I am a little behind everyone else in posting about conference weekend but as they say . . . better late than never, right?

First off I LOVED conference. I think I was touched by many of the same talks and quotes that others were. I really enjoyed Sister Dalton's talk, although it made me cry for all the young women who don't have a worthy father at home to love their mother and show them the way.

I also loved Elder Cook's talk about President Monson telling him it is better to look up. And Elder Callister's talk on the Book of Mormon was superb. I was also very touched by Elder Hales talk on trials and tribulations as he was trying to comfort others who were suffering as he is. Ahhh so many good things. So much to study and ponder in the next six months.

In addition to conference, however, my weekend was brightened and made special by three events.

1. The first was being able to spend time with my mother who is not doing very well, and all four of my daughters. We sent the men off to priesthood meeting and then stayed home and ate yummy food, watched a movie, made cinnamon rolls for Sunday morning and visited. My sister Becky came over as well with her four youngest children. What a sweet night that was.

Left to Right

My two SIL, my husband, nephew, brother and father

All the girls hanging out on the bed with Grandma (my mother)

2. Next I was thrilled and touched by the enthusiasm my 2 1/2 year old granddaughter has for the temple. Carly truly believes she is a princess and deserves to be married in a castle. But her mother explained that the best place for any princess to marry is in the temple and so Carly was so excited to see a real, live temple right outside my parent's front door!!

Don't you just love all the flowers!!

We went to the Salt Lake Temple grounds as well and were overwhelmed by the beautiful colors!

A close up

Between sessions on Sunday we took her up to walk around the grounds. She was very disappointed it was not open so she could go inside, but she still found joy in roaming the walk ways and telling us about how she was going to get married there. We asked who she would marry and she said, "I don't know, but he is my friend." Later when Wes pointed out to Carly the statue of the Angel Moroni, she said she would marry him. At least she has good taste in men.:-)

I tried to get her to let me take her picture but she said, "I can't. I have to spin." We laughed at that. Imagine giving that answer next time someone asks you to do something.

And third--the very best of all was being able to be there when my wonderful, sweet, handsome son in law gave his new little son a name and a blessing. In the circle was little Camden's father, grandfather and great grandfather-- three generations of faithful priesthood holders, all coming together to bless this new little boy. And my favorite part of the blessing was hearing Dave bless Camden to serve a mission and be married in the temple. How I look forward to the day this boy will continue the tradition of faithful missionary service and help bring others to the gospel in some part of the world.

Just before the blessing (which was given at my parent's house)

I appreciate they were willing to go there since there is no way my parents could travel to Colorado.

And a close up of our little man.

So for the grandmother in me this weekend was special, for the mother in me it was joyful, and for the daughter in me, it was tender.

How blessed I am to be surrounded by such honorable sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Just that thought brings great . . . joy to my journey.

Georgia On My Mind . . .

We just got back late last night from a quick trip to Georgia where we attended an open house in honor of Kristen and Peter's wedding.

Lucky for us, Wes has both a brother and a sister who live there, so we received the royal treatment during our stay and had a great time visiting family.

His sister lives in a wonderful neighborhood. Many of the houses look like they came straight from the story books of my childhood. And the thick woods surrounding the houses seem so magical during the day, and almost eerie when you drive through them at night.

(The loud sounds from the tree frogs don't help that eeriness, I must say)

Being from the Arizona desert, looking out her back window to this beautiful, lush view was quite a treat.
While in town, we wanted to soak up some of the local culture, so we made a quick stop at The Varsity, a very popular restaurant in downtown Atlanta, adjacent to Georgia Tech, that specializes in healthy foods like chili cheese dogs, onion rings and orange freezes. This is a really bad picture (my husband took it very quickly) but I got such a kick out of the "tables" which were actually school desks!
We also had to make a quick run by "The Flying Biscuit" for a snack. We got a buttermilk biscuit and apple butter that was delicious!! (The picture is of Wes and his sister, who served as our Tour Guide Extraordinaire)
And in case you were wondering . . . we also ate some southern fried chicken! (Of course)

But our trip wasn't all about the food. We also had a little adventure. We decided to take a tour around downtown Atlanta on segways!!

Here Wes is practicing before we headed out across town.

And here is the three of us near the end of our three hour tour. The segways were a lot of fun and much easier to ride than I had anticipated. You only use the handlebars for steering. To move forward you just gently move your weight to the balls of your feet, to move backward you put your weight on your heels and to stop, you center your weight. That is it!

But as we scurried up hills in the humidity and heat, we did have a lot of fellow tourists give us envious looks. Seriously--I would look for this kind of tour in any city from now on!

And then of course, we also attended the wedding celebration at Peter's parent's house. They have a beautiful home in northern Georgia and just getting there was an adventure--due to bad traffic and gorgeous scenery.

Here they are greeting some of their guests.
We had a good showing from our family as well. Below are two of my nieces who made the drive up. Brittany (r) also brought along her two little boys.
Wes' brother's family also came along with a surprise--Aunt Celeste and Uncle Vaughn. In this picture is Sunny, Lexie and their mother Dawn (who is Wes' brother's wife-and yes, I know she looks like one of the girls rather than their 40 plus mother!!) And also on the right is my husband's Aunt Celeste.
She and her husband Vaughn totally surprised us by driving over from Kentucky!! Following the open house we went to their hotel and visited for about another hour and half.

And then of course we also got to spend a little time (and I mean very little) with the bride and groom who still appear happily married--after one entire week!

I am hoping to soon get up pictures of the wedding and reception in Arizona but I am waiting on the photographer. As soon as I get some though, I will post them.

And now we are back to our heat. I will have a little time at home before I head off to Colorado for the birth of our third grandchild!!

Life is good. And definitely brings . . . joy to my journey.

Shout Out to Kampala, Uganda!!

Here is a shout out to my sister and her husband.

This picture was taken upon their arrival in Kampala, Uganda where they will live for the next two years!

And it was taken after two days of travel and before brushing their teeth

(that was what she told me)

Don't they look great?!

BEST OF LUCK

to you both!!

Can't wait for those emails!

If you are interested you can read about their mission on Terri's Blog

It's My Birthday and I'll Leave If I Want To . . .

I am not sure when it all began. I think early June just happened to be a good time for a vacation and so by coincidence we often left town for my birthday. But now it has become such a long established tradition that the thought of actually being in town on the day I was born makes my heart palpitate, my hands shake and my body break out in a cold sweat.

What it scares me, I really don't know. Do I think no one will remember? That no one will care? Or am I afraid they will remember and I will be uncomfortable being the center of attention? None of the fears seem justified, as I have very good friends who always remember, very kindly accommodate my vacation schedule and celebrate with me on different days--and I really don't mind occasionally being the center of attention. :-)

But no matter what the cause of my anxiety, when a good friend (knowing how I like to be out of town) offered me an excuse to travel this past week, I took it! And I am glad I did as we had a wonderful time.

We began our journey by heading north to Las Vegas. Here we attended a temple session, followed by lunch in the cafeteria and pictures in the atrium.

From there we continued north to St. George, Utah. What fun that was!! We headed straight to Tai Pan Trading--an amazing store I could be happy to live in for weeks!! But eventually our husbands dragged us out and we headed over to meet my older brother for dinner at The Painted Pony. His wife had meetings that night so we talked him into spending the evening with us. During dinner, Randy observed that this was the first time we spent my birthday together since I was ten!

The food was delicious and beautifully presented. (See the onion soup below!) Also a bit over priced. But we had a wonderful meal and enjoyed visiting together.

My brother is an architect and has done some work on the St. George temple. Several years ago he restored the veil room to its original form and designed the visitor's center annex, along with the connecting breezeway (below).

Randy also filled us in on some fun stories about the building of the St. George temple--like how President Brigham Young didn't like the original steeple and wanted it changed. He even said that if it weren't changed he would get it changed after he died. Five years after he passed away, the steeple was destroyed by a lightening strike, and replaced the way President Young had requested.

The St. George temple is the oldest operating LDS temple in the world. It was so much fun to see it, and admire the details, including the beehives found at the bottom of the staircases. I thought they were pretty cool.

The next morning we got up early to attend a session at the temple and then headed quickly over to the tabernacle. Wes heard that his great-grandfather built the staircase there and had always wanted to see it. What a treat that was! (And we learned the same man built the staircase in the Salt Lake and Manti temples, so I am guessing we will be going there someday as well! )

Of course when Wes learned that every prophet from Brigham Young to Howard W. Hunter had preached at the pulpit of the tabernacle, he couldn't resist having his picture taken standing there as well! (I am guessing they all wore ties though:-)

Unfortunately that was all the time we could spend in St. George as we had to head home for three wedding receptions and a baby shower. But on our return jounrey we did a quick drive by the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I had not been there since I was 14 and loved being able to go again. And I really loved all the old dead trees!! I thought they were so fascinating!

But there is nothing more spectacular than the view of the canyon!! Gorgeous!! Astounding!! And testimony building. What a beautiful and wonderful world we live in!

We made it home in time to attend all of the other fun activities--including some great birthday celebrations with family and friends.

Thanks to everyone for your time, your sweet gifts and especially your love!! You all bring great . . . joy to my journey!

Escaping the Heat!!

With it starting to warm up in Arizona, and a wedding this summer, we decided to get away for a few days with the WHOLE family before things got too crazy. It has been so much fun having all the kids here together. We ran off to Jackson, Wyoming--somewhere I have never been--and loved it!!

We rented a house for the week and really enjoyed that. The only down side was the lack of privacy in the master bedroom. One wall only went about 3/4 of the way to the ceiling, leaving it open to the loft. And the loft was open to the main floor. So everything said downstairs could be heard in our room, just as if the person were standing next to you. And everything said in our room could be heard downstairs.

But a big benefit is we could do all of our own cooking. And the best part was that each couple had an assigned day to cook and clean up. Here my man is keeping three pans of pancakes going on the day we had breakfast!!

And then there was my son's special breakfast!! Oh, it smelled and tasted so good!! There was also Kristen and Peter's roasted pork loin dinner, and Camille and Dave's corn chowder and homemade bread! Yumm!

We really enjoyed seeing the wildlife. One night we actually had a moose come right to the front of the house where we were staying!! Unfortunately my son accidentally scared it away before we could get a picture.

But I did get this bear with her two cubs!! They were playing right off the side of the street!

And of course every family should have their picture taken with bison. :-)
We felt a bit sorry though, for all these elk who lost their antlers! At the park in Jackson there were four of these arches (one on each corner of the park).

In addition to wildlife, we loved seeing the falls at Yellowstone Park!

And then there were the snow banks!! We just couldn't believe all the snow! In fact it snowed five inches the day before we went there, and the east entrance to the park was closed due to an avalanche.

And of course there were the thermal pools, steam vents and geysers! I know this picture doesn't really show them, but it is one of my favorite pictures. Aunt Kristen and soon to be Uncle Peter were walking the boardwalk when Carly (2) wanted to join them so she took a hold of Kristen's scarf as they walked along.

We all loved the views of the jagged mountain peaks!

But I have to admit the best part of being there was being with my kids and playing with the grandbabies!!

Being with family truly brings . . . joy to my journey!

So Much Fun in Just A Few Weeks!!

Life has actually been rather busy lately . . . and so very much fun!!!

We had the baby blessing of our little grandson, Enoch. What a great day that was!! We loved being there with so many friends and family members to celebrate the big day.

And then his father had a birthday! Happy Birthday Ryan!

Unfortunately we were out of town and weren't able to celebrate with him (but we did leave him the dog to take care of in our absence:-) However, we will be celebrating in style later this week.

I flew to Colorado Springs to spend some time with my daughter Camille and her cute little family. I took several pictures of Carly (who is 2) while there, but she wasn't too thrilled with me doing that and didn't smile in any of them.

However, we did have a nice time at the zoo, where we got up close and personal with the animals!
The next day we all loaded into the little Corolla and journeyed over the Rockies through the snow and ice to Utah to attend the graduation service for Kristen! Good job Dave on the driving!! (Camille's husband) I only white knuckled it a few times.

And Congratulations Kristen on being a college graduate!!

Following Kristen's graduation, we went to lunch at a little Chilean restaurant in Provo. The food was so good and fresh. I ordered a mango drink and then got to watch them peel the mangoes!! Yumm!
Easter Sunday was spent at my sister's house where we had a wonderful dinner (and got to Ohhh and Ahhhh over Kristen's diamond ring!). Thank you Melissa and Joe for that delicious meal.

Here I am in Melissa's backyard with my four daughters!! Life doesn't get much better than that. (And in case anyone is wondering--Camille is 6 months pregnant.)
Also in Utah I was able to go to dinner with my two older sisters and their husbands (which was a great time!) and have an Easter egg hunt with my two younger sisters and their children.

Then we hurried back to Arizona where I spent most of my week working feverishly on a Luau we were having Saturday night. I spent hours collecting cute decorations and planning the table settings.

But, the day of the Luau, the wind kicked up and blew all the decorations down the minute after we put them up. After fighting the wind for almost an hour, I surrendered and put the decorations away. The plates and cups were dumped unceremoniously on the serving table (which is my number one sin for party decor!:-) And we ate cold food (wind chilled) on a table void of decorations. Ugh!!

But everyone seemed to have a good time despite the lack of cuteness and warm vittles.

We had a hula hoop contest.
Pineapple bowling with coconuts
A spear throw and Maori stick dance. And then . . . The sister missionaries taught everyone the Hula and the Haka!!
I am still cleaning up the mess in my kitchen from the cooking. But I had a lot of fun that night.

And I have had a lot of fun the past few weeks. These are the times that definitely bring . . . joy to my journey!

A few things I will probably get in trouble for sharing . . .

I have had a hard time writing lately. It isn't that nothing is happening, it is just that my family doesn't like me telling the world about their lives.

For instance a few posts ago I mentioned that we were expecting a new grandbaby in August. Since it was pretty much announced to everyone at the family Christmas party, I didn't think it mattered if I mentioned it on my blog. But apparently Camille had not yet told any of her friends so when they read it on my blog and called/emailed her about it, she was FURIOUS with me.

Actually, FURIOUS might be a bit of an understatement.

I really did feel bad. I didn't want to steal any of her thunder. But now she has posted about it herself, so I am authorized to say . . . Camille is pregnant and due in August. This will be her second child and we are so very excited!!

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But, . . . that experience made me bit apprehensive to share another event that has been happening in our family. A BOYFRIEND.

One of my daughters at BYU--who shall currently remain nameless :-) has met a young man she is interested in and I am DYING to meet him. I mean seriously----when they have gone from dating once a week to seeing each other every day I think it is time for us all to meet.

But until that happens, I have been getting reports from other family members. The younger sister has met him and thinks he is great. And yesterday my parents had lunch with him. Afterward my mother called in her report and my father sent an email listing his many positive observations--with the final comment that the boy got his vote.

And of course, I have also checked him out on Facebook. Unfortunately he isn't much of a FB person, so all I have been able to find out from there is that he likes to fish. A Lot. Almost every picture he posted, had a fish in it. Which is why I told my daughter that I am not going to take the relationship too seriously until she replaces the fish in his pictures. :-) Then I will be speed dialing Southwest.

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Lastly--for this post . . . I have been spending a lot of time working on my "healthy life style" goal. I have been exercising twice a day almost every day and searching --and then preparing--healthy meals for my family.

They have eaten a lot of salads, chicken, fish, brown rice, quinoa, and fresh fruit and veggies. They were brave with the spicy black bean soup and even ate my homemade totally from scratch (as in fresh tomatoes) spaghetti sauce where I sneaked in some butternut squash.

Although I kept waiting for them to ask why their plate turned orange.

It has been working for me as I have also lost 12 pounds (hooray, hooray!) and I thought they were also enjoying the meals as both my husband and daughter had expressed a desire to be healthier as well.

But . . . apparently not complaining is not the same as enjoying.

Last Friday I offered to cook dinner instead of eating out so we could save money and I would be in control of what we ate. My husband suggested that it was good for us to eat out so I could have a break from cooking. I told him that I didn't need a break and as we were going out with friends Saturday night anyway, I could have my break then.

But he insisted we eat out. It was after all, out of consideration for me that he was suggesting it. He even called our neighbors and invited them to come with us.

Then he ordered mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob and a large plate of greasy, honey barbecue, deep fried chicken fingers. And he ate it all.

And then exclaimed, "It feels so good to EAT!"

Say what?

It's not like I have been starving him. He was welcome to eat as much of that salad as he wanted. :-)

So I am headed back to the cookbooks. I found a WW recipe for Cuban pork and sweet potatoes that I am going to try out tomorrow.

Sounds yummy to me!

It's A Boy!!

Enoch Wesley

Born January 5, 2011

5 lbs. 15 oz, 19 inches long

This picture was taken just a few minutes after he was born.

And this picture was taken about 45 minutes after his birth.

Today was one of those days you hold in your heart forever.

Although three weeks before his due date, due to some complications, the doctor decided today would be a good time for our little Enoch to be born. His parents checked into the hospital around 3:30 this morning and I followed them there several hours later.

Around 11:30 they broke Kali's water and at 12:3o she was at 4 cm. We were told to relax. Since this was her first baby and she was on an epidural, it would be about another six hours or so. But Enoch had other plans. At 2:40 Kali was at a ten and at 3:06 he made his entrance into the world.

I stayed in the delivery room until just before the doctor arrived and then joined Wes (who had just arrived) and Kali's dad in the waiting room across the hall. Kim, (Kali's mom) remained in the room for the birth. Kali invited me to stay, which I appreciated, but I know that when you are at ten centimeters, you wouldn't care if the high school band was in watching, but afterward you do, so I decided to wait outside.

Truthfully, I could barely stand being outside the room. I kept creeping closer and closer to the door so I could hear what was happening. My heart was with them as they cheered Kali through her pushing. And I completely burst into tears when I heard the little cry.

It has been a very long and difficult pregnancy so to have the birth go so effortlessly was more than we could have hoped or prayed for. We appreciate all the friends and family members who have kept Kali and little Enoch in their prayers these past several months.

Today was truly a blessing and one that brought great . . .joy to my journey!

In Search of Cooler Weather . . .

I am headed out in the morning to Utah for conference.

We haven't been for a few years so I am really excited to go. Besides being able to attend a session, we also will get to spend time with our two BYU daughters! I am super excited about that. I have missed them both terribly.

And I am hoping the weather will be at least a few degrees cooler than what we are experiencing in Arizona. I keep reading posts about how everyone is loving their fall weather, and if coveting weren't a sin, I would be filled to the brim with it.

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I got to substitute in seminary last week. It was so much fun! I subbed a freshman class and they were all so sweet and excited about everything. I think it would have made me want to teach again if I hadn't felt so tired the rest of the day! That sure brought back memories!! I have felt so much better these past few months. I actually have energy after 2:00! It is hard to believe I lived for 12 years being that sleep deprived.

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Yesterday my husband's brother and his son were in town visiting from Hawaii. They are here for a BYU-H soccer game and came over for dinner and swimming (yes it is still hot enough to swim here).

Michelle also had some friends from school over to work on an English project, and they came into the family room to discuss their project with me.

It was so much fun. I love having my house filled with people and lively conversation. It just warms my heart!

I really was not meant to live in a quiet house. Dear Mothers of young children. . . Enjoy them. All too soon they are gone.

A whole lot of this and a little of that . . . .and that . . .

I had plans to blog more last week.

But life got in the way.


And a whole lot of worry.


My daughter in law was in the hospital for two days. She is 20 weeks pregnant with a little baby boy. We are so excited for the baby to come we can hardly stand the wait. But this past week she developed some health issues, unrelated to the pregnancy, and that has had us all worrying and praying a little more fervently as she cannot be treated until after the baby is born. I think the next four months are going to be very long ones.

But there have been some positives as well.

Yesterday our stake had a special meeting (it was not stake conference) and Elder Richard Hinckley of the First Quorum of Seventy presided. It was fun to have him visit. He told several stories about growing up with his father and lessons he learned from him.

One of my favorites was he told how soon before President Hinckley passed away he performed a sealing for one of his grandchildren. There at the sealing, President Hinckley commented that he just realized he had performed the sealings for all five of his children and all of his grandchildren. He went on to say that he felt having his family all sealed together was his greatest accomplishment. Elder Hinckley emphasized that his father had accomplished a lot during his many years of church service, including the unprecedented building of temples, yet having his family all sealed is what he thought was the best thing he ever did. I loved that.

Another story he told was about Mike Wallace and the 60 Minutes interview. He said Wallace was amazed when he learned about the missionary program and especially how mission presidents were called. He asked President Hinckley how the church was able to get men, many in the prime of their careers, to give up their jobs, or put their career on hold, and leave their families to serve for three years. President Hinckley answered, "We ask them." I got a kick out of that. So simple, yet so true.

It was a great meeting and I feel so blessed we were able to have him speak to us. He was in town for training meetings with the bishops and stake presidency and stayed over an extra day to speak to our stake as well. What a great blessing that was!!

And lastly . . . Here are a few pictures from our ward activity a week ago. We had a competition between the men and the women in fashion design, musical performance and coordination skills. It was a ton of fun!! And we were amazed at the talent in our ward!

This first picture was fashion design. Don't you just love the outfits?!

This was one of the coordination challenges. They had to keep three balloons in the air for one minute.

And lastly here is musical performance. This is one of the groups of women.

And here is a group of the men. Too funny. And cute legs. :-)