40 Years!

Wow! 40 years ago today we were married in the Salt Lake Temple. What a wonderful, full and very blessed life we have enjoyed.

Monumental Family Milestone

 Best Friends

 Where's James!!??

I've been feeling so blessed and utterly grateful to have five really extraordinary children. Today we celebrated James graduation from BYU. Five for five, pretty amazing. As my dad would say, "WONDERFUL"! James has a bright future ahead, in the process of interviewing for jobs in the I.T. field, in which he is genius. He's also been earning his pilots' license and would entertain job possibilities in that area in the future as well.

Baby Hailey

We had a wonderful time together when Alana, Brian and Hailey came for a visit! She is so sweet and precious.

                                            SO Beautiful

                                            SO Happy

Hanging out with the little monkey doll I made for her

                                             Intrigued by the camera

 All of our children minus our son-in-law Scott :( gathered to meet the newest family member!

                               All of our wonderful, delightful children!

A Wedding!

We are so excited to announce the marriage of our son John to Liz Goold and the addition of an amazing new daughter-in-law to our family! They met in their singles ward in Texas a couple of years ago and things just took off from then on!

For Unto Us A Grandchild is Born!

Early on November 19 Alana and Brian became parents of beautiful, perfect little Hailey Mai! What a blessing it was to be there to witness the creation of this sweet new family! Australia is such a long, long way away, but the miracle of modern technology allows us to keep up with Hailey's daily changes. It was so hard to leave, and I treasure the hours spent holding and rocking her, feeling her silky head against my cheek, watching every little movement with awe! This waking up video was taken when she was just 3 days old. I wanted to remember her cute little squeaky voice.

Rock Climbing

James hosted a wonderful rock climbing family activity in Rock Canyon. For most it was a first time experience. Lots of excitement and thrills, and no injuries!

Road Trip with my GREAT Grandchildren

Alan and I enjoyed a trip to Texas to visit children and grandchildren. The heat was brutal, but we had a wonderful time. We took Graeme and Annie with us, and brought Ethen and Phoebe back to Utah so that the cousins could have more time together.

Amarillo Texas has a unique restaurant, in true Texas style! If you can eat a 72 oz. steak (and all the trimmings) in less than an hour you get it for free! I don't know how many people attempt such a thing, but it is a fun place to stop.

We stopped in Four Corners - the only place in America where you can stand in four different states at the same time - Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah! It's just a little bit off the main route.


At Four Corners there are lots of authentic American Indian crafts for sale, handmade by the many vendors there.

Day Trip in Choenan Area

Alana, Brian and I spent a lovely afternoon seeing some of the sites near Cheonan. We happened to find the most beautiful Buddhist temple location at a nearby mountain.

Something Old and Something New

Well, I couldn't resist taking home another piece of Korean furniture. I've always wanted a chest with some carving or inlay work, so we found this nice piece that is hand carved with scenes of old Korean games that you see in parklands. We intended to buy just one, but then another one caught our eye, with the rice paper lined lattice work and old brass adornment. I was trying to count in my mind's eye how many pieces of Korean furniture we have back home, and I think these will make 16 or 17! haha. I love it!

Sangsoo Herbland

For nearly three years I have seen an exit off the freeway to this place and wanted to check it out. I'm glad that I waited to go with Alana, the horticulture expert! We had a lovely day walking the trails, smelling, touching, and even eating the herbs growing everywhere.
We had a beautiful lunch in the restaurant on site. This is called Gotbap (flower rice). Before eating, the flowers are removed to float in the bowl of clear liquid, then the rice is mixed into the herbs, and some Gotjujang (red pepper) sauce stirred in. Then, you take a spoonful of the rice/herb mixture and place a previously removed flower on top to enjoy each bite! Yum!

This is called the tunnel of love!

Outdoor field lecture arena, with log posts for seating. Hope the lecture isn't very long!

The most wonderful scents filled the air from the herbs growing everywhere. This is part of the tranquility walking path.

Lots of foxglove blooming all over!

One thousand year old pine tree, or bush?

Not sure what this gorgeous mass of blooms is called, but there were lots of bees loving it!

The bears are just up around the corner past the waterfall in this picture.

We happened upon this cage with two black bears inside - nothing like this, no other animals or anything anywhere like it in the whole park. When we stopped to wonder about it and feel sorry for the poor guys, one of them jumped up and started putting on a gymnastics show for us, doing flips and swinging, and doing pullups on the bar at the top of the cage. It almost looked like a man in a bear suit. It was so bizarre!

Speaking of Music

One of my newest acquisitions to take back home with me is a traditional Korean musical instrument. It's called a haegum, and has just two strings. Since I once played the string bass pretty well, I figured mastering a two-stringed instrument would be a piece of cake, but realized quickly that I will have to actually spend a good amount of time practicing. Still, I am so excited! Alana and Brian picked it out and bought it for me in Seoul, and besides the fun and utility of it, it is a beautiful piece of art. My intention is not to become expert in playing Korean music, but I would love to be able to play hymns and simple folk songs.

Wonderful Reunion!

We enjoyed a very special treat to have Elder D.Todd Christofferson and his wife Kathy visit our mission area for a Stake Conference last weekend. The Christoffersons were our neighbors when we lived in Tennessee, ah, 20 years ago now! We have fond memories of our association and love them dearly. Tennessee is my favorite of all the places we've lived and it was the hardest place to move from when GM dragged us away kicking and crying!While the men were having Priesthood meetings on Saturday afternoon, the Stake Presidencies' wives took us on a tour of the beautiful Hanok Village where an ancient fortress has been restored into a wonderful folk experience of old Korea. I have visited this place several times on my own, and was delighted to be shown some new areas. We had some delicious herbal tea served in a quaint museum-like old teahouse, and spent some time making a traditional papercraft in a little art studio.
Combined with very uplifting conference sessions, the weekend was an experience I will treasure as a favorite!

Doesn't It All Go By in a Blink!?

On May 5 we celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary! I would never have imagined then, that I would be spending it in South Korea! Or, that we would spend nearly half of our married life living in Asia! About 18 years in total! Life is certainly unpredictable and peculiar! We feel so humbled and blessed to have had such a wonderful life of far reaching experiences!