Another Year Older!

I just can't believe another year as gone by! It's just not possible that I am now 59, my last year in the 50's. Thank goodness for dear friends who made the experience bearable. We invited the "group" to go to Cold Stone, one of my favorite places. I couldn't believe it when they all said that they had never been there before. We missed Matt and Linda who had other plans.

Happy Birthday To My Twin Sister!

Today is my twin sister's birthday and I wanted to dedicate this post to her. She is always telling me how blessed she is to have a twin sister, but I see it differently. It is me who is blessed! I just envision being up in heaven before we came down here to earth, trying to talk her into coming with me. In this lifetime I am always trying to convince friends to come along for the experience, so I can't imagine me having come here all alone.

When I was younger others were often asking me what it was like to be a twin. I remember that I would respond, "I'm not sure, I don't know any difference." As one grows older, hopefully we become a little wiser. If asked that question now I would tell you, "Being a twin is such a wonderful gift. It allows you to experience this journey we called life with a best friend always there ready to share the joys and laughter, the sorrow and tears!"

I wanted to share just a few memories. Thank you Cheryl for always being there. I can't imagine this lifetime without you. I pray that you will have a wonderful day filled with many happy memories. I look forward to seeing you in a few short days.

Cheryl with her beautiful daughter Laura on her wedding day!

Cheryl and I celebrating our birthday at Dale's home several years ago.

Cheryl and I celebrating our birthday here in Utah about 4 years ago.

Cheryl enjoying a ranger ride with David and my grandchildren. They love her just as much as I do and call her "Grandma Cheryl"!

Mason accidently threw Tim's frisbee on the roof of the pool building at the lake resport. Cheryl was trying to console him.

Cheryl wanting to experience the pioneer look.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ~ LOVE YOU SO MUCH! ! ! ! ! ! !

Linda's Birthday!

My dear friend Linda has a birthday 4 days before me, but she is and will always be a year younger than me, a fact that she loves to remind me of. She invited several of us over for dinner to help her celebrate. We just recently found out that another dear friend, Cindy, has kidney cancer. Our hearts are so sad and pray continually that she can experience a miracle and be healed. We hadn't all been together in a very long time, so enjoyed the opportunity to visit and get caught up on each other's lives.

Kurt Barraclough, Linda Zollinger and her husband Matt.

Cindy Roper, Janet Seeley, myself, Linda Zollinger, and Roberta Barraclough. We all severed several years ago together in YW's and have so many fond memories.

I love you guys....you are all like sisters to me.

Drew Is "Two" !

Sweet little Drew is turning "2" today. Kerrry and I were scheduled to be in Beijing when she was due to be born so we were grateful that she was born early before we left. Her nick name is "Drew Bear" and we are so excited when she and her big sister Addison get to come to our home to visit. Below are some pictures that I "borrowed" from Tim and Kim's blog. She is such a cutie!

~Happy Birthday Drew. We love you so much~

Happy Birthday Dear Maddi

It's always such a special day to celebrate the birth of one of our dear grandchildren. Ten years ago today I was present as Madison Lou Morris made her entrance into this world blessing our lives with so much joy and happiness. She has such a sweet spirit and brings a smile to my face whenever I am around her.

Family all gathered to celebrate Maddi's special day and at last count we had 12 adults and 13 children who all came because they love Madison. I dedicate this blog her and hope that she knows how much her Grandpa and I love her.

Madison's favorite color is purple which adorns this cute cake that "Aunt Erika" ordered for us and delivered personally from Sam's Club.

She made a wish, took a deep breath, and blew!

Maddi received so many cute outfits and we enjoyed her modeling them all.

From left to right, Mason, Hudson, McKayla, Drew, Grandma, Marlie, Grandpa, Kennady, Madison, and Addison. What a fun day we have had. Maddi Lou we love you so much.

* Happy Birthday*

A Thankful Mum!

I was out watering the yard on a Tuesday evening late in July, when the phone rang. It was Marlon who asked me if I could do him a huge favor! A little hesitant, I asked what that might be? He proceeded to tell me that he needed me to fly to London to represent the Paralympics at a press conference where Procter and Gamble would be announcing that they were going to be a sponsor of the Olympics for the next 10 years. Since the 2012 Olympics will be in London they thought that would be an appropriate place to make the announcement. In conjunction with the press conference, they were flying in 7 moms from around the world to receive a special award and to help them kick of a continuation of their "thank you mom program" started in the winter Olympics. What an honor! I was allowed to invite a guest to go so obviously I invited my husband and best friend! We were both in shock.

It was kind of crazy getting ready to go as we didn't end up getting our reservation until Sunday and we left Monday afternoon. The only thing I was concerned about was that my dad and Shirley were at our house visiting and all of our children were coming home for our annual family vacation that week. Fortunately we were only going to the cabin and could catch up with them after we arrived home. I left Keri Beth in charge of taking care of Shirley and my dad, and of getting everyone picked up from the airport. Unfortunately, she ended up with an abscessed tonsil and after we arrived home she had to have a tonsillectomy! (It's a long story that I will have to finish on another post.)

It was a fast trip, but the flight and accommodations were amazing. They flew us first class...now I know what I have been missing! There are times when ignorance is bliss!!! I didn't know traveling could be so comfortable, it was unbelievable. We arrive in London on Tuesday afternoon and were met by a driver who took us to hotel. Or I should say attempted to take us to our hotel. There was an accident on Westminster Bridge leading to where we were staying, so after driving around for nearly a couple of hours I suggested that he drop us off and we would just walk a mile or so to our hotel, which we did. Wouldn't you know that it would start raining, but it just added to the memories.

The press conference was the next day on Wednesday. What an amazing experience to be recognized with mother's of Olympians from around the world, then to be on stage with so many important people was humbling! My heart was especially touched that P&G is so dedicated in recognizing and honoring mothers. Nothing in this world brings me more joy and happiness than my children, so to be honored as a mother was a moment I will cherish forever.

The people from P&G were very gracious and treated us like royalty which meaningful considering that we were in a town where the presence of royalty was so obvious. They allowed us to stay an extra day so we could spend an entire day touring the city. We didn't really have time to do much more than take a fast trip via tour bus and experience a great deal of walking, but we had a wonderful time.

Below are just a few pictures that hold special memories! We are so grateful to P&G for the amazing experience and to the USOC for allowing us to represent the Paralympic movement! It was a privilege and honor!!!

We didn't get to spend much time with my Dad and Shirley who drove up to visit with us and all of our children who were scheduled to arrive later on in the week. We are grateful for their willingness to make the drive to Utah, we love them both so much.

We couldn't believe our first class accommodations! We felt like a king and queen. Here we were just settling in for our mid-night dinner!

Our greeter and driver who met us at the London airport. I could get used to this kind of a life very easy! It was nice being in a country where we spoke the same language. Our driver was able to give us some pointers and tips on sightseeing in London.

After trying several different routes to get us to our hotel due to an accident, we finally had our driver drop us off and we walked the remainder of the way to our hotel.

Our first view of Big Ben as we headed across the river, down to the Westminster bridge where our hotel was. Our hotel actually looked straight at "Big Ben".

Our first meal in London was at Subway. As you can see the eating area was basically right on the sidewalk. We weren't very adventurous when it came to trying new eating establishments. The money exchange was terrible which made everything very expensive. It probably cost us the equivalent of about $20.00 to eat Subway sandwiches.

After a breakfast with the "Mums" and P&G people, they sent us to our "green room" for makeup and hair!

Receiving my "thank you Mom" gift from Mark Pritchard of P&G, Jacque Rogge, IOC President and Gerhard Heiberg, from the IOC also.

On stage with the other Olympic mums! You can probably recognize a few from seeing them on TV.

We very rarely eat at McDonald's at home, but it has become tradition that we always have to try McDonald when in a foreign country, for some reason it always tastes better.

Kerry and I visiting a London Bridge, however not "the London Bridge" which we saw down the river on our boat tour. This one was much more impressive. The real "London Bridge" looks like a cement bridge, something like what you would see on an freeway overpass.

Kerry and I in front of Buckingham Palace. Imagine 775 rooms! The Queen lives in 9 of them. I just can't imagine what's in the other 766 rooms. Too big of a house for me. I have a hard time cleaning the one I have.

The one place I really wanted to go into was Westminster Abby. We arrived at 3:30 p.m. and the last tour was at 3:00. If only walls could talk, can you imagine the amazing stories! I think this beautiful edifice was built in the early 1500!

As you can see, we weren't the only one's out for a stroll. The streets were very crowded, especially on Thursday. I think it would drive me crazy to drive around this town. The traffic always seemed bumper to bumper.

A typical London street. We walked down many of these. Kerry took me on a "walking tour" trying to find the original Hard Rock Cafe. I know we had to walked at least 5 miles and I don't think we were anywhere close. However, we did find a fire department and Kerry took the time to go inside and visit with a couple of the firefighters.

Kerry and I went out to enjoy the evening lights which were beautiful.

Our last evening in London we headed out to take some sunset pictures and just enjoy the

amazing opportunity to sit and look at "Big Ben" and other the other wonderful sights.

We had to leave very early for the airport, about 5:15 a.m. but we had another wonderful driver who picked us up and safely arrived us at our destination. Once again we feel so blessed. Who would have ever dreamed we would be having these kinds of experiences when we adopted a 9 year old boy named Marlon!

Pioneer Trek-2010

Kerry and I have had the privilege of participating in 2 previous pioneer treks with our church's youth group. I have had some sacred experiences and always prayed to be able to go again. They only go every 4 years and in the previous treks we went as "Ma's and Pa's" to a group of teenagers. This time we went as support staff for the medical and special activities committees.

One might wonder why I would pray to go on such an adventure. Only if you have been, would you understand. While I can't claim to have any Mormon pioneer ancestors who traveled by handcart across the plains, I am so grateful to all of my ancestors who came before me from so far away. I can't even begin to imagine the hardships that they endured to get to this country. Even for those born here, life was hard. As I witness the political/economical trials that we are currently facing, I pray to God with all of my might that we who have been so richly blessed to grow up in the United States of America, can remember why our ancestors sacrificed so much to get here.

Kerry tells me that I would have been a great pioneer. Maybe in spirit, but I would have frozen the first night out. On this trip we slept in a tent, with sleeping bags rated for zero degrees, on an air mattress, in 30 degree temperatures, and I still froze. I borrowed a quilt from a friend the last night and stayed somewhat comfortable. Does that tell you how wimpy I am. However, I did endure the blistered lips and feet and walked the entire 28 miles. It's a good thing our group didn't go earlier in the year, as was originally planned, as those who did truly had a pioneer experience with snow. We were so grateful that the temperatures and overall weather were ideal for our trek. I bear testimony that my prayers were answered!

There were approximately 450 people involved in this trek which was held at Deseret Land and Livestock which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints on the Utah/Wyoming boarder. The land serves the dual purpose of providing trekking opportunities for thousands of youth every year, and is home to several thousand heads of cattle being raised on the property. The above picture might look like it was pretty chaotic, but actually it was one of the most organized events one could ever participate in. The handcarts used are built to represent the actual handcarts that the Mormon pioneers used.
Kerry and I wore traditional pioneer clothing, although I took some razing about my cute aprons, which by the way I made myself. Kerry's red arm band denoted that he was a medical person although I packed his big red "fanny pack" the entire trip. It kept pulling on his pants so I traded him my back pack. Because we were not in a family, we did not have a handcart to pack our personal belonging in. Most of things were in a truck but anything we were going to need along the trail had to be carried by us personally.
We stopped every couple of miles or so to make a potty stop. Pick ups with trailers on the back pulled porta potty's for us. Our support people who had that job were fantastic. They were the cleanest porta pottly's I have ever use! Kerry got so dark from being in the sun, that one night I started laughing as he looked like he had changed nationalities.
Here I was checking with one of the families to make sure they were doing okay. This was actually a family from our own Thatcher ward. Brother and Sister Mortimer were the Ma and Pa.
These ladies were all support people like myself. Since we weren't grouped in with the families, we walked along the trail together. How blessed I felt to be surrounded by such wonderful, strong and courageous women.
Some of the great support brethren. Dr. Chad on the left is one of the doctors that I work for at the clinic and of course was our doctor on the trek. Kirt Rees and Mike Harris had porta potty duty. Brother Dennis Christensen was the chairman of the special activities committee that I was on.
During each trek they have what is referred to as the "women's pull". The men are all taken off of the handcarts and the women are required to pull the handcarts alone up a very steep hill. Those of us who didn't have handcarts stepped in to help, representing angels that God sends into our lives to help us though trials. This is always a very sacred time. The purpose is not to teach young women that they don't need men, but to teach them that they can do hard things. On this particular trek, after helping several handcarts up the hill, I literally felt like my heart was going to fly out of my chest and I thought I was going to throw up. I have never felt that way from exertion before. For a few moments I thought I might actually die on the trail.
Each family had a baby that they carried with them. On the second day we had what is called the "black arm band" experience. Black arm bands are tied around specific people's arm which signifies that they have now died. It is an emotional experience as the families have to deal with the death of their loved one. I adopted a baby from a family who had lost their mother and carried her with me.
This picture was taken probably about an hour before we arrived back at the base camp. What you can't see is that my hands were so swollen they looked like they were going to pop, my lips were blistered and so swollen it hurt to smile, and my toes were duct tape to help keep my blisters from getting worse. As I run into others who went on trek, there are many whose lips are still healing. Fortunately I found some good salve that I have which I think helped a lot. I have a couple of toes that are purple under the nail, and one toe that feels a little numb whenever I step on it.

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have this experience. I pray that I will never go to bed without offering a prayer of thanksgiving for all that we have been blessed with. My heart is filled with gratitude for the early saints who with unwavering faith were strong and of good courage.