We had the best family temple trip yesterday.
Aaron was blessed with peace and inspiration to quickly avert a last-minute
lost wallet crisis (passport card and temple recommend not optional)--it
occurred to him that he had left his wallet in his backpack in his office at
work, so he quickly darted over, grabbed it, and we still managed to get out of
the house on time. If we leave by 8:00, he can make it to the 10:30 session and
I can barely get in for the 1:00 when he comes out. Considering getting 8
people out the door geared up to be gone for the entire day, we did pretty
well--the worst things we forgot were the peanut butter and a knife. The kids
sure didn't mind when we stopped at Extra Foods in Cardston and got some
Canadian Nutella-like spread to enjoy on our bread for lunch.
Of course we had to keep up tradition and get
some Canadian-special Ketchup Potato Chips and other unique flavors. I finally
remembered to bring a little coin purse of Canadian change with us that I have
had since our initial drive up through Canada to Alaska 6 years ago. I gave
each of the kids a $2 coin and let them choose some candy from the bulk bins.
Who can get the closest to $2 without going over? Elodie won with $1.85 because
she was the only one who didn't go over! In an effort to show consideration for
the cashier and customers behind us, I just bailed out my big-spenders with
more small change from the coin purse. I think Xander felt like he won, or at
least beat the system, when he walked away with $3+ worth of candy due to the
inaccuracy of produce scales and possibly some faulty mental math.
The weather was perfect for picnicking and
playing at a park just blocks from the temple. As Xander relaxed on Kaleb's
tiny blanket, he told me he likes these family Saturday trips much more
than track trips. What beats family?
I was relieved to see Aaron come out of the
temple at 12:51. I passed off the kids and felt so grateful as I walked in to
the Lord's House for the privilege to worship there. On our drive up, we had
been listening to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair. I just loved how
the adventure started with Jill receiving instructions from the great lion on a
high mountain. As he sent her down to Narnia to fulfill her mission, he warned
her that while she could see and think clearly up there, she would find that
there was much to distract her and cloud her thinking down below. I love how
beautifully CS Lewis teaches truth through his allegories.
While I was basking in the glow of the temple,
Aaron and the kids were basking in the sun at another nearby park. They played
catch, hit the baseball around, climbed the spiderweb and rode the zipper, and
Kaleb even took a nap!
The weather was perfect for our stop at Glacier
National Park on the drive back. We were pretty jazzed about doing a little
exploring.
We took a gorgeous, family friendly hike to a
waterfall.
Aaron noticed some, ahem, bear scat on the
trail and pointed it out to help the kids realize the importance of being bear
aware. Oliver latched on to that interesting bit of information.
Xander and Elodie felt so invigorated by the
spray of the waterfall and loved the rugged beauty so much that they could
hardly "bear" to stay on the path. They REALLY wanted to scale some boulders on
the other side of the raging creek. He assured us that he's like a mountain
goat and wouldn't fall. The angle of the boulders and the loose shale covering
them led us wise parents to poop that party and suggest this interesting fallen
tree for climbing expeditions. You may be able to see the irony in this
picture--just as I snapped it Xander fell right off the log, landing gracefully
and unharmed, which would not have been the case on the rockface he was
eyeing!
As Aaron and I diligently attended to our task
of keeping all six children alive, I could hear my mom's voice out of my
childhood calling, "Milan, oh! Not so close to the edge!" Once again,
I more fully appreciated her successful efforts of mothering all eight of us!
We saw a bear. After we had returned to the
safety of our vehicle, gratefully. Oliver was so excited to see it and told us
matter-of factly, "That bear poop on a trail." Yep, he's the one.
We heated up some sloppy joes for dinner and
decided that their sloppiness plus our kids equaled a bad idea at a picnic spot
bearing a sign on each table declaring the seriousness of leaving no food
traces to keep bears away from people. We tried. And we learned a valuable
lesson for next time's meal prep.
We were having such a lovely time that we
couldn't "bear" to be practical and leave quite yet, so we strolled down to Saint
Mary's lake to climb on more logs and skip rocks, because everyone knows that
lakes are way better than streams for rock skipping.
I can't think of a more
joyful, rejuvenating way to spend a day. I love where I live!
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