The 9th Article of Faith FHE

Ok, so I have one more vacation day to catalog here, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

I thought I'd quickly throw this out for you.

Aubrey has been assigned to say the 9th Article of Faith in Primary next Sunday, so we are going to learn about it tonight for family home evening. Here's a good lesson I found, in case you still need an idea- I know it's already late Monday afternoon.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, the Articles of Faith are a summary of the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The 9th Article of Faith states: "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. "

This is important because the Lord has provided a prophet in our day just as He did in the days of the Old and New Testament prophets. We are continually blessed as we learn from our latter-day prophets and study the words of ancient prophets as we study the scriptures. I am thankful to live in a day when I can know God's plan for me through my own study and prayer as well as the words of our prophet, Thomas S. Monson!

Sunday- temple, tours, more red rocks

Sunday was a gorgeous day! I am running out of words to describe the weather during our trip!

We attended church at the chapel across the street from the St. George Temple, where we were warmly welcomed by everyone. I think people may have been hoping these cute little girls were here to stay. The population in that ward was slightly older than ours- by an average of fifty years or so. It was nice to attend church with lots of old people again! Ü We were just going to go to Sacrament meeting and then head to the temple visitor's center, but the girls weren't going to stand for that!

"Don't they have Primary here?" "We can't just leave now!" So, we stayed and loved it!

After church, we went and walked around the temple grounds and visitor's center. This was always one of my favorite escaped when I lived in St George. It is so peaceful and beautiful. I never stop thinking about the sacrifices that the pioneers made to build this beautiful temple in a barren desert. What a legacy!
After some lunch and quiet time, we drove out to the Jacob Hamblin home for a tour. (Our tour guide was from the Willow Creek area and her son graduated from Brighton the year before me. Small world!) The girls loved the tour! They impressed Sister Easton with their knowledge of farm implements, grinding stones, and chamber pots.

We got back in the car and continued the loop through the Shivwits Indian reservation, past Gunlock Res, and out through Veyo. I don't think I'd been out there since I was 12. It is such an amazing contrast of geology, vegetation, and lifestyles!

Back into St. George, we went to a tour at the Brigham Young winter home. This time our missionary guide lived over the fence from Tim's cousin in Perry. Smaller world! Again, the girls found multiple chamber pots, wash basins, and Jenna enjoyed her task of counting certain chairs. My favorite part is seeing how the pioneer craftsmen took regular pine from Pine Valley and expertly painted and finished it to look like so many fine woods! Amazing!

We got out to stretch at Worthen Park, another favorite. (Cousins, remember the Easter Egg hunts there, that were really a mad dash for salt water taffy?)

After dinner we drove up to the Dixie rock area to explore.

We all felt rather adventurous as we explored nooks and crannies we had never seen before. I can't believe I hadn't ever come here before! The girls had fun seeing which holes they could crawl into- after Daddy inspected them for wildlife first.

We also found a strange place where people had built a chimney between two rocks and made kind of a house in the rocks. Does anyone know what this is? Let me know if you do.

Here are a few more pictures of the day's outings. We had such a wonderful day together!

Day Three: Dino Museum, Water fun, etc

Saturday brought beautiful sunshine that we were so desperately seeking! We were headed to a dinosaur museum, but it wasn't open yet. Are my kids the only ones who get up this early? (Don't answer that)

While waiting for the museum to open, we found a really cool park that had two big climbing boulders and a walking trail that took us over a bridge, past a waterfall, and through some beautiful red rocks and hills. I am a sucker for red rocks!

St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm

The museum was also really interesting! It is built right over the top of some rocks that are COVERED with dinosaur footprints. It was apparently the bottom of a lake. Who knew?

After a while there, Lydia was NOT a happy camper, so we dropped her at the hotel with Tim and I took the girls to Town Square where they have built a really fun splash park. There are fountains (ala Gateway) and a river with waterfalls, big rocks to climb on and a bit deeper spot to lay down and splash. We were there for about three hours and went back to see if Lydia was awake and feeling better. After a break at the hotel, we went back to the splash park for another four hours with Daddy and Lydia this time. The girls were having so much fun and it was so much better than a musty hotel pool!

We took the camera into the hotel room to show Tim what we had been doing and I forgot to bring it back with us. Lydia LOVED it, too, I just don't have a picture of her there.

While there, we met up with my mission companion, Amy Childs Cook, and her daughter. (Her hubby was sick.) Neither of us had our cameras, so there is no proof, but we had a great time together while the girls played until dusk.

Day 2- Richfield, Throwing Eggs, Big Rocky Candy Mountain, etc

For some reason, I didn't take many pictures this day, probably because I wore out the camera the day before! Ü

We enjoyed a lovely continental breakfast at the Travelodge and then headed South once more. We stopped along the way to throw our Easter eggs- a Prestwich family tradition. It was snowing on us, so we hastily chucked them in this ravine- apparently also used for people's old dishes and target practice.

Further down Hwy 89 we stopped to inspect Big Rock Candy Mountain, which was not as impressive to the girls as we thought it might be. Guess you have to know the song...

We were listening to The Little Princess on this leg of the journey and the girls were so good! We drove TO Bryce Canyon to take some pictures. We didn't go into Bryce once we saw that it is $25 to enter. We knew we would have to pay, but that was more than we wanted to pay for a quick trip and photo op and it was snowing again. We enjoyed the scenery leading up to the park. I forgot how brilliantly orange the rocks are! Time and memory must dull the colors a bit.

We headed back past Panguitch and to I-15 for the rest of the way to St. George. This part made me remember my Snow roomies so much- the trailer park with Becky & Val, Parowan with all y-all- and Summit, too, Lacie! The get-together at Jana's family cabin. I love Southern Utah and all my great friends from the area!

Hank, the Cowdog got us the rest of the way to St George in the charming way that only those stories can, and finally, WE WERE WARM!!!

We checked into our family suite and the Coronada (not as crappy as it used to be- also a great deal on priceline.com) and soon we were enjoying the Pizza Factory. Ahhh...home at last!

Day One: Fillmore & Fremont Indian Museum

We just returned from our little family vacation. Since Jenna is off track for a month, we decided to make her learn a few things along the way- which isn't a hard task. We headed south on Thursday, between snow storms, and made our way to the Territorial Statehouse in Fillmore.

This was originally to be the state capital and Capitol of Utah. Only one of the four wings of the building was ever completed and now it is a museum that shows different uses of the building through the years and houses many pioneer-era relics. Some of the uses included a school to combat polygamy, a hotel, a courthouse, and jail. The kids were intrigued by the room that was the jail because the shackles were still chained to the floor.

Aubrey also found chamber pot quite amusing and looked for them in every other pioneer-era place we went.

The top floor is a large open room where the Legislature met for only one full session in 1855. Lydia is trying to open one of the original door knobs to escape!

After making some peanut butter sandwiches in the parking lot, we loaded back up and headed out. We turned East on I-70 and our next stop was the Fremont Indian Museum in Sevier. The slide show has some of the highlights. You can see thousands of petroglyphs and pictographs very easily from the road. We walked/hiked around the area for a little while and looked through the museum.

Some of the favorites: Climbing through the replica of the pit house, using the map to find different petroglyphs on the interpretive trail (and trying to interpret them), grinding corn on the metate (to me it was a molcajete), hiking to the sheep cave, and finding the Indian Blanket pictograph.

It was a fun trip down. The girls were so good and Aubrey was nearly giddy when we arrived in here beloved Richfield! She's only been there one other time- for about 36 hours- but as we drove into town from a direction she'd never been, she started patting the window ledge excitedly.

"I know where we are! I recognize it! MY! HEART! IS! BEATING! SO FAST! IT! MUST! BE! RICHFIELD!

Easter

Here's my girls on Easter. We invite the Easter bunny to come Saturday, so we enjoyed a nice peaceful Sunday morning. We had tons of fun with both sides of the family all weekend and there are tons of pictures to share. We'll just start with these cuties, and I'll do the rest later.

Red Butte Gardens

As we watch the snow falling outside, it's hard to imagine we were enjoying Red Butte last week.
Here are way too many pictures of a lovely day with the Arveseth women.

The hyacinths in the fragrance garden were spectacular!

We spent a good deal of our time in the children's garden. There were lizards to climb on,

tee pees to explore,

adobe houses to investigate,

giant terra cotta pots in which to plant one's self,

a cute little house that will be covered with vines,

and cousins to enjoy!

This cute little fish pond was a hit! The girls crossed the stepping stones at least 6000 times (rough estimate) and no one fell in! I thought Lydia was going after the giant gold fish a few times, but we stayed dry.

We had so much fun and can't wait to go back when more things are in bloom!

Easter cake wrecks

I haven't looked at the cake wrecks blog for a little while, but the girls and I just had some good laughs (and horrified gasps) at the Easter Wrecks. Need a good laugh on a bad day? This should do the trick!

It's that time again!

Every one's favorite event in my front yard (also the ONLY event in my front yard) will be happening on Saturday, May 9th.

Start collecting your stuff for the YARD SALE!

There will be a $3 entry fee this year for advertising, supplies, and to cover pain and suffering borne by my husband. (I am not beneath bribery.) Let me know if you are interested. You don't have to stay the whole time, but you are welcome to stay and hang out. We have a lot of fun just visiting!

Hope to see you there!

Free stuff from Walmart

Ok, I always tell myself I'm not going to do this again, but I had to show you what I got at Walmart today. I looked on Kuuipo's blog and saw the freebies at Walmart this week and couldn't resist. I haven't shopped there much lately, but free is free.

The things I got for my storage were either free or under 65 cents. There were a few things I bought because I needed them, not because they were a screaming deal. Everything here was purchased with a coupon.

Here's what I got:

20 items purchased

Total spent: 19.72 with tax

Coupons totaled: 21.52

Halls Cough drops- free

Vitamin water- free

Oil of Olay soap 2pks- $0.48 pk (Kuuipo's blog showed them free, but they cost more at my Walmart)

Duncan Hines cake mix- $0.61/ box

2 Covergirl eyeliners- $3.76 each

Nice & easy root touch-up (don't laugh at me)- $4.88

If I hate the Oil of Olay soap, some hygiene kits will get some lovely soap!

Ten Cannots

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

The Reverend William John Henry Boetcker originally published the Ten Cannots in 1916 in a leaflet entitled "Lincoln on private property." One side had words by Abraham Lincoln, the other side had the "Cannots" that Rev. Boetcker wrote. It was republished by the Inside Publishing Company in 1917 and 1938. Rev. Boetcker lived from 1873 to 1962, was raised in Erie, PA and ordained in Brooklyn, NY.

Size matters

An update for those who commiserated with me on facebook yesterday.

Yesterday at the fitness center I had my first run-in with an elliptical machine. It was the only one available and I think I know why. I swear it was built for an NBA locker room! When I stood on the floor next to it the display/controls were seriously above my eyes! Did that stop me- oh no! I climbed on and hit the "fat burn" program button.

That was when my life flashed before my eyes. The feet thingers started churning madly and I was seriously clinging to the machine for dear life. This elliptical didn't have the moving arm things (note my use of technical terminology) but had stationary handle bars around the top- similar to the bars in the handicap stall of a Walmart restroom. I tried different ways to hold on, thinking there had to be a way to make this work- all the other people in the room seem to be just fine! I settled on draping myself over the controls while holding on to the top- kind of like high schoolers slow-dancing.

I held on as long as I could while my legs were pumping against my will and by no effort of my own. That was the longest three minutes of my life!

Today, I thought I'd try again on one of the machines that the more- compact- women seemed to be using. What a difference size makes in an elliptical! I got one with the moving arm thingies and shorter strides and felt like I got a good work out, rather than a brush with death!

(Not an actual photograph, sadly)

Topaz Mountain

We decided to go on a little adventure yesterday while we listened to General Conference.

We printed out Conference Bingo for the girls to color while we listened, packed enough food and drinks for a small army, and headed south.

We went to Topaz Mountain near Delta. It was a nice drive, with some beautiful mountains, river deltas, and desert areas along the way. There was a really cool volcanic flow area that we saw. We later found out that we barely missed Baker Hot Springs- we'll get 'em next time! Here are some pics of the trip.

I would have liked to go to the Topaz Museum, too, but that is probably a bit much for my little ones. Questions about man's inhumanity to man that I don't want my tender little ones to entertain in their pure minds yet!

Lydia loved that we gave her a screw driver and told her she could dig. She collected handfuls of rocks at every turn, which she gave me to keep. (I admit I threw most of them back when she wasn't looking.)Tim, Jenna & Aubrey pounding on rocks at one of the places we stopped.

Aubrey posing with her hammer.

She asked, "Mom, should I say 'hammer the rocks' while you take the picture?"

I think "cheese" was sufficient! At this spot, Tim caught a lizard for the girls to inspect. You can barely see it in the top hand. His other hand is holding the tail that fell off. Aubrey thought it was so cool that the tail kept wiggling and held the dismembered member until it stopped. Jenna, being my girly girl, wanted nothing to do with any of it!
Lydia and Mommy on the big rock. I had to stay right with her because she wanted to slide. If the bottom of the rock wasn't a pile of boulders, I might have let her.
This is where we (Tim) found all of the crystals. You are free to break up the rocks with your hammer and pick ax and there are lots of crystals inside. There were even some just lying in the dirt. I kept thinking that if we were smashing rocks like that in Big Cottonwood Canyon we would be in big trouble! Not to mention hate mail from environmentalists!

We all had so much fun on this little outing. The girls love dirt, rocks, treasure hunting, and Daddy's stories. Ask him to tell you hoe Drum Mountain got its name. He made up a story and has had to re-tell it to Aubrey at least 15 times already!

Most of all, it was wonderful to be with my family while we listened to Conference and felt the Spirit as we learned from the prophet and other inspired leaders.

We finished the day with a trip to Tim's sister's house in Nephi for a quick cousin fix. What a wonderful day!

Random Hair Shot: This is what Aubrey's hair looked like when we started the day.

Bathing Beauties

There hasn't been this much trouble in a tub since my Jamaican bobsled team days- you know who you are!

If ever I wonder what it would be like to have two sets of twins, I have Hill or Kat's kids come over. This immediately makes me thankful for one of each age- three cheers for single births! I don't know how mothers of multiples do it. I was not cut out for that life & Heaven knew it!