A Great Weekend

We had the great experience of attending a convert baptism today of our friend Hailey. She is the good friend of our babysitter, Stefanie. Her story in a nutshell: Several months ago she approached Stefanie, who at the time was just an acquaintance and said basically, I'm church shopping, tell me about yours. She knew Stefanie attended church regularly but didn't really know anything about our church. She had been to a few others and didn't feel right at any of them. She said that the first time she walked into our church she felt like she was in the right place. She bore her testimony after her baptism and said how she felt the Spirit so strongly the first time she came to church. She said that there is so much love there. The missionaries have loved teaching her because she is so eager and humble. They would give her a reading assignment and the next time they would meet she would say, I couldn't remember exactly what I was supposed to read, so I just read the whole chapter (or book, or whatever.) Those lucky missionaries! It is such a great experience to teach someone like that who is truly seeking the truth. She loves the Book of Mormon and she has such a strong testimony of the Savior. Her baptism was so wonderful. Stefanie and another friend, Misty, gave the talks and several YW sang "I Am a Child of God." It has been a great experience for the girls in our ward. They have really loved and supported Hailey. There were a lot of tears all over the room, including Hailey's mom who is not a member. I know she felt the Spirit and is so happy that Hailey is so happy. She has seen a change in her that she is very pleased with. Claire was so excited for Hailey that she wanted to give her a present, so she looked through her treasures and found a notebook and a bookmark with a poem about baptism on it. She was so happy to give it to her and give her a big hug.

We also had a fun day yesterday going to the rock climbing gym. The kids, especially Claire, really love it. And she especially loves to pose, as always!

It was my first time, but after I got over the initial fear of letting go at the top and trusting the auto-belay, I had a good time too. I sure am sore today!

The kids like trying out the slack line--kind of like a tight rope. It was amazing to watch one of the guys do it (no ropes to hold, of course) and even turn around. I tried it and it's HARD!

Anson just liked playing with the chalk bag.