Meet The Stotts

A New First For Me

2012-01-30T21:34:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned our Stake Chapel session in the Los Angeles Temple. What I didn't say was that while Alan and I were waiting on the pew for the session to start, Bishop Richardson sat down next to us and shook our hands. He then said "Sister Stott, I know this probably isn't the best time to do this, but I was wondering if you would accept a new calling." I said "what calling?" He then asked me if I would accept the calling as the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society. I said, "of course" and then he told me who the new president was going to be and that she had requested me as her counselor. That was a "first" for me. I had never received a ward calling in the temple before. I wonder how often that even happens.

Yesterday, during Sacrament Meeting I was sustained to the position by the members of my Ward, but I was not there to witness it. Unfortunately, I have been battling bronchitis and a sinus infection for the past 5 days and was too ill to attend Church. I will have to wait until next Sunday to be set apart.

Although being a counselor in the Relief Society can be somewhat time-consuming (I've done it before), I know it will be a lot less time-consuming than the calling I just got released from - Young Women's President. I had forgotten how time-consuming YW's on a ward level can be...crazy busy! I only served as our ward YW president for about 10 months, but when the Bishop called me to that position he told me that it would be a temporary thing (roughly a year or less) and that I was called, basically, to be there long enough to train others how to run the organization. The Bishop lived up to his word. After I had served my time, I was released.

All three women's organizations in our ward were totally reorganized yesterday - The Relief Society, The Primary, and Young Women's. You can imagine the line-up of Sisters outside the Bishop's office to be set apart after Church...but of course I didn't have to wait in line as I will have to wait until next Sunday.

I am really looking forward to this new phase of my life. I am very excited to start working with the other sisters in the R.S. presidency. Let the good times roll!

Best Weekend!

2012-01-24T16:29:00.000-08:00

I don't know how you can top the last weekend I had and not even have to spend any money doing it (except for some gas). It started out on Friday by going to the Los Angeles Temple for our Stake Temple day. Alan and I were able to go on a session and then attend the chappel session with the rest of the Stake. It was pretty amazing and the spirit was very strong. My feelings for the temple are very strong and I am madly in love with the Los Angeles Temple. Since I have been attending it for the past 34 years, I consider it "my" temple. I cosider it a great pleasure to be able to work there every Wednesday morning to further the work of the Lord in this part of his vineyard.

The next morning, Saturday, a baptism was held for Steve Bullard. Alan and I have been home teaching the Bullard family for about 4-5 years. At first, Steve didn't really want much to do with us or even have us in his home, but through regularly visiting the family, he started to warm up to us. He gradually went from being cold and pretty unfriendly to us to welcoming us into his home. He even invited Alan and our Bishop to give him a priesthood blessing a couple of years ago prior to him having surgery to remove a tumor from the left side of his skull. This surgery left him very dizzy and he lost part of his hearing, but in my estimation was a blessing in disguise. Because of this trial, he learned to turn to the Lord for help. Finally, after watching his daughter be baptized 4 years ago by her grandfather and not by him, I think it gave him reason to consider learning more about the church, but it happened very gradually. He went through many sets of missionaries. Finally, about a month ago out of the blue he asked his wife, Elise, how soon he could be baptized. It was amazing! The baptism was very well attended - best I've ever seen. He will never lack for an outpouring of love and support from our ward members. Talk about a mighty change of heart! He is truly a new man, a better husband, and better father. The image of Christ is in his countenance. I considered it a privilege to have been able to attend his baptism, felt the spirit there, and be able to participate by leading the music.

Saturday evening and Sunday morning were also very special as we held two more sessions of our Stake Conference. As I looked around the chapel and cultural hall where the conference sessions were held, I felt an outpouring of love for all the members of our Stake. I am surrounded by people I have grown to know and love over the 30 years we have lived in the Lancaster Stake. Although we have considered moving to Utah to be closer to our children, I know that when that day eventually arrives, I will truly miss the friendships and love that I feel here. It will be hard to move from the area we have lived in for so long, but some day it will happen. Until then, I will work hard to make sure that life is good no matter where I am living.

A True Fairy Tale

2012-01-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

Once Upon a time there was a little red ball. She had a good life but she was very lonely.

One day she met some jacks

and a great friendship began.

In fact, they spent every day together and would never let each other out of their sight.

They found a lovely place to permanently spend some time together. But one day the little red ball got lost and couldn't find her way back to the jacks. Although a long search took place to try to find the ball, she could not be found. The jacks were lonely without their little red ball friend to keep them company. Finally, about two years later, the little red ball was found! She had been lost under a bed far far away from her jack friends. Once she was discovered, she was reunited with the jacks and they all lived happily ever after.

Advent Calendar - A New Christmas Tradition

2011-12-22T11:15:00.000-08:00

As a Christmas tradition with my Grandchildren I bought a wooden advent calendar last year and Ethan, Ella, and Livi had fun opening the little doors each day to see what was inside. Mostly it was some kind of treat, but once in a while I would slip in a surprise gift. Since we don't have a lot of fun outdoor things for the kids to do at our house (except the pool, which is too cold in the winter time) I decided I wanted to get something that the kids could enjoy but would not belong to them...just something they could use when they visited. I decided to go with electric scooters for Ethan and Ella to ride and a Power Wheel for Livi to use. The scooters I chose looked pretty safe (not too fast) but the box said for 8+ years old. Since Ella is only 6, I worried a little bit that she might be too young for it. However, I purchased them anyway and I am glad I did. After a brief lesson on safety rules and how to operate them Ella and Ethan both took to them like a fish to water. They love buzzing around our driveway. Livi loves the Power Wheel too...although she is a little too big for it (she is tall for a 3 year old). She will outgrow it very soon. I tried to download a video of them on the scooters but have been unsuccessful at that. If I can get it to work, I will post it later. Until then, I guess these photos will suffice.

Holiday Treats

2011-12-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

One fun thing about Christmas is the excuse to make and eat all kinds of goodies. Last Friday I spent all day making Christmas tree sugar cookies, red velvet cake balls, and chocolate covered pretzels for the families Alan and I home/visit teach and also for the residents of an assisted living center near my home where our young women went to sing Christmas carols to and share Christmas stories with. We had a great time there. (I wish I would have thought to take pictures.) I was so pleased to be done with all my baking and proud of the results until I received this photo from Cheryl of her chocolate covered pretzels. Don't they look yummy and festive? Great job Cheryl!!! She informed me that everyone at her work is enjoying them.

When you compare hers to mine, there is really no comparison. Mine are drab and boring, but I can attest that they are yummy even though they are not as colorful or as good looking. Cheryl, you will have to teach me how to make yours when you come down for Christmas next week! Happy Holiday baking everyone!

For Ella & Livi

2011-12-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

The last time I posted a video it disappeared. Hopefully that won't happen this time. This is of Ella & Livi on the slide at the school. They couldn't get enough of it. They kept going back for more and more.

Nice Getaway, part 2 (Highlighting Ethan)

2011-12-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned that I didn't have any photos that included Ethan....but evidently Cheryl did so she forwarded them to me. This post will highlight Ethan.

This first photo is of Ethan eating the Thanksgiving feast in the school cafeteria.

Ethan loves to "wrestle" with Tonks. They seem to get along quite well.

I made caramel apples with the kids. In this photo Ethan is my helper.

Ethan's favorite thing to do is draw. He spent many hours at the table doing his artwork. I should have taken a photo of the deck of 54 cards he made as a gift to his parents. He is very talented and creative.

Nice Getaway

2011-12-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

Last month I flew to Salt Lake City and then Cheryl and I drove from there to Scottsbluff Nebraska to watch Eric's children so he and Nicole could get away for their anniversary. This was not only a getaway for them, but it was a getaway for me and Cheryl too. We had a lot of fun as we took over the duties of parenting Ethan, Ella, and Livi for a few days. Ethan somehow avoided all of the photographs (camera shy guy) but we were able to capture the girls without a problem.

One thing that was fun that I hadn't done in a while was doing girls hair. Remember, I only had one daughter so I never did get that great with hair but it was fun to try to resurrect some old skills. Cheryl did Ella's french braid and I did Livi's hair. I can't remember what Cheryl called that style...but you make the pony tail and then pull it through. This photo doesn't really show it well.

Another thing we got to do was eat a Thanksgiving feast with the kids at their school. (Note: these pictures are a little out of order. See cafeteria photo closer to the end of the post. I didn't know how to fix it). After we ate lunch we were allowed to go out on the playground with Ella. I could tell she loved having us visit her "turf".

Having taught elementary school for three years, Cheryl felt right at home helping Livi with the slide, the swings, and the climbing equipment.

Taking care of Tonks was another one of our responsibilities. She loves to sit on the dishwasher door and lick the dirty dishes. She is so little and cute!

This is the photo of us eating the school lunch together. Ethan is straight across from me, but of course you can't see him.

I love Livi's smile in this photo. You can tell she is genuinely happy...and so was I. I was happy to be able to spend some time with my grandchildren.

While Eric & Nicole were away, we took the kids to Walmart so they could buy their parents an anniversary gift. We also decided to surprise them by decorating the livingroom with streamers and balloons. The kids really enjoyed putting up all the decorations but then had to patiently wait for their parents to return home from Lincoln before they could see the surprised looks on their faces.

Altogether too soon it was time for us to head back to Utah. Cheryl had a job to get back to and I had to plan a Thanksgiving meal for our family in conjunction with Jane and her family. Sorry, I forgot to take photos of that event, but I really would like to thank the Airds for letting us crash their Thanksgiving. We really appreciated their generosity, the great food, and fine company. It turned out splendidly!

Pleasant Surprise

2011-12-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday morning when I arrived at the Los Angeles Temple (5:15 a.m.) for my weekly shift and the Christmas lights were so beautifully lit. I pulled out my handy dandy new iphone and took some photos. I discovered that it is very difficult to take pictures of lights and give them justice. Sorry if they are a little blurry. I am still learning how to use the camera to get that perfect shot. I didn't even know how to zoom until yesterday.

I love how the palm trees light up so beautifully.

Just a view with the temple in the background. Not all of the trees are lit up yet but I'm sure more will be added as the days go on.

Two different kinds of palm trees lit up.

More palm trees on the right.

A garden patio area

Scarry Shower Buddy!!!

2011-11-08T10:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, so after I took my shower this morning and cleaned the loose hair from the drain (a very common event after a shower), I noticed what looked like more hair close to the shower door where the wall meets the floor. Without my glasses, I couldn't tell for sure what it was, but assuming it was more hair, I picked it up and noticed that it was a little firmer than hair should be. I dropped it immediately and I couldn't wait to dry myself off, get my glasses on, and take a better look. Imagine my surprise when I saw this!!! Although we live in the desert, we don't see scorpions around here, especially in the house. I am just glad that it was dead before I picked it up. I could do without a scorpion sting today, thanks.

Double The Pleasure, Double The Fun

2011-11-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

Both of my counselors in the YW Presidency are expecting babies within the next 2-3 weeks, so I decided to throw a combined baby shower for them for the YW, their mothers, and other sisters in the ward to attend. This took place last week. I had help from our YW board members for the shower, but the food was taken care of by me. I saw a cute watermelon fruit bowl stroller online and decided to give it a try. There was a video I followed so I wouldn't mess it up too badly. I took photos along the way to document my progress. I just cut the shape out first and removed the watermelon fruit from the insides.

Then I cut the zig zag pattern around the whole thing.

then added the wheels and handles

Can you believe I forgot to take a photo of the finished product with the fruit added? Here is a photo of my two counselors, their two diaper cakes I paid someone to make, and the watermelon stroller is visible on the table.

I wish I could say that I made this cupcake cake, but I didn't. Vons did, but it was a big hit!

One of our Mia Maids, Marissa, was in charge of the games. She decided to play the game where there are 3 to a team and one person directs the two blind-folded teammates in spoon feeding either chocolate pudding or apple sauce into one person's mouth. It was hilarious, but messy so we had to move that game from the livingroom into the kitchen. This is Emily (1st Couns.) feeding Jen (2nd Couns.) some chocolate pudding while Emily's Mom does the coaching. It was a very good thing that we wore garbage bags over our clothing as it got pretty messy.

Another game Marissa chose was the telephone line game where someone starts with some good advice for the new mother's-to-be and see if it could get all around the room without any changes. This was funny as well as the end result only slightly resembled the beginning advice.

Jen & Emily opening their first gift together.

Last week was crazy busy for me with our Young Women In Excellence, two temple shifts to work, and the baby shower so I was happy when the shower was over. I was just pleased that everything turned out so well. Everyone said they had a great time.

Young Women In Excellence

2011-10-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

For our Young Women In Excellence this year my counselors and I chose a pirate theme. I know what you are thinking....pirates are bad guys so why would you pick a pirate theme for a church activity. Well, pirates seek for treasures and so do our Young Women. The mutual theme for this year was "We Believe" and centered around the 13th Article of Faith which ends with "we seek after these things". Also, Pirates was an acronym for us: Personal Integrity Raises All To Eternal Standards.

This first picture is of me and my two very pregnant counselors (due 6 days apart in about 3 weeks)

We had tables set up with a picture of each girl where she could display things she had done this year to show her "excellence". I took this picture too early. Only one display was set up. Oops.

We have a small YW group and many of the girls were missing. I think we had 11 girls in attendance of our 18. They had fun dressing up as pirates. We had an activity night where they decorated their hats and another activity night where they decorated the frames for their pictures. They turned out great. Besides the hat, we supplied the eye patches and bandanas for their costumes.

One of my counselors made some awesome looking cupcakes with crumbs on top that looked like dirt (buried treasure) and had a chocolate coin on top. They were a big hit.

At the end of the evening we had a scripture treasure hunt that led them to clues scattered throughout the church and finally to this treasure chest hidden on the stage. It was filled with small treasure boxes like the one on top pictured here. Each girl got one of these and it held things that they should treasure, i.e. testimony (from their parents), scriptures (chocolate version made from two Nugget bars with the 13th Article of Faith as the pages, the temple (a picture of their favorite temple as a reminder to go there some day, and their favorite candy bar because "sweet is the peace the gospel brings".

Our YW Board (minus 3 people)

The cultural hall was decorated with 8 of these awesome palm trees borrowed from my counselor's mother in a bordering stake. They really added to the ambiance of the whole evening.

This isn't in focus, but it shows how we made our own little set of scriptures for the girl's treasure chests.

We also had a puzzle center where the girls and their parents could put a puzzle together with the 13th Article of Faith on one side and a "treasure map" on the other side.

All in all, a great time was had by all. I especially loved it when our YW sang their two songs - one fun song to the tune of "A Pirates Life For Me", but I changed the lyrics to go along with the 13th Article of Faith so it was entitled "A Virtuous Life For Me." The other song they sang was a Jenny Phillips song entitled "We Seek After These Things." Both songs were perfect for the evening.

Central California Coast - The Final Chapter

2011-10-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

The last leg of our trip included Solvang and Santa Barbara. I didn't take many pictures at either place, but here is a sample of what we did. Right close to Solvang there is a restaurant famous for their split pea soup. It is called Pea Soup Andersen's. We all found it rather funny that a place could be famous for split pea soup, but it does exist. We couldn't resist the urge to give it a try....well at least most of us ordered the split pea soup. Some of the more picky eaters (Cheryl) didn't go for it.

Pictures of outside and inside the restaurant.

I have to say that I don't know why they are so famous for their split pea soup. It didn't pass my taste test and I am a pea soup lover. I can check that restaurant off my bucket list.

Cheryl having some fun with a dutch shoe in Solvang. I can't believe this is the only photo I took there.

Of course we had to stop in Santa Barbara to see Kristen & Andrew's new son Jaxon.

He is such a cutie! Congratulations to the happy couple. Santa Barbara is such a beautiful community. I guess that is why Oprah decided to live there. Kristen & Andrew seem to be enjoying it !

Our last stop before heading back to Lancaster was to check out Oprah Winfrey's estate in Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, you can't see much from the street. Her house is past the gates you see in the front. Oh well, at least we can say that we went to Oprah's house. The guard made sure we didn't overstay our welcome. :-)

Central California Coast - Part 4

2011-10-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

Hearst Castle is a definite must see for anyone vacationing in Central California. This was our 4th or 5th time to go on one of their tours. This was our second time to take the evening tour, which is the best tour of all. It is a compilation of all of the other tours. It takes a little longer, but well worth it. The castle is magestic and oppulent, especially for its day. The land (40,000 acres) was purchased by George Hearst in 1865 and was initially used as a summer camping spot for the family. George's son William Randolph Hearst later inherited the land and decided to build on it. Construction began in 1919 and by 1947 it had become an estate of 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools, and walkways.

Hearst Castle at the entrance

This is the spectacular outdoor pool

One benefit of the evening tour is that they have "dinner guests" dressed as if in
the 1950's ready for a fantastic weekend with William Randolph Hearst

A view of the grounds from inside the castle

Another view of the grounds

I love that you can see the Pacific Ocean from high up
on the hills where the mansion stands

I took pictures of the inside of the mansion, but they just don't do it justice.
I guess you will just have to go visit the castle yourself so you can see
the inside and really appreciate all the architecture and beauty there.

A big highlight for me on this trip to Hearst Castle is that I found this beautiful vase

in the gift shop. I practically never purchase anything from gift shops,

but after drooling over it for a while, I decided it needed to find a

permanent home in my family room. I think it fits perfectly with the

other decor. I LOVE IT!!! That, alone, was worth the trip up the coast. :-)

Central California Coast - Part 3

2011-10-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

Just a little bit north of San Simeon, California is a place we LOVE to visit. It is called Elephant Seal Beach. This isn't a beach you visit to catch some rays or some waves, but rather to view all of the Elephant Seals who have chosen this beach as their "hangout" (it is actually called a rookery). They are quite a lazy bunch. They lie in the sun and love to throw sand on themselves...I assume to prevent sunburn. They got the name "elephant seal" because of the large proboscis (nose) that the adult males have which resembles an elephant's trunk.

When they are not lying out in the sun, they do venture out into the water to feed and frolic.

If you look closely (zoom in by clicking on the photo) you can see the seals near the edge of the water. I know, not the best pic! I need a camera with a good zoom.

The juvenile males spend some of their spare time sparring with one another. This is in practice for later in life when they will need to fight for mating rights with the females.

Watching them spar is great entertainment...especially if they are "vocal" about it. It is kind of a barking, growling sound. No, they are not necking in this photo.

I will share some interesting facts with you about Elephant seals. They are extraordinary marine mammals. When they are not on the beach, they spend 8-10 months of the year in the open ocean, diving 1000 to 5000 feet deep for periods of 15 min - 2 hrs. They migrate thousands of miles, twice a year, to its land based rookery for birthing, breeding, molting, and rest. There are about 15,000 seals who call this particular beach "home." Males (or bulls) can reach a length of 16 feet and weigh up to 6,600 lbs. Females (or cows) are much smaller at about 10 feet and only 2,000 lbs.

Central California Coast - Part 2

2011-10-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

Next on our stop up the Central California Coast we visited Montana de Oro State Park. This place is close to Morrow Bay, a favorite tourist spot of ours but because of limited time we were not able to spend much time there this time around so it will not be spotlighted. This first photo is of Alan and I at the Montana de Oro State Park Beach.

Cheryl at the beach...just before a rogue wave got the bottom 1/3 of her jeans wet.

Ken & Alan at the beach

A view of the water from up on the cliffs

This picture shows how high the cliffs are

Cheryl, Ken, and Alan sitting precariously on one of the cliffs.

I took this for the view (yes, that includes Cheryl). I sure wish I were that photogenic

Joan & Jane from the cliffs (No, she is not taller than me...I was on the downhill slope)

This stop on our trip was pretty short, but we certainly enjoyed the beautiful beach views...some of the best California has to offer.

Central California Coast - Part 1

2011-10-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Gayle, Jane, and Ken drove down to California for a little get-away. Well, actually, Gayle came down to welcome her new grandson (Jaxon Van Noy) into her family. Since Kristen and Andrew live in Santa Barbara, I was able to benefit from their travels. Gayle stopped at our home briefly to drop Jane & Ken off and eat some dinner and then she was off to Santa Barbara. To add to the excitement, Cheryl came down a few days later to have fun with us and to also attend her 10 year class reunion. We were able to spend two days traveling up the Central Coast of California to see some of Alan and my favorite spots to visit. We saw and did too much to post in this one blog, so I will be doing them in segments. The first place we stopped at was at a place called Los Osos Oaks Reserve. This is a fun place to hike around because it is a grove of oak trees, many of which look kinda enchanted because of all the moss hanging from them. This photo shows the moss well.

Many of the oaks were big and fun to climb.

(Alan, Joan, and Cheryl)

Jane & Ken in front of a big oak near the entrance to the reserve

I found a big tree with a hollow trunk and Cheryl thought it would be fun

to get inside of it. I had my doubts about whether that was possible, but

Cheryl taught me that where there is a will there is a way.

This picture shows how high the hole was so you can

better understand why it was a challenge to get inside.

We had a lot of fun with this tree which reminded us of the

backside of the human body. Sorry, we just couldn't resist.

Ken was pretty adventurous. I think the little kid in him

came out because he liked climbing the trees. You can't tell

from this picture, but he is pretty high up in this tree.

Los Osos is not a huge tourist attraction. Most people probably don't even know it is there. Shhhhh, don't tell everyone about it, we liked having the whole place to ourselves (well, pretty much, anyway) This was a fun stop for us, except for our own little episode of "Lost", which I'm too embarrassed to talk about. If you want to know about it, ask Jane & Ken.

The End of the Road

2011-09-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

After having typed approximately 200 Patriarchal Blessings over the past 5 years, our Stake President released me as the transcriber for the Patriarch of our Stake last night. I couldn't help but shed some tears. This has been an awesome calling for me (one I always wanted to have), but since I am our Ward YW President, an ordinance worker in the L.A. Temple, and do couple of other time-consuming things for the ward (choir and emergency services), Alan felt that I had too much on my plate so he mentioned to the Stake President that something had to go. Well, this calling is not what I wanted to go, but I guess that is what the Lord wanted to go. I was very excited, however, to hear that one of my best friends, Nancy Andrews, will be taking over for me. She was the first friend I made after moving into the Lancaster Stake over 30 years ago. I jokingly tell her that she taught me everything I know since I served under her as a counselor in the Quartz Hill Ward Primary approximately 29 years ago. I am sad to see this chapter of my life end, but I knew that this had to happen sometime. I have graciously passed the baton knowing that my "baby" is in good hands with Nancy. I met with her this morning and showed her how it is all done. I know she will love the calling as much as I did.

What will I miss about summer?

2011-09-24T21:34:00.000-07:00

Summer is not my favorite season here in the desert. It is too hot and windy and we seldom get any rain so it is very dry. However, in spite of that, there is one thing I will miss when the weather turns cooler.....relaxing in the pool. There is nothing quite like it, especially after a long stressful week.

By the way, I first have to workout in the pool before I allow myself to relax like this. Swimming is a great way to get some exercise. It is low impact and helps the cardiovascular system. I have found that the best thing about exercising in the pool, however, is that you don't know you are sweating. : )

Passing The Taste Test

2011-09-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday evening at Mutual the YM put on a joint activity entitled "Your Momma don't live here any more." Interesting title, and actually it was an interesting activity. To begin with they had some relay races performing tasks that the youth will have to do once they leave home, i.e.: ironing, making a bed, and cleaning bathrooms. The last task was a contest to make the best grilled cheese sandwich. We leaders had brought a variety of items for making the sandwiches like different kinds of bread, different kinds of cheeses, bacon, mac & cheese, hot dogs, ham, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. We got pretty creative with our sandwiches. One young man deep fried his, recoatted it with batter, and then deep fried it again. I didn't get to taste that one...I think he and his buddy ate it all by themselves. We had some interesting sandwiches, but the winning prize (actually there was no prize) went to ME! I made it the Stott way...with strawberry jam on top using sourdough bread, ham slice, and cheddar cheese. No judges were assigned to pick a winner, but the youth just commented on their favorite and mine won overwhelmingly. Before anyone tasted it they thought it was weird to put jam on top but everyone wanted to check it out. I explained that when I married Alan he wanted strawberry jam on his sandwiches so we just evolved to always doing it that way. Now grilled cheese sandwiches seem to plain to me without it. I think this story would make my mother-in-law proud! It definitely passed the youth taste test.

Brother's Reunion

2011-08-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

Alan was in charge of his family reunion this year. He decided to hold it just for his brothers and their wives. He selected a beautiful location - Johnson Mill Bed and Breakfast in Midway, Utah. It is a very fun place to stay and the grounds are beautiful. I sure wish we would have had another day there. Unfortunately, Alan's mother and his brother Galen and his wife Jayne were not able to join us. We missed them a lot.

This is a front view of it.

This water wheel was beautiful. It was previously used to grind the grain, since this place was actually a working mill. Now it is just a peaceful, beautiful photo op.

This waterfall is below the water wheel and is also beautiful and serene.

Here we all are on the steps leading up to the front entry. Starting left to right: Alan & Joan, Kevin & Barbara, Keith & Barbara, Susan & Steven

Group shot after we had our wonderful breakfast. Pictured left to right: Keith & Barbara, Steven & Susan, Kevin & Barbara, and Alan & Joan

I had to take a picture of our breakfast. It was very tasty (although some thought it wasn't filling enough). Not sure what it was, but it tasted like a german pancake in a heart-shaped crock with peach sauce and whipped cream on top with bacon and fruit on the side. So good!

This pond was in back of Johnson B & B and is part of their grounds. There was a canoe that you could take out if you wanted to. I believe all of us gave it a try.

Here we are enjoying an early morning ride on the calm water.

Steve gets the bravery award for doing this. Watch this video. If you look closely, all of the handles were broken off on this....I don't even know what to call it....swing of sorts, except for the one he is holding on to. Besides the broken handles, the metal was all corroded and didn't look too safe to ride. However, Steve decided to give it a try. If it had broken, he could have landed in swampy water. What a good sport!

The next night, we gathered at "Madeline's Steak & Grill" in South Jordan where Alan's mother, Pearl, as well as Galen and Jayne could join us for a great meal.

Bear River Lodge

2011-08-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

From August 8th-11th our immediate family was able to enjoy the great outdoors up in the Wasatch Mountains. We rented a couple of cabins at Bear River Lodge. This was a perfect place to spend those few days with lots of fun things to do. One of the best things was the day we rented quads. We were able to rent enough so that everyone could go out together at the same time.

Our whole group getting ready to head out.

Nicole wasn't able to join us, however, because she got meningitis right before the trip and couldn't take the jostling involved with the quads. Because of that, I joined Eric and the kids in their 6 seater. I have to say, it felt just like riding the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.

Kyle and Emily with a couple of the smaller quads.

After riding for about an hour we came to a beautiful lake (can't remember the name of it). It was fun to just stop, relax, and eat some beef jerky before heading back to the cabin.

Eric, Ella, Livi, and Ethan at the lake

Ella got to ride one of the bigger quads with Ryan

This is a bridge we got to cross. It was so beautiful there!

Cheryl's friend Hillary joined us and got to go riding with Jared.

This is the cabin we stayed in...but you can't see the smaller cabin on the back side of this one where Eric and his family stayed.

It was fun to cool off in the pool...and wash off some of the dirt we collected.

Everyone (except me....cooking duties) went on a hike near the river.

I got to go on a hike later with Alan, Ethan, Ella, and Livi. The wildflowers were beautiful.

Alan, Ryan, Cheryl, and I stopped at Mirror Lake on the way back home. Oh, I love Utah with all of its rivers and lakes.

Apple Box Oven Cooking

2011-07-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Alan and I attended a Stake demonstration of different ways to cook without power in case of an emergency. I had seen apple box ovens before, but had never used one. We were able to make one that day and I decided to use it to cook our dinner tonight. It is simple. First, you heat up about 10-15 briquettes.

While the briquettes are heating up, you prepare the food you will be cooking (or it could be prepared prior to this). I decided to try foil dinners. I used ground turkey for the patties and cut up potatoes and added carrots. I always like to top it off with a little Cream of Mushroom soup for flavor and moistness. I didn't have any onion, or I would have added that to my meal (not Alan's).

Fold the foil around the food. You will need to do this twice to prevent leakage.

This is what the inside of the oven looks like. You use four soda cans to hold the cookie sheet that the foil dinners are resting on and then put the hot charcoals under the pan.

Then you place the box oven over the meal and use one charcoal briquette to keep the box from laying flat on the ground to allow air to circulate.

My oven got a little hot. You can see it got up to 450 degrees.

After about 1 hr. of cooking time, the meal was ready to be served.

Independence Day Celebration!

2011-07-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

I got tired of basically doing nothing on the 4th of July so this year I suggested to Alan an activity that I thought we might enjoy, and we did. It was to attend a rodeo at the A.V. Fairgrounds with fireworks afterwards. The Fairgrounds is where the City of Lancaster does their fireworks, so it is always a big affair.

The rodeo was just professional bull riding that night, but we enjoyed it a lot. I was able to get a couple of good videos of the action. This first one is of a rider who rode the whole 8 seconds (which didn't happen a lot) but then the bull ran into the fence. You will see what happens next.

This second video is of a rider who didn't last too long, but thank goodness for the "distractor" who led the bull away from the rider at his own peril. (They didn't dress as clowns that night like I've seen in the past)

This is just a taste of the fireworks show we were able to enjoy. I loved all of the patriotic music that went along with the fireworks. That music really helped increase my gratitude for our country and the men and women who serve us so faithfully in our armed forces. We owe them a lot!!! GOD BLESS THE U.S.A!!!

Wedding Day

2011-07-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

On June 18, 2011 Kyle Stott and Emily Crandall became husband and wife, sealed for eternity in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was a beautiful day filled with love, with family, with promise, and with great memories.

This first picture is of the happy couple just exiting the temple.

Their love and joy was evident by all in attendance.

What a cute couple!

Emily and her bridesmaids

Our whole clan. (We are growing, but slowly)

A big thankyou goes out to everyone who attended and helped make the day so special for Kyle, Emily, and our entire family. You are loved!

Time to cut the cake at the reception.

A week after the wedding, an open house was held at the Crandall home in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

One week into their marriage. They still look happy, don't they!

At the Coeur d'Alene Open House

Kyle really wanted Cheryl to be at his wedding so she made that possible by receiving her own endowment in the Draper Temple on June 16th, 2011. That was a beautiful experience and we thank everyone who supported her by attending that session with her. Way to go, Cheryl! We love you.

Such a windy, but very nice evening!

Pedicures, Make-up Makeovers, and Beach Bikes

2011-06-02T18:56:00.000-07:00

When Cheryl comes to town it is time for some mother/daughter FUN time. As part of my Mother's Day gift from my children, Cheryl and I went together to get pedicures. So much fun! Unfortunately, we forgot to take cameras with us so there are no pics to post here.

**********

Another fun thing Cheryl and I did together was go to a friend of Kendra's (a friend of Kyle's) house for a make-up makeover. Kendra taught us how to apply make-up correctly. Ok....no critiquing us the next time you see us, because we don't have the tools or the knowledge we wish we had to pull off the effects she got, but at least we know a little more about what we are doing now. Here are some before and after pics:

Cheryl's before. She looks good even with no make-up on

My before pic. When did I get so old? (a little sunburn too)

Kendra applying make-up on Cheryl

Kendra trying to work some magic on me

The after shots. Much improved, wouldn't you say? (I think I look a lot like Jane here)

********

I've blogged before about how much we like to go to the beach to ride our beach cruisers from Venice Beach to the Santa Monica Pier. Having Cheryl along was a treat. I forgot to take my camera, but Cheryl took hers so we do have a couple of pics of that adventure. However, when Cheryl was trying to take a picture of Alan and I while riding along, she ran off the trail and her camera fell in the sand and the camera wouldn't work afterward. Bummer!!! That's why there are no pictures of Cheryl during that adventure.

This is the hazard of going to the beach without applying sun screen. Only my legs got burned, thank goodness. (Weird tan line, don't you think?) I'm sure they will be peeling really well by the time of the wedding in a couple of weeks. Bad timing!

2011-05-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Last year Alan told me we could purchase a new barbeque grill. Somehow, we never got around to actually getting one. Sometimes unexpected events get us to move quickly on things. Such is the case with our barbeque. I was asked to host a Relief Society Luau/barbeque at our home in August. Embarrassed by the old one, I knew we had to go shopping. We purchased a new one the day before Mother's Day. Happy Mother's day to me!!!

Here is a picture of the old one. (I know, pretty pathetic)

Even the old cover was worn and old looking.

Here is the new improved model. I've only used it once, but I know I'm going to like it. (I forgot to take a picture of the inside of it)

The new cover is a little big, but much nicer.Now I won't be embarrassed when the Relief Society sisters come to have their Luau. Better late than never, right?

Behind The Times

2011-04-25T20:35:00.001-07:00

Well, I think we are the last people in America to do this, but we finally upgraded to an HDTV. After researching for days, we finally picked a 55" Sony, which is 3D capable, but we don't have everything you need to view in 3D yet, including the glasses. We also need surround sound....maybe some day!

Along with the old television, we got rid of our 1980's furniture too! Yay, I'm so happy to get rid of the old oak furniture. Pictured below is the entertainment center, two chairs, and new tv on one wall. Oh, and it shows the cocktail table too.

This is a photo of the new reclining love seat and couch, along with the area rug and the same cocktail table. I still need to get a new lamp, but haven't even looked for one yet.

Alan and I are both HDTV fans now. Why did we wait so long?

Been there, done that!

2011-04-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well, three weeks ago I was shocked when our new Bishop came to our home on a Sunday evening to issue me a new calling. He called me to be the YW Pres. for our ward, replacing his wife. Sometimes I see these things coming, but not this time. I was totally blindsided. Of course I accepted the calling, but I've been wondering why the Lord would want someone old enough to be these YW's grandmother in there. I haven't come up with a good answer for that yet. At least my two counselors are young. Although I have been the YW Pres. on the ward and stake level before and have been a counselor in many presidencies on both levels, I'm happy to be able to serve the Lord in that capacity again. We have a very small group of YW, which will make things a little bit difficult, but we will deal with it the best we can. I love the YW organization and know that it truly has power to shape lives and to change lives.

Just Our Luck!

2011-03-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, we ordered some new family room furniture online (cocktail table, end table, and 2-piece entertainment center). All pieces are made and sold by Ashley Furniture so we checked them out at the local Ashley Furniture store before ordering. Finally, we got word that the pieces were going to be delivered. Unfortunately, two of the four pieces were badly damaged during transport, but we didn't know about the damage until after the deliverymen had left for two reasons: 1) we weren't home for the delivery and a friend had to accept them for us; and 2) they were boxed up and left in our livingroom. We didn't discover the damage until we started to unpack the items. This first photo is of the damage on the upper portion of the TV surround.

This is the box that the cocktail table was in. No wonder it was damaged. This is the underside of the cocktail table. The support bar was unattached.

Another view of the underside of the cocktail table showing the wooden pieces broken off.

We are still waiting to hear back from the furniture store we made the purchase from to see what they are going to do about it. Until then, we are exercising our patience in the matter. To make matters worse, I found out today that our order for the two accent chairs we placed three weeks ago was cancelled because they don't deliver to our area. Why did they wait three weeks to tell us that? I guess you could say that luck has not been on our side lately.

Yay! I did it!

2011-03-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

I hate to take tests, but last night I buckled down and took my first in many, many years. For the past 8 weeks, I have been taking a ham radio course. Normally I wouldn't have participated in something like this (I really had no interest at all), but since I am on our Ward's emergency response team in case of an earthquake or other disaster, taking the course became necessary. Assuming I survive the disaster when it happens, I am prepared to cover my area of the ward. Our ward is very spread out, as you can imagine, but with so many of us covering our areas, the response should go rather quickly. We will need to report injuries, etc. to our dispatch unit and our best method of communication during disasters is through ham radios, thus the necessity for me to take the class (along with many other ward members). Last night we had our licensing exam. It consisted of only 35 questions, but those questions were taken from a pool of about 396 questions. Since we didn't know which questions would be on the exam, we had to know the answers to all of the questions. Anyway, long story short, I passed so now I just need to wait until my name appears on the on-line data base where I will receive my "call sign" and then I can legally use the radio I got for Christmas. I must admit, I don't really know how to use it yet (the course was mostly just doing and learning what is necessary to get licensed), but I'm sure I will pick it up with time. Should I pray for a disaster so I will be able to put my training to good use? I don't think so! The thought of a real disaster scares me to death, but when you think about it, what happened to Japan could happen to us too. It always pays to be prepared!

The Sacrament Meeting Surprise

2011-02-27T21:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, I was sitting on the stand with the choir this morning during Sacrament Meeting listening to a member of the Bishopric conduct the ward business of releasing and sustaining of members. Only one sister was released and then this same sister was called as the Visiting Teaching Coordinator. "Wait...isn't that my calling?" Nobody in the Bishopric called me in to let me know that I was being released...actually, I wasn't released. Maybe they will release me next week. It caught me off guard, but I'm ok with it. I've been doing it for a long time and I'm happy to let the new sister take the reigns for a while.

Happy Birthday/Valentines Day

2011-02-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

Last Monday, on Valentines Day, Alan's staff held a special pot-luck lunch at the office to celebrate Alan's birthday, which was two days earlier. They had a very nice Mexican meal which everyone enjoyed. They asked me to bring the dessert. I usually make a cherry cheescake for Alan for his birthday (his favorite) but this time since it was Valentines Day, I decided to make a dark chocolate heart cake with the cherry cheescake filling on top. It was an experiment because I'd never done that before. Except for the fact that it was hard to keep the cherries on top, it turned out great and tasted delicious. I may actually do it again some day.

The Engagement

2011-02-13T12:33:00.001-08:00

On Friday evening, Kyle gave our family some good news...that he is engaged to be married to a wonderful young woman named Emily Crandall from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Yes, after a 10 year drought we are finally going to be able to welcome another in-law into our family. She is very cute and talented. It's no wonder that Kyle fell in love with her. The rest of us have too. They plan to be married on either June 18th or June 25th somewhere in Utah (still undecided which temple). We are thrilled that about this and we are looking forward to seeing events unfold as the wedding day approaches. Congrats Kyle and Emily!

Here are some photos of the happy couple. This first picture was taken in December when Kyle brought Emily home to meet us.

Ethan's Baptism

2011-02-01T14:34:00.001-08:00

I can't believe my grandson, Ethan Matthew Stott, is 8 years old! He has grown up so fast. Alan and I were able to attend his baptism on January 29th in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It was a very nice baptism (except that I had to give a talk...but I survived it just fine). His Beesley Grandparents (who live here in Lancaster) were also able to attend. It was a quick trip, but well worth it. We loved being able to spend two days with Eric's family in their new house.

Snow Day

2011-01-03T10:24:00.001-08:00

SNOW! We got snow here in the Antelope Valley! Of course it isn't the first time, but it is a rare occurrance. It started snowing while we were at church yesterday morning and snowed off and on during the afternoon and evening, and was still snowing when we went to bed. When I got up this morning I measured it. As you can see, we got 3 1/2 inches. And no, I didn't make a snowman.

This picture of our driveway was taken last night...it gave me a

peaceful, calm feeling - perfect for a Sunday evening.

This was taken this morning from our front porch. I love the snowy

white trees. We don't see this very often around here.

Anyone want to go for a swim?

Of course, when it snows around here things come to a halt. Church was cancelled yesterday in Leona Valley (just over the hill from us) and school and seminary was cancelled for today.
I'm sure that the kids (and teachers) are thrilled to have an extra day of Christmas vacation.

Wonderful Anniversary Day

2010-12-28T08:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Alan and I celebrated our 35th Wedding Anniversary......but Alan had to work and we didn't get to spend much time together. However, I was able to spend a wonderful day with two of my sons (Jared and Kyle) prior to taking them to the airport. We took the beach bikes down to Santa Monica Beach/Pier....one of my favorite things to do. While they rode the bikes I took a nice walk, walked the pier, and kept my Kindle company. After they returned, Jared and I rode bikes while Kyle sat at the edge of the beach enjoying the wonderful sunshine and view. Jared and I joined him at the beach after riding bikes. The weather was soooooo nice. As we were sitting on the beach enjoying temps around 70 degrees without the usual wind, I was feeling sorry for the people living in the North East who have been innundated with that awful snow storm and freezing temperatures. I love California for its weather and beauty. I would have posted some pics here but I forgot to take my camera with me. Thanks to my sons, I had a memorable 35th Wedding Anniversary, and Alan and I will have a belated celebration later this week.

Universal City Walk

2010-12-17T16:59:00.000-08:00

Despite wet drizzley weather, Alan and I went down to Hollywood Universal Studios City Walk today for a quick day trip. We mostly went there to watch "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader" at the IMAX Theater. We watched it in 3D. We don't usually travel that far to watch movies, but Alan's staff members gave us a gift card for AMC Theaters and we have Cinemark Theaters in Lancaster. However, we made a fun day out of it. Below is a picture of Alan standing in front of the Hard Rock Cafe.

Here I am standing in front of the huge Christmas tree with the

Theater in the background (to the right). When I saw that

decorated tree, I said to Alan "I hate decorating

Christmas trees, so I'm glad I don't have to decorate that one."

We thought this Billboard right on City Walk really personified Angelinos.

(Click on the photo if you are having trouble reading it)

We also saw people doing "indoor" skydiving, but we were really outside.

I'd never seen this before and found it very entertaining. You wouldn't

catch me doing it, but I sure enjoyed watching it. Maybe you will too.

All in all we had a great day. It was fun just to get away and

spend time together as husband and wife.

Turning Ninety

2010-12-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

On November 24th, my mother-in-law, Pearl Stott, turned NINETY years old. She is a pretty private person and doesn't like the "lime light" or to have attention poured her way. However, since turning ninety is a huge milestone, she humored her extended family by allowing us to all celebrate with her. Isn't she beautiful? She is in good health and if she lives as long as her own mother, she will be around for almost another 9 years. We love you Pearl!

Only Alan, Ryan, Cheryl, and I could attend the celebration from our family.

Lovely Ladies -- Three granddaughters getting to know Grandma Pearl a little bit better.

(Karen Susan, and Kim)

It's Official!

2010-12-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

Except for having to fight the notoriously crowded L.A. freeway traffic, I had a beautiful trip to the temple this morning. The skies were blue, no wind, and the temperature was perfect (75 degrees). Things got even better once I entered the sacred House of the Lord. I had a 10:00 appointment with a member of the Temple Presidency. He extended an invitation to me to become an Ordinance Worker. Even before I left his office I was set apart to do that glorious work. My shift at the temple will be on Friday mornings at 6 a.m., which means I need to be there at 5:30 a.m. for prayer meeting, which means I need to leave Lancaster at about 4:00 a.m., which means I would need to get up about an hour before that at 3:00 a.m. (unless I have to wash my hair, which takes an extra half hour to blow dry), which means I will have to try to go to bed very early on Thursday evenings. However, I feel that the sacrifices I will have to make will be minimal compared to the blessings that will result as I serve the Lord in the Temple. I start training in January and I'm really looking forward to it. Fortunately, I've made arrangements with a couple of other sisters in our Stake to car-pool with. This will make the trip down and back much more pleasant.

How Do You Spell Relief?

2010-10-26T08:48:00.001-07:00

Do you remember the Rolaids commercial that asks "How do you spell relief?" and they spell it R-O-L-A-I-D-S? I have my own way of spelling relief this week. It is: A-N-T-I-B-I-O-T-I-C-S! I'm on my 9th day of being sick. After 7 days of suffering I decided to go see an urgent care doctor (it was the weekend and my Dr.'s office was closed). I was tested for the flu, but it was inconclusive because they said they checked it too early. I didn't know you had to wait longer than a week to test for it, but what do I know? I evidently have bronchitis and a sinus infection. Since starting the antibiotics my fever has been reduced/almost eliminated, my frustratingly killer headaches/sinus pressure is somewhat alleviated, and I'm coughing less (I think). I am definitely still sick, but can finally see the gold at the end of the rainbow. The Dr. thinks I probably caught it on one of my flights either to or from Orlando. He's says that's the worst place to be as far as germs goes because everyone is breathing the same air. Now I wish I'd worn a mask, but who could have known. Word to the wise - stay away from public places as much as possible and wash your hands several times per day. Maybe you can be luckier than I was and avoid this terrible illness. I hope you are feeling well!

Discovery Cove

2010-10-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

As part of our recent trip to Orlando, Florida, Alan and I were able to visit Discovery Cove. The day we spent there was arguably one of the funnest days of my life...mostly because I'm such a dolphin lover. We got to snorkel with exotic fish, swim in an amazing lagoon, and play with a dolphin.

Alan and I standing in front of the dolphin lagoon.

Best view I have of the park so you can get a feel for what it is like.

Fun with our dolphin named Mariah.

Mariah giving me a lift

Mariah giving Alan a lift

Up close and personal

Up close and more personal

Some Rays that we were able to swim with

Discovery Cove also has an Aviary with many beautiful birds that will feed from your hand.

One of the waterfalls in the beautiful lagoon

All in all, we had a great time. The weather was perfect so it felt like a perfect day...even a dream come true.

Venice Beach

2010-09-18T17:08:00.001-07:00

My wonderful husband took me to the beach today. We love taking our bikes to Venice Beach and then ride them to the Santa Monica Pier. I think it's about 2 miles each way. While biking back from the Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach, we stopped at this skate park to watch the skate boarders risk life and limb. This guy used something we had never seen before. Each foot was on a tiny skateboard of sorts. Looked totally hard to master. His feet aren't strapped on or anything. I wouldn't even know how to get on them both at the same time. It was amazing.

This awesome Hotel is between Venice Beach and Santa Monica Beach. Uh...maybe we should book this place and have our reunion there when it's my turn again (in three years). It is called Hotel Casa Del Mar and is a 5 star Hotel. Wouldn't cost too much, right? I just looked it up and the rooms start at $460/night. Oh well.

Another bad hair day at the beach. I look at other women's hair at the beach and theirs doesn't do what mine does. What's up with that?

Alan's favorite thing to do at the beach...after riding the bikes.

Alan relaxing before heading home.

Extreme Makeover

2010-09-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

I love the Los Angeles Temple! We have been attending it for about 32 years. This isn't a view from the front, but rather from the East. You can see Angel Moroni facing the East.

Here is a shot with the temple behind us - taken a couple of weeks ago.

Recently the Visitor's Center got a huge makeover. It was changed dramatically! It is very high tech now and is so beautiful. I love this new Christus as you enter the bldg.

This section made you feel like you were alive when the Savior walked the earth.
So realistic! I loved it!

I think these palm tree pillars are so beautiful.

This is a "kid friendly" section that talks about families.

Money Pit

2010-09-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

Two weeks and $1,325 later, we finally have our pool cover fixed. Talk about money pits! Because of the cooler temps at night and not being covered for two weeks, the pool temp dropped from 94 degrees down to 75 degrees. I don't know about you, but that's too cold for me. Now we can't even enjoy the pool again until next summer.....but at least it is fixed.

Back Flippin' in Style

2010-09-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

At my nephew Sean's wedding reception in August, his sister-in-law Lindsay did a back flip on the tramp. I told her I would post the video of her doing just that. I've never seen anyone do a back flip in a skirt before. Good stuff.

Goin' To The Getty

2010-09-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after attending the Los Angeles Temple, Alan and I went to the Getty Museum. We had been there once before, but we enjoyed it even more this time around.

This was one of my favorite pictures. It's kinda big but I would love it in my house.

Another one of my favorites.

How would you like a bed like this? Doesn't Alan look like he just went to the temple?

This is a view from the back of the Getty.

The Grounds are beautiful. This is a maze (not one you can actually access, though.)

If you look closely, you can see the Los Angeles Temple nestled in the middle of these large Brentwood Bldgs. (Click on image to magnify.)

Stayin' cool in the shade.

I loved these....I don't even know what to call them...

Flowering tree looking things with an iron base.

Here comes the tram to take us back to the parking complex down the mountain.

Freaky Friday

2010-08-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

On Friday afternoon, Alan and I decided to take in a matinee movie at the dollar theater. When we got home, I could hear a noise outside that wasn't normal. I looked out the window into the back yard and noticed that the pool cover was open...or so I thought. At first I thought that Cheryl (who has been visiting for a few days) forgot to close the pool cover before heading to the wedding of her H.S. friend in Malibu. Then, I noticed that the pool cover wasn't open, it was sunk. I hurried outside and could hear the pool cover motor grinding away. I told Alan to hurry outside. He turned the key to stop the motor from grinding and we stood there in awe at the freaky thing that had happened in our absence. Evidently, the switch had shorted and had turned itself on, trying to close the cover beyond what it is capable of doing. We don't know how long it was on before we got home, but it was certainly on long enough for much damage to be done. Even the track on the left side of the pool was pulled away from the wall and the pully rope was broken. Now almost the whole cover is under water. We are anticipating that we will have to get a whole new cover and system installed, but we hope that's not the case. We are getting it looked at tomorrow.

Bat Cave

2010-07-25T19:20:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my bat cave! I call it by that name because it is where I go to "hang upside down". Since I have lower back problems (scoliosis and disc damage) and spend so much time and money at the chiropractor's office, Alan thought it would be a good idea to get an inversion table. I agreed with him, and recently made the purchase. I use it 1-2 times per day and it seems to help stretch out my spine. I haven't had to go to the chiropractor's office since making the purchse. Yay for that! Besides physically being good for me, I also find that it is a good time to do some meditating, which is good for the soul. Well, I need to run....my bat cave is calling me.

Sun Day Meal

2010-06-30T14:53:00.001-07:00

There once was a woman named Joan

Who sat at home all alone

'Cuz the heat outside

Could burn a hide

By the sun penetrating the ozone.

In order to best use the heat,

She decided to cook some meat.

A solar oven she used

It's so easy, she mused

This method cannot be beat!

Simply by cooking outside

The house stayed cool inside.

After cooking a few hours

Using just the sun's powers

"This meal taste's great" she cried!

Cooking in progress. The meal took about 5 hrs. to cook.

The finished product.

You can't see the potatoes & carrots under the chicken,

but they are there and they were delicious.

Our Stake is really into emergency preparedness and since we live in the desert and the sun shines about 90% of the time, using a solar oven makes a lot of sense for us. It doesn't have to be hot outside for the oven to work well. It can be below zero but as long as the sun is shining this oven can be used. I've baked bread and cooked other meals using this method also and I'm confident that it will really come in handy should an emergency arise where we will have no gas or electricity to cook with. If you want to know more about the sun oven, you can go to http://www.sunoven.com/.

Steal or No Steal?

2010-06-28T18:47:00.001-07:00

I needed a new watch so I decided to see what I could find on e-bay. My qualifications were that it had to have the time, the date, and a night light. I found a watch that looked rather unique that fit my qualifications, but of course you can't tell if it is quality or not through a photo. For fun I decided to bid on it, knowing the sale would end in about 5 min. The starting price was $0.01. I decided to put my high bid at $5 then I waited until the time expired to see the results. Since nobody else bid on it, I won the bid so I ended up purchasing it for $0.01. That's right, I got it for a penny. Of course I did have to pay for shipping, which turned out to be $12. I didn't think to look where it was being shipped from until after I had bid and paid for the thing. It took a while to get here, but it arrived today and was in good shape. Here are a couple of photos of it -- one on my wrist and the other on the cute little pillow it arrived with.

I'm no fashionista so I think this watch is a steal for one cent plus shipping, but maybe you don't like it much and don't think it's a steal at all. I think the extra battery that came with it makes it a real steal, but you be the judge.....steal or no steal. I'll be waiting for the verdict.

(BTW, if you click on the photo you can get a closer look before you make the judgement call)

Generosity At The Auction

2010-05-30T07:51:00.001-07:00

On Friday evening our Ward YW and YM organizations held a fundraiser to help girls earn money for girls camp and the boys earn money for their outings. They sponsored a pot luck dinner and a service auction. Besides services being auctioned off, we were able to take food items to be auctioned off as well. I decided to make some of those delicious red velvet cake balls (thanks, Heather for the recipe). Who would have thought that one dozen of those balls would go for $40, and another dozen went for $35. Our Ward members were very generous in spite of the poor economy.

I also made four loaves of whole wheat bread which each sold for around $20. If I could always get those prices for these goods, I'd go into business for myself.

Alan did his part by auctioning off a service. He offered a teeth whitening session worth about $250, which went for $75.

At final count, the amount of funds raised was around $1,700, which is amazing to me but part of the reason for that is because the Bishop (who is a dentist) found out that a member who had already maxed out on his dental insurance for this year needed a crown and offered that up for auction. It went for $500. It was a fun activity.

Being Grandparents

2010-05-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

Being a grandparent is the best! Eric's family was here for a week and it was fun to get to know them a little better and do fun things together.

Ethan and Ella found some wigs in the attic and thought it was fun to play around with them.

The little girl on the left is not one of our grandchildren, but the other three are.

Ethan playing a spelling game on my computer.

Ella playing with my guitar. Maybe some day she will learn how to play it.

One thing we always like to do when they are in town is to go to Apollo Park. It is such a nice park with several play grounds, ducks, geese, and small lake.

Ethan and Ella like feeding the ducks and geese. The geese can get pretty agressive when they know you have food so Ethan and Ella always head for the safety of the picnic tables when dispensing the food.

Speaking of ducks, this one really fits the part of The Ugly Duckling. This is the ugliest duck I've ever seen. It is really deformed and unhealthy looking. Poor thing was barely able to walk. The tumorous growth on the head probably prevents it from seeing well, if at all.

Ethan and Ella always love spending a lot of time playing at the different playgrounds.

I love this picture of Grandpa helping Ella down from a high portion of the apparatus.

I sure do wish my grandchildren lived closer so we could have more outings together. Wishing isn't always getting, so until then, we will just cherish the times we do get to spend together.

Mother/Daughter Outing

2010-04-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday Cheryl and I spent a fun afternoon together. After grabbing some lunch, we attended the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was a beautiful, sunny, but windy day. Even though not all of the tulips were in bloom, it was still a beautiful sight and lifted our spirits. Who knew that there were so many different colors and types of tulips? It was like being in tulip heaven. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Best Retreat Ever!

2010-04-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

Every year my sisters and I try to get together for a "sister's retreat". We always have so much fun together, but this one seemed especially fun. We were able to stay at a cabin (owned by Janice's boss) up in the Beaver mountains. This cabin was awesome! You can see it in the background of this photo.

Since there was still lots of snow on the ground, and since Janice recently got interested in cross-country skiing, we decided to give it a shot. The high altitude really gave me some problems, but it was still a lot of fun...and a good cardio workout. [Gayle has knee problems so she was unable to join us, but she was willing to be our photographer.]

One really fun thing we did was wake up Friday morning, eat breakfast, and then bust out our sewing machines to sew some lap quilts. We just stayed in our pajamas, didn't shower, put make-up on, or do our hair. It was a crazy, laid-back, relaxing, morning. Janice cut all of the quilt blocks for us. Thanks, Janice! I think our quilt tops turned out cute. What do you think?

Here is Jane, Janice, and Gayle sewing their quilt tops. This photo gives you a view of the inside of the cabin also.

I don't have a picture of it, but both evenings we spent some time in the hot tub, which I had never done in cold winter weather before. It was awesome to relax, look at the stars, enjoy good conversation, and enjoy the beauties of nature.

Now, we just need to figure out what we can do for our retreat next year that can beat this one. Any suggestions?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

2010-04-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

Over 35 years ago I suddenly got an urge to learn how to play the guitar so I went out and purchased a cheap one and then had a guy in my single's ward give me a few lessons so I could learn the basics. This is a picture of the Yamaha guitar that I bought...now looking very old and ugly with a broken string.

I have a lot of complaints about my old guitar (it's basically a piece of junk) and have wanted a new one for quite some time now. So for today's birthday I wanted a new guitar, which Alan approved of, thank goodness. I picked it out last week and I'm really happy with it. Here is my new guitar!

Now I just have to learn how to play it well and get my fingers toughened up a bit, which I plan to do soon. Thanks, Alan, for the wonderful birthday gift! I love it and I love you too!

In Celebration of Easter

2010-04-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

On Fridays Alan and I often like to get away from the Antelope Valley and experience other things that California has to offer us. This weekend Alan suggested that we go to Forest Lawn in Glendale. For those of you who don't know, Forest Lawn is a mortuary/cemetery. Who goes to a cemetery for fun?, I thought, but didn't express this out loud. Not having a better suggestion myself, I went along with his idea and I'm glad that I did. Forest Lawn is actually a lot more than just a cemetery. It is a place where you can go to find solace and reflect on the life of the Savior...which was the perfect setting for Easter weekend. There are statues as well as museums that you can see but cameras are not allowed in a lot of the areas so my photos are limited.

This is a picture of the Christus which is beautifully surrounded by huge trees and he stands on top of a fountain representing living waters springing up unto eternal life, a reminder to me of the whole purpose of Christ's mission on the earth

In this statue, Christ is surrounded by little children reminding us of his petition "suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Forest Lawn is huge! I would like to know how many acres it has. This is just a small portion of its size, and yes, it goes beyond the hill way in the background. This pictures covers maybe an 8th of its actual size, but I'm just guessing.

There is a building you can go into where there is a humongous painting of the crucifixion. I couldn't even believe how big that painting was. I would say it was probably as high as a two-story building and probably 5 times as wide. It was awesome! There was another building that had a presentation about Leonardo DaVinci's painting of The Last Supper in stained glass. Five times, when trying to complete the piece, Judas Iscariot's character broke. Was God trying to say that Judas didn't deserve to be in the piece? On the 6th try, he didn't break. Maybe he was forgiven.

After we finished up at Forest Lawn Mortuary we ate lunch and then went to Griffith Observatory in Hollywood. Both of us had been there before but it had been a while. We learned a lot about the universe we live in. It was very crowded, but we had a lot of fun.

This is a close-up of the main dome.

Alan, with the Observatory in the background.

If you look closely, you can see the Hollywood sign on the mountain in the background...much better looking than what's in the foreground. (Click on the picture for a close-up view)

I'm so grateful that we could celebrate Easter this way, even though we celebrated it a couple of days early. I'm also grateful that this Easter weekend we can listen to General Conference and be reminded of who we are, what we are supposed to be doing, and reminisce on the life of Christ and the major role he has in our life. I know Christ lives, that he loves us, and wants us to be be happy. He will lead us to that happiness in this life and in the next.

April Fools Joke

2010-04-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

After reading Nicole's blog post about their funny April fools jokes at breakfast this morning, I remembered an April Fools story that also took place at breakfast several years ago when I was a kid. My little brother Phil, a few of my sisters and I were in our small kitchen on April Fools morning. I'm sure some April Fools jokes had already taken place so that was on our minds. I looked over at Phil and saw that he had gotten too close to the stove and his pajamas had caught on fire. I said, "Phil, your pajamas are on fire." and he just laughed and said "no they're not, it's just an April Fool's joke". I said, "no, really, your pajamas are on fire. We grabbed Phil and ran his pajamas under the tap to put out the fire. Pretty funny, but I'm glad that he was unharmed.

Disclaimer: I remember it as me who told Phil he was on fire, but I guess it could have been one of my sisters, but it doesn't really matter who said it...the result was the same.

Wonderfully Different Saturday

2010-03-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful, but different, Saturday today. We had three activities that were totally unrelated, but all occurred within a few miles of each other. First of all, we attended a session at the Los Angeles Temple. This is always a very special experience for me, but for some reason today seemed extra special. I always love being in the House of the Lord, and felt a very special spirit there today.

After the temple session, we ate some lunch and then set out to go to the Pantages Theater to see the musical CATS. When we arrived at the Pantages Theater, we were a little early so we decided to walk around the area in order to try to burn off a few calories from lunch. One street right next to the theater was blocked off and we could see that there was some kind of rally going on. Hoping it was a Tea Party, we walked over there to check it out. Unfortunately, it was not a Tea Party. It was an Anti-War protest and you could easily tell that it was liberals participating in the rally. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera with me today so I have no pictures to post here. You'll just have to trust me that the protestors were a bit on the noisy, and ...how shall I say it -- unsavory side. I didn't like being there at all...especially when I compared the spirit I felt there with what I had felt in the temple. I was only too happy to get away from that area.

I had been looking forward for weeks to being able to attend CATS, but I have to tell you that I was quite disappointed in it, especially the first half. Neither Alan nor I had a clue what was going on that whole first half. We picked up bits and pieces here and there, but it was hard to hear the lyrics and couldn't see that there was a story at all -- just a bunch of cats in some kind of a dump area singing and dancing. The scenery didn't even change at all. I have to admit, though, that the costumes were pretty awesome. Truthfully, however, I was so happy when the intermission came so I could give my ears and eyes a break. I was tempted to just leave the theater right then and forget the second half, but we had paid a lot for the tickets so of course we stayed. Thank goodness it was better than the first half...I actually enjoyed most of it. Things livened up and there was actually a bit of a story to it.

When I compare CATS with other Broadway musicals that we've seen like Le Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and Beauty and the Beast, I don't think it compares at all. I guess if you really like stricktly singing and dancing you would find this an amazing musical. Maybe cat lovers like it better than I did, but then I've never been a lover of cats.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2010-03-12T11:35:00.001-08:00

The Good: I'm married to a dentist

The Bad: I chipped my bonded tooth

The Ugly: My chipped tooth

The Best: I'm getting it repaired this afternoon. Yay!

Especially for Nicole

2010-02-25T07:39:00.000-08:00

Last December, Nicole's brother James got married. At one point in the program, a singer sang to the new bride and groom. Ella, dressed like the princess she loves to be, was so tempted to start dancing to the song. She tried to hold it back, but still discreetly got some groovin' in. I'm sorry that the picture is not very good because of the darkness in the room and the distance from me to the wedding party. I wish I could have zoomed in closer to Ella, but it was zoomed in as far as my camera would allow. Oh well. I hope you enjoy this, Nicole.

Wrong Answer!

2010-02-21T16:19:00.000-08:00

Most mornings when I get ready for the day I listen to a Los Angeles Talk Radio Station. This morning, out of habit, I turned on the radio and it was "The Jesus Christ Show" where a man pretends to be Jesus Christ and people call in with questions and he answers their questions as if he is Christ. The whole concept of someone pretending to be Christ annoys be but I didn't turn off the show because I was intrigued by the first caller's question and wanted to see how he would answer it. The caller was an older gentleman who had lost his wife a couple of years ago. He wanted "Christ" to tell him what his wife and other people who had passed on do in heaven 24/7. Think about how you would answer that question. It is pretty obvious for those of us who are LDS and have been taught the Plan of Happiness our whole lives, but I guess it's not so simple for those who don't know about that glorious plan from our Father. Although the host of the show, pretending to be Jesus Christ, seems to have a lot of knowledge as far as secular Bible knowledge goes, he defininitely didn't know the correct answer to this question. He talked with the caller about this life and how it is full of experiences and how we are basically bound by time and have varying experiences during different times in our lives. He talked about remembering certain experiences such as a first date, first kiss, wedding, birth of a child, etc. and said that at those times you are "caught up in the moment" and it's almost like other things don't matter and you are just living for that moment. He told the caller that heaven was like that - that we are not bound by time and that we just exist or are in the moment praising and worshipping God. This "Jesus Christ" guy made it sound like we are zombies or something with nothing to do but praise God. Now, don't get me wrong. I know that we will be praising and honoring God, but there's so much more that we'll be doing than just that. I wanted to call up the radio station and set "Jesus Christ" straight. He's leading all of those listeners astray with that answer. Oh how I'd love him to know the truth so he could pass it on to the listeners. This has made me really ponder about the importance of sharing the gospel with our neighbors who don't have the truth and could really benefit from it. Thank goodness for the Plan of Salvation and other truths of the gospel. Because of that knowledge, it gives me so much to live for and hope for other than basically just existing and doing nothing in the next life. I love our Father's plan. It makes me happy.

Please Vote

2010-02-16T10:30:00.000-08:00

I'm having another poll. Please vote -- bangs or no bangs. I'm trying to decide whether I like my hair better when I have bangs or no bangs. You can help me decide. See pictures below and then vote to the right. Thanks for your participation.

Heart Healthy Birthday Treat

2010-02-12T12:22:00.000-08:00

Today is Alan's birthday. Last night I asked him if he wanted me to make him a birthday cake today. He quickly ansered in the negative because we are trying to cut back on our sugar consumption. Therefore, instead of a cake, I made him some whole wheat bread. Thank you, Gayle, (if you are reading this) for sharing your recipe with me. This is the best whole wheat bread I've ever made. It is and light and airy and melt-in-your-mouth good, if I must say so myself. I'm hoping that eating this bread instead of cake will do our hearts good. I just have to remember not to overload the slices with butter and home-made strawberry jam or honey, which is a big temptation.

Oh....now I'm craving another piece. Will you excuse me, my mouth is watering and I've gotta run to the kitchen for more.

Dawning of a New Day

2010-01-31T10:43:00.000-08:00

Recently, California received lots of badly needed rain. The problem is that it rained/poured daily for about a week, giving us a little too much too quickly, which caused mud slides and flooding problems. I'm used to sunny skies around here. It is normally sunny about 97% of the time. Having a whole week of cloudy skies and so much rain, I feel, gave me a glimpse of what it might be like to live in Seattle or other areas where it rains a lot. I loved getting the badly needed rain and appreciated that gift from God, but I didn't like all of the darkness and gloominess it brought.

After several days of darkness, one morning I woke up and noticed this beautiful sunrise outside my bedroom window and had to take a picture of it. It really got me excited for the dawning of a new day. The picture really doesn't do the sunrise I saw justice (picture is a little dark), but it serves as a reminder to me of the beautiful world we live in -- a gift from a loving Heavenly Father to each of His children. I hope I can always take the time to notice, be thankful for, and help take care of this place I call earth, for it is my home until I pass on to the next life where it will be even more beautiful, I'm sure.

It's A Miracle!!!

2010-01-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

Last night I went down to our bedroom to get ready for bed and the room felt pretty cold to me. I hadn't been down to that end of the house since earlier that morning. I checked the table thermometer in our room and it said 65 degrees. Since the thermostat is set at 71 degrees, I knew something was wrong. After manipulating the thermostat controls for a while, and after Alan changed the air filter, it still wasn't working so we figured that something was wrong with the furnace. Being so late in the day, we couldn't call in for a repair so we went to bed anticipating a very cold night. I even kept an extra cover handy in case I needed it. I woke up about 3:30 a.m. and I could hear the beautiful sound of the heater running -- and it's still working. I was so happy that it was working again. I don't know how it fixed itself, but I'm glad that it did. Miracles do happen!

2010-01-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

OK, so here's a thought for the new year that my brother-in-law sent me in an e-mail. I loved it, so I thought I'd share it here.

No matter how badly last year treated you, just walk tall with your head high. This is a brand new year baby!

Christ Won The War

2010-01-04T21:37:00.001-08:00

I had an interesting dream the other night that I can't get out of my mind. I only remember a very small portion of it, but that portion has stuck with me. I was singing a song that I had made up and it had a rather catchy tune, if I must say so myself. The only lyrics I remember is that it ended with "Christ won the war." Hummmmm, what could that mean? Is there a message in this dream specifically meant for me? I don't know, but I do know that Christ, also called the Prince of Peace, has battled against Satan since the pre-existence when the war in heaven started. I also know, through scripture and revelation, that Christ will reign triumph in the end. One third of the hosts of heaven followed Satan and couldn't have this earthly experience. The other two thirds followed Christ and were allowed to come here. Being the competitor that I am, I'm glad that I chose to be on the winning team. How about you?

Heather's Request Granted

2010-01-02T13:40:00.001-08:00

Heather requested that I post our new family portrait, so here it is. I haven't gotten it framed yet, so this is the digital copy. We need a few more spouses in the picture, right?

Ethan and Ella were not very cooperative with the photographer, so we were glad that at least one shot turned out good enough to print.

Wall of Fame

2010-01-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

After 6 long years our whole family was finally able to get together to have a family portrait taken, along with individual and family group pics. I picked them up from the photographer's on Monday and today they were installed on our "Wall of Fame" in the den. I think Alan did a great job installing them. We are very happy with the way the photos turned out. I love our "forever" family. Life is good! [P.S. The large group pic is in the family room, so it is not pictured here.]

Give & Take

2010-01-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

I've been working as a dental assistant for the past four months at Alan's office because his assistant, Nora, broke both of her ankles (klutzy move) and was off for three months. At the request of my sweet husband, I was brought in and trained in the back office to help offer relief for the part-time assistant, Kathi. Things were working out well until Kathi was called to jury duty in Los Angeles for two weeks, making it even more necessary for me to put in hours at the office. We survived that storm, but as it turned out, Nora couldn't come back to work so Alan had to let her go and Kathi became the full-time assistant and I became the part-timer. Long story short.....since I've been spending so much time at the office, my house has been neglected. Being a stay-at-home Mom all these years, I'm used to having a routine with regards to my work around the house. That routine was shattered when I started working at the office. Here's where the give & take comes in. Since I worked so many hours this week at the office, which didn't leave much time for housework, Alan was an angel today and helped me out. So far today he has dusted the whole house, vacuumed the whole house (see the photo below), stripped the sheets off the bed, and hung new family photos in the den. That gave me time to do the grocery shopping, do two loads of laundry, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, and other miscellaneous chores that needed to be done. Tomorrow, before we celebrate our anniversary (late) by going to a movie and dinner, we will take down the outside Christmas lights and clean all three bathrooms. Alan routinely helps with the dishes and takes out the garbage, so now I guess I just need to teach him how to cook! Oh, the fun never stops with house work. I'm so glad that Alan is not one of those husbands who thinks that housework is woman's work only. Give & take, I tell you. That makes happy marriages!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2009-12-27T17:15:00.000-08:00

Today we are celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary. Where has the time gone? Is it really possible for time to fly by that quickly? I can honestly say that the years of my marriage are the happiest of my life.

On December 27, 1975 around 11:00 a.m. Alan and I gazed into each other's eyes as we knelt across the altar from each other in a sealing room of the Provo Temple to be sealed together as husband and wife.

I can remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember holding Alan's hand in the waiting area prior to going into the sealing room, wanting the time to pass more quickly so we could finally be united together as husband and wife. My thoughts rushed back to all the fun times, serious discussions, and spiritual experiences we had shared together over the previous ten months as we dated and got to know each other better. There were no doubts in my mind that this was where I should be and this man sitting next to me was the man I should marry.

No organ music accompanied me, nor did I walk down any aisle. Instead I walked with God through His corridors and a song of of gladness filled my whole being. I carried no bouquet of flowers, but I didn't have to. I carried something more precious -- the promise of God. I didn't even have any bridesmaids by my side and my father didn't give me away. No, I had the angels at my side and I wasn't given away, but I was received by my Heavenly Father -- a prospect for His kingdom. What a glorious and beautiful day it was for me and for Alan and we accepted each other as eternal companions.

Now, thirty-four years have gone by and our love is even deeper and the covenants we made in the temple have more meaning. The children that have joined our family have brought added blessings and complete the love that Alan and I have for each other. I hope that the next thirty-four years will bring as much joy and fulfillment as the last thirty-four have.

Please, No Empty Chairs!

2009-12-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning Alan and I drove to Los Angeles to attend the temple together. It is amazing to me how just by walking through the front doors of the House of the Lord it can transform you from being in a state of worldliness (cars, noise, phone calls, music, traffic jams, hustle and bustle) to a state of complete calm and relaxation, with a desire to have a spiritual and an eternal experience in a house where pure doctrine is taught and where knowledge and personal inspiration is received. The temple truly is a place of refuge when looked at from that perspective.

While in the temple, I couldn't help but think about the importance of the family. It is central to the Plan of Salvation. Of course, I have the privilege and blessing of being sealed to the greatest family on the earth, of which I am very proud and happy to be a part of. In three weeks Alan and I will celebrate our 34th Wedding Anniversary. Where has the time gone? To think that we started our marriage off right by kneeling across the altar from each other in the Lord's Holy Temple brings me joy beyond description. Our little family of two has grown to eleven and hopefully will continue to keep growing as time marches forward.

The point I'm getting at with all of this has to do with Pres. Eyring's talk last October during the Sunday Morning session of Conference. What he had to say about the eternal family has stuck to me like glue. I think about it often. He spoke of how in many of our LDS homes there are the words "Our Family Can Be Together Forever." He says that there is a gravestone near his home of a mother and grandmother and the inscription on her gravestone reads, "Please, no empty chairs." This mother/grandmother had asked for that inscription because she knew that whether the family will be together depends on the choices each family member makes. He says that the word "please" is there because neither God nor she can compel another to choose happiness.

So, with this post, I'd like to say to my own children "Please, no empty chairs!" with the hope that some day we will all sit down together in a Celestial realm and there will be no empty chairs at our table. I long for this and pray that it will happen one day. I love you eternally Alan, Ryan, Eric, Nicole, Jared, Cheryl, Kyle, Ethan, Ella, and Olivia. We are a forever family!

Gratitude This Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T13:57:00.000-08:00

I just want to take a moment to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. One reason I'm very excited about Thanksgiving this year is because this is the first time in three years that our whole

family has been able to be together all at the same time. Family means everything to me and to have no empty chairs at our Thanksgiving table means more than I can express. I'm so grateful for good health and much happiness in my life. The thing that makes life so enjoyable and meaningful to me, besides family, is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the Lord's love and for his great sacrifice. I'm so very grateful that the Lord's true church has been restored to the earth and that I live at a time when I can benefit from that blessing. Life would have so much less meaning and purpose without it. Sometimes I wonder why I am so blessed. I guess mine is not to ask why, but to ask why not? I'll gladly take any blessings that are offered me and be grateful for them. May we all show gratitude this day and every other day throughout the year!

Media Maniacs

2009-11-18T08:04:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make -- I watch or listen to too many political shows. I am disgusted with the leaders of our country and their "solutions" to our country's problems. Satan has control of the government and I think he is licking his lips and delights in all of the chaos. When someone good comes along who would actually stand up for what's right and who could make positive changes in the way the country is run, the media demonizes them and tries to destroy their life and the lives of their family members. Sarah Palin seems to be in their cross-hairs right now. How do you feel about her and this issue? I have a poll to the right of this blog. Let me know how you feel.

Women's Conference

2009-11-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

Our Stake held a Women's Conference this weekend. It was a wonderful, inspiring Conference based on becoming closer to Christ. I'm thankful that I attended and was privileged to sing in the choir.

The concluding speaker was Elder William F. Reynolds, an Area Seventy. He gave a great talk, but what I want to share is the joke that he told, which has nothing to do with his talk. He just liked it and wanted to share it. I'm sure I won't remember all of the details, but this is my memory of it:

In a South American country there was a young peon who was on his first cross-country train ride. He was assigned a certain coach and was sitting next to a very bright mathematician. As time went on, the peon was enjoying the ride and he loved seeing the new sights, etc. However, the mathematician was pretty bored with the ride so he said to the peon, "Let's play a game." "What kind of game?" asked the peon. "I'll ask you a question and if you can't answer it correctly you have to give me a peso then you can ask me a question and if I can't give you the correct answer I'll give you a peso" answered the man. The peon thought about it, but said he didn't want to play the game. The mathemetician asked him why. "Because you'll take all of my money" was his reply. Later, still bored, the mathemetician said "I know, I'll ask you a question and if you don't know the answer you give me a peso then you ask me a question and if I don't know the answer I'll give you 10 pesos. The peon reluctantly decided to play the game with the new rule. So the mathemetician asked the peon the first question, which was "who was the greatest geneticist to ever live? The peon, having no idea what the anser was, immediately handed over a peso. The mathemetician then told him the answer to the question. Now it was the peon's turn to ask a question so he asked "what goes up the hill on four legs and comes down on three?" The mathemetician thought long and hard, but could not come up with the answer so he handed over 10 pesos. The peon then said, okay now it's your turn to ask me a question. "Wait, said the mathemetician, you didn't give me the answer. What does go up the hill on four legs and comes down on three? The peon then gave him a peso.

Well, Elder Reynolds got a good laugh from the audience with that joke.

Always Second Place

2009-10-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not complaining or anything, but it seems like I almost always come in second place. For instance, Jane was born first and I was second. The first year we tried out for the pep team, she was the first alternate and I was second alternate. One time we saw a list of our High School Graduating Class ranking and of 300 students, our names were right next to each other. Guess which one of us was listed second! I don't think it has tainted or harmed me at all - maybe it has even made me stronger, who knows. But coming in first would be quite nice once in a while.

In keeping with my tradition of coming in second, I did it once again tonight. At our Ward Halloween/Trunk-or-Treat Party there was a trunk decorating contest for anyone who wanted to participate. I thought it sounded like some fun so I went to the closest store (Walgreens) where pickins were slim, spent under $25, and this is what I created. Quite simple, really, but it did take some time to put together.

Photo taken in our garage with flash

Here is a video of what it looked like in the dark of night. One little trunk-or-treater wouldn't

come within 10 ft. of my car. So cute!

In actuality, there weren't very many who entered the contest, so taking second place is not something to be that proud of but it is better than third, fourth, fifth, ........etc. It would be nice, however, to know some day what it feels like to be first. One day maybe I'll know.

Animal House

2009-10-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

I know it took a while....28 years to be exact....but Alan and I finally made it to the Los Angeles Zoo today. I don't know what took us so long. It is a nice zoo and it's also considered a botanical garden because of the lusch vegetation. I don't know why we never once took our children there when they were young. We did, however, take them to the San Diego Zoo a couple of times as well as the Hogle Zoo (in Utah) several times, so maybe that makes up for not taking them to this zoo. It took about 3 hours to see everything so we got some good exercise in while walking the grounds. Does that make up for the cookie and ice cream that we ate?

This is the grand entrance to the zoo.

This is just inside the park. You can see the pink flamingos in the background. I love flamingos!

Although he is pretty ugly and is missing the horn on his nose, we enjoyed this Rhino.

I especially love looking at the big cats and tigers are my favorite.

This made me think of King Kong. What a big brute!

What's a zoo without a little necking, right?

Utah Bliss

2009-10-13T12:35:00.001-07:00

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Utah where I was able to spend quality time with family and friends. One bonus and blessing of this trip was to be able to spend time with my three sisters for a little "mini retreat." We were able to attend a session at the Bountiful temple together, followed by lunch, and then a quilting session. It was so much fun to be able to spend the day together. I loved every minute of it. I have the best sisters in the world!

Clockwise from top: Joan, Gayle, Jane, and Janice

Janice, Jane, and Gayle working on the quilt. See that empty spot? That's where I was working.

I shouldn't have been, but I was amazed at the beauty of the Utah mountains changing colors. I loved it! That's something we don't get to see here in the desert.

I loved seeing my kids again. This picture is at Jared Lee's wedding reception. Unfortunately Ryan had already left when this was taken. Ryan was in a hurry to get on the road for yet another fishing trip to Oregon.

Cheryl and I on temple square.

This was the main reason for my trip.....the sealing in the Salt Lake Temple of my friend Vicki's son Jared Lee to Caitlin Jeppson. The wedding ceremony was beautiful and they are a beautiful couple. I know that they will be happy together.

Smile...show your pearly whites!

2009-09-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

I found these dental cartoons that I wanted to share in honor of Alan and his livlihood. Ever since I started training at Alan's office, I have gained a greater appreciation for him and his willingness to provide for our family in this manner for 30 years now. Thanks, dear!!!!

Patients don't always see the need for flossing. In this case, it would be pointless. Have you flossed today?

Hey, at Alan's office you get a toothbrush, floss, lip balm, and if you are a kid, you get to visit the "treasure chest." How awesome is that?

It's true, it seems like we are always brushing our teeth. Three times a day keeps the doctor away....or at least you can hope!

Of course Alan has had to encounter many unhealthy and odorous mouths over the years. Thank goodness he doesn't have the greatest sense of smell. I think that is a hidden blessing from God.

The Michael Ballam Experience

2009-09-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

There is one experience from Education Week that I just can't get out of my head and I want to share it with others. It is Friday, the last day of classes. We (Alan, Jane, Gayle, Scott, Janice, and Kellie and I) decided we wanted to attend Michael Ballam's class on Broadway songs from 1960-1997, which we knew would include a lot of our favorite songs. The class was packed and, unfortunately, neither Janice nor Kellie could get in. Towards the end of the class, Michael was talking about the song "To Dream the Impossible Dream" from the Man of La Mancha, and how it went along with his life personally because of the fight he is involved with to keep musical theater alive in Logan in spite of the poor economy and deep budget cuts. After the dialog, he sang the song for us. Here are the Lyrics:

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe

To bear with unbearable sorrow

To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong

To love pure and chaste from afar

To try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless

No matter how far

To fight for the right

Without question or pause

To be willing to march into Hell

For a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true

To this glorious quest

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this

That one man, scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable star

It was an amazing performance! While Michael was singing, you could see his handicapped son who was sitting on the stage in his wheel chair wiping tears from his eyes -- a very tender moment for him, indeed. After the song, Michael asked his son, Ben, to come forward. Michael shared his love for his son and told us that some time earlier Ben had told him that he, Michael, was like the person from the song, because he was willing to fight for the right without question or pause and was willing to marching into Hell for a heavenly cause in Logan and how proud he was of his Dad. Father and son embraced each other and Michael helped his son wipe away his tears, who was by then sobbing uncontrollably. I tell you, the love in that room was so strong at that moment that you could have cut it with a knife. There was not a dry eye in the room. I haven't felt anything as powerful as that in a long time. In my eyes, the travel time and expense of the trip to BYU was worth it just to experience that one class and feel the deep love of a father and son.

This whole experience really made me think about the deep love of another father and son - that of our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. The son, in this example, was the one to fight for the right without question or pause and who willingly marched into Hell for a heavenly cause and he did it all for each one of us. Oh, I'm so grateful for His love. Love can conquer anything.

This week on the BUY channel they are airing classes from Education Week. I noticed that Michael Ballam is one of the featured speakers on Wednesday. I'm hoping that it is this class that we attended because I'd like to experience it all over again. That would make my day!

Memorable Moments

2009-09-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

These are some of our family member's finer moments:

Me making a face just so our kids don't feel picked on. I doubt they will see it anyway since I don't think they frequent this page. Sorry Ryan and Kyle, but I don't have pics of you making faces...at least not that I could find right off.
Jared and Cheryl last Christmas. "What, it's Christmas eve and Santa isn't coming?"

Eric the day Olivia was blessed (Christmas eve). He's so excited he can't contain himself.

Zip Line in Alaska

2009-09-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

It has been over a year since Alan and I went on our cruise to Alaska, but the memories are till there. One of the excursions we had the privilege of participating in was called the "canopy zip line." This was so much fun!! I thought maybe I was too old to participate, but I had a great time....probably the most fun I've had in quite a while. It is definitely not for those who are afraid of heights, but we always felt safe and secure. If I remember correctly, we got to "zip" over 10 times. If you ever have a chance to try it out, I would highly recommend it. As we were enjoying this exerience, I was wishing that our children could have been there to enjoy it with us. Sorry, kids, maybe some other time. Here are some photos and one video of this amazing experience.

Book Club

2009-09-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

In November our Stake is having another Relif Society Women's Conference. In preparation for that Conference, our Stake R. S. Presidency wants every sister to read the book entitled "21 Days Closer to Christ." by Emily Freeman. This is a beautiful book, with paintings by Simon Dewey. My Ward R. S. Presidency asked me to host a book club for this book so that the sisters in our ward can read and discuss it before the Conference. We had our first meeting last night. It wasn't well attended - only 8 of us participated, but there was a good spirit there and we really enjoyed discussing the first three chapters. This book, if used properly, can really help someone to draw closer to the Lord. I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to read it, to ponder it, to apply it, and to discuss it with other sisters in the Ward. We will be meeting every Tuesday evening for seven weeks. Can't wait for next Tuesday.

An Eerie Doomsday like Feeling

2009-08-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

California is on fire again, but this time the fire is fairly close to us (about 30 miles away) and because of the Antelope Valley winds yesterday we were shrouded in the smoke and ashes. Today isn't bad, but yesterday was very disturbing. Here's my description of yesterday's events.

Alan and I dropped Kyle off at LAX yesterday morning after he spent a week of R & R here prior to BYU starting tomorrow. After we dropped him off, we proceded to the Los Angeles Temple where we attended the 9:30 session -- probably the largest session we have ever attended. It took about 2 1/2 hrs. to complete. On the way home, we could see smoke billowing up from the mountains east of the 405 freeway. As we drove along and got onto the Antelope Valley Freeway (14) we could see that the whole sky was black, grey, and red with smoke and ash. It was just hovering over the area (and over our car) like a blanket. Over where the fire was it looked like a bomb had dropped and left a mushroom cloud in its wake. Looking at this scene, I kept thinking about Doomsday and Armegeddon and what that could possibly be like when it happens. It is hard to describe the feeling except that it seemed eerily calm and sureal like a pending doom.

I wish I would have had my camera with me as we traveled under this blanket of doom, but I didn't. I probably could have gotten some pretty amazing pictures. I did take some photos from our home, but these don't really give justice to the siutuation or create the eerie feeling that went along with it. Anyway, here are some photos taken from our home. This is the best I could do.

Landing the Big One

2009-08-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is a video of Ryan catching the 40" Tiger Muskie on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at Pineview in Utah. He's a beauty! (You can decide whether I'm talking about Ryan or the fish.)

Trip to Utah

2009-08-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Utah. I'm happy to be home, but the trip was amazing. We got reconnected with our children, with our siblings, with nieces and nephews, with friends, and with the Lord. Oh, how blessed we are to have all of these wonderful indivduals in our lives. Sometimes I marvel at how richly blessed I am to have been able to grow up in the family I did, marry the man I did, have the children and friends that I have, and also have the restored gospel as the base for my life and all of my relationships. What did I do to deserve all of these marvelous blessings?

I was able to talk Alan into going to Education Week with me this year. Although it was a very tiring week mentally and physically, it was full of enlightenment, inspiration, knowledge, and joy. I simply love Education Week. I guess that is why I have returned to the BYU campus repeatedly during the third week of August for the past several years. By attending the classes, my testimony and determination to live the gospel of Jesus Christ to its fullest is recharged and I recommit myself to try to live closer to the Lord.

I want my posterity to know that I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ stands at the head of this church and He directs the prophets on our behalf. Although we are living in trying times and things sometimes seem too difficult, we can thrive if we but follow the prophets and follow the example of Christ and move forward with faith, leaving fear behind us. Fear will paralize us. We must have faith. May we all let our light shine upon the rest of the world bringing love and peace to others.

Tiger Muskie Fishing

2009-08-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday (Aug. 15th) Alan and I were able to go fishing at Pineview Lake with Ryan on his boat. This was the first time we had been able to ride in Ryan's boat. We had a great time.....except that the weather was unusually cold for Utah this time of year. It was cold, windy, and rainy. The big catch of the day was a 40" Tiger Muskie. Beautiful fish, but too small for Ryan's trophy wall so we let him go. Ryan wants at least a 48" one for his wall. Although three fish got away, this catch was worth the trip. It was fun to spend several hours with Ryan learning more about the art of fishing. It is very clear that Ryan is very knowledgeable and very serious about fishing. Very fun day!

My thought for the day:

2009-07-30T07:44:00.001-07:00

"Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important -- and what is most important almost always involves the people around us." -- Pres. Monson

By prioritizing our lives and the myriad number of things we need to accomplish each day, we can make time for the most important things, namely our family members. Let's reach out in love to those that we care about most.

Livi and Me

2009-07-29T13:52:00.001-07:00

I got to spend some "quality time" with little Livi last May when Nicole, Ethan, and Ella went to Disneyland. I believe that being a grandmother is one of God's greatest gifts to older women!

Cutest Grandkids Ever

2009-07-29T13:24:00.001-07:00

I took Ethan and Ella to Apollo Park. We ate lunch, played on the playground, fed the ducks, flew kites, collected feathers, and had a very fun afternoon. Sure wish we could do that more often!

What I learned about blogging

2009-07-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm new at this blogging business. I just added some photos and videos, which is fine, but I didn't know they were going to be posted in reverse order. I wanted the discription first, the photos next, then the videos last. Oh well, next time I post things I'll know to do them in the reverse order of what I want. Life is a school. We are always learning.

Riding the surf boogie board style

2009-07-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Alan riding the waves

2009-07-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Trip to Santa Monica Beach

2009-07-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

Santa Monica Beach

2009-07-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

Summer is here, along with the very hot Antelope Valley heat. In order to get away from the heat, Alan and I loaded up the beach bikes and boogie boards and hit Santa Monica Beach last Friday (July 24th) for a day of fun. First we headed up the coast on our bicycles for about 3 miles, then headed back to the beach. We ate lunch on the pier and then hit the beach. The waves have been at a record high so boogie boarding was so much fun. I've never been able to ride in each and every wave before. It was awesome! If I can figure out how, I'll post videos of each of us riding in a wave, along with some photos.

Coming back to the A.V. heat was no fun, nor was cleaning up the car and house from all the sand, but the trip was well worth it. We may even repeat it this Friday. Let the fun begin!

Musical Highway

2008-09-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! This is my first ever blog posting so be patient with me as I don't know what I'm doing. I'm sure I'll get better at it as I move from the "techno-tard" stage to becoming a techno wizzard.

The reason I wanted to post something on this site is because yesterday morning dad and I visited the "musical highway" here in Lancaster and video taped it. Recently Honda made a commercial here in Lancaster on the west side of Ave. K. A musician and an engineer worked together to put just the right grooves in the road so that when you ride over it a tune is played from the tires meeting the grooves. I hope that made sense (I'm no writer). As you watch this video, you will be able to recognize the tune (William Tell Overture). This is one of only three roads like this in the world. As you can imagine, due to the curiosity factor, this musical highway has become a popular place to drive in the past week or so. Unfortunately, due to the increase in traffic in the area where this highway is located some of the residents have complained so much that the city of Lancaster is giving in to their complaints and tomorrow morning crews will begin to smooth out the road. How sad! Our notoriety was short-lived but thank goodness we got it on video.

Coeur D'Alene trip

2007-07-10T20:13:00.000-07:00