It's an even smaller world than a few hours ago

So I wrote that post this afternoon about it being a small world.  Well.....

My good friend Sadie called today on skype.  Sadie is awesome.  She's getting married in August and I get to go!  And I even get to be a bridesmaid (lucky me!) Well she asked me what I was doing April 3, 2004.  I had no idea...it was right before I graduated from high school, right before my 18th birthday...no idea.  She holds up a picture from a a formal dance that I went to in Heber, Utah.  My cousins live there and I was in town that same night, so they hooked me up with a blind date.  So, not my date, but the guy on the other side of me in this big group picture happens to be....Reece, Sadie's fiance.  Haha!  Who knew?!  She was going through his pictures and found some old high school pictures and randomly she sees me in one.  I love it!  It truly is a small world I tell you!!!

The small world we live in

I absolutely love those "It's a small world" moments.  It's awesome to me when you find connections or reconnect with people from a while back.  I've had those moments a lot in my life, and most come from associations in the church; and even more specifically BYU.

We are going to Arizona for the summer and didn't want to haul all our stuff or store it all and end our contract and all that mess.  So, thanks to the queen of connections (my sister-in-law, Nikki) we were able to get some guys to stay here.  Nikki's friend's fiance and his roommate from BYU needed a place for the summer during their summer internships.  Perfect! They came over yesterday to check the place out and lo and behold there at my doorstep is a friend of mine.  Crazy right?  We were in the MTC together and were friends after our missions.  I'm a little more comfortable giving our apartment to these boys now that I know they are good boys :)

Then today at church I saw a new couple.  As I saw her closer up I realized she's a friend of mine from BYU too!  She was in my sister's ward and I had met her several times years ago (like from 2005 or something).

Those are the 2 most recent ones, but so many small-world-moments have happened out here in Virginia.
I've heard that the DC area is like that and I'm loving experiencing it all the time :)

Our first summer celebration

Steve finished his finals and we were off!  We are so excited for summer to begin!

We flew to Washington to spend some time with Laurel before her mission. We got a whole 10 ten days with her, which was wonderful.  We really enjoyed being with her.  

Wilford, Mel, and Stan came up from Utah and it was a blast.  I love them all!  It was also fun to finally meet Stan.  He's Mel's friend :)  It was short with them, but we were so glad they came.

Here's a few of the things we did:

Playing with Christian's homemade fireballs

Going to park several times

Everyone loving on this guy

Feeding ducks, seagulls, and geese

Sending this beautiful missionary off to the MTC

Grandma time

Family temple trip and Laurel's farewell

 Making awesome burgers for this guy 

Swimming (Nate's first time)

Grandpa time

At the end of every trip I always wish I had taken more pictures.  

We also:

Watched Christian's lacrosse game; He's really good

Went out for some rockin' pizza

Ran through sprinklers

Visited with tons of cousins

Late night chatting

Milkshakes

We enjoyed every minute with Kirsten, Mike, Tanner, Austin, Jon, Nicole, Laurel, Christian, Mom, and Dad.  We're lucky to be a part of such a cool family.

Now...we've got 2 weeks here in Virginia before we head out to AZ!!  We can't wait :)

1/2 a year down!

Nate had his half birthday last week.  SIX whole months with our little man and it has been wonderful!  I could write a whole book about how lucky I am and what a sweet baby he is and all...but I think I'll just put that in my personal journal instead. So, I'll just let you all know what he loves these days:

The Tub

Toes (Seriously...he LOVES feet)

Laying in strange positions

Playing with Mom and Dad (we like to wrap him up tight and he just laughs and laughs)

Sports (already!)

General Conference (such a righteous little man)

Cousins

Toys! and messes...

Reading :) Actually I think he just likes to crinkle the paper

Sitting up like a big boy

Letting Mom dress him up for church

Computers

Finding some way out of that chair

Hanging out on the kitchen floor

Snuggling with Mom and Dad 

Attempting crawling (he's getting really close)

Feasting upon the word of God

Blowing spit bubbles

Standing up (with a spotter of course)

Hanging out with his best friend

Climbing on people/attacking camera person

Making funny faces

Oh, and he now has little teeth...yikes.

So, the story of this post is that Nate is just flat out a JOY to have in our home and we love him so much :)

The sweet summer time!

Today is Steve's last final!!!  WAHOO!  And we've got some great plans for the summer.  

We are first headed to Richland to visit Laurel, who will be leaving on her mission on the 16th, and the rest of my super cool family.  Yay for missions! Boo for 18 months of not having my phone friend!!!  Laurel is my chat buddy during the day.  But I'm happy for her.  And I'm stoked to see all of my brothers and sisters and mom and dad.  They're so great.  Mel and Wilford are driving up from UT to see us too, which will be wonderful.  It's like marriage again...both sides of the family partying TOGETHER!

Then at the end of May, we'll be heading to Arizona.  Steve will be working there in a patent office, thanks to his awesome cousin, and we are so happy about it!  It will be really good experience for him. It will be SUPER fun in the nice HOT weather :)  I'm excited to hang out with Jenni, Mike, and Emily all summer long! Merrills rock and I love being a part of that family!

So those are our plans!  Don't worry, I'll be posting about the exciting happenings in both Washington and Arizona in detail as they occur.  We're excited about it all and feel so blessed with all the opportunities that the Lord puts in our life.  

Reese's Puffs

I have always thought these would be disgusting in the morning.  Chocolate and peanut butter first thing in the morning...  Or even for any time of the day, I just thought chocolate peanut butter cereal sounded kind of nasty.  Steve, on the other hand loves it.  And we found a coupon for it last week.  Steve made me try a bowl of it and.....I actually liked it!  I really liked it.  I want to snack on it all the time now.  I want it for breakfast every morning and that's just bad because it's not necessarily a nutritious breakfast.  But it's SO good!

Parables and TV shows

I was able to apply a parable from the Bible to a TV show...let me first give some background:

Today in one of our church meetings we discussed Elder Holland's talk from General Conference.  You can read it HERE.  I loved it when I first heard it and I really enjoyed hearing other people's perspectives on it today during Relief Society.  If you didn't hear it or you're not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...read it!  It was really good and was about a parable found in Matthew 20.  A quick summary is that some people were hired at different times of the day to work in a vineyard.  So some worked all day, others a short little while, but they all got paid the same amount in the end.  They all had initially agreed to their wages, but when those who worked all day realized that the others were getting the same amount...it just didn't seem fair to them, even though they still received a generous amount.  So....to sum up what Elder Holland says about it, here are some quotes:

"This is a story about God's goodness, His patience and forgiveness, and the Atonment of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is a story about generosity and compassion.  It is a story about grace." 

"Why should you be jealous because I choose to be kind?"

"We are not diminished when someone else is added upon"

"Coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self-image.  So be kind, and be grateful that God is kind.  It is a happy way to live."

"The thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don't expect it and often feel they don't deserve it."

The talked is full of more quotes just as wonderful as these, but these few are the ones that lead to my point.

Now, I hope no one thinks I'm disrespectful to Elder Holland's talk by this, but I thought it was an interesting application.  So, laugh if you want to, but please know that I'm not really obsessed with the Biggest Loser show, I just enjoy watching it every week, and we can apply Elder Holland's words to last week's episode.  For those of you who don't know, this last week the final 5 got all worked up because the producers decided to have a challenge where one of the eliminated players could win a spot in the finals (Hooray!) It even warns them in the contract they signed that it would be happening.

Well, they get all worked up and threaten to leave the show because "it's just not right and not fair."  They are the ones who have been working SO hard at the BL ranch, not everyone else. The others don't deserve a chance to be in the finals and win.  :)  Doesn't it fit this parable well?  Anyways, 3 decide to stay and 2 leave to go home saying that they don't want to but they have to stand up for what's right.  Here's the funny part, the 2 that left are Pastors.  That makes me giggle a little, maybe I ought to send them a little note to read Matthew chapter 20.

In all seriousness, I really liked the 2 that left; I was hoping they'd be in the finals.  I was completely bummed they left.  I do think it was a bit selfish and foolish of them to leave when the show is supposed to inspire viewers to lose weight at home not on a ranch (which is why they let someone come back.)  But oh well.  I wish those 2 luck in life.

And in all seriousness again, I really enjoyed Elder Holland's talk.  It's definitely something that I can apply to my own life and not just the silly reality tv show life. Elder Holland is a powerful speaker, as are all the Apostles, and it's because they truly are speaking the Lord's words.  I am grateful for them and for the specific instructions they give us so we can better follow the teachings of the Savior.