Journey to the Temple

Luke and Lindsey had the opportunity with the Young Men and Women to bike and then hike to the Bountiful Temple. The girls have been training for some time, going on regular bike rides and building up stamina. The boys just showed up and started the journey. If I understood the distances correctly. They biked close to 20 miles then hiked the 3+ miles up the hill that leads to the Bountiful temple. They started at 6:30 am and arrived at the temple around 11:30 am. Once at the temple grounds, the youth were greeted by their families. Everyone got to listen to a special speaker who did a great job tying in all the symbolism of the journey as one prepares to go to the temple. The speaker had actually made the journey a couple of days beforehand so she would know what the youth had done. Her words related well to what the youth had experienced. Luke and Lindsey both said it was a difficult journey. Lindsey ended up with two flat tires and eventually had to use a spare bike and Luke was just unprepared as were most of the young men, but it was a great experience for them. I really hope it made an impression on them and they will look back at some point with fondness at what they learned and experienced.

Kids Start School

The kids have gone back to school now. I didn't get any pictures because, unfortunately, my camera was broken. Heather and Savannah were the first to go back. Heather started the fifth grade with Mrs. Wood as her teacher. She is the third in our family to have Mrs. Wood. She was excited to see some familiar faces and Mrs. Wood was excited to have Heather in her class. Savannah started second grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Fitzgerald, a new teacher at our school. Savannah has been playing school all summer to help preserve all she learned in first grade. Her bedroom is covered in white boards, papers, and books. In the beginnin she could get Matthew to play with her but later when asked why he wouldn't participate, his response was, "Playing school with Savannah is exhausting!" She is very happy to be back in school where she can get new material to add to her bedroom schoolhouse. Luke and Lindsey started Junior High a week after the girls. We had some schedule rearranging to do to get things in order, but other than that, everything went smoothly. Luke was happy to be back with friends and no longer at the bottom of the todem pole. Lindsey has adjusted very well to having numerous teachers and opening her locker. For the first year, the junior high is offering honors classes to the 7th graders. Lindsey is enrolled in those classes. After going to Back to School Night, I decided Lindsey's schedule may be more difficult than Luke's (Luke is in Honors too but his don't seem as hard). We'll see how it works out. Finally, a couple weeks after Luke and Lindsey started, Matthew went back to preschool. He is starting at a new school this year. The curriculum at his school is very structured. The kids are required to purchase reading books and prepare to pass them off. I relieved when I found out it is the same reading program I have taken all of my other kids through. We already had the books and Matthew is already familiar with them. I wasn't sure how I felt about having homework in preschool but it shouldn't be too bad.

St. George Temple

Two Weddings

This summer we had the joy of participating in two weddings. Two of our cousins on the Yardley side were married which gave us the opportunity to travel to Beaver and on to St. George to enjoy the festivities. The first wedding was my cousin Cressa marrying Heston and a month later we watched Candace marry Jason. I was asked to do the flowers and cake for both weddings. I haven't had this opportunity in quite some time as there hasn't been a Yardley wedding for a while. The two weddings were quite different from each other but both turned out very beautiful. Cressa had a bright, colorful garden wedding and Candace had a vintage, formal wedding. Both couples were married in the St. George wedding. We realized at the first wedding that all of my Grandma and Grandpa Yardley's grandchildren, 28 of us, have received their endowment. Those that are married, all have been married in the temple, two are currently serving missions. During one ceremony, the sealer asked the 120 odd patrons in attendendance how many had been married in that very sealing room. Over 3/4s of the couples there raised their hands. Our grandparents, all of our parents, and most of the grandkids have all been sealed at the same alter in the St. George Temple. It was a great realization as this was pointed out to us. It made me think of a quote from the story of the Willie Martin Handcart Company, a pioneer company that our great, great grandmother was a part of, "The greatest honor I could receive is to know that my children and their children live in righteousness." The kids had a fun time at the weddings. One of the advantages of having your mom arrange the flowers is getting to present the bouquet to the bride as she exits the temple. Savannah took great delight in this privilege both times. It was cute to see all of the cousins help carry the train of Candace's dress as she walked around the temple grounds. Sharing some of the traditions of a "good, old Beaver wedding" with my kids was fun. From the boisterous wedding breakfast, to the decorating, gift collecting, serving refreshments, hearing the "Moonlighters" play while everyone danced (that's right, they're still in business but we were told Candance's wedding was their last gig), to the final cleanup at the end. A Beaver family wedding is just that, having the whole family involved. I count it a blessing that we were a part of it.

Pictures of the cakes