If you don't like the weather....wait!

Yesterday we woke up to snow.  Then it melted off fairly well and the sun came out a little.  Then later in the afternoon, this was the weather.

The door mat became covered in seconds.

The weather today was very cool, but clear and bright.  I enjoyed a nice walk with Buddy.  What a difference a day makes, right?

The hills are greening up.

Up the same hill on which we went sledding.

Buddy is a good walking companion.

Gorgeous view.

The brown space of field is one recently drilled by Grandpa.  Dad has been helping on the farm almost every day.  James, Esther and I help some too.

A nice stream that flows is convenient for Buddy's drinks.

I'm feeling so grateful for spring and the beauties around us.  I'm glad to have a dog that gets me out walking even if the weather is cool or stormy.  I have often felt blessed with timing to walk in between stormy moments.  I'm learning to embrace the rugged rural-ness at the same time loving the lovely views.

Contributing to Pages?

I notice we have a "List of  Children's Books" page and a "Recipes" page.  I wasn't sure how to contribute to either of those pages other than go to the page and "edit".  I'd like to know if there's another way.

Even so, you can check out those pages to see what I've added.

End of an Era???

April 19 was Esther's Treble Tones Concert, their final one for the year.  They are participating in a Sing-o-pation concert this week.  But the final Treble Tones only concert was April 19.
This song some of you former Troubadors may recognize.  Esther is on the back row, straight back from Shaianne.  One of the first things I noticed about the Star Valley choirs is the choir members' lack of attention on the director; their eyes wander all over.  You will note Esther's good focus; training by Kracht.

As I was sitting there watching Esther sing, I thought about all the years of concerts we have watched.  There have been continuous concerts since Chrystal was in choir at Frenchtown.  We've had all the Christmas concerts, the spring concerts, graduation performances, some competition performances, solo/ensembles and others for about 20 years.  It would be nice if James decides to sing in choir, he definitely has the voice for it.  But I feel a bit of me-LAN-choly, to think of all those years coming to a close.  Thank goodness we have musical grandchildren and we will still be able to enjoy those concerts with them whenever we can.

Weekend Warriors: Part Two

There really should be a "Part Two", if there's a "Part One", right?  Thanks to John for giving great detail about the trip to Casper.  I'm posting some photos of that weekend.

Happy Baby!  I think he was looking at his mom.

Saturday afternoon was warm and pleasant - fun trampoline times.

Cute Dalton children!

In their Easter outfits, Linda Lee made the skirts.

Bright outside!

It was quite cold after church when we were posing for family photos.

Say "cheese!"

As John mentioned Emmett is a very calm and contented baby.  It was a special blessing - Ben was very in tune and the spirit was bright.

We left after dinner.  We saw quite a bit of animal life on our drive home - deer, geese, a fox, a moose, some mountain goats and bighorn sheep.

The next weekend, April 17th, we traveled to Rexburg, again a quick trip.  We rode with John on Sunday afternoon and then met up with Jared who had the Buick for a trip to Utah.  We also picked up Esther who got a ride from the BYU-I ride board back from Post Falls.   

Chrystal had a yummy ham dinner for us with a fab salad.  It was nice enough weather that most of the kids ate outside.

  

The weekend of  April 22 and 23 we hung out here.  Dad and James helped Grandpa with some farm work until the pouring rain prevented continuation, We caught up a little at home, sorting through some boxes and then  a garbage trip to the dump.

That Sunday we had dinner over at Bart and Janet's to celebrate Bart's birthday.  Janet made some type of Swiss dinner, that was breaded and fried pork cutlets.    

Friday, April 29, I took Esther to Randall Orthodontics in Idaho Falls.  She had no school that day, but we had to leave about the same time the bus came, (7 a.m.) to make her appointment.  While she was getting her braces on, I did a little shopping at a thrift store and WinCo.  I picked up some lime yogurt for her, knowing she might prefer something soft and easy to eat.  When she came out of the appointment she had a pint of Ben and Jerry's mint cookies and cream, compliments of Randalls.

We picked up a tractor part for Grandpa, then went to Sugar City so Esther could have a trim from Chrystal.  Thanks to Chrystal for making the time in an already full day to trim Esther's hair.

Esther will need to post some photos of her "new look" both mouth and hair, eh? 

Then on Saturday morning, Dad, James and Esther worked a couple hours picking rocks in the field.  (Which I don't understand, how you can pick out so many rocks, pile them in a pile and then the next spring you have just as many or more.  I guess it's true about Bedford being called "Bedrock").  

Then we drove to the temple in Rexburg.  James and Esther did baptisms.  Dad and I did sealings.  We missed the 12:45 session just barely, so we opted to join a sealing group.  We did several family names sealing mostly sons and one daughter to parents.

After the temple we dropped off some food for the starving college men and then headed to Lewisville, by Rigby, to attend AJ and Sheena Dirks wedding reception.  Sheena's family now lives in Post Falls, but before that lived near Rigby.  We were in a time crunch once again because Esther had a date to MORP with Erickson Vicente, who she had asked two days before and he replied on Friday with a poster and basket of treats.

She had  great time at MORP.  Joshua said that Briana mentioned two different proms she attended in high school.  One was with a guy she really liked, and the other with a guy she didn't really like.  Briana had more fun at the second prom.  I guess that formula worked for Esther too.  

Family History

Two great helps. The first has a lot of family history helps and the second is a great promise from an apostle.




http://thefhguide.com/

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2016-02-04-and-the-river-will-grow?lang=eng 

What an example

I really liked Joshua's blog post and his email. I think it is amazing the experiences that he is having. I am also impressed by his openness with all of us. He showed us by example what he meant by the principle that he taught.  It makes so much sense though that we can help each other as we pray for each other specifically for the needs we each have and as we are open with each other we can grow closer and love each other even more. When he said that I thought of the talk given by Elder Utchdorf "In Praise of those we save"

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/in-praise-of-those-who-save?lang=eng

He says "Today I also wish to speak in praise of those who save their relationships with their families. Every family needs saving."

We all need saving. Every family is worth saving. Let us work together to strengthen our family because it is also worthy of saving.

One other talk I was thinking of was by Elder Wirthlin "Spiritually Strong Homes and Families"

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1993/04/spiritually-strong-homes-and-families?lang=eng


On those two notes. I want to ask you all to keep me in your prayers as well. I have a busy semester with the classes i am taking Chemistry, physics, biology and calculus. I am trying to figure out a balance with all that I am doing. Some of you may know, but for those that don't I am also dating a wonderful young lady Heather Cummings. I have no announcement like Joshua's, but I would appreciate your prayers as I continue to get to know Heather. Thanks for all your support. Love you guys

Brazil!!

Thanks to my great Aunt and Uncle... I was able to get organized and store my things for my 6 weeks in Brazil... :)

 We went to a soccer game that Lauren played in. It was great!

Here is my last moment in the US... just taking a picture in case I forget what Utah pavement looks like... you know, it's not like they have that pavement everywhere in the world. 

This was the longest flight of my life. Here I am on the plane from Houston to São Paulo. It was a big plane and they had cool fancy screens etc. I didn't sleep much, but I got a nap.

Flying into Salvador.

You can´t really see it from this picture, but the bay (a bahia) is full of commercial ships.

This is kind of a picture of where I am staying. The spit of land has a lighthouse at the tip. I've now walked out to that lighthouse and we've seen some of the area. 

More of the city.

First picture in Salvador from the airplane on the runway!

A view from the bus on our way to the hotel. The ocean and beach are nice here. 

On our way home from church yesterday... I had a great time. During the sunday school lesson, the teacher was asking about what was the "most beautiful place that we had seen/visited". I said, "This chapel. For me, right now, this chapel is the most beautiful place!" It was so good to see the members and to feel of their dedication and hard work. 

This is one of the views from a hotel window. There are a lot of trees in the city. 

This is what I ate for breakfast this morning. On the right is a pancake-type food that is made from tapioca flour. They serve it with sweet or savory toppings. I got coconut and sweetened condensed milk, which is the staple of Brazilian (and mexican) desserts. Then I ate some melon, papaya, passion fruit, along with some little breads. One with coconut inside, one made of tapioca, and another with jam. To drink, I had acerola juice (I don't think that has a translation), which appears a bit like a cherry.

It is super humid here. I never really got the humid experience in Mexico City, but here I shower 2 or sometimes 3 times a day. Lots of sweating and lots of warmth, although it is winter here, so in the summer it gets way warmer. I really like talking with the people. There are a couple of workers here at the hotel Davi and Fernando. I've talked with them a bit. Just walking around and talking with people in the shops, etc. Most people are surprised by how well I speak, but it is obvious that I am an American, so I'll need to work on that...:)