My New Adventure

Starting August 29th, these will become my two best friends.

"Why?" you ask.  Because that is the day I begin team teaching early morning seminary at 6:00 AM--every day--before school starts to 16 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 9th-12th graders from our area--including my favorite first-born son, who will already be a sophomore this year--yikes!  I am SUPER excited about this new opportunity.  I love working with the youth.  And I love the scriptures.  So getting to teach this group every day is going to be a thrill!  We are digging into the Old Testament this year, so it should be interesting.

Looking back over my own experience in seminary (yes, the cheaty kind that got to happen right during the middle of the school day), Old Testament was probably the year I gained the least.  (It was my freshman year and I was just warming up to the idea of actually learning something about the scriptures.)  So I am considering this my "do-over" year.  I hope to gain so much more this go round.

I am pretty sure my biggest challenge will be turning into a morning person.  I have no doubt that digging into the scriptures each morning with the kids is truly inspired.  What better way to arm them for the day ahead at high school.  But 5:00 AM sure is early.  So 9:00 PM is going to have to be my new self-imposed bedtime.  I hope I can make myself do it.  Otherwise, it is going to be a long school year.

Any seminary teachers out there?  Do you have any secrets to share on successful seminary?  I would love your ideas.

Welcome Double Digits!

On June 23rd, Olivia entered the world of double digits, turning 10 years old.  But since her actual birthday fell on the day after we returned home from our big trip and on the day of my final concert of the season, her celebration got dragged out a bit.

We started by celebrating in Idaho with the cousins' birthday party.  Then, on her official day, she got breakfast in bed and lunch out with mom.

On the Saturday following her big day, she got to have her nails done at the nail place.  She has wanted to do that for so long, so she was in heaven.

A couple weeks later, she got her friend party.  Part of the festivities included making their own pizzas.  They had some interesting creations, but they all seemed happy with their final products.

Happy Birthday Olivia.  We love you!

Happy Birthday America!!

Today is the 4th of July--probably my favorite holiday (sorry Christmas and Thanksgiving--you are a close second and third, but this one has you beat, in my opinion.)  I don't know what it is about today, but I just love it.  I have only been out of the country once in my life, but it happened to be over July 4th.  And I really didn't like it.  Maybe that's why I love this holiday and everything it represents (you know, freedom to think what I want, say what I want, believe what I want, become what I want, all in a land of liberty given to us) so much--even when we don't have any big plans.  Which was the case today.  But we had fun anyway, and filled it with about as much as we could cram into one special day.  Here's the run down.

The morning started with a quick bike ride to get a quick cardio in.  [And what an adventure that was.  See this arm?  It's only a small sampling of the cuts and scrapes I got when I came upon a sharp turn too quickly, hit the brakes, and went flying--yes flying.  Literally.--over my handlebars, landed on my hip, and rolled ALMOST into the creek.  That's the first time something like that has happened to me and I hope it is the last.  I'm too old for that! And I know I am going to be feeling it in the morning!]

After making it home and getting cleaned up, we decorated the back yard (the weather was so nice this year compared to the last couple, which have been cold and rainy)

played a little badminton

jumped on the trampoline that we FINALLY got assembled this season

grilled some burgers for lunch

made our traditional flag cake

played water balloon volleyball [a little trivia here.  It was 19 years ago today Kris took me on our first date (another reason why I love this holiday) where we played water balloon volleyball at a holiday party at a friend's.  Love this day!]

went to the parade (and melted. Did I mention we had great weather?  We did, but hot!)

came home to cool off in the pool  (at this point Emmie went to a friend's for a party.  We didn't see her again until after fireworks.)

Took a break from the heat to watch a movie

enjoyed s'mores over the fire pit

played with pop its and sparklers

AND went to enjoy the fireworks.

Whew!  What a day.  And we did it all while wearing our flag T's, which of course is tradition around these parts.

But see this empty space at our table?

The only sad part of the day was missing our Josh.  He is still having fun at the grandparents' (and wearing his matching flag T today--I called and checked!) but we sure miss him.  I don't like not having my kids around me for these celebrations.  With Emmie and him both gone this evening, we were a little empty.  At least the neighbor girl joined in some.  This is one day I think "the more the merrier."  It would be so good to live near all our family for days like this.  But that doesn't seem to be in the cards just yet.  So for now, we just enjoy what we have and and be grateful we get to celebrate living in this great land of America.

Our Days on the Road

June was a blur of travels for our family.  With a summer schedule rapidly filling up with camps and conferences, our best time for a trip home to visit extended family hit right as school let out for the year.  So on the day after school let out, Grandma and Grandpa Hiltbrand and my brother's family--Troy, Melissa, Tanner, Brenna, and Camille--arrived to begin our travels with us.  As an extended family, we made our way over to Nauvoo, IL for a little pioneer fun.  While we have visited Nauvoo many times (and plan to many more--probably even this month) it was the first time for Troy's family.  It was so fun to share one of our favorite destinations with them.

NAUVOO AND CARTHAGE

We set out on Sunday afternoon and made our way first to Carthage.  It was the perfect Sunday activity, remembering and honoring the prophet Joseph Smith's sacrifice to follow the Savior.

After Carthage, we made our way to Nauvoo, where we checked out the house we rented for a couple nights.  What a great way to stay in Nauvoo.  We had plenty of space--AND a kitchen to cook meals.  As much as we love Nauvoo, there are not many good choices for eating.  So taking sandwiches,  frozen meals, and other things was the perfect solution.  It was cheaper and easier than trying to eat out each day.

We also took some pictures of the cousins by the temple.  We aren't together often, so we have to take advantage of the times we are with pictures.

Troy, Melissa, and I were able to do a session at the temple.  (Kris wasn't able to stay with us for this leg of our journey as work was pressing.  But we made sure he was with us for the rest.)  That is the first time I have done a session in the Nauvoo temple and it was beautiful.

We also played and saw a lot of sights.  I didn't take many pics, but we had fun.

MT. RUSHMORE

After our two-day trip to Nauvoo, we came home for the night to get Kris and get packed up for our trip to Idaho.  We decided on this journey home we would go to Mt. Rushmore and then down.  On the way, we stopped at Wall Drug (South Dakota's only claim to fame next to the mountain).  What a spectacle that is.  But we had to stop to say we had.

We had a good time at the pool in the hotel the night before going to see the monument.  But at 3 AM we weren't too thrilled to be woken by Emmie throwing up.  We're still not sure what she had, but throwing up was her deal for the next day.  So while the rest of the family caught a glimpse of the mountain before the rain clouds completely covered it all, Emmie and grandma visited in the car in the parking lot (Emmie's face 6 inches over the garbage can we had to buy at Walmart.)  Thankfully, her bug only hit her that day, and didn't pass to anyone else.

The next day we visited Martin's Cove.  I had heard stories about this place, but being there really brought the stories to life.  I am thankful for the dedication of early members of the church who trusted God in even the most extreme circumstances.  It really puts the struggles I face into perspective.  And I was also grateful to see my Great Great Grandfather's name on the list of rescuers on the plaque.  I hope I can be that courageous in helping others as well.

After Martin's Cove we made it to Idaho Falls.  While there, we were able to spend time with all my family and all Kris's family.  That doesn't happen very often.

We celebrated Olivia's and Josh's birthday with the cousins.  There are actually five cousins with birthdays within a week or two, so we had a birthday party for them all, with games and everything.

We threw a baby shower for our sister-in-law Sara, as she prepares to welcome a cute baby girl to the family.  Thanks to Ashley's creativity, we had some darling decorations that I am going to copy again several times.

We took a million family pictures.  They turned out great but took three hours.  That's what we get when we don't have time together like that very often.

And we were able to celebrate Father's Day with the special fathers in our lives, something else that doesn't happen very often.  It was so fun to be with family.  We got to visit my grandparents--Grandma (Hiltbrand) Baldwin and Grandma and Grandpa Smith.  I feel so blessed to still have all my grandparents with us.  (My grandfather Hiltbrand died before I was born--but I have all the ones I know.)

And we left Josh in Idaho to spend some extended time with grandmas and grandpas.  We miss him, but we really think he is having a great time with the extended family.  We hope that this type of thing will make up for our living so far away.  The other kids are already making plans for their extended summer trips in the future.  We will welcome Josh back on July 13th.

On our way home, we stopped at temple square in SLC.  It's fun to visit there when we can.  It brings back memories of our wedding day.