4th of July

This post is a bit past due. The 4th of July has always been my favorite holiday. I am not sure why, but some times I feel that it was the great time I had as a child celebrating the birth of our country. Growing up in Idaho we had this routine that we did every year and us children all love it. When talking about our favorite holidays, many of us say the 4th of July, then follow up with the same reasoning. Fourth of July in Idaho meant a beautiful summer day. It started with a parade, then swimming at Rigby Lake, a BBQ, and ended with a great fireworks show. I loved all of these things.

This year for the 4th of July we went to my parents house, but the holiday has greatly changed since they no longer live in Idaho. Yet, the vacation was still relaxing and fun. Matt, Kammi and I, along with Sharon and Spencer and kids went to Utah.

One of the first days we were there, Pam and Sandi and Jeremy came down. That evening we headed up into he canyon and roasted hot dogs.

After dinner Cale encouraged us to go hiking and we found this big boulder to climb on.
Debbie, Sharon, and Kammi:

Carli, Spencer and Cale:

Debbie and Matt:


The weekend was filled of fun activities including, golfing, fireworks, swimming, snowies, more. Here is a fun picture of Matt and Cale on the trampoline. I liked this picture because it took when Cale was really high and I think it kind of scared him.

One last thing we were able to do is attend the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house. I loved this and here are some pictures of us afterward. (As you should be able to tell, it was kind of bright)
Cale and Carli
Cale, Carli and Danielle

Sharon, Spencer, Danielle, Matt, Cale, Debbie, Carli, Mother, Pam


Me and Matt

The Yard

Matt and I decided to work on the yard a bit this summer. Last year we "let it go" and that was a big mistake. It became a jungle back there and made the work to fix it much worse. It had a grassy area, with no sprinklers and we always forgot to put the sprinkler out there to water it and then the grass died and weeds came. Then there was a rock garden, in one corner their was a square, blocked out with bricks that had all rocks in it. We decided we wanted to put in a sprinkler system so that the grass would no longer die and to take out the rock garden and make the grass area larger. When Matt's parents, Nathan and Natalie were all in town we solicited their help to removing all the rocks. It was great of them to help, as that is a horrible chore. Here is a picture after the rocks were all removed. (Unfortunately we have no before pictures)

Then we spent the next week planning and preparing. I got to till the ground and it was so much fun, I was pleasantly surprised. Then the morning of installing the sprinklers came. We again solicited the help of others. A guy in our ward, Steve, has a pipe puller, so he was invited. Here he is with his machine.
We have power boxes in our backyard, therefore power lines run right through the middle of the yard and the pipe puller couldn't be used all the way across. Some other friends from the ward came and helped build trenches. Our yard is not big so the work didn't take too long.



















We were very thankful to all those that came and helped, we could not have done it without all the help. Especially to the Huber's who stayed all day long and got all the fine pieces put together.

We then put some seed down and this hay stuff so that the seed would not blow away. Now we just have to wait and see it anything grows. I will keep updating with pictures. Hopefully it will turn into a nice back yard.

Then I just like this picture of Kammi, sitting waiting to get to work, she has been a great help going out with us every night working till dark with us.

A New Calling

(Just before we start, if you're not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this may not make a ton of sense to you. Feel free to ask any clarifying questions that may come up.)

So about two weeks ago I got a random phone call from the Stake Executive Secretary asking if I could come and talk to the 1st Counselor in the Stake Presidency. It was Saturday, and when Debbie was around I casually mentioned it to her. We thought that it was no big deal, in fact she had gotten a similar call recently which lead to her position as Girl's Camp Nurse.

Maybe I should preface all that by saying that there was an opening in our Bishopric, but it had been open for several weeks and I was certain that by now they already had gotten their man. Debbie even reassured me the night before that she as sure that that calling had already been filled.

Since we thought that it was no big deal, and she hadn't been asked to come, Debbie decided not to make the 8am meeting. The member of the Stake Presidency & the Executive Secretary seemed very upset about that, and that made me start to think that maybe this was more than just a simple assignment. I went into the room with President Fafita, and he began to talk to me.

I started to look around to see if I could find any hint of what the calling I was about to receive was going to be. Nothing on the paper he had out. Nothing in the binder. Then I looked down into his bag for a moment and saw the Priesthood Advancement form. I knew that this couldn't be good. Then he extended the calling, 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric.

To say the least, I was stunned. I had never really considered myself to be the kind of person that would be called to the bishopric, my father hadn't ever been. Most of my friends growing up didn't have parents that were ever in the Bishopric. I was overwhelmed. He said that I should talk to my wife about it and get back to him before the meetings began at 11.

I went out to my car to call Debbie and to see what she thought. When I called her and told her what they had wanted me to do, she laughed. I think that she thought that I was kidding. When I made it clear that I was not, she was very supportive. She told me that she was sure that I would do a great job, and her words seemed to calm me down a great deal. Knowing that she was supportive seemed to give me the confidence that I needed to be able to accept this new position.

After I got off the phone with her, I decided that it was time to call my parents. I wanted them to know about such an important change in my life. My dad answered the phone. I told him about my new calling. Without missing a beat, he told me that our ward must be getting desperate. I told him that there were only 3 guys in the ward, so they didn't really have a lot of choices. If you ever wonder about my sarcastic nature (or of any of the Salt boys) you can look no further than our father. He is always joking and making wise-cracks, and so it's not that surprising that his kids are that way.

Then I talked to my mom. When I told her what was going on, she told me that it must have ruined my day. I told her that it ruined more than my day. I think that my dad is rubbing off on her. But they were very supportive, and "fortunately" my family was already planning to be here in Denver the next weekend. I got on the phone to call my grandpa, to see if he would be able to make, and he was able to come, so it became a mini-reunion.

This was six weeks ago and since then it's been a different and difficult challenge working in the bishopric, but I've been very fortunate to have so many people offer their support and encouragement. It will continue to be a different & unique opportunity going forward.