Rainbow at Orem Temple

 

This evening I met my brother, Joseph, at the Orem Temple. Dad is currently a sealer in the Orem Temple while the Provo Temple is being rebuilt. Joseph and I attended one of Dad's sealing sessions. It was a beautiful experience. Part of that beautiful experience happened before we entered the temple. I took the above video just a few minutes before I arrived at the temple, while waiting a stoplight.

15 minutes later, God provided this scene.

With Joseph

Layton Temple Open House

 10-year-old Douglas and I walked two miles to the Layton Temple this afternoon. We left the van at a glass repair shop to get a rock chip repaired and we had to come back two hours later. So, we walked to the temple, did a tour, and walked the two miles back to pick up the van.

That is Douglas eating a snack on the bench.

Coombs Family Reunion (Saint George, Utah)

 Last week we spent a few days playing in Saint George for the Coombs Family reunion.

We went straight to the pools on the afternoon we arrived in Saint George.

Krew and Jarren coming down the slide.

Penny coming down the slide.

Tristan and Penny jumping off the rocks.

Schofield jumping off the rocks.

Kendrick jumping into the water.

Harrison and Diana playing pickleball.

We ate all kinds of yummy foods.

Penny, Charly, Ivy, Diana

Penny decided grapes in a hotdog bun would taste better than a hotdog in a hotdog bun.

Many games were played.

Jarren and Grandma

Ivy and Penny

Krew, Douglas, Sam, and Stacie playing Settlers of Catan.

Playing He-Man with Harrison and Reed.

Harrison and Reed

Kendrick and Ivy

Diana, Taylor, Charly

Making crepes for one of the breakfasts. We 10x the recipe.

We spent a few hours at a larger pool area on the second day.

Spencer and Nate doing a bit of brotherly wrestling.

Schofield jumping to catch the football.

Krew jumping to catch the football.

Jarren

Tristan jumping into the lazy river.

Krew and Douglas fighting against the current of the lazy river.

Lydian getting a ride on her Dad's (Andrew's) back.

Lydian and Andrew

Happy Ivy (with her Dad, Clayton)

Not-so-happy Ivy

Our family occupied this section of the pool most of the time.

Penny and Tristan jumping into the water.

Seth and his sons, Reed and Jarren.

Ivy with her Mom (Kate), and Lydian and Penny to the right.

Grandpa Doug relaxing in the shade.

Charly jumping to her uncle, Nate.

Sam floating on the lazy river.

Penny jumping into the water.

Left-to-right: Grandma Margaret, Stacie, Diana, Valerie, Charly

Charly

Diana

You can see Penny smiling through the water.

Charly and Diana

Spencer (above) and Valerie and Nate (below) taking naps after all the fun in the sun. Everyone was thoroughly worn out by the end of our few days in southern Utah.

Slow-motion video of Diana hitting the ping pong ball. And here's the clearer version:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/amo9jn9Qczo

Early on Saturday morning, Sam and I visited the new Red Cliffs Temple, which is located 20 minutes from where we had the family reunion.

This is the funny brother who took our picture for us. While he was taking pictures, his wife started laughing and commented that he was smiling while photographing us. Now we know why. Unbeknownst to us, he decided to take a picture of himself as well. 😁

Stacie, Sam, Jori, Grandma, and Kate chatting in the kitchen.

Stacie, Jori, Kate

These three beautiful ladies are bringing three new babies to the family in a few months. Stacie and Kate are due in August, and Jori is due in September.

Playing pool on the morning we checked out of the house we stayed in during the reunion. The pool table was probably the most used item during the three days. The kids loved it!

Douglas loved the pool table so much that he came home and immediately went to work building a pool table out of legos.

We attended a nearby Sacrament Meeting before departing Saint George on Sunday morning. Note the exhaustion on the faces of the kids. Too much fun and sun!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who planned this very successful family reunion!