's never been quite the same, but he was still able to stand and say, "For every struggle we have in life, if we wait on Him, God will bless us TENFOLD." He really does consecrate everything for our gain, and every unfair thing CAN be made right through Him. Now if I can just get myself to remember that on the days my gratitude dries up, or even in the moments like today, when, all at once: the lasagna dropped on the floor, the garage door refused to shut properly, my headache persisted, Jane's friends abandoned her, I was 2 hours late taking dinner to a friend, Anne's eczema flared up, and Brent got sick. BUT-- I had cooked 2 pans of lasagna, Jane talked to a different friend that calmed her fears, the neighbor said she needed the dinner more for tomorrow anyway, I remembered I have a good garage contact, and sicknesses don't last forever. Excited about your baptisms coming up! and hope you know how loved you are! Love, Mom