Summer Catch-Up Post 4 (Caulene and Daniel's Sealing)

June 20, 2014. Exactly a year and a half from our own sealing date. This was such a happy day! :D We were very glad we could be there with Daniel & Caulene and so many family members. 

Summer Catch-Up Post 3 (Salt Lake Bees Game)

I got tickets from Huntsman to go to the Bees game so I took my family as kind of a late birthday present for Cache. The first game got rained out but we were able to go the next day. We had tons of fun dancing around through the game.

Waiting for the rain to stop.

Bumble signed a baseball card for Cache for his birthday.

She was just trying really hard to get those peanuts!

As we were leaving, Nate found a foul ball in the parking lot.

Poor Spencer didn't get to have fun at the game because he had to work. That's why Nate and I left a little early. We went to go hang out with Spencer. We stayed for a good part of the double header though.

Summer Catch-Up Post 2 (biking to Orem

Spencer really wanted to ride bikes to Grandma and Grandpa Wallace's in Orem and over the summer I finally agreed. And I almost died. No joke. We rode to the Frontrunner station downtown and then got off in Orem and biked from there to Grandma Wallace's. It was 5.4 miles from the station to Grandma's and I was pretty much dead by the time we made it there.

This is me worrying about dying before we left.

Of course it rained on us.

See. Me at Grandma's. Dying.

Here is the return-journey picture. My butt was super sore by that time!

I guess it was an ok trip. I was super tired though. Spencer quite enjoyed himself. That kind of bike ride was no big deal for him because he is a super star.

Summer Catch-Up Post 1 (UHS Graduation)

This summer was insane. We were so busy! Spencer was taking 14 credit hours during the summer and I was taking 15. I have never felt so burnt out. It was kind of like we never got a break. (Well...we didn't)
So now I need to update the blog with all of the other things we did as well.

These are some of the pictures I took when we went back to Roosevelt for Jessica's Graduation.

This was the graduation party for Shalina

These other pictures are from Memorial Day that weekend.

They found frogs in Tridell

Grandma and Grandpa Haslem rode with us

For some reason there is a picture of Spencer airing up our tires.... ?

And this is the only picture I got around to taking at Jessica's graduation party.

It's Soccer Season!

Last weekend we were able to catch one of Nate's soccer games. Luckily for us, it was just up the road. We had fun hanging out with Tanner too. It was a nice, warm, beautiful day!

Tanner photo-bombed me.... I was confused and trying to get the camera to work. Guess what. It works.

Juggling

Wallace Girls' Weekend

Last weekend Carrie, Jess and I had a girls' weekend. We left Nate with Spencer and Carrie treated us to pedicures.

This picture was taken after dinner at Cheesecake Factory

Then we headed to Ogden for the night. We had to finish our cheesecake there.

The next morning we got up for a conference at Weber State titled: When Life Gets Hard. Jessica wanted to go to this one because Meg Johnson was one of the speakers. It was really good and we got Meg Johnson to sign our books.

This is Meg's link to her blog post about the conference. http://megjohnsonspeaks.com/2014/05/life-gets-hard-conference/

The other speakers were John Bytheway and Hank Smith, both were also really awesome.

We went shopping after that and I was looking at pencil skirts. I did not find any in my size though. Yesterday when I checked the mail, I found a package from JCPenny. I didn't order anything, and Spencer didn't order anything. Inside I found a pencil skirt, in my size, sent by Carrie :) Awe! Thanks Carrie!

Women's Conference 2014

I had a great time at Women's Conference. On Thursday I was there by myself, but it's no big deal because you just go around to separate class sessions anyway. 2014 Women's Conference theme was Psalms 84:11 

                              For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: 

no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. 

The opening speaker was Sheri Dew and she was really awesome. Her talk was on grace. Some of the things she said that I liked were: 


"Grace=power. Power to do things we could not do on our own." 

"The Lord shows us our weakness that we may see His grace."

"...experience a change of heart to do good continually."

"Conversion requires immersion."

She said a lot of other great things but those are the ones that really stuck out.


Then I attended one class that was really great and one not so really great. But I loved the class on "Communication in Marriage". A husband and wife gave the presentations on that. Some of my favorite things said were:

"Communication is more than the sharing of words."

"There are 7 basic needs that create the acronym STARVED. They are Safety, Trust, Appreciation, Respect, Validation, Encouragement, and Dedication. When one of those is threatened or not there, we feel starved."

"Marriages and family create a Paradox - we love them, but they drive us crazy."
                          There was a lot said about the paradox idea and I loved it.

Then I missed the rest of the activities for that day because I had to get back to Salt Lake to play for the U's commencement. That ended up being really cool too because Alex Smith was the key speaker there.


On Friday, I was able to meet up with Carrie. The opening speakers were Linda K. Burton - General Relief Society President, Bonnie L. Oscarson - General YW President, and Rosemary M. Wixom - General Primary President. They were all fantastic. From Sister Burton I liked her analogy of a child playing the piano and the Master whispering "don't quit, keep playing". She said "we may forget in the heat of our trials that the Lord is aware of us."

From Sister Oscarson I liked:
"It is not enough to know about the Atonement - the Atonement must be internalized and become personal and individualized." 




From Sister Wixom I liked:

"Nothing will startle us more than to pass through the veil and realize how well we know our Father."

"[Jesus said], if you will come unto me, I will show unto you your weakness."

My favorite class for that day was: Coping With Stress Through Good Nutrition & Sleep Habits. The first presenter talked about eating balanced diets and eating a variety of foods. She gave 6 rules of what she called "intuitive eating". 1) Make peace with food - get ride of ideas like good/bad and should/should not. 2) Honor your hunger. 3) Respect your fullness. 4) Discover satisfaction factors; like eating at the table with family. 5) Honor your feelings w/o using food; find alternatives to address emotions. 6) Respect your body; it's about health, not body size/image.

The second presenter talked about stress being a part of our human experience and it helps us grow. He said sleep is how we unwind and it is best to have a regular sleep schedule. He said our bodies like a regular schedule.

The closing remarks were Elder Quentin L. Cook and his wife. Some of the things from Sister Cook I liked were:
"We make our own happiness, no matter what trials we face."

"We can be happy and positive regardless of what comes our way. ... Being able to laugh keeps you going."

Elder Cook said:
"Do not underestimate your influence. ...Even if you feel inadequate - it is enough."

"If Christ came tonight, to whom would he come? Or, if Christ came tonight, who would be ready to receive Him?"

"We create Zion in our hearts and homes."

"Love is the key ingredient to happiness."

I was really glad I could go. :)