More Summer

The 4th of July isn't exactly a huge deal at my house, but we had a great time this year. Dad, Derrick, Shannon, and I met Amy and Spencer's family over at our normal parade spot. They stayed for most of the parade and then took off for Las Vegas on their way to California.

We all went home after the parade and did stuff around there. Spencer had brought us a TON of cherries, so when we got home, we found a few new ways to use the cherries before they went bad. We made a cherry salsa to go on our chicken and some cherry crumbles. Delicious! After dinner I went down to my friend Hayden's to watch the neighborhood firework show they put on. It was insane! The finale included literally lighting the street on fire. It was great! And hanging out with Hayden and his family is always fun!

The next day I headed down to spend the weekend in Provo since I had Monday off of work. Our first stop, though, was Brittni and Cole's wedding!

The wedding was beautiful and so much fun! And Kate and Ryan were there, too, which just made it even better! The rest of the weekend was spent staying up WAY too late with my roommates talking and laughing. And there was a little crying too, obviously. It was good to spend some time with them.

The picture below was just too funny to not take. Alicia and Peter fell asleep in the middle of the floor one Sunday while Will was taking a nap. You would think that having an eight month old was tiring, or something.

These are out of order, but these pictures are from the birthday party for Amy and Connor. Like my mom and Nate, Amy and Connor's birthdays are just one day apart. Amy is so great! I forget how much I love her and her hilariousness when I don't see her for a long time.

Daniel and Sydnee left their car at my parent's while they were partaking in all of the wedding festivities out of state. So we decided we needed to decorate it for them. It would have been funnier if they hadn't had a terrible experience getting back to Utah. Ooops! Oh well. It was still really fun for us to do!

Alicia and Peter came up to play in one of the famous soccer games one week. Which means we got to hang out with Will for a little while. All the kids took turns holding him, obviously, but Abby held him for the longest. She is growing up to be such a good helper!

Will and Abby

After Spencer and Amy and family came back from California, they were all so tan it is ridiculous! Especially Abby and Max. When Abby was sitting on my lap during the next soccer game, we looked like a reverse Oreo, as my legs are super, super white.

Power to Transform

Over the past year or so there has been a lot of attention on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the controversy surrounding the Priesthood. When these discussions come up, the thing that keeps coming to my mind is simply how grateful I am for the Priesthood. I think it is important here to clarify that I mean I am grateful for the power of God on the earth, not the men who hold that power (although that is true too).

The older I get and the more men I meet and date, the more I see the importance of the transforming power of the Priesthood. The majority of the boys I have dated are, well to put it simply, goofy. They like nothing more than to have fun and they make me laugh. A lot. Their ability to be lighthearted and make everything into an adventure was one of the things that I liked most about them. In the end, though, it wasn't what impressed me.

What impressed me about most of them is the transformation that took place each and every time they were asked to do something that fell within the realm of Priesthood responsibilities. Don't get me wrong, they were wonderful people even when they weren't called upon to fulfill a responsibility of that sort. The deep understanding they had of the privilege and responsibility it was to act in behalf of God and under His specific direction transformed them. These goofy boys were also dedicated, hard working, and respectful of the task at hand, whether it was teaching a lesson or giving a talk in Church, discussing Church doctrines, administering Priesthood blessings, administering the Sacrament, doing their home teaching, taking care of their families, or going to school or work.

The times when they were actively using the Priesthood power and fulfilling their responsibilities were the times when they most clearly had an eternal perspective. In a world full of distractions competing for their attention, they understood (although briefly sometimes) what was truly important.

This transforming power doesn't just work on the men who hold the Priesthood, though. I have seen that same transformation occur as people of all types change as they take part in sacred Priesthood ordinances. Baptism, partaking of the Sacrament, work in the temples, magnifying callings in the Church. All of those things transform everyone and while some specific responsibilities are asked of only one gender or the other, all of them are actions that all members of the Church can take part in as long as they are worthy.

With all of this madness and controversy, I think one of the most important things to focus on is simply that we have the power of God on this earth and have such incredible access to it.