Forgiveness

So, up until about...Sunday...I believed that I had the fool-proof way to avoid having to speak in sacrament meeting. It goes like this: accept a teaching position in relief society or gospel doctrine...and bear your testimony on occasion (approximately 2 times per year, give or take). For about 10 years that worked for me. Until Sunday.

So...this Sunday I'm speaking in church...on forgiveness. I have a thousand different ideas and haven't yet decided which direction I will be taking this talk...but it will probably include elements of:

• importance of forgiving others
• importance of forgiving self
• importance of allowing time for real forgiveness and not judging self or others when/if the process is not quick or immediate

But....I'd love to hear any thoughts, quotes, stories, scriptures or anything meaningful that my dear friends may feel inclined to share. Also...what do you think is missing when this topic is discussed? What do you think we need more of? Less of? If you have thoughts, feel free to leave them as comments or email me if they are more personal. If not...

I forgive you.

Summer visit to Utah!

Had SO much fun in Utah...have tons of pictures to share...

Spent a day at the cabin with just dad and I, which was great. He cut down trees while I laid in the hammock, then we decided to make little stumps out of the segments for sitting on around the fire...sealed the tops off with...varathane? Then a long ride on the 4-wheelers...good day. While hiking near the buick, dad came very close to stepping on a rattlesnake...luckily he has very quick reflexes because he was able to miss it. Though he WAS disappointed when I didn't hand him the camera quick enough for a quality photo...all he got was the tail because I was worrying about ridiculous things...like GETTING AWAY from the VIPER... In the photo below...no snake, right??

WRONG!!! See, he's getting away...but there is his tail... Anyway...cabin fun with dad: which involved a photo op with "Dad's Buick"...even though I didn't think GETTING IN was a good idea...he was not afraid of glass and rusted metal...apparently the rattlesnake wasn't enough danger and he needed a little more. We also had a s'mores competition (microwave version). He and I have different opinions regarding the winner of said competition... A few days later we went to the cabin with Jeff and Kim and their kids and mom and dad and I. Had so much fun as usual...went on long 4-wheeler rides, had fun with the HUGE marshmallows from the Peterson's (thanks Areta!) and enjoyed time in the hammock and very frequent trips to what Parker has now named "the treat drawer."

So...Picasa won't upload some of my camera phone pictures into the collages...so here are some of the favorites...

Cute Claire and Mitch on the way to Park City..

.I have no idea why Burger King chose to put The Vampires on their kids crowns...something about Bella next to darling, sweet Carter just looks wrong. BK, bring back the gold crowns with brightly colored circles please!!

It's a good day when you get lucky enough to 1-get Cayden in the photo, 2-get Cayden smiling and looking at the camera in the photo! Love this little redhead!!

It's a shame that this is the only picture I have of Areta from my trip. Sorry sister. But we all know you're busy reading NieNie or wading through an inbox of 3,425 emails so you won't ever see this, right? ;)

I can 't even get enough of darling Carter with goggles on...this most darling little face, cute cheeks...love, love, love this boy. Love that he's a snuggler, love that he and I spent at least 2 hours one morning at the cabin laughing and snuggling...playing the "do you want a BIG hug or a little hug?" game we made up.

Three cute girls in the hammock...

So...also got to be in Utah over the 4th of July. Had a great day, ran the Kaysville 5k run with Areta and her family (as well as half of Kaysville), then enjoyed the looooong parade (we had perfect seats in the shade (thanks Janay) and even felt a little cold...nice!After parade we went all went swimming with the Peterson's...so much fun.

Then a great dinner...then off to fireworks @ Davis High. I loved that darling, brave Cayden is not afraid of anything (except for the fireworks this year...note the picture of him sitting UNDER the chair...darling)...but then he sat with Grandpa and liked them after all.

More Camera phone favorites from the 4th:

My trip also included: visits to see both grandmas, fun shopping with mom, meals with old friends and new babies (so fun to see you Gaye and Ann...and I'll share my muffins with Noah any day-darling boy!), running in the cool mornings with Areta, Cherry Hill with the Peterson's, lots of shopping with mom, mid-afternoon naps with Mollie the WonderDog, sleeping at night in the cold basement in flannel sheets...HEAVEN, and lots of time to love on my darling nieces and nephews...great trip!

Picacho Peak w/ Sher!

So. Catch up. Sher visited in May...we had so much fun. I think the highlight for both of us was hiking Picacho Peak. For sure the hardest/best hike I've done. Very steep, Sher and I loved the cables...kind of like rock climbing but with cables instead of harnesses. Awesome.... Lots of pictures... PS-For a good laugh, enlarge the picture above...my face makes me laugh...kiiiiiinda intense. love the picture above of Sher...hello, right out of an REI magazine...intense. At the end we were walking for what felt like HOURS...it was boring and flat and hot and I was out of water...I said "Pally, kinda feels like we're in the movie 'Holes,' don't ya think?" Seriously...Next time we're going the Hunter's Trail way...so we skip the 3 miles of strolling through the Sahara in the heat of the day. (PS-for future reference, May is WAY too hot to do this hike-was over 100 degrees for most of it...October-March...probably perfect).