San Diego Temple

I had the idea that it would be fun to go as a family to do baptisms at the Sand Diego Temple while we were at the beach camping. Any opportunity to take my kids to a Temple to do Baptisms is one I jump on. I sent the message out that this was our plan to take our kids and to let my family know so any of them that wanted to could go also. 

The ones who were able to go with us were Mat and Emily and their kids, Ashleigh, Alyssa and Alec. I called the Temple the day before to make a reservation and they said that only the kids could do Temple name baptisms, if the endowed adults wanted to do baptisms we would have to bring our own names. I was bummed because I really wanted to do baptisms but I did not have family names to do. Matt told me about an App called Take A Name App and you put in your family search login and it searches through your family tree to find names ready for baptisms or whatever ordinance you want to do. It takes a little while but within a couple of hours I had 20 names that we could take with us to do Baptisms. I was really excited that us Adults were able to participate, I don't think I have done Baptisms since I was a youth and I was excited to have the opportunity to participate.

We took Rylee with us since this has been her favorite Temple and I knew she would love to see it in person. She took my kindle with her and waited in the waiting room while we did Baptisms. 

It was so beautiful to be in this Temple with my family. I loved watching everyone be Baptized and I loved the Spirit that I felt. Ashleigh and I were talking about it later and we agree that we felt my Dad's presence there and that he was happy we were there. I am always so grateful for the opportunity my kids have to go to the Temple and do Baptisms, they are so blessed and I am hoping this will help instill in them a love for the Temple and a testimony of doing Temple work.

Ryker and Ben

Alyssa, Alec, Kenedy

Avynlea, Rylee and Isabelle

 The Temple grounds had a lot of snails all over and Avynlea was finding such delight in seeing all of them. At one point she exclaimed "look at all the snails with shells on them!" She is so cute to find such joy in the little things.

Ashleigh

Matt and Emily

Elizabeth, Ashleigh and Emily

Rylee with her favorite Temple

Elizabeth and Kefford

Ryker, Kenedy

Avynlea and Rylee

A message Ashleigh posted on my blog:

I don't think I ever told you, but a few Sundays after this trip I received confirmation that Dad had been at the temple with us during a Sunday School lesson. The lesson was on uniting families through temple work and I knew that Dad was not just excited that we were there doing baptisms, but that we were helping him because he had been teaching those on the other side the gospel and were waiting with them for the time that their work was able to be done on Earth. It was such an amazing and beautiful confirmation of forever families and the need for temple work. Thank you for setting it up for us.

Loving Baby Amos

On Saturday we left to go to California for our annual Lutes Family Beach Trip. It has been too many years since we have had a Lutes baby to love on and everyone was taking advantage of Amos being on this trip. At church Kefford and I were able to hold him and play with them and then I made sure to snap some pictures of the kids all holding Amos at different times while we were at the beach.  This kid definitely did not lack for attention.

Beautiful Model

This summer our Ward is doing Trek and only 14 and up can go. Since the Beehives can't go they decided to do a three day Beehive camp and Avynlea was very excited about it. I got this picture of her before she left Thursday morning and she is looking so cute and ready for camp.

Rylee and I were home alone for a lot of the day so we took this selfie of us enjoying Mommy and Me time. She is so pretty and she just had a hair cut and added side swept bangs which look really good on her.

A friend of mine opened up an online boutique and she was looking for girls to model some of her clothes for the website. She asked if Kenedy could do it last minute and luckily for her and Kenedy she was available. It took about an hour and Kenedy was able to model quite a bit for her. I went on the website and on Instagram and took screenshots of some of the pictures of her. I think she looks so pretty and I love that she was able to have this opportunity. Lindsey asked Kenedy if she wanted payment in cash or in clothing and Kenedy chose clothing. She received two dresses and was quite happy about that.

Blueberry Picking

On Monday either, the kids and I went Blueberry picking in Emmett with Brit and her kids, Whitney and her kids, Mikell and her kids and Alison. I was happy with all of the help I got from my kids, now that I have older kids we can get a lot more picking done and a lot less eating and/or slacking off. Between the six of us we got about 10 pounds of Blueberries in the freezer. It was a nice enough morning but it got hot really quick and after about an hour I was done. We had a lot of fun and are glad we were able to go be with family and pick delicious fruit.

A Tale of a Bee Sting

On Saturday we had an anniversary party to go to for my friend who was celebrating 40 years with her husband. We decided to go swimming before the party and after a fun hour of pool time Heather and I went back home to shower and get ready for the party. We walked in the house and as I was passing through the kitchen I felt a sting on my arm. I looked down and realized I just got stung by a bee. It was the second time that week of getting stung. The first time was on the Monday and I was walking through the grass barefoot when I got stung on the bottom of my foot. We put some numbing creme on my foot and after a little bit the pain went away and it was fine. The sting on my arm hurt but it didn't hurt as bad as when it happened on my foot so I didn't really bother with the numbing creme although I did apply aloe which has some numbing agents so maybe that helped a little. It didn't really bother me for the rest of the night.

We went to the party which was a fancy outdoor swimming party at there neighborhood country club. The kids went swimming and loved it because this pool had a diving board. I have to admit that I got a little bit jealous watching them swim because it was hot! Basically we sat there and ate dinner as we sweated. It was really good food and I had really good company to hang out with so I was able to tolerate the heat.

Dessert was delicious mini cupcakes and Avynlea was giving hers a sniff when I bumped her arm to leave frosting on her nose.

 Still a cutie even with a nose covered in frosting.

I woke up Sunday morning and my arm was hurting where the bee stung me as I was checking it out I noticed I had a big circle of red around it and the site of the sting had pus coming out of it. I knew that was not normal and throughout the morning just kept checking on it. I needed to take some benedryl which I ran out of when Rylee had hives the other week so I sent a text to Mikell asking if she had any I could use. She did but we were on our way to church so I decided to have Kenedy pick it up for me after church while I was at my Trek meeting. 

Pretty Kenedy

I drew a circle around the redness before church and during church I went into the bathroom to check on my arm and saw that the redness had spread. I was concerned but assumed that once I got the Benadryl I would be alright. After church Kefford and I had to go to a Trek meeting. This meeting included more people other then just the Ma's and Pa's who were the only ones at the other meetings. My neighbor Sue Jardine came in and sat down next to me. I was surprised since I didn't know she was going on Trek. I asked her what role she was taking on and she said she was going as medical. I was again surprised not knowinf=g she was in the medical field and I asked her what her job was and she said she was a Nurse Practitioner. At that point the meeting had started so I had to stop talking but I thought during the meeting I needed to talk to her about my sting, Heather even nudged me and told me I should ask her about it. As soon as the meeting was over I turned to Sue and explained to her what had happened, I showed her the pictures on my phone I had taken of the besetting and then showed her my arm. After all of the explaining I said I was going to take some Benadryl as soon s I got home and asked her if that would take care of it. The look on her face was one of deep concern and she started shaking her head. She let me know that I had an infection called cellulitis and that I had to get on antibiotics immediately. She also said that she would send in a prescription for me that way I wouldn't have to go to the Dr. Heather and I went to War-Mart to get my medication and I got a prescription for a weeks worth of pills that I had to take four times a day every day until they ran out. I thanked Sue profusely and she let me know that it was a good thing I talked to her because I could have been very sick had I not gone on the antibiotics. I am always grateful for the Tender Mercies that I recognize come from my Heavenly Father.

These pictures are the ones I took of my arm. The top left was right after I was stung, the bottom left was the next morning, the top right was before church and the bottom right was during church.

We did find the bee that stung me and caused all the havoc, He was dead on the window sill, stinking bee.

McCall Trip

On the 5th of July Heather, Avynlea, Rylee and I drove up to McCall for a couple of days. Kefford and Kenedy had to work and Ryker was still at Scout camp. I really wanted everyone to be able to come up with us but that is just not always possible which is a bummer. 

We had fun Hiking, eating ice-cream, exploring, playing games, four wheeling and being together.

We got a lot sweaty after our hike.

 Avynlea wanted me to help her move a large rock that was blocking the four wheeler trail she favors. Even with the two of us it was way too heavy, sorry Avy the rock is staying for now.

 Avynlea thought it would be fun to lick a piece of ice. It was not fun when the ice stuck to her tongue. Luckily she was able to get it off pain free and safely by running warm water over it. Silly girl.

Before we left on Friday we went down to the docks so we could take some pictures and so the girls could go paddle boating.