Tagged by Shannon

Well, okay, you asked for it--the 4th picture from the 4th file:

Obviously, Janet is so fast that she's just a blur. This was in Dec. 2005, by the way.

And now, for my bonus picture from the same file:

And thanks, Shannon, for giving me something to post about!

One of the traditions we started long ago and have continued successfully happens on the Sunday of General Conference. Since we have lived our whole married lives away from the west and have either gone to church to watch conference or have watched it at home, we wanted to do something to make conference special. We initiated a special breakfast on the Sunday of General Conference. It's always different and doesn't have to be something expensive or complicated. It's just a breakfast that is different from the usual weekday breakfast or even our Saturday pancakes. Since we lived for so many years in the Eastern time zone, this turned out to be a perfect idea. We've had all kinds of fun breakfasts, sometimes so fun and time-consuming that we've almost been late to conference. It's been one of my favorite traditions. I would recommend it to anyone.

This year, we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. For years, I have been using the same recipe--one I got from Betty Crocker. But last summer, I discovered a recipe that's supposed to be a "clone" of a Cinnabon. I made it a couple of times and it was a keeper. So that's what we had today and here's what it looked like:

One other tradition at conference, especially in October, is candy corn. I think it started when the kids were little and we had to watch conference at church. I'd put some candy corn in my purse and judiciously dole it out to keep them quiet. Emily reminded me of this tradition just yesterday, as she was helping herself to the candy corn.

For Janet

CASPER, Wyo. - A police officer didn't think much of a call to shoo off a bothersome "kitty cat" at a home in Casper, Wyo. Then the officer arrived at the home of Beverly Hood. It was no ordinary domestic feline — but a male mountain lion weighing 80 to 90 pounds.

Officer Mike Ableman says he ran for cover inside Hood's home when he saw the cougar.
Hood says she was inside when she first saw the mountain lion lying on her porch Monday. Hood says the lion hissed at her, but she wasn't scared.

She called 911, animal control and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Hood reported that she had a bothersome "big cat." A dispatcher told Ableman that it was a house cat.
A game warden tranquilized the mountain lion and the animal was relocated.

I'm just waiting for this to happen in Rib Mountain someday soon.

Saturday, Rene and Preston ran in the Eau Pleine Trail Run. Rene ran 4.4 miles and Preston did the long course, 9 miles. It's a beautiful run through the woods and alongside a lake. Both of them did very well. Rene finished 3rd in his age group and Preston was 2nd in his. Better look out for these two at the next Scoresby Scamper!

Do I What?

Yesterday was our 30th wedding anniversary. In some ways, it has gone by so quickly; in other ways, it seems like we have been married forever. I was just going to post one picture but it was so fun looking at them that I thought you might like to see them too.

Look at how cute our cake was! Our wedding was pretty inexpensive compared to weddings nowdays. Both of our open houses were at home. This was the one in Aberdeen. We left Aberdeen the next day with all our belongings in the car and I carried that top layer on my lap all the way to Columbus, Ohio. But then when we got there, it didn't fit in our little freezer and we were hungry, so we just ate it then.

Notice my dress. My mom and I made it and it definitely cost less then $100. The veil belonged to my friend Lee on the far left. Happily, I am still in touch with these two wonderful friends and even saw Sheila (next to me) last summer. Also, get a load of Rene's long hair. He's never had it that long since. The hot, humid summers in Ohio did that long hair in and it's been short ever since.

Here are my mom and some younger siblings. That little girl to my left, my sister Laura, is over 40 now. I think Phil went from our wedding to Provo to enter the MTC for his misison to Japan.

Our parents, and wow, do they ever look young! If my mom and dad (on the right) look tired, it's because ours was the third of four weddings to happen in our family in four months' time.

I'm pretty sure that Dave and Kathleen and Forrest drove up and back to Idaho Falls that day. Cathy probably had school and I can't find any pictures of Miriam, so she probably did, too. From this you can probably deduce that we got married on a Wednesday, with a show of pretty blatant disregard for what was convenient for anyone else.

I have always been a believer in expressing love through actions, not just words. Hence, the title of this post, which is taken from the song "Do You Love Me?" from Fiddler on the Roof. Those lyrics sum up some of what I'm trying to say. Rene has always been a great provider, willing to pitch in with the kids, housework, church assignments, and to lead out in family home evening, scripture study, etc. He has shown love in his words and actions.

After 30 years, we're now entering a new phase of married life. Once again, it's just the two of us. It'll be an adjustment, I'm sure. Good thing we can experience it together.

Did anyone else see this story from the Deseret News?

Bear breaks up marijuana operation
Published: September 4, 2008
PANGUITCH — Maybe this is Smokey's other job.
A large bear helped break up a marijuana growing operation this week, according to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators from the sheriff's office and the U.S. Forest Service found 888 young plants and about 4,000 bags containing seeds, dirt and chemical plant food this week, police said.
Officials also found broken pipes, food items that had been ripped apart, beer cans with teeth marks and claw marks on trees around the camp.
Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins said he believes a large bear came through the camp and scared off the people responsible for the marijuana plants.
The plants were being destroyed Wednesday.

For some reason, this cracks me up. Maybe it's the visuals. I can just see the bear, getting high on beer and marijuana. Or the stupid dopeheads being chased around by the bear. There were claw marks on the trees. Did the bear chase one of them up there?

Maybe what we need are drug-sniffing bears.

America's Hometown

After driving 1800 miles last week to take Janet to BYU, Emily and I jumped in the car after work on Friday and drove to Mount Vernon for Rachel Murray's baptism. Due to Emily's intrepid manuvering through Chicago, we made excellent time. We stopped overnight in Elkhart, Indiana, and arrived in Mount Vernon around noon on Saturday. We visited our old neighborhood briefly and then got ready and went to the baptism. I made Rachel's dress and it turned out well, despite all the tucks, lace and ruffles. It fit her well and she was happy with it, which pleased me.

At the baptism, we were able to visit briefly with old friends. Afterwards, we went out to dinner with the Murrays and then paid a quick visit to Cheryl Driggs.

Sunday morning, we attended church. It was fun to see everyone and there weren't too many new faces. Afterwards, we hopped in the car and headed home, arriving at Emily's front door almost exactly 10 hours after we left the church parking lot in Mount Vernon.

I really enjoyed driving around town. As we would pass various places, my mind was full of memories of things that happened there. Even more precious to me was the chance to visit with dear friends. We have known the Conkles, Burkes and Hiltons for more than 20 years. It's comfortable to be around them because they pretty much know all about us. We've served in the Church together, played together, watched each others' kids, cried together and seen each other go through all kinds of ups and downs. We have a lot of shared history and it's always so good to revisit that.

The Murrays we pretty much consider family, and it's always great to be with them. Since we have lived away from our families our whole married lives, we decided a long time ago to try to go to as many family events (blessings, baptisms, weddings, reunions, etc.) as we feasibly could. So Rachel's baptism was no exception. It was wonderful to be with them and to be treated like part of the family.

One other person I have to mention is Clara Mae Graves. Every time I see her, I wonder if she'll still be around the next time I'm in town. Thankfully, she looked great and seems to be doing well. She played an important part in our lives, especially when the kids were little.

We have lots of new friends as well and they are wonderful and fun to be around, but there's nothing quite like going home.