Beautiful Summer Exploration in August 2023

 Ward Camp Out

We had a very successful ward campout! It was fun to watch friendships (like 

Braxton, Tyson, Ryan, and Carters) be strengthened! Cort loved hanging 

out with Nelson and Julia. Megan enjoyed the hammock!

It was really fun to hike up to Doughnut Falls!

Cool fire video!

The beauty of the mountains at night!

More fun fire!

If only I could live in the mountains! So pretty!

Summer Thunderstorms

I love summer thunderstorms! 

They are so beautiful!

Back to School

I can't believe we are here! Braxton's last year of school. A senior! Cort's last year of elementary! I'm so grateful Marshal hasn't grown up too fast...yet! He's excited for 3rd grade.

Life in August

Sometimes signs of the times come strong. This month was one of those times, but when there are challenges in life there are also tender mercies. There was a terrible fire in Lahaina, Hawaii this month. Photos were posted online that despite widespread destruction there were LDS chapels and Christian churches that were surrounded by fire but remained untouched. The home of Joseph Smith in Kirtland, Ohio was purchased and restored. This month on August 26th they dedicated it. On the evening of August 24th 12 tornadoes touched down across Northern Ohio. One of those was in Mentor which was only 3.2 miles away from Kirtland. A short 7 minute drive. The tornado reached an estimated wind speed of 110 mph, with a path more than 3.25 miles long and 150 yards wide. The Smith home remained unharmed. As a Smith family descendent (through Jesse N. Smith) I was privileged to virtually watch the dedication ceremony. I also read this cool post about some of the things that happened in that home and other miracles.  

Top Left: Crazy times! Someone stole Midgley's loader and tried to use it to try to break into a bank in Magna. Top Middle: Marshal took swim lessons from a private swim coach and he LOVED it! He's done really well! Top Right: Someone at Cort's school saw Kent's shirt and commented on how much he liked it! It is a great shirt. Bottom Left: Kent cut off his hair. It was a sad day for me. Bottom Middle: Another crazy storm this time in August. Bottom Right: Cort got a hold of my phone and took a picture.

Top Left: This kid cracks me up! Top Right: She's right. Women are pretty powerful! I feel especially powerful as a leader in my home! Top Middle Right: Cort has a new trombone as he is starting band this year. We are excited for him! Bottom Middle Right: It got this poinsettia from WiO and I have managed to keep it alive long enough for it to have green leaves grow back. Bottom Left: A hummingbird at White's feeder. Bottom Center: I liked this shirt! Patriotism is not wrong! Bottom Right: I loved this banner at Cort's new school. It's going to be a great year!

BeReal

Not so many BeReal's this month!

Beautiful August

"If you spend your time chasing butterflies, they’ll fly away. But if you spend your time making a beautiful garden, the butterflies will come to you.

When you focus on improving yourself, everything you want will come to you. We attract based on who we are, not what we want.

Don’t chase, attract."

-Mario Quintana

I want to have the kind of heart that is capable of viewing others 

through the same lens of empathy, understanding, and Grace 

that I desperately need others to view me through. -Grace colored glasses-.”

-J. Warren Welch

Sometimes you don’t feel the weight of what you’re carrying until you feel the weight of its release.

-Brain Weiner

"Know Your Worth 

You must find the courage to leave the table 

If respect is no longer being served."

-Tene Edwards

“God left us the world unfinished for man to work his skill upon. He left the electricity in the cloud, the oil in the earth. He left the rivers unbridged and the forests unfelled and the cities unbuilt. God gives to man the challenge of raw materials, not the ease of unfinished things. He leaves the pictures unpainted and the music unsung and the problems unsolved, that man might know the joys and glories of creation.” 

– Thomas S. Monson

“Some believe that it is only GREAT POWER that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I’ve found. I found it is the SMALL THINGS. Every day deeds by ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.” 

-J.R.R Tolkien (Gandalf the Grey)

"It may sound trite, but today is the only time you have. It’s too late for yesterday. And you can’t depend on tomorrow. 

That’s why TODAY MATTERS." 

-John C. Maxwell

"The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life." 

-Russell M. Nelson

"Your growth scares people 

who don't want to change."

-M.G. Williams