Paddle boarding at the Bay and other good stuff...

 Stacey's boyfriend was such a sweetie  to take the time to show us how to paddle board!  He is a fireman and had just finished working 90 hours and came right over to meet us at the bay  with his two paddle boards.  I just wanted to come along for the ride so I could watch themand take some pictures, but when they got done, he asked me if I wanted to give it a try and i was like,,,why not?  it looked like a lot of fun! And it was!

Stacey's boyfriend took KC and Kelley out first to show them how to get on the board.  You kind of plant your paddle on one side to balance, then put the other foot up on the board and push yourself up onto the board.  KC hopped right on...Kelley, not so much.  It looked pretty tricky to balance.  Obie was really great though and helped Kelley until he finally got up. 

I had a good time chatting with Obie while Kelley and KC paddled all over the bay.  He is really a great guy.  Stacey has been dating him for a while and they are going to be married in October. 

We had a pretty cool experience with Stacey when we first got there.  She has been investigating the church for some time and her and Obie are both very spiritual people.  They pray together all the time to find guidance in their lives.  Katie had been telling her about how Kelley would at times give her a priesthood blessing to give her comfort and guidance.  She said, "could I have one?"

So Saturday night, Stacey  came over to our condo and brought a wonderful chicken dish that her and Obie had been working on (that was just delicious!) and we had a nice dinner together. Being a news reporter, she is full of stories and fun to talk to...(Katie said she is a motivational speaker too and I could totally see that in her...she makes you feel like you can accomplish anything!. After dinner we started talking about the church. Kelley asked her if she knew what a priesthood blessing was all about.  She has done her homework on the church and knows the Bible inside and out, but didn't really understand about where the priesthood power came from.

Then KC started telling her all about it.  He started back when Jesus was on the earth and how he used the power from God to bless and heal people.  Then before he was crucified, he gave this power to his twelve apostles.  They used this power until they were all killed  off, then the power of the priesthood was no longer on the earth.  These were the dark ages.  Then when Joseph Smith asked...well KC went on telling the whole story of how the priesthood was restored to the earth and now how it blesses our lives today. It just seemed to flow from him so naturally and was so easy to understand the way he explained it... I don't really know how to express the love I felt for my son as I listened to him share his testimony of the gospel with Stacey.  It was the first time I could really picture him doing what he had done for two years in Russia.  The spirit there was so strong.  Then Kelley and KC laid their hands on her head and gave her a beautiful blessing.  It was probably the best part of my whole vacation.

 This was so fun!  I hated Keeping Obie there any longer since he hadn't slept for 3 days, so I just paddled around the bay once.  I'd sure like to do it again though...I could have gone all afternoon!