Christmas & Anniversary

 Christmas this year was unlike any Christmas we have celebrated before. We didn't have any of our children or grandchildren here to celebrate with us. Thankfully, Jane and Ken got permission to leave their mission for a couple of days so we could celebrate Christmas together. They saved us from having a rather boring Christmas! 

We were able to meet with all of our family members by Zoom, which was nice. Ryan was at some trampoline place in Utah practicing his snowboard moves; Eric & family were at their home in Riverton; Jared was in his apartment in Mesa; Cheryl & Parker were in Draper at Parker's sister's home; and Kyle & family were in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and we were in California. Since Cheryl, Ryan, & Eric were all in Utah, they did get together for a little hike that afternoon.

On Christmas morning after a nice breakfast with the Airds, Alan and I exchanged gifts, but that was about it until our family Zoom meeting at 10:30. The Airds were busy with their family Zoom meetings most of the morning. Later, we shared a nice afternoon meal of ham, scalloped potatoes, etc.

That evening, we played a game called Ten Days In The USA, then watched a movie on Disney+. It was a lot of fun. The Airds returned to Riverside the next afternoon.

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On December 27th, we got to celebrate our 45th Wedding Anniversary. Because it was a Sunday and because of Covid, we couldn't really go out to celebrate. Thankfully, we were able to order an anniversary meal because our children gifted us some meals through "Door Dash" where you get restaurant meals delivered to your door. Our food came from Applebee's and it was delicious. I got baby-back ribs and Alan got steak.

We wanted it to be romantic, so we had a candlelight dinner. It was very nice.

Evidently, the 45th Anniversary is the "saphire anniversary." I didn't get any saphires, but that's ok. What we did get, and it was a combined Christmas/Anniversary gift, was a massage chair. It is amazing! It gives you a whole body massage. My back appreciates those massages!

Being married to Alan all these years has been a true joy. Life has been a rollercoaster ride, but with Alan by my side, the peaks and valleys have not only been bearable, but enjoyable! I love him to the moon and back. He completes me in every way. I'm grateful that he is so patient with me. I need his even-keel stabilizing force in my life. 

It's hard to believe that we have been married for 45 years. Only five more years until we can celebrate our "Golden Anniversary." Can't wait!

Burton Family Christmas Miracle

When I was almost two years old, my family was involved in a pretty bad car accident. Fortunately, only very minor injuries resulted. Although I don't have a personal memory of the accident, Janice, who was 5 years old at the time of the event, can remember it well. Although her version of the events slightly differ from my two older brothers memories and my dad's recollection of events, this is Janice's version:

 OUR OWN CHRISTMAS MIRACLE.

    It was a cold January morning when we packed the old car, A Chevy, and headed out to see aunt Janet in Duchesne Utah. It was New Year's day and this would be the last celebration before the magic of the Christmas season was gone and things returned to normal. I’m not sure what “normal” is to a five year old, but I did know that Christmas time was a time filled with fun, family, activities, good food and “happy things''! Now we were on our way to a family get-together at my aunt's home. It was always fun to go to Aunt Janet’s house because she had lots of animals and if we were lucky someone would saddle one of their horses and give us a ride. There was fear associated with these big animals but if someone was leading me around I felt safe and secure. Remember, I was just five and as time passed, my fear was replaced by love and respect for these animals. I also learned to ride for myself!  I did have my doubts about being able to ride on this particular day because it was January 1st and the day was very cold. 

    Now we were off and traveling. The one bad thing about going to Aunt Janet’s is that it takes forever it seemed, to get there. It seemed also that the only thing to do was to listen to Kent and Neal quarrel or tease Jane and Joan. I tried hard at this tender age to never quarrel with Kent or Neal because they were so much bigger and older.   I knew I would never win, if it is ever possible to “win” a quarrel! The best thing to do was to sleep. My siblings found this easy but for me sleeping in a car was difficult. So instead of sleeping I would start asking dad questions such as which direction we were going and what are the names of the mountains that we were passing. This seemed to help the time pass more quickly. 

    Since my birth order was child #3, I wasn’t destined to ever have a window seat. In fact, I still remember as a young teenager, having the middle seat between my two older brothers with their long legs sprawled apart. This left me very little room and could be quite uncomfortable at times. But right now I was comfortable in our car and was looking forward to arriving at Duchesne and partaking of the News Years Day feast that was being prepared for us. 

    The road to Duchesne was a narrow, windy, two lane road that made its way up Daniels canyon. If the weather was bad it could be a very treacherous road. Dad was driving and it was snowing lightly. Mom was coaxing us to sing Christmas carols. Mom always had a variety of songs ready to use when things got a little boring or a bit unruly. Everything felt safe and secure. Mom and dad loved each other, I had 2 brothers and 2 sisters that made life fun and mom would be having another baby (Gayle) in just 6 months. 

    Finally we arrived at our destination! Now it was time to use the bathroom (dad rarely stopped the car on a trip),  and hopefully dinner wouldn’t be too long in coming.  I have always found it interesting how the smell of cooking food makes you feel so warm and secure. That is how I felt when I went to visit relatives and Aunt Janet’s was exactly that way. Soon I forgot that I wouldn’t be able to ride the horse because it was so cold. NO one wanted to saddle it or lead the horse around!

    It seemed like the time went by too fast and now Dad was telling me to get back in the car for the ride home. After the usual complaints and bathroom visits and last drinks of water, we were loaded up once again. The ride home would be a little more cramped because we were taking home a mattress for one of us. As I think back on this trip, the mattress was mostly likely the main reason we went to Aunt Janet’s. With her family almost grown up and our family growing rapidly, she had probably offered the much needed mattress to us if we would just come and get it, plus it was a great opportunity for a visit. 

    The car’s back in the 1950’s were obviously quite a bit different than our automobiles and SUV’s today. There was usually quite a bit of leg room between the front and back seat. We were able to fit the mattress, which was soft and pliable in the front part of the back seat and still have room for us to sit. There would have been 4 kids in the back and one up front. We were all pretty young and required very little leg room at this time in our lives- plus seat belts were unheard of in 1955.  I do remember leaning up on the mattress and thinking that maybe, with this extra addition, I could sit up in my seat a little and lay me head on the mattress and sleep all the way home to Spanish Fork. What a great idea. 

    What happened next is forever engraved in my mind. One thing you have to understand is that it is a five year old mind we are talking about, so things might be a little confused or distorted. Our family was traveling down Daniels canyon with snow falling. I was comfortable on the mattress and things were quiet and calm in the car. I probably dozed a little and woke to the sound of my mom’s frantic voice. I looked out the front window and saw that our car was sliding into the other lane of traffic. We later learned that the car hit a patch of ice and was sliding out of control into the other lane of traffic. We hit the rear end of a semi- truck, going the opposite way which spun us some more. It propelled us over the edge of the road. The car rolled three times down the embankment and landed upside down in the icy river at the bottom of Daniels Canyon!

    From the time I heard mom’s yell and the time we landed in the river, things seemed to be in an unusual “time warp”. As the car was rolling down the hill, I remember seeing snow and sage brush out of the side window, but I hadn’t been sitting by a window and now I was. I was very confused. Then, there it was again, more snow and sage brush. I wondered if this would ever stop. Then with a big thud we did stop, but something was wrong, nothing looked the same. Then I could see that the car was upside down because I  looked up and saw the seats! What? What had happened?

    Instantly the cold water rushed in. I was still very confused. The car was upside down and mom and dad had switched places. I remember exactly the words I spoke at that time. I yelled “Daddy, Daddy, save my life”. I didn’t know how to swim and I didn’t know how to get out of the situation that I was in. Dad was trying hard to figure out how to get us all out and on top of the overturned car. I don’t remember crying, but do remember that it was snowing and one by one, mom and dad were extracting us from the freezing cold water and we were all standing on our overturned car staring at the wheels of the car that were still going around and around. 

    I also remember that as mom and dad were busy helping us, a couple ran down the hill that we had just tumbled down, ready to offer assistance. They had seen what had happened and both thought that none of us would be alive. They later told my parents that they had seen two other accidents that day, neither of them looked as bad as ours, but all occupants of the other two had been killed. 

    This nice couple loaded us into their car and took us to a cafe down the road. Joan was still crying and wouldn’t be consoled. Sitting in the close quarters in the car still didn’t warm us up. While at the cafe waiting for a relative to pick us up, they gave us all blankets and coats to use while we were there to help us warm up. After several phone calls (from the cafe, no cell phones) and what seemed like hours of waiting, we were picked up. I was very anxious to get home and was excited to get in a car but poor Joan started screaming again and fighting anyone that would attempt to put her back in the car. It took several people to help get this done. 

    I can’t remember the ride back to our home, but I do remember that a couple of days later, Dad went with Uncle Allen to get the car out of the river. The car was totaled. I was very concerned about Dad’s welfare. I had a bad dream that night. I dreamt that when dad and uncle Allen had the car pulled out of the water and back up to the road, it turned into a big dragon and ate them both up. I went into the living room to tell Mom my dream and she let me stay up and sit beside her for a little while, and dad did return later that night- safe and sound. 

     MANY Christmas seasons have passed and once in a while I find myself pondering this Christmas season miracle. I know in my heart that Heavenly Angels watched over us while the car was rolling down that hill. I know this because not one of us had an injury. Mom was 3 months pregnant and all she had was a few bruises. Even after all of these many years this fact is what has stuck with me. How grateful I am for this marvelous blessing in our family’s life. This year something else was brought to my mind as I reflected upon this miracle. 

    When I was in that cold dark river, confused and helpless, not knowing where to turn I instantly cried out to my father- “Daddy, Daddy, save my life.” He heard my cries and helped. Just as my earthly father saved me from physical harm, my Heavenly Father will save me from ALL harm. All we need to do is cry for help and he will be there. He knows that we can’t handle life without help. Often we will become confused, spiritually cold and on the wrong path. If we will just realize that we need help and that we can’t do it by ourselves, and then cry out- “Father- save my life”, He will. Heavenly Father already sent HIS son to rescue us, to pull us up and out of harm's way and warm us up once again. 

    I am so thankful for our personal Christmas miracle, but I am eternally grateful for the Christmas miracle of over 2,000 years ago, when God sent His son to earth for each of us because we could not do this by ourselves.

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Neal had slightly a different recollection of events that day. This is what he remembers:

"When it started snowing heavily and the road was getting slicker, we ended up coming up behind a logging truck that had large logs extending out the back of it. I don't know whether Dad was trying to pass the truck or just slowing down, but when he put on the brakes, the car slid into the other lane. As it did so, the front end of the car hit one of the logs, which spun us around and over the embankment. I don't recall flipping 3 times, but it was chaos and the car settled up-side down in the river. I remember the screams and the cries and the cold waters. I recall thinking about the importance of getting out of the car. The door I was closest to would not open. I found a little humor in the fact that I had to roll the window "up" instead of down so that we could crawl out. Once I realized that nobody was seriously injured, I thought it was "cool" to be standing on the bottom of an upside-down car so I did a little two-step while Dad was frantically helping everyone. I know, weird!

Neither Jane nor Joan wanted to get into the car of the people who had stopped to help us. As Janice mentioned , they did relate the sorry outcome of the other two crashes they had witnessed. After we went down the canyon to Heber City I recall staying in a motel. That was probably after we had spent a short time in the café while Dad was making phone calls. Did we stay overnight? I don't know. I do remember how inconsolable the twins were during that time. I think it was the next day that Uncle Dick came, but I might be wrong. As Janice alluded to, it was a big struggle and took a long time to get Joan in the car. In fact, it was a considerable period of time before that problem was no longer an issue for either of them. I should have noted that Jane and Joan were both asleep when the accident occurred. It took a miracle to get all of here in mortality and another one to keep us here."

This picture was taken on Christmas day in 1955 (I believe). If taken in 1955, that would make it one year after the accident. (I wish Neal & Kent's heads could be seen fully.)

A Lancaster Thanksgiving

We were able to stay home for Thanksgiving this year. We were fortunate to have Kyle's family plus Jared come over from Arizona and Cheryl's family come from Southern California. In all, there were 10 of us in attendance.

Everyone arrived on Wednesday afternoon. Cheryl, Parker, & Kessler stayed until Friday evening after we finished at Vasquez Rocks. Kyle, Emily, Milo, & Clara stayed until Saturday morning. They went to Cheryl's house and stayed there one night so they could go to the beach. Jared left on Sunday morning. Alan drove him to LAX to catch a flight to Hawaii. What a lucky guy!

Except for my rolls not turning out, our Thanksgiving meal was delicious! Emily took this picture so she isn't in it and Jared had to drive to LAX to take a covid test prior to his flight two days later so he is absent here. He arrived just as we were finishing up the meal.

We wish the rest of our family could have joined us, but understood that distance and Covid kept us apart. 

Thanksgiving Evening Eric's family and Ryan were able to join us via Zoom to play the Fall Edition of Deal or No Deal. I forgot to take pics as we were actually playing, but this is what the boards looked like:

We got off a little easier this year (money wise) than we did two years ago when we did the Christmas Edition. The winnings this year were:

Ryan & Jared: $.05 (each)

Cheryl & Parker: $27 (each)

Kyle's Family: $6 (each)

Ella & Livi: $2 (each)

Eric & Ethan: $22 (each)

Alan and I played for fun instead of money and would have won: $.75 (each)

Again, it was a lot of fun to play this year.

The day after Thanksgiving, we drove down to Vasquez Rocks to hike and climb. I wasn't able to do any hiking, but I still enjoy being there. Here are some pics from that outing:

It was a little windy and chilly, but everyone seemed to survive.

Here are some random pics of the grandchildren:

Kessler loved wearing Milo's helmet! He couldn't get enough of it!

A little chalk art!

Kessler couldn't reach the pedals, but he loved "walking" the big wheel.

A few beach pics (although we weren't there)

Family means everything to us, so it was great to have so many family members be able to visit us for the holiday. 

Pieces of My Childhood

 I'm feeling a little nostalgic today. My niece, Melanie, contacted my sisters and I a couple of weeks ago and mentioned that she had "inherited" a pair of ice skates from our parents estate. She was initially going to do something with them, but changed her mind after all these years and asked if any of us wanted them. I told her I was interested and I received them in the mail yesterday.

I can't be positive, but I'm pretty sure they are the pair of skates that Jane and I got for Christmas one year and had to share. They look old and roughed up, but I might try to clean them up and maybe put them in a shadow box or something to showcase them. 

I chuckle a little to think that Jane and I were expected to share a pair of skates. We did everything together and having to take turns with the skates was a little annoying, but it did teach us how to put aside our own selfish desires and share! 

Skates isn't the only thing we shared. We shared a bed, a bike, every birthday cake, and probably some clothes. I never thought it was fair that Jane and I always had to share everything when my "singleton" siblings never had to, but I can't really chastise my parents for that. They did the best they could on a limited income and 7 children to raise.

Living at the Power Plant had a lot of perks, and one of them was that every winter the canals we were surrounded by would freeze over and we could ice skate practically in our own front yard. We would spend hours taking turns skating. 

Sometimes we would hike up the mountain to a canal that was on the ridge above our house. It was a little harder to get there, but was a fun place to skate. Sometimes Mom would drive us to town where someone had watered down an empty lot and turned it into a skating rink. Many people from town would gather there to skate. Oh, the memories!

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Here's another little piece of my childhood. I made this in art class when I was in the 6th grade (I think).  Jane made one that was a horse. I'm glad my parents kept it because it brings me joy even to this day. Jane threw hers away, but I have kept it since it was returned to me after my mom passed away.

I don't remember if I free-handed the drawing or if I was allowed to use a stencil. Since I'm not that great at art, it was probably the latter. 

To make this, we were given a sheet of metal and we had to use a tool to make an indentation into the metal. We then colored it dark with some kind of paint and after the paint dried we then used a piece of steel wool or something else that was abrasive to scrub off the paint in certain areas that we wanted to stand out and left the rest dark. 

Some people are afraid of clowns. It's probably because of the scary movies they have made with evil clowns in them. I have never been afraid of them, however. I have always liked clowns. They are supposed to be funny and make people laugh, not be scary!

I have so many memories of my childhood in my mind, but it's kind of fun to have these two items to bring those memories back to life. I had a wonderful, worry free childhood. I'm so grateful for that!

Crying Unto the Lord

 In our Book of Mormon study this past week we learned about the Brother of Jared and how he "cried unto the Lord" in prayer to ask that the Lord not confound the language of his family, his brother's family, and their friends during the time of the Tower of Babel . The Lord granted them their desire. 

To me, "crying unto the Lord" means a prayer that is a cry or pleading out of desperation than a regular prayer would be. The Brother of Jared was desperate to not have their language confounded. Thus, he cried or pleaded unto the Lord for that desire.  

Well, I thought this was perfect timing for that lesson since I had a need to "cry unto the Lord" for myself recently.

On Friday afternoon, November 7th, I started having digestive problems. My symptoms included cramping, diarrhea, nausea, and dry heaving. After a couple of days with no improvement, Kyle convinced me to get a Covid-19 test because my symptoms sounded a lot like what Emily had when she first got Covid. So, on Sunday I was able to get a drive-through test done at CVS Pharmacy. They said it would take 2 to 3 days to get the result. 

As I waited for the results, my symptoms worsened. Besides the diarrhea and cramping, I had a fever off and on. I suspected that I had diverticulitis and not Covid, but I wanted to get my Covid test results before checking for diverticulitis. That turned out to be a big mistake.

Two days after my Covid test was done, my symptoms got even worse. I was in an extreme amount of pain. I knew I needed to get checked out by a doctor, but stubbornly wanted my Covid results first. Feeling desperate, I went to the Lord in prayer and "cried unto him" (I was literally in tears) asking for His help. I needed the test results ASAP. He answered my prayer and told me that I would get the results that day. Feeling better about the situation, I thanked him and closed my prayer.

Not even two hours later, my cell phone beeped notifying me that I had a text. It turned out to be my Covid test results. Boy was I happy! I was also relieved to see that I had tested negative for Covid. I was also so grateful that God had heard my prayer and answered it so definitively!

Knowing that I didn't have Covid, I reached out to my primary care doctor's office, explained my symptoms, and asked to get an appointment. Nothing was available until the next day. They told me that if my symptoms got worse then I should go to Urgent Care. Well, my symptoms did get worse so I had Alan drive me to the ER in Lancaster after he got home from work. About four hours later after blood tests, urine test, EKG, and a CAT scan had been done I got my diagnosis. I, indeed, did have diverticulitis.....again! I was there last May with the same illness, only this time it was much worse.

I only have one picture of myself while in the ER (Alan was not allowed into the hospital because of Covid). I took it while lying on a gurney in the hall because no cubicle was available. It is of my I.V. in my left hand. Fortunately, it took only one poke to get the job done. I was proud of my nurse. Sometimes it has taken up to 4 or 5 pokes to find a vein.

Since being on antibiotics, I felt much better. It is now about  nine days since I was diagnosed and my health is back to normal. You don't really appreciate good health until you don't have it. I REALLY appreciate my health now, and hope to never forget that!

Flying My Flag

 I have always been patriotic, but have not always outwardly shown my patriotism. I have never really had a flag to fly or a pole to display it on. I know I could have purchased one, but never did. A couple of years ago, however, I acquired a flag from a friend whose mother passed away. It has been sitting in my garage all this time until two days ago. I decided to place it on our front porch because it was election day and I wanted to show my patriotism.

I was going to take my flag down after the election, but because no winner has been declared (lots of cheating at the polls that needs to be investigated), I have decided to let it continue to fly until a winner emerges. Let me add that I abhor cheating. The fact that there is so much harvesting of ballots makes me cringe. I long for a fair and free election. I don't trust the results at all. There are so many states where cheating is taking place, and the problem areas are always are in counties where the Democrats do the counting! So disappointing!

Last Words

 I was listening to the "Sunday on Monday" podcast about the Book of Mormon this morning. At the beginning of the podcast, the host invited us to write down what our last words to our family would be if we knew we wouldn't be around much longer, and to limit our statement to 6 sentences.

I want to take on that challenge. I think this is what I would say in my 6 sentences:

"Although some of you might be questioning the reality of Jesus Christ right now, I want you to know that I have a deep and abiding testimony that He lives,  for I have seen his hand in my life on many occasions. Because of Him and His graciousness, I have literally experienced miracles, like prayers being answered, being healed quickly from Bells Palsy, and having an overwhelming feeling of peace and comfort when I have needed it most. Jesus Christ is my friend and will be my advocate to God when one day I will stand before Him to be judged for my actions in this life, just as He will be your advocate on your own judgment day. Christ is the gateway to Heaven and he has beaconed all to 'Come Unto Him.'  I have followed that admonition and hope that each of you will too. Remember who you are and why you are here and do all things unto the Lord and He will bless you beyond measure, is my prayer for you at this time. Love, Mom"

The reason the host invited us to do this exercise is because this week we are studying Mormon chapters 7-9. In chapter 7, Mormon writes his last words. Then in chapters 8 & 9, Moroni writes his last words. 

After Mormon dies in the great battle on Cummorah's Hill, Moroni is completely alone. Everyone he knows (all of the Nephites, or anyone who will not deny Christ) has been killed by the Lamanites. He is the last man standing, so to speak. He is hiding in a cave in order to complete the records his own father commanded him to write, hoping not to be discovered by the Lamanites. He is basically writing his "last words" to his people as well as to anyone in the future who will be reading what he wrote (like me and millions of others).

I can't imagine the loneliness that Moroni must have been feeling. Can you imagine being all alone and being hunted by evil men who enjoy killing others just for sport and the lust of the kill? I can't imagine that! 

I'm so grateful to be surrounded by family members, good friends, and a supportive church family. I feel loved, cared for, and protected - especially by my dear husband! We are "one" in every sense of the word. He completes me and I hope we will have many more wonderful years together.

I love that Angel Moroni sits atop most of our LDS Temples. It is a reminder to me that the statue is a call to take the good news of the gospel to all the world. Also, Moroni is facing East, announcing the 2nd coming of our Savior. Christ will come from the East.

I long for that day!

I VOTED!

 I have been old enough to vote for 49 years now.  (That really ages me, doesn't it!) Every four years in America we have an election to see who the next President of the United States will be. I have voted each and every time! I consider it my civic duty to do so. I have also voted in all primary and almost all local elections.

This year, however, it didn't look like I would be able to vote in the general election for the next President of the U.S.  Even though I voted earlier this year in the primary election, my registration to make me eligible to vote mysteriously turned "inactive".  The only reason I happened to notice that is because Alan received his absentee ballot, but I didn't. Even Kyle, who hasn't lived in California for 14 years and who is registered and votes in Arizona, received a mail-in ballot. Hmmm.....I was scratching my head over that one. Why would both of them receive a ballot, but not me?

I found out that I could look online to check my registration status, which is what I did on the day of the deadline to do so. Low and behold, I discovered that I was no longer even a registered voter. Thank goodness I checked when I did! Thankfully, I was able to re-register. About a week later, I received my ballot in the mail and I cast my vote.

I can't tell you how excited I was that I got to let my voice be heard...not only for who I want to be the President, but also for other important offices and propositions. 

Now it's just a waiting game to see who will win the presidency next Tuesday, just four days from today. It will be either the incumbent Donald J. Trump or Joe Biden.

I feel that this is the most important election of my lifetime because our freedom and liberty are literally at stake. The constitution is "hanging by a thread" as was prophesied long ago. I will refrain from explaining all the political implications of what would happen depending on who gets elected. I don't want this to be a political post. I simply want to express my joy of being able to cast my vote and let my voice be heard.

I believe America to be the promised land. I'm so grateful that I was blessed to be born here. I am grateful for the freedoms that I have enjoyed in this land for the 67 years I have been blessed to live here. I don't take those freedoms for granted and want to do all in my power to preserve those freedoms. Without freedom, we have nothing! There would be no hope of living a fruitful and fulfilling life. 

Although wickedness abounds and civil unrest still creeps into the news almost on a daily basis, I love this beautiful country of mine.

Showing My Patriotism!

 I have always felt like I was a patriotic person, but with the great divide happening in our country right now, I feel like patriotism for our country is sliding a little. There are many citizens who want to "do away" with the old ways and reset the country onto a different path. I'm too patriotic to want to get on that bandwagon. 

I don't have a large flag to display in our yard, but I do have a portion of wall in the house that I decided to dedicate a patriotic theme to. After shopping at Hobby Lobby, this is what I ended up with...

I think it turned out pretty good...at least it's much better than an empty wall.

On the flag on the frame to the left, it says "four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." - Abraham Lincoln.

On the flag on the frame to the right, it says "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." - Thomas Jefferson

I believe that the founding of the United States of America was done through the power of God. He directed Columbus to this new land and He inspired the men who wrote the constitution. No other country was founded by God to give men so many liberties and freedoms. This is the promised land prophesied of in the scriptures. 

I'm so grateful that I was born in the USA. I'm grateful for the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of my own conscience. 

I love this country, but I hate to see the direction it is taking. I'm wondering how long we will be able to hold on to the freedoms that we currently enjoy. Hopefully, for at least as long as I'm alive. Without our freedoms, we will become countries like China, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea. I certainly don't want that!

In God I Trust!!!

Sister's Retreat - Lancaster Portion

On Saturday morning, we drove over to Apollo Park for a nice morning walk. Gayle wasn't able to join us because of the extreme amount of sciatic pain she was experiencing.  

Later in the afternoon, we went swimming and had a bbq. The weather cooperated very well for us. The outdoor temps were in the high 80's, the pool temp was around 90 degrees, and there was no wind. Perfect conditions! We were able to eat outside, which is something we are seldom able to do because of the wind. I LOVED it! 

Afterwards, we went inside and played the "Beach Ball Game." It's a game I made up that we played about 7 years ago when we held the Burton Reunion at my house. It's a get-to-know-you game. I wrote a lot of questions on the ball. When the ball is tossed to you, you must answer the question that is underneath your right thumb. It was fun and we got to know a little bit more about each other.

Gayle was in so much pain with her sciatica problem that she couldn't even sit in the car for the ride home. In order to accommodate her, they made a bed for her in the car. I'm sure she would have preferred sitting, but she accepted her fate. The drive back home to Bountiful was broken up into two days by spending a night in St. George. That made things a little easier on Gayle.

A week later, Gayle is still in pain and had to get some subs to teach for her last week, but she is now on the mend. Sure glad I've never had sciatica problems along with all my back problems. I've been very blessed that way.

I love my sisters and cherish any amount of time I can spend with them and their husbands. Through our virtual "Come Follow Me" meetings each Sunday for the past several months, we have become even closer than we ever have before. That's a huge blessing in my life. God has been good to me!

Sister's Retreat - Riverside Portion

Every once in a while my sisters and I get together for a "sister's retreat." This time, our husbands were invited, which was cool. It took place in California since Jane and Ken are on their mission and are restricted on where they can go.

The Fosters and Bleaks drove down here (to Lancaster) on a Thursday and stayed over night with Alan and I. We (all except Alan, who had to work) drove to Riverside the next morning to meet up with Jane and Ken and spend the day exploring the city. We were able to do some fun things.

First, we went to see the Orange groves at the California Citrus State Historic Park. They have a museum, but it was closed because of Covid. I forgot to even take pics of the orange trees!

We then went to lunch at a place called Tio's Tacos. It has to be the craziest place I've ever eaten. The whole  decor is artwork created basically out of "junk" like bottles, bottle caps, hub caps, license plates, water jugs, or any other kind of junk you can think of. It's a very eclectic, but fun place to eat.

This was a fun place to take a pic at Tio's Tacos!

Here we are (everyone except me) standing in line to order our food.

The food was delicious!

After lunch we went to the historic Mission Inn Hotel

 

I'm sitting in the President Taft Chair.

Our last stop was to the beautiful Fairmount Park. It was too hot to walk around it, so we drove around it instead.

Not sure what this tank is all about, but it was interesting to see at a park.

After this we had to head back to Jane & Ken's apartment to get ready for a special fireside that evening for all the senior couples in the mission. Ken arranged for Scott to present the fireside. He did a PowerPoint Presentation on the Rome temple that he was able to be the architect on plus the renovation plans for the Salt Lake Temple. He did a great job and I learned a lot.

We then left Riverside and drove to Lancaster for a couple more days of fun. 

Forty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration

 Although our 45th wedding anniversary isn't until December 27th, we decided to celebrate it early with a weekend get-away to Hermosa Beach. 

Having our anniversary two days after Christmas often makes it very difficult to celebrate. By that time, we have just given gifts to each other and we have over-eaten (usually) during the holidays so we don't necessarily want to give/get more gifts or go out to dinner. It's been a dilemma all these years.

Our solution this year was to celebrate in October instead of December. We had a very memorable get-away in spite of still having to wear masks and stay socially distant because of COVID-19. 

Our first stop was along the coast in Ventura. I love the California coastline - especially further north where they have magnificent cliffs.

Our next stop was the Venice Canals. We had heard about these canals in Venice but had never been there before. I'm so glad we went. I felt like I was in Venice Italy instead of Venice California. It would be an amazing place to live.

Our final destination was Hermosa Beach. We have visited Hermosa Beach many times. It might be our favorite beach in Southern California. Usually we stay at The Sea Sprite, but they have remodeled it and it is extremely expensive now so we opted to go up the street to a Quality Inn instead.

Here's a pic of the remodeled Sea Sprite. It used to be blue and white and the plaza pictured here used to be a pool. It looks a lot more modern now.

Some of the homes along the Strand were decorated for Halloween. This was my favorite with the skeletons decorated in swim wear and wearing covid masks. Haha!

Since most restaurants are still closed or open for outdoor dining only, we had to settle for a "non-romantic" Chipotle dinner. But that's ok. We are pretty simple folks.

We didn't give anniversary gifts to each other (since it wasn't really our anniversary nor did we have time to get gifts) but the best gift we give to each other is time together. We so love "hanging out" just the two of us. I'm glad I married my best friend and the love of my life. He has provided a good life for me these past 45 years. I feel so blessed and wouldn't change anything!