Willy Witches Weekend Day 2

The morning began with a quick run to the temple and back. It was 40 degrees and I was freezing and sucking wind to get enough air. I decided being cold and not acclimated to high altitude was not on my vacation agenda and bailed after less than a mile. The temple sure looked beautiful at sunrise, though, and I felt great joy in the symbolism of being able to route the course of my run in its direction. 

Cousins Ella and Claire headed to Colorado with their parents for a soccer tournament that morning. Quincy was glad to have 2 minutes to pop in for a cousin hug with Ella and wish her luck on her games. 


We went to Gardner Village for the Carnival of Witches Breakfast with Grandma Lynda, Auntie Jana, and cute little cousin Avery. 













The breakfast show ended up being targeted for a much younger audience than we had anticipated, but the girls were good sports, and we made our own fun walking around all the cute shops and hunting down all the funny witch decorations. It was decorated so cute for fall. I’m such a sucker for porches donned with corn stalks, hay bales and gourds! 

We ended up back down in Provo at Kneaders for lunch, with the plan of heading up Provo canyon in search of something “naturey” and something “artsy” per the girls’ requests. I had told Kristi we were doing Kneaders for lunch, and she walked in the door while we ate!  What?!  My heart could burst seeing these two  besties reunited.  


And 10 minutes later, Carly walked through the door!!! Worlds colliding! Some of my favorites all in the same place! I suddenly felt so grateful that if my friends needed to move away, there was a great tender mercy that they were moved to Utah, where I would have opportunities to see them. 

On a whim, Reese suggested we check something off the Utah bucket list and “hike the Y.” 

I’ve never done this, and Carly, being the good sport she is, jumped on board and led the way. And so we headed up Y mountain in totally inappropriate shoes. But aside from being in slip ons that are basically the closed toed equivalent of rubber flip flops, it was the best! Weather could not have been more perfect. Skies were so clear we could see all the way to the Payson Temple. The colors on the mountain were gorgeous, and the company and conversation were so good. 


The girls were SO proud of their accomplishment when they reached the top.  The hike is only a mile long, but it’s quite the climb! We stopped to rest and talk and encourage each other. Beautiful day. 














After our hike, we parted ways with Pendletons and drive over to UVU campus...which is hardly recognizable from when I was a UVSC student there almost 20 years ago. So much growth! 

I’d hoped to take the girls for a stroll through the hall of flags and to see the Foucault Pendulum. Instead, we were totally captivated in the Holdman Roots of Knowledge project in the library. 

Wow! This is, by far, the most immersive art installation I have ever experienced. Quincy is particularly fascinated by glass artwork, be it blown, painted or crafted into stained window masterpieces.  The creative vision, and technical care required for glass art methods are just remarkable. 


We all agreed that our favorite panel depicted Chinese lanterns. I loved seeing these included in art that is totally dedicated to showing how knowledge has been along and acquired since the creation period. Im pleased that the girls recognize the tradition of sending lanterns of light and knowledge and testimony as part of our family culture. 


We could have spent hours here, searching for pop culture, fictional, and historical references. Our tour guide pointed out several tangible items embedded in the glass. A piece of the Berlin Wall. A jump drive time capsule. A mite coin (like the widows mite). Fossils, and stones. I would have loved to see the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ included in this piece of art. There were a few references to the church (covered wagon, Salt Lake City temple, a quote from Joseph Smith, a sunstone from nauvoo temple), but nothing about the Book of Mormon, or restoration of the Holy Priesthood. I found this surprising, considering the permanent location of the art, and because excerpts from many religious texts from around the world and throughout history were included. There so are many beautiful truths carefully welded into this masterpiece.  The Book of Mormon is a direct line of communication between God and his children. Talk about a great source of knowledge! It seems a tragedy leave out such a sacred book in a panoramic kaleidoscope dedicated to knowledge, when a large population of the world have found treasures of wisdom and inspiration through reading its text. 

The evening ended with dinner from Noodles & Company and the girls watched a movie with cousins Hannah and Abby while I did a session in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Any day that begins and ends with the temple is a good one. This day happened to be stuffed with goodness the whole day! 

Willy Witches Weekend: Day 1

Reese, Quincy, and I took a little weekend trip to Utah. 

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and went straight to In N Out Burger.  

Then, we went down to Provo with plans to drop in on Kristi at her desk on the BYU campus. We missed her, but left her notes on her computer, instead. 

We did a drive by of the apartments across the street from each other where Aaron and I lived when we met and fell in love. The girls loved hearing stories about our college and dating days.  




Onward to Chip Cookies. They were too hot/gooey to eat immediately, so we drove over to Provo City Center Temple and ate our cookies while we walked around the beautiful temple grounds. The weather was perfect! 

Uncle Mark works in the Nuskin building right next door. He called as we were finishing up and invited us up to his office for a tour of the top floors, reception hall, and the product lab. 

CFO Quincy looking fly on the job. 


Reese loved the board room because “It looks just like the one from ELF where Miles Finch runs across the table and attacks Buddy!” She’s right, it does! 




Quincy opted to ride to Mark and Melinda’s in American Fork in the Porsche and asked to test drive the Tesla...mark let her drive the mini power wheels Tesla,  instead. 


Cousin Brock had an Eagle board review, then we grabbed dinner from Cafe Rio and met up with Auntie Melinda and Cousins Taylor abd Zachary back at the house.  It was a quick visit, but I love any chance to see some of my siblings, niece and nephews! 

Open Hearts Open Homes Gala

My friend Lindsey, who is also a foster mother, had tickets to the Open Hearts Open Homes Gala, last night. Her husband got sick and she asked me to be her last minute date. Um, yes! 

The event was held at a local reception/event center called Horton Farms. It was gorgeous property abd im kicking myself for not taking any pictures of the beautiful land and barn! 

Anyway, it was “cocktail attire”. 

Say what? 

I figured I would just wear my token black dress and call it good, but consulted my fashion living friend, Naomi, about whether I could get away with flats or if I should try to borrow a pair of heels. 

Her her reply was awesome. “That dress is a no go. Give me five minutes.” 

And five minutes later, she called me back with instructions to go to Mardee’s house to pick up this dress and necklace, to Jill Smallwood’s for a clutch purse and eyebrow pencil and foundation, and to her house while my girls were in cello and violin lessons so she could do my hair and makeup. 

She also had borrowed some super glammariffic heels from Koree, but they didn’t fit, I don’t really know Koree well enough to comfortable borrow something from her, and I fall over when I try to walk in heels anyway, so I slummed it in pair of nude flats. Naomi worked a miracle in 20 minutes and basically painted a new face on me. Haha! My mom let me borrow a pair of my grand mother’s earrings and behold: 

Cocktail Attire Meg

Fostering has given me the twins, but also given me many beautiful children and parents to love, who are not living in my home, but absolutely part of my family/team. Lindsey is a wonderful mother and has taught me so much about God’s timing, trust, and being an advocate for children and families. 

Though we did not do our training through The Call, I support their mission to educate and open as many Christian Foster and Adoptive Homes as they can, so that more children who come into care can be introduced to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the healing and redemptive power of His infinite Atonement. Foster children experience a LOT of hurt. Abandonment, Trauma, Maltreatment, Neglect, Abuse,  Instability, Danger, Hunger, Confusion, Homelessness, Addictive Substance Exposure, and Separation all can offer heaping doses of Lonliness, Mental Illness, Fear, Anger, Sadness, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Low Self Esteem, Betrayal, Dissappintment, Delays, and Disassociation. The Atonement coveres all these ailments and offers healthy growth through connection with knowledge and exposure to the pure love of Christ.  As Christians, we cannot rely on the government to provide all of the resources necessary for complete healing from adverse childhood experiences, so we can and must use our homes and families to close that gap. Congrats to the Call for continuing to take this mission across the state of Arkansas to Open Hearts and Open Homes.