Happy September and Happy Labor Day weekend!  Hope you have had a relaxing weekend and there really is nothing that can beat a Monday when you don't have to go to work or school 😀
So many things are going on in the Colorado Springs area - Parents weekend at the Air Force Academy, their first football game of the season (which they won), F-15 flyover, balloon lift-off at Memorial Park, and not to mention our weather is beautiful.  We have had cooler days and lots of sunshine.

After Church today we went to visit Shannon before we had Tithing Settlement.  She is doing well physically but still insists that they are moving everyone out of the facility in two days and she doesn't know where she will be.  She tells us the same thing every time we visit so I just think it is something stuck in her mind that she re-lives every day. 

 We enjoyed our day at the Temple yesterday so very much.  I was assigned to be the endowment guide for a sister from the Marshall Islands who was going through the Temple for the first time.  I wasn't aware that there is a Marshallese Branch in Denver.  The service missionaries assigned to the Branch came as her escort as well as several other members of the Branch.  I think she told us she was 57 years old, and she didn't speak much English so thankfully, the Temple had cards printed in Marshallese for each of the ordinances.  She was just so cute - every room we went into she had to give everyone a hug, not only the workers, but other patrons as well.  

I love people from the Islands.  Their humility and their appreciation for everything we take for granted is really inspiring.

 

First thing Monday morning we had to say goodbye to Max.  We loved our visit with him even though it was super short.  He was able to spend some time with a former missionary companion who just returned to the Air Force Academy and is starting his Junior year there.  (His name is Levi, and he is really cute, girls . . .) 😊 

Max also had an adventure getting here.  On his flight from Denver to the Springs he sat next to actor and comedian, Chris Parnell, who was on his way to Colorado Springs Comic Con.

Hope you won't wait too long before coming back to see us, Max, and hope next time you will bring Grant and Spencer in your back pocket ~
 

 Adam popped over one day after school to present Kevin with the last of his birthday presents. So now he has an apron, a mug, a mouse pad, and a bazillion photos - some we have yet to find!  Thanks so much for making this birthday a fun one 💖

AND THE WINNER IS . . . .

 Remember last week when I said we should have a contest to see who could do something that was the most fun????

Well, here we go - 

Hollie got to go to the State Fair ~

Paul and Max went to Scheels and got to make friends with a Parrot (that does not look like fun to me). Also, Paul got to give Milo a bath (I'm not sure how fun that would be either) 😀

 Also, rumor has it that Paul has decided to play soccer for Lewis-Palmer.  I love going to school soccer games in the Fall ~

Yesterday, Kim and Chris were downtown in Chicago, on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower.  Yikes!!!

 

Cory and Adam took Friday off of work and stayed home just because - they wanted to 😁  Samantha and Paul already had the day off from school, so Lily and Jake stayed home too.  Yay for them!!!  A day off to do only what you want to do is the best!!

 Speaking of Lily, her soccer team got to go to a Switchbacks (Colorado Springs professional soccer team) game, instead of practice one day this week.

  Angella got to experience "Back to School" night with Ben AND another super surprise for her this weekend was a visit from her Mom.  I'm so glad Evette could come out for a few days and enjoy the kids.  She also installed a new faucet in the kitchen!

Friday night Kevin and I got a late start on dinner and because we already had a plan in place to find some Gelato, we decided to go to the Heart of Jerusalem because the ice cream store was just down the street.  We had eaten there years ago (the owner's kids went to Liberty) so decided to give it another try.  It is a small restaurant, and when we walked in it was packed with people, talking loudly, children yelling, and babies crying.  Apparently, the holiday weekend and all of the parents here for Parentt's weekend had a huge impact on a normally comfortable and quiet place to eat.  I have to say that the wait and the noise were worth sitting through as our meal was delicious.  By the time we got our food, it had quieted down quite a bit. (I think I sound like an old person 😃). I ordered Manakeesh which was grilled flatbread topped with spices, feta chees, tomatoes, and kalamata olives, with taziki in the center of the plate to dip it in. I can't wait to go back for lunch!  And by the way, the ice cream store we went to for Gelato, was not nearly as good as our other little Gelato store that is closer to our house.  

Kate and Jonathan did not have fun this week.  They had COVID!

Luckily, Sayre didn't catch it and hopefully having a long weekend will give them a chance to recover.  Wish I could be there to take care of you!

Ending tonight with some sunsets that both Emma and Blythe sent me.  I love this time of year when the sunsets are incredible, and full of color, and sometimes we even get a glimpse of a harvest moon.

Blythe took this from her work, and Emma took hers on her drive up to Fort Colllins. 

This week's Follow Him podcast has become one of my favorites.  Dr. Nelson has a doctorate in Psychology and because of the negative experiences she had in her childhood, she has some amazing insights to help us get through the rough patches of life.  I just wanted to share a little of her closing remarks as they related to these beautiful photos of a sunset. 

Hank Smith:   What keeps you hopeful? 

Dr. Nelson:   I think we all have moments of despair. I think it's okay. It even talks about Nephi and Lehi were weary because of the dissensions. It's okay that we're weary. We don't have to be happy smiling all the time when there are really hard things going on. I think it's okay to say like Elder Wirthlin said, "Mom, I'm having a hard time," but also, his counsel and advice is “come what may and love it.” The reason why we can love it is because we know that God is in charge. We worship a loving God. Like I shared with you today, I didn't always believe that, but God is loving. He is even in the hard times. He is especially in the hard times. That's when we feel Him the most. It's in those hard times. That brings me joy and happiness, true, true happiness.

He truly, truly has our best interest at heart. He has a plan. He knows what He's doing. If your life is falling apart, He knows it, and He has a plan to put it back together in the most beautiful way. We can have empathy for those who are suffering. We can be sad in our own suffering. I don't want to invalidate real sad feelings. That's the beauty of a sunset.  It's this beautiful burst of color. Right before the dark, it's god's saying, "You don't have to worry. The sun is going to come up again."

Take some time this week and listen to the entire podcast. Dr. Nelson is such a good speaker with a testimony that began when she was a teenager and someone took the time to reach out to her.