Questions for Natalie

Picture #1...What was I thinking? (glad you are not running your child ragged like I obviously did). Picture #2 What were YOU thinking??? Picture #3 What was Jake saying?

Went to the Temple today

Monday after yoga class I told my instructor that I wouldn't be able to come on Wed because I was going to Den Haag. "Oh really, are you just going with friends to have a fun day?" I could have kept it simple and said, "yes" but it was a perfect opportunity to bring up exactly why I was going to Den Haag. "Well actually, I'm a mormon, and we have a temple there" We had a nice discussion about why temples and how they are different from our chapels. Evenutally we got around to talking about THE CREATION of the world! "Do you literally believe in the Creation as found in the Bible???"
She and I are going to be roommates while we both take the Van Gogh class in Amsterdam. So it could be a good thing, or awkward. I hope it will be a good experience. As a roommate she'll be exposed to a lot of Mormonism....scripture study and prayer. What I wear, etc. Should be interesting.
But the temple trip was a great experience. I had two sisters in the car that really gave me a great perspective on Sister Missionaries. One sister had served a mission, the other was newly married but never had served. It was SO GOOD for me to hear their perspectives. The one who served said, "I've been trying to get back the feeling I had on my mission ever since I returned! It's an opportunity to grow close to the Savior and it's not to be missed." I have to admit that my ideas about girls serving a mission were tainted. No more. It was a great day.

Can you still do this Jake?

Picture Natalie AND Lara requested

Here's the one you wanted Natalie and Lara, plus a few extras that I thought were quite funny!

Officially Seventeen!

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Here's a few pictures from today. (I added his first day of school as well, thus the one of Colie hugging 'good-bye'). He was measured first thing this morning. The official 17 year old height is 5'9". Even with Dad. Wonder if he has another spurt?? He has loved all of you calling to talk to JUST him! Good thing we all get to have a day in the year when it's OUR day.

"THE KID"

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I realize I am a day or so early, but I had time today. Steve will be 17 years old on Wednedsday. I'll report his height after we measure him on Wed....but I think he has passed Jake. Sorry Jake. I think he may have passed Dad. Sorry Dad. But I'll give you the Official status later. We plan to take him out for Thai food, which is his choice for his b-day meal. Oh yes, he has come a long way from a few years ago, which was only cereal or pasta!

This is for Dad

You know that Dad checks all of the blogs regularly, right? So he asked me to put this up on "our" blog. Why? "I just like to look at the picture". Maybe he is dreaming about the day when he will actually, really, retire and these pictures symbolize that day. So this is for you Tom!
Oh AND may I just add that he is going to stop paying his tithing. Yep, BYU lost yesterday. Steve slept in his BYU t-shirt. None of it helped. In fact Utah beat UCLA 44 to 6. What???? It might interest you that 44 to 6 was the EXACT score of the BAS Brigands vs. Hanau Germany yesterday. Sadly, the Brigands had 6. Steve had a very good game though, despite the poor score. I got a kick out of the fact that he was always helping the other guy stand up, or patting another player on the back. He was the "nice" guy out there. I was proud of him!