A philosophical bike ride

I'm looking through pictures from this summer and thinking about what I want to blog now that school is about to start.  I'm finding all sorts of  "oh yea, that was fun!" pictures.  Pictures that make me realize that I need to record how I felt while the memory is still fresh. I found this picture of a great date that John and I had this summer.  We did the Antelope Island moonlight bike ride.  It was a great ride, perfect weather, and I didn't even get bombarded by any bugs...but John did :).  Here is what I wrote about it in my Journal in July, I just thought that I would share.  Maybe I think too much.

John and I went to Antelope Island two nights ago for their annual Moonlight bike ride. I went last year with a friend of mine from Kearns, but this year we had some of our neighbors invite John and I to go with them. They rented two tandem bikes, one for us and one for them. I was worried that it would be harder to ride with two of us on a heavy tandem bike, but it was so much easier than last year. It's like having a bike with two motors. In fact, as we zipped past other riders I heard comments that we were cheating. We glided along in the dark with the full moon shining over the Great Salt Lake, and I couldn't help but feel like our ride could be a bit symbolic of our ride through life. During that 22 mile bike ride I had a lot of time to think about faith and trust. It was so disorienting to be on the back seat, I couldn't steer, and I couldn't see directly in front of me because John is taller than me. At the beginning I would automatically try to steer and I could feel it throwing us off balance a little. There were a few times when I felt like I had to close my eyes or I would panic and make us crash. It is a good thing that I trust John's judgment or it would have been a terrifying ride. When it came down to it, I had two choices, I could pedal and help get us to our destination...or not. I guess that another choice could have been to jump off right at the start, but we were committed to doing the bike ride together. Besides, that choice would have gotten me nowhere, and John would have had to lug that big bike along by himself. Knowing John, and the person that he is, I knew that every action that he took would be carefully planned out and for our good. I knew that he wouldn't steer us into other riders or off the road. It worked so much better when I trusted him and helped by pedaling my hardest behind him. I'm glad that I picked him for my biking companion, and my husband. I know that in life we are actually working side by side, and that he specializes in some areas and I specialize in others, but he is the priesthood leader in our home and I am grateful that he takes that role seriously. I am grateful that he works hard to guide our family in righteousness, peace and safety.

Eight and shaving?

So, Johnny has been eight years old for a couple of months now, and I am just barely getting around to telling about his birthday.  Among the many important milestones that he has met since turning eight, we are somewhat shocked to announce that he is now growing facial hair.  Though, it looks like somebody neglected to tell him that men are not supposed to grow hair on the fronts of their noses.

He has is own make-up compact now, which we are happy to see that he only  uses to store his 

precious rubber bands.

 

 He got his first suit to celebrate a very special occasion....

he became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.









It was such a great day, and we are grateful for all of the people who came to his baptism and shared their testimonies with him.  The primary presidency handed out 3X5 cards so that we could all record our testimonies for him.  Johnny loved reading all of them, and I could tell that they meant a lot to him.

He became a Cub Scout, and I, by default became his den mother.  I say "by default" because I seem to follow my kids everywhere in the callings I am given.  That being said, I have enjoyed this job more than I ever thought I would.

On the night before Johnny's birthday, Hannah helped me wrap his one big present.  As a hint, she placed these two little guys on his bed.  This year was supposed to be a family year, meaning that we didn't invite friends to celebrate.

But some occasions are just too wonderful to keep to ourselves.  Johnny talked to some neighbor kids on the way home from school and they showed up to eat cake and ice cream with us.

Luckily there was enough for everyone.  Don't look too closely, I ran out of frosting before I was able to frost the whole thing.

They helped him be-head his first dragon, (a.k.a, the piniata that I got at the D.I.  I know!  Who would have guessed that you could find piniatas at the D.I.?  Let alone one that followed the theme and wasn't already smashed.  It was meant to be.)

 

 He was very excited about his present, he had been waiting for it since Christmas.

A Playmobil Castle!!!

He couldn't wait to put it together.

That night we headed over to the Classic Fun Center to finish celebrating.

We all had a great time.

As your Aunt Vera would say, Johnny,

"Thanks for being born."