Happy 24th of July!

God's Embroidery

I went to a hospice meeting and the chaplain gave this spiritual thought. Little did he know it was so pertinent to my life right now and what I needed to hear:

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat.

She would smile at me, look down and gently say, "My son, you go about your playing for awhile, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side." I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Come and sit on my knee."

This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or sunset. I could not believe it, because underneath it looked so messy. Then Mother would say to me, "From underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-dawn plan on top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."

Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, "Father, what are you doing?" He has answered, "I am embroidering your life."

I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumble. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?" The Father seems to tell me, "My child, you go about your business of doing and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side."

My soul felt so much peace after hearing this. How grateful I am for the Lord to provide comfort. How grateful I am for this gospel and the plan of happiness. How grateful I am for the love and support from family and friends. We are blessed even when life gives us dark thread!

Girls Camp

Just got called into Young Womens....

...two weeks later headed up to Girl's Camp

Love these girls!

April showing off her mad Napoleon Dynamite talents....

I feel like I am one of them... Seriously... when did I become old enough to be a leader?

July... The best part of my summer so far

 

Just has been a busy month with working and teaching and trying to stay above water....

Literally...

No it wasn't that bad. We woke up one morning to a smelly basement and felt a moist/damp carpet. Turns out our basement had flooded due to Liz and Jason's basement flooding that took place days before ours. Luckily, we caught it in time and only have to rip up half of a room. 

On a better note, Scot and I had the chance to go to the annual Deer Valley concert series and watch the Utah Smphony rock it out to Michael Jackson. This was definitely a highlight of my summer since it brought back so many memories of the time we went right before Scot left for his mission. I loved every second of it. 

This wasn't at Deer Valley but I got a little sentimental for a moment and thought I would share a picture of us back in the days of high school... gosh I love this boy!

Gone Fishing?

 A few weeks ago, Scot and I had the chance to go to the Green River with our families and fish with the best guide in the world- Mikey. I love Mikey- he is so patient with me and always so positive. It was epic- I got to catch brown trouts and rainbow fish on a fly rod! 

A fly rod people! 

This is huge! It was a proud moment for Scot

 Above, in the bottom left and right corner you can see my cute little fish.

 Here are our brown trouts we caught!

Such a great time! Thank you so much for an awesome trip!

Why I Struggle to Return Your Calls...

Life has been a whirlwind ever since... well since May really. 

Why you may ask? 

Because I got another job!

I am officially a Harp Therapist for Hearts for Hospice.

A lot of people ask me what Harp Therapists do.  In a nutshell, I play at the bedside of patients who are on Hospice and provide therapy through the harp. I either help with relaxation, stress management, pain relief, breathing control, social interaction, or even just putting them to sleep. Whatever the patient needs at that moment, the harp provides it.
It sounds a little weird... I know... I do it. But after witnessing how much it helps the patients- I can not deny the power that music has on people.
It is incredible.
Some stories are so unbelievable, I barely believe them myself. 

For more information on Harp Therapy, click here

 

For more information on Hearts for Hospice, click here.

For more information on Heart Strings for Hospice, click here.

I love this new job and am so grateful I get the chance to work here. Yes, my life is still my wonderful students and teaching, but it is awesome to have this as a part of my life as well.
Thanks to mom and dad for giving me that little harp years ago. Who would have thought it would have turned into this?! 

Happy Fourth of July!

 
Happy Birthday America!

Can you Find these pictures above?

1. Paul holding onto Chester's tail in the pool

2. Kipling falling into the water and James and Styles helping him out... bless him

3. My cute nieces on the diving board

4. James and Chester, then James and the Dog

5. Neff's at the BBQ
6. Mom with all of the dogs

It was an incredible Fourth of July! Scot and I are so blessed to have such wonderful families and live in this beautiful country...
Let Freedom Ring!

June

Here is catch up of our lives in June. Enjoy!

Josey on point at the poor bird. This is seriously a daily occurrence for us- telling her not to do what she is bred to do...

I have officially graduated!

Harp Camp 2012

Kate, Mallory, Carolyn and Me at Dr. McLaughlin's Concert

Oh how I love love love these girls!

Some of my students at Harp Camp

Love these Girls!

Janae going through the temple!

I also chopped my hair

Scary fires! This one was Alpine. I was heading home from work when I saw this!

    And last but not least, I have a wonderful, extremely bear grylls of a husband who just happens to leave things like this on the table at breakfast time... seriously!? 

That's about it for the update! Thanks for reading and thank you for the love and support! We love you!