In Our Family the Last TWO Weeks...
* The girls have had Volleyball each afternoon. They also had 2-3 games each week. Lexi's team is still undefeated and Aubrie's team got their FIRST WIN! yay!!!
* Another project on Josephina (the '79 Truck) got completed. It got a new bedliner sprayed in by Line-X. It turned out really good and dad is soooooo pleased with the finished product and look!
* Mom's Aunt Donna (married to her Uncle Nathan) got sick with COVID back in June. She quickly got hospitalized and was a ventilator. It was a roller-coaster of emotions and recovery for the next 2 months. Then on Sept 4th she suffered from a catastrophic brain bleed and it was decided to take her off of the ventilator. She passed within minutes and returned to back to her heavenly home. Her funeral was set for Saturday, Sept 11th in Riverton, Utah. Mom, dad, Aubrie and Lexi attended. It was a beautiful service and they were happy to be able to be there for it and to celebrate her life with family.
* Aunt Kathryn flew in on Friday, Sept. 10th to drive down with us to Aunt Donna's funeral in Utah on Saturday. Friday night, we got extra tickets to the Boise State football home game against UTEP and so mom, dad, Kathryn, Aubrie and Lexi all geared up in WHITE (it was a white out and all fans were asked to wear white clothing). It was the first Home game where fans were allowed back in the stadium since the beginning of Covid - so it was pretty sweet to be back in person! We were there on the front row of the SEZ and made several appearances on TV. BSU won 51-14 - so you can imagine that it was a pretty exciting game (for us anyway!). Mom screamed so loud that she ended up loosing her voice!
* The next Saturday was another BSU Home game - this time against Oklahoma State. Dad took Aubrie and Lexi and this time they sported ALL BLUE (for the "blue out" requested of the fans). It was a tough game and we ended up loosing 21-20 (so it was close!)
* After a year and a half at home, Seth made his way back to BYUI for on-campus classes! At the last minute, he was able to get a housing contract and took off on Friday morning (Sept 10th). He got all checked in, unpacked and was ready for classes to start on Monday morning. The house has certainly seemed a lot quieter without him here!
* Nathan had his golden birthday! He turned 15 on the 15th!! Can't believe he's getting that old! He had Seminary that morning - after dropping him off, the girls and mom got balloons and donuts, ran home and decorated the house for him! Then when they went to go pick him up, they detoured and surprised him by going out to lunch at the Golden Corral! He liked all of the decorations when we got back home and then he had a friend (Trenton Rigby) come over that afternoon to hang out. They played video games and watched a movie before we sang, opened gifts and had Earthquake Cake (that he requested for his birthday cake). Nathan's "big" gift this year was a new PC! He saved up $1250 and then added all of his birthday money to it to get the gaming computer he'd been wanting! To continue his celebrating, he had Trenton come back over on Friday afternoon and they went to the Trampoline Park.
Spiritually Speaking...
(brought to you by Ben this week:)
So, back in April, I hit an all time low in my life. My weight was at its highest, my depression had peaked, and life was miserable inside my head. I was actually inside the Crunch Fitness (a gym just down a street) to CANCEL my membership when Heavenly Father decided it was time for my life to take a drastic 180. I was trying to end the membership I wasn't using, and the man behind the desk said I could cancel it with Sean, the fitness manager, who was currently in his office. I stepped inside, and he forever changed my life. He convinced me to not only keep my membership, but sign up for six months of personal training! (yeah, insane, I know). He told me in six months, my entire lifestyle will be different, and I'll never have felt better. Fast forward to almost five months later, and I'm down 60 pounds with the clearest head I've ever held. My depression has vanished, my intrusive thoughts have gone scarce, my overall happiness and enjoyment meter has reached its highest. Life is ABSOULTLY amazing!!
Well, that was until about three weeks ago. The summer had been the best months of my entire life (no exaggeration). It was the first time in my life where I actually felt alive and free. I did everything I wanted to do, accomplished so much, and expounded upon many relationships between my family, friends, and Fiancée Natalie. Then, September hit. My whole life, I've had chronic depression. I hadn't noticed until this summer that my illness peaks during the darker months of the year (September - February). About three weeks ago, my high on life began to slowly descend. Fun activities started to feel less fun, social interaction was draining, and life started to grow stiff. I was horrified. I didn't want to suffer for the next five months. I didn't want to feel how I used to. I talked to my therapist, and we agreed that I had serious Seasonal depression. He told me to start taking Vitamin D and buy a therapy lamp - which I did, but it only helped for a few days. I, once again, grew cold with a sick mind.
That is. . . until last Thursday. I met with my personal trainer, Andrew, and we were hitting laps in the pool. I mentioned my depression coming back, and he brought up these fat burner pills called ThermAccel. He said it was all natural and plant based, and had been known to boost focus, your mood, and burn fat in the process. I was skeptical, but my spirit was allured to the idea, so I accept his offer of giving me a bottle for free. I got home, and right as I took them, the Holy Ghost whispered to me that in order to be happy during these darker months, that I needed to delete my social media and focus on family, friends, and Natalie. I knew right away in my heart that my promoting was correct. Social media had been eating away at my mind for months now. Between politics, Covid, crime, and riots, my head was full of chaos and evil things happening around the world. I immediately acted on this promoting, and the second I was done, an overwhelming sense of peace and mental clarity hit, and I felt alive again. It was almost like a switch. It also helped that the pills kicked in at the same time, and I was hit with a massive energy boost. Since that day, I've felt on top of the world again, and I couldn't be more grateful for the prompting the Lord sent my way. I know that if I continue following this promoting, that my depression will stay in hiatus - which brings me great peace.
Anyway, thanks for reading random posterity.
Much love,
Ben, age 19
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