It was back to school this week for Beth and Ben! So on Monday that meant finding classes during open houses. It's Ben's first year in the junior high and Beth's first year in the high school. Ben had tennis lessons in the morning and I took both kids to a back-to-school physicals between open houses, so it was a busy day! It was fun for me to watch Bethany show Ben around the junior high and then about an hour later watch Cali and Chey show Beth around the high school. They are all so good to each other!

That evening Cheyenne went with her WC friends to go boating in Delta on Tuesday. They picked Chey up from our house so we invited them all in for a pancake dinner. It was fun.

Tuesday we watched Avery, and Ben had his guitar lesson. Since it was the last day of summer, Beth and Ben asked if they could skip karate and go to the reservoir instead. Of course I said yes. There's nothing that says summer like being in the water on a sunny day.

That night Kevin and I met with a stake president for YSAs in Provo. Kevin was called to be the bishop of the Provo YSA 189th ward. We accepted and are looking forward to this new adventure which will start September 10.

Wednesday was the first day of school! Benjamin was looking forward to going back and having a schedule again. He doesn't like having so much time to fill and I don't blame him. He had a great first day and his favorite classes are Chinese and Men's Choir. The two classes he wasn't very sure about! Bethany was not looking forward to going back to school--mostly for social reasons. However, things went better than she thought and she thinks now it will be okay! She has a great seminary teacher and has lots of friends in her Chinese, Math, and English classes.

So then we had some sad things happen. A friend of ours in Brookside who had been a big part of our lives, Kathy Evans, died. We had a couple of months warning and had all written tributes in cards that she got to read and that was good. We sure are thankful for her in our lives and wish she could have stayed longer.

The next day we went through another death--Becca Mila, our neighbor and the mother of Beth and Ben's good friends Claire and Annaliese. She has been in the hospital since early spring. I guess we all kept hoping she would pull through and she fought hard to stay, but her body couldn't do it anymore. Claire and Annaliese are both adopted so they are orphans again in a way. As neighbors, we all love those girls and hope that they will let us help.

Kevin and I did sealings at the temple on Saturday and it was a good place to be. As we focused on relationships in our life after death, it was a great comfort. We are sad but we don't need to be destroyed by the reality of death. What a blessing that is in our lives.

So, life kept on ticking. On Saturday, Beth and Ben took a practice test for karate. They passed and can hardly walk today from soreness. Savannah, Chey, and Cali went to the YSA Conference in SLC. They saw performances by The Piano Guys, The Nashville Tribute Band, and the Bonner Family. They also went to classes and participated in breaking the world record for the largest ever speed dating event. They said they wished they had more time because they couldn't do it all and all of it was great. I think it's great that they went.

I am grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and all it gives to me. :)