HAPPY 4TH

 

"WHEREFORE, I WILL CONSECRATE THIS LAND UNTO THY SEED. . . FOREVER, FOR

 THE LAND OF THEIR INHERITANCE; FOR IT IS A CHOICE LAND. . . ABOVE ALL OTHER

 LANDS, WHEREFORE I WILL HAVE ALL MEN THAT DWELL THEREON THAT THEY

 SHALL WORSHIP ME, SAITH GOD."  (2 Nephi 10; 19)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!

Better Late Than Never!

Well, so what else is new?  My pictures are in the totally opposite order that I wanted them.  Just when I thought I knew what I was doing!

So, we will start at the end of our trip and proceed to the beginning.

We were happy to be able to give a cheer for Kristie finishing her half marathon.  Doesn't she look perky?

 Here she is coming into the finishing area.  Of course, she is the one in black, as if  you couldn''t tell.

We stopped in Brigham City and splurged on a milk shake at the Peach City and then drove to see how the temple was progressing.  It is really taking shape.  I was surprised to see how different it looks now.

We were lucky to be included in Bronte's 19th birthday celebration.  Shannon made Cafe Rio Burritos and strawberry shortcake.  Yum!  It sure beats our Nutri System food.

Sean is as cute as ever.

Brian gets to carry all of Katie's graduation loot.  Such a helpful big brother.

The main reason for our trip to Washington--being there for Katie's graduation.  By the way, did I tell you she did a fantastic job on her valedictorian speech.

 I just liked this  picture of Katie.  She is looking up to her future.

Okay, here we are on the first day of our drive.  We took a detour off the freeway and stopped in Manti and in Spring City.  I mentioned earlier that in Spring City, many of our ancestors on my mother's side lived and died here.  It is really a pretty little town. They are restoring some of the old homes and buildings.

 I was looking for a particular home that one of our relatives lived in, but couldn't find it.  But this restored home from that era reminded me of it.

They have a beautiful stone church.

Reddick Allred, one of our relatives, was in the Mormon Battalion so this was a marker by his grave.

Just a few of the many headstones that mark our ancestors' final resting place.

Joseph Blain is my mother's grandfather.

Our first stop was taking a picture of the beautiful Manti temple.

That is our trip from last to first.  Are you confused?

We are  back home.  We have had our first 100 degree weather here this week.  I read in the paper that we have an average of 61 days of 100 degree weather and above.  We are just getting started.

Catching Up

It has been a while since I have put anything up.  I have to say that I do get a little frustrated with blogging when I can't do what I want to do.  Anyway, these are the only two pictures I took in California.  One Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a walk on the beach.  You just can't beat the beach as a place to walk.

 I took some pictures of the fire we had out back.  They don't show much because the picture only covers such a small area.   It turns out that some young kids started the fire while playing with matches.

We enjoyed our weekend with the Kindricks.  Our pool is open so the kids enjoyed swimming.  Friday and Saturday it was very hot here around 90 both days.  It cooled off Sunday and today.  Sunday afternoon Kennedy wanted to go to the temple grounds and take pictures.  The Visitors Center was open so we looked around there for a while, and then drove over to tour Brigham Young's home.  It was a nice Sunday afternoon activity.

I

 I was thinking today about Memorial Day.  It used to be called Decoration Day.  When I grew up, it was an important day to visit the cemetery and put flowers on the graves.  My Dad and his parents and other family members are buried in  Brigham.  It was always fun helping my mother put together vases of flowers.  I remember we had lots of peonies growing in our garden so when I see them now I always think of decorating the graves.  My mother's family is buried in Spring City.  Her family would take turns going there to make sure the graves were taken care of and decorated.  I remember going there several times.

Kristie reminded me that I should post a picture of the Logan Temple that all of you children and spouses gave Brian and I.  I am just to happy with it.  Thank you so much.

Here is hoping all of you had a pleasant holiday weekend.

ST. GEORGE IRONMAN

Today was the St. George Ironman competition.  No, Brian and I didn't enter. That would be a laugh!  But, we did volunteer at one of the aid stations.  

The bike section of the race went right down Buena Vista Blvd., which is the street just down our hill.  How would you like to swim 2.4 miles, bike 118 miles, and run a marathon (26.2 miles).  There were about 2,500 entrants.  St. George Ironman  is considered one of the toughest to do (lots of mean hills).  One person I knew in the race was Kathryn Throolin.  I saw her go by when I was at the aid station.

Here is the aid station we worked at for about 4 hours.  The runners were coming in a steady stream all afternoon.  We handed out water, gatorade, cola, and various foods.  The race ends at midnight so I guess if you haven't finished by then it's too bad.  We left about 5:30.  The top people would have finished by then, but there were lots still out on the course.  It is amazing what people will find interesting to do.

Here is my favorite helper, taking a much needed rest.


It gave us something interesting to do today.


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TOMORROW TO ALL OF YOU MOTHERS OUT THERE.  

Catching Up

Even though most of my pictures you have already seen on other's blogs, I still wanted to add our adventures of the past two weeks.  We drove from St. George up to Brigham City and spent the night with  Bob and Corene.  We had a nice dinner at Maddox and after we drove around Brigham on a little memory tour.  We drove by the home I grew up in, my old 5th ward building, and my grandparents homes, etc.

I was happy to see the Brigham City temple is starting to take shape.  It is a hope of mine that all my children  ( spouses) could be to the open house for this temple.

I have no idea why the above picture is off to the side?  Anyway we were fortunate to be able to be there for Kyle's temple experience.  There are some special moments in life, and this was one of them.  We couldn't be happier for Kyle's choices.

After the temple we drove to Mason through Snoqualmie Pass.  This was the driving conditions.  This is mid-April after all.  Weather continues to be crazy.  Northern Utah continues to have snow also.  They are expecting flooding conditions when all the snow begins to melt.  I saw on the news last night that another  snow storm is headed that way in a few days.  It is crazy.

It was nice to see David, Tiffany and Sean.

The good-looking Richardson family.  After church Becky had family and friends over for a wonderful dinner.

Kyle did a great job speaking in church.  He didn't talk long, but it was very heart-felt with a good message.  This was definitely a pay-day for his grandparents.

We even squeezed in an evening to celebrate Kurt's birthday.  Yes, Shannon's banana cake was very delicious.  Course, she left town and left  the cake for us to get fat on.  (It was worth every bite).

Time to say good-by at the airport.  Are those tears in Beckys eyes?  I think she is trying hard to smile.

The good-looking Kindrick kids.  It was nice to spend the weekend with the Kindricks.  Kristie had Friday and Saturday off so that was nice.  The girls are all decked out in new Easter dresses.  Reminded me of Easter's many years ago with my own girls.  Oh, and Luke has a new tie!

And finally, coloring eggs on Sunday afternoon.

We had a nice two weeks and got a lot of good memories to take back home.

Happy Easter

I am so grateful and thankful for the birth, life and example of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In the words of our hymn, "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me". I tremble so know that for me he was crucified. Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me.". I know the Savior lives and loves each of us. I love Him with all my heart, and on this Easter Sunday I feel so much gratitude for the gospel and my testimony.

My obsession with shoes!

This is my collection of shoes:

 Black Rockports - 6+ years old- worn on Sundays, Member LC on Tuesday and Wednesday PM, Temple on Thursday and Home Teaching.

Brown Bostonians - purchased same day as Rockports - what was I thinking!  I have a brown suit that is too small in the waist so these remain buried in the closet most of the time.

Brown Slippers - These replaced a pair of slippers that I had for close to 10 years - these are worn inside night and day and sometimes to Costco, Taco Bell, In 'n Out and Subway.

White Walking shoes - worn outside every day - these match my levis perfectly - all 4 pair of them - My wife gets upset when I wear these to the garden and they get soiled but rinsing with garden hose makes them look like new.

These meet my needs perfectly - I did not pass on any shoe DNA to my progeny!

Your loving father!