20 Years

On a warm summer day, June 16th 1990, I was married to my sweetheart Dave. Wowee! 20 wonderful years!

In celebration we headed back East to take in some of our church history. We started off in Kirtland, OH.
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It was so beautiful with all the green green grass, trees and flowers.

The missionaries at all the sites were great. This was one of my favorites, Sis. Gray from Enoch, UT, and was in my ward growing up, so was Elder and Sister Whipple (in Palmyra). Then there was Elder and Sister Hanks who are in Dave's parents ward, small world.

This is the Kirtland Temple. I have always been inspired by the faith and devotion of the early saints who gave so much for their beliefs, such as when the sisters who didn't have much gave their beautiful china dishes to be crushed and used for the outside temple walls to make them sparkle. I was sad not to see the sparkle but grateful to see the 1st temple built by the early church members.

I loved this home, the John Johnson home in Hyrum. This was the original home and paint colors. Notice the bright colors, which meant it was a happy home :o)

This was the porch where the prophet Joseph Smith stood and taught about Forgiveness the morning after he was tarred and feathered. -John Johnson home

We drove east for about 3 hours to Niagra Falls. We stayed in a bed and breakfast there with Joe and Virginia. They were great, very nice and very talkative -loved their New York accent (Joe reminded me of Mandelbaum from Seinfeld). I think we gained 5 lbs there, she didn't stop feeding us.

The amazing falls

We took this picture when we went on the Maid of the Mist.

Our favorite activity while we were there was the Cave of the Winds. Notice that top deck, it's called the Hurricane Deck. It was so cool. Also, notice the sign No Smoking :o)

About an hour and a half east was beautiful Palmyra where we spent the last 3 days.

We enjoyed a session at the Palmyra Temple.

This was at the Hill Cumorah. It was a huge monument with the Angel Moroni on top.

This is the set for the the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was incredible.

This is an awesome family, the Mitchells. They used to live just around the corner from us 5 years ago. TJ was our 1st babysitter when we first moved to Henderson, and Sidney, in light blue, was one of Ali's good kindergarten friends. We just happened to run into these guys who obviously are performers in the pageant and did super duper!

That was an incredible experience to see 800 people gathered to share their testimony and sacrifice over 2 weeks of their time and means to perform for us. We went twice.

This was the Erie Canal. Isn't the green so fantastic.

This was the highlight of our trip, The Sacred Grove.

There were a lot of people in Palmyra because of the pageant, but we pretty much avoided them. We went to the Sacred Grove in the evening after the tours were done and most of the people were gone, then we went back first thing the next morning to take the tour with just a few others. When we got done there was a line to the parking lot.
We loved this place because of the wonderful feeling that permeated the whole area. This was where Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ, and the feeling there was undeniable.

This was a magnificent trip. I loved being with my terrific companion of 20 years, holding his hand, talking, being together, doing whatever whenever we wanted, and sharing this experience with Dave. I love him!

Ali's Bookmark

So this is the bookmark Ali drew in her art class that depicted her favorite book where all of the main characters are sitting on a lawn reading. She hadn't finished it when the judges told her she was one of two winners for the 5th grade! She's almost done with book 3 and she loves it. In case you want to read this fabulous series, the title is Fablehaven and the author is Brandon Mull.

Roos-N-More

It was Father and Sons last weekend, May 14 and 15th, so Spencer, Sam and Dave took off to Warm Springs for their fun. Ali and I headed to Fashion Show Mall. Earlier that day Ali got to see the Maturation video at school, so in celebration we went to Dillards where our friend Delicia "Sister Coupe" air brushed our face and made us feel really pretty. Then we went shopping and ate some yummy food. On the way home we got a video, Band Slam. We got some snacks, put on the video, and while the previews were playing, we painted each others toe nails -we looked pretty from head to toe.;o) Then we sat on the couch and watched our fun movie. It was such a great evening -loved it Ali! Let's do it again next year. The boys had fun too, playing Steal the Flag, Tag, not sleeping, and swimming, swimming.

Sam and his buddy Aiden have had it nice this year. Twice a week they get together and play, usually Tuesday and Thursday from 10 until about 3, one day at Aiden's and the other at Sam's.
They start off their day at swimming lessons and have become quite good little swimmers -getting ready for summer -woohoo!

Today, May 22, we went to a really fun zoo in Moapa, called
Roos-n-More. We loved it. Here's a bunch of pictures:
Baby Monkey, King Kong

Dwarf Donkey, Oprah

The monkey, Caico, jumped on my back for hugs -it was windy.

Porcupine, Racer X

Lots of Kangaroos

Holding a Joey, baby Kangaroo

A Zebra, Razbe, and a Zdonk, Eeyore, which is a cross between a donkey and a zebra.

Emu

The Sloth was so intriguing to watch.

Cute Otter Snork

Loved the Lemurs

Notice how he's sitting with his legs up on the log.

This one has a baby clutched on tight -very protective.

This monkey, Caico, was so cute and social. He kept jumping on our backs and hanging on us -so cool. Guess what Spencer thinks he wants?

This is a Honey Bear named Dune.

A Bearcat named Frito.

This was another favorite, a 6 week old baby Red Ruffed Lemur, Treelo. We were the last ones there so they let us hold him which they told us was a privilege not many people got.

Spencer's in love.

We had a super duper time there. The owner was so great to answer all our questions and share her great animals with us. We really recommend going there, not very often you get to hold and pet exotic animals. Spencer and Ali are already planning our next zoo trip. Thanks Roos-n-More!

Ch- Ch- Ch- Changes

Sam is in Sunbeams, and they are, or were, quite an active bunch. There were 8 and, after yesterday, his class has only 4 sunbeams left. This is Addy whom, Sam informed me last week, he is going to marry. Her mom, Jaime, was our awesome hairdresser. They're headed for Little Rock, Arkansas.

Ethan was the first of the Sunbeams to take off, about a month ago, to Texas. We had fun hanging with him and his family. His mom, Kerstin, was a good friend that I had the joy of visiting teaching.

Then a few weeks ago Tommy took off with his family to New Jersey. They'll add a sparkle to any neighborhood or ward they're a part of.
The Rich Family just pulled out yesterday, headed to Dayton, Ohio. Melissa was the Primary president that I got to serve with. SHe was great. These are some of her cute kids.

This is Claire, Sam and I call her Claire Bear. She warms my heart when I see her, and we love it when she comes over to play.

This is Luke-a-Duke. This picture really should've been with the light sabers because that's what they're usually playing with -Star Wars is a favorite.

And they love to play outside.

Sam's wondering when we're moving and where. I don't like change very much, it's hard to see so many wonderful families take off and change our way of life... you've touched our lives in so many ways. Good luck and take care!

Some March Fun

Happy birthday Dave!

We love you so much!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Fun hiking around the Mojave Desert.

It was cold...burrrrr, and windy too.

Masen and Ellie joined us too.

Some BIG rocks.

Fun!

It was Reading Week sometime in March, Ali won the bookmark competition at her school for the 5th graders. I haven't seen it yet because it's on display in her library, but it's an illustration of a scene from a favorite book -I'll post it if it makes it home.

Spencer also won a competition that week. The librarian was giving clues each day to where the hidden lighting bolt (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif) was, and whoever found it that day got a $20 gift card to Borders book store. Spencer left that Friday determined that he was going to find it, and since it wasn't found Thursday, the prize was a $40 gift card. Once he sets his mind to it, he gets it, and so he did.