Sure love you! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your email last week. Very upbeat and full of enthusiasm! A great example of how the terms "hard work" and "challenging circumstances" can comfortably coexist with the terms "fun" and "fulfilling."
Our week was a good one here at home. As expected, the cool weather we experienced last weekend has given way to the oncoming summer, with temperatures heading back up to the upper 90s, and the weather forecasters telling us that we'll breach the century mark any day now ...
It was a busy weekend--with Eric and Ellen's wedding, as well as Fathers & Sons outing. I have a big brief due tomorrow (Monday) that I had been working on over the past week or so. I needed to get a draft completed before Eric's wedding, so I ended up spending the night at the office on Thursday, pounding out the draft. Once I got it into reasonable shape, I send it off for further review to a few other lawyers in the office, at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, then headed home for a quick shower and off to the temple for Eric's wedding.
The wedding ceremony was very nice. I enjoyed the comments of the sealer, who gave them some good counsel as they begin a new family unit. In particular, he counseled them: "Never take a vacation from church." Then, a bit later in his advice, he said again: "Did I mention: Never take a vacation from church." And finally, after a bit more counsel he again repeated: "And remember: Never. Take. A. Vacation. From. Church. Ever, ever (even when you go on vacation)!"
I'm not sure that they will remember anything else the sealer said in terms of counsel, but I'm pretty sure they will remember that they were counseled not to take a vacation from church! I know the rest of us will remember it! Good counsel, which I weaved into my testimony in sacrament meeting today (more on that, below).
After the wedding, we ended up waiting at the temple for quite awhile because Ellen forgot her bride's bouquet and didn't want to take pictures without it. Her brother went home to retrieve the bouquet, but ended up bringing the wrong one, and her Dad had to make a second trip. So ..., we hung out at the temple for awhile. I guess there are worse places to be stuck waiting around, right?
 |
| Ellen & Eric at the Mesa Temple |
Uncle John was here from Singapore on business and extended his trip a day so he could be at the wedding. Also, Kathy's roommate got married and she has moved in with Richard and Kristi for awhile, so all of my siblings were present at the wedding! We took a couple of photos of the whole clan. It was great to be together.
 |
| Suzann Garner and her children (MaryAnn, Kathy, Dave, Karen, Richard, Diane, Julie & John) |
By the time we headed over to the wedding luncheon (at the church building we attended in the Adobe Ward), we were pretty hungry. Luckily, your Mother had planned for this contingency and had stashed a bag of Chex Mix in her purse. We stopped by QT to get a drink to go with it. After pulling out of QT, we were waiting at the eastbound intersection of Stapley and Broadway for the light to turn green, when a truck whizzed by us in the lane to our right, blowing through the red light and smashing into the front, driver's side of a car pulling out northbound into the intersection. The whole thing happened quickly, but did have that "slow motion" feel about it, as your eyes and brain calculate the speed and trajectory of the cars in a split second and you KNOW that you are about to witness an accident and yet cannot do a thing to prevent it!
Anyway, the driver of the car that was hit was injured, though I don't know that it was too serious. Everyone else was shaken up but did not appear injured. Thank goodness. We pulled over and gave our phone number to the folks in the "victim'" car, and tried to reassure them as the police began to arrive.
After that, we headed over to the luncheon and waited for Eric and Ellen to arrive. They didn't show up till around 2 pm. Everyone was pretty famished by then, and I was basically exhausted, having gotten no sleep the night before. I dozed off in my chair a couple of times, while everyone else chatted.
After lunch, we came home and I packed up for the Fathers and Sons. Kent had packed all of his stuff the night before (of course!), so I was behind the curve. By the time Kent got home from school, I was pretty much ready, packing-wise, but was exhausted and was a little nervous about making the 2+ hour drive up to Forest Lakes in such a sleep-deprived fashion. So, I told him that I needed to take a 1/2 hour nap before heading out. He dutifully woke me up in 30 min. :-) Anyway, we ended up heading out the door a little shy of 5 pm. In typical Garner fashion, we got about to the Safeway when Mom called and told us we forgot to take the air mattress and pump, so we had to turn around and go back (glad we did, as the night would have been pretty uncomfortable without the mattress!).
Through the power of prayer and faith, we made it to Payson without me dozing off while driving!! Dinner was burgers/chicken at the McDonald's, then a trip to Basha's b/c we had forgotten to pack anything for Saturday lunch (D'oh!). After that, we headed up the rim to our camp location, which is the same spot where we started/finished the Pioneer Trek a couple years back.
The only bummer about the evening was that the forest service had put up fire restrictions, so we could not have a camp fire. That was kind of a bummer, but we made the best of it. Bishop K. had texted me earlier in the day, saying that he was not going to be able to make it, and asking me to give a brief message at the "fireside." I understood that the YM were in charge of the fireside and that I would simply be adding a brief bishopric testimony at the conclusion. Well, it turns out that I was the fireside. So, I had to do some quick thinking to try to "beef up" a bit of what I had planned to say with a little more substance.
I ended up sharing with the group the story of Shalane Flannagan's race in the Boston Marathon, and discussed how her efforts to push the pace and do her best ended up not only netting her a personal PR by more than three minutes and a finishing time that would have won any of the past 10 Boston marathons, but that her efforts also pushed her competitors to achieve their potential, with the top 3 finishers all breaking the previous course record. I tied that into the priesthood, which also challenges us to do our best and to be a light to help others achieve their potential. I thought the message went well, and it was fairly short (just like the attention spans of most of the young audience)!
With the lack of fire, everyone turned in a bit earlier than normal. That was fine by me, as I was exhausted. The good thing about not getting any sleep the night before was that I had the best night's camping sleep I have ever had. I didn't even wake up once till the morning (even though I had forgotten my pillow and had to make do by using the stuff bag for my sleeping back with some clothes stuffed in as a substitute).
In the morning, I set up a rope swing (a tradition that I carry on from my own dad, who did that at every F&S). It was a big hit, particularly with the younger boys, and I spent an hour and a half or so pulling kids and asking them if they wanted "high" or "super high."
After the line for the swing started to dwindle (and my back was getting tired), I told everyone they could still use the swing, but they would just need to get their dads to pull them. Then, I went in search of Kent, who I found had been off with a group of boys creating "found weapons" out of various scraps of wood, and engaging in various "battles" and building up/conquering various forts. They had amassed quite an arsenal. Jacob Bloom and his dad had brought some duct tape, which made the handles, etc. on the swords and spears more user friendly.
 |
| Kent (on the right) and the boys with their weapons! |
 |
| The arsenal! |
I played horseshoes for awhile. Bro. Payne and I got killed a few times by Bro. Beecroft and Bro. Breinholt. But we had fun anyway. After I got tired of being beat, I tracked down Kent, who, along with Jacob and Michael Teague, was constructing a master fort. Bro. Teague and I joined in the construction effort and we made a pretty good little shelter.
 |
| Kent and Dave at the shelter/fort. |
We hiked on the Highline Trail from the See Canyon Trailhead to the Drew Canyon junction, which then led us up to the top of the Mogollon Rim along Rim Road 300. The hike was beautiful. It was about 6.5 miles long, with 1800-1900 feet of elevation gain, and took us about 3.5 hours. Kent is becoming a regular mountain goat and handled all of the uphill without any problem. The views from the edge of the rim at the top were spectacular, and we enjoyed a nice stroll back to the trailhead, including a little time playing around in Christopher Creek, which is right near the trailhead.
We got home about 7:45 pm. It was the first F&S campout that Kent did not fall asleep on the drive home. He's definitely growing up!
 |
| Kent at the top of the Rim. |
 |
| Dave on the trail. |
May is my month to conduct sacrament meeting, so I bore my testimony today. I mentioned how we didn't have fire at the F&S, which was kind of a bummer, and compared that experience to having (or not having) the gospel in our lives. Just as the fire provides physical warmth, so the gospel provides spiritual warmth. Just as the fire provides light in a dark night, so the gospel provides light in a world filled with darkness. And finally, just as a campfire provides a natural gathering place for social interaction, so the gospel provides a social support network where we can "meet together oft" and "speak one with another concerning the welfare of [our] souls." (Moroni 6:5-6.) I then shared the counsel of the Eric/Ellen's sealer: "Don't ever take a vacation from church," as doing so separates us from the warmth, light, and sociality that the gospel provides.
The testimony meeting went well, including an unusually large contingent of the primary sharing their testimonies.
This evening we had break-the-fast dinner with the bishopric at the Crotts' home. After that, we headed over to Grandma's, where the entire family had gathered. Kourtney and Jared were also down for the wedding. They gave Grandma a card that said she was being "promoted . . . to Great Grandmother!," and had a printout of an ultrasound photo on the inside. Exciting news for them. The baby is due November 5. If she/he hangs on a few more days, we could share a bday :-).
In other news for the week, on Tuesday, Kent was honored at Academic Night at Carol Rae for being a Golden Scholar. Paige was honored as well (but they did that during the day, when I was at work). Amber is also a Golden Scholar. Lindsay felt a little left out, but other than math, she is doing great as well, and is becoming a voracious reader, artist, and creative writer.
It is getting to be that crazy, end-of-school time of year. This week we have Paige's orchestra concert, Kent & Lindsay's band concerts, as well as a variety of other activities. Should be a busy one, but it's good to be busy--as you know!
Hope you have a great week ahead! Looking forward to hearing your voice and catching up verbally next Sunday for Mother's Day. Let us know what we need to do on the front.
I sure love you! We pray for you and your investigators daily. Keep up the good work!
Love,
Dad
Dear Samantha,
Dear Samantha,
Once again, Dad has beaten me to the letter writing and has, in his well written words, described a lot of our week. I will add what I can to what he has written:).
I also love you very much and love getting your emails each week! It is so fun to hear all the things that you are up to and a little bit about the people you are working with. It brings back a lot of memories from my own mission.
Well it has been quite a week! Lindsay was feeling a little under the weather starting on Saturday morning but went to her soccer game anyway. She stayed home from church on Sunday with a slight fever and a sore throat. I wasn't sure if she had strep throat or not, but the medicine seemed to help her so I was thinking that it probably was not.
Monday morning I was scheduled for Jury Duty and about 4 am Lindsay got up to use the bathroom and I went in to check on her and she was burning up. She had a fever of 104 degrees, which is very unusual for her. I just didn't feel like I could leave her home alone (my jury duty was scheduled in Phoenix). I also felt like she really needed to go to the Dr. to see if it was strep throat or not. I just thought that I could call them and reschedule my time to go or something, but Dad said he would be willing to work from home (I didn't even ask him, because sometimes he just has too much going on and I wasn't sure what was on his plate). It was such a relief and I knew that she would be in good hands, but I was then a little stressed about driving to the courthouse myself (I was just going to go with Dad). I left later than I had planned on going and was a little teary as I started to drive. I said a quick prayer and just asked HF to help me just be okay with whatever happened. I did feel much calmer and had a little more faith to go forward with the day.
It was a very interesting experience to go. There were about 500 other people there. I was called up in one of the first couple of groups. Our group had 35 people in it and I was number 35. It was a sexual harassment case. Long story short, I was not chosen for the jury (they only needed 9 people) and so I got to go home. I got home about 2:30. It was a case that was going to last all week and so I was glad that I wasn't chosen (too much going on around here, but not enough to be excused because of that). Another time it might be interesting to be chosen.
BTW you also received a jury summons. I have to send something in writing to the court in your behalf to get you excused. I will copy you on the email, hopefully I can take care of it, but you may also have to write an email explaining what you are doing, but I will let you know. So don't worry about it:).
Lindsay ended up staying home from school M, T, and Wednesday. I would have kept her home on Thursday but she insisted that she go and her fever was down so I let her go back. Only a few more weeks and school will be done for this school year. Kind of crazy!
Aunt MaryAnn was asked by Aunt Karen to do the flowers for Eric and Ellen's wedding and I told her I would help her. She had put together the boutonnieres by the time I had a chance to help her out, but needed some help with the corsages and the bridal bouquet. She really just needed someone to tell her that what she had done already looked good! I did put the bridal bouquet together and I thought it turned out nicely. You can see it in the picture that dad sent you. It was fun to work with her and figure stuff out.
I also helped set up the reception on Thursday night and the tables and chairs for the luncheon. Aunt Karen asked me to put together some center pieces for the luncheon tables. Let's just say they turned out fine (with MaryAnn's help). Ellen was very gracious and said that she loved everything:), hopefully that was really the truth.
Julie, MaryAnn, Kathy and I helped to put all the decorations out at the reception on Friday after the luncheon (Ellen's mom and a few friends helped also). It all turned out beautifully. It was held at the house of one of Eric's friends. It was really beautiful!! The mom (whose house it was at) of Eric's friend was a hoot. She reminded me so much of Aunt Christy H. that I almost had to remind myself that they were not related. We worked hard (we also kept the dessert table stocked). It was very nice, but I did come to the conclusion that we are only serving cake at all my daughter's receptions! There just is no need to have so much food:)! I like to keep it SIMPLE!!!
Saturday, I went to Lindsay's soccer game (it was HOT) and they won. All the girls (both teams) were super hot and a little sluggish, but what do you expect when it is 90 degrees!
After the game I dropped Lindsay off at home, ran to Safeway, picked up some cards and went over to Savanah's bridal shower. Stayed for a while and then Sister Teague and I went together to Brittany's bridal shower. We didn't stay the whole time, but Jessica, Savanah and Brittany were all asking about you. I took a picture of them that I will attach.
Seems like the season for weddings:)! So glad that you are out serving the lord having some unique experiences that will help you learn so much wisdom and more!
I talked with Jessica and it is tough financially, but wonderful otherwise. She said that they don't have enough money for either one of them to go to school right now so she is working full time and he is training to start a new job (selling some kind of financial planning stuff). Those first years are hard but the hard can help you pull closer together if you allow it to.
Well, I think that is all I have to say right now. I haven't been able to find your skype stuff yet, but I will keep looking. If we can't find it just create a new account. If we can't skype I will look into how to make phone calls. I am so excited to be able to hear your voice! Dad told me that I need to write my questions down, so that when we talk they can all get answered:)!
I love you so much!!!
Love,
Mom
No comments:
Post a Comment