September 2011: The Hee-La Valley Temple....

I have to explain something....I'm not from Arizona and I don't speak Spanish. Here's a question: when you see the word "Gila" what does your brain think? Does it say, "oh, that says Hee-la!" or does it say "Gill-A?" Well, until I got educated, my brain said "Gill-A." (Sorry...G doesn't make an H sound where I'm from.) Now for the real story... We took a little overnight trip to The Gila Valley Temple. This is just about a 3 hour drive for us. The Gila Valley is beautiful and filled with agriculture. Have you heard of Pima cotton?...well they grow a lot of cotton in these parts. Below is a view of the temple from a cotton field. This valley is also where President Spencer W. Kimball grew up and established his career before being called as an Apostle. This little temple is absolutely lovely and we really enjoyed our time there.

August 2011: Casa Grande Ruins....

Casa Grande is located about 40 minutes south of our home. This was a great Saturday adventure. The following description is from the official website. For more info: www.nps.gov/cagr/index.htm
An Ancient Sonoran Desert People's farming community and "Great House" is preserved at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Created as the nation's first archeological reserve in 1892, the site was declared a National Monument in 1918. The Casa Grande was abandoned around 1450. Since the ancient Sonoran Desert people who built it left no written language behind, written historic accounts of the Casa Grande begin with the journal entries of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino when he visited the ruins in 1694.

July 2011: Harrison turns ONE.....

This is Harrison, Ashley and Brian's son. In July he turned one and we attended his birthday party. As is typical, a one-year old is given their own little cake. Most babies will touch it, poke it, play with it and maybe taste it, but Harrison devoured his. This little guy planted his face into the side and all we could see were his big brown eyes looking over the top. He wouldn't stop. Ashley would just turn the cake once in awhile so that he had a fresh spot to chew on. We as adults stood there watching and laughing so hard that our faces hurt the next day. I have never seen anything this funny at a first birthday. This will always be one of my favorite pictures of Harrison!

July 2011: The great wasp hunter....

Kenneth reads this blog from time to time and I'm sure he will not appreciate this post....but it's MY blog and I wanted to include this. I hope he adds his comments after reading!!!

Arizona has things called 'paper wasps'. They are annoying little things that live in our landscaping and buzz around everywhere. Kenneth asked me if I could make a 'net' and I did. Once armed with a net he went on the hunt. Let me just say he was successful!

Final score: Kenneth: 100, Wasps: ZERO!

(Well, this isn't the exact score, but it's close)

June 2011: Oklahoma City Memorial....

Our drive home from KC took us through Oklahoma City. We spent Father's Day evening here at the Oklahoma City National Memorial. It was just blocks from our hotel. What a sombering experience to walk through and remember the day so many lost their lives. There is nothing more for me to say. The empty chairs say it all.

June 2011: My dad's funeral....

Not long after Kenneth and I were married my dad's health took a turn for the worse. He had had a few problems in the past year, but nothing that wasn't manageable. By March of 2011 he had nearly quit eating and spent his days sleeping off and on. This is why he and my mom came to Arizona in March; it was with the hope that the trip would 'perk' him up. The trip did. While at our home he ate well, enjoyed conversation and the little activities we did. We could tell he was struggling to have energy, but he really was trying. Once back in Kansas City he went right back to not eating and sleeping for hours upon hours. Memorial Day weekend he was admitted to the hospital. He had gotten up twice during the night, disoriented and the second time he was wondering through the house and fell. My mom called paramedics and it was determined he needed help. CJ and Adam went to see him that Sunday afternoon and on their way home they both called to let me know that 'grandpa wasn't doing well' and they were concerned he might not make it. Kenneth and I discussed the situation and decided I needed to be there. The next morning I was on a flight home. The following 17 days were a blur of hours spent in the hospital and helping my mom. Kenneth followed a few days later. I could not have gotten through all of this without his support. Multiple tests were run all without any conclusion of what was wrong with my dad. He wouldn't eat, he slept for long periods of time, he was confused and with it all he became weaker and weaker. A feeding tube was placed to provide nutrition and he was moved to a nursing home. In just over 24-hours after being moved to the nursing home he peacefully left this earth life while CJ and Adam were giving him a blessing. My mom and I were there too. It was the most peaceful experience. He simply left. I remember commenting to my mom at that moment, "think of the reunion that is happening right now. Dad's parents and the grandmother whom he loved so dearly were there to greet him." My mom said, "when you put it that way we should all want to go with him." I miss my dad, but I know with complete confidence that all is well. I know I will see him again and that families are eternal. It will be a tremedous experience when his CJ and Adam can do his temple work for him this summer in the Kansas City Temple.

What a blessing that will be.

The color-guards were from the Kansas City Missouri Fire Department. My dad retired as a captian with the KC fire department.

We had a military service. My dad had served in the Army during the Korean War. After the flag was folded properly a young soldier got down on one knee in front of my mom, handed her the flag and said something like, "a great nation thanks you for his service." This young man was so humble and respectful. Those of us sitting close to my mom were touched to the point of tears. It was one of the most sincere expressions I have seen.

June 2011: Des Moines and cute faces....

Our time in Kansas City afforded us a two-day trip to Des Moines. Karl and Jessica are living there while Karl is in medical school. We had a great time especially being able to see how much the girls have grown and changed since seeing them in early November. We spent time playing with the girls, had a great Mexican dinner in downtown Des Moines and spent the next day playing darts (that was fun) and went for a long walk and played in the park. We are so lucky we had the time to do this.
This is Camille.

This is Shaylee.

We were entertained by dancing and various gymnatics!

There was time for book reading with their papa!

This is Adalyn. She was just three months old the last time we saw her, now she is a little girl. A few months really makes a big differnece.

Karl and Jessica!