Bear Lake family vacation

It's been a busy three weeks.  We've been on the go and have had some wonderful family times.  Jordan and Jake and family arrived on Friday night, July 25 and Claire and Rich and kids arrive the following Saturday night.  Jord and Jake hosted a fun party that Saturday afternoon and invited all their family and friends in the area who have been so supportive of them through the last several months since Jake was diagnosed with cancer.  They loved seeing everyone who could attend and we enjoyed eating Fat Boys and other ice cream treats while the kids played on our swings and in the park behind our home.  R&C arrived in time to enjoy the festivities and then we hosted a BBQ with our dear family friends the Philipps.  Most of their family members were able to attend and it was so fun to catch up and just be together!  Our kids love their kids and they stay in contact and encourage one another through life's ups and downs.  The children all enjoyed playing together and the next generation of friendships were strengthened. They are friends who are family.

Sunday, the 27th, we attended church at Andy and Chelsea's ward and then headed to Logan.  Mom hosted a fun picnic in her pavilion and we enjoyed seeing Carol and Robert and their kids (Matt who has home on leave from the Navy) Mary Ann, niece Jamie and her family, and my uncle Clair and aunt Marilyn.  It was great to visit with them  all.  We then headed to the Lindley cabin at Bear Lake and got settled in for several days of fun.

This lovely assortment of senior pictures hangs in my
mother's home.  Our grandkids got a real kick
out of it and couldn't tell who I was.
 What??  I look exactly the same.  

Monday was boating on the lake, jet skis, water skiing, wake boarding and tube pulling.  The great-grandmas Pat and Mary enjoyed the boat rides and watching everyone have a good time.  Chelsea was a great boat driver and everyone got some time to try out all the different modes of water fun. That evening we had a girls night out and went to the Pickelville theater to watch a theater production of Beauty and the Beast.  The four little girls had an especially great time, but the three older girls really enjoyed it too. 

Tuesday we had planned to go to Minnetonka Cave on a hike, but it was raining, so we ended up spending the day on the 4 wheelers and the four passenger dirt buggie. Rich's dad Richard came up for lunch with Diane (mom's step-daughter) and we all had a great time.  There was much mud all over everything and everyone, but we cleaned up afterward and had a very fun time.  Again, the great-grandmas joined in and really had fun.  Andy and Chelsea had to head home to attend summer classes they were taking that evening.

Wednesday we had planned to travel around to the north shore of the lake, but again we were diverted because of rain.  We ended up watching movies and putting puzzles together and playing games.  Mary Ann and Lindsey came up and visited and brought a fun activity for the girls.  It was so sweet of them to come for a visit and see Jord and Claire and their families.  We also drove over to the east side of the lake and visited Romney Roost where we spent many fun summers with Rick's family.  It was fun for the kids to see their OLD stomping grounds.  It was like going into a time machine..nothing changes.

Rich, Claire, Jake and Rick played tennis most mornings and really enjoyed themselves.  The kids played like crazy out on the deck and produced several "shows" for us to see, complete with tickets, seating and a chance to shake hands with the actors afterwards. I had planned the meals in advance and we brought up all the food from home.  Everyone was assigned a meal to prepare, serve and clean up and that worked out great.  We didn't go hungry!

Thursday, we started to clean up and take one last ride on the dirty buggie, one last swim at the lake and one last game of tennis.  We got out at about 1:00.  J&J headed to a family reunion in Wyoming, Rich and Claire to a cousin's wedding in Mapleton, and Rick and I dropped Mom off in Logan before heading home.

It was such a fun vacation!  It was such a happy, hopeful, carefree time together.  We missed having Dave and Courtney, Charlie and Margaret with us. We appreciated the generosity of the Lindley family in letting us use their beautiful cabin.  It had EVERYTHING we needed and had space for everyone to sleep well.  Our kids voted to do this vacation again soon.  I think we will!

Live theater

I've mentioned it before ...  I love live theater!  I'm a big fan of musical theater too.  Rick and I love to attend productions and it is something that we enjoy doing together.  Here are some recent productions we've attended:

We have season tickets at Pioneer Theater Company in Salt Lake City.  This year the line up included:

Something’s Afoot

Elf–The Musical (I loved this production!)

A Few Good Men

Much Ado About Nothing

Deathtrap

Sweet Charity

Les Miserables at the SCERA Shell - Orem, UT. Andy, Chelsea (a big fan of theater as well) and I went to this production at our local community outdoor theater.  For a local production, it was awesome!  Their sets, costumes and singing voices were very good. 

Beauty and the Beast at the Pickelville Theater - Garden City, UT.  When we visited Bear Lake, we enjoyed a girls night out and attended the Pickelville production of Beauty and the Beast.  The four little girls we took were entranced as were their moms/aunts.  The costumes were beautiful and it was a fun adventure together. 

Wicked at the Capitol Theater Company - Salt Lake City.  This was my third time to see Wicked.  We gave Andy and Chelsea tickets for Christmas this year and they went with me and Rick.  We met up with my sister Carol and her husband Robert before the play for dinner.  It was an enchanted evening and we had great seats that my sister Lee got for us through a connected friend.  It was a fun evening that we all (minus one) enjoyed!

 

Blog 6th year birthday!

Happy birthday to my blog!

She turned 6 years old on July 27, 2014.

She is a growing girl and she is having a lot of

fun and is involved in all sorts of adventures.

Thank YOU dear readers for staying with

me/her through the last six years.

She has readers from near and far.

We have more information, thoughts,

insights, activities and ideas to share in the future.

This year she gets a ROOTBEER FLOAT

 for a birthday treat.

It is one of my favorites!

Pioneer day

We recently celebrated the arrival of the Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake valley in Utah on July 24, 1847.  Our son Dave was asked to give a talk on his pioneer heritage in his ward in Charlotte, NC.  Here are some of his notes from the talk.  I thought they were so good and worth sharing. 

My pioneer stories (which you can look up on lds.org!!)

• On March 28, 1857, the American ship George Washington left Liverpool England for Boston carrying 817 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as they headed to gather together in Zion.
• Aboard was  Charlotte Tarrant Banford, age 43 (my 4^th great grandma), twice widowed, 1 child from first marriage,  Job Pingree (age 20), my 3^rd great grandpa, and 6 children from 2^nd marriage (ages 11-4), and Job’s future wife Mary Morgan
• First four days, rough seas, everyone seasick, their belongings and boxes all broken and strewn everywhere
• Up at 5 or 6, clean, prayers, breakfast, various duties throughout the day, bed by 8 or 9
• April 19^th – arrived in Boston Harbor
• April 23^rd – got on train in Boston, headed west
• Passed through Albany NY, Buffalo NY, Cleveland OH, Toledo OH, Chicago IL, arrived in Iowa City, IA on April 30^th
• June 3^rd – depart Iowa City as part of the Jesse B. Martin Company (company of 192 people)
• June 22^nd, near Council Bluffs– Richard (4), Charlotte’s son, dies of measles, they bury him by the side of the trail
• “Heavy was the heart of that dear mother as she turned her eyes west to face she knew not what, but with faith that God would help her through.”
• Cattle Stampede along banks of North Platte River – John Banford (5) is killed, Charlotte’s daughter Martha (Job’s step sister) seriously injured
• Job’s experience:
• “I walked all the way from Iowa City to Utah and every other night had to be on guard half the night with the cattle. We got along pretty well until we came to the Platte River bottom where there was lots of buffalo. Then we had trouble with our cattle stampeding and running off. Several of the cattle were lost and one of ours happened to be lost so we had to work a cow from there to Utah. When we camped at night our wagons were put in the shape of a horse shoe, only left narrow so we could drive the cattle in to catch them. One morning when we were yoking them up and hitching them to the wagons they stampeded—running over people and one old man was killed. My Mother had a little boy killed and her daughter Martha's hip was broken so she had to be hauled in the wagon all the way to Utah.
• At this place Elder Latey and several others left the company and went back to Omaha and lived there. At this place we could see the land black with buffalo for miles. We also saw many small herds of deer grazing in the distance. In our travels we crossed many streams of water. On account of the loss of cattle the ladies had to walk and to save them wading streams, I carried many of them over. I also helped get feed for the cattle carry water and wood or buffalo chips to cook with.”
• September 12, 1857 – arrive in Salt Lake,
• September 22, 1857 – settle in Odgen
• Were persecuted on trains, on the trail, never giving up hope or giving up on their faith – 6 month journey, covered nearly 5,000 miles, left behind their home, their country, family, friends, and belongings, all because they believed that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and the prophet had asked all the saints to gather together to Zion.
• I am proud of my pioneer heritage – all four of my grandparents are descendants of pioneers, lds.org lists 40 of my ancestors as being Mormon pioneers, and I am grateful for their sacrifices, faith, endurance, and perseverance

 

Shared pioneer history

• However, this pioneer history is not limited to only those direct descendants.
• President Uchtdorf, in the April 2008 General Conference, speaking on the faith of our fathers, said:
• “The faith of our fathers—I love that phrase.  For many members of the Church, these words bring to mind valiant pioneers who abandoned the comfort of their homes and traveled by wagon and on foot until they reached the valley of the Great Salt Lake. I love and honor the faith and courage of those early pioneers of the Church. My own ancestors were living an ocean away at the time. None were among those who lived in Nauvoo or Winter Quarters, and none made the journey across the plains. But as a member of the Church, I claim with gratitude and pride this pioneer legacy as my own.”
• I believe that all of us who are members of the church, actual pioneer descendants or not, can claim as President Uchtdorf does, that legacy.

 

What it means to us today

• This pioneer heritage that we all share should inspire us to do more and be better saints, better members of the church.
• Elder Ballard, in the October 2008 General Conference, stated:
• “We are all needed to finish the work that was begun by those pioneering Saints over 175 years ago and carried out through the subsequent decades by faithful Saints of every generation. We need to believe as they believed. We need to work as they worked. We need to serve as they served. And we need to overcome as they overcame.

• Of course, our challenges are different today, but they are no less demanding. Instead of angry mobs, we face those who constantly try to defame. Instead of extreme exposure and hardship, we face alcohol and drug abuse, pornography, all kinds of filth, sleaze, greed, dishonesty, and spiritual apathy. Instead of families being uprooted and torn from their homes, we see the institution of the family, including the divine institution of marriage, under attack as groups and individuals seek to define away the prominent and divine role of the family in society.
• This is not to suggest that our challenges today are more severe than the challenges faced by those who have gone before us. They are just different. The Lord isn’t asking us to load up a handcart; He’s asking us to fortify our faith. He isn’t asking us to walk across a continent; He’s asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn’t asking us to give all of our worldly possessions to build a temple; He’s asking us to give of our means and our time despite the pressures of modern living to continue to build temples and then to attend regularly the temples already built. He isn’t asking us to die a martyr’s death; He’s asking us to live a disciple’s life."

• I hope that we can remember and reflect on our shared pioneer heritage, and strive to be better saints because of it