Fireflies, Floats and Family

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

After church Sunday we met with two of the ladies we needed to see before they leave. We were glad to have that done. We went to Owen and Brenda's for lunch. Robert was glad to have the jambalaya and I enjoyed the ice cream.

Monday our Fireflies group met. We had pulled pork sandwiches, several yummy salads,potatoes, watermelon and mock eclair cake--all so good. We shared "tender mercies" afterwards. The Birches have had some major ones with their kids. Their son was drug my a horse and kicked in the face. It could so easily have had tragic consequences and he was only off work a week--no serious, permanent damage.  Elder Lane said two of their sons have come back to church, which is amazing.

Tuesday we went by the library and ran off the Temple cards I had reserved. I asked Elder Lathan last week to show me how he does descendancy research and I'm not really sure what he does that's different, but somehow I felt that I could and should be doing this. I'd added about 40+ names to my reserved list, so I had them printed and put them in the mail today to send to Reba to get the baptisms done.

Then we went to Sandy and saw the floats that will be in the Pioneer Day parade next Monday. There were dozens of floats and they were beautiful! It was crazy that it brought me to tears, but I loved seeing the floats. They were so pretty and I loved the bright, happy feelings they conveyed--I loved the moose on one, the waterfall on another, the missionaries on another. There was a high school marching band playing and games for the kids, face painting, and food. It was free to get in and so much good, clean fun. I just thought how fun it was to be there and couldn't help but feel bad that it's all coming to an end.

The theme of the parade this year is "Pioneers--
Inspiring Today's Generation!"

I loved the wind turbines on the front of this float and the real waterfall on the back of it.

They call the children's parade "the happiest parade on earth" and I think it is. The floats in it are smaller and things kids love.

The wheels on this train actually went round and round!

We came back to do our shopping and then met Richard and Carolyn at our apartment and went to Park City with them. We went to the museum on Main Street and told the lady we would like to know where the Judge Mine was. I had looked in Glen's book and found that that was the mine where he was the foreman. She pulled out a map and put an X on it and said that was about the place. She called a lady who works nearby and has done a lot of research on the area. The lady was nice enough to come down and talk to us and brought us a map of the mines in the area. There is something like 1200 miles of mine shafts underground in the area!

We were able to follow the map, as well as talk to a guy cutting tile outside of his house, and found the sign for the Judge Mine right across the street.

This is the marker for the Judge Mine

This is the opening to the Judge Mine (but the opening is covered)

My grandparents may have lived on this hillside, but no beautiful condos in those days!

And finally, this is where we ate lunch in Park City:

What a fun day! Loved the floats, loved being with family, loved seeing places where my grandparents once lived and where my mother was born.

On Wednesday we went back to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. We were there last winter with snow on the ground, but there definitely wasn't any snow this time!

A Pops Concert, A Scary Talk and a Dumb Mistake

Thursday, July 14, 2016

It's been quite the week.  Sister Isaacson was offered tickets to the Pops Concert by the Salt Lake Symphony at Abravenel Hall. The tickets were free. I had seen it advertised and thought it would be great to go, but hadn't gotten the tickets, so I was thrilled when she invited me to go with her. It was the symphony, the Choral Society, Kenneth Cope and a young Cowboy Poet. It was on the 8th and 9th, so in between July 4th and the 24th. They did wonderful patriotic music and pioneer music and it was just a great concert. They played the Armed Forces medley and asked people to stand for each branch of the service, or if you had someone who served in that branch. I stood for the Army song since my dad was in the Army and that always puts tears in my eyes. Sister Isaacson's dad was in the Navy.  Kenneth Cope was wonderful. He sang a song that Sister Isaacson knew and loved that's on a Tabernacle Choir CD and I really liked it. I think I'll try to get the CD. They ended with Battle Hymn and then Come Thou Fount. It was a really uplifting evening. I'm so glad I got to go.

Sunday was the long awaited/dreaded talk in Sacrament Meeting. It doesn't usually bother me that much to talk. I'm not crazy about it, I don't volunteer for it, but I'm o.k. with it. I think part of the problem this time was that we knew so far in advance. We'd been asked back in May to speak June 20, which was going to be hard. Then Pres. Klopfer said they needed that Sunday for the Moldenhauers because he was being released from the branch presidency. So they moved us back to July 10th. That was just too much time to think about it. I wanted to talk about the quote from April conference, "What will we do about the gleam in their eyes?" because it reminds me of our young elders. And I wanted to talk about Elder Anderson's talk in Oct. conference about the kids who came running into the yard and including those who feel left out. I wrote and re-wrote and added and left out. I was afraid it was too long and afraid it was too personal and afraid it wasn't scriptural enough--I was just about a basket case over it. Robert wanted to speak on the excuses people give for not serving missions and examples from our mission. I said, "These people are serving missions. How does that apply to them? He said he wanted them to go home and tell people how those excuses don't work and talk about the blessings of serving. After Relief Society, I found out that Sister Murry was speaking also, then I was really worried about the time! It all turned out fine. I had worried that Pres. Klopfer might not feel our talks were appropriate and he was very complimentary and seemed really pleased, so then I felt I had a huge weight lifted and I came home feeling waaay lighter!

Our sweet President Klopfer

We had signed up to feed the young elders Sunday and also invited Owen and Brenda, so I'd decided to have ham, sweet potatoes, vermicelli and rice, stir fried vegetables and cherry cheese cake for dessert. We asked Sister Isaacson, too, and she brought rolls. It had been a pretty good while since I'd had a real meal with all the tooth business. I'd been on soup, mashed potatoes and cottage cheese for at least 5 days, so every bite I took tasted so good to me! I couldn't say, "Hmm, umm, umm," with every bite, but I sure felt that way!

That evening the Johnson's called. They're the couple who came in the library several months ago and asked me about serving here. I was hosting and we talked for ages. Robert couldn't figure out why I spent so long with them. I gave her my phone number and she has called 3 or 4 times in the process. They got their call and moved into West Temple Apts. over the weekend. They had more questions--about internet service, TV, and that type of thing. They're really nice people. I can't believe he's 81, he surely doesn't look it. She's a little fireball. We enjoyed talking with them.

Monday morning at the Devotional, Robert took their picture. Our zone leaders, the Sorenson's had spoken and I thought they did so well. The Human Resources zone leaders also spoke and with all the full-time missionaries, CSM's and people who answer the phones at home, etc., there are 4100 missionaries who I guess are considered part of the Family Search Dept. missionaries!

Tuesday we decided to go to Oquirrh Mountain Temple, but I didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn to do it. Robert said o.k. (surprise, surprise!), so we decided we could leave here at 9:15, do the 10:30 session, and have plenty of time for my 2:00 dental check up. We got there at 10:00 and the 10:30 was already full. Anyone who complains about how many temples there are in Utah has no idea how heavily they are used--every hour, every day, it's crazy! So we went to the 11:15 session and still felt we'd make the dentist appt. I didn't realize until I got back to the dressing room, but I hadn't taken with me the key to the locker where my clothes were! It was my first time ever in that dressing room, so I wasn't sure where my locker was. I really thought it was on the inside, not on an outside wall, so I circled that area at least 3 times, opening every door that I could open, looking for my clothes. I was getting panicky! Time was marching on, and I knew Robert would be having a conniption fit waiting on me. The ladies who work there were trying to help me. No one could find the right locker. It was crazy. I couldn't just say, "I'll leave and come back later." I couldn't walk out of there in my long white dress! Finally a worker came and said, "Someone turned this key in and said there were clothes in the locker. We tried it and they were mine!! I tore my clothes off, then on and whooshed out of the temple. Robert was very calm and said, "It wasn't your fault." I said, "Yes, it was. It was all my fault. I'm so sorry!" We had a time getting the address in the GPS, I called the dentist office and apologized and they said I could come on in and they would make it work. I was so embarrassed and they were very nice about it. He said I'm healing fine--no sign of any problems or infection. Whew!

Wed. is our 1/2 day. Matthew had sent me a request from Isaac Anderson to look up a book with information about his great grandmother, so we decided to go in early and do that. Then I got an e-mail from Kathy Buckmaster to see if I could find a microfilm with death information on someone. So we went in about 12:00 and worked on both of those projects. I found the microfilm, and e-mailed it to Kathy. Then I found the book and copied several pages that went back to the 1600's for his great grandmother. When I went downstairs Robert asked me if I had looked at our schedule. "Not yet." "We're off all day." WHAAAT?!? We left and went to WalMart. I decided to make an eclair cake for Fireflies on Monday and needed some ingredients. I mailed the info to Matthew for Isaac and then we decided to go to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and use the gift card Josh and Blanca left us last summer!

Lady Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake--talk about AMAZING!!!

More Celebrations...

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

On June 20th we met at the Birch's for our Fireflies get together. Our theme was "Salads and Sundaes." There were yummy salads and we had taken two gallons of ice cream and toppings. We also had rolls and chips--there's always plenty! Sister Birch had emailed us that she didn't have a game--to come with ideas. I think Lanes brought some games, but as we finished eating, someone asked, "Has anyone had an Elijah moment they haven't told us about?" and different ones just started sharing. They were such sweet stories; several brought us to tears. Elder Birch told about the lady who came in who works at the temple and she had a child she had been looking for for a long time. She knew the family had 6 boys and two girls, but she could only find one of the girls. She had been fasting and praying that she would find her. She and Elder Birch found a Findagrave record on one of the children. They attached it. Then as they were about to look for another record, the one for the little missing girl just popped up! The lady was in tears, Elder Birch was in tears trying to tell it--a special story. Sister Murray said, "We have those a lot in our department. We call them 'computer glitches.'" She works on the third floor of the JSMB. It ended up being the nicest evening.

On the 21st we picked up the big computer from Revo--again. They had installed the Norton stuff on it when we had problems. We picked up things at Zurcher's for the Price's party, and then we headed to Manti. There wasn't much to see on the way, but when we turned off of the freeway and drove through the countryside, I was surprised that people seemed to have a lot of horses, but not a lot of cows.

We put this on Facebook and Brenda Kendrick said, "It's a Texas tornado in training."

 We got there in time to go to the temple. We hadn't been to Manti in a good twenty years, and I was so glad to get to go. It's beautiful inside as well as out.

We got out in plenty of time to have dinner and then get seats at the pageant.

These seats in front of us were reserved. I love the fact that we can always hear everything because it is recorded and played over these big loudspeakers. The actors just have to act and mouth the words.

It was wonderful.  I loved the Book of Mormon scenes and the crossing the plains. The Angel Moroni on top of the temple is still a highlight.

We drove back to Salt Lake after the pageant. We were warned that traffic would be bad, but it wasn't awful. We knew there would be no place to stay near there because those are reserved months in advance, so we just made up our minds to make the drive and if we got too tired, we could pull over, but Robert can drive forever at night, so we made it home about 1:20 and slept in the next day. It was our whole day off for temple/research so the timing was perfect.

We took flowers to the Christmas Box Angel on Wed. for Katie because we had been working Monday and went out of town on Tuesday. I'm glad to be able to take them there. It looked like Lena had taken flowers in Silsbee. I guess it will never stop being a hard day.

Thursday I attended a class on "Honoring our Immigrant Ancestors." It was really interesting and I think a good thing to do when we get home. Elder Campnell had done research way back on one of his ancestors. He found out why they had gone to Brazil and then the U.S. (persecution of the Jews) and the history of that group of Jewish people. Then he researched two of his wife's ancestors. He summarized the stories on what he calls "banners" but I would call them "bookmarks." He put them under a big timeline so you can see how they fit in the history of the world. So interesting. His ward worked on it for about 18 months. I sent the idea to Louise and she loved it--wants to take the idea to Pres. Wagley and maybe use it at a genealogy conference in November. I'm excited about it.

Friday I helped with the VIP group that came in. There weren't quite as many as expected, so Jason didn't have to split them and I didn't have to do any presenting. That was fine with me. It was a Chamber of Commerce group from the Salt Lake area, so many of them had accounts and had been on before. I helped some, but not as much as usual with out of town groups.

That night the Concert in the Park group was bagpipers and dancers and I wanted to see them, so I stayed at the library for awhile after we got off and Robert went on home. I walked up to Brigham Young Park and it wasn't too bad. Starting at the library and walking through Temple Square made it pretty pleasant. I enjoyed them. The dancers were from a school somewhere and some were pretty young, but so cute in their plaid kilts and knee socks. It was a nice evening. I walked home with Sisters Isaacson, Reuser and Murray.

Saturday after work was the Hosting Zone Farewell party for the Price's. It went really well and we had so much fun. Robert did a good job on his assignment. He told little stories about the Price's and embellished them with things we had gotten at the party shop and involved other people. My favorite was the "flyover" he had the young elders do. He got a package of little plastic airplane whistles, put them on wooden skewers, told everyone to listen for the roar of the engines, and the elders blew the whistles and jumped up and circled the Price's table! We didn't get a picture of it.

Then he told how Sister Price was "teaching school" in Vegas when Elder Price was stationed at Nellis AFB and I went up with a boa and put it around her.

She wouldn't let Sister Isaacson take her "Big Hand" we had made for her out on the floor, so we made one for Sister Price and had everyone sign it. Now she has her very own.

Elder Sorenson presented them with a packet of "Elijah moments" from the library.

The young elders sang "You are my Sunshine." It was really a fun evening.

I had had a tooth bothering me off and on for several days. I kept hoping maybe I could hold off doing anything until I got home, but decided I better go in. I got an appointment for Tuesday, the 28th with the dentist who had filled a tooth for me several months ago. He x-rayed it and said the nerve had died and I could make the decision whether to have it pulled (it was the same tooth he had filled) or have a root canal done. I've heard such horror stories of root canals and it would be close to $1000. I talked to Elder Birch the next day and he said if I was in my 30's or 40's, he'd definitely recommend the root canal, but all things considered, it should be o.k. to pull it. I got an appointment for July 5th.

Thursday the Ratcliff's came by! It was so fun to see them.  I told Emily and Maecy to start on their immigrant ancestor research so they'd be ready for the genealogy fair in November. They both do Family Search.

On Saturday the 2nd we helped with a tour group at 4:00 and came out to find what seemed like half of Silsbee Ward standing in the foyer of the library!

The four ladies had driven in and walked around Temple Square. They'd called Owen and Brenda, who met them at our library. It was so fun to see them all!  They were going to get a hotel and Robert told them to come to the apartment. Owen and Brenda left and went to the store and got fixings for sandwiches and chips and veggies and we had watermelon. It was a fun evening. Robert called Sister Mulevi and she was just leaving the Salt Lake Temple. She came right over. She and Sister Williams were so glad to see each other!

The ladies were so disappointed to learn the Salt Lake Temple would be closed for two weeks--that was their #1 reason for coming out here. So we went to bed Saturday night and I got up Sunday morning to find them at the kitchen table with a map spread out. They decided to head for Nauvoo! They left shortly after that and made it. They even got reservations at a Super 8 in Keokuk and both pageants are there--the Nauvoo and the English and the temple is open. I know they will love it.

We'd made plans to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple on the 5th with Judy and Michelle and then go to Park City with Richard, but that was the day the doctor could pull my tooth, so the other had to be put on hold.

Sister Klopfer gave our lesson in Relief Society and told about her great (another great?) grandfather, John R. Winder. He started Winder Dairy here and Richard worked for them at one time, so I was interested in the story. She told how he'd prayed when he was a little boy of 6, still in England, and was to keep the birds out of their crop, but he couldn't see his house and he got scared. After he prayed, he felt better and always remembered that the Lord was mindful of him. He was put in charge of finishing the inside of the Salt Lake Temple in one year after the capstone ceremony and many of the workmen said it couldn't be done. He told them if they felt that way, they could collect their pay. It was finished in a year. He served in the first presidency and felt they should build a memorial to Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Some wanted to build a hotel on the property. It was decided the memorial in Vermont was enough. But 70 years after the hotel was built and went up for sale, the church bought it and now it's the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, where we meet every Sunday. I love these pioneer stories.

Henry and Michelle had been planning a "pig roast" for us on the 4th of July since Easter and we'd looked forward to it all this time. We went down with Richard and Carolyn and they had a yard full of people.  They roast the pig on top of the ground, on hot rocks. They said the bonfire had been 6 feet in the air! We missed that part. But were there to see them uncover the pig. He had several Polynesian friends helping him, and they do everything in the traditional way. It's quite the undertaking.

Henry presented each of us with these. I guess
they're considered leis. I love them.

Besides the pork, he had done beef flank, and several whole chickens, which were delicious. The things wrapped in foil are taro, which is a root, and taro leaves with coconut milk, but we didn't get to try it. Lots of salads, corn on the cob, desserts. Michelle had made lemonade with strawberry and lemonade with mint from her garden--really good. Judy had made a peanut butter cake and an almond cake and people brought lots of cookies. I'm sure no one left hungry.

All three of Judy's kids were there and her grands (except Michelle's son who is on a mission) and two great grands--they're absolutely darling--Jude and Micah.

Judy and Michelle and Sarah had gotten together and made me a gift--wooden cut outs that say "HOME" and the "O" is different for every season. It is so darling and I know was so much work. I love it.

When we got home we watched fireworks from the comfort of our living room--all over the valley from the vantage point of our 5th floor living room. Such a great view and so comfortable.

Tuesday I had the tooth pulled. It wasn't a piece of cake, but I survived. We stopped at WalMart on the way home and got the prescription filled for the pain medication--good thing! I lay on the couch and sort of watched TV, sort of napped off and on. I had some tomato soup for lunch and some more for dinner. I put the ice pack on it several times. I had taken a pain pill at 1:00 and by 3:00 I was counting down until I could take the next one at 5:00. I took one more at 10:00 when I went to bed and slept straight through until 6:00. Haven't had any more today. Think I'll live.