Temple Square

On Sunday we went to spend a few hours walking around Temple Square in Salt Lake City. The weather was perfect and Gus loves being outside, sitting in a blanket on the grass and looking around. Ran into an old friend from my mission too!

When we got home we made homemade caramel to dip honey crisp apples in! We invited a few friends over and caught up.

And a picture of the sunshine streaming in our kitchen to end it off:

Be Stoic

Calvin first read the book, "the Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking" by Oliver Burkeman, and now I have gotten into it!

We are both particularly smitten with the description within the book of the  philosophy of the Stoics. Here is a quote that sums up nicely one of their main tenants:

"If you accept that the universe is uncontrollable, you're going to be a lot less anxious." Albert Ellis

A helpful exercise the stoics seem to engage in, is to imagine how any situation you fear could be a lot worse. It is strangely calming to use this technique! My genius aunt Barb used this method once when she was driving my sisters somewhere when we were kids and her car broke down. They kept repeating all that had gone wrong that day and then saying "but at least we don't have a lame donkey we have to carry on our backs!" 

Similar to Viktor Frankl's observations in his masterpiece: "Man's Search For Meaning", the Stoics seem to advocate acknowledging all that is outside of our control, while maintaining a clear vision of our ability to choose our reactions. An everyday (non tragic) example given in the book: 

If we don't like how long the line is at the grocery store- we can choose to wait and be a little late or leave. Getting angry no longer feels necessary because you acknowledge you do have a choice. 

My explanation/recap feels very weak compared to the insights found in the book! So far it's been a refreshing read. I highly recommend it!

Milestones!!

Today Gus is sitting up to play completely on his own for the first time! I have to be near by because he still wobbles quite a bit but I cannot believe how much stronger he is than even just a week ago. It is SO cool to see a tiny human grow up close. Here he is:

We just dropped Calvin off at school and are hanging out at home until lunch when we will attend a retirement party for one of the Judges I used to work for. I'm so excited to catch up with my work friends and show them how much Gus has grown. 

And here's a picture of Gus yesterday with his favourite toy- chicken!