Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

My baby is getting married! It is SO exciting! I'm so very happy for her, and excited to welcome Zane into the family. They will be getting married this summer and then live in Cedar City while he finishes school. Stay tuned for details!

There is nothing better than helping to rake the leaves - unless it is jumping in them!

What could be more fun that camping in the backyard with Grandpa?

Tasha and I took Bubba to a pirate's festival out at Willard. There we were privileged to meet Cap'n Jack Sparrow! I absolutely LOVE Cap'n Jack! Ok, it wasn't the actual Cap'n Jack, but he was the best impersonator! He had his speech and all of his mannerisms down perfectly! He had a wonderful ship that the kids love to play on. Since Tasha and Bubba have spent many days playing pirates, this ship was like a dream come true! They spent a long time scanning the horizon for pirate enemies and firing the "cannons" on the other ships! They also searched for islands which were home to buried booty, especially gold dubloons. They spent the entire day saying, "Aaargh, Matey!" and " Yo-ho-ho". It was a very fun day! The festival itself wasn't as great as we had hoped. It was the first year it was held, and it certainly needed had room to grow. However, we had a fantastic time, and I will never forget my day with Cap'n Jack!

The first part of August we had the opportunity to move Tasha to Cedar City. This was a BIG step for Tasha. She has hesitated to move far away from home, but yet she has always wanted to have a "college" experience where she could live with roommates away from home and have the opportunity to attend college games, parties, and dances. Unexpectedly the opportunity presented itself. She found a job working at a massage school/salon in Cedar City where she gets to do 4-5 massages daily - a dream come true for her. She found a cute little house with 3 fun roommates. And, the best part is that she gets to see Zane daily while he attends Southern Utah University. Last year, she remained local while he was at school. With him, she gets to experience the college life. Although I didn't like the long 5-hour drive (I really don't like driving!) we had a great trip. Shandra and Tasha got to spend the entire drive down bonding as sisters, while Kim and I followed behind. Bubba to...

Day 6: We started our sixth day with an early visit to Pearl Harbor. I had heard from other people how emotional you get when visiting Pearl Harbor, and I should have paid more attention. It was a very awe inspiring, perhaps even reverent place. We wandered around the grounds and visited the museum where we learned much about the bombing there. We then attended a movie that included actual video footage of the attack. We were instructed not to talk or laugh during the movie or on the boat ride out to the memorial of the USS Arizona. It was not difficult to keep that silence. The knowledge that several thousand men were killed and many of them buried on the ship there on one day was overwhelming and very emotional. When I saw the wall of the names, I could not hold back the tears. Kim’s uncle was there at Pearl Harbor on that fateful day, and that knowledge made the whole thing more real to me. After visiting the memorial we returned to the grounds where were honored to have the o...

Day 5: Rondi and I attended the McCully ward in Honolulu. The building is amazing. The chapel is shaped kind of like a big T, which seats facing from the sides on the front. There are about 10 sets of doors that can be opened to let air in. They have Sunday School Classes taught in each of the following languages: English, Spanish, Chuukese, Marshallese, Pohnpeian, and Japanese! There is a beautiful reflecting pool in the courtyard. It is a beautiful building, and the people were very, very friendly. About ½ of the people there were visitors! But, it is so nice, that no matter where you go, church is conducted exactly the same, lessons are taught the same, and the sacrament is the same. The only difference in Hawaii is that each speaker begins by saying, “Aloha!” at which point the congregation responds with, “Aloha!” I like it. Later we decided to take a hike up to Muanawili Falls. At the beginning of our hike we met a man and his daughter coming down. He said to us, “you are e...