jkslade.net

Last month I had the privilege of baptizing my second son, Trent. To me, it is one of the greatest joys I have as a father, and a great confirmation to me of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel — that I can administer to my own family through the power and authority of the priesthood.

That thought was also expressed by Elder Enrique R. Falabella of the Seventy:

The Church of Jesus Christ is a church of priests, “a royal priesthood, an holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9).

The restored Church gives to each home a priesthood holder with the power of God to bless. How many times I have been able to hear the soft, sweet voice of a little child at home say, “Daddy, could you give me a blessing?” and put my hands upon his or her head in moments of pain and difficulty and pronounce blessings of comfort and healing and see the power of the priesthood exercise its influence and the next day hear that little voice say, “Thanks, Daddy, I slept just fine last night.” We don’t need to go out looking for someone having that power—it is among us! What a blessing to be able to teach this principle to our children! This is the only church upon the earth which offers such a blessing to families.

It’s turning cold, definitely getting to be time for fall. It’s not unusual for Fort Collins to get snow in September, though it doesn’t look like that is going to happen this year — it’s not that cold. But fall and winter are on the way. I know Trent’s excited: he’s been asking summer about when we can go skiing again. So this week I got to stand in line with a bunch of other crazy folks for some ski passes to Copper Mountain. It will be fun when we can all go as a family, but for now I enjoy alternating trips with one boy at a time.

But first we have to finish up soccer season. Both Caleb’s and Trent’s teams have been totally dominating in their games — total combined scores of something like 40-8. Tp add some excitement, Caleb’s coaches offered to reward the team with pizza if they score off a header. So they’ve been working hard on it the past few weeks at it, and this week they managed to get one. Within a few seasons, the team will probably start to split up as some go to the more competitive leagues, which play on Sunday, unfortunately. But we figure there will be other sports to be involved in, so we’ll get over it.

Alec had his first music program at preschool this week. It was great fun to see him beaming. There are so many simple pleasures like that in being a parent. Along with the cold this week, we also got some rain and thunderstorms — Our dog, Madi, freaked out and escaped from the back yard. We had to pay to get her back from the Humane Society the next morning. That part is definitely not a pleasure, but she has been a welcome addition to our household, and the boys were all very relieved to have her back at home.

I’m staying extremely busy with work. The interviewing I had been doing didn’t really go the way I was hoping, but I’m glad I’ve done it, it was educational. I do feel like I’m at a bit of a crossroads in my professional life, trying to decide what the next 10 years will be spent on. But it looks like I’ll keep chugging away where I am for now at least. I just want to be ready to recognize and sieze on the opportunities that are prepared for me when that time comes.

One good thing about the cooler weather: it’s great sleeping weather. Even with the temps dropping down to 30’s and 40’s at night, Kim’s a furnace and wants the windows open. That’s quite a reversal! Still about two months to go for the next baby — it feels like it’s been a year at least so far, but no doubt the last stretch will not be long enough. We have plenty to do to get ready, like find the infant cloths, make room for the crib, and think about some names. Any suggestions?

More pictures here … Until next time!