The _______ Life of Brent and Erika

We survived girls camp! The girls are great. They make me laugh and cry, sometimes simultaneously. I have 11 bug bites on my back, and a few in other bug spray forgotten places (my scalp, my knee pit, right above my belly button...). Thanks to many prayers, it generally only rained at night. I think Brent slept through a full third of girls camp. Another third of the time he was reading. Another third he spent hoping that we never have teenage daughters. I spent two thirds of the time making a fool of myself. The remaining third is difficult to account for. I painfully recall that I also never slept as a teenager. This caught up with me after college, as it will catch up with all of our young women. Brent took a four mile hike around a lake alone with only a note written on the back of a receipt placed under our windshield wiper to let me know. This troubled me, but all is well. Chloe spent the week with her friend Benny and Brent's parents. I think she had a great time, but she se...

A few weeks ago in Stake Conference, our stake president referenced this talk by President Monson and issued us a homework assignment to answer the following: If you only had 25 words to leave your family and friends--if this was the only thing that was left of you--what would you say? Last night for FHE ( which is remarkably hard for us to do since it's just the two of us...it should be easier, right? The problem is that EVERY night feels like FHE, so it's hard to remember to do something special...am I the only one with this problem? ) we decided to do it. Here's what we came up with: I love: scripture study, prayer, serving others, kindness, taking pictures, stories, temple worship, Jesus Christ, family. Trust the Lord. Forgive. Love. Be honest. Be happy. There you have it. The legacy we hope to leave, in 25 words. So, what are your 25 words?

I'm short on time and patience for a blog post and long on things that I can and should post about. So what I'm going to do is list them here, and if you want more details, leave me a comment and ask for them! If you don't...I'll probably list them sooner or later - How does our garden grow? In boxes! And slowly! - I'm 24! My birthday was awesome! - Happy Birthday and Father's Day, Dad! - Happy Anniversary to my Mom and Dad! - The new TV and IKEA trip or (yes, this is a subtitle) remember that one time we were caught in a torrential while trying to cram our entertainment center into a Toyota Camry? - Shouting matches in Junior Primary - Girls Camp: coming soon

Twenty-four oceans Twenty-four skies Twenty-four failures And twenty-four tries Twenty-four finds me In twenty-fourth place With twenty-four drop outs At the end of the day Life is not what I thought it was Twenty-four hours ago Still I'm singing 'Spirit, take me up in arms with You' And I'm not who I thought I was Twenty-four hours ago Still I'm singing 'Spirit, take me up in arms with You' I wanna see miracles To see the world change Wrestled the angel for more than a name For more than a feeling For more than a cause I'm singing 'Spirit, take me up in arms with You' And you're raising the dead in me Twenty-four oceans With twenty-four hearts All of my symphonies With twenty-four parts Life is not what I thought it was Twenty-four hours ago Still I'm singing 'Spirit, take me up in arms with You' I'm not copping out Not copping out Thanks to Switchfoot for a beautiful song, and thanks to all of you for the warm birthday wishe...

Ouch.