Top Stories.....

I am excited to give you an update of the latest happenings.

Lots to keep up with,

here are the highlights worth noting....

First, 

yesterday while Ryker was mowing the backyard lawn,

he witnessed this dove being struck from the sky by a hawk.

He called Ethan outside and they decided to tame it, 

and keep it for a pet

until it's wing is healed enough for it to fly away again.

They named it Riplakish.

This little guy has been quite the spectacle.

As far as I could tell, 

he was not going to make it through the first night.

With all the kid handling, and "seeing if it could walk yet",

eat spinach, watch them play Skyrim,

hang around while they ate pizza, and so on.

At one point the boys and their friends took their money,

hopped on their bikes and went to purchase a large bag of birdseed

from Walgreens

(after looking up what doves eat on the internet).

I will say that Riplakish is loved by all,

(not me really....because it pops a whole lot)

he is admired by the young and old alike.

This morning M called us all into the boys room.....

we ran in.

Riplakish was perched up on the edge of his basket.

It was a happy celebration.

Our wild dove has survived one night.

Next, 

I finally made it to the temple again.

It was good to be back.

Colleen Johnson and I drove out together.....

that really sweetened the deal for me.

We had a chance to catch up with each other a bit.

The three hour round trip drive seemed to go by in a flash....

I didn't mind it at all.

Unfortunately the only picture documentation I have is that of our 

froyos cups.

 YUM!

 I keep forgetting to tell you about the best, coolest garage sale trade

I made with Tina a few months ago.

I finally got a radio for our kitchen!!!

Whooohooo!

I love this boom box so much!

Tina was selling this for $8 

(is she insane?....it is probably worth like $25....don't tell her I said that)

anyway, 

her son William got interested in our GeoSafari electronic game.

Voila! 

The trade was made.

I can, and do listen to lots of cds.

Picture in your mind,

 books on cd while doing baking, cleaning, etc.

Also.....I am smartening up listening to talk radio.

It is kind of fun being able to hold a conversation about what is 

happening around the world with politics and so forth.

I'm cluing in people!!!

This past Thursday 

I got home from my shift at Our Club and noticed the

house was sweltering.....it was 81 degrees and rising.

I checked the air handler in the garage,

the air conditioning unit out side,

both were pumping and seemed to be working normally....

the problem, was that no cool air,

actually no air at all,

 was coming out of any of the vents.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

I texted K.

Left a phone message.

He happened to be out of the country at the moment...

I waited around for a bit....

like 10 minutes.

Let the house get up to 84.

I turned everything off, worried that I was going to burn up a unit.

Then I made the dreaded call to Air and Heat, inc.

They sent a rep over a few hours later.

Um....

this is what he found.

Horrendously clogged filters.

All three of our in door filters were jam packed with shiz.

Yes, this is very embarrassing.

As well as pathetically expensive....$89 for him to spray off our filters.

(jerk)

.....sorry, but I couldn't stand the sight of this guy 

once he told me the price for his "cleaning" services.

Well, lesson learned.

You to can learn, once again, from our mistakes....

GO NOW AND CHECK YOUR FILTERS.

gooooooooo....don't delay!

Ryker had his first Deacon's quorum presidency meeting here this evening.

He made up agendas and so forth.

I heard them in planning and making assignments, etc.

Once the serious tasking was done,

Ryker "taught" Henry and Aaron how to make his world famous

Chili dip.

2 cans Hormel, 1 cube of cream cheese

The other boys committed the secret recipe to memory and each 

took turns stirring, until it bubbled throughout.

Then they ate and enjoyed.

Sure do love this little band of soldiers.

Ryker is so blessed to have these good buddies.

 Our kids were arguing today over lunch,

I decided to take away turning on sports for any reason

for the day.

I never want them to have it on,
on the Sabbath,

but I compromise as long as we get our scripture reading in,

Faith in God, Duty to God, and any other Sunday activities deemed

important, done first.

Today, like I said, there was no distraction.

Ryker baked,

Lawson read, 

E worked on his essays,

I taught M her high multiplication tables in 30 minutes with 

this beloved little program called 

"Times Tales"

I used this with all the boys while we were schooling at home

and became a fast fan.

(It is practically how I learned my 6's and up)

We had a blast.

She is a speedy learner.

I tested her twice afterwords.....her fastest time was 3.06

(ask me about this if you would like to make a copy of the program)

She also memorized the 8th article of faith for her primary assignment 

for next Sunday....

and after,

 I got to sneak off to write.....

also an acceptable Sabbath day activity : )

My point is....

it was such a wonderful, quite, enjoyable Sunday.

Lastly, 

Yesterday M, Claire, Izzy and I got to attend one of their 

little friends baptisms.  

It was wonderful.

McCauley will be eight next month....

a little hard to believe.... the last baptism for our family.

One of my favorite parts of the service was when 

Brother Wilson got up to give his talk on the Holy Ghost, 

he invited three people to come up and share how they 

personally felt the Holy Ghost.

Since all of us feel it so differently,

he thought it would be good for Hailey to hear from a few different 

sources on what it might be like for her.

Her sister said that she felt safe and protected, like nothing could hurt her.

Sister Wilson, talked about how she noticed that she usually needed to get her mind right

before she could really feel the spirit.

That if she was busy, or upset and running around,

she knew she may not be in tune enough to hear, or feel the spirit.

This reminded me why I love Sundays so much.

It is my time to slow down.

notice.

listen.

feel.

It makes me realize why it is so important to meet regularly...

it is so easy to get caught up in our everyday living.

I forget to seek out and invite the spirit.

I loved Brother Wilson's description of an experience from his mission

when he felt the Holy Ghost especially strong.

He demonstrated how it felt like someone had peeled back his scalp

and literally poured sunshine into his head.

It sounds funny...

but I believe when he says he will never forget it.

It got me thinking about how I feel the Holy Ghost.

Even during the baptism yesterday,

I distinctly remember the exact moment I first felt the spirit

whoosh in...

when Brother Tucker invited the missionaries to share their testimonies.

Even before they opened their mouths to speak the spirit was present for me.

When I feel the spirit I feel Home.

I feel so comfortable, I want to settle in and stay forever.

The feeling is nothing short of delicious.

I want more.

I do not want it to leave.

.....ever.

What about you?