It Was An Ugly Couch Anyway

 Okay, time for a break and for FUN and Laughter and HONESTY about life.  

I throughly enjoyed this book.  It's a series of essays, but it has a chronological thread to it.  Which is the couple and their three children want a new larger apartment in their building.  What struggles, what challenges, etc.  

AND, what delight.  Highly recommend it to anyone, but I don't know anyone to recommend it to.  I got the idea from My cousin, Margo Heaps.  Thanks, margo!

Oh, Those Thoughtful Comstock Kids

 

When I asked WHY they brought these delicious SWEET TREATS;,

"Because your lesson was so GOOD!"  That made me laugh; it was such a happy thing to happen.

Jordan and Jessica Enjoying Mexico

 Handsome couple.

Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone

 

Thanks, Emilee...good grief, I have a lot of wrinkles.  

It Must Be Valentine's Day!

 

Jaxon and Bri celebrate the happy day with love and kisses.  These are the only Valentine Day pictures I have or saw.  So, I'm very grateful for these.

Esperanza Rising

 

A really great Young Adult book about a girl coming to America to find a better life.  

When her wealthy landowner father dies and his home is burned, Esperanza and her mother go to America to escape the wicked step brothers of Esperanza's father.  She has been pampered and lived with many servants, but now she finds herself working in the fruit/vegetables fields of California.  Additionally, she is tasked with tending babies, changing dirty diapers, and doing cleaning, cooking which she has never had to do before.  

The reader sees Esperanza grow and develop in this sweet book of the trials that the Mexican laborers face in working in California.  

I give it four and half stars.

My Goodness; A Long Time Ago!

 

I was looking at Ancestry.com, and this came up.  Boy, did it make me laugh.  We all wore the same clothes, and we all had our hair exactly the same; short and shorter.  At least the guys could wear teh suit and tie they wanted.    Do you notice that no guys are wearing earrings. there are no nose rings, no piercings on the faces.  IT's all so very boring.  HAHAHAHAH.  OH, and back then, I was Valon.  My, how things have changed.

A Few Random Memories

 

Janessa took this picture one night.....

Calder on the night that John Curtis won the Senatorial Race

Chee Kong Teo and his son, Joseph, visited us in November, it was such a fun time.    As he left, he gave us a thousand dollars.

What a beautiful evening.

Celebrating December with Kristi.

Mantle thanks to Jenni and Kristi.

Letter to the President

Dear Trump,

My father taught us to love America.  He was a life-long staunch Democrat, and although only three of his four children follow him politically, he taught us to be patriotic.  I cannot see a flag or a parade without thinking of my father and getting tears in my eyes.  My father went to Germany after WWII as a judge at the War Crimes Trial.  He saw first-hand what one evil person can do to a nation.  One man with too much power and too much ego is not a mix for Democracy.  Nothing I say will ever change you, but WHY do you make such divisive statements?  WHY do you spread hate and distrust?  WHY do you think YOUR IDEAS are the only ones that matter?  WHY do you attack and retaliate against anyone who speaks out against you or has an opinion that differs from your own?  What happened in your childhood to make you so arrogant and mean to anyone that doesn’t agree with you?  The statements you make are often hurtful and often just NOT TRUE.  I’m thinking of the recent plane crash when you IMMEDIATELY blamed DEI as the cause of the crash.  I heard a very intelligent investigator in the aviation industry who said right after the horrific crash, “WE do NOT YET know what caused the crash!”  And, yet YOU blamed DEI.  Can you even begin to imagine the hurt you have caused the pilots in the helicopter crash?  Especially the woman pilot’s family?!?!?!?  Dear Trump, I don’t understand WHY you won’t tone down your rhetoric, your anger, your ego, your know-it-all attitude, your desire to punish anyone who doesn’t go along with you.  I will be forever proud to tell my grandchildren and great grandchildren that I did not vote for you, although politically I lean to your party.  But NOT TO YOU!

LIFE!

 Yesterday was a difficult day for me in a couple of ways:

1.  At the temple, a friend from the ward told me that he and his wife were struggling in their lives and marriage. I had not expected that admission.  He asked me to stand in the prayer circle with him.  (Brother Ortiz)

2.  At the temple, I saw a friend from Rexburg, and asked where his wife was.  He whispered that she had died.  I didn't see him again, so I came home and looked up her obituary.  She was only one year older than I and it is just so unsettling to see that.  (Elaine Agren Porter)

3.  When I returned home, I received an email from a relative telling me about the death of a cousin's daughter who had died of kidney failure.  (Carma Gee Sorensen)

4.  As Allen and I were in bed reading our scriptures, he received an email telling about the death of a man we had met on our first family history mission.  We had recently reconnected through the Sons of the Utah Pioneers.  (Max Turpin)

But, earlier, I had learned of the death of a man from Rexburg.  I had just listened on YouTube to a talk he gave many years ago, and wanted to find him to tell him what a great talk it was and that it had impacted me.  (Blaine Yorgason)

Life is so up and down.  Life is a challenge.  Life is HARD.  I just need to have faith that all the things we are taught about the afterlife are true.