Poor, poor Henry!

Our poor little Henry had a hard afternoon! He and 2 of his cousins, Abby and Leah, were playing in the "forest" behind Grandma's Chris's house and they stumbled across a hive of bees (or something like that - maybe they were wasps...we never actually saw them...). They were all stung multiple times and they were all very sad. There was a whole lot of screaming and crying! It must have been pretty terrifying for them to be attacked like that.
Henry ended up having 6 stings on his head and ears and arm and hand. He was so sad all the say home and all evening until he went to bed. And the worst part is that he was JUST stung on Sunday by a wasp on the back of his head and he was pretty sad about just the one sting.
Poor little boy.
Abby and Leah - we hope you're doing alright!

Fourth of July

For the fourth of July, we had a little BBQ here with Chris, Jim, Kaitlin and Ammon, which was fun and very tasty. Then we headed up to BYU to watch the Stadium of Fire Fireworks from a spot on campus (we went to a little grassy field where the DT pool used to be). We met our friend's the Morgan's there and just camped out and the kids played and rode bikes until it got dark.
We got to see the jets fly over, which is always thrilling (one of the best parts of the day), but then they set off just a few little fireworks and Henry decided he was done. He went to the car and stayed there the rest of our wait. When the actual fireworks started Adam went to sit in the car with him to watch them, but he cried the whole time and he just wanted to go home. So after about 5 minutes of fireworks, they had about a 15 minute break (for who knows why) and we just decided to go home...so it was a long wait for 5 minutes of fireworks! But it was still fun and maybe we'll try again next year! Maybe...
Note Henry's new bike "training wheel bike" (that's what he calls it) in the photos - he LOVES it.

Freedom Festival Balloons

We went to see the hot air balloons Friday morning (really early!). Henry is really into "flying" things and so we thought he'd enjoy this, which he did. He and Ella both enjoyed it. It was pretty cool. Here are some pictures:




It was surprising to see how many people showed up at 6am, but it was a fun little trek and we're glad we went.

I love to see the temple

Today turns out to be a special day for me - it marks the 8 year anniversary of my first time going through the temple. And the funny thing is that I didn't notice the date or realize the significance until this morning, when I was in the temple.
I haven't been to the temple for a while - since the first week of February, I believe. So going today was a little special to begin with. I've just been needing to go so badly. And then I was overwhelmed with emotion when I looked down at my slip and saw the date - 7 July. I realized that it was my special day to be at the temple. And I guess that the new names they use in the temple must correspond to the date because they used the same name today that they used 8 years ago, which made it even more special.
I first received my endowment on July 7, 2001. I went to the Los Angeles temple with my mom, dad, Joe, Brooke, and my Aunt Liz and her 2 daughters, Nina and Bonnie. I loved it. I loved the peace that I felt the entire time I was there. I've never felt so peaceful in my entire life. I'm usually a ball of worry and turmoil and so feeling that peace was a witness to me of the sacredness of that special building and the work that goes on inside. After doing the initiatory, they lead me into the endowment room and I'll never forget the site of everyone lined up to go into the session. They were on a tall staircase, all dressed in white. It was beautiful. And then upon entering the celestial room it felt just like heaven to be greeted by so many of my family members (at that time 7 was a lot of family members for me...). And then afterward we went to eat dinner at Cheesecake Factory in Marina Del Rey, which for me was a perfect way to end the day - as good food is always a great way to end any day. It was a perfect day.
And the temple has been such a blessing in my life since. Today as I sat in the temple, my soul truly hungered to be there and I was so blessed to be nourished and filled during those short 2 1/2 hours. Sometimes I see people crying and my heart goes out to them because you just know they are trying to work through a hard problem. Today people were probably looking at me, thinking the same thing. But hopefully no one thought that because today my tears were tears of joy and gratitude just to be there. I just feel so very blessed to be able to go there. What a sacred privilege.
And then to top it all off, when I was in the dressing room, getting ready to change back to my street clothes, a complete stranger walked passed me, looked at me and said "you look so beautiful". It was so nice of her to say that since as most of you women know, when you're pregnant, the last thing you feel is beautiful!
I'm grateful I could go to the temple today. My life is much better because of it.