Our First Time on Lake Havasu

Thanks to our generous friends, the Jensens, we finally got out on the lake for the first time yesterday! Here are some pictures to prove it:

Lake Havasu really is so lovely. How have you not come to visit us yet?

We Really Are That Happy

Chris and I were asked to do a little lesson/discussion at last night's Relief Society Back to School activity. We talked about how getting back to basics is so important to the strength of our marriage and family. Here are the basics:

1. Daily prayer (personal, couple, family)

2. Daily study of the Book of Mormon (personal, couple, family)

3. Regular temple attendance

4. Service

5. Family night/date night/quality time together

6. Weekly inventory

Prayer and scripture study are obvious, aren't they? But so vital to the life and strength of a marriage and family. We originally just kept saying "scripture study", but as we got further in our preparation of the lesson we knew we had to specify the Book of Mormon. There is an undeniable power and influence that comes into your life as you are elbow-deep in the Book of Mormon each day. Other scriptures and conference talks, etc, should come into play as well.

Temple attendance is another rattled-off answer that weighs so much. Regular temple attendance is a real safeguard to our marriage and family. And it is very easy to say that because the temple is 2 hours away and because we have 2 little girls that "this just isn't our season to be regular temple attenders." But it's never not anyone's season to make every sacrifice necessary to be in the temple regularly. We're told to be in the temple as often as our circumstances permit, and I believe our circumstances can permit a little more than we're permitting them to right now. We need it that badly.

Selflessness facilitates spiritual progression. It's important for us to be serving each other within the marriage and family. When Chris and I got married we were given the advice to always put each other on a pedestal. If we could just remember that all the time, and serve each other accordingly, our dynamic would be even more harmonious than it already is. Also, serving others together as a family helps us feel the spirit together and draw much strength from that. Selfless service is as important to our strength of spirituality as any of these other elements.

Family night, date night, and quality time together as a family are obviously big contributors to our strength and success as a family. For us, we make sure we're laughing and getting out and mixing it up as much as we can. All of us need that excitement.

Chris and I try to bookend each week with a Sunday night inventory. It's always begun and ended with a prayer, otherwise who knows what direction it might go. We take that opportunity to see where each of us is at spiritually and emotionally. It's a needed and fantastic opportunity for good communication.

We had a really good time putting this together, and we challenged the Acoma ladies to apply the basics and then testify about their experience doing so in the next testimony meeting. I'm eager to see how it goes. In our own family, I know every one of these elements is so important. And I'm thrilled to have a husband I don't have to drag along to be on the same page with me about them. It's why we're as happy as we are.

Havasu Has a Hold

Boulder City is one of the cutest towns I could imagine. Historic, small, green (-er than anywhere else nearby), cool (-er than most places around here), far enough from Vegas not to feel like Vegas but close enough to have access to the minimum shopping requirements... It's the kind of place we'd hand-pick; just totally us. The bulk of Chris' clients are in Henderson which means he has to be up there 2-3 days a week. It gets old. So we would casually watch for places in Boulder City to come available, but the thing is they rarely do. We wanted a historic house that had been redone in the heart of the city and in our price range. If it didn't meet all those criteria, it wasn't worth it. Well, last week I found a place. I couldn't believe it when I found it, it was perfect! When Chris got home that day I ran to the door to meet him and tell him all about it. He was excited too, and we jumped in the car and drove up there. The house is great, adorable and neat with tons of character. And it's within walking distance of the cute downtown area and a couple of lovely parks and the church. We loved it. On the drive back home all I did was imagine our stuff in that house, and how great it would be living there. The only obstacle we would have to get past was talking with our landlords about getting out of our lease early. I did that, and they said it wouldn't be tough to do at all. So it should've been a cinch, right? The trouble was I kept feeling a tug on my heart about leaving our ward here. But being that the situation in Boulder City was almost perfect, I couldn't sort out my feelings all the way. I sat on it for a few days, and then yesterday we went back to see the house. We loved it again, and the agent was really aggressive about showing her interest in us. It should've been a slam dunk. But when Chris and I got in the car to mull it over, we shortly came to the conclusion that it just wasn't right. We both felt, in our individual ways, that the spirit was telling us we belong here in Havasu, and more specifically, in the Acoma Ward. We're not sad; I mean, who knows how complicated we would've made things if we had ignored those feelings because of our excitement about Boulder City. We love the Acoma Ward. And we feel like this is where we belong right now. We're happy to stay put.

Elders Quorum FHE

Chris had this idea to have the Elders Quorum host Family Home Evening last night at the park. I'll admit, I was a little worried about the turnout because it didn't seem like it was communicated very well. But there ended up being a great turnout, and it was really fun! Here are some pictures:

Chris & the Brown men playing bocce ball.

Olive & Ethan going for a ride.

Some of the guys playing ultimate frisbee.

Roasting wuff-'ems.

Hanging out.

We had a great time. Word on the street is we're going to do it on the 2nd Monday of every month, so you should come next time!

Hip hip...George!

I made this silly promise to Chris at the beginning of this Yankees' season that if Jorge Posada hit 30 homeruns this year, I would get pregnant again before the end of 2010. What, 12 is almost 30, isn't it?

It's true. You heard me, IT'S TRUE! Pick your jaw up off the floor buddy, cuz we're having another baby!

I'm sure you can imagine the slew of inappropriate jokes and judgmental comments we've heard so far. I'll actually be holding a contest to see who can come up with the most original one, so please don't bore us with your "That was fast" or "You guys didn't waste any time" nonsense. So far, Mike Pionke's in a strong lead with his, "Congratulations on getting pregnant for the 6th time this year," followed by genuine spontaneous laughter. I LOL'd on that one. A close 2nd place was Oatsie's, "Oh Brooke your poor body," to which I replied, "Hey, you did it this way too," to which she replied, "Yeah, but I was in my 20s!" Ha!

In all seriousness, we're really thrilled about this. I'd be lying if I said there was no worry or wondering going on, but Chris and I both love this adventure of a life we're creating. We'd honestly have it no other way.

Oh, and I'm calling it now: it's a boy. I know it. His name is George.

"Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment."

That's one of my favorites from Elder Uchtdorf. I made these today. Sure, they aren't the work of a master seamstress, but I feel fulfilled.

HOT

Here's the forecast this week - 118, 119, 122, 120, 118, 118. Yesterday I did the hot-feet dance and I wasn't even barefoot. No, if I had been barefoot my feet would've been destroyed. Instead, the heat of the pavement just melted one of my best flip flops and made it unwearable. Getting in the car means being so very careful not to let the metal buckles touch your skin, because it's death if they do. It also means carrying a towel or something with which to open the door handles or shut the trunk, for the same reason. The feel of the air outside is not unlike the feeling of opening the door to a preheated 425 degree oven. The only difference is that you can shut the oven door. The air outside is just endlessly and relentlessly hot. HOT, I tell you.