What Took Us So long?

Last October, we got this 3-D puzzle as one of our "year of dates" gifts from Alan's office staff. 

We put off doing the puzzle together out of fear. We thought it would be much too difficult to do a 3-D puzzle. I waited until our three oldest grandchildren were here this week so they could help us out. I'm embarrassed to admit that the puzzle was simple and fun to put together. Had I known that the pieces were numbered, my fears would have never materialized.

This is the final result:

It has been great having Eric's family here. Shortly after their arrival on Saturday, they hit the pool and had a great time.

Livi even got enough courage to jump off the diving board for the first time.

Another first for livi was riding the electric scooter. This has been a favorite activity for Ethan and Ella for several years, but Livi had never tried it before. Ella has become very proficient on the Hover Board.

A sad event for the family is that their dog, Tonks, who came here with them, got very sick on Sunday morning and had to be taken to a vet. She was hospitalized after being diagnosed with pancreatitis and needed IV antibiotics. Poor Tonks will be recovering in the animal hospital tomorrow while Eric's family is enjoying Disneyland.

Going Private

I am going to be going private with my blog. Evidently, I can allow certain people to view it. Viewers will need to log in before reading the blog, which adds an extra step. If you would like to be added to the list of unrestricted viewer's please leave a comment here, or contact me personally. I would need your updated e-mail address. I'm assuming that those of you who are listed as followers will want to continue to follow me, so I will make sure to add you onto the list.

Funny Joke

I believe this is the first time I have ever posted a joke on my blog, but here goes. [I have previously posted this on my Facebook page.]

If you are Russian when you enter the bathroom

 

and you are Finnish when you exit, 

What are you when you are IN the bathroom

Answer: European

HaHaHa  I love it!

Sister's Retreat 2017

For our sister's retreat this year, we decided to meet in St. George, Utah. Because it was Memorial Day weekend, we had three fabulous days together. We decided to invite our husbands along this year, which was a great decision. Here are some of the things we did together:

On Friday, Alan and I left the house at 6 a.m. and made the drive to St. George. Once we got there, we picked up the Airds and the Fosters and went to Zion's National Park. Gayle and Scott were not able to join us for this part of the retreat. 

Two years ago, I purchased a park pass for $10 that never expires and can get me into any national park in the country for free. It came in very handy as parking would have been $35/car. 

I had forgotten how beautiful Zion's is. God sure made a wonderfully beautiful world for us to live in and enjoy. We were able to go on a couple of different hikes. My bad back held out pretty well until the end of our last hike. That was pretty painful!

The girls!

The boys!

The flowering cacti were so beautiful!

We even got to see some wildlife (turkeys, squirrels, birds, and a few deer)

On Saturday morning, we went to a Farmer's Market at a park in St. George. Janice wants to start a Farmer's Market in Beaver so she wanted to check this one out. We had a great time. 

In the afternoon, we all went on a session together in the St. George Temple. I love doing temple work with family members.

Friday night we went to a restaurant called "Freddy's" for some frozen custard. We went back the next night to eat a meal but it was waaaaaay too crowded. There were some show cars in the parking lot and this one immediately caught everyone's attention. It is covered with pennies! Very unique, I must say!

Close-up of the pennies.

 On Sunday, after Church and a great lasagna meal, we went to tour the homes of Brigham Young and Jacob Hamblin. I had been to Brigham Young's home before, but not Jacob Hamblin's. I found both very interesting.

Brigham Young's winter home

At Jacob Hamblin's home, a cute missionary couple (Elder & Sister Esplin) was giving us the tour.  Sister Esplin found out that the four of us were sisters. She asked us what our maiden name was and we told her "Burton." She said, "I used to know a group of Burton sisters who sang together." We said "we used to sing together, too." She said, "before you go, then, you need to sing me a song." We were hoping that by the end of the tour she would have forgotten about that, but she didn't. After the tour, she took this picture of us in front of an old wagon close to the home, then she persuasively "forced us" to sing to her. We hadn't had a chance to rehearse anything, but we decided to go for it. Gayle suggested that we sing "I Need Thee Every Hour," which is dad's favorite hymn. We began to sing, and all of us went down to the alto part. Oops! Not a good start. We started over with Gayle and I singing soprano (I'm not a soprano, so I don't know how I pulled it off), Jane singing alto, and Janice singing tenor. It, actually, turned out better than I thought it would. Sister Esplin said she loved it, and evidently the family playing on the hill close by did too because they clapped for us. Next time, however, I would like time to rehearse before singing.