Christmas 2012

We had lots of company up for Christmas and then the big highlight was Isaac's wedding to Kim.  The house was full of family and it was great.  We are so lucky to have each other.

 Christmas tree - Malachi, Andrew, Isaac, Kim, Mallory, Ashton, Dallon, and James.

Opening presents - Evan, Doranda, Ashton, Bob, Layne, Mallory, Jacquelyn, Talitha, David, James, Tucker, Malachi, and Andrew.

 More presents - Caleb and Evan.

The children got the chance to watch lots of TV, mostly Christmas shows.  Scarlett, James, Evan, Penelope, Ashton and Tucker.

 One day we went to see some reindeer at Watson's nursery.

 They had two reindeer and they had had huge racks of horns.

 Watching the reindeer - Penelope, Scarlett, Tucker, James, Tianna, Caleb and Jacquelyn.

 One day the children made ginger bread houses - Tucker, Penelope, Scarlett and James.

 Some of them got pretty fancy on their houses - Dallen, Ashton, Tucker, Doranda and Bob.

 Jacquelyn made lots of treats and snacks for everyone.

 This dessert log was especially good.

 Ice cream cone cakes - Dallen, Ashton and Evan.

We played tons and tons of games, especially the adults, but here's Scarlett and Penelope playing a game with two elves.

 I also made up lots of puzzles and coloring sheets for the children - Scarlett, Penelope, James and Mallory.  Also some riddles and logic puzzles for the adults.

Penelope got this cool scooter - Penelope and Jacob.  We also took the kids on lots of walks with scooters and the wagon and played some football outside.

 Christmas dinner was great - Evan, Jacquelyn, Talitha, Dallen, Joshua and Ethan.

 We set up three tables - Penelope, Scarlett, Mallory, Andrew, Tucker and James.

 Evan, Ashton, Ethan, Jacob, Mary-Anne, Nathanael, Amery, Dallen.

Jacquelyn, Jim, Isaac and Kim.  That enough pictures for this post.  More later.

Temple Day

Caleb went to the temple today for his first time.  He is getting ready to leave on his mission to New Mexico next month.  Also Kim went to the temple for her first time.  She is getting ready for her wedding to Isaac.  A lot of us went up to Seattle with them so it made the occasion really special.

 

This is the Seattle Temple.  It was a sacred occasion and we were happy to be able to share it with them.

This is the angel Moroni who's statue stands atop the temple.  He is blowing his trumpet inviting people to come unto Jesus Christ and accept the gospel.  Visit the church website for more information:
http://http://www.lds.org/

Spokane Again

We made another trip up to Spokane.  We were picking up Caleb who finished his first semester at BYU Idaho and is coming home to get ready for his mission.  We had a fun visit, we got Caleb okay, and there was snow.

 This is our grandson Ashton who likes to dress up to play in the snow.

 This tree in the front yard was beautiful with the white and the red.

 Evan and Molly in front of the Christmas tree.

 James and Molly.

The one bad thing was the toilet.  I tried to fix the handle and change the interior for them and ended up causing a leak which we could not get stopped.  We left with the toilet broken and leaking water.  Sorry.

Ancestor Stories #3 Einion of Harlech Castle

One of our ancestors was the Constable of Harlech Castle in Wales.  His name was Einion and he was born in Carniarth, Wales in the early 1400's.  Einion of Carniarth is my 18th great-grandfather (back 20 generations).

 Harlech Castle in Wales.

Front entrance to Harlech Castle.

Entrance to the inner castle.

 A view of some towers.

 Up on top of the walls.

 A view of the interior courtyard between the inner and outer walls.

 A sketch of the castle.  Note the inner and outer set of walls forming a castle within a castle.

The grounds and some outer perimeter walls.

Thanksgiving at Nathanael's house

We had Thanksgiving this year at Nathanael and Mary-Anne's house in Lehi, Utah.  It was a long drive but well worth the trip.  We had a lot of fun and it was great to visit with everyone.

Here's Nathanael carving the turkey.  Mary-Anne did an outstanding job preparing the Thanksgiving dinner and it was so good.  We ate so much the whole time, it was so delicious.

Here's little Jacob, our cute little grandson.

I tried to get a closeup with Jacob but it looks like I scared him a little.  He's very friendly and loves to play.

 

Isaac and his fiance Kim got to join us, although most of the time they were mostly paying attention to each other.  They are getting married in less than a month.

Our grandson Dallen came with us.  He kept us company on the long drive out from Spokane and it was nice to have him along.

 On Thanksgiving morning Nathanael wanted to go play football. 

 Dallen and I were watching while Nathanael and Caleb played.  Caleb is in the blue shorts.

Unfortunately it didn't end well as we had to make a trip to the hospital.  Nathanael got hurt real bad and actually broke five ribs.  It's going to take about 6 weeks to totally heal.  I felt real bad for him.

 Jacob's favorite pastime seemed to be playing with cars.  He rolls them all around. 

One day we went out to BYU Provo and Isaac showed us around.  We also saw the apartment where he and Kim are going to be living.  It's unfurnished so if anyone has extra furniture they need things.

We also stopped at BYU Idaho and Caleb showed us around and we saw his room in the dorms.  I don't have any pictures but we got to stop by Tianna's house and visit twice on the trips out and back and went to church with them.

Thanks Nathanael and Mary-Anne, we really appreciate you opening your house up to us and being such great hosts during Thanksgiving.  We had a wonderful time.

Caleb's Mission Call

Caleb received his mission call from President Monson to serve a mission in the New Mexico Farmington Mission.

He will be going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for two years to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ

The boundaries of the New Mexico Farmington Mission cover parts of four states - New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah.  It covers a lot of land.

Most of the mission is Native American reservations.  It's a new mission just formed two years ago and the church news report said it was formed with the intent to put renewed emphasis on Native Americans.  Here you can see some of the reservations that are in the mission.  The biggest is the Navajo Nation.

Caleb will report to the MTC on January 16th.  Congratulations Caleb, we are very happy for you and proud of you.