Cruisin!

Cruise update!

Dave and I went on a cruise with his family last week. We had a fabulous time in the warm sunshine! We were spoiled with great food and maid service every day. I could never figure out why anyone would order hamburgers, hot dogs or pizza when you had gourmet food to choose from. I was a little disappointed when they brought saltine crackers with the cheese platter, but , whatever. The soufflés made up for it. They were awesome!This is a picture Dana took of Dave and I at the zoo in Puerto Vallarta

Here are two tigers lounging in the shade. It was about 85 degrees.

For $10, you could get in the cage with these tiger cubs and play with them. There were about 5 of them playing here.

The boy in the green shirt is Nathaniel. It looks like he has the carrot in his mouth, but he is holding it with his hand. As we were walking past this camel, it opened it's mouth and about bit Nathaniel on the head...twice. Yikes!

This is Nathaniel's adorable sister, London. She is 2 and singing us the alphabet song while sitting on daddy's shoulders.

This zoo was pretty cool. At the gate, you could buy bags of food to feed the animals and they would come take the food right out of your hands. There were several more flamingos, but they were sleeping on the other side of the pond. We were practically the only ones in the zoo.

I saw this thing swimming around in the mote and thought, what the heck is that thing! This is an RUS (rodent of unusual size).

This is another shot at the RUS, on the left, not the right. LOL

Here is Dave (on the left) getting off the boat at Puerto V. The boats hanging on the ship are called tenders. We would have to ride in these when the ships couldn't pull up to shore.

Here is Dave relaxing on the beach. We took a boat out to this small island. It was a little croweded because it was the weekend. Clair taught us a new card game and we played until the last boat left to take us back. We were told the last boat left at 5, but we noticed everyone leaving at 4. I finally asked someone when the last boat left at 4:15 and they said in 5 min. We scrambled to get back to the dock and got there just in time.

This is a sample of the cute towel animals our steward left on our bed. I had to take a picture of it on the floor because the bed was white and the picture didn't turn out as well as with a colored background. The rooms weren't very big, but we didn't spend a whole lot of time in them, so it was fine. I took a egg-crate, foam pad to put on the bed and that made it very comfortable.

On Sunday, we got off the boat and found the LDS church to attend. One of the missionaries came over and asked if any of our group could lead music. Everyone pointed to me so I got to lead the music in Sacrament meeting. It was a very interesting experience. I would have really enjoyed if the missionary who was playing the piano hadn't ditched the meeting and left me hanging for the intermediate hymn. I walked over to the piano and played the first three notes of the song (probably the wrong notes) and we sang without the piano. Luckily, there was only one verse.

We had a fabulous time. I ended up going with the boys on their fishing trip and got to see lots of whales and dolphins. That was awesome! I couldn't get a good picture of them. Here is a video. If you watch close, you can see them turning over in the water and blowing air out of their spout. For some reason I could not see the whales on my camera screen while I was taking the picture. It's a better video if you can watch it on a bigger screen.

Here are two short videos. The first is of the two whales. I couldn't zoom in with my camera, so this was the best, shortest clip I have. The other is of the Pelicans who would fly behind the fishing boats and look for leftover chum. Notice they only follow the fishing boats and they know just where to look for fish. You can see our cruise ship in the background.

Dogbath?

This is Jake, John, Mike and Spencer giving Molly a bath. Jake and John promised me they would give the dog a bath if I bought them some KFC for dinner. Somehow they roped Mike and Spencer in doing all the work (those twin Huck Finns!) Molly puts up with the wetness of the bath because she loves the rub down afterwards.

Here is Dave playing "Cowboys and Indians" with his friends. However, I would say the targets look more like Aliens!

President Hinckley Returns Home

Prophetic Passing

I imagine he's running to Marjorie now,
Yes, running, not waving his cane.
I see him embracing his father and mother
While they keep repeating his name.

I see him now meeting his forebears,
Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.
Sweet reunion of prophets, united by service
That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior
While Father says, "Good and well done.
So faithful in stalwart endurance, I welcome
My noble, most excellent son."

I then hear the ripples of laughter
As he says the reception's just fine,
But he hopes that he'll get an assignment or two
Since there's no need to waste any time.

I can hear his clear voice in the stillness
At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,
Have faith and move forward ? there's work to be done.
President Hinckley would want it that way.

Anna M. Molgard
January 27, 2008





I have been sent a few things about President Hinckley that I would like to share here. Though he will be missed, I am so happy that he is where he has longed to be for the past four years. We love you President Hinckley. Thank you for your legacy, your example, your sacrifice and your love.

Listen to Kenneth Cope's, Going Home, while looking at these pictures of him. I haven't figured out to get an mp3 on here, but hopefully you already have it.

2008 is Great!

Fern is right! Monthly blogs are boring. This is half of my primary class last year. No matter how many times I took the picture, the little boy in the red vest(Gabe) could not hold a nice pose. This one was the nicest out of the 5 I took. This year I have 5 year olds. They are adorable! 3 boys and 3 girls. They were coloring their CTR shields last Sunday and Kaleb was admiring the coloring talents of the girl next to him. I heard him exclaim, "That is the most beautiful coloring I have ever seen! He looked at his own not-so-amazing coloring job and said, "Mine's nice too!"

The picture below is one my brother, Sam took at the Sweet Family Party.

We were suppose to quilt some baby quilts for our service project. I brought these two to do and I think Tera brought the supplies to tie another quilt. James bought some blankets to donate. We got too busy taking pictures and visiting at the party, so I ended up bringing these home and quilting them myself. I think I ended up with Tera's quilt and I will be tying that one also.

And finally, Michael and I went to the American Fork Fitness Fair last Saturday. We put our names in for the final drawings. I go there practically every day to play racquetball. We won a free pair of shoes from Fleet Foot in AF. My shoes blew out the side, so I went and found some shoes that were very comfortable. They retail for $99. It's kind of a cool place to get running shoes. They examine and measure your foot and the way you walk to determine the best kind of show for you. These are the most expensive shoes I have ever had on my feet! Lucky!

My NY picture

This is the picture I got from New York!

I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus

I know, this is long time coming, but I have been busy and I don't have any great pictures to show for it.

I was released from my cub scout leader position and was called into the primary as a teacher for the 7 year olds. I taught for the first time last week. I don't know why they were so restless, but I spent most of the lesson trying to get them to sit still and listen. I was informed (by them) that they do better if I bring them a treat. I tried it this week and it worked like magic. I told them last week that Jesus needed their help. They grew very quiet and waited for me to tell them how they could help Jesus. There is a dad of 5 in our ward, with kids who range from age 7 to 18. He just found out he had cancer throughout his stomach. We are all praying that he can overcome it. It has been a scary, trying time for them. To take his mind off the cancer, we made him cards that said that Jesus loves him. We made some mint brownies and we put hugs and kisses in a jar, one for each day before Christmas. We got together at my house tonite at seven, had a prayer to help them feel that Jesus loves them, then we delivered our gifts. There were 6 beautiful little voices singing, "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus". It was so touching I couldn't help but get choked up listening and watching these sweet children serve two of God's choice spirits. The other person we went to was an older woman who is dealing with the sickness of Lupus. She has been too ill to come to church these past few weeks. It was a very touching experience.

If you're not familiar with the song, here are the words:

I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus

I’m trying to be like Jesus;

I’m following in his ways.

I’m trying to love as he did,

In all that I do and say.

At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,

But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,

“Love one another as Jesus loves you.

Try to show kindness in all that you do.

Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,

For these are the things Jesus taught.”

Trip to New York

I took a trip to New York to see Dad, Uncle Phil, Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Jason. This is a picture of dad.















This is dad's back yard. Uncle Phil on the left.





















This is a good picture of Uncle Phil

Dad, Phil and Aunt Dorothy

This is a river near dad's house. Dad said that when it rains alot, they let water out of the dam and all the rocks are completely covered. The bridge is for trains.

























This is Uncle Jason and his childhood friend, Margery










This is the river near dad's house. The colors are much more vibrant than the picture reveals because of the fog.


















This is Lake George.

This is the road leading to the place where Joseph Smith was born.

This is the monument: 36 1/2 feet high.

This is what they think his house looked like.

Pictures of Luck Mack and Joseph Smith Senior.
The chair was built by Joseph Smith Jr.


The Hearth stone is from the original Joseph Smith, Sr. home. I walked on it, just as Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith, Sr. did.

This is the spot where the old home was built.

This is the view leaving the farm.

This bridge was down a hidden lane by the monument. We missed it the first time and I made Dad go back so I could ask directions.

It was so cool to walk across this bridge that Joseph's parents crossed many times while visiting Lucy's parents.

This is the remnent of a stone wall built over 20o years ago.

New Color!

OK, here is the nearly finished product! If you look too closely you can tell I haven't finished painting the trim yet. I'm planning to do the rest of the upstairs a tan color so I guess this yellow color is as wild as I get. Dave hasn't realized it yet, but our great-room is now my school colors -blue and gold -go Cyprus! We'll just say they're my cubscout colors. lol


I can hardly wait to replace my kitchen floor now.

Is it Fall yet?

I finally got Dave to fix the broken door that leads from the kitchen to the garage. A couple years ago one of my boys, I'm not naming names but it starts with Ja** locked one of his brothers (M***) out of the house and M*** pushed on the door so hard, it broke out the door jam and the trim in the kitchen. The only way you could keep the door closed was to dead-bolt it. After Dave got the door fixed I knew I would have to paint. I've been wanting to put some color on my walls for some time, but have been too chicken to try it. I wanted a golden leather color so I tried this color. I have never heard so many complaints from my family about a paint color! It did look a little orange in the morning, so I painted a big pumpkin face on it before Zack and I put primer all over the wall. I found a little more golden (sunflower) color to paint it, so when I get the trim and doors painted, I show you what it looks like. Dave picked up a new door to replace the bi-fold door you see here in the picture. About 8 years ago, two boys (Ja** and Jo**) were throwing my hand weights at each other, someone dodged or ducked and the weight went through the door. It has been covered ever since with a picture of Jesus and a scripture.."I will go and do the things the Lord commands".

Finally something new!

Ok, so I've been a slacker! Gotta get those boys in school, whadyawant?

Dave and I celebrated our 23rd anniversary. I talked him into going to Strawberry and not catch any fish. Here is Dave being very successful at that.

His sister Joyce was kind enough to let us stay at her fabulous cabin nearby. We cooked Fillet Mingon, stuffed mushrooms with lots of fresh veggies...Yummmm! Dave made his famous omelets for breakfast. It was a perfect weekend!







This picture turned out pretty good. Sam took this picture of us at Aaron's wedding.










Here is me and my people on the set of Good Things Utah with the cast sitting up front.

This is what Mom wanted to do for her b-day. Happy B-day Mom!