Minds Need Books

 

Red Steer Drive-in

 Someone from my hometown posted this picture of a Red Steer cup, and boy, was it a blast from the past!  I loved the Red Steer drive in as a teenager.  After I got a drivers license (at age 14), my dad would often send me to the Red Steer to get food for dinner.  The finger steaks were out of this world good- always tender and delicious. 

 My friend, Janis and I would go there and always get the same thing: grilled hot dogs with mayonnaise, tomatoes, and ketchup on them.  They were so good.  I wonder if Red Steer is still in business?

Michelle and Kids for the Hinton/ Hinton Wedding

 Michelle, Gabbi, and Jaron came to town to attend the wedding and festivities for Lizzy Hinton and Damon Hinton.  It was a big family reunion!

The sealing took place in the Red Cliffs Utah temple and Don (Damon's grandpa and Ken's brother) performed the sealing.

In the afternoon there was a nice dinner, then a ring ceremony, then a reception.

Noel, Bryan, Bryson, Caleb (Bryson and Caleb rode motorcycles from Arizona to be there), Sherrie, Gabbi, Michelle, Jaron, Don, Ken, Kay, Darren, and Brett.

Dinner

Ring Ceremony 

Gabbi and Jaron catching some sun.

It was so nice to see so many family members and especially to have Michelle and her two oldest with us.  I loved visiting with Gabbi and Jaron.  I love them all so much!!!!

Prayer (Hinckley)

 

President Russell M. Nelson later quoted this in his "Hear Him" talk.  

The Tao of Pooh

 

Non-Fiction  Physical book

Being a Pooh fan, I really wanted to love this book.  I have always felt that Winnie-the-Pooh was written for adults and has so much simple wisdom in it.  But I felt this book was more about explaining Taoism than Poohism.  2 ½ stars .

Books Can Change You

 

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

 

Physical book   Historical Fiction

Not since Cee Cee Honeycutt have we had such a delightful, lovable young narrator to tell the story.  This is Daisy Fay’s coming of age story and it could not be told in a better way. Though Daisy Fay has a very difficult life and circumstances, she powers through with humor, courage, and aplomb.  As soon as I finished, I looked if there was a sequel, but there is not.  But I have several other Fannie Flagg books to read.  This was my first, but will not be my last!  5 shiny stars!

Callings

 

Free Frozen Yogurt

 Ken and I went to a new frozen yogurt place near our home.  We each filled our cups and I had mine weighed, then headed outside while Ken had his weighed and paid.  It was taking a long time, so I looked back inside.  The cashier was taking his picture.  What?  Evidently, they were running a promotion that if your yogurt weighed exactly 12.5 ounces, then you got it free.  Ken's was right on the money.  Free frozen yogurt!  Pretty sweet deal!

Home Repairs

 Our house is getting old and was in need of some repairs.  One evening we went to Lowe's and chose a new faucet for our bathroom and three new light fixtures for our living room and entry.  A couple of days later, Ken tried to install the new faucet.  He got it almost done, but had some trouble, so we had to call a plumber.

A few days later, he installed the three lights.  He did a great job and we loved them.  So he went back to Lowe's and bought five more of the same model, completely cleaning out their stock.  He came home and installed them.  He replaced all of the upstairs lights and one downstairs.  When they get more in stock, he will get a couple more to finish the downstairs.

We feel like we always do when we do home improvements:  Why didn't we do this sooner?

General Conference April, 2026

 General Conference was again, a magnificent, uplifting experience.  It started with a solemn assembly where we sustained our new prophet and leaders.

The apostles sustaining.

Our newest apostle gave his first speech as an apostle.

Landmark day.

Love Elder Kearon and loved this talk.  He just exudes joy.

Our delicious Easter dinner after conference.

We love general conference!

Easter Program 2026

 WHEW!

Did you hear that great sigh of relief on Palm Sunday?  I'm pretty sure it was heard around the world!

As Choir director, I am in charge of the Easter and Christmas programs in our ward.  It is a lot of work, taking many, many hours.  From writing or deciding the script, listening and looking at a lot of music, choosing the music, deciding solos and special musical numbers, asking them and getting them the music, asking narrators, scheduling the final Saturday rehearsal, setting up the mics, etc, etc.  It is such a beautiful relief when it's all over and feels a success.  This year, I used "The Living Christ" as the script, inserting music between sections of the document.  Choir members served as narrators.

We have such a great choir.  We had 7 basses, 5 tenors, 7 sopranos, and 6 altos sing in this program. They are such wonderful people.  We all felt such a unity as we joined our testimonies of Jesus Christ in song and word.  I love Him.  I know that He lives.  Happy Easter!

Short Visits from Camerons

 Kristen and kids left Friday morning and the Camerons came Friday night.  It was also their spring break and they were headed to California for the week. It was fun to have them here overnight and for a few hours in the morning.  How we love the Cameron family.

I went in the living room and found this sweet scene.

Then they stopped on their way home from California.  They wanted to get home for Sunday, so they went the whole way on Saturday.  It was fun to have them for a half hour or so.  You can see conference playing in the background.

Mackrory Spring Break Visit

 We so enjoyed having Kristen and her four youngest kids come for a few days during their spring break.  

Since we all served missions in Japan, we love to go to our local Japanese restaurant- Sakura.  We so enjoyed visiting two on one with Kristen.  We talk to her at least weekly on the phone, but it's just not the same as in person.

I enjoyed listening to Lisi read each night.  She is a very good reader.

One day, Ken, Kristen, Jake and I went to Utah Tech University for Jake to have a campus visit. They treated him very well and gave him a good tour of the campus. He was very impressed and loves the weather here.  I told him coming here includes Sunday dinners at our house!

The little ones enjoyed doing crafts and drawing.

Is she just the cutest?  She is such a delightful, happy child. 

One evening, they went up and hiked the Dragon's tail stairs.  This is a very popular hike consisting of 333 stairs. We had frozen lemonade and milkshakes afterward.

It is fun to do at night because is beautifully lighted.

Pictures of it during the day.

We all went out to dinner one night, but I guess we didn't get pictures.

We loved having them come and look forward to next time!

A Taffy Full of Love

 Each day at his school Gabe goes to visit his last years' teacher.  She keeps candy for her former students' visits.  She allows them to choose one piece of candy from the jar each day.  Gabe knew we were coming on Wednesday, so on his visit to his teacher that day, he chose a taffy he knew I would like- a licorice one.  He remembered that it was my favorite.  He kept it safe for me all day.  He sacrificed his candy for me.  When we arrived, he ran to me and gave it to me.  What a sweet, loving gift.

important Work

It is such important, eternal work we do in the holy temples.