Another year has rolled by

Here is the 2014 update from our family.

The short version is that we are still in Roosevelt, everyone is fine, and we had a great summer. 

A slightly longer more detailed account follows:

Mitch returned from New York at the end of June.  He had to make some quick decisions about school and ended up deciding to transfer to BYU.  It has proven to be a good move.  He has had to study harder than he is used to, but still finds time to work a sweet job doing some video work on campus.  He seems to have adjusted well to life beyond the mission.

Tyler took the plunge and finally got married.  Angela is beautiful, smart, and makes him happy. We are not sure how much they see each other since they both work long hours at the University of Utah Hospital and Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Heather and Nick had enough of downtown living and moved to Millcreek.   Heather has a new part time job at the Salt Lake County Extension Office as a nutrition educator.  Thanks to her we all are eating things like quinoa, kale, and plain Greek yogurt.

Maylee is now a toddler and totally fluent in baby talk. We are useless when it comes to understanding anything she says except puppy. She is a grandpa’s girl and lights up whenever she sees him.

Ray continues to work at the same place but we are reaching the point in our lives where we are ready for a change and retirement is beginning to look really good. We’ve spent a lot of time lately watching HGTV and trying to figure out if we want to build a house. The jury is still out while we go back and forth.

Some of the December highlights were:

Going to the Christmas Concert with Mitch and McKenzie

 

 Having brunch together after the Spoken Word

 

The guys in their Christmas ties

 

 Making cute treats for a family get together

 

 

Heather's clever nametags for everyone's gifts

 

Cooking live lobster on Christmas Eve

The very best though was having everyone home in Roosevelt together!

I'm a Mormon

This weekend Ray and I were able to see "Meet the Mormons" when in opened in the theater.  It was an inspiring story of 6 Latter-Day Saints from different backgrounds.  It brought back memories of a book with this same name from when I was a child.  Not that my story is particularly interesting, but nevertheless it is still worth documenting for my posterity.  So here goes.

My parents met at a Protestant church in Seattle Washington, which is funny because neither one of them was very religious that I knew of. They were married and a couple of years later, shortly before I was born, my dad was offered a job at Kennecott Copper and so they moved to Utah, which was their introduction to the LDS faith. 

Just before I started kindergarten my parents moved to a new neighborhood in Taylorsville where we lived for about 5 years.  I had two good friends my age who lived a couple of doors down.  One of them, Teresa Taylor, was a Mormon.  She would often invite me to play and would also invite me to go to Primary and Sunday school with her.  In those days Primary was held on a weekday after school and Sunday school was held on Sunday morning and Sacrament Meeting was later on Sunday afternoon.  I do not remember going to Sacrament Meeting, just Sunday school. At the time I went with them just because that is what most of the other kids were doing. 

When I was in fifth grade my family moved to Orem.  Again, I became friends with another Mormon girl, Sherrie Dearden, who lived a few doors down and was close to my age.  The Dearden family was very faithful and it wasn’t long and they were inviting me to Primary and to go to church with them on Sundays.  I think my mom may have mentioned to them that I had gone to Primary before we moved there.  Sherrie and I were in different grades but we became good friends and her family invited me along on many of their family activities as well as to church.  There was something I felt when I was at her home and with her family.  At some point, someone in the ward asked if the missionaries could come and teach my family.  They came and taught us and I remember they were anxious to baptize us, but my dad didn’t have much interest.  About this time my mom went to work for ZCMI in the book department.  This store carried many LDS books and because of working there, my mom had the opportunity to read several of them, so I learned more about the church through my mom and her books. 

My family moved again when I was in eighth grade, this time to an apartment while our home was being built.  We lived there for about a year or so.  I babysat for a cute couple, Ron and Ann Barrett, across the street who were very active in the church and I remember feeling something special when I was around them.

During that time I became a Candy Striper (volunteer) at Utah Valley Hospital when I was 14 and became acquainted with two girls from Orem, Kerry and Wendy, who attended a different Jr. High than I.  The summer between Jr. High and High School we found ourselves all in the Orem High School Marching Band.  We all played the flute and became good friends because of all of the band activities we had.  We ate lunch together all through high school and we hung out a little bit outside of school.  These girls were the best examples to me.  They were friendly, happy, and smart.  They were the kind of friends who inspired everyone around them to be better.  During high school I was never really invited to go to church or seminary, so I never went.  I think many people assumed I was Mormon because I lived their standards.

Then I went to college.  This is the time that many LDS kids seemed to forget they were LDS.  It kind of bugged me that they would profess to be LDS when I saw some of the things they were doing.  For a while I didn’t want anything to do with it.  Then after the first semester I started thinking about the kind of future I wanted to have and remembered the feeling I had when I was around my friends from high school.  Every night I lay in bed and prayed that someone would invite me to church again.  I think I was looking for a sign that this was right for me.  A couple months later I met a boy, Dan Perry, in one of my classes.  He was a returned missionary and very friendly.  When we had some religious discussions he didn’t invite me to church, but asked if I had any interest in learning more from the missionaries.  This time I was ready and didn’t have to worry about whether or not my family was interested.  After a few months of studying I knew I was ready. So on the evening of May 20, 1980 I was baptized in Ephraim, Utah.  My parents and some friends made the hour and a half drive to be there to support me.

I have never looked back.  While some of my extended family members were very shocked (still to this day) that I got married in the temple where my parents couldn’t be, my mom and dad understood.  They were both at the temple waiting and I am grateful they have always encouraged and supported my church activity.

I believe that was the right time for me to be baptized.  I have wondered if I would have remained faithful had I been baptized as a young girl because I may have done it for the wrong reason, instead of because I had a testimony of the gospel. 

It took more than ten years, lots of study, and the example of many friends to convert me.  We never know when someone we are acquainted with is watching our example and can feel the light of the gospel through us.  I hope that I am the example I should be, like those who I saw in the movie this weekend.

New Tricks

We had the opportunity to go to San Antionio for a few days.  We had been there a few years ago and were looking forward to experiencing the fun of that city again.  It turned out to be even more fun than we anticipated.

On the evening we arrived there was a NBA playoff game.  We didn't think much about it and I fell asleep early while Ray was checking his emails, etc.  Not long after I was awakened by the sound of honking horns.  I asked Ray what in the world was going on, and he guessed the Spurs must have won their game.  Cars, semis, trains, anything with a horn seemed to be honking,honking, honking, and it went on for a couple of hours!  It finally stopped just after 1 a.m.  It was kind of annoying, but on the otherhand it made the trip a bit more of an adventure and something we'll remember.  Kind of crazy that is how they celebrate just a playoff win. Can't begin to imagine what it would be like if they win they the championship.

The next afternoon Ray had some time off from meetings and we signed up for Segway city tour.  In all of our travels we had never riden a Segway before and thought it sounded like fun.  This was all fine and dandy until someone at our lunch table Googled "Segway" and informed us that the inventor of the Segway was killed in a Segway accident when he drove it off a cliff and into a river.  Not even joking!  This was a little concerning to me as I knew we were to be riding our Segways along a hilly part of the Riverwalk...

We arrived at "Seg in the City" (haha) and were given some instruction.  I thought there would be a throttle for gas and some hand brakes, but to my surprise a Segway has neither.  The way you get a Segway to work it to lean.  Lean forward and it goes. Lean back and it slows and balance on it to stop.  And you steer it kind of like using a joystick.  Luckily our guide was a really good teacher and everyone in our group did well with only a couple of incidents involving the curb...luckily it was neither of us.

I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to wanting to try new things at my age, but this experience gave me confidence that you can teach an old dog...

 It was a ton of fun and I can't stop thinking how much fun it would be to do someday with all of our kids. 

Agree to Disagree

Luckily, I haven't had a cold in several years, but this year the kids, grandbaby, and I seem to have passed one around and I've had not one, but two!  My throat started to hurt first, then by evening I was really really congested.

Ray and I have a difference in opinion on how to treat a cold.

He says drink Emergen-C.  Anytime Ray has been around anyone who is coughing or when he feels even the slightest symptom of a cold, he starts mixing it up and drinking it three times a day.  I think he carries the little packets in his pocket all winter...just in case.  He'll admit it, he has a germ phobia. He's convinced drinking this can even prevent you from getting sick.

I, on the other hand, believe the best way to beat a cold is to use a neti pot.  A few years ago I saw Dr. Oz on the Oprah Show and he picked someone out of the audience to demonstrate using a neti pot.  I had never seen anything like it.  Just pour water into one nostril and somehow it runs out the other like an open faucet. It was a little freaky to watch, but a month later they had a follow up show and several people had written in testifying how well it had worked for them. I promptly got on Amazon and ordered myself the ceramic one that looked like the one I had seen on TV.  I wanted to be prepared for the next time I had a stuffy nose.  Eventually I had the opportunity to use it.  And it worked!  I found that it cleaned me out for several hours and eliminated almost all the nose blowing.

My kids will thank me for NOT posting a picture of the neti pot in use.  It's a mental picture that can be hard to get out of your head.

Because of that I have had a hard time convincing anyone else in my family to use it.  Some of my friends have tried it though and have loved it.

The key is to hold your head correctly, because if you don't, it feels like when you are swimming and get water up your nose.  I also only use distilled or boiled (and cooled) water after reading in the news a nasty story about someone using it with contaminated tap water.

I swear using it has significantly lessened my cold symptoms and shortened the duration of the colds I have recently had. 

Ray did convince me to drink Emergen-C along with using the neti pot this last cold and I actually think that helped even more.  So maybe we're both right.

Escaping Winter

Living in the Basin has turned me into a mother bear in more ways than one.  The main reason I say that is in the winter I really want to hibernate.  I could seriously put on my warm fuzzy pajamas and sleep for two solid months.  My family would say I try, because most evenings I can be found fast asleep on the couch as soon as dinner is over.  Winter here is that miserable. The last couple of years Ray and I decided to do something about that and figured we should find somewhere warm and sunny to escape to-at least for a week or two. This year we, along with another couple, decided St Thomas was the perfect place to do that.

We packed our bags with swimsuits and shorts and this is the view we found ourselves with.  I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't just dreaming.

Our first morning we boarded a ferry to St John and made our way to Cinnamon Beach. We basked in the sun for a few hours and watched three buff local guys doing a crazy P90X sort of workout on the beach. Every 10 minutes or so they would take a break and go into the ocean just long enough to rinse the sand off their bodies. This went on for an hour or more.  It kept me entertained :)

I tried to get a picture without invading their personal space and when I zoomed in this is the best I got. You'll have to use your imagination because by the time I snapped the picture I just missed the "mule kick" moves they were doing.

I sneaked a picture of this lady in the water behind Ray too.  I was wanting to see if she was the same lady in the background of a picture I had taken when we were here 30+ years ago.  Let's just say I will never be earning any money as a paparazzi.

After an exhausting day at the beach we needed some lunch/dinner.  A few people had recommended a certain restaurant to us.  We walked several blocks, asking for directions a couple of times along the way, and when we finally got there found this...

I need to remember that it's acceptable to blame the weather someday when I'm not in the mood to cook.

While we weren't able to eat at the Banana Deck, we did have a banana tree and a bread fruit tree growing at the resort just a few steps from our room :)

There were beautiful trees, plants, and flowers in bloom everywhere and it was breathtaking.  I must admit  though we were slightly disappointed when we discovered we were just a little too early for mango season.

We chartered a speed boat and spent two separate days on the water.  The captain picked us up right on the beach of the resort in the morning and dropped us off there at night.

 



Luckily everyone kept their cool the first morning on the boat when an army drill sergeant a fish and game officer drove over and reprimanded our captain for not having the proper national parks sticker. The "my boss says it's in the mail" excuse didn't go over so well.  No worries, a half an hour and a $100 ticket later we were on our way again.

Over the course of our days on the water we were able to visit several small islands in the British and US Virgin Islands including Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, Sandy Spit,Virgin Gorda, Cooper Island, and several great snorkel spots.  It was so much fun!

We docked the boat and stopped for lunch both days  The picture above was where our Captain picked on Cooper Island.  The other day we went to Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke.  It's sounds weird, but the salad I had there may have been my favorite meal of the trip. It was a delicious combination of lettuce, beets, candied nuts, and dressing with shrimp on top. Mmmmm  Ray's kabob was pretty good too.  After lunch we watched several pelicans near the dock.  It was crazy when they would they drop straight down out of the air into the water to get their lunch.

The next day was Valentine's Day.  We hung around the resort at the beach.  The guys took a little Hobie Cat lesson and then sailed us all around the bay and I was impressed with how well they did.

Later we watched them bring in the fresh catch fish to the resort that would be on the menu that evening.

 

We were able to watch the almost full moon rise as we ate the fresh catch.

Afterward we tried to take some pics with the moon, but it wasn't easy to get a good one so I cropped the moon out.

On Sunday we attended church at the St Thomas Branch.  It was sweet.  We are always impressed with how most always the local men are usually in their Sunday best, aka white shirts and ties.  I'm glad that Ray does not try to dress down for church when we travel.  After church we caught a taxi into the city and the first thing the guys did was find a place to change out of their Sunday clothes into island attire. Then we were off to see the sights.

 

We did manage to watch a little of the Olympics in the evenings.

For some reason the channel we found it on covered mostly curling, so we were surprised and excited when we were able to see the skeleton and watch Nicole Pikus-Pace win her silver medal :)

It was a fun-filled week with friends!  If When we go back we all decided we may skip the resort and just stay on a catamaran the entire time.  Can't wait!

Counting Down

I have never been one to count down to things.  To me counting down seems to make time pass slower.

When Ray left on his mission I remember a lot of girls with a missionary having countdown calendars where they would fill in a little dot for each day until the missionary returned.  That would have made me crazy to have to fill in 730 dots, so I didn't do it. 

I have also seen clever little blocks where you turn the blocks to the number showing how many weeks left.  Not a real fan of that either.  When you remind yourself it's 100+ weeks, that's just depressing.

With my sons though I am guilty of counting the Fast Sundays (there are only four left) and I have always counted how many general conferences (just one left)-I especially like that one because you can count it on one hand.

Awhile ago I saw an idea online that I really like.  That is to read the Doctrine & Covenants backwards as a countdown of sorts for a missionary coming home.  The other day I checked how long it is until Mitch returns and to my surprise found if I am going to do that I need to start NOW!

I can now say his mission has really gone by quickly.