Sept. 6-J.s Real Birthday In Seattle, WA

   My gift to J. was an overnight getaway in Seattle. We were able to leave on Friday, Sept. 5th and attended a session at the Seattle Temple in Bellevue. We noticed some improvements inside and they had scaffolding on the steeple up to Moroni. After that we headed to a BYU Football team fireside at the Kent Stake Center. We sat on a row with Max Hall (#15 Quarterback- pic. above left) and David Nixon (#43 Linebacker). We were able to hear Spencer Hadley (#50 Middle Linebacker from Connell in uniform above) and Bryan Kariya (#28 running back recently returned from a mission to Melbourne, Australia) speak on discipleship. There was a quartet of football players that sang "Abide With Me", & the whole team sang "Army of Helaman". Holly and Coach Bronco Mendenhall both spoke. They shared some down to earth stories from their everyday lives and Bronco shared some scripture stories, stressing that if we put the kingdom of God first, all else falls into place. He shared thoughts from Elder Erying's talk "Timing Is Everything" and asked such questions as "What are you willing to give up everything for, when you won't see results for a long time? Football isn't #1,  it is maybe 4th or 5th on my priority list this weekend." It was a very spiritual meeting and people were packed throughout the church. We went and talked with Spencer and his parents, and tried to find Harvey Unga #45, whom we know. In the meantime, I got three pictures of players, Max Hall #15, Kellen Fowler #16 & Fui Vakapuna #1.         

      We spent the night at the Embassy Suites. We had a wonderful breakfast before we headed on our way to see BYU football play UW at the Husky stadium. Right before the game, we enjoyed a tasty barbecue & tailgate party with a band playing & met some new people. It was a very exciting game decided in the last seconds by a blocked kick by Jan Jorgensen. BYU won 28-27. We sat in Level 3 Sec. 50 which is on the southeast side of the stadium. We got some picutres overlooking the lake and beautiful scenery. Then we got a picture of Mt. Rainier in the distance while crossing over the floating bridge on our way back home. We waited along time in traffic, even after we took time to get a smoothie, after a long walk back to our car. It was a gorgeous day in Seattle & a great way to celebrate J.'s birthday!