* Mom and the kids went to the Art Museum
* Went to the Billings Library
* The kids took a Bike and Water safety class (and a perk from the class was a free day pass to the Oasis Water Park!)
* Mom went to the Temple
* Had many days of "Gameschooling" - Specifically Monopoly (which is GREAT for reinforcing math and reading skills!). Jenga also made several appearances, and Risk debuted as well!
* Started the Summer Reading Program with the library. Between personal reading, being read to and listening to audio books, each of the kids racked up over 6.5 hours!
* Hosted the Mackowiaks for the night on their way back to Minot
* In 1986, I bought Metallica's third album -Master of Puppets. It blew my 12 year old self away. I have been a fan ever since. I had tickets to their And Justice for All tour in 1989. I had a C on my report card and Mom and Dad made me sell my tickets. I still harbor resentment about that to this day. I finally got to see them live in 1997 for the Load tour in Boise. As the years went by and the boys got older, we talked about how fun it would be to go see Metallica. Unfortunately for us, they weren't doing any North American tours, only one-off shows here and there in locations that weren't close to us. Finally, in late 2016, they dropped their 10th studio album and announced a North American tour - their first in eight years. The tickets were spendy but that's what Father's Day, your birthday, and Christmas are for. I'd rather build memories than have possessions. August, Ben, and I were able to get right up to the front, just behind the front row. There were approximately 60K in attendance. Midway through the show, we had to take an hour long break due to a severe thunderstorm that had lightning crashing down nearby. We missed Sethy but we knew he was there in spirit. I also found my self missing Sam. He was a huge Metallica fan also, and I know he would have loved the show. Perhaps he observed it from Heaven! By the time the show was done, we had stood in the same place, without walking around or sitting down, for 8 1/2 hours. Two opening bands and the weather delay made for a long show. Ibuprofen was my friend the next day - feet and lower back sore from standing that long without a break, neck sore from some righteous head banging! August also got a guitar pick tossed to him from bassist, Robert Trujillo. All in all,we had a great time! - John (Dad)
August and Ben in Nebraska...
* More schooling for August - still doing very well!
* Met up with dad in Denver for the concert
* Grandma and Grandpa Carlson celebrated their 46th Wedding Anniversary!
* Ben had some homesickenss.This is the longest he's ever been away from home. After considering coming home early, he prayed and decided to stay a few more weeks
* August helped grandma and grandpa with caulking their driveway
Seth Spotlight...
* Baptism for Isabel - he got to hear Angela (who was baptized last week) share her testimony during the service for Isabel (they are best friends) and he said it was really awesome neat to hear her share such a beautiful testimony
* He was really excited about a dinner he ate (some chicken that was cooked really well) and said it was totally worth the walk home in the dark for it!
* Got to move into a new house! Yay for being out of that super nasty one!
* His birthday package arrived!! I am soooo super grateful for that! He's holding onto it and will open it on his birthday (this Wednesday, the 14th)
* Still always wet and never drying out
Spiritually Speaking...
I was really touched by one of the speakers today in church. They were sharing their thoughts from the Conference talk - Lest Thou Forget by Elder Rasband (Oct 2016). The part that really spoke to me was the counsel that we should share our Spiritual Experiences (and more specifically share them in our journals) for us to reflect back upon throughout our life. I looked up the talk when I got home and wanted to include this one quote regarding our journals.
It says: "Share your testimony with your family; encourage them to remember how they felt when they recognized the Spirit in their lives and to record those feelings in journals and personal histories so that their own words may, when needed, bring to their remembrance how good the Lord has been to them."
I love that last part about it being a reminder of how GOOD the Lord has been to us! That is a very big reason why I include these "Spiritually Speaking" sections with our weekly history. The Lord has truly been very good to us and it's amazing to look back on each week to see His hand directly in our everyday lives! From the earth-shattering answers to prayers to the small tender mercies (like this week, while on the way to the mall to look for some cute summer shirts for me, I had the direct impression to check Ross first - and when I did, I found FIVE shirts for under $50! and I never even made it to my original destination of the mall - Sweet Tender Mercy!)
Also, this same speaker shared an analogy that I hadn't ever heard before and I thought it was really neat so I wanted to share it here for my future reflection... Imagine you have an old, dried up sponge that is super hard! Now this hard sponge is kind of like us when we are "hard-hearted" - we are unbendable, unchanging and stuck! BUT what happens when that hard sponge gets wet? It becomes soft and changes in texture and shape. Now think of each drop of water as something that brings us closer to Christ - Scripture study, Praying, Service, etc... Each of those things (drops of water) when applied to our lives, literally change US! I thought that was a really neat visual and it totally made sense to me!
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