My Valentine

My Valentine came into my world with a smile and a song - well, lets say that it was "singing" that brought me my Valentine. A young man newly returned from his mission, joined the institute choir to "meet people." He decided that the choir just "wasn't for him," and went to tell the director he was quitting. Well - things happen for a purpose - isn't that what they say? The director was so glad to see the young man as he wanted to ask him a question - "Would you be the choir president?" Now how could the young man say no - Enter stage right - a young woman who loves the choir and ends up sitting next to the young man as they go on tour in Southern Utah to sing. And let's say, the rest is history.

I look at who I am today, and reflect upon how much I owe my Valentine for helping me be that person I am. Self esteem is an interesting part of the human psyche - my real sense of self esteem blossomed as my Valentine entered my world. Here was a person who loved me, adored me and cherished me - I was in awe - and remain in awe that someone loves me so. I have been loved, I have been cared for, my needs have been met, my life has been enriched, I have been encouraged to dream and allowed to reach out and touch those dreams. I have had ultimate joy and such security - all due to my Valentine.

He honors his Priesthood, loves the Lord, serves the Lord, has great faith, is a wonderful husband, a kind and dear father, and most of all, he is MY VALENTINE and will be FOREVER!

Come Fly With Me!

Saturday morning, a beautiful day the phone rings. . . .what does it bring? Dr. Jones is going flying and invites Mark and I along. Certainly an offer one can't refuse!

The beautiful Blues

We flew over Canyonlands - it was spectacular!

So many mesas and canyons and gorgeous rock formations.

My Pilot!

Do you want to fly it? Mark said, You bet!

He flew us for about 1/2 an hour.

He was a great pilot!

The Henry Mountains in the distance.

The confluence of the Green River and Colorado River.

Lake Powell via the air!

The Bears Ears - Up close and personal!

Come back down to Blanding - Can you find our house?

Safe back on the ground again - home sweet home!

We had a beautiful ride, thanks to Dr. Jones for such a gracious, thoughtful gesture!

IN MY WORLD!

So, when I have MY world - I vote for NO CAVITIES, NO DENTAL WORK - What do you think? Tuesday I went to the dentist for one filling and the placement of the post for a dental implant. Woke up Tuesday morning at 5:00 a.m. with a migraine - somehow a migraine and dental work don't fit together - so I took a pill - a great pill - by 9:30 am the headache was "almost" gone - note the "almost" Enter "HAPPY GAS" As the room was spinning and I couldn't tell you my name and I could not manage to keep my eyes open - the dentist says, "Let me tell you about this implant. As it is on the upper jaw, the bone is not thick enough to hold the entire implant, so it will need to go up into your sinus cavity. Now we don't want to perforate the sinus membrane - so we will just drill as far as we can and then take this little instrument (ice pick) and tap the bone with this (hammer) until it breaks through the sinus. Now - this isn't going to hurt!" Of course I was too zoned to say STOP! It was true that it didn't hurt - yet. But the sounds and the reverberation and the echo - imagine dynamite exploding in your sinus. Worst thing I can every remember. I then had a headache that I was not able to get rid of until Thursday afternoon. I finally had to get a shot at the clinic - come home and sleep for about 14 hours and then it finally went away. Two days past that, now my mouth feels like I had dental work done. And so if it won't upset the cosmos or change all of the eternities I plan on there being NO BAD TEETH on my worlds.

Up Up and Away!

The winds have welcomed

you with softness

The sun blessed you with his

warm hands

You have flown so high and so well

That God joins you in your laughter

And set you gently back into

the Loving arms of Mother Earth

- Balloonist Prayer

Who would have ever guessed that one beautiful, cold winter day - we would rise before the sun and enter the world of the balloonists? Each year Bluff celebrates the Bluff Balloon Festival. The past two years, they have brought tissue paper, glue and wire to the school and Mark has helped them teach his students about ballooning (which is actually a career choice!) and to make their own balloons. Next week they will get to launch their balloons at the school. Interestingly enough the heat source to launch the balloons is a turkey cooker! So Mark was given the opportunity to take me to Bluff and take a ride in a hot air balloon!

Those that are going to ride are considered part of the "crew" and they give you explicit directions in helping them unload and inflate the balloon.




It was a cold morning and a welcome time when they "lit" the burner to make sure it was functioning properly.




As the sun was rising, so were the balloons. Enormous fans are used to blow air into the balloons to inflate them.

Sense would tell you that the balloons are big - but until you stand next to one, you don't realize how big!



Mark helping to put the top of the balloon in place and getting all the ropes in proper alignment.

Looking into the inside of the balloon as it is filling with air.

This is our balloon for the day - the Skywalker - the owners of the balloon designed the balloon, the number of panels and the graduating color scheme.

Some of the fellow balloons in the morning sky at Bluff as we are just beginning to take off.

Looking "down" on a neighboring balloon.


Peeking through the basket at a ball-capped, happy faced balloon.



Way up there - above the mesas near Bluff.

Certification that we really did it!

It was spectacular - the entire process was beyond what I would have imagined. All "novice" riders once they have come safely back to earth take part in a "ritual" Balloonists Prayer and toast to give thanks for their safe return to earth. The toast is made with Champagne (orange juice for us) kneeling down and using no hands! After the toast was drunk, there was cheese, crackers, salami and fruit to enjoy. What can I say, it was just a beautiful experience. I'm so glad I got to take part in the day.

. . . day 2 commences. . . sheet rock. . .tape. . .mud. . . and some machine that textures the walls with mud. Great fun! Oh, what do you mean this isn't the walls. I kind of got mud sprayed EVERYWHERE!

For $25, It was way worth it....I think, I guess you don't really know until the paint goes on.

Live in a house for 25 years and change it one day and its suddenly hard to remember what it looked like before - weird. The paint is called "Dijon" it is the same color as going down the stairs. But I'm tired for one day and now all I do is wait for the paint to dry. Perhaps I can get in a few strokes of painting on Monday!

Step One

They say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step! And so the first step began today!. Off with the panneling.

Then there was the Z-brick. . .and . . . well . . .

It was just easier to get rid of the wall!

And so day one comes to an end and the journey has begun!

Christmas Day!

8:00 a.m. seemed a good time to think about getting up, so I fixed us some eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy - and we had a toasty breakfast in bed!

Mother nature dumped a good 12 inches of snow Christmas Eve. So we put on our warm stuff - jumped on our "toys" and headed for the country!


We spent about 2 1/2 hours down Brown's Canyon plowing through the snow. It was foggy, snowing and just too much fun!

Not much traffic on these roads! That makes it all the more fun!

Big mamma learning to ride!

The new Grizzly 700!

Throw in an afternoon nap - a movie - phone calls and leftovers and it all adds up to a very perfect day!