I've got my sack in my pack, I've got my pack on my back, today's the day I'm going camping....

About two weeks ago Jord and I decided we wanted to go to the temple. The nearest to us is the Preston temple, a six hour drive if you don't get lost. The morning of our departure was smooth sailing. I had us all packed and ready to go around noon and was on schedule to pick up Jordan from work at 1:00. Jordan however had to stay at work late and our time of departure ended up being a disappointing 2:30. That late start was the beginning of the end. We were traveling with a friend of mine (Magnolia), and her daughter. The idea being that we would take turns with the kids while at the temple. Along with a ton of food, Magnolia brought a Tom Tom. Jord and I instantly fell in love with the little gadget. We would ooh and ahh at how brilliantly the Tom Tom spoke directions, advised of upcoming turns and displayed the approaching cities. Like a blind man liberated with a seeing eye dog. Jord and I basked in the ease of our journey. There was only one little problem. We had set our destination incorrectly. Sadly we were following a blind 'seeing eye dog'. Although it didn't take us wildly off course, our detours set us back even later and we ended up pulling into our campsite in the dark. Yes, you read correctly, our CAMPSITE. Temple accommodation was completely full (filled ironically enough by the Aberdeen stake temple trip). Sooooo I figured camping would be a great way to save some cash and enjoy the Lake District as well. It was NOT enjoyable - not even close. It was the opposite, it was misery. I had borrowed a tent which was extremely complicated to put up. It had three little rooms inside a larger space and took forever to only partially put up. Partially.



The reason we could not complete the set up, aside from our extreme exhaustion and our tired little children, was because the battery in our car died and then all of the lights in our car went out as well. We were left completely in the dark to lay down our bedding, find our pj's and put our little ones to sleep. The children (whom we bundled in a ton of clothes and settled in cozy blankets) slept beautifully, unlike the rest of us who tossed and turned on a hard ground and felt wet tent flapping on our backs. I won't continue in describing the misery that our night was. Let me just say that around 4 a.m. I quietly moaned to Jordan, "I just want the sun to come, I just want this night to end." Well, there is a very happy ending to this story.....the sun came up!!! The night ended, our children were unharmed and we were able to get our car running again. My ultimate moment of triumph was when I walked through those beautiful temple doors. As I walked in, all my stress and unhappiness immediately melted away and I was filled with an intensely calm and peaceful bliss. I was so happy to be in that spiritual and physical haven my eyes filled with tears. A kind woman showed me to where I needed to go and in an attempt to explain my moist eyes, I said to her "I'm just so happy that I'm finally here."

Pumpkin Patch!

On our way home from a ward party at the beach we ran into this pumpkin patch with our friends the Morrises. It's called McGrath St. Pumpkin Patch and it was the best pumpkin farm we've ever seen. They had free hayrides, although it was late in the day so we didn't take advantage, and bargain prices. They also had some of the wackiest pumpkins and gourds we've ever seen! We are going to carve our pumpkin tomorrow for FHE- looking forward to it!

Luddite reflections at work

Just signed on to the blog. Thanks to juliancalebmomma for setting it up. I can see this is an exciting new world for a Luddite ( do we still use that word) like me. I'm sitting here at work waiting for a c section to begin. Very exciting. There goes my pager. I'll let you know how it goes.

Luv, Grampa

Mischief Makers

I came across this video today as I was uploading the recent additions- it was taken just a week or two before the barricade went up... now you can see what I mean!

the party is so over

BUSTED!

It has been noted in recent weeks that a level of disruption unlike any other has descended upon the Puente household. While initially the dissemblement of pots, pans and other sundry items was met with tolerance and even encouragement, the frequency of such disruptions and disorderly behavior has risen so sharply as to really get on the nerves of the household's adult tenants. After much perusing of used baby items advertisements and a long drive to Torrance, relief may be at hand. As of September 29, 2006 the first gate was erected in the Puente home to prevent entry into what will be hereafter referred to as 'the kitchen.' The purpose of the blockade is to attempt to restore some semblance of order, and recover what precious little sanity remains.




Initially the disturbers were quite agitated about the inaccessibility into 'the kitchen' (aka their playroom), but they gradually got used to the idea and now use the blockade as a launching point to practice their walking.

YW

On Sunday I was called as 1st counsellor in Young Womens!!!!!! The exclamation marks I added are deliberate and sincere. I am sooooo excited about the calling. I absolutely love working in Young Womens. (I know Coleen knows how sad I am that I wasn't called into primary) Anyways, first order of business is planning the YW in Excellence evening - if any of you have some good ideas I'd love to hear them.

caleb takes a few steps

Caleb is walking so often now that we'll turn our backs and look at him and he's teetering from one corner of the couch to the armchair across the carpet. We're wise enough to know that anything new our boys are doing seems to develop in fits and starts- one day they'll be doing it every chance they get and the next day they seem to have forgotten how, especially in front of the camera. But we did catch this little piece of fun last night. I'm predicting that he'll be walking exclusively by the end of October- right around the time of his unofficial first birthday/elusive due date of October 9.