Pre Yosemite- No Girls Allowed

The following posts will mostly be in chronological order. These pictures are from the "guys backpacking" trip that was on Monday and Tuesday, July 31 and August 1. (And part of the day on Wednesday, August 2.) Micah and Dallin left home on Sunday, July 30... as did Daniel, Jaden, and Mason. I think they started their hiking mid-day on Monday, when they met up with the Simms boys. Annie and Savie were having a couple of girls days and overnight camping while the boys were doing their thing 😎 I guess the only problem that the boys had was MOSQUITOES. I capitalized that word, because there were lots of them! But from seeing the photos, the area they were in was spectacular. Alex had some great scenery photos, and he even included a few flowers. 🌺🌸 Here is just a sampling of the hundreds of photos that were taken. 

Yosemite August 2023- "Give Me this Mountain"

 We had a miracle happen in August... our entire family, except Elder Simms, gathered together in Yosemite, CA. I have been procrastinating starting these posts, trying to decide how to manage them. I have tons of pictures. And tons a various activities. Audrey was the "number one" planner of that trip. She spent lots of time working on reservations and other activities. Everything turned out well. Andersons, Simms, and us shared a cabin in Wawona. Petes and Christiansens shared a cabin in Oakhurst. Mike and Carrie had their own cabin in Fish Camp. The only thing that none of us anticipated was the curvy, mountainous driving situation. There wasn't a great mileage distance between places but driving "times" were usually at least an hour because of the slow curvy roads. The Pete boys, the Simms boys, and Micah and Dallin all met up a few days before the rest of us arrived for their own back packing trip. (That meant that Ashley and the girls, and Alison and the rest of their kids flew to CA on Wednesday evening, August 2. Us and the Andersons also flew in that day, but we arrived in the afternoon. (Ashley and the girls were originally on an earlier flight, that would have arrived in the afternoon, but it got canceled- putting them on the same flight out of SLC as Alison.) All of those flights flew into Fresno Yosemite airport... about two hours from Yosemite. Mike and Carrie arrived on Friday evening and had to leave on Sunday evening. The rest of us all left on Tuesday, August 8th. I am going to share some of the group and family photos with this post. Then I will do other posts of the various activities and gatherings. Audrey bought blue T Shirts for everyone, and Jaden put a white vacation theme on them. "Give Me this Mountain". That was the theme of the Denver Colorado mission when Savages were the mission presidents. Audrey thought that was fitting for our family reunion in a place like Yosemite. We took the family photos near Bass Lake on Friday evening after Thompsons arrived. 

Number 95

 Cris Muhler has a race car and his number is 95. Jaxon also has a race car and his number is 95. The picture of Cris' car was from a race that he won recently. Other pics of John and Enola and Cris.

Create Your Own Sunshine

 There has been no need to create any sunshine outside here in Texas... we have suffered way too many 100+ degree days this summer. But I did create some sunshine inside the house. August= Sun Flowers. 😎

One of the neighbors commented saying that it was very "bright" and "cheery."

Sometimes I am not always successful in making or purchasing pillow covers, but this time they are good. Audrey said that they look great with my sunflowers. I had a friend from Homestead Handcrafts, that lives near me, make the door swag.

Gymnastics Camp and Dates with Mom

Noah and Eli and Sam went to a gymnastics camp in Nebraska and Luke stayed home with Audrey. Noah and Eli got lots of daily gymnastics and a chance to find out what college dorm life is like. Luke got some dates with Audrey. Here is how Sam described in on Facebook- "It has been an amazing week here in Lincoln, NE. These boys have worked tremendously hard, doing 10 workouts over 5 days. They’ve had the pains and the gains that come with pushing outside of their comfort zones, and they’ve gotten a little taste of what University life might be like. (Well at least college cafeteria food — I’m assured the Jello is top notch here!)" (That was on July 21st). Here is what Audrey posted about her week with Luke- "While the older boys were in Nebraska with Dad, Luke got one-on-one time with Evie and Mom! He ate a whole box of Fruity Pebbles, went to the Science Mill for shark week, shaved ice at Bahama Bucks, the Scobee Planetarium, “sharks in the water” soda at Fiiz, McDonalds with friends, watched Bluey in the FRONT seat of the car, Cookie Monster ice cream at Black and White modern creamery, and watched SlamBall at Cheesy Jane’s. He was pretty spoiled even in our beat-the-heat kind of indoor week."

Take the Gospel to all Nations

 On July 30th our primary lesson was titled, "The Lord Had Called Us for to Preach the Gospel". Here was the introduction in the Individuals and Families manual-

 Among the Lord’s final words to His Apostles was the commandment “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”.  While the Apostles didn’t quite make it to all nations, Acts 16-21, does show that Paul and his companions did make remarkable progress in establishing the Church. They taught, baptized, and conferred the gift of the Holy Ghost. They performed miracles, even raising a man from the dead, and foretold the Great Apostasy . And the work they started continues with living Apostles today, along with devoted disciples like you, who are helping fulfill the Savior’s commission in ways Paul never could have imagined. Perhaps you are aware of people who do not know their Heavenly Father or His gospel. Perhaps you have felt that your “spirit was stirred in [you]” to share with them what you know about Him. If you follow Paul’s example of humility and boldness in sharing the gospel, you may find someone “whose heart the Lord [has] opened”.

I drew a chart on the blackboard and then put up "missionary pictures" to show the missionaries in our family. The top two are the sister missionaries that served in the Denver Colorado mission and brought the gospel to us. Then Mike served in the Helsinki Finland mission (Finnish), Alex served in the Salt Lake City Utah mission (English), Audrey served in the Sofia Bulgaria mission (Bulgarian), Sam served in the Sao Paulo Brazil mission (Spanish), Alison served in the Belgium Brussels Netherlands mission (French), Micah served in the Auckland New Zealand mission (Mandarin), Daniel served in the Fortaleza Brazil mission (Spanish), and Nathan is currently in the Quito Ecuador mission (Spanish). The first picture here is what Paul might have looked like teaching on Mars Hill. The second picture is my blackboard chart.