Marching into April....

Has this month gone fast or what?  Seems like T was just here, and it's been 3 weeks.  April is in a week.  Where does the time go?  Hope the weather where you are is warm and sunny. 

We had a chance to attend a Stake Cultural Event last week, where the youth performed.  The program was called, "We are that we might have JOY".  They took 8 or 10 things that brought them joy and performed musical numbers and dances to fit that subject.  It was amazing.  Each number had elaborate costumes, talented singers and kids who were not afraid to dress up and show off!  The Los Altos Stake does this every 3 years, in place of the old time Road Shows (remember them?!) They decided they shouldn't be competing to see who was "best", but just have a great time showcasing their talents.  There were over 200 kids who participated.  They performed over 3 nights, with a matinee on Saturday.  It was really something.

 Christmas

 Sleep

 This orchestra performed the theme from Star Wars with the director dressed as Darth Vader and the kids in other Star Wars costumes.

 The "hippie" piece

 Travel and adventure

Such a fun event.

On Monday we went to the mid-single FHE, where they talked about the 5 languages of love.  It was very well attended (about 37 people), and they had a good time learning how to both express love for others and learning how their friends and family express love to them.  Dad and I learned a few hints to keep our relationship strong as well, and it was just a great evening.

We met with our Bishop last night, and he wants us to focus on the Saratoga Mid Singles for our last 6 months, visiting them in their homes and expressing love, support and concern.  We are perfectly happy to do that, instead of wandering around trying to find people.  We really love the singles in the Saratoga Ward, and it will be hard to say goodbye.

Some of the recent senior couple arrivals here in the mission are more adventurous than ones in the past, and are planning trips for us all on our P days.  This Monday we will head up to Muir Woods.  In May we will all take a trip to Alcatraz.  We're more than happy to have these opportunities, especially with such great people to go with.  Dad's also glad he can go somewhere where he doesn't have to drive! 

We will take lots of pictures and let you know how it goes.

Hope you are all doing well.  We love it when you add your comments! 

Have a great week!

Fun with Tracy

We've spent the last 5 days with Tracy.  We've had a great time.  The night before she came in I went to a bridal shower for one of our MSA sisters.  Her name is Amy, she's 42 years old, never been married, and as excited kid at Christmas!  It was so fun to hear her talk about what a wonderful guy her fiancé is, and the wonders of being in love.  Her colors are red and black, and here is the table decoration they had.  Fresh roses!  Beautiful.

Here she is with the bride's bouquet they made of the ribbons from her gifts.  I gave her a hot pad/wash cloth set I had crocheted, and she was so sweet.  She said she didn't have anyone in her family who could crochet, so was delighted to receive a handmade gift.  We're so happy for her.

So Tracy got here Friday night.  I had cooked a turkey that I had bought at Thanksgiving, so we had a mini-Thanksgiving dinner that night.  I even made a pumpkin pie!  Yum.  Then the next day we got up early and headed up to San Francisco.  The weather was absolutely perfect - no clouds or fog, and in the low 70s.  We spend most the day at Golden Gate Park, taking in a wonderful exhibit at the de Young Art Museum, and touring the Japanese Tea Garden.

There's a Scottish bag piper because the exhibit was from Scotland.  It had some amazing masterpieces.  We then went down to the Embarcadero where we walked around while waiting for a table at "The Rainforest Café", a fun restaurant that is kind of like The Mayan in SLC used to be, only with good food!  There were animated stuffed animal exhibits, live entertainers, thunder and lightening, etc., all supposedly like a rain forest.  It was fun!  After dinner we were tired, so headed home, but got caught in bad traffic in SF, but got to drive through Chinatown.  Fun, but crazy!

Sunday, Dad and I went to Sacrament meeting then we headed for Monterey.  We walked around down there (again the weather was beautiful), ate a picnic lunch, then drove the 17 mile scenic highway where some beautiful cypress trees are, and great views of the ocean.  We even saw some whales out in the distance. 

Monday was beach day.  We started out at our favorite beach, Sunset, where we gathered sea shells, then went to Ano Nuevo State Park, where Northern Elephant Seals go to mate, give birth, molt, and rest.  A lot of the adults were gone, but we still saw some, along with the "weaners", or the baby seals that have been weaned, and are teaching themselves how to swim.  The mothers nurse the babies for only one month, then leave them on their own.  They learn how to swim, and take off for the Aleutian Islands.  About half of them survive that first year, and they head back to Ano Nuevo again. 

They're active mostly at night, so we only saw them sleeping.  By this time of year they have lost half their body weight, so are very skinny.  But they soon head back into open water to feed, and re-gain their weight. 

We then headed up to Half Moon Bay where we had dinner at Sam's Chowder House.  We took pictures of our food! 

Tracy's lobster roll

 

Dad's halibut

My crab and shrimp salad (wonderful dressing)

 

We were pretty worn out by Tuesday!  We thought of heading up to Muir Woods to see the redwoods, but didn't want to drive that far, so went into Saratoga to the Montalvo Art Center.  It's an old mansion that has been turned into a place for artists and performances by dancers, singers, plays, etc.  The grounds are pretty and they have nature trails.

We were too tired to even hike the trails, so wandered around Saratoga and Los Gatos and headed home.  We had a relaxing evening, and said goodbye to our T this morning.  She made it home safely, and we hope she gets some rest from her vacation!  We loved having her here.

So that's our week.  Hope all of you had a great one as well.  Hope to hear from you ALL soon.
Much love

 

 

Busy, busy

Hey everyone,

We've been busy, so I haven't posted for a couple of weeks.  But here I am! Hope you've missed me!

We've been helping at the downtown Institute, or Center for Young Single Adults.  They have a dinner every Wednesday night, and our good friends, the Laytons, who are going home tomorrow      :( have been in charge of it for the last 18 months.  We had a Chinese New Year dinner a couple of weeks ago, with sweet and sour chicken, rice, fruit salad and egg rolls.  Yum!  Here are some of the decorations they put up.

They had Chinese fans on the table, and it looked very festive.  Dad and I are in charge of keeping the kitchen clean and making the salads.  We enjoy meeting the young adults and working with the Laytons.  He is the one who has had cancer surgery (removed a kidney), and yesterday, they discovered more cancer in his back.  He has fought very hard, and we hope they both do well when they get back home to Huntington, Utah.  They will be making lots of trips to SLC to see doctors at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.  We sure do wish them the best.  Here they are:

They are our heroes!  Every time something goes wrong for us, we think about all they have been through, and their positive attitude, and are strengthened.

We will continue to helping downtown, working with a new couple, the Nelsons:

 

They are from Mapleton, Utah.  We haven't had a chance to ask if they know Gary and Evelyn

Reynolds yet, but will soon.

 

We provided lunch for 54 Zone leaders last Friday.  It was a lot of fun.  We did a baked potato bar, with chili and all the fixins, and they really enjoyed it.  We love feeding them, and being around them.  They are an inspiration to us.  We are going to do the luncheon for the next 6 leadership meetings.  Any good ideas of what to feed them?  Here are some of the missionaries:

Dad promises to get in front of them next time he takes a picture so we can see their faces (hehe).

We heard an amazing story last night at the Senior Family Home Evening.  One of the sisters we know really well, Sister Qaqa, and her companion, serve in the Santa Cruz area.  They were looking for a home when they took a wrong turn.  They found themselves on a very narrow road, with room for only one car.  A big SUV came barreling up behind them, and tried to go around them.  There was nothing they could do, so they just held on and waited for the crash.  Next thing they knew, the car was past them, and there was no crash.  They looked out their window, and saw a man in white, smiling at them.  Then he was gone.  They knew an angel had protected them.

On another night, a couple of Elders were driving on 85, one of the busiest freeways in the valley during a bad rainstorm.  They hydroplaned and hit a barrier, then careened across 4 or 5 lanes of traffic, and didn't get hit.  It was the busiest time of night, so that in itself was a miracle, but then they found themselves facing oncoming traffic.  They called the mission president and asked him what they should do!  He told them not to get out of their car, allow their heart rates to return to normal, and call 911.  They made it to their dinner appointment on time!

We know the missionaries are protected, and know we were when we hit that tree in December.  Amazing things happen!

Here's one more story.  A fellow in our ward was walking to work one day and stopped to give a few dollars to a homeless lady on the street.  He said to her, "God loves you."  She was very moved by those few words, and looked for him another day.  He continued to help her and stopped to talk to her over a period of time.  He ended up employing her to help take care of his wife, who has Alzheimer's, and she started talking to the missionaries.  She is getting baptized in a few weeks, and has totally turned her life around.  Her countenance has changed, she's off the streets, and she has an amazing testimony. 

 

We had our picture taken with the President Mella and his wife last night:

 

They are an amazing couple.  They have 8 kids, 2 of whom live here with them.  One son just returned from a mission, and another left last month.  We really enjoy working with them.

Well, that's all for now.  We continue to pray for all of you.  We are looking forward to seeing Tracy this week.  We have lots of fun outings planned.  We hope Amy and family get over their crud, and Amy can lick this Mono, which has really thrown her for a loop!  We hope Meg and Shawn have had a wonderful time on their cruise, and hope Erin and family are doing well.

Drop us a line, y'all!  Love you!