Quiet Time

The best place to have quiet time is at the temple.

I took a solo trip to the temple last week and it was so nice and peaceful 

to walk around the temple grounds afterwards and soak in the spirit and the beauty.

Merrily We Roll Along

* Please excuse the boys' running down the hill.  Yes, we're still teaching them that we don't run like crazy on the temple grounds.

Come to The Temple

Words of Wisdom

View of the Logan Temple from the Whittier Center

"Beware of the half truth.  You may have gotten hold of the wrong half."  

"People only bring up your past when they are intimidated by your present."  -Kushand Wizdom

"Forgiveness doesn't excuse their behavior.  Forgiveness prevents their behavior from destroying your heart."

"To practice any art no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow.  So do it."  - Kurt Vonnegurt

"The world changes constantly and dramatically, but God, His commandments, and promised blessings do not change.  They are immutable and unchanging."  -Elder L. Tom Perry

General Conference - April 2013

On Saturday, Sam watched Katie and Tyler at home while the rest of us went down to Salt Lake City for General Conference.  Thanks, Sam!

Now that Brian is 8 years old, he is old enough to attend sessions 

of General Conference in the Conference Center.  

My dad had tickets for us to sit by them.  

We had great seats towards the front part of the center balcony.  

Brian did quite well and stayed in his seat for the whole 2 hour session.  

I'm glad that I snuck a little candy in my purse and had a notebook and pen that he could doodle in.  

my sister, Laura, my cousin Scott's wife, Angela, me, and my cousin, Sharon

Afterward, we met up with more family for dinner at the City Creek Mall.  There were 10 of us in our group.  Then it was time to say good-bye to my dad and to Ryan.  They flew back to New York this morning.  

Brian in Temple Square with his Grandpa Hallstrom and Uncle Ryan

Before leaving Salt Lake, Brian insisted that we ride an elevator.  

My grandma suggested that we take the elevator to the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial building and have Brian check out the nice view of the Salt Lake Temple from there.  

It was so great to have my oldest boy with me for a special mommy-son date. 

 Brian enjoyed all of the extra attention from me.  

We drove Grandma Hallstrom and Uncle Calvin back home.  Grandma invited us in for some mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Brian couldn't say no to ice cream and staying up past his bedtime.  It sure was a memorable day.

Here are a few of my favorite thoughts from General Conference this weekend:  

Photo credit: Deseret Book

The Logan Temple From Afar

 Taken in a random church parking lot in Smithfield, Utah

Brigham City Temple Open House

Thanks for taking pictures, Grandma!

* Logan Temple *

Laura & Brant's Wedding

Hey Bro (Elder Mark Hallstrom) -  
I don't know if others will send emails about Laura's wedding, so I thought I'd tell you about it.  On Wednesday night, my little family picked up Grandma Hallstrom and drove her to the hotel in Draper, UT where Mom, Dad, and Ryan would also be staying.  On the way to the hotel, we got a call from Dad, who was at the Phillidelphia airport with Mom and Ryan.  He informed me that the next plane they were suppose to hop on to had mechanical issues, making it so they wouldn't arrive in Salt Lake City until late morning on Thurs. (during the time of Laura's endowment session).  

It was sad not to have Mom and Dad in attendance for Laura's special morning.  Our cousin, Bethany, Amy, Grandma Hallstrom, Mike, Alice, Jenny, Sam, and I were in the same session with Laura, Brant, and his family.  It was neat to be there.  

After the session, Mom, Dad, and Ryan, met up with Brant's family and some of our family for lunch at Brick Oven Pizza.  It was nice to be there and get to know Brant's family a little bit.  And of course, you can't go wrong in stuffing yourself with pizza!  Sam's parents were watching our kids, so we went back to their house to hang out for abit.  Sam watched our kids so I could attend a family dinner at Madeline's in Sandy, UT.  Jenny and Seth gave me a ride.  The restaurant had the back room reserved for about 30 people.  We had a nice meal and watched a 15 minute slideshow that Jenny & Seth made of Laura & Brant growing up, dating, etc.  Dad took a few minutes and spoke about Laura as a child and growing up.  Brant's dad did the same.  And that was it for that day.

Brant & Laura

Dan & Bethany

The next day was the wedding.  That morning, our little family met up with Jenny and Seth's family at Kangaroo Zoo (a place full of about a dozen ginormous blow up slides, and stuff.  Ben loved climbing up to the big slide with me, sitting on my lap, and going down the slide.  It was way fun. 

Sarah 2 1/2 and Ben 4 (Jenny & Seth's kids)

Emma = Sleeping Beauty - (Jenny Seth's 4 month old)

Then we ate a quick lunch, bathed the kids, and got all dressed up for the wedding.  Laura and Brant were sealed in the Draper Temple.  It is a super nice temple dedicated just 3 years ago.  Valerie Serfas, her husband and 2 boys came all the way from Boise, ID.  Nan and Neil were there too along with our cousin, Jerry and his wife, Marla.  Our cousin, Nathan Kristjanson was also in attendance.  We sure missed Emily and Nate though.  Laura cried happy tears as the sealer announced that they are now husband and wife.  Laura looked gorgeous in her dress!

Uncle Ryan was awesome and watched all 6 of the grandkids so all of us could attend the sealing inside the temple.  Thanks again, bro!

It was a hot day outside, but every now and then, a nice breeze would come along.  After all the pictures, some of us went to Pie Pizzeria for dinner and then went to the reception.  The reception was held outdoors at Laura's brother-in-law's grandparents' home.  Alice played the violin, Dad handed over his video camera to me to record him dancing with Laura, Laura singing to Brant, the cutting of the cake, etc.  It turned out very nicely (even though Tyler ran away and hid in the deepest darkest corner of the yard and had me crying).  Silly boy.  We stayed and help clean up and drove Grandma Hallstrom back home.  We didn't get home until 12:30am on Saturday.  Whew!  It sure was a busy couple of days.   I loved seeing everyone, but always wish that we could all hang out more before and after the big events.  And there you have it.  Laura's wedding weekend in a nutshell.  

Love, LISA