Ponderize Oct 25-31

Alma 7:23

23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

I've been pondering this scripture the last couple of weeks. It was the theme of 2 talks in a recent Sacrament Meeting. I've marked it in my scriptures before. To me, it always seemed to be the mantra I needed to repeat/remember as a parent. I've been thinking of the phrase, 'easy to be entreated' and thinking how I'm doing in that regard as a parent. Am I easily entreated? By the Spirit? By my children? By my husband? I feel as if, lately, I've been less approachable. Too wrapped up in my own thoughts, wants, needs. I need to step back, let go and be more available.
I found this quote by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Oct 1990

"The man and woman of Christ are easily entreated, but the selfish person is not. Christ never brushed aside those in need because he had bigger things to do."

That's rather indicting. I have been much too selfish and brushed others aside much too often.

Here's another quote I found in a small book of quotes on motherhood. It's by Orson Pratt.

"Do not find fault with every trifling error that you may see, for this will discourage your family, and they will begin to think that it is impossible to please you, and after a while, they will be come indifferent as to whether they please you or not. How unhappy and extremely wretched is that family where nothing pleases, where scolding has become almost as natural as breathing." 

It made me wonder if my children's inability to 'hear me and be obedient' is due to this reason. I don't want to be a nag. I don't like to be an irritant. But I also hate to be ignored. I might ought to try a new tactic. I have often tried new tactics, it's the consistency I stink at. That's why it's usually back to the default nagging.

Another part of this scripture I pondered and studied was being submissive or willing to submit. I found a talk by Elder Neal A Maxwell from the May 1985 Ensign that was so full of good stuff. It is titled "Willing to Submit". Here are some quotes I liked:

"Moreoever, the descriptive simplicity of this quality (submissiveness) is matched by its developmental difficulty. It is so easy to be half-hearted, but this only produces half the growth, half the blessings, and just half a life, really, with more bud than blossom. A superficial view of this life, therefore, will not do, lest we mistakenly speak of this mortal experience as coming here to get a body, as if we were merely picking up a suit at the cleaners. Or, lest we casually recite how we have come here to be proved, as if a few brisk push-ups and deep knee bends would do." 

"Required, in particular, is meekness of mind which recognizes God's perfect love of us and His omniscience. By acknowledging these reassuring realities and accepting that God desires our full development and true happiness, we are readied even as the learning experiences come…"

"Spiritual submissiveness means, instead, community and communion as the mind and the heart become settled. We then spend much less time deciding, and much more time serving; otherwise, the more hesitation, the less inspiration. Yielding one's heart to God signals the last stage in our spiritual development. Only then are we beginning to be fully   useful to God! How can we sincerely pray to be an instrument in His hands if the instrument seeks to do the instructing?"

I think in some areas I've been able to submit my will, but not in all. I realize that to have the full growth Elder Maxwell speaks of, I HAVE to be able to fully submit my will. That's scary! What will be required? MORE? Surely as he knows he can depend on us, the things requested increase…. Human-ness is hard.

I also loved in this talk how Elder Maxwell pointed out how Christ knew intellectually that what He came to do would be hard, but that He didn't know how hard, the extremity of it, until He experienced it. Yet He still submitted.

Back in 2001 or 2002 I had a small time of depression and one day literally 'ran away' from home for a time. I ran to the school and sat under a tree and cried. I was so overwhelmed at my life at the time. My friend, Anine, saw me and came to check on me. We talked and I shared my struggles. She said she thought we "had been shown in the premortal life what we would experience here and that we thought we could do it and were excited for the chance." I told her that made me feel worse,  as I seemed to be failing so miserably. We talked some more and I eventually went home to my kids.

Over the years I've thought of this. That we probably did know intellectually what our lives would include, but, like Christ, we just didn't understand how hard being human was going to be.
Can I continue to learn how to submit my will FULLY? Like He did? Can I let go of that false feeling of control? Can I trust the Lord to know best what my potential is? 

Sugar Run 2015

Our elementary school's PTA and PE started the "Sugar Run" a couple of years ago. They do it the day after Halloween usually, but this year it was on Monday since Halloween was on Saturday. I had volunteered to help so I was there to see Charlie take 5th place in the first grade. I think he surprised himself and I know I was surprised that he did so well. Maybe he will take after some of his siblings and be a runner. Maybe he was just cold since he was only wearing shorts and it was chilly!

Soren was on a field trip and so his class wasn't there to participate. 

Here's Charlie with the other winners in his class.

Way to go Charlie!! That was awesome!

Here's Charlie running by…he just kept going and going. 

Here comes Charlie to the finish line...

Here's my cute little 1st grader, freezing to death before the race.

Cambria's summer job

Cambria got a job working for the Utah DNR at Bullfrog, Lake Powell, over the summer. She left the day after her graduation and we only saw her a few times after that until she finished up and came home in October. Her official title was Aquatic Invasive Species Technician. Sounds pretty fancy, doesn't it? But what she did was sit in a parking lot all day and check the boats leaving the Lake for the dreaded Cuaga mussel. They had to tag the boats as being inspected. It was a hot and boring job but the pay was good and made it worth it I guess. Her high school buddy, Mary, went and worked with her until she left to go to school. I don't think it was as fun once Mary left. I didn't like the fact that she was there alone and was very happy when she came home. 

I think it was definitely as adventure for her. She met some very interesting people and had to stand on her own two feet. I hope that overall, it was a good experience. 

Curtis and I drove down to take her back to work after our Welch Reunion. I took these pictures of her at her housing unit, (which is provided) and at work. 

In her cute pink work vest in front of her house.

Back at work with her co-workers

So hot in the parking lot. Ugh!

The road to Bullfrog is long but beautiful. This is crossing the Colorado river on the way.
It became Curtis's favorite drive...

These are some pictures Cambria took while living in Bullfrog.

Selfie in the work vehicle...

sunset at Lake Powell

Enjoying the water during some of her off time...

Halloween

Another October 31. yay. 

Actually it was a pretty low-key holiday and we didn't do much beyond dressing up and doing a bit of trick-or-treating.

I made the boys clean up and sort all the Legos before they could go trick-or-treating. It's a job that we have to do about monthly. For some reason, putting them away after every time you play with them just can't happen and they get to the point where you can't see the Lego table and they start to cover the floor as well. If I didn't like the creative play they create, I'd get rid of the dang things. sigh.

I have no idea why the boys were putting used hand wax on their faces but they sure had fun playing with it.
Soren has a "drippy" nose.

Charlie has a strange beard.

Charlie wanted to be zombie so Hannah used her drama makeup skills and helped turn him into one.
I think she did a good job.

showing off her wound-creating skills

Here are my boys all ready to go collect that candy!
Charlie-zombie, James-the "shy, little kitten", Soren-Power Ranger

Theres the kitten's face

Kami joined us for trick-or-treating and everyone got plenty of candy.

We still allow the kids to eat as much candy as they want. I just want it gone and I don't want to have to police it for days/weeks. Our policy is 'Eat it all and have a good bellyache and be done with it." 

Sadie Completes her Personal Progress

Sadie had a goal to finish her Personal Progress as a Beehive. I asked her why so quickly and she just said she wanted to. She came sooooooo close, finishing it up just after her 14th birthday. I never had to push or prod or remind her to work on it. She is a very self-driven girl and once she decided she's doing something, she does it. We are very happy with her good choices and happy for her to be able to receive this award for all her hard work. She made a quilt and remodeled a skirt that was too short as a couple of her projects. Sometimes I was the thing that slowed her progress down, as she was waiting for me to help a bit with a project. 

She received her medallion in Sacrament Meeting today. She is a pretty amazing girl and we are happy she's ours!

Harvest Festival

A couple of years ago the grade school stopped doing their Halloween carnival at the school. Instead the PTA teamed up with the city and they began having a Harvest festival in the city park on the Saturday before Halloween. I think the teachers at the school must be thrilled to no longer have that extra job on their shoulders. Each game and food booth is run by PTA volunteers. Since we're such great fans of Halloween around here (not) we have not ever attended it. But this year, the weather was wonderful and we thought it would be fun to take the little boys and Kami and see what it was all about. We had signed up to take some cookies for the cookie/cake walk so we plated and wrapped those up and off we went. The boys did not want to participate in the costume part so only Kami wore her costume. And I think she was probably melting, it was that warm. We bought tickets and let the kids choose how they wanted to use their tickets...

Charles chose to get his face painted…he wanted to be a cat.

Kami, the little cat, liked the sucker she got from one of the games.
She wasn't too interested in games after that, just liked the candy.

James trying to knock the pins down. See where his ball went? Not quite in the right direction.

But they let him pick a little prize anyway.

the boys loved the 'Plinko" game…
here's James watching his chip plink down

And Charles watching to see what prize he won

Kami did better at the bowling than James…she had a better spot to stand in ;)

They had this spot as a photo opp. Here are two of the cutest boys I know. And this picture perfectly shows their personalities. Charlie is a bit reserved and James is sassy. :)

Sadie's trip for Upward Bound

Sadie had the opportunity this week to go with the Upward Bound group from our district on a trip to visit some college options in Southern Utah. They visited SUU in Cedar City, DSU in St. George and Stevens-Henegar as well. 

While in St. George they were able to attend a show at Tuacahn. They saw Thriller. She took some photos at the show which are below...

The setting at Tuacahn is awesome. The stage is just out there in the desert with the red cliffs behind it. It is so fun to be able to watch a show there. Going in Oct meant they weren't melting to death so it was probably a really nice time for them.

one of the cast members in costume

Dancing, glowing skeletons

These dancers were masked (hard to see in photo)

This guy came out into the audience and she said he was 'freaky'

Sadie and some of her friends looking 'thrilling'...

Sadie is the blonde in the ghost position.

Upward Bound is a program for students with very good academic standing whose parents are not college graduates. The purpose of the program is to introduce these students to the idea of college, explore their options, and help them achieve that goal...They have summer programs and trips and actually give these students $ monthly for keeping up their GPA. 

Sadie is a great student, very self-motivated, and I have no doubt she could be anything she wants to be. It will be interesting to see what direction she goes in after high school. She had to be nominated to be accepted into this program and its just one more piece of evidence of the type of student and girl she is that she was accepted. Keep it up, Sadie!

Ponderize Oct 18-24 Alma 13:12

12. Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were may, exceedingly great may, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God.

After a High Councilman spoke in church today, I decided I needed to further ponder the topic he spoke about and find a scripture to correlate. Bro. Keyes shared the story of Christ telling Nicodemus that "except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven." John 3:3
He shared that many people in the world experience this change to become a disciple or follower of Christ and can "see" his kingdom, desire to be there and strive for it.
Christ then says, "Except a man be born of water & of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." John 3:5
The properly authorized priesthood covenant and ordinance of baptism & reception of the Holy Ghost is the key to the entrance of the Kingdom of Heaven. We must be baptized and given the 'gift' of the Holy Ghost to be able to 'enter' into the Kingdom of Heaven, not just 'see' it.
This was a very thought provoking idea for me. I had not seen these scriptures in this way before. So I began to study about what being born of the Spirit consisted of and why it's so important.

Here is a quote from Elder Bednar that I loved…

"We are commanded and instructed to so live that our fallen nature is changed through the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost. President Marion G. Romney taught that baptism of fire by the Holy Ghost "converts [us] from carnality to spirituality. It cleanses, heals, and purifies the soul….Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance and water baptism are all preliminary and prerequisite to it, but [the baptism of fire] is the consummation. To receive [this baptism of fire] is to have one's garments washed in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ."           Romney 1977-quoted by David A Bednar Oct 2007

This talk by Elder Bednar is a fabulous talk to study. It's on my to-do list!

Another quote I found in the Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual:

"To be 'born again' is to be quickened by the Spirit and receive a change of heart.."

• it begins at baptism and is complete when we receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost
• it is a continual process 

It seems that we usually think of sanctification in tandem with justification. That is a term I have not fully understood. So I also did some reading up on it.
Some quotes/ideas from the Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual:

"Justification is being forgiven by the Lord and set upon the path of righteousness."

• being born again justifies us - puts us on path to sanctification
• comes through faith in Christ and individual righteousness
• all pertinent ordinances must be entered into in righteousness & be justified and sealed by Holy Spirit of Promise.  

To help me understand justification a bit better I like to think of it like this: It's like being 'in line' with God's laws (which constitute justice) and His will. Like words on a page are left, center or right justified and are lined up a certain way, Justification puts us 'in line' and on the path to sanctification.

Sanctification is defined as : 'a state of saintliness and purity'-Doctrines of the Gospel Student manual

• we are commanded to become sanctified (D&C 43;9,11,16; 88:68; 133:4; 39;18
• is to become holy and without sin
• to obtain eternal life in the presence of God, one must be sanctified
• attainable because of the Atonement, ONLY IF we OBEY His commandments
• Comes by the power of the Holy Ghost. (Alma 13:12, 3 Nephi 27:20, 1 Peter 1:2)

Another quote I liked:

"Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit, by which he who is justified is enabled to keep the commandments of God and grow in holiness."      Hyrum M. Smith, Janne M. Sjodahl, Doctrine and Covenants Commentary 1975-quoted by Elder Loren C. Dunn in June 1995 Ensign

So from all this I gathered that we must be 'born again' and become justified or set on the correct path. As we obey and live righteously we become sanctified through the companionship and guidance of the Holy Ghost(born of the Spirit, by fire), and we, through a continual process, become pure and clean and holy.
To be truly converted I have to experience that change in my heart…a mighty change that creates in me an abhorrence of sin, no more disposition to do evil.
Where am I today?…
What is my disposition to do evil?…
Do I abhor sin?….
Baptism by fire(Spirit) is more than just a cleansing by the Holy Spirit. It is a change, the making of a new person, an impetus to ACT, to convert or change… from carnal to spiritual.

I'm sure this is just scratching the surface, but isn't it fabulous that we can continue to learn and gain new insight, wisdom and understanding?

Ponderize (Oct 11-17) 2 Nephi 1:15

15: But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.

Following General Conference and hearing the challenge from Elder Devin Durrant of the 70 to 'ponderize' a scripture a week, I decided to jump on the bandwagon. I found a Facebook group where we can share our scripture each week as well as tips to help with pondering and memorizing.

I also decided to write a post each Sunday about the previous week's scripture and what I learned through my study and pondering. It will be a good record for myself as well as my descendants. 

I decided to start with my favorite scripture. It has long been a favorite. I had a print of this painting because I loved it...

And when I came across this scripture it just tugged at me, and made me think of the painting. I so look forward to finding myself in this place some day in the future. I long to feel His arms around me and to hear, "Well done, though good and faithful servant." 

Over the last few months or year, I have gained a greater understanding of the incredible perfectness of the Plan of Salvation. I used to wonder why God put us here and allowed us to make so many mistakes. I have to admit that at times I wondered why Satan's plan was not the chosen plan. To have us all 'saved', with no baggage, sounded pretty good to me. But I can now see the perfect arrangement of all the elements of the Plan of Salvation. For God to accomplish his work (Moses 1:39) it has to be EXACTLY the way that it is. No other way would work. No other plan could come close. Because of this clarity I have been able to gain, I now view the Atonement with greater appreciation and awe. Jesus truly has redeemed me from hell, one of my own making. He has made it possible for me to have this time of testing and refining and learning from the mistakes I make, to every day be a little more like Him, and to be able to stand before the judgement bar and be found spotless, IF... I will honor the covenants I made to take His name upon me, keep his commandments and always remember Him. He will cover me with his mercy and his grace and be my advocate with the Father. What a gift! 

When we understand how and why 

this plan was conceived and enacted we can truly see how much the Father loves his children and has provided every resource to give them every possible chance to return to Him. If they do not, it's because they will have chosen not to. He will not force us, but every opportunity and His endless mercy invite us to choose to. It's a choice we make repeatedly. Over and over. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every choice. Come unto me. 

The Trip that Never Ends (and what I learned from it)

What started out at as a quick up-n-back trip to Idaho to get Cambria's car turned into the "trip that never ends, Yes, it goes on and on my friends...."

Curtis, Cambria and I loaded up the trailer and headed off to Idaho on Friday. We went by way of Logan because Cambria had a tour set up at the Paul Mitchell School in Logan and she wanted to see Mary, her Bullfrog roomie and bestie. She thought she might be interested in the Aesthetician program at Paul Mitchell but after being there she decided it wasn't for her. We went to Mary's apartment and then we all went to a yogurt place to get a treat and visit for a bit. That put us getting to Rexburg kind of late, but we finally got there. 

On Saturday, we loaded up the Subaru and said goodbye to Jordan, Lindsey and Emerson and headed back down the road. Curtis noticed a light about the brakes as we were getting to the freeway in Rexburg. He pulled over and checked everything he could think of to check and it all looked ok, so we pulled onto the freeway and headed south. We only made it halfway to Idaho Falls before he could tell there were real issues with our brakes so we slowly made our way into IF to have it looked at. (Walmart does not do brakes. Just an FYI ;) ) We called Jordan for a shop recommendation because he has a job driving parts for an auto parts store. We ended up at the Big-O Tire in Idaho Falls. We unhitched the trailer, locked up the Subaru, and went to get a bite to eat while they looked at it. When we got back they explained what it was and that they could not fix it until Monday because they didn't have the parts and there was no way to get them on Saturday. So we called Jordan and he came to IF to get us. 

**Here's where the lesson learned part is. I had only packed a clean shirt and socks and overnight bag. I didn't even have a change of underwear. We were just going to be in the car! I didn't need to shower just to ride another 8 hrs in the car! UGH!!  So we went shopping. Thankfully, there is a Deseret Book in Rexburg with a distribution in it and I was able to get some more underwear. And then Nina and I went shopping for something to wear to church. We found some things at DownEast and Shoes at Payless. Curtis found what he needed also. Whew! 

So we spent an unexpected weekend with Jordan and Lindsey. It was fun to get to know Emerson. We went to a laundromat to wash our few clothes, we watched a lot of TV. We couldn't really go anywhere because we couldn't all fit in Jordan's car. We even had to do two trips to the church to get us all there...

On Monday, we found out that the parts could not be found locally. The problem was one that they had never encountered before and the parts were not ones they generally have on hand. They had to be ordered and overnighted and that put us leaving on Tuesday. More lounging around at Jordan's apartment. 

On Tuesday, we found that only one of the needed parts was delivered. The other one just disappeared. It was put on the truck in SLC, but it wasn't there to be delivered in IF. ugh! It had to be ordered and overnighted again. This time we had already had Jordan drop us off in IF because we were sure it would be ready, so we just got a hotel and stayed in IF for the night. Fish and unexpected company starts to stink after 3 days. It was nice to sleep in a bed, and not on a blow-up mattress. 

On Wednesday, the car was finally ready to go and we were able to get on the road again. What a difference good brakes make. We are so thankful that we were able to learn about the problem at a place where we could still get it looked at and not be down the road hundreds of miles in the middle of nowhere, having caused a wreck when they went out. Especially pulling a car on a trailer. We could have really had a bad situation and I truly feel like Heavenly Father was looking out for us. Even though it was a crazy trip and cost a lot of $ unexpectedly, it was fun to have this 'adventure' with Curtis and Cambria. 

Thanks to Jordan and Lindsey for housing and feeding us.

Thanks to Ford and Shiala for taking care of the other kids for us. I felt so bad every day when I had to text Shiala and say "won't be home today."

Cambria found a railcar behind BigO with her initials on it

Emerson is such a cute boy! He eventually got used to us. That was another great perk of this trip.
More time getting to know him.

He was kind of fascinated by Grandpa's beard...

He was starting to get the walking thing down...

But crawling was still his faster method of travel.

Have to share a tip...stop at the Flying J truckstop near McCammon Idaho when you head up I15 to Pocatello. It's a big truck stop, but the best part of it is the Cinnabon shop right in the middle of it! I got a yummy thing that was all cinnamon roll middles with extra frosting. Oh. My.

We decided that it's a must stop on the Idaho trip. It's like stopping at Farson for ice cream when you go to Cowley and Cody, Wyoming. MMMmmmmmm.

bowl of yummy sweetness

not sure what this plant was but the yellow blossoms were pretty

We are finally good to go! 

Thanks Big O. The guys there were great to work with and gave us very good service, including dropping us off and picking us up at our hotel.
If you're ever in Idaho Falls and need car work done, this is the place to go!
It's on the old Yellowstone Highway.

Barton reunion-Mom and Dad's 50th

2015 was a special year for the Barton Family. On August 6th, it was Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. Mom had been planning to have a special weekend to celebrate for quite some time. Her original plan was to go back up to Camp Jackson to the cabins there, but she didn't jump on that quite quick enough and they had no openings. So plans were changed and modified and the location was to be Bluff. In August. Can you say H O T?? But Mom rented additional space for us to use and it all worked out great. She rented an additional vacation home to provide sleeping space, as well as a room at the nicest local hotel, so that we had access to a conference room and the pool. We survived the heat and had a great time together.

We were going to start out our reunion with a cookout on the Blue Mts., but the weather had different ideas. We've had a really rainy summer here and that day was no exception. So again, plans had to change and we started with some family bowling in Blanding. It was a lot of fun to cheer each other on. It's been a very long time since I bowled and I have pretty much forgotten how.

Grandma, Hannah, Laila, James (Helped by Wendy) and Soren bowling, cheered on by the crowd...

Grandma, Hannah and James showing us their bowling form...

The little boys in the Barton Family - James, Soren, Charles and Ethan

Looks like Wendy got all the fun of helping the little people....

Jordan and Peyton going head to head...

Go Charles!

Soren got a strike! WooHoo!!

Scoreboard from the boys game

Then we all went down to Bluff and in the Conference room at the Desert Rose Hotel we had plenty to keep us busy. Mom had a couple of rug looms to work on, a quilt set up to tie, a puzzle, treats, etc. We also brought a cornhole game to help the kids pass the time.

Peyton really enjoyed working on the rug looms...He did more on them than anyone else I think

We had a quilt put up that would be given to Aysha and Chase for their wedding.
It was good to see so many people work on it. It got dubbed 'The Babymaker' LOL

We also brought a cornhole game, to get people to play with and against each other. It's good for all ages. 

It works for 2 players....here Curtis and Ford are competing...

We learned about cornhole at MHS. It's often played at school activities and also Church activities.
It would be nice to have our own set.

We even got couples to compete. Here Shiala and Lindsey are competing with their hubbies. One player from each team stands at each cornhole. They take turns throwing the beanbags back and forth

Jordan and Ford on the opposite end....

Even the boys got in on the quilt-tying. Soren really liked it and declared he'd like to make his own quilt. :)

We ate our meals at Mom's house so that we didn't have to haul food back and forth.

finding some shade from the blazing Bluff sun....

Then went back to the hotel to play and swim...The pool there is THE nicest pool I've ever seen. I failed to get any pictures of swimming, as I decided to get in and enjoy it.

Soren learning how to tie a quilt...looks like he has a good teacher. I do not think I put in even one tie.
But Curtis picked up the slack.

we also played Greed, which no one else outside the Welch family had ever played.

Lots of scrambling and grabbing coveted treats...

there were even some tears when a coveted treat got taken by someone with better luck...

Wendy helped some of us look more beautiful. Shiala cut off her lovely hair, but it still looks great.
How can it not, on such a pretty girl?

All the Barton Grandkids and Great-grands, except Montana, Corbin and Ariel
Montana couldn't get the time off and Corbin was in training for Natl. Guard, in prep for deployment. I believe Ariel also had work and since Corbin wasn't going to be able to go, she stayed to work.

back row: Aysha, Matilda, Peyton, James, Cambria, Laila, Emerson, Jordan and Lindsey
standing in front of Jordan: Charles and Ethan
sitting in chairs: Shiala, Ford, Allie, Grandma and Kami
sitting on the floor: Soren, Zoe, Hannah holding Ane, and Olivia
Lying: Sadie

this is a much more realistic picture of them ;)

aren't they photogenic?

We ended the reunion by attending Church in the Bluff Branch and sharing in the potluck meal that they hold after church on some Sundays. I worried about overwhelming everyone with the hoards, but there was plenty of food. Jordan and Lindsey left to go back to Rexburg from Bluff. It was hard to let them go, didn't seem like nearly enough time with them and Emerson. Wish Rexburg wasn't so far away. Then we cleaned up the rental home and packed up, said goodbye to everyone and headed home. I'm so thankful for all Mom did to get us together and what she provided for all of us. There truly is nothing more important than family.

This is where we stayed. The Adams House.
Mom rented it for the weekend so there would be enough places for everyone to stay.

It is one of the original homes (after the cabins) built of sandstone...

It was fun staying in a historical home. It had some fun quirks and eccentricities, like all older homes.

The back patio and enclosed porch area

Walking to Church on Sunday...Bluff is like going back in time. Such a slow pace of life there. In all the years my parents have lived there we've never driven to church when I've gone with them. And nothing like adding our numbers to their branch totals. It was a full house.