Testimonies

Today, being fast and testimony meeting in church, I was thinking a lot of testimonies.  My testimony especially.  I thought about my mission, my testimony, it seems, was a lot stronger while I was on my mission.  I realized that one of the biggest reasons that is true is because I bore my testimony countless times every day on my mission.  I spoke of the Savior, of His Gospel, of His Atonement throughout every moment of everyday to anyone that wanted to listen.  I thought of my Heavenly Father, of my Savior, of how I could become more like them.  Everything in my life was centered on living the gospel.  It is different now because I am not a full time missionary, BUT I reminded myself that still everything in my life can be related to the gospel, every answer to every question can be answered through prayer.  I need to remember that the Spirit can still be strongly constant in my life.  And in all reality this is how it not only can and should be, but it needs to be that way.  I bore my testimony today in Sacrament and it reminded me how blessed I am and also how much responsibility I have because of those blessings.  I have a testimony, it's time to more often share it and to more consistently live it. 

Kate and Kye

Kye Browning is so cool!  He plays in bands, did our wedding video, and today his music video was played in the Underfunded Film Festival.   He did an awesome job, and it was a great activity for a Saturday night.  We stayed and watched some of the short films and had a good time.  Kate is such a good sport and just keeps on going.  She is going to have little baby Leo any time now.  Kate and Kye are great friends and always looking for fun things to do, we are lucky enough that they want to hang out with us! We went out to dinner and then they came over to eat cookie dough and Oreos and to test out some of our new games!  Games are the best.  I love these two and I am so happy we have friends to be with and to make memories with. 

Tammy and Steve's Anniversary

Tammy Bailie and I have both decided that we are kindred spirits. We are supposed to know each other and are supposed to be in each other's lives.  I love her a lot.  Tammy has helped me to see life in a different way and has helped me to be more positive, trying to look for the good in everyone and in every situation.   It was obvious that she has many friends that love her and people that she has influence for good when she had her anniversary party. It was at a beautiful park in Riverton with treats and she invited people to share songs for the party. Her girls sang and did a really good job and some of her other friends, some of which we discovered are very well known.  Tammy also played some of her songs and ended with a song she had written for Steve about their relationship, love and life together.  They are both incredible people.    Music is a beautiful way to bring good feelings and to share feelings. We had a great night celebrating with them. 

Labor Day Weekend

We love having family so close to hang out with when we have the time.  Some of Jacob's siblings are close by and almost my whole family is as well.  The long weekend was the perfect opportunity to spend some time with all of them.

Saturday we went to Hooper to be with the Stewart clan.  Josh and Kristy recently made an addition to their family of a cute Canaan puppy named Marah who has lots of energy but is so soft and adorable you just have to love her!  Caeden, our nephew took a little while to warm up to us but after that he was playing with us and showing us his toys.  The boys helped Josh start building a fence around the house and Josh smoked us some chicken, YUM.  I love going to Hooper.  They have a beautiful view with a big amount of land with farms surrounding them, it feels like being in the country, gotta love nature. We had a good time talking, eating and playing games.  They are awesome and I am glad I am part of their family.

Sunday was a homecoming talk in my parents ward by Sister Rylee White who served in the Novosibirsk mission.  President and Sister Gibbons came and we were so excited to see them!  Her after party was at Spanky's (the sandwich shop that her parents own)  I swooped in on the Gibbons right when they sat down to eat so we got to talk to them for a good 20 minutes or so.  We love them so much, they invited us to their house whenever we want!  Being with them, as well as listening to talks of missionaries just getting home is a good reminder to me that I want to continue to be a missionary. I want to have the same goals and stay Spiritually minded as I was when I was on my mission.  I know that true joy comes from living and sharing the Gospel, helping others feel of Christ's love and through service.   That is hard to remember in day to day life so I am grateful for opportunities such as these.

PICTURE FROM PRESIDENT! (I will get it)

BBQ at Kendall grandparents.  Brooke made us some delicious steak and chicken, not to mention all the yummy sides and to top that all off we had peach pie, cherry pie, and chocolate cake, we have been eating good this weekend!  Jake brought LAX sticks and Jacob did very well for his first time (he is naturally good at everything) and Jake showed us his new skills to psych the other team out, he is one awesome kid!

Monday me, Jacob, my mom, and Jake hung out at Park City. It was crazy busy because it was Labor Day and everyone wanted to do something fun of course.  The leaves had already started changing colors and it was beautiful!  We stopped in a few stores, walked up and down Main Street, ate some yummy food, and then headed up the mountain so we could go on the Alpine Slide.  During the wait we had to have some Dippin' Dots (the Mint Chocolate kind cause it's the best)  and then got on the life.  This was Jacob's first time and he thought it was great!  I always forget how much fun it is and I feel like a kid again.  We want to go again when it isn't as busy so we can go a bunch of times.  It was great fun.  The drive there was our own concert by We are the Strike.  Love that band, and it is convenient because everyone likes them.

 

Date Night with Thai Food

We decided to be adventurous and try new food that we had never tried before.  This small place called Thai Ruby that Jacob had heard about so we went out on a limb to exercise our taste buds.  Turned out that this was a good idea! We had no idea what to order so we asked for suggestions and just chose one.  I got the Masoman Curry dish which has peanut butter in it!  Jacob got Pad Thai.  We each had some of each and enjoyed both of them.   And of course just being on a date with this stud muffin is more than I could ever ask for.  I love that he still surprises and courts me, keeping the love alive! This adventure has convinced us to keep trying new kinds of foods and new places, who knows what will be next! 

Mission Impossible

On Friday's and Saturday's during the summer Jacob had to work and I didn't  That usually meant cleaning, cooking and grocery shopping.  But instead of doing that boring stuff, today I decided to make a big mess and create a game for him to play when he got home from work.  I got the lazer idea from Pinterest (of course) but the whole part about the balloons and the mission impossible part mixed with the lazers I had a dream about haha so of course I had to do it!  I couldn't find any red string or yarn (I walked to the BYU bookstore) so I got streamers.  People have asked me how long it took me to set up, and I think that it took about 45 minutes...roughly...I wasn't timing.  So I wrote him his mission, taped it on the door and waited. 

I heard the door open and he immediately started playing his role, no laughing, he just got his gun and went at it! He did a really good job!    He ended up doing it two more times and I did it as well.   Pretty much he thought I was the best wife ever, and I thought he was the best cause he had a great time doing my silly activity.   We had to take the streamers down so we could get around, but the balloons are going to stay up for target practice. 

Live is sometimes mundane and sometimes feels as though we just do the same things over and over, wake up, eat, get ready, go to work, come home sleep.....but we just have to remember to cherish every moment, be spontaneous, make memories and love life.

Surprise

 I came home from work, and this was my surprise!  Jacob, the sweetest husband ever, set up our tent and fill it with cushions, blankets, and pillows. We watched a show and played our new card game in it!  It was very fun!  It has now been set up in our living room for 3 days haha.