Twin Falls Temple Open House & Shoshone Falls

We got up very early on the 28th and left to go to the Twin Falls Temple Open House. I was excited for Justin as I knew this would please him as he had never seen the inside of a temple before.

We had a fun time but it was about a 2 hour drive from Meridian. Along the way we stopped at the Malad Gorge to look.

We made it to the temple just in time. We went in and were pretty much a group of our own. That made it nice. We had a nice tour. The temple is on the small side but very beautiful. In all of the stained glass there are lots of syringa images. It is the Idaho State flower and is really pretty. There is also a mural of Shoshone Falls and it is soooo life like. Here is a picture of the Syringa.

Isn't it beautiful?

Justin was thrilled with the tour. We sat and drank in the beauty around us. Monique and I were disappointed as the guide assumed since we were LDS that she did not explain things to the kids and for Justin as well. We did it ourselves and they loved the mirrors in the sealing room. We then took some pictures in front of the temple.

After the tour, we decided that since we were so close to Shoshone Falls that we should take the time and go see them. We had lunch and found the falls. It was just beautiful. In the temple there is a mural of the falls and so it was breath taking to see the falls depicted in the temple. Here are some photo's from the falls:



Justin loved the hat and had to have it. Doesn't he look cute?

Monique(In the back), Tiffiny, Nicole, Brittany and Michael

It was a wonderful and fun filled day. It was a great experience had by all. We had a great day but missed Keven as he had to work. We met him at home and had a great dinner and family home evening to end the day.

Justin's Ordination to Elder

On Sunday, July 27th we went to church with Monique, Keven and the girls. Justin was really excited to be ordained and this is the first week that he felt like staying for the entire 3 hour block. He was not in pain which is a huge step. Keven has just been put in as the Young Men's President and Monique was sustained as the 1st counselor in the Relief Society. This is a huge change for her as she has been in YW and Primary for a long time. She has not been released from Young Women yet but they are having trouble since people are taking last minute vacations.

Relief Society was fun as one sister approached me and asked who I was. I explained that I was visiting Keven and Monique. She said she was trying to figure out if we were related to Keven or Monique. It made me want to laugh, but I said Both! It was fun.

After church, we all went to witness Justin's Ordination by Keven. It was great and the girls were thrilled that they were a part of it. Once Justin was ordained, Monique asked him to be in the circle to set her apart in the Relief Society. He was thrilled.

Due to Justin's nervousness they decided to hold off on Michael so that Justin would relax and it would be done before we left. It was a big day and very busy. We caught Monique walking home from church as she wanted to stay for the other sister's.

We all went to bed early so that we could get up and go to the Twin Falls Temple Open House in the morning.

It's August already?

Wow it is August. Time is just Flying. We just arrived home late last night from visiting Idaho and seeing family. We had such a good time. As soon as I can get a few things done I have a lot to post along with pictures and comments. We visited Monique, Keven and the girls (Tiffiny, Brittany & Nicole) [The Smart Family] and it was such a great experience.

We visited Shoshone Falls, Twin Falls Temple Open House, went shooting and had the blessing of having Keven ordain Justin to the office of Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood and then watch Justin ordain Michael as a Deacon. What a great experience! Not to mention the drive, Tiffiny's swimming competition, boys and their fun with their toys, sidewalk art and just being able to spend time with our family.

Well, off to get settled back into being home. I will be posting losts more shortly. Is it August already? Where are the days going?

The month is flying....

Wow, it does not seem like the middle of July already. We went to San Diego on a very quick trip. It was busy but fun in a good way. The bad thing was that we felt bad that we were away from Michael on his birthday. Justin spent 5.5 hours the day we got there being drilled about the deposition for the next day and then spent the entire following day from 9:30 AM until after 5 PM being grilled with 5 different attorney's. I had to laugh though as one of them said, I was so intimidating that he wanted me removed from the building. I never even spoke to the man. Talk about paranoid! That made me laugh.

Justin was so tired (more emotional and mental) that he started having muscle spasms. We had wanted to drive to Los Angeles to see our friend Ginger before she had spinal surgery two days later. We were not able to do it and we felt so bad. We really wanted to see the Vargas family as well. Main thing is that the surgery went well and she is doing well and hopefully on the road to getting back to living life to the fullest.

Justin and I completed our temple preparation class. On the 29th of June, he was sustained an elder and we are going to Idaho to see Keven, Monique and the girls in a week or so. Keven is so looking forward to being able to ordain Justin. Michael this past Sunday, was sustained as a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood. Once Justin is ordained then he and Keven and a couple of other friends will then ordain Michael. While in Idaho we are hoping to be able to visit the Twin Falls Temple Open House. Justin is excited as he will be able to see inside and maybe not be so nervous about going to the temple. I know that the girls are excited to see Michael and we will have a great time when we visit.

Michael was excited as once we returned home from San Diego. He was able to stay with his friend, Abel while we were gone. He had a blast, but was happy we were back. We got his present and he was so excited to get a new bike. We had felt so bad that the bike that we had for him was taken by someone that we allowed to live with us. He really likes the bike and should be good for a few years unless he gets tall really quick. Here he is posing with his new bike.

I periodically take care of a friend's baby. His name is Dominic and he is such a sweet spirit. He loves to laugh and smile. What a special baby. Wish his parents took better care of him but they are very young and their priorities are not what they should be. I say prayers that he is protected. Here he is sleeping......

Justin is doing great with his injuries. He should be able to return to work at the beginning of August. He is getting excited about returning to work so I think he enjoy heading back. He will be on light duty for at least a month once he returns as he still needs to regain his strength in the right leg and lower back. The goal in the next couple of weeks is to stop using his cane. I know that the Lord with bless him with the ability to get this done.

We are enjoying some really nice and comfortable weather right now. We have had a couple of hot days but nothing unbearable. We will let you know more of our adventures from Idaho. We are also working on going to the temple for the first time and being sealed. We will let everyone know what the plans are as soon as we make the decisions.

Justin's Dilemma

I surely know how worried you are about Justin. He's so close to graduating, but the question is, will he be able to work afterward? I know he's in a lot of pain right now, but just try to do what the doc says. I wish he could go to my chiropracter, but wish on! Sometimes life seems so arbitrary and unfair. We never know how we can grow from these incidents, but we do none-the-less. Please convey to Justin my deep understanding of his situation. I spent years in misery without relief. I will tell you - God does hear and answer our prayers. Even though I spent so many years suffering I knew one day I would find the right doc and get the help I needed for so long. May God bless you all in finding the answers for Justin. Remember, I love you all.

Justin's Accident

This has been a busy week. Justin has been seen by the Dr. everyday this week. He is so bad right now that the Dr. has ordered an MRI for Tuesday and will be sent for a second opinion this upcoming week. He is scared that he will be let go because of the car accident and so that is causing a lot of stress. I have not been sleeping as he has such a rough time as well. He had a set back today as he moved wrong yesterday and he can hardly stand up straight today. The xrays the Dr took show his right shoulder and hip are about 1 inch higher than the left side. He also has a lot of compression in the spine and cervical area too. We are hoping that in the next week that it will continue to improve.
I need to head to bed and will hopefully be able to write more tomorrow and have a little time to breathe. I need to stop for a couple of hours.

Weekend was good and not so good....

This past weekend started out good. Friday we attended a BBQ with the others in the graduating class. We had gone up to Arlington to the Navy Radio Station Jim Creek. It is in the foothills outside of Everett and it is also a huge camp area for people in the military. There are lakes, trails, campgrounds, cabins, picnic areas, etc. It was just beautiful.

A couple of the guys had not been pepper sprayed and so the remainder of the class helped out in getting them qualified. After it was all done, Michael went to Bryan and John the two instructors and asked if he could do the fight for life but not get sprayed. They were happy to oblige. In fact, they said for being 11 Michael did better than some of the men.

Michael was supposed to disarm one guy and fight with his baton. Michael misunderstood and he threw his baton down took the one away from the guy he was fighting and took him down. Everyone was just laughing but he did really well.

John is on the left and Bryan on the right

We left in the afternoon and came home to Silverdale. It was nice to be home. Michael had a baseball game early on Saturday morning. We were not sure that it would be played as it was raining and so we had to check with the coach. They played. It was hard to score the game, deal with an umbrella and the cold. I do not think it got above 45 during the day. My hands were so stiff and we were wet. Sad to say, they lost. Oh well. Another game Tuesday. Thank goodness this weekend is a bye weekend. We can have guests and not feel bad about missing a game.

Sunday we went to church and had a great day together. Justin's buddy, Tim was picking him up late about 9pm for them to get back to the academy. I got a call from Justin shortly after 10:15 pm and he let me know that they were in a hit and run accident. Tim, his wife Brittany, their 7 week old son and Justin were rear ended at about 40+ mph. Justin and Brittany got the worst of it. Tim was in the back with the baby. Justin and Tim were quick enough and got the license plate of the car that hit them. The police insisted that they be checked out. I did finally hear from Justin at about 2 AM. They were all checked out and Justin has a severe whiplash. Baby Dominic is untouched. Brittany has back issues. Tim other than stiff and sore seems to be okay at this point. I contacted their instructors and the local department to let them know what is going on. They are going to follow up on them to make sure they are ok.

What a weekend!