Another one bites the dust....Elder D gets married!

This post is for Rod and I! I don't want to forget the fun we had in Utah so feel free to skip as you might not know most of the people. 

 

Except of course I will start with Mom's birthday!  I am so impressed with and thankful for my Mother.  We celebrated her birthday with chocolate cake made by my sister Donnie.  Mom is wearing the scarf I bought for her.  Makes me feel loved!  Also, I have been going over to Mom's most every week to clean a little for her.  She could do it but just isn't interested much most of the time.  I have been reminded once again of the blessings of service.  I would likely not make it over to just visit  so often, but because I feel she needs me, I go...I help clean  and visit! I cherish this time, and delight in sharing what is going on with me and mine.  I am so much more blessed by my service than I any help I give!  And I visit my sister too.  I forget that she needs support and a cheerful visit too.....a little adult conversation and love.  I am so grateful for these amazing women in my life!  Even more, I am thankful for Heavenly Father and his economy... that circle that service starts that lifts us closer to Him! Profoundly Grateful!

 

Love you Mom and Donnie....Soooo Much!

Okay, on to the wedding!  We worked with Elder Dansie in the office for several months and have kept in touch even after we got home...while he was still in the field. He extracted a promise that we would attend his wedding before we left...so we had to go!  I must say, it wasn't a hard sell!

We enjoy the ride...somehow we do more talking while driving than we do at home.  We stayed with the Camerons...a couple that were in charge of the visitor's center when we moved in. That alone was a treat! They are a Fantastic couple but I didn't get photos of them.  Grr.

 

Here are our cute Danzie and his sweetie!  Yup, they are pretty happy!

 

 

There is something extra neat about a wedding in the SLC temple, but boy was it busy!

 

 

 

Another of our missionaries was part of the wedding party!

The reception was at a nursery/reception center and instead of cake they had fresh doughnut holes...warm and delicious.
We got to visit with several of our missionaries during the reception!

 

This was the face he liked to show in photos while we were in Spain....you might remember it.

We especially loved visiting with Pres and Sister Deere. We probably spent an hour with them.  It was delightful!

We ran into this one by 'luck' as we were leaving the temple, and had lunch with him.

 I came down with the flu while we were still in Utah and so we made the ride home in one day rather than spending the night with the Allens.  I am afraid I gave it to my poor former roommate, Dantzelle.  I sure hope she will forgive me.  She and her husband will be leaving on a mission to Greece in a couple of months.  It will be fabulous....but I'm rather glad it's not me going.


For our Friday adventure we went to the Mystery Castle in Phx.  I have decided that I want to see some of the sights here close and this was a fun one, if a bit over priced.

 

 

This structure was built by a gentleman for his daughter.  He had left her and her mother when he was diagnosed with a serious illness, came to AZ and spent years building this 'house' for her out of cement, rock, over cooked bricks, casserole dishes...all kinds of odd things.  He died before he showed it to her, but she and her mother did live there for many years. One of our guides knew her and has worked there for 30 years.  It was interesting and fun.

I also convinced my husband to go to the Japanese friendship garden and we saw a number of  Ichibana flower arrangements.  So of course I had to give it a try with the branches of a tree outside my front door.  I really liked  how it turned out!

 

 And I am still fascinated by the drops of water that form on broccoli plants.  I think I have photographed this in years gone by.  It's still so cool to me.  As you can see, I expect to eat out of our little garden this year.  I am afraid its been too warm to get large heads of broccoli but we will see.

We have been haunting the auctions on Friday nights hoping to find a patio set we wanted for a great price.  I finally gave up.  We encountered several but they went for higher prices than I felt they were worth, so we bought new.  We are very happy with it...I even painted the typing table that holds our BBQ.  soooo color coordinated! The vase is one of my creations!  If anyone wants me to make something specific, let me know....I'll give it my best shot.  If you asked for something and I haven't made it, tell me again...I probably forgot!

My heart is filled with love for so many people.  We are truly blessed beyond measure!