Hey Everyone!
I thought I would take the time after an inspiring genereal conference to update everyone since it has been a while since I have posted anything. I love BYU, The life in the dorms is so much fun. Although I do have to admit too many people on my floor play guitar hero, halo and warcraft way too late at night. And I have no idea why the person across from my room plays irish bagpipe music at midnight; but besides that its great. I had tryouts for the BYU Racquetball the second week of school and I made the team. I have to get up at 5 a.m. on monday, wednesday and friday for conditioning and practice at 6. I will playing in many tournaments throughout the state of Utah this year with the team. The team will be playing in the Utah State Univ. tournament in two weeks. I also know that I will playing a tournament in Ogden at the Gold's Gym there on the 16th and 17th of January, and a doubles tournament in South Jordan in Nov.
My classes are fun despite the fact that I have to read tons for my science classes. My BoM class is really interesting and easy even though I accidentally signed up for an RM class. Thats basically all that is new in my life here at BYU.
Last Sunday our ward had their ward conference. One of our dearest young sisters, who happens to be a temple worker on Saturday afternoon and is the YW president in our ward gave a talk. It was a sweet talk about standards and how we should represent the church wherever we are. But the thing that stood out in my mind was the story she told. Now this young lady worked for a travel agency [she helped us find a wonderful resort to stay at our last closure]until a couple of months ago when the new manager wanted all the women to wear 'skimpy' outfits to work. Well, Lin did not approve of that at all and rather than do that she quit. She was distressed about not having a job, but within days she had a new and better job working for Copa Airlines. So I know that she knew the story well and I would like to pass it on to you.
It seems that a woman passenger on a particular flight became very stressed and agitated as the plane she was on experienced some turbulance. It lasted about twenty minutes or so and I'm sure to her it seemed much longer than that. After she was able to quiet down and control her emotions she noticed that the young boy seated next to her had remained calm and quiet the whole time. She turned to him as asked, "Why were you able to sit so quietly and remain calm during that scary time?" The young boy looked up at her and quietly said, "My father is the pilot." It seems that before the flight the father had taken his son aside and explained to him details of the trip. He had also explained that it would be possible sometime during the flight they would experience turbulance and then went on to explain what turbulance was and that he should not be afraid, it was just part of the flight and happens frequently. The boy knew who the pilot was and had great faith in what he had been told and thus was able to remained calm and quiet during the turbulance.
I loved the story and I'm sure each of you can recognize the symbolism of that story with our lives and of course we too know that our Father is the pilot and I'm sure He taught each of us before he sent us on our journey. It is just that we have had a veil drawn over that teaching. but with faith we too can remain calm no matter the turbulance we might experience in our flight.
Saturday we took advantage of the amazing weather we've been having and drove out to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake.
Here we are standing 10 miles from the shore!
Satchmo was none too keen on the whole rock/water/squishy sand sensation. Or maybe it was the salt water searing into his many cuts and scrapes. I told him the water had curative powers. Didn't help.
Nina stripped down to her skivies and worked on her latest modern dance cycle, "I Sing the Brine Shrimp Electric." We're hoping for Juilliard.
We saw antelope and buffalo...
...and an amazing sunset too. A fun afternoon that sure beats yard work.
The last week of August we took a trip to Utah to drop off Seth and Kirsten at BYU. First, we needed to stop at Bear Lake, where Uncle Todd (aka, The Host With the Most) force-fed us milkshakes and commented on our pale complexions.
The burden of guilt from her rudeness overcame her, and she was smitten with a sore sleepiness. (Actually, she had had a play date that day, and seemed pretty tired when we showed up at 5 pm.)
Last month we went to Arizona for not one, but two family reunions. First, we went to Mesa for my Grandma Udall's 90th birthday celebration. So far she has 103 great-grandkids (Nina is #76 and Satchel is #92) so the party was more like pandemonium. But it was still really nice.
We then left the 115 degree heat of Mesa and drove east to the White Mountains where we had a Larson reunion (my mom's side of the family). When we arrived, it was 55 degrees. Relief. My grandma rented out an entire lodge, and we more than filled it. She also has 100 great-grandkids, but luckily they weren't all there. :) We took these pictures of the kids outside the lodge. They had so much fun. By the time we got home they had slept in five different places, played with myriad cousins, had no routine or expectations, and loved every minute of it! Plus, Nina discovered that she loves swimming.
Here's a photo from earlier in the summer. Thought you'd enjoy it, Hermana y Presidente. :)
While we were in California we also got to meet Jenna Lee Bates - Jennifer's oldest. She is a student at BYUI and delightful! She mentioned that she had her own blog so we (Kristina) has added a link to her blog. I love these links because you can click right on them to see what's going on with Des and Kris and now Jenna. If any one else has their own blog PLEASE let us know so that we can add links to them too. I know Grandma and Grandpa or mom and dad or Uncle D and Aunt Di - however they are known to you would also like to have easy access.
Thanks - I love you all!!
