Desert River View in a Kayak

Some people never get used to the 

DESERT

landscape of Arizona.

Even though I grew up in the green hills of Missouri...

I have grown to love the

Arizona landscape.

At 5 a.m. this morning we loaded up our cars and headed to the

beautiful Salt River

to Kayak with the Priests and Laurels

in our ward.

 We arrived just as the sun was rising and I was

reminded once again

of the beautiful creation of our loving

Heavenly Father.

Having the opportunity to spend the day

with these beauties just made it even more spectacular!

 It was even more special that

CHRISTOPHER

was on this trip with me!

 

Ali girl...

so beautiful inside and out!

Gonna miss you so much when you leave in September.

She was teaching me how to take

"Selfie"

pictures.

Haha...she says it takes practice!

But the BEST face of the day goes to...

 Jessica!

Way to go Chris for jumping in to save the day.

Chivalry is NOT dead ladies!

Mostly...we just enjoyed our time together

and the beautiful desert view.

 

Just looking at this picture makes me smile!

Jessica with her "dead" fish!

So many great people and so many wonderful memories!

I recently heard a quote from poet

James Barrie

"God gives us memories, that we might have June roses in the

December of our lives."

There will be a time when I'm living in the December of my life that I will look back on this memory...

and be grateful God gave me this June rose.

Having the opportunity to serve in this calling has been one of

my greatest blessings.

Spending time with my family and friends...

in the June of my life

enjoying all that God has to offer me

is one beautiful

JUNE ROSE. 

Thank you God, for yet another one!

Overwhelmed

I'm completely overwhelmed

with gratitude and love

for the amazing support I have felt towards my family and I

over the last few days!

I'm going to blog about it in 3 parts starting with Part 1 today:

 

Part 1:

Chris made it home safe and sound on 

SUNDAY 

afternoon just in time for his welcome home party!

I love how excited all the kids from our ward were to see him return home.

They ran up to him with open arms...

I know it made him feel like he was missed.

We have hardly seen him since then with all the time he is spending with his friends

but I for one am just happy to have all my kids back

 under one roof.

I'm a very blessed mommy!

Anticipation

Oh my are we getting excited around here!

I got MORE good news this morning when a text came through:

"See You Tuesday"

It was from my neighbors and dear friends the

LAMBSON'S!

They have been gone for three long months and I have missed them.

Marcia and I have been telephoning on and off the whole summer but I could tell when I talked to her a week ago...

that she was ready to come home!

She had all types of ideas for her house (and for mine)

and for projects we could work on when she got home!

Yay...I can't wait to get started and I can't wait to have them home!

Christopher has left my sister's house and is making his way home.

We will see him tomorrow...

and the anticipation of seeing him is making me giddy!

We are planning a party for his return!

It just so happened that Katie and I ended up alone this afternoon!

So we JUMPED in the car

and headed to

ICEBERG

for a cool summer treat!

And we DID a lot of school shopping...

 party planning and shopping...

window shopping...

and I think we stopped for a nice dinner too...

but I don't want to mention it to loud...

cause we were having so much fun...

we sort of ditched everybody else! 

LOL!

Oh well...

we will make it up to them

with some awesome parties coming there way!

I'm heading off to bed now so that the anticipation of the next few days might just go by a little faster!

 

It's Friday...and the countdown begins.

I have TWO very exciting things

that are going to happen in the next couple of days!

1.  My sweet hubby is having a birthday on Monday!

 I never get tired of this guy!

He makes me smile.

He is such a good man.

 I can't wait to spoil him on his special day.

2.   Christopher is returning home after 8 weeks!

He's learned a lot and had many great experiences.

I just had one of the best times

talking to him...

it's fun to see your kids grow!

He just posted this picture on his Instagram page yesterday...

and I think this girl had something to do

with him wanting to stay!

But I'm glad he will be coming home and it has made me realize

just how fast time flies by...

 how fast our children grow up!

I for one want to make a commitment to enjoy this time with my kids before they are all grown up and gone.
JOY IN THE MOMENT!

Rachel had taken advantage of his empty room all summer...

but today we

CLEANED and ORGANIZED

it all to get it ready for Chris's return.

We ended up with 3 large trash bags and 3 large bags to take to

Goodwill!

It was a good DAY!

Lastly, I got to enjoy a Girls Night Out with two great girls!

I tried so hard to find a friend

when I first moved.

In fact I wrote a blog post about it here.

I was lonely.

I was surrounded by lots of people...

but I never felt more alone.
It's nights like tonight...
with girls like this
that remind me...
that I'm NEVER alone
and that I will always have a friend I can count on.
To Katee...
working with you this last year has been a dream come true.
You make me be a better person.
Even though you are younger than me I find that I am learning
more from you...
than you will ever learn from me!
Thanks for always thinking of me and including me in all your fun!
I always laugh that when I grow up...
I want to be just like you!
Love ya girl.
Now and Forever.

My view today...

I was blessed to drive by this beautiful building today.

We drive by it a lot.

It is only 4.5 miles from our house.

We have been watching it being built since 2010.

It was announced in April of 2008...and we've been anxiously awaiting it's completion ever since!

It is almost done!

I can hardly wait to go inside.

It is the Gilbert, Arizona Temple!

Last year during Spring Break... 

Christopher had the opportunity to do a Mormon Trek with other kids his age.

They started at the San Tan Mountains...

working handcarts through the hills and sand floor...

 With high's in the low 90's and the desert floor non-forgiving...

pushing these carts was not easy!

In fact it was hard.

But after three days...

and 26 miles

 I spotted this!

It was a beautiful sight.

It still brings tears to my eyes.

They had set their sights...

HEADED to the Mountain of the Lord.

They had set their sights on this:

 The Gilbert, Arizona Temple!

And we were there...

 Singing hymns and crying!

They had made it!

My son had learned some incredible lessons during those 3 days.

But the one I want him to remember today is...

that he learned he could do 

HARD THINGS

as long as he kept his eyes

on the LORD.

I love you son.

Always have...

always will!

 

Saying Goodbye...

I'm saying goodbye to my 16-year old son

Christopher

tomorrow for eight weeks!

Yikes!

When my sister and her husband first offered him a job for the summer back in March I was ecstatic!

It would be a wonderful opportunity for him to gain some independence

and some financial freedom!

But I have to admit...

this week I've been a little anxious about the whole thing!

 I'm not the only one...

we took Chris to lunch today and he could barely eat his food!

It's hard to grow up...

but I'm not sure which one of us it is harder for...

him or me!?!

Chris and I have always had a great relationship

but he has always

relied on me too much.

He didn't speak until after he was three years old...

He didn't want to dress himself until he was in 2nd grade...

He didn't want to read or learn the alphabet until he was in first grade and we had him "tested"...

he has always just enjoyed me doing all those things for him

and now it's time to grow up.

I'm calling it

GROWING PAINS.

We've spent the week getting him prepared...

we opened a bank account...

bought new clothes...

bought work clothes...

packed up his room...

packed him a suitcase...

took him to lunch a few times...

a movie one night...

and spent as much time with him as he would allow.

 

 I'm excited for him...

scared for him...

anxious for him...

and VERY proud of him for doing something so

GROWN UP!

****************************

We tried to get our kids to go swimming with us this morning in a last stitch effort to have us 

ALL together once last time before Christopher leaves...

no one wanted to go with us

and the kids missed out.

We had the entire community pool to ourselves!

It only lasted 5 minutes...

but we will take it!

***************************

I watched one of my sweet Laurel's dance today!

Megan is our Laurel President and she is the

kindest, most thoughtful young ladies you will ever meet!

She is also an exceptional dancer and it was such a pleasure to watch her perform!

******************************

On a FINAL note:

Rachel's friends were over tonight and they told me they have started reading my BLOG!

They were acting so silly and even asked Rachel to cut their hair!

I told them if they were willing to let her do something

that crazy then they would make it on my BLOG!

So here you silly boys go....

Teenage boys'

will let cute teenage girls' 

do just about anything to them!

So glad these silly boys' love to have a good time!