Come to Zion, come to Zion

Over the Pioneer day weekend (the 24th of July - when we celebrate the arrival of the Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley) we had a great outing with Rick’s parents and his sister Robyn and her great husband Bob. We met in Cedar City and attended the annual Shakespeare festival. I’ve already talked about my love for Shakespeare in previous posts, and once again we attended some amazing performances of Macbeth, Pride and Prejudice and Great Expectations. We also took some time to visit Cedar Breaks

National Monument and Zion National Park. I absolutely LOVE attending our nation’s parks, and even though we have seen these parks before, I continue to marvel at the treasure that they are.

We drove in Rick’s new Hyundai Sonata. When we told Pat about the smoking deal we got on the car, she went right in and bought her own on the spot. So they now have twinner cars. His is silver, hers is gold. Nice!

Here are some majestic views from Cedar Breaks…

and Zion National Park…

We arrived less than an hour after a huge cloud burst. Luckily it dropped the temperature by 20 degrees, so we enjoyed some lovely weather. It’s usually in the 100s at Zion National Park in July. Some hikers were washed down some ravines of 40 and 60 foot drops, but survived. It can be a dangerous place when it rains. We walked the river trail and enjoyed the beauties of nature.

If you ever to go visit Zion, be sure to eat as Oscars, it’s a great Tex-Mex restaurant nearby.

Summertime fun

Oh, What Do You Do In the Summertime? (v. 2)

I've done most of the fun summertime things on this list plus many more. I watched a parade instead of marched in one and I haven't gone fishing...yet. This was one of my favorite childhood songs. I got to do many of these fun things with our grandchildren this summer. I hope they enjoy looking at the pictures and singing along!

For all you great family men out there

Happy 2nd birthday!

Happy 2nd birthday blog.
You're a good friend.
You are a good listener.
I appreciate your quiet support.
I hope our relationship continues to grow.
Enjoy your Turtle Cheesecake.

What do these things have in common?

All the rage - a parody

You've probably already seen these, but they are all the rage here on campus. Cleaver stuff!

Great article

Check out this very interesting article about the Mormon church called "The Rise of a New Generation of Mormons" in Financial Times out of London. It's very interesting reading and makes some very good points. For some reason I can't post it here directly, so you'll have to Google the title of the article to find it. It's a great read.

Fabulous Friberg

Arnold Friberg passed away a few weeks ago. He was 97. I always appreciated his pictures in the Book of Mormon. Those same paintings resonated with the spirit of God as they did for me when I was a little girl which says something in itself of him as an individual and of the art that he did his best to convey to the observer. Of course, as with most art, some of it was directed more at an ideal using contemporary stylization rather than of the actual historical events being portrayed, but as with those depictions, the spirit conveys the realities better than what actually did happen for those he is talking to. I loved looking at the bulging muscles of the stripling warriors and of the handsome and beautiful people portrayed in the paintings. They looked invincible.
Click here to see his art work and to remember the paintings he created that helped bring the Book of Mormon stories to life. Arnold Friberg's now-iconic Book of Mormon paintings are the pictures mostt of us have grown up with. They are now on permanent display in the LDS Church Conference Center in Salt Lake City, meaning you can see them for free year round.

At his funeral, Elder Hales, a longtime friend of Friberg's, shared the spiritual power of both the man and his work.

"For me, Arnold was a seer in the purest sense of the word, with the ability to look into the past and observe spiritual experiences," he said. "Arnold knew how to reach the soul. It was a gift given to him by God."

RIP Arnold Friberg, and thanks for your contribution to enrich our lives.

MIA

I haven’t had much time to blog in the last few weeks. We’ve had a bit of activity going on around here. Claire, Skippy and R came July 1 and Claire and Skippy stayed until July 13. Jordan, Jake and their girls came July 10 and they will leave for a week at the beach with Jake’s family on July 23. It was so fun to have a three day overlap with the four little granddaughters and the two daughters. We’ve had so much fun. Here’s a peak:

Catherine weds Ryan

 

   

We enjoyed participating in the wedding of our niece Catherine to her new husband Ryan in the Salt Lake City temple.  It was a lovely day.  Rick performed a ring ceremony at the dinner following the wedding.  It was great to be with extended family and to wish Catherine and Ryan the best as they begin their lives together.  Oh, by the way, the flowers were smashing…take a look at these beautiful arrangements.