[sigh] KSL 5 Eyewitness News is back!!

As much as I enjoyed watching the Olympics, I am so grateful to be watching a quality news team again. I didn't realize how much I missed KSL's 10 o'clock news until I navigated between channel 2 and channel 4 and endured their amateur newscasters.

A documentation of our summer--2008

First day of school

August 21, 2008

Erik 3rd-Mrs. Workman, Ashlyn, Nate 1st-Mrs. Heaton, Kiersten 4th-Mrs. Douglas

 The kids are back in school! Need I say more. It is a wonderful day and I think Ty is actually getting some work done with all the quiet.

OUR SUMMER IN PHOTOS

 June

Las Vegas trip to start off our summer vacation

Erik's baptism

Erik at scout camp

Camping at Manor Lands

July

Hiked to Ensign Peak

Visited Wheeler Historic Farm

Missy, Kiersten, Erik, and Nate ran 4th of July race

Attended the 24 of July Seamons Family Reunion, complete with fishing and rides off the zipline

Nate turned 6 years old

Invested in a Hogle Zoo membership and went with my childhood friend Jennifer and her 3 girls

August

Visited the Natural History Museum where Kiersten got to help with a science demonstration

Amber's wedding enabled us to all get together on the Leary side for a family photo

Antelope Island: picnic and buffalo

Rollerblading the Jordan River Parkway, Fishing, Swimming at the pool,Sleeping on the trampoline, Staying at Grandma's

Stansbury Days bike parade

Whew! I think we were all a little ready for school to start, for life to take a different pace.

At least I know I was.

Not your typical "dry" council Sunday

"Some choices are matters of preference, not principle"
(Wisdom and Order, Neal A. Maxwell)

Last week's high council speaker gave a tremendous talk on the cause of friction in marriages and families. Joseph Smith used the phrases "war of words and tumult of opinions" in describing the discord between the various religious sects in his day. Most family and marital problems stem from our own "war of words and tumult of opinions." We all have different preferences from how to manage money to rearing children to where to vacation, but the principles behind those preferences are ALWAYS the same. The Lord doesn't care how we as a couple handle our finances, but He does care what we do with that monetary stewardship He has blessed us with. Do we use it in helping others? Do we remember to pay tithes and offerings? He doesn't care whether we prefer to recreate in Hawaii or the mountains, but He does care if we don't make it to sacrament meeting. He doesn't mind the style of clothing worn by our children, but He does mind if they're dressed modestly and neatly.

This high council speaker told a story of mother who came to him as her bishop at the time. Her daughter was 15 and starting to hang out more with a boy she really liked. This mother and daughter had a close relationship and the mother was afraid to really say anything for fear she would push her daughter away. This high councilor/bishop's advice:

The daughter was Heavenly Father's daughter long before she was a daughter to this mother. He had given the mother the chance to raise this daughter. Heavenly Father has not left us alone and He has laid out the way. This mother was counseled to reveal everything the Lord and the prophets have said about the matter. She told her daughter, "If you have a problem with what I tell you, it is not me you have the problem with, it is the Lord and His prophets. If you have a problem with what they are saying, then you go to them. My job is to tell you what the Lord wants me to." Then as parents you have to step back and let them make their own choices. I'm sure this mother PREFERRED to tell her daughter to not see this boy anymore or to simply not say anything at all. But the PRINCIPLE of agency was followed and the outcome was that the daughter chose to break off the relationship.

I had a similar experience growing up. My friend Jennifer was entertaining some boys at her house while her parents were out of town. She called and asked me to come over and that one of the boys would stop by my house to pick me up. As I got off the phone I asked my dad if I could go. He didn't say no but counseled with me and left the decision up to me. I thought about it for awhile and decided it was not the best thing for me to do. My dad grew taller that day in my eyes simply by being more concerned with principles than preferences.

Dealing with principle, not preference will give us happiness and infuse our hearts and mind with peace.

New seven- mile tradition

3 mile run, 6 mile roller blade, 1 mile walk . . . in one day, and I feel great.

I got up yesterday morning and went for a run to break in my new shoes. I am n-e-v-e-r in the mood to run in the morning even though I absolutely l-o-v-e mornings. Evenings, maybe. I always coax myself out the door by telling myself that I'll just run a mile or so. I think the reason for never being excited for that morning run is my body is just not warmed up. My legs physically feel like lead, but a half mile into a run they feel fine and I always end up running farther than I first intended. So I took a new route and ran about 3 miles.

Our new when-we-don't-have-more-than-two-kids tradition is to roller blade on the Jordan River Parkway. The reason we only take two with us is we cannot fit more than 2 bikes or a bike and stroller in the van.

For several years we've wanted to roller blade from 7800 South to 5400 South and then walk up the road to Iceberg, because . . . they simply have the best fries and shakes. Yesterday was the day. Erik brought his bike, we put Ash in a jogging stroller (along with our shoes) and away we went. It's 3 miles along the parkway and about a mile up to Iceberg and back. What fun! My only complaint is I did not get my Lemon Custard shake. Do I need a second chance at that shake?