A couple of things...

...happened today.

Mandy got asked to go to the Homecoming Dance at her High School. Of course we had to go dress shopping.

This was the winning dress!!!

I took this with my phone, so you can't see how the dress sparkles, but it's lovely!

...the second thing that happened was that Mandy's school pictures came in. Sophomore year, Fall 2010.

This is my Mandy!

She just keeps getting more and more beautiful!

I think her "Bonpa" (my dad) would be proud...

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the first man I ever loved and the one I still call "Daddy". My beloved father would have been 78 years-young, today. He's with Heavenly Father now, but always in our hearts.

Happy Birthday, Daddy. I love you and miss you everyday!

"A" is for.....

JACKIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st Parent-Teacher Conference of the year. Jackie is getting straight "A's"!!!! Glowing citizenship reports and good comments from all her teachers. Even the Principal and Assistant Principal had wonderful things to say about our girl.

WAY TO GO, MISS JACKIE!

We know you have really been trying hard and we are SO proud of you!

We've lost our marbles!!!

...in more ways than one! ha ha ha

Last October in General Conference for the LDS Church, President Thomas S. Monson gave a talk about serving others. He told about expressing his birthday-wish for the members of the Church to find someone to serve. The response to that was overwhelming. President Monson then told about a Primary (children's organization) group that filled a jar with "warm fuzzies" each time they did an act of service.

This talk inspired a Family Home Evening lesson, last year. Although we are a very loving and demonstrative family, we felt that we weren't a "warm-fuzzy" kind of clan. So we devised a different way to monitor the progress of any service we did. I got a jar and labeled it "Service Marbles".


Then each member of the family got a different colored marble. Every time one of us performed an act of service, we lost a marble to the jar. The acts of service ranged from simple, little, often unnoticed acts; to big long-term helpfulness that had a huge impact on someone. It was a wonderful, on-going lesson for our family.

We ended our marble-project with last night's Family Home Evening lesson. We talked about feeling the Spirit and listening to its promptings to know when and how we could continue serving others. Our last act of service was to deliver treats and thank-you notes to neighbors and Ward members who have been of service to us and our Ward-family. With that final act of service, we filled our jar.

So, while we truly HAVE lost our marbles, it was well worth it.

09/11/01

Flight 93

Heroes who died, just doing what they do... Firefighters, Paramedics, and Police Officers...

United States Pentagon...

Ordinary people, going about their business, and passengers on planes...

Lest we forget...

Please Lord, let us NEVER, EVER forget...

God Bless America
...and keep her free.

Summer's Last Hurrah!!

We spent the last official weekend of Summer doing some fun things in our local area.

Saturday, we decided to check out "Swiss Days" in Midway, Utah.

We got a late start, so we were hip-deep in people, long lines, and heat.



We've decided that next year, we will NOT be going on Saturday. We'll go a day earlier and earlier in the day to beat the heat and the crowds. Still, it was interesting, and we could definitely see why so many people wanted to attend. Lots of local arts, crafts, and color. I could certainly feel my Swiss-blood stirring. Dad would be SO proud!

Yesterday, we went with Kevin's Young Adult Ward, up Provo Canyon for their monthly "Bishopric Family Home Evening". The other counselor in the Bishopric prepared deep-fried turkeys for dinner! YUM!!

Being big on family traditions, Kevin and I taught them the importance of having the turkey "dance" before cooking it. Definitely makes the bird more tender. (It's a LONG story...haha, but thanks to our dear friend, Karen for THAT tradition!)


Jackie even made a new friend...we decided it looked part giraffe, part leopard, and part sunset. So, we named it a "Gileopard-Sunset Moth". Whatever the name, it was really pretty.

So, with all these fun times, we bid a fond farewell to Summer, and say,

"HELLOOOOO FALL!!!"

Different...

as night and day but...they're still mine!