Interesting and Heartbreaking Movie

I was at my friend Marianne's house this weekend and we watched the documentary about drugs in Utah-particularly within the Mormon church. It was very interesting-especially since I attended a funeral a few weeks ago for the brother of some dear friend's of mine where it was a drug-related death. It was just so sad. Drugs can really destroy people and it affects everyone in the family. This movie is a must see for everyone who has children or just wants to understand this Utah problem more or wants to understand better what many of those we know have gone through. It was very well done and very eye opening. I just keep thinking about it. I feel so very bad for those who get caught up in this addiction and I feel so bad for their families. It is just so tragic.

Swedish/International Open House

My mission companion has been back to Sweden many times. Somtimes to run marathons, sometimes to visit relatives, and sometimes for dress fittings. It was her dream to get the regional dress of her relatives, the Delsbo Drakt. This past May, she ran the Stockholm marathon and had her last fitting, so now it was time to throw a big party--and that is what she did. So, she invited 300 of her closest friends, had a feast in her yard with live accordian music, and had a grand time at a reception for her dress. Here are a few pictures.

Quick Update...

Ok, I have been doing stuff, just not blogging. Oh well, sometimes it is hard to keep up with everything. I will do a quick summary of the past few weeks.

1. Went to 7 Brides for 7 Brothers with a friend. It was pretty good.
2. Attended the Cache County Fair and bought a delicious fresh limeaid and a necklace--oh and the funnel cake we all shared was pretty tasty.
3. Attended a funeral of a dear friend's brother--it was super sad since it was a suicide and he was only 26 or so.
4. Went to my pool lots and got a little burned.
5. Found some long lost friends and mission companions on Facebook.
6. Actually did my visiting teaching at the BEGINNING of the month this time (usually it is at the end, or not at all)
7. Read an awesome book called The Hiding Place, very sad but very inspiring.

24th of July Festivities and Great Weekend!

I didn't really have any fun plans for the 24th, but then my friend Marianne came to the rescue. She came over with her darling children and we went to the parade, ate a scrumptious soup and salad lunch at the Olive Garden, and then to Willow Park and met up with Liz, Alayna, Jennifer and her beautiful girls, and Liz's parents. It was a blast! The kids went rock climbing and Alayna, Liz, Aubrey and Brinnan bought little frogs for pets. They are very cute.
We topped the day off with some fun swimming in the pool. Of course we had to push the large floating pool pad filled with 5 drunk (and still drinking) 20 year old boys away from us, which was annoying, but it was still very fun. It is too bad I didn't take any pictures of that floating pool thing...







On Saturday, I went to Salt Lake to have a fun day with my friends from down there. It was really fun. We watched some movies and shows on TV and had lots of fun and interesting conversation. We also had a delicious lunch of 9 types of cheeses, peaches, apples, grapes, maitake and chantrelle mushrooms, honey, and french bread. So yummmmmmmmy!!!! I do think that it is one of my favorite meals ever--especially the maitake mushrooms. They are fab!
Here are a few cheeses that we had. The first is Brie.

This is a caramel type cheese from Norway made from goats milk. No proper Norwegian can live without it. They will even pack it with them on vacation.

This is a soft cheese from France with layers of walnuts.

These are my favorite mushrooms of all time. If you love mushrooms, find some and saute them up for a real treat.