The Park with Daddy!

The kids got to visit Daddy today for a few minutes and go to another park! They had fun riding and feeding leaves to 'The Dinosaur'.

Disneyland, Seal Beach, and Sea World

In April, we got to accompany John to California where he was attending a Medical Research Conference. While there, we were able to visit family and go to the beach, Disneyland, and Sea World. Here are some of the pictures of our fun adventure.

Julia making friends while we wait in line...



Rachel in the Jedi Show...

At the Annual Seal Beach Old Car Show with Aunt Shirley, Uncle Peter, and William...

Sea World...

At the hotel...

Merry Christmas!

Our reenactment of the Christmas Story... featured in this picture is Joseph, the Angel, Mary, and a shepherd, with a wise man (woman) taking the picture. Merry Christmas to everyone!!

What's been going on?!

So a quick update for those who have noticed the span with no new entries...  

• John's grandma did pass away on St. Patrick's Day at home surrounded with her family.  
• We have had all of April to enjoy a little extra time at home with everyone taking ill in turn.
• Thanks to the help of family and friends, we have been able to tie 1 baby quilt and 3 large quilts for the humanitarian department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I am still working on the bindings so pictures will be forthcoming!
  
• I attended women's conference with my mom & sisters and just loved it.
• We held a huge 'yard sale style' store closing sale at my parent's house last Saturday which turned out to be a success... but we still have thousands of things we still don't know what to do with yet.  
• John's got a date by which he hopes to have his first article submitted to "Science", "Nature" or "?"!!!!  We are so excited and wish him good luck!
• I've been working on a little advertising for my company, but things are still slow.
• and John's Grandpa ended up in the ER tonight with a broken femur and PE (pulmonary embolism) so our prayers are with him at this time.

I hope to include some pictures of the yard sell and women's conference once I get them, but here are a couple of pictures at Mor Mor's (John's grandma's) funeral.

Getting Ready

Getting Home

Our Visits With Mormor

Here is a picture of our family visiting John's grandparents at their house.   John's Grandma has cancer which will most likely take her life within the next month or two.  Although this is a difficult time for everyone, we are grateful that we have an opportunity to spend time with her before she passes on.  How lucky we are to have 'time'... so many wish for even a few moments with a loved one after their death to let them know how much they are loved and how much they have influenced and touched the lives of those around them.  We have been reflecting on the privilege of knowing such a wonderful lady in this life.  John has been so grateful for the memories of them he has growing up and for their wonderful example of love and service.  Most of all we are grateful for the hope and knowledge we have of life after death because of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  Because Christ over came death, we will all be resurrected and receive perfect bodies.  Because Christ suffered for us, we can, through faith in Christ and repentance, be made perfect through Christ and have the opportunity to live with Him and God (our Heavenly Father) again forever.  We believe that there we can live together with our families forever.  This knowledge of God plan and His love for us gives us so much hope and comfort in this life.

Our Family Home Evening

John helping Alissa cut out her crown as part of tonight’s Family Home Evening activity.  Our lesson was “I Am a Child of God” so they each got to wear crowns to help them feel special and remind them that they are each a child of God.

Rachel conducted and again this week we sang some of our traditional favorites... “I Am a Child of God”, “Once There Was a Snowman”, and “Popcorn Popping (which Julia can now do some of the actions to so she gets so excited).

Our Cruise

John and I went on a cruise with my family just before Christmas.  We went to Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico.  We went snorkeling, four wheeling, and zip-lining.  We also enjoyed playing games like shuffle board, wizard, and sand volleyball.   They always had food so we all brought back a few extra pounds!