General Relief Society Choir

I had the opportunity to sing in the General Relief Society Choir on September 27, 2008. It was a life changing experience for me. I met a lot of neat sisters and had the opportunity almost every week to be taught from members of the General Relief Society Presidency. We also were directed one evening by a former director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. At the meeting it was fun to sit in the Tabernacle Choir seats and read the teleprompters for the talks!

We had practices every Sunday for a couple of months. Our director, Merrilee Webb, taught us how to sing the music, but she really focused on teaching us lessons about life and ourselves. Her main goal, besides having the music sound beautiful, was to prepare, teach, and inspire us so we could deliver the message of Jesus Christ to everyone who would watch throughout the world.

All of these things...combined with many others... added to the impressions I felt during the practices, the rehearsals, and the performances have enhanced my life. I will never be the same!

The blogspot for this choir is womensconferencechoir08.blogspot.com .

Finally....Washington DC

Brett's sister, Megan, met us in DC and was our personal tour guide. We stayed with my brother, Chris, and his family! We ran our family so hard to make sure to see everything we wanted to see. We were exhausted but the memories are so good!

Virginia Beach

Our family loves the beach so when were we in Virginia we HAD to play in the Atlantic Ocean. The water was warm and it was so nice to feel the hot sand between our toes! All Nathan wanted to do was play in the sand!

The kids loved using our boogy board but had to share it with Brett. Brett had a win-win idea. The kids would ride on his back so they could all use it!

Next time we'll just take our family to a nice beach....forget the sightseeing!

Historical Sights in PA and VA

I am finally trying to catch up from our trip and the start of school. I still haven't fully unpacked from our trip.In PA and VA our family had so much fun learning about our country! (Brett and I learned things we should have learned in high school!) We loved Valley Forge, Gettysburg, and Colonial Williamsburg! We even ran into some of our dear friends from Livermore at Colonial Williamsburg!We discovered that Cameron probably should have been alive during the Revolutionary War. He kept telling us over and over again how thankful he was to be on this trip. Of course he did bring home 2 more muskats and Nathan followed him every step of the way.

We made it to Philadelphia

We made it through the 8 hour lay-over in St. Louis, Misery and arrived in Philadelphia at 3:30 am. I think we got to bed at 4:30 am. The kids were troopers - I was very surprised. They carried their backpacks and pulled their suitcases through the airport in the middle of the night. We woke up later that morning and headed off to explore Philadelphia. We had a lot of fun and could have stayed there a lot longer. We went to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the US Mint, and so much more. We took a "duck" tour in a truck/boat all around historical Philadelphia. Brett and I had tender feelings of being proud to be Americans. B, J, C, & N loved seeing so many of the places on National Treasure! They also couldn't get over their Dad taking us to a different state (New Jersey) to find a Baja Fresh! (We miss those in UT.)

Stay tuned for more....

Stuck in St. Louis

We are on our way for a family trip to PA, VA and DC...and here we sit... stuck in the St. Louis airport for 5 extra hours with no end in sight. We are ready to go on the rest of the way! We hope we make it on our scheduled tours tomorrow in Philadelphia....we'll see.

Here's what are kids are doing:

*Brennon fjust inished his new book that he started at the beginning of the flight.

*Jessica is asking "When are we getting on the stupid airplane?"

*Cameron has been running relays and hiding behind the airport beams.

*Nathan continues to jump on Brett and follow Cameron as he runs.

Chris, I am sure you are at your destination even if you are still only going 8 mph.

Megan, I bet you're glad you worked today.

Please let us know your airport stays, Megan we already know yours!

Nathan and Cookies

I can't recall the last time I have made cookies from scratch. Obviously it has been so long ago that our 4 year old, Nathan, can't remember it either! Here is the conversation I had with Nathan at the grocery store last week:

Mom: Let's make some cookies today.
Nathan: We can't make cookies, Mom. Let's buy some.
Mom: We can make cookies.
Nathan: (thinking) Oh yah, let's get some cookie dough.
Mom: We can make our own cookie dough.
Nathan: (quizzical look) Let's just buy some cookies.

Needless to say we have made many batches of cookies within the past week and have had lots of fun!

Our New Home

It has been a long haul for our family. We are relieved to settle down after it has been so long. We are still sad to have left Pleasanton and all of our friends there. This last weekend we finally felt that we have entered our new pathway in life and are excited to see what we find! We look forward to figuring out our new community! You are always welcome to come and stay any time. We'd love your company.

The big question right now is - what will Brett get his hands on first..... the landscaping or the basement??

Goblin Valley and Arches

We rented a camper trailer and camped at Green River (it should be called "Brown River").

We visited Goblin Valley. Brett had fun telling us his memories of his Boy Scout days playing in the "goblins" in the middle of the night. We had fun climbing the "goblins" and playing hide and see and tag.

We also went to Arches National Park. We were amazed at how fragile these rocks looked only to find out that they have been this way for thousands of years. I am learning that the desert can really be beautiful!

I did it!

I did it! I finally did it! I am a blogger!
Thanks to all of you who have continued to bug and pester me! It worked!