Scott and I recently took a quick trip to Colorado. We haven't taken a trip with just the two of us since we went to Alaska in the summer of 2019 so we decided it was time. We left early Tuesday morning and flew to Denver. By the time we got our rental car, it was about 11:30. We drove to Fort Collins which is about an hour from Denver and found a little trail near the highway called Arapaho Bend Natural Area.  You get some traffic noise there but it was a nice walk and pleasant weather. We walked about 3 miles. Our main reason to be in Fort Collins was to visit the temple there. It's a newer temple built in 2016 and quite lovely. We had an appointment at 2:45 for an endowment session. It was good to be there. After the temple we found the restaurant where we were meeting a colleague of Scott's and his wife for dinner. Their names were Jake and Sarah Roberts and we enjoyed getting to know them. Scott knew them but I had never met them. After dinner, we drove to Denver and ...

 This week we visited this  exhibit  at BYU. I wasn't really expecting to like it but I did! He creates works of art using ordinary materials. This is the Mona Lisa made out of peanut butter and jam: This is Medusa out of spaghetti and marinara: This is Sigmund Freud out of chocolate sauce: This is Che Guevara (a major figure of the Cuban Revolution) out of black beans: This is a soldier made out of toy soldiers: This is made out of hundreds of little tiny toys: This picture is Frankenstein made out of caviar: Close-up: This is an actual picture of a skyline with a fake-looking cloud created by an airplane sky-writer: This is a copy of a famous picture by Monet (I think) using pieces of magazine pages: It was a fun exhibit!

A couple of weeks ago, I started keeping a gratitude journal each night by writing five things I'm grateful for, usually in reference to my day. I wasn't completely committed to doing it  but then I read this article that really reinforced it:   https://latterdaysaintmag.com/the-astounding-power-of-gratitude-to-create-happiness/ . The article says that by keeping a gratitude journal we can change our happiness "set-point" and she lists a long list of other benefits. It was pretty convincing. So I'm going to try to keep going with this gratitude journal and be a little more mindful of my many blessings. I have many material blessings but here are some of my most precious blessings that I can take with me into the next life: My marriage: My children and grandchildren (missing three): Goodly parents and grandparents: Siblings that I enjoy being with (missing one): The chance to learn more about family history: The opportunity to visit and learn more about the temple:...

Today our newest little grandson was given a blessing by his father at church. He is a sweet little baby and was very calm throughout the blessing as well as church. He was born to excellent parents and great siblings. We're so happy to have him in our family. Welcome, Enzo! On a side note, I think we've been able to be present for all the blessings for the children in David and Stephanie's family. Here are some flashbacks: