We had many great chats with one another

Rick and I are chatters. We love to visit with each other. However, because of our work, schedules with church and household chores, we don't often just get to sit and chat. We often start talking when we go to bed at night and then we finally get to sleep very late after a visit. Going on this cruise was especially great because we got to visit...for hours...for days. It was heaven. We covered a lot of territory as we usually do. We love to talk about all sorts of stuff and one topic that kept coming up was our past history together. You know, stuff like how we met and fell in love. How we were as poor as church mice for many years. How we worked our tails off to make our own way (yes, walking uphill both ways.) We love to reminisce about our early beginnings and we even started naming one thing that happened each year since we got married. Wow, that can take hours and we didn't get all the way through to the current time. We've had some great times over these last 30 years. We've struggled in some ways, we've gone through every emotion imaginable and we've been though some hard experiences, but we've persevered. We counted our blessings and thanked the Lord for his bounteous goodness to us over the years.
Without a doubt the best product of these past 30 years (besides just having each other) is being the parents to our four amazing children. I don't often brag about them, but each one is an amazing person who has accomplished much in their short lives. The are good people doing good things and they make us very proud. They're very smart, ambitious, good, funny, caring people who get what life is all about. They have married some wonderful spouses and we are so proud of them as couples, making their way in the world. And it just keeps on going. Two grandchildren already with two more on the way. There aren't words to express how much we love our children and their spouses. I think they are starting to get an idea as they get children of their own and experience first hand that overpowering emotion of loving ones own children.
The circle of life...ha, there is something magical (almost Lion Kingish) to it!

We met some new people

Rick and I tried unsuccessfully to get some of our family and friends to go on the cruise with us. Because of schedules, cost and other challenges, it just didn't work out for anyone else to join us. We've been on one other cruise by ourselves, and the other three have been with friends or family members. It is really fun to go with other people, but we also knew we would have a fun time by ourselves, and we were right.
The evening meals are served at the same table with the same group of people. We were interested to see who we would be dining with for the week. To our great delight, we ended up being assigned to dine with four single women. Sandra and June were friends from Ft. Lauderdale FL and they were both widows who recently lost their husbands. Sandra was originally from West Virginia and June was born and raised in New York city. They are both deacons in the Presbyterian church and they are delightful women. We also met Edith and Linda, who were friends from Los Angeles. Edith is Argentine and has lived in the states for many years. Linda was from Taiwan but she has lived in LA for many years as well. We were all mothers and grandmothers, so we had that commonality. Since we have visited West Virginia and Argentina, we had that in common with two of the women. We talked for hours about their lives, their families and their religions. We were able to tell about our family, religion and the area where we live. They were very gracious and wonderful to talk to Rick about his work and his interests as well. He felt like a king surrounded by all these accomplished women. All of them have visited Utah and have had some contact with our church. It was delightful to share our evening meals with them and to learn more about life in their sphere of influence. We enjoyed meeting back at the table in the evening and telling each other what activities we had done during the day. We were able to give them each a pass-along-card with our church information and our email address at the conclusion of our time together and to invite them to Utah as our guests sometime in the future. We hope they take us up on the offer.
Coincidentally, we also ran into a couple who live in our own neighborhood. We don't know them very well, but we had a nice time chatting with them over lunch one day. Since Rick wore his BYU stuff almost constantly, several other people on the ship and on shore said hello to us as fellow Utahns. We had some good opportunities to mix and chat with other people while on our shore expeditions, and it was wonderful to met and greet new people from all over the world.

We were entertained

If you've been on a cruise before, you know that the ship provides a variety of entertainment. Every day a copy of the schedule of upcoming events and activities is slid under the cabin door. Here is an example of the activities for one day. There is something for everyone. Gambling and drinking are a part of any cruise for those who want to participate, but it is easy to route around those activities if desired. Princess cruises also offered a series called Scholarship at Sea. It included classes in pottery, ceramics, navigation, photography, art history, culinary, fruit and vegetable carving, ice carving, galley tour, ballroom dancing classes, line dancing class, backstage tours and more. We enjoyed participating in several of these activities.
Mini golf, shuffleboard, basketball and ping pong were also available. They also show movies on a big screen in one of the theaters and they show movies on TVs in each cabin a well throughout the cruise. We enjoyed relaxing and watching a movie or two as well as several old "Love Boat" TV episodes from years ago.
The evening entertainment was wonderful. We found the Comedy Show to be very entertaining, funny and clean in language and innuendo. The evening production shows were well done and entertaining, again with out anything offensive. The production shows almost reminded me of watching a Young Ambassadors performance that included song and dance along with many costume and scenery changes. They did a splendid job entertaining us.
The cruise director was a young man named Peter*Tredgett from England. Besides enjoying listening to his delightful accent, he was well suited for his role and did a great job seeing that everyone was entertained on board.
Although this doesn't necessarily fit under the title of "entertainment" we also attended an Interdenominational Order of Service last Sunday since we were on the ship and had no ability to attend our own services. Cruise director Peter lead the services and he did a wonderful job. We were given a printed copy of hymns and prayers and we participated in singing "Amazing Grace" and "How Great Thou Art." Peter asked a member of the group to stand and read 1 Corinthians 13 on charity. He also read the following message about the Good Life. I thought it was good enough to share here with my readers (click on any of the above pictures to enlarge for reading.) He gave us all something to think about.
Another thing I really enjoyed about the meeting was that at the beginning, Peter invited everyone to stand and greet their neighbor. I'm always inspired by how gracious and kind people are in situations like this. We were all from different backgrounds and religions, yet I believe that most believed in God and Jesus Christ. There were about 35-40 people in attendance and we looked for commonalities rather than differences and we shook hands and said hello to some fellow Christians. Whenever we would introduce ourselves and say that we were from Utah, people would assume that we were Mormons. We had some opportunities to share a little more about our religion.

We learned

I love to learn and I love to learn new things while traveling.
Our cruise to Alaska afforded us a lot of opportunities to learn new things, such as:

1. We started out the cruise in Vancouver, British Columbia. We drove through the city on a bus from the airport and the bus driver gave us a running commentary on all that Vancouver is doing to get ready for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Wow, what a beautiful city. I had no idea it was that big and beautiful. What a GREAT venue it will be for the Olympics.
   
2. I love to eat salmon. Love it! Now I know the whole story about the life of a salmon. We went to a salmon hatchery in Juneau and learned how salmon imprint by smelling the water where they are born and then when they are ready to spawn, they instinctively return by smell to the waters where they were born. AMAZING!
   
3. Did you know that you can't get to Juneau, the state capitol of Alaska by driving there? You have to fly in, sail in or come in my ferry boat with your car. The roads in Juneau are about 35 miles in length and then they just end on either side of the city. We saw a sign that said, End of Road - 25 miles and then we were told that there was a stop sign and nothing but forest beyond the stop sign. CRAZY!
   
4. We took a tour of the state capitol building and learned the history of Alaska. The building is quite small and one of only 11 state capitol buildings that doesn't have a dome. We walked past former Governor Sarah Palin's home, the governor's mansion a block away from the capitol. IMPRESSIVE. However, Alaskans are not impressed with Governor Palin quitting early. Not impressed at all.
   
5. We learned about the early settlement and history of Ketchican, Juneau and Skagway, our three ports of call. We went on a ranger tour of Skagway and went into the restored homes of some of the first settlers in the area. INTERESTING. We got off the ship in Whittier and drove through a tunnel that was 2 1/2 miles long out of solid rock on the hour bus ride to Anchorage. It was through some beautiful country. A bear even ran across the road in front of the bus.
   
6. We learned a ton about glaciers, glacial ice and ice fields. A couple of rangers from the Glacier Bay National Park came on board our ship and spent most of one day talking to us while we were on the deck by explaining more about what were were seeing. They also gave another presentation in the theater room of the ship which we attended. More on those MAGNIFICENT glaciers later.
   
7. We rode the White Pass railroad train up the canyon outside Skagway that was used by the early miners who were part of the Alaskan gold rush in the Yukon territory called the Klondike gold rush. BREATHTAKING views. Incredible story of perseverance and courage. It's an amazing port because it was deep water for ships right next to land for trains. You don't see that every day. Take a look at these pictures.
   
8. We attended a lecture on board given by Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod dog and sled race that they hold annually in Alaska. We learn all about the Iditarod and what it takes to run husky dogs. Libby has written several books on the subject, including several children's books. I bought these two to share with our grandchildren. What a COURAGEOUS woman! Alaskans are tough as nails.
   
9. 

Whale watching and sea creatures in the area. The rangers gave us some great information about the life and habits of the creatures living in the Alaskan sea. We saw some whales (Rick saw more than I did because I was napping one afternoon while he was on deck and he saw some whales. Sad for me, I know.) GLORIOUS!

We rested

This was our 5th cruise. I've learned a thing or two about cruising over the years. One of the great secrets of going on a cruise vacation is that you can truly relax. Amazing, isn't it? No driving from place to place. No food preparation. No worries about entertainment and getting to and from ball parks and theme parks. No admission fees or parking fees. No worries about keeping everyone in the family happy with something of interest. No worries about one person doing one thing and another wanting to do another. No sheets to change or towels to wash. You can always go to your room in a matter of minutes and lie down if you want to without long drives to the hotel or home. That's right my faithful readers, a cruise is a very relaxing experience, especially for the "mom". And this Alaskan cruise was especially so because we could relax while viewing some of the most spectacular views I've ever seen, right off the deck of the ship.
~Want to see some amazing beauties of nature and unwind a little? No problem, just go take a walk around the deck of the ship. Three times around the walking track was equal to one mile. Several mornings we walked (Rick ran) for an hour and visited and took in the views. Specular views while cursing the inland passage.
~The ship also came with a first class spa. Those wanting to pay extra could enjoy all the services offered in the spa for even more relaxation and pampering.
~Want to exercise and unwind? No problem. The ship comes with a fully equipped gym at no additional cost.
~Want to read inside while taking in the views through the windows? The ship also comes with a library and comfy stuffed chairs in the hallways and padded deck chairs on the various decks. Want to curl up and read a good book? No problem. A waitress will bring you a drink while you read.
~Hot tubs (inside and out) and Jacuzzi? Check.
~Classical music concerts? Check.
~Taking a nap every day? Check.
~Just breathing in all the good, clean Alaskan air and sea water smell. Check.

North to Alaska

We spent last week aboard the Island Princess cruise ship sailing the inland passage of Alaska.
In a word, it was AMAZING. Seriously, the BEST time I've had in a good long time.

We rested
We learned
We were entertained
We met some new people
We had many great chats with one another
We explored the ship including three ports of call
We spent two days floating among glaciers which dwarfed our ship
We were waited on hand and foot by the staff of the ship
(which would have included massage of our hands
and feet at the spa for a significant price)
And of course, we ate, and ate
(and ate)
And we celebrated our 30 years as husband and wife
and enjoyed every minute we had together.

We gained a new appreciation for the land to the north, the 49th state to join the union. Alaskans refer to where we live as "the lower 48." I really had no concept of how BIG Alaska really was before this trip. It's HUGE. Oh, and I've been around longer than Alaska has been a state. Seriously. She just turned 50 this year. Wow, I'm older than Alaskan dirt. Check out this video to see what I'm talking about. It's wild. It's awe inspiring. It's unique in every way possible...there are glaciers the size of some of the lower 48 states. Amazing, don't you think? Oh, and just to warn you, I'm going to be stuck on Alaskan posts for awhile.

Carol, Matt, Taylor & Tanner

About 10 days ago, my younger sister Carol and three of her four children came to town for a few days of fun. We had many great adventures, going from one end of the spectrum in activities to the other. They attended church meetings at the MTC with us on Sunday and afterward, we took a leisurely walk around the Provo temple. The summer flowers were at their height of beauty and the day was perfect in every way. The kids were so good to indulge their Aunt Vonnie in taking way more pictures than necessary, but hey, they don't come to visit every day.




















How about those future missionaries!

The kids went swimming at our pool for over three hours one evening while Carol, Rick and I went to see the new movie Julie & Julia. Everyone enjoyed their respective activities for the evening.















We visited the home of Adam and Sydney and Syd showed us around their beautiful home. She has the decorating touch and her home is so inviting (even if the cake seen below is fake...hahaha.)














Of course no visit to town would be complete with out a visit to Rick's office. We took more great pictures on site, but unfortunately, they can't be shown here.










We also went to Cabela's for a tour of that amazing store. Even if you aren't an outdoors man or woman, you will still be amazed by the collection of stuff animals they have in the store...hundreds of "trophy takes" aka...dead animals that rival the Bean Life Science Museum at BYU.


Here's where we started out. Seven Peaks water park. Matt and Tanner were very adventurous, but Carol, Taylor and I stuck to the tame stuff. A good wet time was had by all until we got chased out by lightening strikes in the area. We're so glad Carol and her family could come to town to visit us. Carol was driving their NEW car and we are so excited for them to have some new, reliable wheels and we hope they will come and see us again soon. We love you all.