New House Rules

All of the girls had so much fun on the Polar Express last year, and since Halloween Jillian and Mackayla have been asking "Do you think that the elves will invite us again this year?" I kept telling them that they might if they were good. Jillian didn't want to leave anything to chance, so she made a set of house rules for us to follow and wrote them down on a chalk board. They are "believe in Santa Clause, be nice to each other, do not yell, and go the extra mile." Sounds easy enough, and we must have been doing a good job, because the elves did invite us to the North Pole again this year. We will be boarding the polar express this Friday evening! We are very excited!

HO HO HO

While watching old home videos I was reminded of the year we had no Santa for our family Christmas party. It was the year 2001. We had a Santa reserved, but he had to cancel at the last minute. He was kind enough to leave us with his suit we just had to find someone to fill it. No problem (we thought) we'll just get one of the guys to wear it. Ya right!! They wanted no part in it. So, my niece Debbie stepped up and got into the suit. It was the funniest thing... we had to stuff the suit in every place imaginable. And her face isn't exactly masculine, so our Santa is wearing dark glasses. When the kids asked why he/she was wearing them we told them Santa had just had eye surgery and they were sensitive to light. The little kids we believers, but a couple of the older ones were pretty skeptical. Thanks Deb for filling in and for the fun memory!!

Samantha sitting on "Santa's" lap.

While looking for these pictures to scan I found this one from our family party. This is Christian, my nephew. I'd made some gumdrop garland and he was really enjoying it. It's funny... I still have this garland, and kids still eat it! It's rock hard by now so I guess they're sucking on it more than they're eating it!

I can't believe it's already time to start thinking about Christmas cards!! But, ready or not, here it comes... So, we went out and found a spot to take some Christmasy pictures for this years cards. Setting the camera on a timer has the draw back of not knowing what everyone is doing in the picture, I actually find it very entertaining and fun! When I was reviewing the pictures I had to really laugh at the next two. Everyone but Kay has a great smile on their face then you look at the next picture..............

And he's caught! I could only see him out of the corner of my eye at the time, but I knew he was making things more interesting. The look on his face is what I really got a chuckle out of. You might have to click on the pic to see it better. Driving to the mountain Miki was singing Jingle Bells with the words of "oh what fun it is to ride on a horse and slave". TiS the SEaSOn!

Today is our "family anniversary". Eight years ago we were sealed in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, and it is a day I will never forget. Samantha was five, and she too will never forget it. The year after we were sealed the primary theme was about temples and families. For the end of the year program Samantha was asked to give a short talk on her experience of going to the temple. I had her tell me about it in her words and then I organized it a little bit. When it came time to give the talk she didn't need any help, she had it all memorized. This was her talk:

"When I went to the temple with my mom and dad, I was a little scared because it was my first time. But in the sealing room when I put my hand on my mom and dad's hand I felt happy. I remember my Grandma's and Grandpa's and more of my family there too. When I went into the sealing room I remember the big light. It was so beautiful that I wanted to take it home with me. There was a cushion on the thing where we put our hands, and a man talked to us. After the man finished talking, my dad held me, and we looked in the mirror. I could see us in the mirror for a long ways. I'm glad we went to the temple because I've never been there, and I made lots of new friends in the nursery. It was just me, my mom and dad at the temple, but since Jill was born she is sealed to us too. Now when I die I will still be with my family."

I'm so thankful for that day and for all of the people involved in getting us to that point! I'm thankful for the peace that living the gospel has brought to our lives. I know it's true! And today, I'm especially grateful to have temples, and to know that I can be with my family forever.

For family home evening last night we went over to the temple to walk around, and then we went out to dinner. Unfortunately it was Monday so of course the temple was closed as were the gates. So we stood in front of the temple, and we will have to make a trip back to walk around the grounds. When we got to the temple and found the gate locked I was hit with a wave of disappointment. I started to think about life after death and how I would feel if that gate were locked when I got to the other side. I would feel more than disappointed... I would be heart broken. I guess that's why we're given reminders in one way or another. Every once in awhile I need something to make me think and evaluate myself and see what areas I need to improve on.

After we left the temple we were amazed at all of the deer around town. The buck in the picture was standing outside the temple, as were lots and lots of does. We drove down by the golf course and there were hundreds of deer out on the green. After seeing a lot of deer we went to dinner before going home. It was a great anniversary celebration!

Spooktakular Fun

From carving jack-o-lanterns to making sugar cookies another Halloween has come and gone. Jillian was a black cat, Miki was cinderella, and Samantha was a "cage kid". This year Sam helped with "The Haunting", a spook alley sponsered by the drill team, and she along with some of her friends were in charge of scaring people from a cage. They had it out at the apple orchard, and from the sounds of it, it was scary.

This year we got hit with a pretty good snow storm about 3 days before Halloween. By Halloween most of the snow was gone and temperatures had warmed up some.

Picasa

Awhile back I learned about "Picasa" from a friend, thanks Kristin! It took me awhile but I finally downloaded it and made a few collages. It's free, it's easy, and it's fun! Go to picasa.com and check it out!

Troy's baby blessing

fun in fall leaves

Samantha's baptism

Bluff Fort

As a family we drove down to Bluff for the John Taylor Memorial Plaza Dedication Service. We had the privilege of hearing Elder L. Tom Perry and the Governor of our state, Gary R. Herbert. At the end of the services the statue of John Taylor was unveiled and dedicated. John Taylor was the Prophet of the church who issued the call to several families to leave Parowan and Paragona to leave and make their way to settle the area, known as the San Juan Mission. These families have become known as the "hole in the rockers".

Elder L. Tom Perry


Governor Gary R. Herbert

These families settled the small town of Bluff, and through the years the Bluff Fort has been rebuilt, with a few of the original structures still there. One of these structures is the Barton cabin. We are related to the Barton's through my mom. The next few pictures are around the Barton cabin.

The Barton well

There are plaques with the names of the hole in the rockers, and we found the name, "Joseph Walker". We don't know if we're related, but we will try to find out.

The meetinghouse

Several families have built small replica cabins for their family. It was fun to walk through them and see the different things.

My mom standing in front of Amasa Bartons blacksmith shop.

Every time I see a covered wagon I am so thankful for cars!! I couldn't even imagine riding in one of these for very long.

After we made it home, we were dropping my mom off at her house and noticed that she had a flat tire. So, while Kay changed the tire me, Miki, and Jill went in her backyard and played in the leaves. That is one thing I really miss are our full grown trees in our old yard! The girls had a fun time taking turns burying each other and then me!