Our Journey to Forever

Catching up!

2012-01-24T08:09:00.000-08:00

I have neglected the blog! I tried to post a few times, but it was taking forever to upload pictures and I didn't want to have to wait for forever! So here's a quick re-cap of December!

Eddie became a rap star! Yep! His Rap name is ICE-ICE CICLE!!!

He's just preparing for his favorite service of the year....Yep! I would have never told him out right but when he saw this picture he said,
"I look like Hi-me!" That would be his father and yes, he does!

Because I had made him such an adorable lion costume for Halloween, when Adam's Kindergarten teacher told the class they were going to have Elf Day, he went home asked his Mom, "Do you think Dee would make me an elf costume?" Ta-da! Adam the Elf!

Bill and Sheila came to town to surprise everyone for Christmas! We were in on the surprise. We took them up to Salt Lake and stopped by the UP House! I was so happy, cuz it was open and we could see the inside. After I had blogged about visiting the exterior, the builder's daughter commented on my blog telling me that it was open during the day and you could tour the house! So glad I got to see the inside before it's new family moved in!

It was awesome! The aqua kitchen appliances were hilarious. My Grandma would have loved them.

Russel's Merit Badges!

They even have the Adventure Book and a big glass jug bank to save money for Paradise Falls! And it was almost full!

The chairs!

Cool old phonograph!

The mural!

The babies room!

Doug in the crib!

The Master Bedroom!

Mr. Fredrickson's ties!

Elli & Carl

Mr. Fredrickson's hats!

The basement had two bedrooms and they weren't shown in the movie so they decorated one from Toy Story and the other was a Princess room!

Very cute!

After the UP House, we went to Temple Square. We watched the movei at the JSMB, cuz they hadn't seen it yet! When we came out from the movie, it was dark and all the lights were on!

So pretty!

Adam & Tessa Christmas morning

My favorite Christmas picture!!!

I think we took this New Years Day! We watched the Rose Parade! So sad not to be able to drive down and watch the B-2 fly over!

We welcomed the new addition to the family! Little Gwen was born on January 3rd!

She is so cute!

A happy mommy and big brother and sister!

My Christmas Gift

2011-11-12T05:33:00.001-08:00

Last night I got my Christmas Present from Eddie! We took a bunch of our return missionaries to dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe! It was so good to see them and spend some time together! Enjoy some photos from the evening!

Jessica Riches & Eddie "Ewww!"

Eddie & "Heraldo" aka David Herrera

Pitt Bull aka Paul Rasmussen, Kayla Bradfield, The Legend aka Jon Horan

Opie aka Pete Copeland, The Legend, Pitt Bull, and ET aka Steven Elliott

"Elder Choi" aka Ryan! and Me!

Kelsey & Dane Sorensen & me!

The Majors!!! Ben & Tasha

The Majors, The Sorensens and Eddie

Jessica and Sandy

Eddie & Scotty Catt and their matching shirts!

The Bowman's!!! Zack & Brittany!!!!

Heraldo & Ryan

Jessica, Me, Scotty, Zack & Brittany

Opie & The Legend!

Once Companions....Now Roommates!!!!! Pitt Bull & ET

Good Times!!! The best Christmas Present Ever!!!

Let's do it again!!!!

My big 5-0 is coming up the end of January!!!!

Halloween Photos

2011-11-11T14:30:00.000-08:00

Adam, Tessa & Ares on Halloween night before Truck-or-treating!

The Adams' Halloween Party. Christine was Janis Joplin and Chris was Jimi Hendrix.

The Wanlass Gang

Me at my finest!

I made Adam & Tessa's costumes!

An adorable Dorothy!

FUN!

Turkey Chili with Chipotle Peppers

2011-10-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

1 TBSP Canola Oil
2 Med. Onions, Chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 lbs ground turkey meat
1/4 cup chili powder
2 bay leaves
1 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes (including juices)
2 TBSP tomato paste
2 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped
2 tsp adobo sauce (from chipotle can)
3 cups chicken broth
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can small white beans, rinsed and drained
sour cream
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in large, heavy pot set over medium heat. Add 0nions and saute until tender and light brown, about 10 minutes. Add cumin and oregano. Stir for 30 seconds, then add garlic cloves. Stir for an additional 30 seconds. Increase heat to med=high. Add ground turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it is cooked through. Add chili powder, bay leaves, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon. Add whole tomatoes, including their juices. Break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon while cooking. Mix in tomato paste, chiptole peppers, adobo sauce, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard bay leaves. Add black and white beans to the chili. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with sour cream and chopped cilantro.
Serves 8
If you want to tame the heat, scrape the seeds out of the chipotle peppers and discard!!!!

Things are lookig UP!

2011-09-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning, Sept. 11th we woke up and opened our dining room blinds to this!

It was pretty cool!!!

Yesterday, Sept. 13, 2011 was a big day for me! I had my first meeting in my new assignment on my Mission and it was my first night back to school!!! I'm taking a bunch of computer classes from UVU's Community Education to brush up on my skills so I can get a job when my Mission is over! So before all the madness of the day started we took a little drive to Herriman, UT.
We just had to go see the UP House!!!

Yes, Bangeter Construction actually got permission from Disney/Pixar to build an actual UP House! Unfortunately the house was closed, so we didn't get to see the interior, but just the outside made you smile!!!

I loved it!

Yes, it even has the mailbox!

I love the colors!!!

It was a beautiful day too!

They even have the hose!!!

So this was Eddie's favorite part! Next door to the UP House was a port-a-potty!

Eddie loves Port-a-potties! He especially liked the name of this one! Honey Bucket!

September 11th

2011-09-11T05:11:00.001-07:00

On Friday we went to the Healing Field in Sandy, UT

It will be on display until 9/13/2011! If you've never been....GO!

55!

2011-08-28T06:41:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Eddie!!!!

Now we qualify for Senior Housing!!!!

Tessa's Birthday! The Big 3!

2011-08-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

For some reason I got it into my head, that Tessa needed a Dorothy dress. Maybe it's because we gave her ruby slippers last year! I don't know. I've had the material....since oh....sometime last fall. I started making the dress at 6:30 p.m. August 8th! I finished the dress at 3:30 p.m. August 9th. Birthday Party started at 6:30 p.m. (I did get a good night's sleep too!)

I even had enough time to hide all my boo-boos! I was creative in fixing things I had totally done wrong!!! All in all....not too shabby and the bows I added to hide some of the flaws actually make the dress cuter!!!

I basted the hem because I wanted to be able to hem it properly after Tessa had tried it on. The back hem of the dress is way longer than the front, but that's easy to fix!!!
The Princess Party!
The Princess Cake!The Princess! Blowin' out the candles! Ma & Pa Lemley gave her roller skates and I'm sure she just might be the next Roller Derby Queen!!!! Go get 'em Tessa!

July 2011

2011-08-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

On July 11th Patricia, Elizabeth and Louie came to Utah to visit!
We took them to Temple Square.

We visited the Tabernacle and saw the movie, Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration. It is new! They have re-edited it! It's awesome. If you haven't seen it go see it on the big screen at the JSMB!!!

We had a great visit!

Louie is getting so big!!!!

He never fusses when I have him. In fact, he's a really good baby and doesn't fuss alot!

Here he is with Uncle Eddie!

Doesn't like Uncle Eddie as much as he does me!!!

These are the flower arrangements I made for Kevin and Amy's reception in Utah!

I forgot how much I love to arrange flowers!

Dane & Kelsey Sorensen got married. This is their candy table. I lvoed Barbie and Ken and Barbie's Corvette!

We went to Newport Beach for Nicholas and Katlyn's wedding!

Love the unique architecture of the Newport Temple!

Love ALL the doors!

Nicholas & Katlyn Barry and their Sealer.

This is David Barry's handy craftsmanship! He said it took him months to plan and build this. He did an awesome job!!!

July 2011

2011-08-13T05:46:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! We went to the Balloon Festival!
Darth Vader was the new balloon this year and it was awesome!

This is about as high as any balloon got. It became rather windy and the balloons were brought down in like 10 seconds flat! Folded up, Stowed away and that was the end of the balloons!

It was fun while it lasted!

My favorite balloon is always the pig, cuz pig don't fly! I also like Smokey Bear, but Darth Vader was the coolest!!!

Baby James enjoying the morning!
My first time in my new camp chair! Did I tell you we were there at 6:30 a.m.!

July 8th was Kevin and Amy's reception in Utah. Becky and I did the decorating!

Becky did most of the work!!! Sister Powell let me borrow her trees and centerpieces! I did the flower arranging though!!!

It turned out nice!

They look happy!!!

Korin and Mark, Jaden and Zakiah came all the way from Richmond to see Waldo at his reception! Korin knew Kevin when he went through his Waldo stage!!! He called her Tiger Lily. It was great to see them! We must go visit them soon!

Weddings!

2011-07-03T04:42:00.001-07:00

The end of June took me to San Diego for my Nephew Kevin's wedding.

The flowers were beautiful at the temple!

Here's Becky pulling a Susie to get the kids and the temple in the shot.
They had a Sleeping Beauty theme. Hence the fairies!

It was a lovely sealing and lovely weather in San Diego!

Fairie duty!

Bubba met us outside the temple!

All five of us siblings were there!

The temple is so spectacular. I love coming around the bend on the 5 and seeing it pop up next to the freeway!!!

They are meant for each other!!

It was such a lovely day and not too warm, that none of us realized we were all getting sunburnt!

The happy couple!

The Lemley Clan!!! All of them!!!

I love candid shots!!!

The happy couple and the menfolk!

We look like we're sleeping, but we're looking at the photographer. Well, I may be sleeping!

The reception was in Victorville, CA

All the fairies were there except Malificent!

"Once Upon A Dream"

On July 1st we were at the Salt Lake Temple for Elder Sheets wedding. There was another wedding party taking pictures while we waited for the Sheets to emerge! We loved this brides dress and took several pictures of it. It was beautiful! So unique!!!

The bodice...the sleeves it was just fascinating!

The Bodice!

The lace was beyond lovely!

Just delicate and beautiful!

An awesome shot of Moroni!

Nick and Gloria Sheets and their families

The Happy Couple!

Gloria and her bridesmaids

A beautiful train. I had never seen satin buttons all the way down the back, train and all!!!!

Just Beautiful!

Elder Larson, Elder Sheets & Elder Perucci! They're all married now!!!! Elder Sheets trained the other two!!!!

The view from the 10th floor of the JSMB.

The reception in Charelston!

It was a beautiful location!!!

From Minnesota to Mattman

2011-06-30T05:30:00.001-07:00

Eddie had 6 days off for Memorial Day Weekend so we decided to go to Minnesota! Neither of us had ever been...so it was quite the adventure. It's also the first trip, other, than Hawaii, that neither of us had ever done on our own before going together! Our main reason for going was one of our Missionaries from the California Long Beach Mission had returned home on the 17th and was speaking in church on the 29th. We went to hear him speak! We were very excited that St. Paul has a temple. We were able to do 2 sessions. One on Friday and the first session Saturday morning. Elder Rasmussen had just been made a temple worker so that's where he first saw us. At first he thought we were just on one of our temple trips but then he figured out we were there for him.

It's a beautiful temple. Had a very strong, yet sweet spirit there!
After our session on Saturday, we went to the State Capitol.

There were parts of the capitol that were under construction. There's a cool gold chariot up there on top of the building...it's being worked on too. We wondered around checking it all out.

I loved the stairways and the arches. There were nice paintings and statues around the dome.

I love this picture. Lots of stairs and levels here!

We got to peek in the senate and supreme court and house chambers. We saw the hall where the Govenor's office is. We saw pictures of all the Govenor's including, Jesse Ventura.

This is at the front of the House Chambers. Really cool stuff there!!
You could see the Cathedral of St. Paul from the Capitol. It was supposed to be our next stop...but there was a huge mass going on and no where to park.

We drove around Minneapolis and St. Paul. This is the Landmark Plaza in St. Paul. We went there for one reason only.....Peanuts!

Charles Schultz was born in St. Paul, MN. There are Peanut statues around the little parks by the Landmark Plaza. Here's Lucy and Schroeder.

Down the street a ways you find Sally & Linus. They're sitting in front of an intersection!

My Sweet Baboo and Sally and Linus!

Sally, Linus and ME!

Of all the things we were able to see, these Statues were the BEST!

They just brought back a little bit of that feeling of childhood innocence and pure joy!

Charlie Brown & Snoopy. They are sitting under a tree a little ways behind Lucy and Schroeder, and then Linus and Sally are farther down the street.

In front of the Landmark Plaza is a park...that's where Marcy and Woodstock are!

Close by is Peppermint Patty!

We Loved spending time with the Peanuts gang!

After Peanuts it was back to the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Mass had been going on for almost 2 hours. The place was packed, but we finally found a parking space.

Here's Peter above....and Paul below....Mary was inside!!!

The architecture is just fascinating!

Granduer is a good word! Just huge inside. Dark, cold and kinda hollow! It was full of people and I was impressed because they were all dressed very nice!

It was a great adventure!

The place is so huge I couldn't even fit it in the frame from across the street!!!

They have Michaelangleo's Pieta. It's supposed to have been made from the same mold as the one in the Vatican.

Next we went and toured St. Mary's Basillica in Minneapolis.

It was still a huge church...just a little bit smaller than the cathedral.

More great architecture. The stain glass windows throughout this church were amazing. They have stain glass windows for lots of the Saints.

There were several weddings going on. One had just finished and a few were taking pictures and getting ready for their service.

The alter was unlike any I had ever seen before. We were able to walk all around the alter. It was pretty cool.

It was very ornate!

On Memorial Day we went to Fort Snelling. It's not far from the airport or the Mall of America.

This is the oldest house in Minneapolis, or maybe even Minnesota. I forget which one!

The Fort is open for tours from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We were there on it's first day. It was very interesting.

People were dressed in period costumes and they had soldiers that represented all the wars up until VietNam. Not sure why they didn't have anyone from Desert Storm or the current conflict!
We watched them inspect the troops!

and fire muskets!!!

It was HOT and HUMID!!! The days before had been stormy. They had a tornado touch down in North Minneapolis the Sunday before we got there!!!

Next we went to see the Sculpture Park in Minneapolis.

The Spoon & Cherry was our favorite!!!

That's St. Mary's in the background!

The reason for our trip....to see Elder Rasmussen! We had dinner with his family on Memorial Day Evening. Then we went to see if we could find Tim Woodland.

We found them in their backyard playing baseball. What an awesome example of Family Home Evening even after the kids are grown!!!! All three of their kids attend BYU and were home for the summer or at least a little vacation!

We had a great trip!!!
Snoopy is in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport!

A great segue to my next adventure....Mattman's return!
After waiting for the usual 2 years and then an extra 4 hours because of flight delays

Our Mattman returned with honor and great glory!!!!

The Lemley men folk. Kevin was already in CA for his wedding...that's why he's not in the pictures!

Mattman and his proud parents!

The whole tribe, except for Kevin!

Sewing!

2011-05-15T07:58:00.001-07:00

I have been busy sewing the last few months and thought I'd show you some of the stuff I've made. The above picture is of the first baby car carrier cover I made. It's also the first thing I've ever sewn without an actual pattern. I just followed an on-line tutorial. I made it for a sister in our ward who just had her first baby. She's from Hawaii...so I thought something bright and floral would be good. I also made her a crib size quilt, pictured below. I also went with a girly hawaiian print!!!
I figured I didn't do to badly with the first car carrier cover so I made one for cousin Melissa's baby shower. I forgot to take pictures before hand. I loved pairing the bright pink with the zebra print on the back. I did a more decorative strap on this one. I actually added zebra ribbon bows and bright pink buttons!

I went thru her baby registry to see what kind of color scheme she was going with.
I also made a quilt for her. Pink and brown diamond pattern. I had a hard time finding something I liked for the back. I went with....

Brown and pink fleece/furry stuff. I liked the way it matched, yet contrasted the front. Is contrasted a word? It was the first time I ever worked with this material. It's only fleece/furry on one side. It was kind of a pain, but it's so soft!!!!

Then I finally got Shannon's stuff done for her and Baby Hannah!

I made Shannon a fleece Gerbera Daisy blankie! I crocheted around the edges!

I've been finding owl material around town and so I finally made some quilts and stuff for Hannah! This is a crib size quilt. 45 X 60....or there abouts!

A close up!

I found this gerbera daisy flannel a long time ago...and bought it to make probably pajama pants for Shannon, cuz I know how much she loves this flower. After she got pregnant with Hannah, I decided to give Hannah a break from Owls and make her a gerbera daisy quilt. It's also crib size...so it can fit a toddler bed too!

I made a smaller quilt....45 X 45...I would guess. Probably a little smaller. I found this lovely pale green owl print flannel and I had some material that was my Mom's with Hippos on it. Shannon loves Hippos. So I put it together for this quilt.

A close up of the cute owls!!!

and the Hippos!

I also made my 3rd car carrier cover! Did not do a more decorative strap because I couldn't find Owl buttons or ribbon I liked! I think I sewed one of the straps with the print going in the wrong way...it makes it unique!!!!

The underside is the hippo material. It will probably scare Hannah half to death with crazy hungy hungry hippos staring at her....or she'll go to sleep so she doesn't have to look at them!

That concludes my sewing frenzy to this point. I will try and keep posting pictures of all the stuff I'm sewing!!! I need to get a couple stuff sewn this week. We'll see how it goes!!!

Eddie in the Nursery

2011-05-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

So...for the 3rd hour of church today....the men took over Primary so all the ladies could celebrate Mother's Day with a little brunch! Brunch at 3pm?....whatever!! I escaped and went home!!! Eddie however got the joyful duty of serving in the Nursery. There were 4 little girls and one boy. The boy is William, the Bishop's son. The four little girls are: Carol Burnett, the smiley blonde girl, the princess and the one under the table. He knew before hand he would be in the Nursery, so I reminded him to sing!!!! He was in there with 2 other men. The two other men spent the whole time on their cell phones/blackberrys...checking the basketball game score and sharing stuff with each other and ignoring the kids.
When they first got to the nursery the regular nursery leader gave them the rules and then reluctantly left!!! Eddie sat at the table with Carol Burnett and smiley blonde girl while they ate goldfish...so of course Eddie had to tell them they were delicious. Eddie showed them how a plate could be a hat or Mickey Mouse ears. Next it was time for playing "hide the baby"! Eddie would tell them...what's that on the wall and they would all look and he would hide the baby doll in his coat or under his arm. This game brought Under the table girl out from under the table. They did this for 10 minutes. It got a little warm so Eddie opened the window for some fresh air. They began to watch it rain and the look at the clouds and the mountains. Eddie was playing puppet show with the baby at this point, holding it outside of the frosted glass, saying, "let me in, let me in!" Then William came over with a dinosaur..so they played where's the baby where's the dinosaur. Then Eddie was hanging the kids out the window. Then Carol Burnett threw her shoe out the window so Eddie put William outside to get the shoe and then had to coax William back in. Of course after William got back in...the shoe went back out the window...a new fun game. Then it was singing time. Eddie sang Popcorn Popping and everyone stopped and joined in..except for the princess in the other room. Smiley blonde girl was doing all the hand motions. Then Eddie played monster and was chasing the kids around the table and into the toy room. The princess told Eddie, "Don't scare me, I don't want to be scared!" He said, "Ok. I will not scare you!" After this Eddie was tired, so they all sat down and had sippy cups with water. So Eddie taught them a new game called, "Catholic Blessing!" He taught them how to sprinkle each other by flicking their sippy cups. William was really good at it until he filled his mouth with water and spit it all on Eddie. Of course Eddie was giving him a "Cathoic Blessing" at the time. Carol Burnett just turned her sippy cup upside down and shook it's contents onto Eddie's leg. Next it was time to teach them Eddie's favorite "wave at the Bishop!" You stick your thumb in your nose and wiggle your fingers. He said it didn't catch on very well. There were still 5 minutes left so he chased them all into the toy room and they sang Popcorn Popping 2 more times and then it was time to go!!! The two other men, that were so helpful, told Eddie that they found a new calling for him!!!!!! Oh to be a fly on the wall!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

Ya'll know how I feel about this day. So we'll just share some Mother songs!

Eddie is HIRED!!!!!

2011-05-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

I just got a call from Eddie. He said, "My name is on the board." I said, "What does that mean?"
He's HIRED!!!!

It's amazing how blessed we are!!!!!

I think it's 30 days and we get benefits!!!!

He's been working temporary since October at Stouffer's in Springville. Now he's permanent!!!

Woo Hoo!!!
It just dawned on me!!!! He'll get paid for Holidays now!!!!!

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!

There is a God and he LOVES US!!!!

I Ramble!!!

2011-05-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

When I heard the news last night, I was just kinda numb. My first thought was you cut the head off a snake and you get more snakes.

My second thought was Rodney King, "Can't we All just get along?"

It just feels like a very hollow victory.

Glad one less murderer isn't on the loose, but what will the cost be?

Haven't we already paid enough?

I've always been a pro-death penalty person....and this will save lots of money on trials, but it seems he got the easy way out and it took far too long!!!

Perhaps victory would have been sweeter a few years ago.

I felt more united as a country on 9/11/01!

What will 9/11/11 bring?

It's all just very surreal!

Glad for those who feel justice has been done.

I just pray that ALL God's children EVERYWHERE are safe

and long for the day when the lamb and the lion lie down together without any ire!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-04-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

Oh it is Wonderful, Wonderful to Me!

2011-04-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

Stake Primary Meeting tonight!!!

2011-04-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

WOW!! Just what the Doctor ordered!!!
It's so nice to be able to go to a meeting and be uplifted and recharged and re-focused!
They said some stuff tonight that I needed to hear....like...you were called and set-apart for your calling and you are intitled to revelation for that calling! Amen Sister!!!

They had lots of Music stuff and even had new "tools" they made for us to use for Music time. The Music Leader in I think 6th Ward...was incredible. She showed how she teaches songs and how you can sing the same line 6 times and not even know you have! It was awesome. Feeling so much better.

I've never had a response from the Primary President...so I went in to Facebook and deleted the message I sent her. Water under the bridge. Now to make this Sunday....SHINE!!!!

Update to last post

2011-04-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

As I have found time in the last few days for pause and reflection, I have found these words to be helpful.

"Even when we encounter mean-spirited criticism from persons who have little regard or love for us, it can be helpful to exercise enough meekness to weigh it and sift out anything that might benefit us." Elder D. Todd Christofferson April 2011 Conference

I have no idea if she has little regard or love for me...but I know I have little for her...which is probably why I was offended.

It's times like this when I remember the most effective tool in teaching investigators on my mission was BRT!!!! Build Relationships of Trust. I pretty much don't have any sort of "relationship" with this sister or "Trust." If there had been some BRT going on...I don't think it would have been as hurtful. In these busy lives we live these days, we don't take time to get to know each other and sometimes it's like strangers walking up to you and telling you something critical. You automatically take the offense and think: Who the heck are you? and then from little you know you go to: "Would you like me to critique your sharing times?" I DON'T THINK SO. We have Stake Meeting tomorrow night. From what I understand...someone in the stake Presidency took the Prophet Wheel I made and is going to use it at it. Should be interesting. Hopefully, it will be a constructive meeting!

Side note: There is no such thing as Constructive Criticism. You can't build up and tear down! Notice the tear down is always what comes last. Doesn't leave you feeling very good!

Elder Christofferson said, " Remember that reproof should be timely,with sharpness or clarity, 'when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing afterwards an increase of love toward him who thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be thine enemy. ' D & C 121:43"

And that's exactly the opposite of what happened to me on Sunday! Do I perceive her as an enemy. Yep, pretty much!!!! It wasn't friendly or done with love....at least I didn't feel any friendliness or love!!!! I'm still working on it! Stay tuned!!!

The Guilty Taketh the Truth to Be Hard

2011-04-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

So I was rebuked after Primary today. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh, but that's how it felt. Yes, they spoke hard things to me. I came home hurt, offended, bitter and prideful! I was told after Primary today that I need to do fun songs in between the serious ones. She said other stuff too, but all I heard was bascially....Your singing times suck! Your song choices suck! You need to get a handle on the children's lack of reverence! You need to be teaching fun songs not all this Jesus stuff! Okay so that's a little overboard, but as you can see I'm still bitter! All of this and the sunbeam that refuses to stay in his seat wasn't even there!!!! Shall I continue to murmur or should I shut up now? I sent a message to the Primary President via Facebook...not on her wall...give me a little credit. Yes, she's out of town....it was the counselor that I'm oh so fond of who "suggested" I add more fun songs to singing time....which of course didn't help any! I told the Primary President they should split primary in two. Jr. & Senior Primary. I told the other counselor that 2 weeks ago. She said she didn't think our Primary was big enough!!!! I don't think it has anything to do with size. After I made that suggestion in a private message on facebook, I told the Pres. what I had been told today and that I was trying not to be bitter. (not doing very well at that...can you tell?) I told her if there were any other suggestions for me to let me know....how else do you grow? Yes...I did actually say that! I'm trying to get my pride under control. Don't we sing: "He lives to hear my souls complaint?" Just licking my wounds. I'll survive! Can hardly wait for next Sunday! It's Easter Sunday...I guess we'll be singing about Snowmen...popcorn...wisemen...foolishmen...hinges....rolling our hands....Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, etc. I guess we can make up new activity moves to all the Easter songs!!! This too shall pass. And yes....I've already printed Elder Christofferson's conference talk.

Camel came to visit!

2011-04-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

I forgot to take a picture!!! That makes me sad! I'm very happy though, cuz Camel and family came to visit me today. They're on spring break and are staying up by Eden, UT. They came down today to tour BYU with their 2 High Schoolers. Yes, it's true...Lala and Son (Daniella and John Simon) are in High School. They're going home tomorrow and then Thursday, Camel and Lala and Son head off on a 4 day choir tour to San Diego. It was good to visit with them. Johnny's doing as well as can be expected. He's healed pretty much from his open-heart surgery. He has dialysis tomorrow and then they'll head for home. It's so nice that you can find dialysis centers when you go on vacation! Thanks for visiting! Bob missed seeing you Millie!!!

Sunday after General Conference!

2011-04-04T11:19:00.001-07:00

Elder Sheets came to visit and he brought his own Posse with him.

They're all students at BYU from all over. Mexico, Bolivia, Chili, Peru, etc. This is Eddie's traditional greet for Elder Sheets. He just met Carlos and felt he needed the same treatment!!!

Elder Sheets was with us the first Christmas we had Elders over in CA. The next year we started the tradition of Hillbilly teeth. I had just picked some up the day before and so we gave them to our company. Don't they look great!!! Elder Sheets looks great!!!! This is Elder Sheets and his fiance Gloria. She's from Guatamala. They're getting married in the Salt Lake Temple on August 12th.

We had a fun time getting to know them all!

We miss having missionaries in our home. It was so good to see so many of our Elders this past weekend!!! Now to get the Sisters to come over!!!

We love our Missionaries!

2011-04-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Elder Pennington came to visit us yesterday!!! Today the Majors, Elder Catt, The Bowmans, and Elder Richardson came for lunch!

We love seeing our Missionaries!

It's like one of those Alma running into the Sons of Mosiah moments!!!

Conference was awesome too!!!

A Wonderful Start to Conference Weekend

2011-04-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last night Elder Beck, Elder Stone, Elder Choi & Elder Herrera came to visit!

It was so good to see them!

We had a great visit!

Can't wait to see what the rest of this weekend brings!

The new Ogden Temple 2013

2011-04-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

It will be beautiful, but I'll miss it's unique design!

They better not change Provo!!! I love the Birthday Cake!

Sad Day!

2011-04-01T23:49:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to be able to go to the Ogden Temple this past Tuesday, March 29, 2011.

Tonight, April 1, 2011 it shuts it's doors for 2 years while it undergoes major reconstruction. We had a great time after our session walking around the temple grounds.

This is a statue that's to the North of the temple. Eddie didn't appreciate the "saggy" woman.

The last time we visited this temple was in 2006. We didn't even walk around the outside back then.

We did today and found it to be quite lovely. They have the coolest walkway out to the fountain. You must have been able to have some pretty incredible wedding pictures here.

All the sessions were pretty full!

30!

2011-04-01T00:17:00.001-07:00

On Sept. 30, 2010 we took a quick trip to Idaho to visit the two new temples that weren't finished the last time we went to Idaho. (2007) Our first stop was Twin Falls. Temple # 28 for us. The interior is beautiful! An amazing mural of the Shoshone Falls! Spectacular!

Eddie wanted to take a picture of the rainbow in the sprinkler water!The Twin Falls Temple at night! Very pretty! Next we drove to Rexburg! Temple # 29. This is how it looked when we got there. The murals have lots of animals in them. Eddie didn't understand because Rexburg doesn't look like how the murals do. I decided maybe it has to do with the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone! This is how it looked when we left!

We went to Idaho Falls to spend the night. We stayed at the Best Western right across the river from the Idaho Falls Temple. I got up at 5:00 a.m. to take these pictures! We took more pictures after the sun came up!

The one above was taken from the balcony of our room! It would have been prettier without the truck! The one below was taken down by the river! So cool! Last Friday, March 25, 2011 we finally made it to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We had been to the open house, but had never gone back. It was about time. It was a rainy/snowy day. I love this picture! It highlights Moroni quite well!

So Oquirrh Mountain is the 30th Temple we have been to!!!

It also has a beautiful interior.

The original goal was to attend 50 different temples by my 50th birthday. Less than a year to get 20 in ..... I don't think that's going to happen. We'll try and get as many as possible. With Eddie working so hard...it's going to be tough.

A new goal is to attend all the Utah temples this year. That is do-able!

Buttermilk Biscuits

2011-03-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

I have been searching for a good biscuit recipe. I finally found it!!

It's from Taste of Home! Here's the recipe:

Mom's Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup buttermilk

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt;

cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in buttermilk. Add a little bit more if dough is too dry.

Knead dough gently.

Gently press dough out to about 1/2 inch thick or thicker if you like thicker biscuits.

Cut with 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield 9 - 10 biscuits

Tip: The secret I have found to making a good biscuit is to handle the dough as little as possible. That's why I press to the thickness I want rather than rolling!

This recipe makes a delicious biscuit!

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-03-08T21:18:00.000-08:00

On Valentine's Day, I had my last 4 hours of training for my mission. I told Eddie he was in charge of the festivities! He said it was too much pressure!!!

You can't go wrong with Martinelli's!
He surprised me with El Pollo Loco. There aren't many of them in Utah, but he went to Lehi/American Fork to get our dinner!
We started off with Chicken Tortilla Soup!

He bought me the beautiful Purple Calla Lilies. They will stay beautiful all year long!

He took care of everything!

He got all my favorites from Pollo loco!

It was a delicous meal!

He also went and stood in line at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to get me Chocolate covered Strawberries!!!!

I got him a few gifts too!!!

He got two pairs of gloves, See's sugar-free dark chocolate almonds, a coupon book, sugar-free altoids, the new Men of MoTab CD, and I can't remember what else!!!

His coupon book is full of get-away coupons and fun stuff like that! I found the perfect card for him. It's the one with the motorcycle. His card to me is the "You drive me Wild!" card.

When I got home I found the house all decorated. This is a close up of the runner he had going from the front door to the dining room. He bought a whole bolt of fabric. It's really cute fabric. He had heart and sweettart hearts and spongebob squarepants valentine's on it.

See! He even got some valentine garland and draped it over the chandelier in the dining room. And covered our chairs with "You are my Sunshine" fabric.

He changed all the light bulbs to red. This is the entry way! We haven't changed the lightbulb in the entry way yet. I kinda like it red!!!

He bought rose kissing balls and had them slowly spinning on the fan when I got home!

When we first got together he said we would break up from November til March..so he didn't have to do any of the holidays or my birthday. Obviously in 5 years he's changed his tune. This is the first holiday he's been in charge of and he did really good! He said it was very stressful, but kinda fun!

Somehow They Called Me On A Mission!!!

2011-03-03T21:33:00.000-08:00

Yep! It's true. Last December we were asked to visit the Bishop and he extended the call for me to serve a Church Service Mission for 12 months for the LDS Employment Resource Services. My official start date was January 24th! I was out of town on that day...so my actual service began on January 31st! Yes! My Birthday! I serve at the Provo Employment Resource Center every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. I have various meetings on other days of the week as well. My official title, besides Missionary is.....
Yep! Director of First Impressions! What does that mean? I'm the Receptionist!!!!
Now that I've been there a whole month, I can honestly say I enjoy the work.

It's good to get out of the house! It's even better to be able to assist others in finding employment! Hopefully I'll be able to help myself when my year of service is over!!

I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve!

Stake Conference

2011-01-09T22:33:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!!! I've been slothful at blogging. I will try and do better.
I will now share with you our wonderful Stake Conference that we attended today.
It started off quite beautifully with the stake choir singing a variety of Hymns about Scriptures. They even included Search, Ponder and Pray.

Then Pres. Adams, our stake president, welcomed us. The choir then sang the opening hymn and then were dismissed to sit within the congregation! They did the same thing at our Ward Conference in Oct. In fact they sang the same song. I Need Thee Every Hour...with a beautiful violin accompaniment. As they were singing Eddie tells me, "Do you see the little girl in the back row in her Dad's arms?" I looked and sure enough, a guy in the back row is holding his daughter up. I would guess she wasn't much over 3! As I watched she was turning the pages for him....and then I noticed....she was singing too!!!! It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen at Stake Conference!!!!

So after the opening prayer they did the sustaining of officers and what not. There were no speakers sitting on the stand, just the stake presidency. Pres. Adams got up and introduced the program. Our speakers were all from the stake presidency. Including the Stake Clerk and the Stake Executive Secretary. They joked that they were gonna tells us that they were picking speakers out of the congregation. That would have been interesting because the last stake conference and this stake conference were being broadcast at all 4 buildings in our stake, so that you can go to your own ward house and watch the conference via computer hook up! It's pretty cool. Pres. Adams has been the Stake President for 5 years and one of his goals for his "presidency" is to have stake conference attendance be the same as the average Sacrament Meeting attendance in the stake. Today...we had 53% attendance at all 4 buildings which is the most they've ever had. He's very grateful for modern technology for providing the way for everyone to be able to enjoy conference!!!
So, the Stake Clerk spoke on Tender Mercies. The Stake Executive Secretary spoke on the Book of Mormon and then we had our first rest hymn. Pres. Adams wants everyone to feel a part of Stake Conference, so our first rest hymn was Book of Mormon Stories!!! It was awesome!!!
Then Pres. Skousen, the 2nd Counselor spoke. AWESOME TALK! He based his talk on something Pres. Packer had said at our regional conference we had as our last stake conference. He talked about how in these last days we would have to face Goliaths that no one in church history has ever faced. He called this guy out of the congregation...who happened to be sitting next to me. This guy was pretty big. He was 6' 5". He was Pres. Skousen's example of Goliath. Pres. Skousen brought a step stool and made this guy climb to the third step...thus adding 3 feet to him to represent Goliath!!!! Then Pres. Skousen brought up a 2 X 4 that he had cut at 9' 6". That is the supposed height of Goliath. It was pretty amazing. He then taught us that in order for us to beat the Goliath's of our days, we will need to apply the 2 X 4 principle. He then had us all take out a piece of paper and write down the 2 X 4 principle. Instead of explaining it. I'll just put it here:

1. Daily
1 - Personal Prayers
2 - Study and Ponder Scriptures

2. Weekly
1 - Family Home Evening
2 - Attend Church and partake of the Sacrament

3. Monthly
1 - Attend the Temple at least once
2 - Fast and contribute to fast offerings

4. Annually
1 - Attend Tithing Settlement
2 - Renew your Temple Recommend

Now the recomment part he acknowledged that you only have to do every two years now, but you should be sure that you are always worthy of it!!

Pres. Skousen is a hoot!!! You have to witness one of his talks to totally appreciate this!!

After Pres. Skousen. Pres. Beirs (sp?) spoke. He spoke on the Book of Mormon and he and his wife's conversion. They didn't know each other at the time they both converted. Awesome talk. During his talk Book of Mormon reading charts were passed out in all the buildings. A 44 week plan to read The Book of Mormon.

After his talk...we got to stand up again and sing: SCRIPTURE POWER!!! When announcing the program Pres. Adams told us to feel free to do what every you need to doing when singing the songs! It was the coolest thing! Everytime we sang the words, "Scripture Power" the entire Stake Presidency held up their scriptures as did most of the congregation who had their scriptures with them. It's one of the coolest stake conferences I've ever been to!!!

Pres. Adams talk was more about the Book of Mormon and his Invitation to read the Book of Mormon this year. He said, he realized that we are supposed to be studying the New Testament for Sunday School, but he encouraged us to read the Book of Mormon too. He also encouraged us to read other good books. Which was good because I got Eddie the book Jesus the Christ on CD for Christmas and he's been listening to it as he reads along. He's been very diligent. I'm glad Pres. Adams encouraged all the reading today!!!

Our closing Hymn was The Iron Rod and then we were done. Our next conference is the first weekend in June and we will have a visiting General Authority. Pres. Adams told us our we should be in Alma at our next Conference.

I love, love, loved the music today. Singing Primary songs for the rest hymns was genius!!!!

WOW!

2010-12-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

The only thing to survive on the interior after the Provo Tabernacle fire:

Now that's a Christmas Miracle!!!

We drove by the Tabernacle Sunday night. It's so sad. The walls are still standing but it's an empty shell! Well, except for the 9 feet of debris inside!!!

The smell of fire was still in the air. Just so sad!!!

Be sure and listen to the song that I posted in the next post!

To Quote Linus Van Pelt: "That's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown!"

Becky Kelley - Where's the Line to See Jesus - OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

2010-12-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

Santa Baby!!!

2010-12-11T20:23:00.000-08:00

Today was the Ward Christmas Party!
Santa didn't traumatize ALL the kids!

Some liked sitting on his lap!

Some asked for a ride in his sleigh!

I love the little kid sitting at Santa's feet!!!

When Santa first arrived a little tiny girl, I'd guess under two, ran up and gave Santa a hug! It was adorable!!! They had little bells on strings at the tables and when Santa got there a bunch of little kids took the bells to Santa!!! Hilarious!!!

Lots of crying kids!!!

Santa can be very traumatizing! I was traumatized by Santa once or twice!

When I was much younger, I was sitting in Primary, minding my own business! Nellie Holguin was my teacher. Unfortunately I was sitting next to the door when someone knocked on it, so I got to answer it!!! Much to my trauma...I opened the door to find Santa Claus leaning down to my height. Scared me to death!!!! Not a big fan of people in costumes!!! What made it worse was Santa had my mother's eyes!!!!

One little girl gave Santa her letter! This isnt' the little girl, but it is the letter in his hand.

Someone happily sitting on Santa's lap!

More Trauma!!!

My second traumatic experience with Santa: My Mom was Primary President and for the Ward Party the Primary was doing "Twas the Night Before Christmas" The El Rancho Choraleers came to sing while the primary children acted it out!!! Santa didn't show!!! Guess who got to be Santa!!!! The pains of being the Primary President's daughter!!

More happy faces!!!!

Needless to say, when I first saw this Santa...I was actually a little scared! The whole issue with people in costumes!!! I softened up and took him home with me!!!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!!!

Great Quote

2010-12-05T20:56:00.001-08:00

A friend posted this on Facebook and I thought it was something we should read everyday!

"There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless." James E. Faust

Catching Up!

2010-11-29T11:04:00.000-08:00

This is a picture from our first snow. It didn't last very long! Melted the same day. Eddie's happy that we got dumped on this weekend, but we don't have pictures yet, cuz we need batteries!
On Friday, our beloved Elder Ben Major wed Tasha Johnson in the MT. Timp. temple. It was one of the best sealings I've ever witnessed. There weren't a lot of weddings that day, so the sealer was able to take a lot of time. It was awesome!!!! We got to see Elder Perruci at the reception that night. He got married 4 months ago. Eddie gave him a very bad time about not inviting us to the wedding!!!

On my way to California, the Camry hit 99,999 miles!
I was in Baker when it rolled over to 100,000! Great little car. It's taken us to Nauvoo twice and back and forth between California and Utah, and Pico Rivera and Reno a bunch of times!

This was in front of the house on the corner of 800 West and Center St. in Orem.

I didn't know the Who's dressed up for Halloween!

I loved passing this corner!!! Very festive!!!

I Spy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T15:57:00.001-08:00

A Thanksgiving quiz!

What is this a picture of?

What was missing?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

2010-10-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

This was my favorite costume at the ward party. Great Russell!!!
Cinderella! Her princess shoes even lit up blue!!!

This is little red riding hood. She had a crocheted cape with hood! Very cute!

This was the best!!! Pirate Mom and Dad! Little girl was the parrot!!!!

There's a family in the ward whose oldest boy is named Dash, so naturally they came as the Incredibles. This is Jack-Jack!

I went to Betty and Duane's for a while Halloween Eve. Adam and Tessa were a BYU football player and cheerleader. Very cute!

Tessa's a hoot!

The Queen Mum!

They went outside to go trick-or-treating and of course had to go and Ma & Pa's house first.

Cutest picture of the night!!!!

Trick - or - Treat!!!!

A definate Treat!

It's Autumn Time!

2010-10-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

We have been up the canyon 3 times in the last week.
These first few pictures are from a week ago when we went to Heber.

Cool shot of the tunnel.

The colors are so pretty!

It was a nice little trip.

This is a house over by 400 West and 400 South. The first time I saw it there weren't any for sale signs for the pumpkins and I just thought it was a crazy halloween house.

Earlier this week we went back up to Heber. We actually drove through Wasatch State Park I think that's what it was. More cool colors.

The yellows, oranges and reds are so cool!

It was very pretty.

We stopped at the visitor center by a golf course and watched the ducks and geese.

They were cute. They do not like Tots!!!

Vibrant colors!

Today we had a High Priest social at Southfork! It was so pretty.

The weather was perfect!

We had delicious food! Cajun beans and rice!!!

The red on the mountains was so cool!

It was a pretty drive and it's amazing how the colors change in just a few days!

Welcome Fall!

1st Anniversary

2010-09-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a year since Mom passed away. We were even awake today at the same time we got the phone call last year. All day yesterday I thought, "It's been a year since I talked to Mom." Very strange. In some ways it feels like she's been gone longer than a year.
Kinda sad that I'm not in California to put flowers on her grave, but it is Tuesday and that's the day they remove flowers from the Garden of Rest, so it doesn't really matter. Next time I'm in town she'll get flowers!!!

First day of Fall

2010-09-23T15:44:00.001-07:00

We are so happy to be back in Utah. Even though the weather outside does not feel like fall, it is officially fall! I have so much to blog about and pictures to upload, but I'll have to wait for another day. Still unpacking and trying to get Eddie employed. We've jumped through all the hoops and he should get the final word early next week!!! So exciting!!! I'll continue to unpack! Someday I'll be done! Then I will Blog!!! Enjoy!!!

Orem, UT

2010-09-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

We have arrived! So much to do. Today the computer finally got set up and hooked up! Hence this post. I will post pictures and tales of our travels soon! Need to get some work done too! Lots of boxes to unpack!

WOW!

2010-09-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, the recording has been done and technically the house is no longer ours!!! We have til Friday to move out. Need to get a few things out of the fridge and the garage and we are done! All our stuff has been moved and unloaded in Orem! We will arrive in Orem around the 10th or 11th!! Traveling slowly thru California on our way to UTAH! Swollen gland never turned into Strep!!! Thank the good Lord for his almighty power, blessings, and tender mercies. The house doesn't feel like my house anymore. That's good. It makes it easier to leave! I'm finally excited and looking forward to the next chapter of my life!!!! WOW! We get to live in a home all by ourselves!!!!! I hope we can stand each other!!!!

FYI update

2010-08-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

The cold sore is all dried out and looking much better. Still have a lumpy gland, but not freaking out over it today. It feels like it has a fever, so I'm just going to let my miraculous body take care of itself. It's probably just an infection and hopefully will be gone soon!!!! I'm about ready to kill escrow! 6 days left and now they want more paperwork signed and notorized!!! oivey! What exactly does a real estate agent get paid for? That's what Eddie asked today. He says it seems like I'm doing all the work!!!! I really don't want to drive out to Corona again, but I want to know that this paperwork is in and there are no delays with closing!

FYI

2010-08-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

One week to go and we will be thru escrow. Eddie flies home on the 27th to spend his birthday in CA and then he'll drive a truck with all our stuff in it home to Utah on the 30th/31st. He flies back on the 1st to pick me up! We'll hang out around town and wait for the $$$ to drop! Then it's off on a magical mystery tour on our way to our new home!!! One last California adventure for good measure! I think I'm coming down with strep. I have my first cold sore ever and it's ugly!!!! I have a lump on the side of my throat, that I'm thinking is the beginning of strep...or I have a tumor! (IT'S NOT A TUMOR!) It hurts on the outside, not the inside!!! go figure. At first I thought it was a spider bite, but I don't think it is! It's just a sore lump to go with the lump on my lip! GROSS! It's warm too, so I'm guessing it's a gland that's not happy for some reason. They whole right side of my face is having problems...okay not the whole side, just the mouth area and down to the lump at the side of my throat! I hope it all goes away quickly!!! Pray for me!!! I don't have time to be sick!!! I have to finish packing!!!!

Spontaneous Grand Canyon

2010-07-25T05:11:00.001-07:00

On July 2nd, we were driving from Provo to St. George. We were discussing what to do on the 3rd, because we had nothing planned. We made a list of places to go. There was nothing new on the list: Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Mountain Meadow Massacre, Cedar City, Pine Valley. Everything on the list we had already done, but hey, we had a day left of vacation in Utah

So we woke up the next morning and got the day going. We got in the car deciding we'd start with Zion and see where that took us. So...on the road to Zion there's a sign that says Grand Canyon 140 miles. We both looked at each other and said, OKAY!!!! Instead of making a left we took a right. Now we didn't have a map with us, I didn't have anything from the internet and we were just flying spontaneous!!!! Very rarely do we make crazy adjustments to trips that I haven't thoroughly reasearched, mapped and planned. The few times we do...usually turn out pretty spectacular. Independence Pass is the best off the planned route we've ever taken!!!

So only relying on signs on the road, we made our way to the Grand Canyon. In January we had been to the Grand Canyon of the Pacific in Hawaii. I figured we should go to the one on the mainland. A few times I was afraid we'd made a wrong turn...even though we were following signs, but finally we made it to the lodge!!! It was pretty amazing!!! The sites. Now, we are old fuddy-duddies, so we didn't go on any adventurous hikes, nor are we the Brady Bunch, so we didn't ride down the canyon on a mule. We saw where you get the mules to ride down the canyon. Eddie and I are both afraid of heights. There's no way we're getting on an animal and riding down a little ledge to the bottom of this huge canyon!!!

The lodge has some great outlooks! You can go off of either side and walk out closer to the edge and take pictures. I opted to stay on the patio! Eddie decided to venture off and get some great photos!!! I should've had a camera with me to take pics of him! Oh my! It was quite funny. The side he opted to go on to take photos, jutted out into the canyon and although it does have safety rails and what not...you still are pretty much standing on a little piece of earth overlooking a giant, massive canyon that is WAY BELOW YOU!!! Watching him hold on to the railing for dear life and trying to take pictures with the other hand, was truly hilarious! A group of gray-hairs ventured out after him to the end of the overlook. It was circular so you could see in different directions, etc. He actually told them he was sorry if he grabbed any of them as he tried to go from one side to the other without letting go of the railings!!! I was far away watching the whole thing, but I could imagine his "lamaze breathing" to get through the experience. (That's how he was breathing the one time I got him to go on California Screamin' at California Adventure!)
He made it back safely! It was a great adventure! The canyon is quite Amazing and Eddie is very Brave!!!

I asked him if he liked the Arizona Grand Canyon or the Hawaii Grand Canyon.

We both agreed Hawaii was more lush!!! Hello...Arizona...Desert!!! Hawaii...Island Paradise!!!

It was a fun trip! The sites on the way home to St. George were just as pretty. We stopped at a few places to take some pictures!!

It was just beautiful! The sites in southern Utah are just so beautfiul all the different colors of rocks and moutains and what not!

On this trip, we also got to do something I've wanted to do for FOREVER!!!

We got to go through Colorado City!!!!

What fun! Stay tuned for my next post!

Hogle Zoo - July 1st

2010-07-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

It's a saggy elephant butt!

Eddie and I love the Hogle Zoo! It only takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours to see the whole zoo!

This peacock walked across the path right in front of us. It has the most beautiful feathers.
The baby elephant is only a year old. So cute!!!
We saw 4 elephants!

This one was eating the whole time. I love this picture! It's just the cutest shot!

They have 2 Rhinos. One was laying down in the shade! It was rather toasty, so I didn't blame it.

Penguins!!! We love Penguins!!!

The ostriches were funny! They kept running around. They are the oddest looking creatures. You put them together with a giraffe and you can almost see dinosaurs!!!

One of our most favorite places at Hogle Zoo is the giraffe house!! I love how you can go upstairs and be closer to their heads! It's just fun to see a giraffe that close and personal!!!

I made friends with this giraffe. We were talking to each other. No words, no noise, just lots of lips moving! Kinda like Elvis!

I think he liked me!!!

Very beautiful animal!!!

The tigers were awesome. Back in the 90's they only had one tiger and one lion. Now they have more tigers and a better habitat for them too!

Tigers are my favorite animals!!!

In the 90's they only had a tiny crocodile. We used to spend lots of time staring at the tiny crocodile in the 90's, because it was Mattman's favorite!!! Thanks to Peter Pan and Capt. Hook. They have 3 crocodiles now. 2 big ones and a brand new baby that was just born!!!

The gorilla is always fun. He was just sitting there and then when all the kids were up against the glass, he came over to check them out. It was so cute!!!

Anniversary Trip Part 2

2010-07-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

Can't check into our hotel in St. George until 3pm, so to kill time on the way to Utah, we stopped at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. We love to see what they've done with their Botanical Gardens.

Very pretty! A fun summer garden theme!

Do you recognize these flowers????

I loved their water ball fountain!

The snails were really cool too! The roses they used are just like the roses in Uncle Earl's funeral arrangements! They're so unique and beautiful!

The aunts were a little creepy!

It was fun to watch them freshen up the frog and other critters in the garden!

Butterflies and hot air balloons and flowers galore!

Cute lady bugs!

Love the pot!

Watering cans were cool too!

Hot air balloons, mushrooms and the frog!

The bees! they were really big! And the glass blown flowers!!!

More bees and the glass flowers! back side of pot!

Love the pot and shovel!

And water everywhere! If you've never stopped to see the botanical garden at the Bellagio! You should! It not hard to get to...you don't have to go any where near the casino! It's fun! If you do go don't forget to check out the chocolate fountain down the hall from the gardens!!!

Anniversary Trip Part 1

2010-07-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

The last few months in pictures

2010-06-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

In May the great nephews and great niece came to visit. They are adorable.
Above is Ares, below is Adam.

This is Tessa

Work took us on adventures to Kern County. This is the hotel we stayed at in Delano...Liberty Inn.

This is a cool "car" we saw in Delano. It looked like something out of the Flintstones, except it had a motor, not a foot-mobile!

Eddie loved it!

Pretty cool!

The beautiful scenery of Kern County!

I got to go to several dumps!!!

We got to go to Tehachapi a couple of times too. We loved Stallion Springs and Bear Valley!

An awesome bbq in Bakersfield.

It really was beautiful. The poppies were gone, but the lavender flowers were beautiful!!!

The hills look like velvet!

Stay tuned

2010-06-12T19:32:00.001-07:00

A new post coming soon!!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

Our holiday weekend is starting early this week. We are already supposed to be there, but Eddie in his wisdom decided we should sleep and leave early, i mean early in the morning. He's asleep and I'm supposed to be heading there sometime. I need to pay bills and pack!

So...we are spending the next week in Delano, Lost Hills, Wasco, Taft, Bakersfield, Lamont, Arvin and Tehachapi! Not necessarily in that order!!! It should be an adventure. The project we are working is coming to a close. What we were planning to do in two weekends we've been asked to squish together and get done sooner, so the project will be finished!!!! Woo Hoo! So un-prepared!
Have a lovely holiday!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2010-04-27T15:06:00.001-07:00

The 80th Anniversary of your birth!

catching up...what we've done since the cruise!

2010-04-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

We've been spending time keeping an eye on "da mudder's" grave. Still sinking!
With the rains we've had we even took a peek at Hi's grave. Not very happy with what we found! This was January!

We had more rains and this is what we found in March!

"Da Mudder's" grave has sunk in about 12 - 18 inches all around. You can make out the rectangle and it got to the point, where the grass wasn't being cut in her spot, because it was too low, so the weeds were growing up to make it look like it was level! These pictures were taken in March. It got worse than this too!

Hi's headstone fell in too! We called and requested they fix them.

March brought us a trip to Utah to help Julie move from St. George to Salt Lake. We moved her stuff to Heber and spent two nights at her Aunt Louise's. We were supposed to stay at Julie's dad's cabin, but the roads were too icy/snowy and we couldn't make it up the hill.

This is the moving van at the storage unit above, and this is the car in front of Aunt Louise's. Eddie was in Heaven. He loves weather.

We went over and took some pictures of Eddie's cabin in Heber!

At 5:30 a.m. we got a text message from Nini down in Orem. She was in labor and wanted a blessing. We braved the weather and drove down the canyon to oblige! She had the baby a few hours later....Samuel Liahona Mua.

We saw this when we were in Heber and Eddie wants one when we get our own house!

Ice Castles in Midway, UT

These were very cool! It's fountains that have frozen.

We met up with some of our former missionaries and took them to Brick Oven for lunch! It was good to see them and catch up on their lives.

We drove up to Jordanelle.

We went to Murray, Ut and delivered a box Sister Riches family. This is her dog Buddy! He's the cutest. He howled! Very funny!

We went with Julie to see "Prophet of the Restoration" at the JSMB. Took some cool pictures of the Salt Lake Temple.

Baby Samuel!

Back home, Eddie bbq'd for the missionaries!

It was delicious!!!

We went back to Utah for a quick turn around trip. Eddie had been asked to bless baby Samuel.
We didn't leave until noon because of work. Traffic was horrible. We found out one reason was because of the elephant being transported!!!

The Provo Temple.

Baby Samuel's blessing day. Elder Herrera was able to come and assist. The Mua's are doing well.

Our next adventure took us to Bakersfield for work the 3rd weekend in April. Thanks to the rains the wild flowers are beautiful!!!

The State flower is blooming well!

Rose Hills finally filled in "da Mudder's" grave! Notice the gopher mound at the top! Very fitting! Hi's headstone got fixed too.

That brings us to today. It was the stake Emergency Expo. They made the mistake of giving our ward Sanitation and Hygiene. We had lots of fun. Our color scheme was yellow and brown. We had great slogans like the one below and "We put the "P" in preparedness" and "It's your doodie to get prepared!" We also handed out tootsie rolls. We had covered them with our slogans. We have a ton leftover!!! Anyone doing a Emergency preparedness fair in the near future and need some crazy stuff????

And now I'm all caught up with the latest and greatest in our lives!
The next two weekends we'll be back in Bakersfield for work. We'll see what those adventures bring!!!!

Disembarking Day 14, Feb. 14th 2010

2010-04-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

A last look at our cabin door!

One last photo on the deck!

We were assigned to one of the lounges to wait for our disembarking orders. I don't think we were there for 15 minutes when they came and let us go. Walking through customs was a breeze. I think it took a whopping 10 minutes to get from the lounge to the curb! It was very quick!

Yes, I do over pack! We were gone for 14 days!
What a wonderful vacation! I'd go again in a heartbeat!!!

Cruise Day 13 Feb 13th Ensenada

2010-04-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

We didn't get off the ship in Ensenada. I spent the morning in the spa and Eddie took in some Rays and took some photos of Ensenada from the ship.

Carnival was also docked in Ensenada.

Tomorrow morning we are back in Long Beach!!!

Day 12, Feb. 12th The Last Formal!

2010-03-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

yes, the last formal! I had my hair done...and so did Eddie!

He just got a hair-cut!!! He's so cute!

Probably my favorite photo!

At the Formal Dinner tonight we had Lobster! It was delicious, but I spilled delicious drawn butter down the front of me. Fortunately I had a spare blouse!!

I can honestly say I fell in love with my gray hair on this cruise. I got lots of compliments on my pretty hair color. I don't know if it was the sun, or the lighting, or the old people's poor eye-sight, but I really like being gray!

Cruise Day 11 Feb. 11th Another day at sea!

2010-03-28T20:03:00.001-07:00

Another beautiful day at sea! And we had a wonderful fruit and vegetable buffet! The carvings are amazing!!!

I could stay on the ocean for weeks and love every minute of it.

Eddie took these awesome pictures while I was at the spa!

Another gorgeous sunset!

Cruise Day 10 Feb. 10th Regatta and Sunset

2010-03-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

The sunset was beautiful. But first the Regatta. You had to make your boat out of what ever you could find and it had to sail a six-pack across the pool and back. It was pretty hilarious!

This ship was a Viking ship. It had people in it made from the little shampoo bottles.

This one used a lot of bottles!

A beautiful sunset. Enjoy!

Cruise Day 9 - February 9th - At Sea

2010-03-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is how Eddie likes to cruise!!! Our first day back at sea. We spent most mornings in the hot tub after breakfast and then we would lay out for a while to work on our tans!!!

Tonight was the 2nd formal night. I had my hair done at the spa and I told them how I wanted it this time and it turned out much better than the 1st formal night. We took a lot more pictures than the first night too!!!

The following 3 pictures show how Eddie feels about wearing a tux!

Enjoying a virgin pina calada and mary!

Sharing a kiss in front of the giant ice cream cone. Eddie frequented the free ice cream stop at least once a day!!!

Cruise Day 8 Feb 8, 2010 - Maui

2010-03-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Our last island...Maui! We had to go to port by Tenders!

That above is the Tender. Here's a pic of our ship as we leave to go to port.

So far away

Eddie loved their police vehicle!!!

Now he wants one of his own!

Our first stop was the IAO Valley and the Needle!

It was beautiful!

I let Eddie climb to the high overlook.

Self Portrait

Next we toured a plantation! Beautiful flowers, fruit and spider monkeys

We learned how to husk coconuts!

We loved the trees.

Sites on our way back to the ship.

Our ship is so big! The tenders actually hold a lot of people.

One of my favorite pictures from the cruise. Sunset as we leave Maui!

Good-bye Maui....and Hawaii!

Cruise Day 7 Honolulu, Hawaii Part 3 of 3

2010-03-18T17:44:00.001-07:00

Casual portraits! ugh!
The shirt and dress are from Kauai and the lei is from Hilo!

Eddie had a Virgin Mary and I had a Virgin Pina Calada!

After dinner we went to the hula show. It was so adorable.

A family run hula school. They come on board, do two shows and are off the ship before we set sail again.

My favorite was "Surround You With Love" or something like that. They came out into the audience and danced up and down the stairs.

My dessert at dinner. The Love Boat Special!

We had a luau that night on board. Unfortunately it didn't start until 10:30pm.
Eddie and I were way done before then!!!

We did take pictures of some of the decorations.

Cool fruit sculptures!

Ice Sculptures!

Cruise Day 7 Honolulu, Hawaii Part 2 of 3

2010-03-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

You just have to go there and experience it for yourself!

Cruise Day 7 Honolulu, Hawaii Part 1 of 3

2010-03-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Pulling into Honolulu
The Aloha Tower and the moon!

Lots of Coast Guard Ships

Beautiful drive to the other side of the island.

Not quite as good as Kauai, but still beautiful.

We drove through a tunnel and when we came out the other side, it was like a different world from the Honolulu side of the island.

Start singing the Hawaii 5-0 theme now!

National Cemetery

A Go Dog Go tree!

African Tulips!

In front of the Aloha Tower

It's a beautiful island.

Part 2: Pearl Harbor

Cruise Day 6 Nawiliwili, Kauai

2010-03-16T10:29:00.001-07:00

Before we start with Kauai, before we boarded the ship in Hilo, I bought this beautiful lei. You will see it in pictures over the next few days!
Now Kauai! The moon was still out when we woke up.

We were able to watch the sun come up.

We couldn't believe we were seeing mountains through the morning haze.

As the sun came up we were overwhelmed with the beauty of Kauai!

The colors were so vibrant! It was breath-taking!

Kauai is hands down our favorite Island!!

Our big excursion today was Waimea Canyon. Mark Twain called it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Our tour guide took us down to the beach.

And to the spouting horn!

There are "free-range" chickens all over Kauai. They got blown around in the 1993 Hurricane. They are everywhere!!!

Leaving Kauai was sad. It was so beautiful I told Eddie if I died he could leave me there.

When we left both Hilo and Kauai a storm was moving in.

It was spectacular.