Today is August 31, 2017, and exactly 50 years ago my parents got married! My parents got married in the Oakland, California LDS temple on August 31, 1967. Here they are with both sets of parents. My parents are having their own private celebration today but a few weeks ago, we--their children--gathered together and celebrated with them.  We had to do it a few weeks early since traveling before school started was a lot better for my brother and his family from Kansas.  I also had a brother come from Boston and a sister from Idaho.  I should give photo credit to my sister Heidi who took most of the pictures at the open house. Mom and Dad, August 11, 2017 Just one brother and his wife are missing from this picture of my parents' 11 children and their spouses.  My grandmother is also in this picture. Right to left:  SIL Melanie, BIL Aaron, Sister Liesl, and SIL Michelle. I am the oldest child and this is my next sibling, ...

Last week we drove up to Rexburg, Idaho for the Great American Eclipse of 2017.  Since my husband is a physicist, we made plans a long time ago to attend.  I decided to turn it into an opportunity to visit a few more temples.  So on Friday night we drove up to Idaho Falls and visited that temple which is quite lovely and stayed in a nearby hotel.  In the morning we did the River Walk along the Snake River which is very scenic. Saturday morning we drove to Rexburg and visited that temple after dropping off our children at my sister's house who lives quite nearby. It turns out to be true that Rexburg is always windy. We spent the rest of the weekend visiting with my sister and other visitors and relatives--Sunday night she had 29 people sleeping at her house.  It was a fun weekend!  My sister and brother-in-law did a great hosting all those people.  And we were glad the sewer system and the electricity didn't fail with all the extra peop...

Last week, my husband and about 23 other men and teenage boys in our church went on a hike to King's Peak in northeast Utah.  It's the highest peak in Utah.  They left early Thursday morning and got home about 4pm on Saturday. My husband said it was a very challenging hike, especially the last mile or so.  The parking lot starts at about 9000 feet elevation and the peak of the mountain is 13,527 feet.  They hiked in about 7 miles the first day and set up camp.  The next day, they hiked the remaining 7 miles to the peak with day packs and then returned to their base camp.  Saturday they hiked out and then drove home. It turns out that the Uintah mountains were a dangerous place to be in last weekend.  Three little girls got struck by lightning, a 74-year-old man got lost in the mountains, and a boy who would have turned 18 on Sunday died on a campout with his Scout troop, probably from altitude sickness.  I feel fortunate everyone from our grou...

The other night we visited Thanksgiving Point's Ashton Gardens so that we could see the new exhibit.  It was great.  My only complaint was that there were a few too many people there--no surprise because in August everyone gets in for $2 on Two-Buck Tuesdays and we were there on a Tuesday. The atmosphere is still pretty reverent with people talking quietly.  However, I'd love a private showing so one of these days I'll go there some morning after school starts and enjoy being there with a lot fewer people.  Even with all the people I found the sculptures to be quite moving and I highly recommend going.  The landscaping really enhanced the sculptures. I would say allow 45 minutes to an hour to walk from the entrance and see the whole exhibit.  Scott was my photographer.