Miscellanea

I have an update, a trip report, a short funny story about Sammie, and a longer funny story about church. If you're game for all that, keep reading!

We no longer live in Pennsylvania. :( Getting packed up and moved out was pretty crazy (even with a packing and moving company) but we made it! We had a nice drive across the country with a stop in DC to stay at Corinne's and see some friends. We made it to the boat launch dock at Bullfrog Marina in Lake Powell by Thurs afternoon. Dad, Joe and Matt picked us up in the speed boat and drove us out to the house boat, where we found the Kaelberers minus Lucy, Mom, and some Cannon crew: Chad, Connie, Heber and Heber's girlfriend (soon to be a Cannon!). We were only there overnight, but it was a blast! We waterskiied, had a campfire, slept under the stars, and tubed. That's about all you need to do!

We spent a fun week in SLC with family and helping my sister Liza and husband Ben move into their new house. We are now in Austin and just made an offer on a house! Once the offer is accepted (hopefully!) we'll post pictures and give more information.

Funny story about Sammie. Last December, I posted a story about Sammie "losing" the Garmin (gps) and finding it in his backpack after we'd already replaced it. This morning, we searched all over the hotel room and rental car for the Garmin, which we hadn't seen since getting in town on Monday night. We couldn't find it and wondered if the cleaning staff had snatched it. We stopped back at the hotel at lunch and I looked for it again. I found it, of course, in Sammie's backpack. Detecting a pattern here...

Our first Sunday in Utah, we went to church with Sammie's parents. They have a great ward and we really enjoyed it! We laughed all the way home, though, about our experiences in Elders Quorum and Relief Society. The sister teaching in RS stood up and confessed that this was her first lesson and she was so nervous, she had over-prepared. Meanwhile, in EQ, the person conducting announced that the teacher wasn't there and they thought he might be sleeping in after working a night shift. In RS, the teacher brought out a beautifully wrapped gift (since the lesson was on spiritual gifts) that she opened and from which she drew out visual aids to place on the board and guide the discussion. In EQ, the hastily-appointed discussion leader scrambled to find enough books for everyone so they could read the lesson together. He asked for lots of comments, especially from the visitors. The sisters in RS made insightful comments, remarking that after reading the lesson earlier in the week, they had reflected on certain points and learned valuable lessons. In EQ, the discussion leader would pause the reading, ask for comments, then let an awkward silence pervade the room. The RS teacher did, indeed, overprepare and referred the sisters to other articles and resources online where they could further research the topic. She ended the lesson by passing around a basket with a gift for each sister--homemade cake balls, individually wrapped.

After Sammie and I compared notes, I commented that, once again, I was SO glad that I was born a girl!