I'm finally starting to earn my Eagle.

Recently, with the new Bishopric (and an over active Exec Sect,) we have started meeting together with all leaders from both wards even remotely connected to the YM. We call it Aaronic Priesthood Coordination and discuss everything from schedules, to Scouting, to Duty to God, to each YM individually.

As we discussed one young man, I brought up the fact that he had two months until he turned 18. All he had left was his project. (Sound familar yet???) As leaders we decided to have an "intervention" around his dining room table. We got him rolling and yesterday completed his project. He installed a drain and about 50 feet of six pipe at the park our stake maintains in the foothills. I brought over our backhoe and with about 15 leaders and YM it went very smoothly.

Later I was informed that we had just trenched over the neighborhood main water line (of which I was unaware.) Luckily, I didn't hit anything. It must have been a good weekend for answered prayers. "I'm doing a good thing, don't let me hit anything. I'm doing a good thing, don't let me hit anything. I'm doing a good thing....."

I figured mom and dad earned 5 eagles. It feels good to return the favor.

Brant

Slow Week

Not much to report this week. Aside from Seth's accident it was pretty slow. I caulked around all the new windows yesterday and now the only thing left to do is paint. I should say, power wash the house caulk, and then paint. Shane has offered his power washer so I'll probably start that soon. I did clean the garage (parts of it) yesterday. Only one woman stopped to see if it was a garage sale.

Joe and Sandi went to the lawn mower races in Potlatch yesterday. He said it was pretty good. There were about 20 machines. Now that is really small town entertainment.

It's nice to see that you are enjoying camping. It reminds me of the good old days. Do it while you can because all too soon your family is grown and gone out into the big old world.

Looking forward to the reunion. Mom ordered the shirts a couple of days ago.

See you soon.

Glendo, Wyoming

We camped with some friends this weekend in WY. One of the families moved to Billings, MT a couple of years ago, and Glendo is about halfway. Hallee and Erik made a tree swing...
Trent and his two friends slept in a tent that was nealy carried away by the wind around 2 am... Andra spent the whole time being sick, and sleeping in a chair...poor thing! She got sick in the middle of the night! Lots of fun and lots of laundry to do.
Korbin tried to climb every tree, catch every frog, dig holes with his tractor and to get into the water. We were camping on the edge of the Lake. Rett was equally busy in the dirt (trying to eat it.) Play hard, sleep hard was his motto.

Q: Does Prayer Really Work?

So, there have been a few times this summer where I have felt that Weston and I need to pray for Seth's safety and that he will make good decisions. Nothing too over-powering or grand, just a little feeling to ask for his safety. Last time, I had this feeling, Seth came home to tell me he almost got knocked off the hay truck and then there was the time he and Brian were working on the tractor and Larry flipped a switch in the cab causing whatever they were working on to start up for a brief moment. Brian and Seth would have been seriously hurt. Then, there was this past Wednesday. Lately, I've made a point to pray for Seth's safety but Wednesday I felt like he needed a little extra help so I really made sure to pray. About half way through the day, Seth calls me and lets me know that there was a little accident at work and that he would be home a little early. I asked him if he was missing any limbs or if anything else had been cut off. He said no but he wouldn't tell me what had happened. He said he'd be home early and then he would tell me. A couple of hours later, he came home and showed me a picture similar to this one he'd taken on his cell phone. He took this picture the next day when he went back to work.

Here's what happened... Seth has driven this front loader several times before. On Wednesday, Brian asked him to take it from one barn, down the hill to another. He also states that the brakes don't work and that if it gets out of control, he can throw it in reverse and that would slow it down. Brian also said to give it a little gas just before it goes down the hill to get it over the crest of the hill. So, Seth gets in and does just that. Well, somehow it must have come out of gear because he started gaining speed. The grapler on the front started swaying and bouncing and Seth was catching air. I asked him what he was thinking the whole time and he was just trying to figure out how to land the thing. Well, he got to a point where he thought he was going to make it through a gate and out into the field. Something must have caught and it crashed into a fence and landed on it's side. Luckily, Seth's window was down otherwise he would have landed on glass instead of dirt. Here's a re-enactment of how he landed and some other pictures.

A: After I related this story to one of my friends, she said that some people wait years for answers to their prayers, I only had to wait a couple of hours.