Bethanyology

Yesterday was C R A Z Y. I’d been playing with my sister since Friday, so my rhythm and schedule was off and laundry running out and…yeah.  But it was a good day.

At church, Colin gave a 25-minute talk in Sacrament Meeting on temples, springboarded from this talk by Elder Richard G. Scott.  Much of Colin’s talk was spent reminding us that we have to really decide to go, and on a schedule, or so many unanticipated obstacles will spontaneously appear that we’ll never get around to it.  And don’t wear a watch when you go.  I was blessed to have a sister, a friend, a sister-in-law, and Colin’s parents there to help compensate for my lack of husband who normally keeps our little crew under control.  Degen hurt his leg on Saturday, and asked to sit in a stroller all during church.  Then, it turns out that Colin had agreed to substitute teach Degen’s Sunbeams class at the same time as I taught my CTR 7 class.  Ruthie and Hillary signed up to join him in teaching about Being Kind to Animals, and Sonja agreed to watch little Heidi. Sonja has been willing to babysit a lot this week–thank you!!! Colin had an EQ Presidency meeting after church, so the kids and I listened to music in the car for a while before heading home for lunch.  I’m grateful to have a husband who serves others so willingly.

Sonja served us a yummy lunch and we all got to visit for a while before it was time to load up the cars and head to the airport by way of the beach.  Ruthie and Hillary both wanted to see the beach, and I’m so glad they did!  Kim recommended we go to Crissy Field since it was on the way to the airport.  Neither Colin nor I had ever been there before, but it was a pleasure to go.  I can’t believe how close it is, and with grass and beach and grills and free parking, I’m putting it on the list of places to go on a date.

We put our toes in the water, Degen carefully staying at the water’s edge and Maggie venturing in farther and farther despite my warnings and getting pulled under by a wave.  Colin and I both jumped in and saved her, all three of us getting soaked. Lucky, my Mommy brain had thought to bring an extra change of clothes for the kids though I’d had no intention of any of us getting wet.

Colin stitched together this neat 360 degree panorama  of where we were.  We mostly enjoyed the scenery and took pictures and let our toes enjoy the sand.  There was a little boy who’d wandered away from his family who adopted us for a little while, playing enthusiastically with Maggie and Degen.  It took us a while to find his family who were picnicking nearby with a large group and hadn’t noticed yet that he was gone (boy, do I sympathize with that!), but we enjoyed having a little friend to play with.

After a little while at the beach, it was time to take Ruthie and Hillary to the airport.  I had such a fun time during their visit!  Aside from the joy having my sister around, it’s just fun to have visitors to motivate me to enjoy the beautiful place where we live.  I hope they both had as much fun as I did.

I’m so lucky to have seen two sisters in one month!  I enjoyed visiting with and getting to spend time with both Liza and Ruthie.  They are both great young ladies and I can’t wait to see them at Thanksgiving.