Sunday Wedding Smiles

We packed a lot into our 10 days in Utah. As you know we got to welcome our Justin home from his mission in Guatemala. The following Friday we also got to attend my great nephew’s wedding and reception.

We all met at the Draper temple on that beautiful Friday morning. The last time I was in this beautiful temple was a few years ago during it’s open house before it was dedicated. My dear blog friend, Marie was visiting from England. After spending a wonderful week with her watching her daughter, Eileen compete  the Special Olympics in Idaho, we took Marie around Salt Lake, showing her as many of the church historical sites as possible. We really enjoyed being able to go through this lovely House of the Lord while she was here.  Being in the Draper temple made me smile.

It was wonderful to be with this sweet couple as they were married for time and all eternity.

After serving as a missionary, Derek joined the military…. and then met Jenessa. They make a darling couple.

Derek is Betsy and Bob’s next to the youngest child. They have one younger son who was not at the wedding because he is serving as a missionary in Thiland. However, the rest of the family was there.

It was great getting to spend some time with my niece, Betsy and all of her family. I don’t get to see them near as often as I would like to… so this day with all of them was special.

After the morning wedding and pictures  at the temple were taken, the family met together for lunch where we visited some more.Three of my nephews and their wives came from Arizona. I was so happy that we got to visit with Tom and Terri, Richard and Cindy……. and…

 

Jim and Joan…. and some of their children. What a treat that was for us because we rarely get to Arizona to visit them. That evening we all attended a beautiful reception.

 

Erin and Lynell enjoyed seeing their cousins and Arizona family too.

At the reception we enjoyed the good food and delicious cake…. and then we had fun dancing the night away.

Of course the bride and groom were darling and the stars of the show….

But I thought Lynell, Loni and the rest of the family were pretty darn cute too. I just loved watching Chad dance with his little boy…..

And Grampy and Loni cutting the rug.

I am happy that we could spend this time with my niece and nephews and their families. It was simply a wonderful day…. and as you can see I was grinning from ear to ear. Smile….smile….smile

I feel really blessed that the kidney stone which had been so painful just the week before had settled down and behaved itself so I could make this trip to Utah and enjoy these special times with family.

I hope that you are all doing well. I’ve enjoyed catching up on reading your blogs this week.  I’m sending hugs to you and wishes for a great week.

 

Sunday smiles

This weekend was a special time for our LSD Mormon faith. It was our semi-annual General Conference where we get to hear from President Monson (pictured above)  and other church leaders. We hear inspiring talks that encourage us to be more Christ like and loving. Conference makes me smile. I love listening to our leaders. If you would like to listen to some of these talks you can do so on your computer by going to lds.org . Everyone could benefit from listening and following their counsel.

One announcement at conference was a big surprise. The church has lowered the age for our young men to become missionaries from 19 to 18 and from 21 to 19 for young women.  Wow! Now our boys can leave right after high school graduation and not wait a year. That means that our Jalen can go sooner if he wants to…. and then get back earlier… and then get into college.

This change of age makes me smile.

As you know we just got back from our wonderful trip to Utah. We got to welcome Justin home from his 2 year mission to Guatemala and visit with family and friends. On top of that, we got to attend my great nephew’s temple wedding. I haven’t down loaded the wedding pictures yet but here are some other things that made me smile.

We arrived on Friday evening. Saturday Erin and I went with our friend, Vicki to visit one of our other friends who has moved from California to Utah. She had a nice home here in CA….. but nothing like the home she has now. It took us over an hour to walk through her huge, 44,000 sq. foot home and look at all of her art treasures.  I am happy that my friend can live in such a beautiful home.  However, after being in her home, my 3,200 sq. foot home seems like a tiny hut in comparison.

Her many acre yard is like being in a park…. complete with a water slide into the pool. I’ve never seen a lovelier home and yard…. and yet my sweet friend would trade places with me. She recently lost her dear husband who was her best friend. All the wealth does not bring her the joy that being with her husband did. She knows that family is far more important than are things. We need to all remember that. No matter what our circumstance, we need to treasure each day that we have with those that we love. Knowing this makes me smile.

We always enjoy being with our grandchildren. Eleven of our 14 grandchildren live in Utah. We can never get enough time with them. Every moment is precious.  I have lots of other pictures to show you. I thought they were in my computer but they aren’t . I will have to find my camera and get them downloaded for next time.

After Justin’s homecoming talk, our grandson, Johnny had a special event take place too. He was advanced in  the Aaronic priesthood. In our faith, worthy young men  receive the Aaronic priesthood at the age of 12 and can be advanced as they learn and serve. We were thankful that we could be there for this advancement. To learn more about the priesthood click here.

I hope that you are doing well. I am doing pretty good. I have pain off and on but I’m doing well in general. Thanks for your concern. I’m disappointed that my kidney stone zap surgery got postponed until November 1st…. but what is….is.

Have a good week.  Many hugs, Lura

 

Sunday Smiles for Justin

I am smiling from ear to ear today for the following reasons:

1. Our grandson, Justin, just returned from serving as a Mormon missionary for 2 years in Guatemala. Click HERE if you would like to read more about what our missionaries do.

2. Justin got home Thursday night

3. He served with all his heart and might for 2 years. He brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to those he came to love in Guatemala.

4. He learned to trust in the Lord and follow His promptings.

5. He left a 19 year old boy and returned a 21 year old man who knows how to sacrifice, work hard, speak Spanish fluently, love his fellowman and appreciate his family and country more than ever.

6. Our dear Justin is home and I can hug him for real…. and not just through my letters.

OK…. I know that all 6 of my smiles are really all the same…. Justin is home…. but I can’t help it.

I have lots of pictures to show you but my darn computer won’t read my camera card any more. I had to email these 5 pictures to me in order to put them on this post. I will show you more when I can figure out how to get them on my computer.

Health note…Thanks to those of you who were wishing me well after my last post. The kidney stone has not passed but the pain has settled down enough that I could make this trip to welcome Justin home. I am thankful for that.  The doctor is going to zap the stone when I get home and get rid of it. I am happy about that. I am praying that it will not get really painful again during this trip and I can make it home OK.

Have a great week. 

Hugs, Lura

Roaming Wyoming Smiles

We recently returned from our family camping/rafting trip to Wyoming and our family reunion in Utah.  We put 2,225 miles on our little car as we drove through parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and a tip of Arizona to get there and back.  That is a long trip….. and a lot of sitting…. but  it is always worth the effort when we get to spend time with dear family.

As soon as we got to Wyoming we were greeted by a mama deer. She didn’t hang around long but my friend Patti who lives there says that the whole family comes to visit her almost everyday. Beautiful Wyoming makes me smile.

As soon as camp was set up, we started preparing dinner. If you are thinking hot dogs and chips you are wrong….

Our kids have mastered the art of camp cooking. Every meal was a feast like this one made up of Tri-tip, baked potatoes, salad, corn , etc..

We all took turns helping and every meal turned out great.

  Each night after dinner we had  Dutch oven desserts like these berry and apple cobblers.

Our Camp meals made us all smile.

Of course the best part was being with all 4 of our children and their families. It was the first time that we had all been together at the river for many years.  Justin who is serving as a missionary in Guatemala was the only one who was not there with us.  Being with our kids and grands really made us smile.

From our oldest grandson, Jordan to our youngest granddaughter, Ellie….

And all in between….. we all had a wonderful time together.

There was singing around the campfire….

There was plenty of hot chocolate and hugs to warm us and make us smile.

The main attraction for most of our group was rafting down the Snake river.

I can’t go on the rapids any more since I broke all my ribs last year….

But I did go on the gentle “Little Kid” float and had fun with the wee ones.

Wouldn’t these cute kids make you smile???

Erin taught us to sing a hymn in ASL (American sign language)

We enjoyed a lovely dinner and show at Bar J again this year.

Going to Bar J always makes me smile.

It was a great vacation in Wyoming…. and John and I really lucked out. Our good friends, Patti and Ronnie moved to Wyoming and live only 27 miles from the place we camp each year.  This year we stayed with them each night. We slept in a soft, cozy bed and had our own bathroom to use. That made me smile. Since my ribs are still tender that worked out great for and was much better than staying in our trailer.

While we were there we went to the county fair with Patti. This beautiful heirloom baby dress she made won a blue ribbon and the “Best of Show” award. I was so proud of her.

I know this is a long blog and I’ve put in lots of pictures. I couldn’t help it. I just had to share all of these smiles with you.

I feel so blessed and thankful that we could make this trip this year. I was flat in bed this time last year and we couldn’t go. I am thankful that I have healed enough to go and enjoy this wonderful time with family.

I hope that all of you are doing well.  I am sending you hugs.

Have a great week.