Elliott's baptism

In January we got to attend Elliott's baptism. He's turned eight years old already.

 Here's Elliott in his baptism clothes with his proud mother and father.

 Everything went really well and Elliott seemed pleased with the baptism.  He is going to be a great member of the church and now he has the Holy Ghost as a constant companion to guide him.  This is the whole family - Joshua and Rebecca with Elliott, then Asher and Agnes in front, then Ethan, Julia and Christian.

 And he had some company.  Here is Elliott with his siblings and some cousins.  Hannah and Agnes in front, the Ethan, Asher and Jonathan, and finally in the back row Julia, Elliott, Jacob, a cousin from his mother's side, and Christian.

Back at Joshua and Rebecca's home there were a lot of mouths to feed.  Going around the breakfast table here are - Jacob, Agnes, Hannah, Christian, Ethan, Asher and Elliott.

I'm glad we got to go to Elliott's baptism.  He's a special boy and we love him with all our hearts.

Hiking with Talitha

On New Year's Day we went on a hike with Talitha and David and Lucy.  A perfect way to start out the new year.

 David and Talitha and Lucy.  As you can see, often it's sunny and hot here Arizona even in January.  Talitha thought we were going on a walk; but no, we were going on a hike.  She was surprised to see Jacquelyn and I had on our hiking shoes and had our hiking poles and a backpack with water and munchies.

 Here we are on the trail.  Most all the trails out here seem to allow dogs.  Lucy did fine and walked almost the entire hike and seemed to really enjoy it.  We went on the Hieroglyphics Trail, which is about 1.5 miles each way, and up hill a little going in.  But the trail is well maintained and mostly smooth, but a little rocky in some places.  It's a great beginners trail for seeing the desert climate here in the beautiful Sonora Desert.

At the top of the trail we stopped to enjoy the scenery.  There are petroglyphs and some rocky formations and natural water pools.  We had a fun time.  It was great to be out.

Christmas in Arizona

This year we were down in Arizona for Christmas at our RV in Roadhaven.  We talked to all our children on the phone or with skype or some were down here visiting.  Everyone seems to be doing great.

 On Christmas eve we had dinner with my Dad's place at Discovery Pointe.  One Christmas day we went out to Duane and Patti's house and had a big dinner with Jacquelyn's mom and a lot of her relatives.

 There's Gen, Jacquelyn's mom.  She's doing great and has a very nice comfortable place to live with Duane and Patti where she has all she needs.  Also in this picture you can see Talitha and David and Tianna and Jim were in Arizona visiting.

 David and Talitha with Patti in the background.  Everyone brought some dishes to eat and Patti made the main courses and also several dishes and desserts.  She did incredible as hostess in preparing for a beautiful Christmas dinner.

 Lots of relatives.  Conni and Robert, Jim, Ashton, Dallen, Tianna, James, Jacquelyn.

 Melissa and her husband, Patti's step mother and nephew, and Linda.

 Talitha and David drove their motor home to Arizona and stayed there.  Tianna and her family stayed with us in our place in Roadhaven.  This is the couches that James and Ashton slept on.  Dallen slept on a blow up mattress that we put on the living room floor.  Tianna and Jim were in the second bedroom.  They stayed for about 10 days and we had a great time visiting, although the weather was kind of cool and rainy.  Still it was nice to see everyone.

Jacquelyn and I made a trip down to Gilbert to the church giving tree.  It's becoming a yearly tradition for us.  We were able to give some chickens and a goat and a pig to some families around the world somewhere.  Merry Christmas everyone.

Jacob's baptism

During the last month of 2019 we traveled to Utah to attend Jacob's baptism.

 Jacob was baptized in Herriman, Utah at their Stake Center.  Here's Jacob with his loving parents, Nathanael and Mary-Anne.

 Some of the siblings and cousins that were there to see the baptism.  With Jacob there's Christian, Elliott, Asher, Ethan, Jonathan, Hannah and Agnes.

 Reception at Jacob's home after the baptism.

 While we were there Jacob celebrated his birthday.  He was happy to be turning 8.  He's growing up.

We went out for ice cream - Nathanael, Jacob, me, Jacquelyn and others that aren't in the picture.

 While we were in Utah at Jacob's baptism we got to see Hannah's dance recital.  She did great and was so cute.

 One day Jacquelyn helped Jacob with an archaeological learning kit.  He had this clump of rock and had to did out several fossils.  He got so excited every time he found a fossil.

We're happy for Jacob and glad we got to attend his baptism.  He is one special boy.

Monroe baby blessing

Isaac and Kim had a new baby and we went up to Minneapolis to see him and go to his Baby Blessing at church.

 This is Monroe Raphael Swift.  He was born on September 13, 2019.  He's very very cute and has big blue eyes.

 Here's the whole family at the Baby Blessing - Isaac, Kim, Monroe, Dorian and Joslyn.  It was great to see them all and come to the baby blessing.

 Loving big sister Joslyn with little Monroe.

Grandma with the cuddly little baby.

Trip to Africa - Cape Town

October 9, 2019
Jacquelyn and I left Seattle on a vacation to Africa with Gate 1.

We finally made it to South Africa after a long long trip.  First a 10 hour flight from Seattle to Amsterdam.  After a 1.5 hour layover we had a 12 hour flight to Cape Town. We were happy to be in Africa.

This is at the docks in Cape Town.  I was impressed at how modern and clean and nice Cape Town is.

 A sidewalk chess game in town near the malls.

 A view of Cape Town from the top of a nearby mountain.  It's a beautiful city nestled between the mountains and the ocean in a broad curving shoreline.

 We rode a gondola up to the top of Table Mountain.  Just in time too because the next day, when we were originally scheduled to go, the winds came up and it was closed.

 From on top of Table Mountain we had beautiful views of the city and ocean below.

A smaller part of Cape Town on the opposite side.

Video from the bottom of Table Mountain in Cape Town.

Trip to Africa - Cape of Good Hope

October 12, 2019
On the second day in South Africa we had a bus drive to the Cape of Good Hope on the southwest tip of the continent.

 It was sunny and nice out but very windy there.

 Ships have to travel around this point going around Africa from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans.

 On one side to the right you can see the Atlantic Ocean and on the left the Indian Ocean.

Video of Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

 We hiked up to the top of a peak where there was a light house.  It was so windy you could hardly stand up.  But the views were spectacular.

 There was a small game preserve at the base of the peak called Cape Point Nature Preserve and we got to see our first animals, which was our main objective on this trip to Africa.  The first animal we saw was wild ostriches.

 Better view with his head out of the sand.

 We also saw wild baboons.  That was cool.

 This is a leopard tortoise.

This is a Rock Hyrak.  We also saw some Seals out on the rocks and also Eland Antelope.

Trip to Africa - Penguins and Botanical Gardens

October 12, 2019
After we left the Cape of Good Hope we drove around the peninsula and arrived at Simon's Town for lunch; where they have penguins.

 South African Penguins.  They picked this area to live and roost and the townspeople were being overrun with penguins.  So they designated some specific beaches just for penguins and they have hundreds.  These pictures are from a viewing boardwalk.

 Two penguins.

 Gathering in groups.

 This little guy is enjoying the sun.

 More penguins on the beach.

 Hundreds of penguins.

 Handsome guy.

Video of the South African Penguins.

Video of Penguins at the beach.

 Next we went to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens.  Lots of beautiful plants.

 Strange trees.

 Giant ferns.

 Gorgeous flowers.

 Lush jungle type of environment.

 Beautiful paths through the gardens.

 Strange birds.

 Aerial walkways among the treetops.

 It's really beautiful here.

Back in Cape Town we had a bus city tour of the different districts of the city.  This is the place where Nelson Mandela made his first appearance in public after spending 27 years in prison because of resistance to apartheid.  He was a great man.