Simply Gorgeous!

Made a "little" run to Kanab on Friday and found this cool photo opp along the way.

SWEET 16 - NEVER BEEN "MISSED!"

Today was Kaydens' 16 birthday - can he really be that old? Watch out world! Shani came up with the idea for a SURPRISE birthday party and we actually pulled it off. Starting Friday morning, she started a text message telling everyone about it and then they forwarded it to each other. The football team announced it on the bus before they picked Kayden up yesterday on the way to Westside, ID. Had about 30 kids show up. Served hot dogs, chips, pop and cake and ice cream.

Acknowledge His Hand...

So... I haven't said much on this blog - life is "busy". But I have something on my mind so now you have to listen. I was on a walk this morning with a friend and we got talkin... about how God has His hand in EVERYTHING and do we notice it, or just take everything for granted? Three quick examples: I visit teacher a mother/daughter combo who this last week brought their husband/father home with terminal cancer, so we have been arranging dinners every other night. The daughter is a good friend of mine and I ask her one day how dinner was the night before. Her reply: "It was kinda funny, for the first time since we've been home Daddy said he was hungry. I ask what he would like to eat and he said some of your moms' good ol' homemade stew." What did the "in-tune" sister deliver for dinner that evening? Stew... One day last week we started out on our usual walking route and another neighbor said "Have a good walk - or do you want to come walk with me?" We had never walked with her so we looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and said sure. It was a wild walk - up in the hills, but gorgeous since you could see the whole lake. Somehow our conversation turned to the fact that she is quite sure her daughter is dyslextic (sp?) and that they are starting to do some intervention at school with her. She said she especially notices it when they are reading the scriptures together. I remember commenting to her, "Even with the scriptures, huh?" So at church I teach the 16-18 year olds in sunday school. My kids have all gone off to college so I went in another class just to listen. The SS President came and got me and said that another teacher had not shown up and would I please go teach that class. So I walk in the room and there is this same girl we had talked about with dyslexia - and I ALWAYS make all the kids read just to keep their attention. Had I not had this conversation with the mom of this girl earlier in the week, I would have asked her to read and she would have been sooooooooo embarrassed and humiliated... And the last one - my walking partner was staying at her brother/sister-in-laws this summer and on a sunday morning she was ironing her church clothes when she was prompted to invite her nephew to go to church with them. He is 21 and has not been active for about 5 years. She said she quickly told the spirit NO, and went back to ironing, but the prompting kept coming. Through a series of events, she ask him and he accepted. His father is a Stake President and just happened to be at their home ward that week and about died when he looked down from the stand and saw his inactive son sitting there.

So... is it all coincidence? Or is our Father that All-knowing? Do things just happen? Or is it all part of the Big Picture? You decide - and have a great day!