Disneyland

I've been so busy having fun and enjoying my trips that I haven't had very much time to blog. Maybe I will get caught up sometime. Here we go...

I went to Disneyland with Traci, Gary, and the kids earlier this month. I didn't realize how much fun Disneyland is when you are going with kids! I've now been to Disneyland three times in my life. The first time was in the early 90's when I was a kid, and the last time I went was in 2006 with a bunch of us adults. Well, needless to say, I rode many of the kiddy rides- Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh (a few times), etc. It was like I was a kid again. Ha ha.

The biggest adventure of all, however, was riding Soarin' over California. Soarin' is my favorite ride. I'd go as far as to say it is the thing I look forward to the most when going to Disneyland. If you aren't familar with Soarin', it is a virtual ride over California. For instance, you ride over fields of orange trees and an orange sent fills the room. You also ride in the mountains and over San Francisco. So, I was really excited about this. Traci and I got fast passes for it. We waited in line, got in, buckled our seatbelts and off we went. But, we didn't get very far at all before we were stopped hanging in the air (approximately 40 feet high). We were stuck. Someone kept coming on the speaker and saying "We will be getting you down in just a few minutes." Just a few minutes turned into 30 or so. I don't really like heights, and I didn't realize you get up that high when riding that ride. I didn't look down. I was pretty grateful to not be the people above us, because they were even higher than we were. We talked to the people next to us- which was a nice Asian lady from Seattle and her sons. I think they were very much enjoying the moment. They were rocking back and forth, which made me even more nervous. We finally got down and we were moved to another theater where we were able to enjoy the ride. Whooo. They don't call the park "California Adventures" for nothin'!

Another cool thing we did was see "World of Color." It is a new light show at California Adventure. There were fountains that went pretty high in the sky and images and color were projected on them. It was really neat.

Anyway, it was great to be in my native land of California. I did my best to take it all in- the hot sun and the beautiful Palm trees. It was so fun to just go and enjoy myself- riding rides and spending time with the kids and Traci and Gary. Fun times!

St. George

We stopped in St. George on the way to and from Disneyland. On Sunday I visited the temple grounds with Traci,Gary and kids. I'd been there before, but it's been many years. What's interesting is that Mom used to live down there and go to Dixie State. She said she used to walk the temple grounds every Sunday.
The next morning I went biking with Traci and Gary as they ran. It was so scenic! I loved it! St. George is a neat little place. :)

Birthday Party- Kid Style!

Friday night we had a party for the kids(Traci and Gary's kids), since their birthdays are only a week apart. We pretty much went all out- decorating, etc. I had fun making ladybug cupcakes (I got the idea from Aubrey) and getting some presents for them. I also made my famous crockpot chicken alfredo for dinner. It was really fun!

Scrubbing Bubbles and Paul

The other day I picked up a can of "Scrubbing Bubbles" (well, the generic form) and a flood of memories of past Summers came back to me. I spent some of Summers 2004, 2005, and 2006 cleaning for the apartment complex I used to live in in Provo. I worked closely with a man named Paul. He introduced me to "Scrubbing Bubbles" and "The Magic Eraser"(both great cleaning products).

That time I spent cleaning-sometimes really nasty apartments and houses- helped me so much. It helped me learn how to work hard. That hard work helped me prepare to work hard on my mission as well.

I worked hard cleaning those houses and apartments partly because I knew Paul expected the best from me. I will never forget him coming around for our apartment clean checks. He'd look at the kitchen cupboards at a certain angle to make sure there were no fingerprints or smudges. He expected spotlessness.

Funny that I was thinking of these times I spent cleaning just so recently and tonight I received a message from a friend telling me that Paul passed away last week. I guess it was his time to go. I know he's in a better place and I'm sure he's working hard on the other side. I'm grateful I was able to work with him for a short time in this life.

Fun With The Kiddos And Their Parents

Traci, Gary, and the kids came up for a few days this week. Traci and Gary are training for a marathon, so it's helpful if someone can watch the kids while they go on long runs (plus, I'm sure they wanted to spend quality time with us... right?). On Friday they ran 15 miles! It's nice that they only live four hours away now (4 hours when I'm in Utah, 8 when I'm in Idaho).

The kids and I had fun. (I'm avoiding showing their faces and stating their names for privacy reasons.)

We did "pretty toes" (and hands).

We played with bubbles- MANY times! :)

We watched a rainstorm from the window.

We all went to the park and then had icecream at the BYU Creamery.


And... the fun continues next week- because I'm going to DISNEYLAND with them!!!

Judge Not

The Savior, our greatest example of not being judgmental and of loving others.

I’ve been thinking about this lately. The natural man in us judges others. How do we overcome it? How to we see each person as a child of God? Most of the time the judgments just come- as thoughts. Perhaps we think to ourselves, “Why did they choose to wear THAT?” Or maybe we wonder why the overweight person is eating a cookie. Simple, little ridiculous thoughts we have about others. There are countless ways we judge others, perhaps on a daily basis. A lot of the time we don’t even recognize what we’ve done.

There is a really good talk that was given this last conference about this topic. Elder Gregory Schwitzer of the seventy says: “Often incorrect judgments are made because of limited information or because we do not see beyond that which is immediately in front of us.” (“Developing Good Judgment and Not Judging Others,” Elder Gregory Schwitzer, Ensign, May 2010.) How true that is. We don’t always know why people are the way they are or why they do what they do. The fact of the matter is that each person is a child of God- a child of God who is loved by Him and who should be loved by us too.

To develop this capacity to love others and not judge them takes work, conscious effort, and the Spirit. We can pray for love and understanding. We can pray to not be critical of others. Then we can put it in to action. Having the Spirit will help us overcome the natural man in us. The Spirit will help us see others as they are.

I’ve come to realize that judging others is destructive behavior. It eats away at you. You become less spiritual and more prideful. That’s exactly what Satan wants. He’s happy when we judge others.

I am reminded of a line from a wonderful church hymn which says, “Who am I to judge another, when I walk imperfectly?” How true that is. I am so far from perfect. In fact, I definitely need to work on this- which is probably why the Spirit reminded me of its importance.

But, anyway, I just wanted to share these things that have been on my mind.

An Evening up the Canyon

A few of us went up American Fork Canyon on Friday night and had tinfoil dinners and Smores. Dad now has a national parks pass that gets him in for free! (Getting older has its perks, I guess.) It was a fun little excursion. The dinners were yummy! The bottom two pictures were taken by Chad. He started snapping like crazy to get me back for being the "Paparazzi." I think the last one is pretty artsy- it's me and Mom's legs. Also, I just had to get a picture of the mosquito repelant. The bottle on the far right must be atleast 10 years old. :)

This Day In History

Today I reflect on an important day in my life. On August 1, 2007 I entered the Missionary Training Center! What a great day! The MTC was a great place for me to learn, grow, sleep (lets be honest, I was soooo exhausted and frequently fell asleep in my meetings) and become a full-time missionary.
P.S. Secretly I'm kind of glad I went in before the curb-side drop off was instituted.