This really was a pretty quiet week for us, Monday was prep day and that is exactly what we did, cleaned the house, did the laundry, ironed, bought groceries, and got ready for the week. In the afternoon the Roesberrys came over for a little while and we played cards and went for ice cream.
Tues and Wed. were pretty slow in the temple but Thursday we had a bus come from Cuatla, this will be their last trip, they usually come with 3 buses and stay 3 days, they always bring lots of family name cards. They did stay 3 days and they brought lots of family name cards, the Stake President and his wife (The Zigas) are such great people, we have really come to love and appreciate them. We exchanged addresses with them and hope to see them when we get home, they are coming to Utah when their daughter gets home from her mission and they will be in St. George, so who knows, we told them we would love to have them come stay and would show them the area. Saturday we also had 3 more buses come from Huatulco and Puerto Escondido, so it was a nice busy day with several nuevas and sellamientos.
We are settling into our new assignments a little better and it doesn't take us quite so much time for just the maintenance, so we are able to work on getting some of the worker files cleaned up. We have so many workers on file because of all the workers from the Stakes that have come from Mexico, so we have been going through and trying to get the system all organized before the new President comes.
We are also in the process of training a couple of new secretaries, we have a couple that can't continue as their school hours have changed and we are also adding a couple of shifts with the change in hours at the temple. Actually our best secretary Graciella does most of the training, she is pretty much indispensable and really is the heart and soul of the office.
It has rained pretty much every afternoon this week, sometimes afternoon, all evening and most of the night, people were saying it had been a dry rainy season, but maybe just a late one. A couple of times it has been nearly impossible to get across the highway and back home, or we have had to wait a while for the water to recede. Everything sure is green and the weeds are all really tall.
Tomorrow we are having a cook out and an evening together with the Roeberrys, the Peñas, the Atkinsons, and the Paveys. Should be a fun get together. Brother Pavey is from Canada and his wife from here, they have retired here, he is a temple worker, she is not a member yet!
Today we went to church at 12:00, we spoke in the other ward in our building. We revised our talks a little but they are basically the same ones we gave last week. The Roesberrys came to support us, I think it made me a little bit more nervous, dad did fantastic again and the Bishop said he would probably be calling on us again. They have a great ward and we really enjoyed the Sunday School class.
I really don't have anything else to write about so I will leave you with a quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland " If you are lonely, please know you can find comfort. If you are discouraged, please know you can find hope. If you are poor in spirit, please know you can be strengthened. If you are broken, please know you can be mended." I know this is true for I have found comfort, hope, strength, and healing through the love and atonement of my Savior and continue to find it each and every day of my life, I am so very grateful for Him and His infinite love. Remember "Fight all your battles on your knees and you will win every time".
We love you all and hold you in our hearts and prayers always.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Week of Aug. 16th to Aug. 23, 2015, Visit to Nacho Libre Film Sites
Happy Birthday this past week to our youngest son Kyler, he has always been and continues to be such a light and joy in our lives. What a blessing family is and how fortunate we are to have been given the very best one. Also this week we wish a happy birthday to Tate our sweet 3 year old grandson, Tate has the sweetest, most easy going personality, he gets along with everyone and is such a happy, pleasant little guy, love you to the moon and back Tate.
Shout out to Zoe, no more touching or handling wild creatures, if they are drowning in the pool, scoop them with the net and dump them somewhere without touching them. It doesn't sound like rabies shots are any fun. You need to take care of yourself you are the only Zoe we have and we kind of like you!
We just watched a great show on www.byutv.org called A New Day For The Book Of Mormon, we really enjoyed it and would recommend it if you have a little time or if you are looking for a family home evening activity, it is about 45 minutes long.
We had a great week at the temple,although not an extremely busy one, we were supposed to have a fairly busy weekend but all of the excursions canceled except one small group. We did have several Nuevas or Own Endowments through the week, I got to give instructions again and dad got asked to give instructions but wasn't prepared so he sat in on them so he will be prepared next time. We think this is the new normal, small groups and mostly locals.
We have been polishing our talks as we had our first opportunity to speak in Sacrament meeting this week, I was also asked to teach the lesson in Relief Society. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I really do not enjoy teaching adults! Add in the fact that I am teaching in a language that is definitely not my native tongue and it equals a rather frightened Hermana! My biggest fear was someone would make a comment or ask a question that I didn't understand. I don't think I have ever put in as much time studying any lesson I have ever taught! The lesson I gave was a conference talk from the May Priesthood Session by Elder Soares called "We Can and We Will Win", I identified some of the tools we can use to win the war against the enemy and printed pictures of armor and weapons, with the names of the tools (ie: faith and determination etc.) as well a picture of Captain Moroni in his armor. No one uses much for visual aids here and so it drew attention away from my buen Español. I think it went okay. Ross did absolutely amazing on his talk, everyone was so attentive and I think he had over half of the congregation in tears! He called his talk "It Begins With The Heart". I talked a little about when we went to the temple as a family and how and what we learn in the temple. We talk in a different ward next week.
Now for the part that everyone really wants to hear about, we finally went to Etla to see where Nacho Libre was filmed, it only took 5 taxis to get to all the locations and stops and home again, each taxi only makes part of the trip (yellow ones go on the mainroad, red ones on the side roads)! The movie was actually filmed at several different churches, some things we recognized some not so much, but we watched the movie again that evening with Jan and Greg and we must say it was just as dumb the second time! I think Ross kind of likes it.
Shout out to Zoe, no more touching or handling wild creatures, if they are drowning in the pool, scoop them with the net and dump them somewhere without touching them. It doesn't sound like rabies shots are any fun. You need to take care of yourself you are the only Zoe we have and we kind of like you!
We just watched a great show on www.byutv.org called A New Day For The Book Of Mormon, we really enjoyed it and would recommend it if you have a little time or if you are looking for a family home evening activity, it is about 45 minutes long.
We had a great week at the temple,although not an extremely busy one, we were supposed to have a fairly busy weekend but all of the excursions canceled except one small group. We did have several Nuevas or Own Endowments through the week, I got to give instructions again and dad got asked to give instructions but wasn't prepared so he sat in on them so he will be prepared next time. We think this is the new normal, small groups and mostly locals.
We have been polishing our talks as we had our first opportunity to speak in Sacrament meeting this week, I was also asked to teach the lesson in Relief Society. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I really do not enjoy teaching adults! Add in the fact that I am teaching in a language that is definitely not my native tongue and it equals a rather frightened Hermana! My biggest fear was someone would make a comment or ask a question that I didn't understand. I don't think I have ever put in as much time studying any lesson I have ever taught! The lesson I gave was a conference talk from the May Priesthood Session by Elder Soares called "We Can and We Will Win", I identified some of the tools we can use to win the war against the enemy and printed pictures of armor and weapons, with the names of the tools (ie: faith and determination etc.) as well a picture of Captain Moroni in his armor. No one uses much for visual aids here and so it drew attention away from my buen Español. I think it went okay. Ross did absolutely amazing on his talk, everyone was so attentive and I think he had over half of the congregation in tears! He called his talk "It Begins With The Heart". I talked a little about when we went to the temple as a family and how and what we learn in the temple. We talk in a different ward next week.
Now for the part that everyone really wants to hear about, we finally went to Etla to see where Nacho Libre was filmed, it only took 5 taxis to get to all the locations and stops and home again, each taxi only makes part of the trip (yellow ones go on the mainroad, red ones on the side roads)! The movie was actually filmed at several different churches, some things we recognized some not so much, but we watched the movie again that evening with Jan and Greg and we must say it was just as dumb the second time! I think Ross kind of likes it.
This is where he had his room to the sid of the church.
The well on the church grounds
Inside the little church
We couldn't go inside this church but we think this is where the orphanage scenes were shot.
Side view of the same church
They told us that some of it was also filmed here
This is advertising the day of the dead, we have been told that in Etla it is
even a bigger deal than in Oaxaca, this is right across from the church
Patiently waiting for a taxi (not)
We recognized this road up to the church
Pres, Peña is in Florida and he left his car for us, Ross thought it was pretty
great to drive until he got into Mexico traffic!
We went to Walmart and stocked up on some of the bigger groceries that are hard to carry when we walk or ride the bus.
I will end today with two quotes that speak for themselves, the first by Shelia Watson but said a little diferently by many people "Dear Lord, when feelings of inferiority, insecurity. and self-doubt creep into my heart, help me to see myself the way you do.
The second by Elder L. Tom Perry "One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves.
We love you all so very much, keep the faith and remember you are always, always in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Week of Aug. 10th to Aug. 16th, 2015 Pretty much back to normal.
This week we want to wish a belated birthday to Ross' brother Dale who hit a milestone 75th birthday! We understand he had two wonderful parties, one with all his family except one grandson in law and another with a great group of friends. Sounds like a great way to celebrate a special day for an extra special person. Dale has always played an important role in our lives, like introducing us, being a mentor, and a wonderful friend and brother. Thank you for your support, love, and example, we love and appreciate you and your wonderful family.
We also want to wish a happy birthday to Zeke who turned two on the 14th, (this was also Ross' mom's birthday) it was so much fun to talk to him on his birthday, he can actually visit with us now but when he is done then you might as well hang up because he is on to other things!
Monday we decided to go with the Roesberrys to a little town called Zaachila it was a powerful Mesoamerican city about 6 km outside of Oaxaca(although on the bus it took about a half an hour or more because of the stops to pick up and drop off people). The city is named after Zaachila Yoo, the Zapotec ruler, in the late 14th and early 15th century. It is now an archaeological site. A large unexplored pyramid mound is in the center in which two tombs were discovered in 1962. These tombs are thought to belong to important Mixtex persons.
Following the fall of Monte Alban, Zaachila became the last Zapotec capital. Sometime before the arrival of the Spaniards, the capital was conquered by the Mixtecs. The history of the pre-Hispanic city is unclear. One theory is that the site flourished 1100 and 1521 AD. Another theory is that the city was founded in 1399 and could be compared to Tenochtitlan, as it was a city in the middle of a lake. The full extent of the ancient city is not known either, principally because excavation is impeded by the fact that most mounds have inhabited structures on them and very little of it has been excavate.
We also want to wish a happy birthday to Zeke who turned two on the 14th, (this was also Ross' mom's birthday) it was so much fun to talk to him on his birthday, he can actually visit with us now but when he is done then you might as well hang up because he is on to other things!
Monday we decided to go with the Roesberrys to a little town called Zaachila it was a powerful Mesoamerican city about 6 km outside of Oaxaca(although on the bus it took about a half an hour or more because of the stops to pick up and drop off people). The city is named after Zaachila Yoo, the Zapotec ruler, in the late 14th and early 15th century. It is now an archaeological site. A large unexplored pyramid mound is in the center in which two tombs were discovered in 1962. These tombs are thought to belong to important Mixtex persons.
Following the fall of Monte Alban, Zaachila became the last Zapotec capital. Sometime before the arrival of the Spaniards, the capital was conquered by the Mixtecs. The history of the pre-Hispanic city is unclear. One theory is that the site flourished 1100 and 1521 AD. Another theory is that the city was founded in 1399 and could be compared to Tenochtitlan, as it was a city in the middle of a lake. The full extent of the ancient city is not known either, principally because excavation is impeded by the fact that most mounds have inhabited structures on them and very little of it has been excavate.
 |
Looking down on the one excavated ruin, you can see the tomb of Chief Nine Feathers that we went down inside off. ( the lid is open)
Another view of the Church in Zaacila.
|
 The old church in Zaachila |
 |
| Bas relief inside one of the tombs, I think this is the God of the underworld. |
Look how well preserved the owl is.
Grandpa with the clock tower in the background. I love old clock towers!
Tuesday it was back to the temple with Presidency meeting in the morning, President Serano came back from Salina Cruz and arrived at meeting a little late but Sister Serano stayed in Salina Cruz for another week. Sister Atkinson was not feeling good again this week so she only made it to the temple for the first evening session Wednesday, and then she and the President were out of town for the weekend. That left me to give instructions to the Own Endowments again this week, I think we had a total of 8 sisters this week, it has been a great experience, I love the sisters and getting to know them and feeling their sweet, tender spirits. Thursday we had 2 busses in the morning, we went home for a break about 2:00 and couldn't get back to the temple for a couple of hours because of rain and flooding in the streets. Friday all the busses canceled but Saturday we had five buses, with 6 nuevas and 2 special sessions Saturday evening, in fact we went to the temple Saturday at 6:00am to find the bus was over an hour early, we had planned on taking a break mid day but the secretary didn't show up so by the time we came home it was about 8:00 pm and the last session was still going! One of the groups that came Saturday were from Puebla, this is their last trip to our temple, we had quite a few of them tell us thank you so much, that they have enjoyed coming here to our temple and that it has been such a great experience and they wish they could still come here. With the traffic it doesn't take much more time to go to Mexico City but the distance is much farther. I am afraid we will have some really boring long days coming soon when the Mexico City temple opens!
 |
| For those of you that were interested, this is the progress on the construction across the street. |
They have been doing some improvements on our houses, they have painted outside, I like the new color better than all white.
This picture is for John Norman so he can continue to follow the progress on the construction of the other house. Next time I'll get closer!
This week my thoughts have been about power, I have been thinking about the story of the woman who touched Christ's robe and was healed, it tells us in the account in Mark (Mark 5:27-34) that Christ felt virtue leave him, in the Greek translation the word used is power and strength. To me this makes much more sense. Joseph Smith explained that he had had that experience of feeling power leave him as he had given a blessing, I think there are many ways that our power and strength can become depleted as we serve and strengthen others and are bombarded by daily life. Thus it becomes necessary for us to renew this strength and power constantly, so how do we do this and how do we go about helping others to do the same? How do we "touch the robe of Christ" in our lives? First I think it takes faith, believing that it can a will happen that we can be healed from whatever illness, doubt, infirmity grief, sickness, trial, ( all under one heading these could be labeled as distress) afflicts us, that Christ truly can heal, then we need to "touch His robe" through the principles and ordinances of
the Gospel, by first doing the simple things prayer, fasting, scriptures, studying the words of the prophets, taking the sacrament to renew our covenants, then allow our faith to work the miracles in our lives and the lives of our family and friends. I promise you this works D&C 46: 30 says "He that asketh in the Spirit asketh according to the will of God; wherefore it is done even as he asketh." We love each and every one of you and pray for you always.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Week of aug 3rd to Aug 9th, 2015 Back in Oaxaca
We arrived back in Oaxaca Monday night about 12:30 am, when we checked in at the airport in Vegas we were able to change our flight and not have a layover in Mexico City. Of course it did cost a little to switch but probably not a lot more than a room, extra meals, taxi fees, and the added inconvenience. It was nice to get the traveling done in one day!
Tuesday morning we unpacked, bought some groceries, were treated to a delicious lunch and a visit with the Roesberrys when they brought it to our house, and then went to the temple for Missionary Training Meeting and the evening sessions. Ans so the week started and we were off and running! Wednesday we met with President to prepare for Presidency meeting and then had Presidency Meeting, Sister Peña is in Florida for a few weeks helping with a new grandbaby and the Serranos have a family emergency and are not back yet so it is just the Atkinsons and President Peña running the temple with what little help we can give. I got to give instructions to 2 sisters that came for their endowments on Wednesday. It was an amazing experience, as I prayed for the Spirit to guide me I got direct answers as to what each of them needed to hear and I definitely felt that I had the gift of tongues as I sat and talked with them in Spanish and was able to understand and answer their questions ad give them the important and sacred instructions regarding the temple.
Thursday and Friday the groups that were scheduled all canceled but we had great days anyway as we still had a few patrons come and with the workers and partons held a few sessions and did other ordinances. Ross and I had work to catch up on in the office after the 2 week closure and we still have a bit of a learning curve to overcome! Saturday we had 4 busses from Pachuca so not a terrible busy day but a good day!
Friday Ross and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary, we worked in the temple until just after 4:00 then we went with the Roesberrys downtown, we ate dinner in what we call the Bird Restaurant and then went to an Opera! During the week I received a phone call from a young Women from the So. Az. Symphony, they are in Oaxaca participating in the Oaxaca Opera Festival, she wanted information on church services and if there were any firesides Sunday evening. there are 2 members in the Symphony and they have performances in the morning and can't attend church but wanted to be with members in the evening as the rest of the Symphony just party. I couldn't find anything for them so I invited them to our house for dinner. They invited us to the opera, since it was free we went! It was Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini, it was a comedy and it was only and hour long (which was good an hour just right). We all enjoyed it and I would definitely go to another Opera depending on what and where it was. It was definitely different that Phantom or Les Miserable. It was in the same theatre we went to for the Nutcracker and the visit to the theatre is a treat no matter what you see!
Now we are looking forward to our dinner guests, we will also have the Roesberrys over, so it should be another fun evening, especially as they are both young and young people bring so much enjoyment and life with them.
We now have 2 speaking assignments, we will be speaking the next 2 Sundays in Sacrament Meetings (pray for us). I will be reading my talk, I am not good enough to speak off the top of my head or from notes. Maybe eventually. I am trying harder to participate in Relief society and Sunday School and to give answers that are more than yes and no. I think answering phones and questions in the office is already helping a bit.
This week I have been thinking a lot about happiness and the importance of choosing to be happy, it is not always an easy thing to do, circumstances and people quite often get in the way of our happiness. The Scriptures tell us that "man is that he might have Joy". Is there a difference between joy and happiness? I think that there is, I think that we can experience joy, which to me is a deep and abiding sense of rightness and peace or knowledge that things will be okay, even in the most difficult and sad times. Happiness to me is more temporary and has more to do with things and circumstances which are often beyond our control. We often say I will be happy when ie I finish school or this project is over or the kids are grown, not realizing that we are missing out on experiencing some of the best times by waiting to be happy. Pres. Hinkley said "Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged, things will work out." I thing it is also tied in with the attitude of gratitude, when we choose to be grateful it helps us to look on the positive side of things, we can choose to be grateful, even if it is only for one thing. It is amazing how much it will change your outlook. And how many more things you will find to be grateful for. We love you all and are so very grateful for each one of you.
Tuesday morning we unpacked, bought some groceries, were treated to a delicious lunch and a visit with the Roesberrys when they brought it to our house, and then went to the temple for Missionary Training Meeting and the evening sessions. Ans so the week started and we were off and running! Wednesday we met with President to prepare for Presidency meeting and then had Presidency Meeting, Sister Peña is in Florida for a few weeks helping with a new grandbaby and the Serranos have a family emergency and are not back yet so it is just the Atkinsons and President Peña running the temple with what little help we can give. I got to give instructions to 2 sisters that came for their endowments on Wednesday. It was an amazing experience, as I prayed for the Spirit to guide me I got direct answers as to what each of them needed to hear and I definitely felt that I had the gift of tongues as I sat and talked with them in Spanish and was able to understand and answer their questions ad give them the important and sacred instructions regarding the temple.
Thursday and Friday the groups that were scheduled all canceled but we had great days anyway as we still had a few patrons come and with the workers and partons held a few sessions and did other ordinances. Ross and I had work to catch up on in the office after the 2 week closure and we still have a bit of a learning curve to overcome! Saturday we had 4 busses from Pachuca so not a terrible busy day but a good day!
Friday Ross and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary, we worked in the temple until just after 4:00 then we went with the Roesberrys downtown, we ate dinner in what we call the Bird Restaurant and then went to an Opera! During the week I received a phone call from a young Women from the So. Az. Symphony, they are in Oaxaca participating in the Oaxaca Opera Festival, she wanted information on church services and if there were any firesides Sunday evening. there are 2 members in the Symphony and they have performances in the morning and can't attend church but wanted to be with members in the evening as the rest of the Symphony just party. I couldn't find anything for them so I invited them to our house for dinner. They invited us to the opera, since it was free we went! It was Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini, it was a comedy and it was only and hour long (which was good an hour just right). We all enjoyed it and I would definitely go to another Opera depending on what and where it was. It was definitely different that Phantom or Les Miserable. It was in the same theatre we went to for the Nutcracker and the visit to the theatre is a treat no matter what you see!
Now we are looking forward to our dinner guests, we will also have the Roesberrys over, so it should be another fun evening, especially as they are both young and young people bring so much enjoyment and life with them.
We now have 2 speaking assignments, we will be speaking the next 2 Sundays in Sacrament Meetings (pray for us). I will be reading my talk, I am not good enough to speak off the top of my head or from notes. Maybe eventually. I am trying harder to participate in Relief society and Sunday School and to give answers that are more than yes and no. I think answering phones and questions in the office is already helping a bit.
 |
| The Opera |
 |
| At the Bird Restaurant celebrating 45 Years of wedded Bliss! |
 |
| They Had a parade in honor of our Anniversary! (haha) |
This week I have been thinking a lot about happiness and the importance of choosing to be happy, it is not always an easy thing to do, circumstances and people quite often get in the way of our happiness. The Scriptures tell us that "man is that he might have Joy". Is there a difference between joy and happiness? I think that there is, I think that we can experience joy, which to me is a deep and abiding sense of rightness and peace or knowledge that things will be okay, even in the most difficult and sad times. Happiness to me is more temporary and has more to do with things and circumstances which are often beyond our control. We often say I will be happy when ie I finish school or this project is over or the kids are grown, not realizing that we are missing out on experiencing some of the best times by waiting to be happy. Pres. Hinkley said "Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged, things will work out." I thing it is also tied in with the attitude of gratitude, when we choose to be grateful it helps us to look on the positive side of things, we can choose to be grateful, even if it is only for one thing. It is amazing how much it will change your outlook. And how many more things you will find to be grateful for. We love you all and are so very grateful for each one of you.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
July 13th to Aug. 2nd, 2015 Reunions, Baptism, and other Family Actvities
I really didn't know you could pack so much fun into such a short period of time!
We left Oaxca Monday July 13th and got into Las Vegas that afternoon, Our daughter Conni with her youngest, Wyatt, along with Heidi's daughter Zoe were there to pick us up. We grabbed a quick burger and hit the road for St. George. We made a stop at Conni's house to say hi to her husband, get her car and other two kids and drove on to Kanab. It is so wonderful to see family after a long separation, we sat on the front porch in the cool evening breeze at Robyn's house and visited, hugged, caught up on each others lives, and shed a few tears of joy.
During this 3 weeks we have been to a family reunion, a grandson's baptism, driven from Kanab across Utah to Southern Idaho to spent a few days with Jared, Jen, and family, where we went boating, went to the Logan temple, ate great food, played with grandkids, went to a movie and were pretty much treated like royalty, we then drove back to Kanab for the 24th had a great visit with my mom, my sister, my niece and her kids,went to the parade, then went to Lake Powell boating the next day with Dolye, Tara, and family and a few other grandkids, church Sunday and a drive to Central Az. with the 3 oldest grandsons to visit Kyler, Donna and Kayla, where we hiked to a beautiful waterful and rope swing, wandered the old town of Jerome and the shops, ate more great food and played cards and again were treated like honored guests. Then back to Kanab for our last week, we have gone swimming, played games, tried to watch an outdoor movie, had a birthday party,driven over Cedar Mtn. to meet Ross' brothers for dinner and a great visit, driven to St. George for bowling and dinner with the adults, visited, played games and just generally had everyone stop their lives to make time to entertain and spend time with us.
How grateful we are for family and for the amazing people our children have grown up to be despite our best efforts! Each one of them are raising great families and are doing such great things, we love them all so much and so happy to be their parents. It is hard to be away but we know they will take care of each other and that our Father in Heaven is aware of each of them and will take care of them. Life is good and is such a precious and wonderful gift!
All good things come to an end, tomorrow we leave to fly back to Oaxaca, it has been a wonderful three weeks, we have made memories to last a lifetime and they will help us to get through the homesickness of the next 9 months. We love serving in Oaxaca and we know that we and our family are being blessed for that service. We love the temple, we feel that we grow and learn daily as we serve there and we are looking forward to being back, that being said it is hard to leave our family, these precious grandchildren make life worth living and bring so much life, love and joy into our hearts and lifes, Three quotes I saw recently seem to go along with what I am feeling today first" Being a family means you are a part of something wonderful, it means you willlove and be loved for the rest of your life. NO MATTER WHAT!" The second " I can't promise to solve all your problems but I can promise you won't have to face them alone." and the third by Michael J. Fox " Family isn't an important thing. It's everything." Family truly is everything and we have the best, there isn't any one who wouldn't do anything in the world for another. Love you all to the moon and back.
We left Oaxca Monday July 13th and got into Las Vegas that afternoon, Our daughter Conni with her youngest, Wyatt, along with Heidi's daughter Zoe were there to pick us up. We grabbed a quick burger and hit the road for St. George. We made a stop at Conni's house to say hi to her husband, get her car and other two kids and drove on to Kanab. It is so wonderful to see family after a long separation, we sat on the front porch in the cool evening breeze at Robyn's house and visited, hugged, caught up on each others lives, and shed a few tears of joy.
During this 3 weeks we have been to a family reunion, a grandson's baptism, driven from Kanab across Utah to Southern Idaho to spent a few days with Jared, Jen, and family, where we went boating, went to the Logan temple, ate great food, played with grandkids, went to a movie and were pretty much treated like royalty, we then drove back to Kanab for the 24th had a great visit with my mom, my sister, my niece and her kids,went to the parade, then went to Lake Powell boating the next day with Dolye, Tara, and family and a few other grandkids, church Sunday and a drive to Central Az. with the 3 oldest grandsons to visit Kyler, Donna and Kayla, where we hiked to a beautiful waterful and rope swing, wandered the old town of Jerome and the shops, ate more great food and played cards and again were treated like honored guests. Then back to Kanab for our last week, we have gone swimming, played games, tried to watch an outdoor movie, had a birthday party,driven over Cedar Mtn. to meet Ross' brothers for dinner and a great visit, driven to St. George for bowling and dinner with the adults, visited, played games and just generally had everyone stop their lives to make time to entertain and spend time with us.
How grateful we are for family and for the amazing people our children have grown up to be despite our best efforts! Each one of them are raising great families and are doing such great things, we love them all so much and so happy to be their parents. It is hard to be away but we know they will take care of each other and that our Father in Heaven is aware of each of them and will take care of them. Life is good and is such a precious and wonderful gift!
 |
| Bowling, Robyn, Conni, Doyle and Tara, and Adam |
 |
| Boating in Idaho, Jared is a lucky dad with beautiful daughters and 2 handsome sons and nieces who love to come visit. |
 |
| EssiKate and Eliza Kate cousins can be best friends. |
 |
| Mclean and Jackson at Lake Powell |
 |
| Kyler, Clark, Zeb, Mclean, and Kayla, It was so much fun watching these cousins enjoy the day together. |
 |
| Looking down on Verde Valley, Az. |
 |
| Fossil Creek, Az |
 |
| What's up there Guys? |
 |
| Boating on Lake Powell |
 |
| Bekka at Lake Powell |
 |
| Fossil Creek, Az |
 |
| Fossil Creek, Az. Kayla and her friend Shyanna |
 |
| Grandma and Zeke at the 24th of July Parade |
 |
| Cousins playing at the reservoir in Idaho |
All good things come to an end, tomorrow we leave to fly back to Oaxaca, it has been a wonderful three weeks, we have made memories to last a lifetime and they will help us to get through the homesickness of the next 9 months. We love serving in Oaxaca and we know that we and our family are being blessed for that service. We love the temple, we feel that we grow and learn daily as we serve there and we are looking forward to being back, that being said it is hard to leave our family, these precious grandchildren make life worth living and bring so much life, love and joy into our hearts and lifes, Three quotes I saw recently seem to go along with what I am feeling today first" Being a family means you are a part of something wonderful, it means you willlove and be loved for the rest of your life. NO MATTER WHAT!" The second " I can't promise to solve all your problems but I can promise you won't have to face them alone." and the third by Michael J. Fox " Family isn't an important thing. It's everything." Family truly is everything and we have the best, there isn't any one who wouldn't do anything in the world for another. Love you all to the moon and back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)