What's Going On in Our Neck of the Woods

Sometimes my blogs are too far between, and then I have too much to say and show. Anyway, here are some things that we have been doing over the past few weeks.

A couple of weeks ago, Jerry and Sherry Kite called us to tell us that they were going on their mission to Montreal, Canada. They weren't supposed to go until March but were asked to go earlier. Jerry and Dick were mission friends in England many years ago, and Jerry was one of Dick's best men at our wedding. We have kept in touch with them over the years. Anyway, they invivted us to come over to American Fork, where they live, and visit with them. We drove over and took a two-mile walk with them, which included going around the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. We enjoyed visiting with them. On Monday, February 1st, they entered the MTC, where they stayed for two weeks. Then, they will drive to Montreal and take about a week to do that. Here is a picture of the four of us.



This past week, we decided to go see the Young Ambassadors at BYU. It was their 40th reunion and many alumni Young Ambassadors were asked to come and perform with the current group. We took Jenny and Ryan and really enjoyed an evening of wonderful entertainment. It was one of those performances where you really don't want it to end because it's sooo good. They performed songs from the 60's through the current time. One of the alumni ambassadors had gone into professional performing, and he sang "Bring Him Home" from Les Mis. I've seen Les Mis three times, and this man was equally as good, if not better, than the Jean Valjean's I've seen in London and Salt Lake. He was amazing! And, the rest of the program was great. It was a fun evening. Jenny liked it so much that she took Spencer and Ali back to see it on Saturday.

On Saturday, our Stake Relief Society had a women's conference. I participated in a women's choir in which we sang two beautiful songs: "Lift Up Your Heart" and "How Can I Keep From Singing." Both songs were written by Sally Deford. I love her songs. Here are the words to "Lift Up Your Heart. Lift up your heart in faith, for God is ever nigh you,

Eager to bless his children, Mindful of ev'ry child,

Lift up your heart in prayer for God will ever heed you,

Seek him in ev'ry sorrow, Find him in ev'ry need,

Lift up your heart through tears of grief, He will give you peace and heal you.

Life upyour heart in praise of him who hath redeemed you,

Praise his unfailing mercy, Praise his unchanging love,

Lift up your heart for by his might he doth guard your path and guide you.

Lift up your heart unceasing, Praising the Savior's name,

Lift you your heart, for he hath ransomed you,

Lift up your heart, for he doth succor you,

Lift up your heart for he doth offer you a crown of everlasting life.

We do need to "lift up our hearts" and be glad for the wonderful blessings we have.
The whole meeting centered around finding joy in our lives, through all the trials and difficulties of life. It was very nice. Then, we put together 200 hygene kits for Haiti and had a lovely brunch.

Saturday night, we attended a Ball for Haiti. Our neighbor and former bishop's son sponsored this event. It was held at the Marriott Hotel and all the proceeds went to helping the people in Haiti. It was a fun evening with two different bands, and a couple of people spoke about how much help is needed in Haiti.

Here are Bob Moss and his wife, Patti. It was Bob's son, Jon Robert, who was the sponsor. Bob was an official and had to wear a tux.

Clara Jerome works for RBM Services, Jon Robert's business, and she came to take some pictures. Here she is with a nice young man. It would be nice if something happened between them. I'm such a matchmaker. Clara is a sweet girl.

Dick and I managed to dance a few dances, which we haven't done in ages. It seems like after two dances, we had to sit down and rest. We're getting older--can't do what we used to do.

At the Ball, I met an old high school friend of mine, Sue Ann Elliott Call. She and her husband were there because her husband is a doctor and they have spent quite a bit of time in Haiti helping there even before the earthquake. A young couple from Haiti that they knew well suffered a terrible tragedy in the earthquake. The wife was crushed and killed when their home fell on her. The Calls have been working to help the husband and two children get to the U.S.

Sunday, we celebrated Jenny's and Milly's birthdays at the Woods in Cedar Hills. Jenny turned 36 and Milly turned 5. This picture looks like Jenny is praying, but she blinked. I wanted to get a picture of the two birthday cakes. We enjoyed our annual birthday meal of lasagne, salad, bread and cake and ice cream. We had a nice visit with the Woods.

Jenny and Milly. We love these two girls.

Milly, with Zack helping, opens a birthday present. She got a Snuggie, which is the only thing she asked for.

We surely do love having at least one of our children's families around. But, we miss the other families. I guess we'll just have to go and visit them in the near future. So, "that's what's been going on in our neck of the woods."