Saturday I spent a wonderful day with just my family. We had a "junk day" (where you do whatever you feel like doing at the spur of the moment.) So we packed up and were headed towards the Vancouver Farmer's Market. On the way there my mom was looking at the newspaper and noticed that a couple of tall ships were docked in Vancouver that were free to tour. We felt like going there, especially my mom because she has a passion for the sea and tall ships, so we went there first and toured the tall ships. We took turns going on because my older sister is disabled and she couldn't go aboard. Then we decided to go to the Farmer's Market. My dad and I are big BBQ buffs, so we got some BBQ, but my brother and mom aren't that crazy about it, so they got Japaneses. We then really spurged when we bought homemade donuts and kettle corn. After walking around the Farmer's Market, we hit Vancouver Fort. That was my favorite! Just as my mom is passionate about Tall Ships, I'm crazy about history, especially the 1800 time period. Something about it gets me energized. I like to tell people I was born in the wrong time period. We spent a lot of time there touring around and learning more about our history. I could have stayed there forever! Then we went shopping at Costco. That used to be a big thing for our family. We would go to Costco every other week and stock up. We would have dinner and then all shop as a family. I have very fond memories of discussions around the picnic tables and fun times shopping around the big warehouse. :)
We then all came home and took a nice, lovely nap until the evening time. We were all planning on going to Comedy Sportz (an improve comedy club), but my dad's hip was really hurting, so he stayed home with my sister. Grant, my mom, and I went and met up with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Oscar. We had a blast! It was hysterical of course and very fun to do it together! I even got pulled up on stage. Of course on the way home, we hit the ever popular McDonalds for an ice cream cone! :)
It was a WONDERFULLY FANTASTIC day! I give you all the details of the day to show you how the little things a family does is really important (having BBQ with dad, visiting tall ships with mom, singing in the car with my brother, sitting with my sister). In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe families are ordained of God and are part of his plan for us. Families are the most wonderful gift from God. They give us a group of people that we can grow with and work together on returning to our Heavenly Father. Here is a quote from mormon.org about families:
"The family is the fundamental unit of society and the primary setting in which children develop virtue. God has placed families at the center of His eternal plan for the happiness of His children. In a family, children learn about love, trust, loyalty, cooperation, and service. They learn how to behave in a community and develop the attributes of good citizenship. The health of any society lies in the strength of its families. Thus, strengthening families will strengthen communities and nations."
The 1995 The Church issued "A Proclamation to the World" which is a declaration about our belief in families. To read it visit: http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,161-1-11-1,00.html
I am so grateful for my family. They are truly my best friends. I am grateful for my parents who have devoted their life to our family. I am grateful for the strong bond I have with my family. Whatever a person's situation, they too can have a strong family if they just put the effort into it. And believe me it is worth it. Think about it... "Family. Isn't about time?"
