Roaring Springs

Oh, we had a blast at the water park. My first ride was on the big Mammoth Canyon along with Vivian and Olivia. It gets you wet in a hurry. I ended up being turned backwards so that was a little scary. Vivian didn't appreciate this ride! Her favorite is the Racing Ridge - the big yellow racing slide. Olivia's favorite is the Endless River. And the boys enjoy it all! We arrived after lunch and stayed until closing at 8 pm. Next time we need to be there when they open and the lines are shorter.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Paul! I am displaying a dress that I sewed many years ago. This is the dress that I wore on a very special Father's Day 21 years ago. It just so happened that on the very first day that Paul attended the Burley 9th Ward it was my turn to speak....this all happened on Father's Day. Who knew that 21 years later we would have been married for 15 years with four children!

Zoo Outing with Cousins

We all had fun at the zoo - April was in town with her girls, McKenzie and Julia. Braden and Logan joined the rest of us. We wish all the cousins lived closer.

Vivian Turns Five

Vivian is busy creating her own birthday invitations!
She had a fun birthday party with all her friends!
Then we topped it off with a family party. Take a look at her "cake" - chocolate dipped strawberries. Vivian is a sweet girl. We love her spunk, energy, love, willingness to help...she is truly a blessing.

I'm patiently waiting

Yes, we have moved just a couple miles north of our previous location. My blogging came to a quick stop when we purchased a new computer that doesn't have my photo software uploaded (I'm a little lazy) and lately our computer hasn't been hooked up to the Internet with the move. We tried yesterday to hook it up - but it didn't work. Instead it set off the security alarm!

So I am at the local library checking my email - I never thought I would be doing this. But I have waited and waited and I really need the Internet to work at my home! I have lived without it, but it hasn't been easy! It definitely has freed up more of my time to unpack, go to the gym, play with the kids and unpack some more!

I hope to have it working soon - especially my pictures. I have a lot to catch up on.

Laugh or Die

Thursday night I am attending Glenn Beck's Common Sense Comedy night. He is performing the show live in a few cities this week - but not near me. So I am attending the simulcast which is broadcast in a theatre near me in a couple days. Oh, I can't wait. I attended last years and it was awesome! It's worth the $22.

Check your local theatre for simulcast information for this Thursday and the following Thursday. Glenn says, "It'll be a whole night of my unique take on the death of Common Sense and how things seemed a whole lot simpler back when our Founding Fathers were around....Everything you need to know can be found here. Participating theaters, ticket prices, availability--the whole shebang. "

Things As They Really Are

On Sunday a bishopric member shared a portion of Elder Bednars recent CES fireside address titled "Things As They Really Are". What a powerful talk that I encourage all of you to read or watch online. I was reminded of this information this morning as I was reading April's post about facebook and twitter (the many forms of on-line socializing). April - I love your post it was well written and I totally agree with you. Click here to read April's comments.

Here are some highlights from his talk. "Sadly, some young men and women in the Church today ignore “things as they really are” and neglect eternal relationships for digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value. My heart aches when a young couple—sealed together in the house of the Lord for time and for all eternity by the power of the holy priesthood—experiences marital difficulties because of the addicting effect of excessive video gaming or online socializing. A young man or woman may waste countless hours, postpone or forfeit vocational or academic achievement, and ultimately sacrifice cherished human relationships because of mind- and spirit-numbing video and online games. As the Lord declared, “Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment … : Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known” (D&C 60:13).

(Here is the warning from Elder Bednar, an apostle of God)

Today I raise an apostolic voice of warning about the potentially stifling, suffocating, suppressing, and constraining impact of some kinds of cyberspace interactions and experiences upon our souls. The concerns I raise are not new; they apply equally to other types of media, such as television, movies, and music. But in a cyber world, these challenges are more pervasive and intense. I plead with you to beware of the sense-dulling and spiritually destructive influence of cyberspace technologies that are used to produce high fidelity and that promote degrading and evil purposes.

If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradually and physically from things as they really are. In essence, he encourages us to think and act as if we were in our premortal, unembodied state. And, if we let him, he can cunningly employ some aspects of modern technology to accomplish his purposes. Please be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pixels, texting, ear buds, twittering, online social networking, and potentially addictive uses of media and the Internet that you fail to recognize the importance of your physical body and miss the richness of person-to-person communication. Beware of digital displays and data in many forms of computer-mediated interaction that can displace the full range of physical capacity and experience."

I know that at times I have been guilty of spending too much time on the computer (blogging). It's all fun and entertaining but can be a huge time waster. I would love to know your thoughts.