A Season to Remember...

A Season To Remember….
Amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season----the shopping for the perfect gift, the wrapping, the cooking, the decorating, the card writing, the parties, Christmas concerts, family gatherings, and the list of a hundred things goes on and on---we stop for a just a moment to reflect. This is a season to remember. We remember the Christmas's that have past and the joys of childhood memories. The special feelings we feel at Christmas are cherished because of the memories of Christmas’s past. We cherish beloved friends and family and enjoy the memories being made with them. We remember with fondness our dear loved one who aren’t with us anymore—especially Juliann’s Mom Pauline, Nephew’s Ashton Boyer and Carl McMillan and our dear grandparents, aunts and uncles who are now watching over us from heaven. How we miss them and love them and Christmas would not be the same without their memory and the treasured memories we have with them. We especially stop to remember why we have these special feelings in our heart at this time of year. It is because of our Savior. We love Him!! We Remember Him!! These feelings are special. This time of year is special. Thus we Remember…

“ Each of us is an Innkeeper,
Who decides if there is Room,
For Jesus” ----Neal A Maxwell



Great Christmas Video....Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vStl9PXWtiw

October Fun

Well it has been a while since we last posted a blog---I am not sure if it is because we live a boring life and have nothing that is interesting happening, or that we live such a busy life that we have little time to think about what we are doing let alone post it Well whatever the excuse we will try to be better at not being boring or spend a few minutes to slow down and capture the moment. Here are some fun Halloween moments with our family....

David's Sister Lisa, Husband Adam and Son Brigham

David and nieces Jade and Siena

David having fun with nephew Owen

David enjoying a moment with nephews Turin and Brigham

Nieces Ellie and Savannah and Nephew Owen

One of Utah's Best Kept Secrets

Labor Day Weekend....

On Monday, we went to This is the Place State Park and we were quite surprised at how fun it was. We have lived in Utah most of our lives and have only seen the monument. We have never been in the actual park, however. What can we say...it is really one of Utah's best kept secrets. We spent the day with our nieces and nephews and enjoyed every minute of it. They have so many things to do that are fun--petting zoo, handcarts the kids can pull, trains, pony rides, different areas where you can learn about Utah's history and so much more.

Here are just a few:

Here we are going to learn about the Indians and the Mountain Men.

Pioneer candle-making

Train ride overlooking the valley...it was such a beautiful day!!

Amazing Accomplishment

David and his parents, Glen and Janine, ran the Logan half marathon last Saturday. I am so proud of them. They trained really hard for the race. David ran the half marathon in 2 hours and 10 minutes. His parents came in not long after he did. Congratulations!!!

Martin's Cove in Wyoming

This last week has been an interesting experience. On Monday at work I was told that I was being laid off. It came as a shock and I am not sure exactly what I am going to do at this moment but I have had a week to think about what I want to do. Any ideas or know of anyone that is hiring?

So amidst this unforeseen rut in the road of life, we had a remarkable week otherwise. On Friday and Saturday we took a trip to Martin's Cove in Wyoming. It is a place where Mormon Pioneers crossing the plains on their way to Utah got stranded because of an early winter snow storm in the winter of 1856. It was an incredible experience. We got a little handcart and hiked about 8 miles along the original trail. You can still see the ruts in the road where the original handcarts carved out a trail. We went into Martin's Cove, a place in between two mountains, where this handcart company stayed until they were rescued. It was a humbling experience to hear the stories of these people. Many of them froze to death while many others hardly had any food. They suffered all this because of their faith in God.

Here is a link that is great to explain the story of these amazing pioneers.

http://www.lds.org/gospellibrary/pioneer/28_Martins_Cove.html

Here we are starting out on the trail. It was a cold rainy day. We got a small glimpe of what these people might have experienced.

Here is an overlook of the Wyoming Plains and the Sweetwater River

After pulling our handcart in the rain, we got to the Sweetwater River. We rolled up our pants and crossed....it was cold. I can't imagine how these pioneers crossed the river when it was a lot higher and there was ice floating in the river.

Here is the Sweetwater river looking back over where we had just passed.

Summer Fun

We went to a tropical island paradise this last weekend and took this incredible sunset photo---we didn't have to go far to have an incredible view. The Secret tropical paradise location.....Antelope Island. Well it really isn't tropical more like desert, but watching this remarkable sunset over the lake makes you feel like you are in a romantic tropical location. We had a great time. We swam or should I say floated in the Great Salt Lake. It was incredible--you really don't sink!!! We had so much fun floating around.

We took a little road trip up north and went to Promontory Point. (The famous spot where the Union Pacific RailRoad met the Central Pacific RailRoad completely the railroad system across the United States). It was a really neat place. They did a reenactment of the actual event and David was chosen out of the audience to be one of the people that drove down the Golden Spike. It was a fun learning experience.

We went with the youth of our ward to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open house in South Jordan Utah. The Temple is beautiful. We are grateful to have been able to go and participate in such an occasion. We are grateful for temples and are excited to have this new temple in our midst.

We went to David's summer work party at "Hillbilly Ranch" (a cabin near Causey Reservoir). It was a lot of fun. We ran in a gunny sack and three-legged race and well, we lost. It was all fun and games until.....well, somehow I went "bam!" right on the ground and landed on my elbow. I got a very large bruise. It was so bad I had to go get it x-rayed. It wasn't broken--thank goodness--just really banged up. We had a great time!

We are on the far left and you can tell we aren't winning.....

Max's sealing

On Thursday, July 16, we were able to witness Max's sealing to Robert and Kris. Ellie, our niece, came in and was a princess in her white dress. We had a family get-together afterward.

Below: we have so much fun with Ellie and Savannah!

4th of July

On Friday, July 3rd, we went boating at Willard Bay with the McMillan's. This picture is of me, David, Jade, Jared, and Siena. It was a lot of fun until the tube started to submerge which scared the wits out of Jaders. Needless to say, we ended up in the water with all of us smiling except the kids. . . .fun memories!

On Saturday, the 4th we ran a 5K, went to the play, State Fair, and watched fireworks. Such a fun weekend!

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland with David's side of the family and had a blast! We spent time with our nieces and nephews and loved it.