The Magic of Ordinary Days

 

The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this historical fiction novel. It is such a powerful story and so well written. Set in WWII times in America, it tells, in a very personal way, the trials of American young women who fall for soldiers and Japanese Americans detained in internment camps. This book gets 5 stars from me because it filled my 5-star requirements: It was a page-turner and it made me want to be a better person. Ray is a new literary hero. You will enjoy it.

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Fault Lines

 

Fault Lines by Emily Itami
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A young Japanese mother living in Tokyo is neglected and ignored by her once adoring, workaholic husband. She forms a friendship with another man who listens to her and cares about her. That relationship eventually turns into more than friendship. She loves her children fiercely and is a very dedicated, good mother. A powerful earthquake hits Tokyo and it shakes her up in more ways than one. She realizes she has to choose between her two lives. This story is a powerful commentary on commitment, marriage, and family. Having lived for 1 ½ years in Japan, I absolutely loved the immersion in the Japanese culture. All of the details were right on and really brought back fond memories.

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Full Count

 A good movie about facing adversity and faith in the Lord.  We enjoyed it on Netflix.

Mackrory Spring Break

 The Mackrory family vacationed in San Diego for their spring break.  They stayed with us on Friday night on their way through.  It was so fun to have them for a short time.

A couple of them had had stomach flu, so we wore masks while they were here.  Oh how we miss these kids!!

The picture is a bit foggy, but Sammy enjoyed his bacon and pancakes.

A couple of the kids played the piano for us.  They are really getting good.

The highlight of the visit was Sammy telling us all about Christopher Columbus.  He loves history and social studies.  At Kindergarten, he had learned all about Columbus and he remembered all of the details.  It was so cute!!  He taught his grandparents things we had never known.

The kids love our toy room, especially this Marble Works.

Audrey

Samuel

Jake

Precious Elisabeth

Elisabeth is the baby of our entire family

Nathan

Brielle was one afflicted with the stomach flu.  Kristen sent this picture of her eating Doritos just a few miles down the road.  We were so glad she was feeling better.  Love this girl!

Thank you, Mackrorys for spending some time with us!  We love you!

Rulon Passes Away

Our dear friend, Rulon Bagley passed away.  His wife, Sylva, was serving as my secretary in the Relief Society presidency when Ken was called to serve as first counselor in the stake presidency.  Rulon was called to be the stake executive secretary.  They served together for many years.  He was the top of the top best secretary.  He was so organized and constantly went way past the second mile in preparing statistics, keeping track of things, etc.  He anticipated needs and was always, always prepared.

 Why do I post about funerals?  I think each person should be honored and because I always learn from them.  I always want to be a better person when I leave a funeral.

Don Lyman, the stake president at the time spoke at the funeral and did such a fine job of capturing the goodness of this fine man.

Heaven gained a good one.  May God bless little Sylva as she soldiers on without Rulon.

Fishing

On each second Friday I do a "fun for me" post.  Sometimes it is something that is fun for me.  Sometimes it is something that is fun for Ken.  Sometimes it is something that is fun for both of us.  This is something that is fun for Ken- fishing.

 Since Ken was a little boy, he has loved to fish.  He doesn't go really often, but loves it when he does.  When we travel, he sometimes goes deep-sea fishing, and always loves fishing in mountain lakes and streams.  Following are some random pictures in our files of Ken fishing:

Kona, Hawaii.  Deep sea fishing with Jared.  They caught skip tuna.

Salmon fishing in Alaska with some of his business partners when we went on a partner retreat cruise.  Phillip Peine, Todd Feltner, Ken, Chad Atkinson.

Deep sea fishing with Jared off the coast of Maine.

This is probably his favorite: fishing in a remote mountain lake.

Isn't this beautiful?  Photo cred: Tom Morris.

I'm Wearing Goggles

 You may remember this post about our grandson, William and his fear of being baptized and having to go under the water.  After Audrey's baptism, he asked how he could skip 8.

Recently, another cousin on the Prince side was baptized.  He sat up front and watched.  As soon as the baptism was over, he ran back to his parents, and said, "I'm wearing goggles!"  He's been thinking about it and came up with the perfect solution!  Just wear goggles!

Winterdance

 

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the true story of Gary Paulson’s preparation for and run of the Iditarod in Alaska. This man could not be more opposite than me. He chooses to sleep outside with his dogs, he doesn’t shower for weeks on end, he doesn’t eat anything but meat for days, he lives in subzero temperatures, and while in the race, he doesn’t sleep. But, surprisingly, I really enjoyed this story. It was very well written and most entertaining. It is the ultimate in an adventure book. Other than the cuss words, I recommend it. I think you would really enjoy it.

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Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting

 

This was a delightful collection of essays on being a grandma. Being a grandma myself, I loved reading this book. I agreed with most of her grandmotherly philosophies. I sensed her deep commitment to family and home. I think if you, too, are a grandma or a nana or whatever you are called, you, too will enjoy this book.

A Champion Heart

 This was a rewatch for us.  It is a sweet story of healing, acceptance, friendship and love.  We watched it on Netflix.

Family Book Club

 On March 14th, we held our family book club.  Ken and I gave each of our daughters and their families the book Patty wrote about our Peterson grandparents.  We all (Kristen, Shonna, Michelle, Ken, and I}read it in preparation for the book club google chat.  We find it works best now to hold these meetings during the day when the kids are at school.

Libby Fox and Charles O Peterson

We all loved this book.  It was so sweet to hear each of our daughters express their love for their great -grandparents after reading this amazing book.  We invited the author, my sister, Patty, to attend this meeting, but she and her husband were attending the funeral of Hal's brother that very day.  It would have been fun to have her insights.  She so diligently writes these histories.  We are all so grateful for her service.

It was fun to meet together for an hour and discuss my grandparents.  We all were filled with the spirit of Elijah and a love for our heritage and each other.

General Conference

  I have been asked by our Relief Society presidency to prepare a short article for each month's Relief Society newsletter on spiritual preparedness.   I thought I might just as well publish those articles here as well. They publish on the first day of the month.  This is April's article.

We have the privilege to listen to our prophet and other church leaders this week in general conference. Maybe nothing can help prepare us spiritually for the future more than listening to and studying the general conference talks. President Ezra Taft Benson taught, “For the next six months, your conference edition of the [Liahona] should stand next to your standard works and be referred to frequently.”  Let us listen to the general conference talks and then study their words for the next six months to help us be spiritually prepared.

Finally Cruising Again!

 

After having six cancelled cruises, we finally got to go on a cruise.  We left from the Los Angeles port, so drove down ourselves to board the ship.  We cruised Mexico on the Majestic Princess.  It was wonderful to be cruising again.

A cruise these days starts with a negative Covid test.  You also must have documentation that you are fully vaccinated.

We started our trip on Friday afternoon with appointments in the Las Vegas temple.  We left early, but construction held us up for nearly an hour.  We were very late.

After the temple, we had reservations at The Cheesecake Factory.  The food was delicious!  We shared Thai lettuce wraps and 

Cauliflower tacos.  Both were delicious!

We stayed overnight in a dive casino in Primm, Nevada and drove down to LA the next morning to board our ship.

The boarding process was a bit harrowing, but worth it for that first salmon lunch.

Because we have cruised so many times with Princess, we are now elite members.  One of the perks is an assortment of small bottles of alcohol in your room.  We told our steward we didn't drink alcohol and asked if we could exchange it for diet sprite.  She brought a whole bag full.

We enjoyed our small balcony on this cruise.  Most of the time, it was so pleasant out there.  Following are some pictures from our little balcony in the port and as we were leaving:

All ready for our first formal night

Inside our room

The first night at dinner, we requested a socially distant table.  The restaurant manager, Jelenica, was so kind to remember us and accommodate us each night thereafter.

We didn't fall in love with any of the big shows on this cruise, and spent most of the evenings going to small venues to listen to musicians.

One evening, we were surprised to see this message to Ken on the screen near the elevators.

View from our balcony

At times it was a bit chilly on the balcony, so we used the complimentary robes to keep us warm.

From our balcony in Puerto Vallarta.

We got off the ship in Puerto Vallarta and did a little bit of shopping.

Only on a cruise does Ken dare to order two desserts!  His beloved creme brulee' shown here with a delicious lemon cheesecake.

Matzatlan, Mexico

We loved this balcony.  We saw whales, sea turtles, and dolphins from the balcony as we sailed.  It was the perfect place to relax and read.

Ken even saw three new birds to add to his life list on this balcony, while we were sailing.  Crazy!  That included this little red phalarope that came and landed at his feet on the balcony!!

Another perk of being an elite member was a lounge up on the top of the ship that served little appetizers.  You could go in a little cabana and have your own space.  We would go up there before dinner sometimes.

Our last stop was Cabo San Lucas.

We arrived at Cabo San Lucas in the early morning.  The sky was gorgeous- absolutely breath-taking.

We watched dozens of fishing boats heading out to sea for their day of fishing.

I just can't get enough of this beautiful view.  I took dozens of pictures from our balcony.

My favorite dessert on the cruise.  

Leaving Cabo San Lucas.

Last formal night:

The sunset was glorious over the ocean.

We had a wonderful time!  It is good to be cruising again!