Michael, Catie, and Olivia Vineyard: June 2012

Oy, it has been some time since we last posted. This post may be ginormous, so be warned.

I will start with the most recent since it is still on my mind.

This past weekend was crazy busy. Friday night I ran 10 miles with Beal and Nicki as a part of our Ragnar training. I was pooped and exhausted after that; normally we do our long runs on Saturday mornings, but I had to go to San Diego for a convention on Saturday and would not be able to run. So Friday night it was. It really was a great run, especially considering my shuffle died 4 miles in.

Anyway, we had a long run and did not get home until late. I had to get up super early to get to the airport on time for above mentioned convention, and on top of that, I had to get up at 3 in the freaking morning on Sunday to fly home. To say the least it was a quick trip. I prayed so hard that night that I would have help getting through the weekend alive. It was just thing after thing after thing. Prayer works.....

Not to belittle the power of prayer, but I also discovered that caffeine pills also work..... after getting home from the airport and being reunited with my love, he could tell I was pooped and offered to make me a gatorade. It was not until after I had chugged it down that he told me he had crushed some caffeine pills into it so I would stay awake. He drugged me! Never in my life had I felt so violated, but it as pretty dang funny. Let's just say that they pills sure worked, I was antsy all during church and my legs would not stop twitching. It is definitely not something I will be doing again anytime soon, both taking caffeine pills or drinks from my husband.

Speaking of church, we had the opportunity to go to the baby blessing of Scott Parish Covey. Covey's and Anderson's live in the same ward, so we get to visit it often. I LOVE THEIR WARD! Each and every time we go, we leave feeling the spirit so strongly. It reminds me of Merced 1st ward. Yes the church is true across the board, but I definitely have my favorites. The blessing was beautiful. Scotty was blessed with guidance and direction in his life, along with the foundation of where he comes from. He was named after really great men who are in his life, my dad being one of them. It is crazy to think about where we come from and how we have our ancestors to thank for where we are. I felt Grandma Ila so strongly during the blessing. I felt the power of the priesthood and the love of our Heavenly Father for each and every one of us.

Being as it was the first Sunday of the month, it was Fast and Testimony meeting. There were several great testimonies shared, but the very last one is what hit me the most. A woman spoke about how a testimony is something worth fighting for, even though it may be hard sometimes. There have been instances in my life where if I did not rely on my testimony, I know for a fact that I would not be enjoying the blessings I am now. We have the agency to decide what path we take when faced with trials, and whichever path we choose determines the rest of our life, not to mention our children and our children's children. If life were peachy and we weren't faced with adversity, we would miss out on valuable lessons that would help us grow and our testimony to mature. So when trials come that make you doubt your testimony, fight for it. DO NOT let go of your testimony, no matter how easy it is to give up and stop trying. DAH! I wish you all could have been there and felt the spirit in the room.

On that note, let's see what else has been going on. Michael has finally finished his 6 week field camp where he got to prove how great of a geologist he is. It was a long 6 weeks to say the least, but I am so proud of him and all of his hard work. I know he is going to do great things with his degree and that we are so blessed that he was able to study something he loves so much. It sucked having him gone, I am a big blob of sobs and pity parties when he is gone, especially for so long at a time. I was lucky enough to go down to St. George and visit him for the weekend during one of his longer trips. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa McCombs and enjoyed their hospitality. Family is the best.

I am teaching with Strengthening Families again this summer and am loving it. I was basically offered a job to work with the people who run Strengthening Families, which would be like a dream job for me. Due to our current situation, now is not the time for me to work there, but the fact that it was an unsolicited offer just tickled me pink.

Enjoy some pictures from our recent adventures... and when I say our, I really mean Michael's trip to Hawaii, because that is cooler than anything I have been up to.