March Temple Visits

 March was a lovely temple month.  For two weeks during the month we didn't go the temple.  The St. George temple was closed for two weeks for cleaning and the Red Cliffs temple wasn't open yet.  But the first two weeks of the month we were able to go to the temple a lot.

March 6th- Endowments

March 8th- Initiatories

March 13th and 14th- Finished Ordinance Training at the Red Cliffs Temple

March 24- Red Cliffs Utah temple dedication

March 29th Our first endowment session in the Red Cliffs Utah temple.

Red Cliffs Utah Temple Dedication

 On Sunday, March 24th, the Red Cliffs Utah temple was dedicated by President Henry B. Eyering.  We were privileged to be in attendance at the temple.

We took this picture as we were going into the dedication in the morning.  Notice the halo around the temple.

We took this picture as we left after the beautiful service.

I was happy to use one of my grandmother's beautiful handkerchiefs for the ceremony.

It was such a sweet, spiritual uplifting experience.  We are so grateful for our beautiful, new temple!

Buried Treasure

   I am writing a book of stories from my life.  It is called "Grandma's Stories."  Following is one of the stories from that book.

 I don’t know if my parents planned it when they chose our home, or if was happenstance, but we lived right in the middle of all the schools that we would attend.  All of them were within walking distance.  And there were a lot of schools.  Children attended Lincoln elementary for 1^st-3^rd grade, Washington elementary for 4^th and 5^th grade, Wilson elementary for 6^th and 7^th grade, Jefferson Junior high school for 8^th and 9^th grade (all named after American presidents) and Caldwell High School for 10^th through 12^th grade.  Our home was smack dab in the middle of all of those schools.  If you marked the schools on a map and connected the dots, it would form a circle.  Our home would be almost in the very center.  I almost always walked to school until I got in high school and had a car and had to get from early- morning seminary at the church over to the high school.  Anyway, that made it nice because on Saturdays and during the summer, we could go to the elementary school playgrounds to play.  I have fond memories at playing at both playgrounds with my sister and friends. 

For some reason that I am unable to explain now, we loved to play at Washington elementary.  The elementary was built at street level, but behind the elementary it dropped off down a small hill down to the very large grassy field.  There was a full-sized softball diamond with bleachers, and a huge playing field beyond that.  But on the hill right behind my fourth-grade classroom was a large fallen log.  The log had long since been stripped of its bark, so was smooth, almost polished wood.  It was our favorite place to play.  We made forts or played house by and on that big log for hours on end.  During the summer, we would meet at that log and play and play. 

One day, we got the brilliant idea to bury treasure there.  We decided it would be fun to bury a quarter as deep as we could.  We dug and dug in the hard dirt near the log.  We only had sticks with which to dig and the dirt was hard-packed, but we determinedly dug a deep hole.  We then put the quarter in the hole and filled back in the dirt.  Our plan was to come back when we were grownups and see if we could find it.

I never forgot about our buried treasure. I would think of it every so often and wonder if it was still there.   One day, after I was married and had Kristen, so probably twenty years after I buried it, I went back to the log.  I had a vague idea of where our treasure was hidden, so I started digging.  Wouldn’t that be fun to find my quarter?  I dug and dug and dug, but was never able to find the quarter.  My guess is that someone with a metal detector found it in the intervening years.  I hope when they found it that they realized they had found a child’s true buried treasure! 

Worth a Thousand Words

 Some pictures just are . . .

This is our Prince family on a recent ski trip.  When I saw it, I freaked out.  Why is there no safety bar?  Michelle clarified that Brian had just lifted the bar as they were about to get off.  They are a lot closer to the ground than it looks.  Isn't this a great photo?  Brian's brother, Eric took it. (Well, it looks like I got a start on the thousand words!)

The Bicycle Spy

 

The Bicycle Spy by Yona Zeldis McDonough
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was a sweet story of a boy who helped in the resistance in France during WWII. It was told from his perspective. You live through the scary and difficult and the fun parts with him. The audio version was only about four hours and was well-read. We will discuss this in our upcoming book club. It is a good one.

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Ordinary Grace

 

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I grew up in the era of the setting of this novel. The author did an amazing job of creating the atmosphere of life then. It is quite a contrast to life for children now. We were free to run and roam and ride without fear.
The setting was the summer of 1961 in small town Minnesota. For the Drum family, this was a very difficult and sad summer. The reader lives through it all with them.
The story was well-written and created an atmosphere that lingers long after you finish reading. Because it is sad, I give it only 3 1//2 stars.


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Young Sheldon

  Every once in a while, a cast of characters just clicks together, creating magic (Friends, Cheers, etc.)  That is the case with this series.  Combine that with excellent writing, and you have a hit.   We really enjoyed watching this series on Netflix.  There will be another season, but it isn't on Netflix yet.

The Vow

 This was actually a re -watch for us.  A young married couple are in an accident and she suffers amnesia, not remembering who he was.  It is based on a true story.  It is a good movie.

Book Club

  We had not had one for a long while, but we recently had an online book club discussion with our three daughters: Kristen, Shonna, and Michelle.  I so wish I had taken a picture.  Remind me to next time!

We discussed a truly delightful book:

Isadora sets out to prove an article she reads in a magazine on happiness is wrong.  Instead, she makes a lot of friends and finds that she is worthy of happiness in her life.  The article suggested several things that could make you happier.  I will list a few of them:

1. Smile more

2. Compliment someone

3. Get enough sleep

4. Exercise regularly

5. Breathe deeply

6. Interact with animals

7. Leave notes of encouragement

8. Eat chocolate

9. Spend time with quality people

10. Get out in the sun

11.Be brave and get out of comfort zone

12. Accept who you are

13. Focus on the good, even in hard times.

14. Self care

15. Plan a trip (you don't have to go on it, just plan it)

16. Spend time with friends

17. Let go of grudges

18. Confront whatever makes you unhappy

Thanks, Shonna, for recording the list.

This is not a self-help book; it is a wonderful novel.  But you can see that the list Isadora set out to prove wrong is very full of helpful ideas.

We decided that a great take away from this book is Christ-like ministering.  People loved Isadora and believed in her and never gave up on her.  I think all of us Hinton girls would strongly recommend this book.  It is really good.

It is pure joy to spend an hour with our daughters virtually.  They are such great conversationalists, have great senses of humor, and great insights to share.  I can't wait until our next book club!

Prepared Foods at Costco- Rotisserie Chicken

 

Everyone has tried the most popular prepared food at Costco: Rotisserie Chicken.  It is inexpensive and delicious.  I like to serve it with mashed potatoes (which you can also buy at Costco if you don't want to make them), cranberry sauce, and a vegetable.  

Another favorite way to use the chicken is in a chicken salad.  This recipe is really delicious.

Ken's 70th Quiet Birthday Celebration

 Do you want a party?  An emphatic "NO!"  He just wanted a quiet day.  He didn't even want to go out to dinner.  He just wanted some of his favorite foods: hot dogs, potato salad (he loves my potato salad), Lay's potato chips, and cooked cabbage.  And pie for dessert, of course.  So we celebrated his way.  And it was very nice.  He started the day by scrubbing toilets at the church.  He later went on a long bike ride.  It was what he does most every Saturday.

Some of his simple gifts.

Michelle posted this on our family text.

Our gourmet birthday dinner

The blueberry pie was delcious!

Happy 70th birthday!

Not Again!

 Yep!  Again.  Our sprinkler system is old.  Ken found the leak really early this time, before it got really bad.  But it had to be repaired.  So a couple of hundred dollars later, we are back in business.

And the water was only off for a little over an hour this time!

The Girl on the Train

 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Oh my! I have just read my first thriller. At least that what goodreads calls it. It was a page-turner for sure. I may have found a new genre to get my heart going. I hope the next one I read doesn’t involve so much alcohol. If nothing else, this book should be a deterrent to drinking! It is an exciting story with so many twists few would be able to anticipate the ending! Rachel did so many dumb things, it’s amazing she didn’t end up dead. I see that it has been made into a movie. I can see why. What a plot! Language warning!

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Temple Ordinance Workers

 At the end of last year, we were called and set apart as ordinance workers in the Red Cliffs Utah temple.  We have had four meetings in preparation for that assignment: two meet and greet meetings in a church building and two training sessions in the temple since the open house concluded.  We will both be working on Tuesdays third shift which is 1:30-6:00pm.  Ken will also work on Wednesdays on the third shift.  We are excited to have our beautiful temple open and to serve there- doing the most important work on earth!  We are truly trying to center our lives on the temple.

This picture was taken after our second trainig on March 12th.  The temple opens on March 27th.

Center Your Life on the Temple

 At the dedication of the St. George temple, Sister Toni Caplin gave the closing prayer (she and her husband are serving as 2nd counselor in the new temple presidency.)  She said something in that prayer that really stood out to me.  She said, "Help us to center our lives on the temple."  I have thought a lot about that sentence.  If we center our lives on the temple, everything else will fall into place.  I now frequently pray that I and my family can center our lives on the temple.  What a beautiful, perfect mantra.

Worth a Thousand Words

Some pictures just are . . 

 Our grandson William, waiting for the toast to pop.  Waiting is so hard!

Happy 70th Birthday to Ken!

 It is hard for us to believe that Ken is 70 years old!  He is a young 70, don't you think?

Happy birthday to my love!!

Playing the Piano in Stake Conference

 Now there's a blog post title I never thought I would write!  I work hard at playing the piano, but I'm certainly not what you would call an accomplished pianist.  But, because I am the Primary pianist, I was asked by the stake Primary president (who is my friend) to accompany the Moss family children (ages 4-10) in singing Let the Holy Spirit Guide.  The stake president had asked her to find children to sing that song.  So, I played the piano in stake conference.  I worked with those precious children several times before.  They did so well!  It was a sweet experience.

More Blasts from the Past -4

 When I started posting these pictures from my hometown from the time when I was growing up, I didn't expect there to be so many.  This is my fourth post about them.  There are a lot more pictures posted on the Facebook page, but I'm only posting ones that trigger memories.  Here are some more:

This one certainly triggers memories.  This is Caldwell High School as it looked when I went there.  I have so many memories of course, as we all do of our high school years.  That dark rectangle on the left is the side door to the school.  As you walked in, the first door on the right was Mrs. Hooban's room.  She was the eccentric speech teacher.  So those first windows in the front were her classroom.  Speech was my first class of the day (after early morning Seminary.)  I really enjoyed this class and participating on the speech and forensics teams.  High school was a nice time for me.

Jefferson Junior High School was the old school where I attended 8th and 9th grade.  It had been a high school before that.  It was an old, three-story building and was right across the street from where I attended church.  It had no cafeteria, so you had to bring your own lunch, go to one of many fast food places nearby, or walk a block down to Lincoln Elementary School (where I attended 1st - 3rd grade) and eat lunch in their cafeteria.  

The building was very big.  My favorite class in that building was 8th grade English.  I loved reading the books from different genres in that class and enjoyed writing the papers.  I have always loved and done well in English.  I also enjoyed Home Ec- at least the cooking portion.   I learned to sew in that class, but my big project- a blue dress- didn't fit me properly, but it fit my mom, so she had to come to class and model it for me at the end of year fashion show.  She was a good sport.  Home Ec and choir were in the basement, and I had lots of classes on the main floor and upstairs.  My favorite place to go was the library.  I would go after school every Friday and check out a stack of books to read over the weekend.   I still remember the joy and anticipation as I walked home, carrying my heavy treasure.

Jefferson Junior High School had a huge auditorium.  It had old wooden chairs that squeaked.  When they built the high school, they didn't put an auditorium in it, and just kept using this one at the junior high school, so all of our high school musicals were performed here.  I was in three of them: South Pacific, The Music Man, and Oliver.  As a little girl I was also in Carousel.  All were performed on this stage.

The News Tribune was Caldwell's newspaper.  My dad's good friend, Pete Hackworth was the managing editor there.  Pete was a gregarious man with a long white beard.  My mom told  the story often of how horrified she was when she first took me to church as a tiny baby and Pete (Pete was a member of our church) came up to admire me and he kissed me right on the lips!  My first kiss, I guess!
The paper truly reflected the culture of the city.  I think most hometown newspapers in the olden days did that.  My picture frequently appeared in the newspaper as I participated in dance recitals, plays, performances, and received awards, etc.  And I wasn't the only one.  Everyone was in there a lot.  Every event was reported in The News Tribune.  I can remember going to this office to get my picture taken there more than once as I won an award or participated in a community event.



Watch for more blasts from my past!

This picture cracks me up.  In preparation for our annual dance recital at Marie Christensen's studio, Marie asked me and some other little girls to go to the News Tribune to have our picture taken.  I was probably in fourth grade when this picture was taken.

Prepared Meals at Costco- Yakisoba Stir-Fry

 We are occasionally trying a prepared meat from Costco.  This was our second try:  Yakisoba Stir Fry.  It was really delicious and easy to prepare.

First you saute' the vegetables.  We added some extra ones: more carrots, mushrooms, and garlic.  You could add whatever you like.

Then you add the chicken, sauce, and noodles.  The sauce is really delicious.

It made six nice servings.  

We really loved this and will buy it again.

Our New Granddog- Luna Raya Cameron the 7th

 Before any of our children got a dog, if you had asked me who would be the most likely to get a dog, I would have ranked them in this order: 

1)Kristen and Jared (Jared is an animal lover)

2) Michelle and Brian  (Michelle loved our dog Sambo and Brian grew up with a dog)

3) Blake and Shonna- and that would be a very, very distant third.

Guess who just got a dog?  Yep, Blake and Shonna.  One of the families that Blake and Caleb minister to are dog breeders.  They had recently had a litter when Blake and Caleb went visiting.  And something just clicked.  A couple of days later, the Camerons had a new puppy.  Her name is Luna Raya Cameron, the 7th.  Luna from Harry Potter, Raya because it means ray (like ray of sunshine) in Spanish and the 7th because Gabe is 7 (he added that part!)  That means we have another granddog!  Michelle and Brian have Fred, who is such a nice dog and they take such good care of him.  Kristen and Jared are still holding out, but they do have a turtle and two hamsters! Us?  Well, we have no pets, and I plan to keep it that way!

Isn't she cute?

Ken's Sons of Mosiah Experience

 Ken has volunteered at the Red Cliffs temple open house.  He did shifts all day on the day our stake was in charge and has filled in for other stakes in the less desirable jobs that they had been unable to fill on several other days- Jobs like bathroom attendant, parking lot attendant, and language coordinator. 

One day, he was serving as the language coordinator when a brother from Montana came through.  He was with a friend who is also Ken's friend and introduced him as Brother Hinton.  The brother asked him if he knew any Hintons that served a mission in Japan.  Ken asked the years.  When he said 1973, Ken said " the Brother Hinton you are looking for is me."  They then recognized each other.  Later, when Ken was serving outside, they were able to visit and catch up a bit.  This Brother Winward was Ken's district leader when Ken was first on his mission in Kumamoto, Japan.  They lived in the same apartment.  He was a fine Elder and taught Ken a lot.  They rejoiced at seeing one another and, as the sons of Mosiah, that they were both still strong in their faith.

Beyond That, the Sea

 

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

All while I was reading, or actually listening to, this historical fiction novel, I kept hoping it would be my first 5-star rated book of the year. It certainly was a page-turner which is my first qualification to get a 5-star rating from me. The other qualification is that it needs to make me want to be a better person. It took me longer to find this quality in this story. But when I found it, it shouted at me. It taught so profoundly that we need to cherish each day with our loved ones. Life is tenuous and short. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Cling to and love our families with all our hearts. That’s a pretty profound take away. So here you have it: my first 5-star rating of 2024.

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Ken Completes Josephus

 It took him over a year.  It was a thick, difficult book.  But Ken recently finished reading Josephus.  He learned a lot and I think he is glad he read it.  He started to read it about fifteen years ago and gave it up.  But this time he stuck with it to the end.  Good job, Ken.

  By the way, this is NOT on my TBR list.

Red Cliffs Temple Open House

 We invited our friends who are not members of our church, but very active in their own Christian church to join us in touring the Red Cliffs temple during the Open house.  We set it up for what turned out to be a very rainy day.  But we had a lovely tour together.  We sure enjoy these dear, Christ-like friends.