Just Getting Caught Up On Christmas

We are so grateful for all of the wonderful gifts we received at Christmas, but I thought I would highlight a couple. This first is a quilt from the master quilter in Idaho - Lisa. It is so beautiful.

The other is a marvelous nativity scene from Germany, from all of our children. Words cannot describe how grateful we are for this very thoughtful gift. The idea is that when you light the three candles the rising heat moves the paddles and the whole thing turns. We love it. Fortunately we had Jeff & Andy here to turn the paddles just right so that it worked.

Cute Girl, Beautiful Curls

More old draft post clean-ups: A couple of years ago (March 1, 2009) there was a post over on another blog about a little boy who cut off his little sister's pony tail. At the time I thought it would be fun to post a few photos of the victim.

And in the meantime, we have acquired another photo . . . . see any resemblances?

Old Stumpy

So here is one of the things that have been taking up my time: the removal of the stump from the palm tree. It has been loads of fun and was accomplished (to date) without the usual effusion of blood. I don't know what comes next. We are thinking of putting in some kind of arbor with a flowering vine on it, and moving the bench from the patio over. But as always, one thing leads to another and we really ought to replace the fence first . . . . and figure out whether we want to pull up the honeysuckle bush, etc. etc. So stay tuned - or give us your ideas.

Orchard House

I guess this is another one we started but didn't finish from our trip to the Boston area last Spring.

On Wednesday Rebecca and I had the chance to go and see the Orchard House where Louisa Mae Alcott lived and where she wrote Little Women. The furnishings inside were from the Alcott family.

The Trek

Another draft post from last year. We were privileged to be a part of a handcart trek our Stake sponsored for our youth this last Summer. It was very well done and we were honored to be a part of it, doing vignettes along the trail. I got to be B. H. Roberts (one of my heroes) and Francis Webster. I loved it. One of the sisters portrayed by my sweet eternal companion was a relative of hers that survived the Martin handcart tribulations. Here are some of the photos from our experience last Summer:

Five of the young men from our ward who went. These are all great young men, headed in the right direction.

The Trek took place near this location at around 8,000 feet above sea level.

This is the parking lot at Tragedy Spring where we gathered for a briefing on the Mormon-related history of the area.

These two photos are from the stump I stood on to deliver my B.H. Roberts vignette. The one above is looking to the west, where just beyond the trees they encountered wild Indians. The one below is looking to the east at the uphill climb they had right at the start of the Trek. By the time they got to my point they were ready for a break.

The handcart parking lot in camp.

This is a shot of the youngest member of our ward to participate. He had just turned 12, but was never far from the front of the chow line.

Uncle Peter's campsite. Notice the handcart wheels there by the road. They had broken and he was fixing them.

Our campsite on the other side of the road from Uncle Peter. This is pretty much the same kind of campsite all of the youth & their leaders had in the little meadow down the road, but we were very grateful to have the amenities of Uncle Peter (e.g. his jet stove) in the cold mornings when a cup of hot cocoa was just the thing.

Preparations to leave the second day. They hiked into this area the first day, did a loop the second day, coming back here; and hiked out on a different road on the third day. This would have been a significant hike, pulling loaded handcarts, at any elevation, but at 8,000 ft. it was a real challenge.

One of our bishops on his horse . . . . which came in handy later in this day.

The Harrisons, some great friends of ours, with their "family" of youth.

These two photos give you an idea of how the youth were dressed. I think they did a good job of staying in character - although I suppose all those feathers were a bit over the top.

In the photo below you can see one of the 5 gallon buckets each youth brought. They were told what to bring and it all had to fit in the bucket.

This photo is of our "Pacific Islander" family. The pink sign reads "forever strong" in Samoan (I think). The parents of this "family" are part of a great family in our stake.

This is the handcart parking lot at the top of "the hill" - where just before noon on the second day all of the young men were taken off and the young women & their leaders pulled the carts up this incredibly steep & rocky hill. It was pretty intense. I was fortunate to be able to be one of the "angels" who stepped out and helped push and pull the carts up the last and steepest incline.

And after lunch they all got to play a variety of games, including archery, crafts, etc.

This is a photo of our wonderful leader, Sister Takahashi, another one of my heroes.