Just taking a deep breath and hope that things slow down just a bit . . .
Life is so full
I want to
savor every moment . . .
I'm going to jump ahead from all the summer activities that haven't been blogged, recorded or knocked out of the endless photo stream on my hard drive - to something I just returned from recently.
I was so fortunate to enjoy 10 days in the Northeastern United States with Norm and parents. We had some amazing experiences, and I'm not necessarily blogging about the most incredible experiences right now . . . I'm still savoring those for another time and frame of mind
But . . . I just have to mention how awesome Niagara falls is!
I've never been to Niagara falls . . . never thought I would go there . . .
It was an incredible experience, I've never experienced something quite as majestic and overwhelming to the senses as the amount of water that flows over the falls each day. These photos will never do it justice.
I highly recommend it if anyone is making family vacation plans!
"Maid of the Mist"
boat tour
A pretty spectacular of the American and Canadian Falls (Horseshoe Falls)
This was so much fun and pretty amazing!
The challenge was trying to take photos without ruining my camera!
I should have thought to bring a zipper baggie or something to shoot through,
but I think it's still working . . .
So hilarious . . .
We kind of found the Canadian side to be a cross
between Las Vegas and Disneyland . . .
We much preferred the parklike atmosphere of the American Side
although the better views are on the Canadian side.
Be sure to bring your passport!!
There are some pretty fascinating stories about
survivors going over the falls . . .
The most fantastic were of an 11 year old boy in a life jacket
and a 60 year old school teacher in a barrel
(oh! and her cat! poor thing!)
Looking at the Canadian Skyline
I think we picked the best time of year to visit, no crowds and the leaves were amazing. Oh and of course the falls were incredible!
With Autumn coming on rapidly around here - I better get a move on and share some of our summer adventures!
In fact I've got the "Endless Summer" music going on around here just to reminisce a little . . .
Believe me, I'm not quite ready to put away the shorts, T-shirts, swimsuits and flipflops . . .
The Lake Powell gang for Summer of 2011
Norm's brother Wayne and his wife Shauna, their kids Megan, Spencer and Matt & Caroline. Norm's sisters Sonja, her husband Jordon, and Ian & Alejandra, Lexi and Sydney. Kristin and Norm, Karianne & Greg and little three week old baby Addison, and Kelsie and Kristin's niece Cierra.
Even the first night which we spend on the buoy field was gorgeous!
There's just nothing like spending a night out on the lake - all the lights and sun reflecting off the waters are beautiful!
We always find the most delightful little creatures . .
There's no doubt . . . on this trip . . . the girls rule :D
Plenty of time for rest and relaxation
Grandpa Norm enjoying a little baby Addi time . . .
I don't know what she's going to think when she has to actually start wearing clothes. So far she loved being a naked baby!
Lots of fun and games all around . . .
The kids wore themselves totally out riding the tubes everyday.
The wore their elbows right out from the rough rides on the tubes. The bandaids and neosporin were always in great demand.
Pretty cute little sun baby - nothing better than a nap at Lake Powell not matter how old you are . . .
Just me :D
Gorgeous . . . Gorgeous . . . Gorgeous
Always love the still water reflections of the early morning.
Sydney even managed to catch one fish . . .
And until next summer - we'll treasure our Lake Powell memories!
Definitely feeling those "good vibrations" dooo bop bop . . . good vibrations bop bop"
╔══╗♫ *´”) ║██║ ¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨) ♫ ♪ ║(O)║ (¸.•´ (¸.• ♫ ♪ ╚══╝Lake Powell - it's the way to go! ;)
I'm taking his words to heart and beginning to memorize! Something I haven't done for ages and ages. I didn't really know where to start, but thought I'd start with the exact scriptures he shared in his address. They were some of my favorites . . .
“To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship,” he said. “It is like discovering a new individual who can help in time of need, give inspiration and comfort and be a source of motivation for needed change.”
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
“For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
“He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation”
This might seem a rather odd post, but I'm certain there's many of you who read my blog who share similar feelings . . .
I was always the smart, brainey school child who excelled in geeky subjects. I can't really call myself a computer nerd or a computer geek really. I honestly didn't fit the mold (I have one totally self proclaimed computer geek offspring - so I know from whence I speak - lol!). Although I studied computer science for three years in college and changed majors just a few credits short of my degree in 1985 (with absolutely no regrets) after discovering (while doing programming, expecting my second child, with a main frame large enough to seriously fill my house, in a room kept at about 40 degrees so the computer didn't crash, in languages such a FORTRAN, ALGOL, COBAL and seriously rudimentary BASIC) it wasn't really the career for me. If I was going to be up in the middle of the night making money and fixing something, I wanted it to be people - thus the late career change to nursing.
But honestly computers has always been my first love. And you know how you never forget a first love. . .
(Sorry Norm - it's totally an inanimate object and could never TRULY compare to what I feel for you but it's up there okay??)
The kids were raised sitting at a computer from the time they could push the buttons. They developed their fine motor skills by learning to navigate a mouse on the screen (and yes, my ATARI ST and Commodore Amiga utilized a mouse back then, long before the PC had a mouse option . . .), they learned their brilliant math skills by earning money and spending it at Donald Duck's Playground. (Ha! Their math skills quickly outgrew my own :)
A favorite family time was gathering to explore the island of Myst. We sat spellbound for hours puzzling together and collecting clues, frequently scared to death by what we might find around the next corner. Too timid to play unless we were all in it together, we squished on top of laps so everyone could see and contribute their puzzling advice.
And while we have been both a PC and a Mac over the years . . . and have personally related to all the "I'm a PC, I'm a MAC" commercials while laughing hysterically each time a new rendition appeared, and though we still have both PC and MAC computers - can honestly say that the innovation and forward thinking of Steve Jobs and Apple computers is unrivaled.
A fellow twitterer put it this way -
"The Older U R, the more U realize how much Steve (Jobs) changed our lives, his influence & creative genius R simply unparalleled".
So - if we had a flag . . . it would be flying at half-mast today.
I thought it appropriate to include this post highlighting the innovations we enjoy because of his brilliance.
Steve Jobs had no formal schooling in engineering, yet he's listed as the inventor or co-inventor on more than 200 U.S. patents. These are some of the significant products that were created under his direction.
1976 Apple I - Apple's first product made in small numbers
1977 Apple II - one of the first personal computers available to the masses
1983 LISA - commercial product line
1984 Macintosh - making quality desktop publishing available on a home computer
1986 Pixar - bought Pixar, fixed it up and sold to Disney for $7 billion
1989 Forced out of Apple, Steve created NeXt computer, which later created a popular web browser
1998 After returning to Apple, stopped their slide into oblivion through the iMac an easy to setup computer with simple internet access.
2001 iPod - the first successful digital music player
2003 iTunes and the store making digital music available legally to the masses, now the largest digital music retailer.
2007 iPhone - it's influence is evident in every smartphone anywhere.
2010 iPad - a whole new concept of computing now wildly popular, innovative and productive.
I'm thinking it would be quite a different world out there about now . . . without his entrepreneurial influence. Yep - I do think it would
(And I'd be stuck doing all my fun work on my boring PC . . .)
I'm sitting here feeling totally satiated . . . totally filled . . . and it feels so good.
This has been one of the most uplifting and inspiring weeks of my life. Truly a total outpouring of the Spirit daily!
We've traveled from Kirtland Ohio, to Gettysburg, to the banks of the Susquehanna River in Harmony Pennsylvania, to Fayette New York, and now Palmyra and Hill Cumorah - experiencing the testimonies of sweet missionaries, feeling the abundance of the spirit, the reverence of early patriots and pioneers.
My heart is full.
We've been so blessed to hear the words of current revelation from our Latter-day prophets and apostles. I love and am grateful for the blessing of personal inspiration, personal revelation and the witness of the Holy Ghost in our lives each day we live worthy of that blessing.
I have so much more to say . . .
But I can hardly keep my eyes open and tomorrow is another day . . .
