One of Those Special Days

Today we were able to travel to Los Alamos for the first time in over 2 years as a family.  My parents recently returned from their mission to the Family History Center in Salt Lake City.  Today they were asked to go and speak in church and luckily we were able to make it fit into our schedules as well.  It is hard for Jake to miss church since there is so much that he is involved in and feels responsible for, so we went to our sacrament meeting and then headed up for church to make it in time for the 1:00 Pajarito Ward.

My parents spoke today about covenants.  They both relayed some great stories and experiences and I really enjoyed every minute of it.  My dad made this great analogy about some different kinds of covenants that we make in our lives.  He spoke of the New year's resolution (not really a covenant) and the fact that most of the time people make these very loosey -goosey commitments, but do not follow through and keep them.  Then he spoke about a covenant or contract that you make with a financial institution, such as a mortgage.  This is a contract that we take very seriously.  In fact, if you do not take it seriously and keep it, you could lose a house, financial stability, etc.  Then my dad spoke of the spiritual covenants that we make (baptism, temple ordinances), and he posed this simple question:  Are the spiritual covenants we make more like new year's resolutions or financial covenants.  I had never looked at it that way, but I thought it was a great analogy.

We then went to my parents house and had a great meal and conversation with them and with Kevin and his family.  My dad was again reminded of how nice it is to spend time together as a family.   It was great to see Corey having such a fun time teasing with my dad.  My dad has always teased Corey a lot, but when Corey was younger, he did not really respond to this.  Now, he has matured quite a bit and it is fun to see the interactions that they have.  We all love having "tender moments" with grandpa.

As we were driving home and reading scriptures in the car, I was thinking of how blessed I am to have such a great family.  I have two of the best parents in the world that taught me a lot of great lessons when I was growing up, but who also continue to teach me well into adulthood through their great examples of love and service.  Now that mission #4 is done, I wonder where they will go next?

Here is the backyard view that I grew up with all those years.  It is sure nice to see it again when I get to go home.  What a beautiful place!