St. George Temple Closing

On January 25th, the church posted that the St. George, Utah temple will be closing later this year for major renovation.  Here is the official news release:

The temple will close November 4, 2019, as crews begin extensive structural, mechanical, electrical, finish and plumbing work. The renovation is expected to be completed in 2022.

Church President Russell M. Nelson first announced in October 2018 that the Church was making plans to renovate and update pioneer-generation temples.

The St. George Utah Temple was originally dedicated in April 1877, the first temple completed in Utah. It was rededicated in November 1975 after it was remodeled. The temple serves Latter-day Saints in southwestern Utah and parts of Nevada and Arizona.

Further information on the temple renovation will be released later this year.

 Though we have heard rumors of this for a long time, we hoped it wasn't true or that it would happen after our new temple is built and operating.  It is difficult news for us personally as we have so many ancestors that need their ordinances.  The closure will greatly affect our lives as we are in the temple so much- often four days a week.  We are already plotting how we will fill our time after it is closed.  We are thinking maybe more frequent visits to Vegas where Michelle and Brian live would combine family with temple work.  And there is a temple in Cedar City only 45 minutes away.  We will survive and come 2022, we will have a greater appreciation for our beautiful temple only 10 minutes away!

The Secret Keeper

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you’re looking for a well-written page turner, here she be. I loved this historical fiction/ mystery. Set in England, it is one of those books with chapter headings announcing the place and year: Small town on the seaside in the 1960s, Suffolk and London, 2011, and seaside and London in the late 1930s through 1941. It is not a “who done it” as the reader witnesses the murder early in the book, but it is a fascinating journey of discovery as to why the murder took place. It keeps you guessing and just when you think you have it figured out, new information changes everything. It would make a great movie. I will look for other books by this gifted author.



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Personal History of Nedra Pauline Gabrielsen Bedke

When my sisters and I visited Aunt Nedra last year, she gave us a copy of her personal history.  We took it to a copy shop and made copies for each of us.

When we visited Aunt Nedra in 2017.  L to R: Leslie (cousin), Joan, Pam, Nedra, Me, Patty, Eric (cousin)

Nedra

I loved reading this personal history.  Nedra is my father's youngest sibling, and the only one still living.   Nedra has always been kind of a personal hero.  She is such a strong, amazing woman and certainly worth emulating.  I learned so much about her and about my dad's family in her history.  It was full of pictures:

Some of the stories she told from her childhood I had heard from my dad and from his written history, but it was enlightening to read them from her perspective.  She helped me know and understand better my grandparents and great-grandparents.
Aunt Nedra is 86 years old.  But you would never know it.  She is young-looking and beautiful.  She is very active: still baking and cooking and canning and gardening (she takes care of her large yard except the mowing.  And she teaches 20+ piano lessons every week to children in her community of Oakley, Idaho.  She is an amazing cook.  She learned as she cooked over a wood stove at the ranch. The cabin had no running water, power, refrigerator, or toilet.  She fed ranch hands delicious meals under those circumstances.  She is widowed as she lost her amazing husband, Ray many years ago to cancer.  Her children are wonderful people.  Her oldest son, Scott serves as speaker of the house in Idaho.
Years ago, she had a strong desire to help our family be closer and started family reunions.  Those reunions are treasured memories- especially ones held at their ranch.
I am so grateful to have her personal history.  It is a treasure.  And I am grateful to have Aunt Nedra in my life.

Sendai Mission Closed

I felt so sad when I heard the announcement from our church that several missions would be closed, including our beloved Sendai mission. Really?  Why?  Were all our efforts for naught?  
But since then I have become much more philosophical. The Sendai mission was small in numbers.  Sendai is considered the outback of Japan, much of it agricultural and with many older people steeped in tradition.  We heard, though have not confirmed, that is was the 2nd lowest baptizing mission in the church.
The announcement included the realignment of mission boundaries. 

The southern part of the Sendai mission will now be in the Tokyo North Mission.  The northern part of the mission will be absorbed into the Sapporo mission.  The area we served in (the Yamagata prefecture on the coast) will now be in the Tokyo North Mission(in fact we lived just an hour's drive from the Tokyo North mission boundary- Nigata prefecture- the brown area on the map,  was and is part of the Tokyo North Mission.)  Being part of the Tokyo North Mission may really be a blessing for the area.  It will be harder on the leadership of the mission, but for the people of that area, it might be better.  For one thing, it will improve attendance, membership and other statistics;  maybe helping Sendai to get a temple.
Our observation was that the people in the Sendai area really need models of church.  In our Tsuruoka branch, no adult was a second generation member of the church. Not even one.  No one ever attended Primary or mutual or had FHE or the priesthood in their homes while growing up.  Tokyo area members can provide that example and model, as there are many more long-time members there.  
So, though I feel sad that our mission in name no longer will exist, I am grateful for hopefully greater opportunities for blessings for people in that area.  

Personal Progress: Integrity

I really enjoyed working on the goals in integrity for personal progress.  One of the experiences included reading from the scriptures many references to people in the scriptures who showed integrity.  That was a very meaningful and eye-opening exercise for me. Some of those included were Queen Esther, Paul, Joseph Smith, Joseph of Old, and of course, Jesus Christ.
Another of the experiences I did was read a book called "Covenant Keepers" by our prophet's wife, Wendy Watson Nelson.  Here is the short review I wrote of that book:

I loved this little book by our prophet’s wife. I was especially moved by her teachings and experiences with angels,

“We could also say it this way: As we keep our covenants, we can ask for angels to help us. Literally!”

She goes on to explain how she learned this truth and gives examples. This little book made me grateful for the protection and blessings of my covenants. 

For my value project, I served as an ordinance worker in the St. George temple- a project that took well over the required ten hours.  In fact, one shift was six hours and I served there for over a year.  I especially enjoyed serving as a veil coordinator.  It is a privilege to serve in God's house.

Pinchy, Fisty, Flatty, Cutty, Cow!

A Hinton family tradition is a game played especially for activity on FHE night: "Pinchy, Fisty, Flatty, Cutty, Cow."  The Rick Hintons taught it to us years ago.  We played it all while our children were growing up, and each of our children continue the tradition in their homes.  From Wisconsin to Logan to Las Vegas, cries of "Pinchy, Fisty, Flatty, Cutty, Cow!" can be heard on Monday evenings.
Here's the game.  One family member lies on the floor facedown.  Everyone gathers around them.  One person is the leader (Brielle here)  She puts her hands out indicating whether it will be pinchy (thumb and forefinger in pinching mode), fisty (hands in a fist), flatty (Hands palmdown- flat), cutty (hands sideways in cutting mode) or cow (hands curved like you're playing the piano)  All say "Pinchy, fisty, flatty, cutty, cow!"  The person in the middle guesses which one, usually while giggling.  If she is wrong, all do that motion on her back.  If she is right, her turn is over and someone else gets in the middle.  They all LOVE it!

Little Sammy especially loves this game and wants many turns in the middle.  This picture shows "cow."

Mackrorys have added, "or tickle, tickle, tickle."  It is such a fun game that everyone can enjoy and such a fun tradition.  Thank you Rick and Sherrie and family for teaching it to us so many years ago.

My Favorite Things- Black Sweater

This post will be meaningless to everyone else, but if we're listing our favorite things, I have to include my black sweater.  I'm worrying about when this thing wears out.  I wore it constantly on our mission to Japan, and have continued to wear and wear it since we've been home.  I love how it is fitted in the back, I love the 3/4 sleeves, I love how it feels on- not too heavy.  I just love it.  I have probably five other black sweaters.  Anticipating that this one will wear out, I keep buying them.  But none compare to my beloved black sweater.  It truly is one of my favorite things.

To see other favorite things click here

The Grandpa Machine Lives On

  The grandpa machine was started by my Grandpa and continued by my dad, who did it with all of his grandchildren. It is a hit with the grandchildren, and a wonderful tradition!
Grandpa lays on the floor.   The child stands with a foot by each of Grandpa's ear and Grandpa lifts them by the waist and flips them over to land on his lower legs, near his feet.

Sometimes the machine breaks with the child in midair.  There is always a lot of giggling and pleading and begging when the machine breaks.

This is my favorite picture taken this year so far, I think.  I LOVE this picture!

I think Grandpa Gabe would be happy to know that the Grandpa Machine lives on!!

The Housekeeper and the Professor

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This beautifully written book was a gift from a niece. I loved it. Set in Japan, it has the very quiet, gentle feel of Japan. On the surface, this book doesn’t have a lot of action or even conflict, but is so thought-provoking and full of relationships and love. I think it would be an excellent book for a book club to read and discuss.



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Elisabeth Dawn is Born

Meet Elisabeth Dawn Mackrory.  She is our fourteenth grandchild.  She is Kristen and Jared's sixth child.  She was born on February 9, 2019.  "Isn't she lovely?  Isn't she wonderful?"

All ready to go home from the hospital.

Her siblings were all sick when she was born.  In fact, they put off the induction a couple of days to give time for the kids to heal.  So they had to wait a couple of days to hold her.  The day she came home from the hospital, they finally got to hold her.  When they got home from school, they took a shower fist and wore masks to protect her from bad germs.

Audrey, Nathan, and Jacob get their turn to hold Elisabeth.  Kristen pieces and makes a quilt for each of her children.  Elisabeth's is in background of these photos.

Brielle will be a great help with this little one.

Little Sammy had to wait an extra couple of days for his turn as he was the sicketst.

Elisabeth had a lot of help to take her first bath.

Elisabeth has come to a busy, active family where she will receive lots of love and will be nurtured and taught good things.  She is a blessed and lucky little girl.  And we are blessed to have her!  We will go to meet her next month and help out for a few days. Her name is spelled like and inspired by John the baptists mother in the New Testament.  Dawn is the middle name of Jared's beloved aunt who still lives in South Africa.  Welcome to the world, Elisabeth Dawn.

St. George East Stake Center Burns

Just across the street from the St. George temple was the East Stake Center.  It was an old building with structural problems, so they leveled it and were building a beautiful new stake center in its place.  It was near completion. Everyone was so excited.  Of course, mostly those in the East Stake were excited, but really everyone who goes to the St. George temple was, too.  We had watched the old building leveled and the new one be constructed for months.

The St. George temple is extremely busy, and sometimes you have to park two or three blocks away from the temple.  The parking lot of this stake center used to be an overflow parking lot for the temple before they started construction on the new building and the parking lot was blocked off.  Everyone was looking forward to the opening of the parking lot which was to happen soon.  Obviously, that won't happen now.  

In the early morning hours of January 26th (the day we left for our cruise.  Ken's brother Don texted us about it while we were having breakfast in Primm on our way down to LA) a fire was reported.  It consumed and destroyed the beautiful, new building.  They have determined it was arson as trained dogs sniffed out accelerant near an outside wall.  Who would do such a thing????  It is a complete loss.  It is so sad.

Mexican Riviera Cruise

We had a marvelous cruise January 26th- February 2nd.  I haven't been able to travel for months because of cancer treatments, so we planned this trip to look forward to during all that and to celebrate the completion of the treatments.

We got up early on January 26th and drove to LA to start the cruise.  We got on the ship by about noon.  

Relaxing in the room

Ah!  Home again!  The dining room on a cruise is a happy place.  We had a table for two, but had very nice couples on either side of us that we could visit with when we wanted to- one from the San Francisco area and one from New York.

I didn't take as many food pictures(mostly just desserts) this time, but the food is presented so beautifully.  And is so delicious!

Notice the UFO in this picture.  Nu nu nu nu

Sunday was at sea and was a formal night.  We love the at sea days.

Sunrise on Monday morning

We didn't arrive in Cabo until about 11am, so we had such a fun morning on deck.  Notice the UFO again.

Ken counted over 60 fishing vessels out in the seas as we approached Cabo San Lucas

We watched on deck as we approached Cabo/  It has developed so much since we were last there.

We took lots of pictures

A Carnival cruise ship beat us there by minutes

Diamonds on the water

I watched Won't You Be My Neighbor? in our room while on this cruise.  I highly reccomend it.

Our Second stop was on Tuesday  to Matzatlan.

Panoramic View

Ken holding a scallop.  Neither of us had ever seen a scallop in the shell.

Scallops are probably my favorite protein.  I love them.

Ken had certain birds he was hoping to see on this trip that would be new life-listers for him.  He was lucky to see several new life-listers, including the Streak- backed oriole and Golden- Cheeked Woodpecker

The tour guide's name was Hugo.  He learned everyone's name.  He had a cute little saying that we now repeat to each other sometimes: "How bout that?  Take a peecture."

Hugo called in, then fed the pelicans.

Our cruise ship

Heerman Gulls, also new life-listers

This is on the every night menu on Princess cruises:  The Princess Loveboat Dream.  It is delicious.

I am of Norwegian descent.  I also love the cheese plate.

Puerto Vallarte was my favorite stop.

We had so much fun strolling along the malecon boardwalk and looking in the shops.  We didn't buy much, but it was so fun. I was intrigued with this art method.  Pieces of wood are covered with beeswax and tiny beads are embedded in the wax with tools, creating all kinds of things.  I loved this nativity set.

Ken chatting with other men while their wives shopped.

The malecon boardwalk is right along the coast.  People had done sand sculptures and then put out tip boxes for money.

These guys were on a very high pole playing music and entertaining.  They gathered quite a crowd.

Crazy!

A look back at the port and our cruise ships

I wish I could capture the feeling of this place.  There was Mexican music playing and people just strolling along.  There was art everywhere and it was a perfect, beautiful day.  We loved it.

All along the boardwalk were sculptures and other works of art.  Also there were many artists who you could watch work.

A beautiful cathedral

A service was going on.

Alcoves on the left and right of the entryway to the cathedral.  They had muraled walls with a beautiful circular stained-glass window and statues.  

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A gift shop/ bookstore outside the cathedral.

More art.

This iguana posed for us.

Look at that tail!

Other ships in port.

Lunch at the buffet

Dinner in the dining room

This was one of my favorite entrees from the week: a seafood soup.

Sugar-free coconut cake

This chocolate bread pudding with vanilla sauce was delicious!

Chocoalte pistachio bomb

Our last morning was rainy.  We had rain and strong wind all the way home.  In fact, they closed the freeway right after we got through because the winds were dangerously strong.

We stopped at the Princes in Vegas on our way home.  Michelle and Brian prepared a delicious barbecue feast for us.  Jaron is ready to eat!

We then got to go and watch Jaron play in his basketball game before traveling on home.

After the ballgame.  Love, love this family!

Our little star!