Would It Help To Talk?

Here is Jeff practicing his listening skills.  

We are taking a break from winter this week and have been RZR riding at Sand Hollow, visiting friends in St. George, checking out snowbird communities in Mesquite, and taking photos in Springdale outside Zion.

Snow Fun in January

Tyler and Emily took Taylor, Owen and Chase sledding.  Too bad that Bennett was home sick.  I showed up just long enough to take a few photos, then I was ready to get back to a nice warm house.

Grandma's 90th Birthday

Grandma was very surprised and touched when we came to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake and ice cream with her.  It was wonderful to be together and honor our Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother and to rejoice in our heritage and the blessing of having honorable and righteous parents. 

(More photos are posted HERE.) 

Halloween Rewind - 2012

Before moving forward into 2013 I have to go back and document a few family activities between the time we got home from our mission and the end of 2012.  Here is our Halloween party.  The dinner menu was less than tantalizing.....but fun and appropriate nevertheless!!!

Arizona Trip Wrap Up

A day RZR riding with Michelle, Sawyer, Barrett, Michelle's Dad Mark, her sister Jessica and her two brothers Nick and Kevin, (Jaron was at work).  We certainly have had way over our money's worth of fun with these side-by-sides. 

An afternoon at the train museum.

A few hours at the park.

And a VERY snowy, slippery ride home on Christmas Eve.

Pre Christmas with Amber & Will

Jaron & Michelle and Jeff and I celebrated Christmas a few days early with Will and Amber.   We also celebrated Isaac's baptism.  Amber had their home decorated so cute for the holidays, all with homemade decorations. We played games, opened presents, went to an outdoor market, rode the RZRs on the largest sand dunes in the US, (so we were told), and ate a delicious, AND nutritious Christmas dinner.  (Ask Amber how she makes mashed cauliflower taste as good as mashed potatoes.  And the best part, there was no guilt in have a second helping!) 

Congratulations Isaac!!!

I thought this was such a cute photo of Isaac taken at his baptism.  The lighting was good, the background was clean, and I know the Church always has a need for these types of photos.  Of course I asked Amber's permission and she had to sign a release in order for me to submit this for Church use.  (Note:  See the above tab titled 'LDS Create'.)   Submitted and approved, so if you see Isaac in a future edition of The Friend, let me know!!

Happy Birthday Vanessa!

Actually Vanessa's birthday was yesterday, but I was too busy to post.  This is a quick snap I took while we were visiting just before Christmas.  She is turning into such a lovely young lady and we are so proud of her!!

A Visit to the Zoo - Part 2

And the very best part of visiting the zoo.........

........was splashing in a water puddle on the way out!!  It doesn't get any better than this, especially when Grandma said it was O.K.

A Visit to the Zoo - Part 1

Before Christmas we traveled to Arizona to spend time with Jaron, Michelle and their family, then to visit Will, Amber and their family.  This day we went to the zoo.  Here we are with Sawyer and Barrett in a special area where we were able to be up close and personal with the monkeys.  This nice zoo lady is telling us not to touch anything because the monkeys mark their territory, and, well, everything is covered with monkey pee.  Notice how carefully our grandsons are listening.

Immediately after these instructions the boys spotted a monkey in the tree, (can you see him?), and Sawyer promptly grabbed onto the barrier rope.  Not to be outdone, Barrett not only grabbed onto the rope with his hands, but put it in his mouth!  Cringe!  Sometimes it's a miracle kids are not sick more often than they are! 

2013 - The Dawn of a New Year!

One out of Two Items on this Post:

The first dawn of a new year and this is what I saw out my window.  Made me depressed, especially since I tossed and turned all night and woke up with a chest cold.  I didn't want to be depressed!  I went to bed in such a good mood because we had spent a wonderful time New Year's Eve with Jan & John & Dave & Sherrie, eating good food, visiting and watching a very sweet movie.   An observation about our evening; it became apparent how pathetic all of our social lives are, when we could call each other up earlier in the day and discover none of us had any plans to celebrate that evening!  (Sidenote:  for all of you who have children from about 7 and older, The Ultimate Gift is a must see to watch as a family, especially at Christmas time.)

Back to the picture and my mood.  I decided I wouldn't be depressed and I could choose to change my attitude.  And I didn't need to look at this boring photo either.   Thanks to modern technology, I can choose to change this scene in my mind's eye with a few clicks of a mouse...............

Ahhh, that's better.  I feel happier already!  I think it's going to be a great year!!  I'll probably put this in my 'I Hate Winter' folder on my Smugmug site!  (NOTE: as usual, when I do major edits, I always confess....well almost always!)

Second Item:

I've decided to resume making desktop images/calendars each month and I've used my little winter friend for January.  Feel free to download, enjoy and share. Just click HERE, then right click to set as your desktop image.  It should fill your screen and not be pixelated or blurry.  Let me know if you need help.