Church History Museum Adventure

During our recent visit to Salt Lake City I had the opportunity to visit the LDS Church History Museum with my daughter Rachel and grand-daughter Maebe. We had a wonderful time and found activities and displays that appealed to all of us. During the Christmas season they had dozens of creches from Poland on display. If you're ever in downtown SLC, check out the artwork, the historical artifacts and the wonderful hands-on children's displays. It's a great way to productively spend an afternoon creating memories.

Remarkable Women

Oftentimes we go through life and never stop to realize what's going on around us. Recently I attended a meeting of women from church and enjoyed an evening of good food, companionship and holiday cheer. In addition to those surface rewards we were also blessed with the opportunity to serve and the opportunity to strengthen and sustain each other. There are other places within the context of worldly pursuits where we can gain those experiences, but being a part of this 'tribe' allows us countless blessings to share and expand our skills and to be a part of something bigger, better and more important than one's self. The fact that this service occurs in the Kingdom of God makes it an everlasting experience. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be included and involved in this grand work.

Many thanks to the women who believe in these profound truths and practice their beliefs. Your example strengthens me in times of happiness and during times of trial. Sisters forever!

What Was That?

Today I was in Laguna Beach donating blood at South Coast Medical Center which has this great view of the Pacific Ocean through a panoramic window running the length of the hospital. As a few of us were recovering - drinking the water, eating the snacks - I noticed a flock of seagulls going crazy on the water. I figured it was just a bunch of fish below that had them all excited for a food fest, but as I watched more I realized there was a lot of action just below the surface and that occasionally something was breaching. There was a small boat near the action, and then one of the huge Whale Watching Tour Boats came barreling into the area. We excitedly discussed the possibilities knowing there was something cool going on even though we couldn't identify what was churning the waters.

I did a little research to see what is going on along the coast and found Captain Dave's Dolphin Safari Sightings Log. There have been 1000+ Common Dolphins along the coast in the last few days! (Scroll down on the page a little to see the 2008 listing dates have actually rolled over to 2009.)

I also found several great videos of sea life from along the coast. It's amazing to think of the amount of animal life just miles away and yards down! (My apologies to Keileigh who is terrified of huge animals below the sea, but I think it's pretty awesome.)

And for the budget minded starting January 6th they have a special Tuesday half price rate of $14.50! Can't beat that for thrills!

(Of course I could include the map link and an article on shark sightings along the coast... cue Jaws music...)

ELF GALLERY!

We always seem to find the funniest items at our favorite Maverik in Fillmore. It's a driving tradition to stop and fill the tank, take a pit stop and depending on the season either buy a frozen yogurt or hot chocolate (Noelle mixes the best chocolate concoction!) This year we found funny candy guitars (aka plastic sugar beads-igg yuck!) to give to our rock band crazed children. There was a rock & a country version and they each played four tunes.

We also found this crazy elf hat with ears and had fun torturing everyone in the family as we asked them to don the ears to be in our Elf Gallery of Family Stars. Thanks for being good sports!

There were a few folks who missed the elf ears altogether, but we included everyone in the Family Gallery! We changed to the Goofy hat at Clark's house for new grins. Life is funner with strange head wear!

OCMCO Article

Check out this article from LDS Living about OCMCO.

Christmas in Utah-Day 1

Where to begin? We spent Christmas in Utah with family & friends. If a picture is worth 1000 words then I'm a millionaire with over 1000 pictures from this trip. I love digital cameras-instant gratification & retakes when the image could be better. It may take some time but I'll be uploading snippets from all of the fun & games of the past month.

We were greeted with SNOW! And lots of it. We left Southern California after singing in church on Sunday and loosely caravaned with Mike & Ginny Story. On Monday Michael called and texted to let us know what the weather was like up ahead. (Thanks for the heads up!) We saw a random car that ended up in the ravine on semi-slick roads and a fifth wheel that had toppled near Fillmore. North of Nephi we were nearly sideswiped by a speeding, swerving SUV who thought he was invinceable and then encountered a blizzard in Provo. But we made it without mishap. When we arrived at Kathleen & Larry's house in Draper we found a foot of snow for Eric to shovel.

We arrived in time to participate in the annual Johnson-Jensen Cookie Day. It was great to see everyone. After eating chicken noodle soup and frosting cookies we gathered in the Theater Room to enjoy a visit with Santa where we shared some gifts, books & singing. Family traditions are wonderful!