Gospel Friends

A few days after Macy died, I had the opportunity to fly to Oregon and visit with my "gospel friends" from High School. These are the people I speak about so often in my current ward. They brought me to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their parents all took a place at the table and helped me become the woman I am today. The Parker family became my family-Judy and Giles became my parents. I often talk about how Giles' name is on every important piece of paper that I need in my life. From my High School Diploma to my Seminary Certificate. I have his signature on my first Temple Recommend and my Marriage Certificate...they will forever be my "mama and papa." The beautiful ladies and the one lone male in the photograph above are people I wish everyone could have in their lives. We honestly love each other and regardless of the time that goes by between visits, they all have an important place in my life. During lunch one day, a coworker said "we shouldn't worry about the people from our past because there's a reason they didn't make it to our future." I thought about that for a long time...as some of you know, I lost my memory in a car accident several years ago. I've often spoken on the importance of journal keeping because it was my journals that reconnected me to my past. It's true that there will always be something mentioned when visiting people that I knew before 1998 that I will never be able to recall-but for the first time in my life...I'm so grateful that my past finally caught up to me. I can't imagine what my future would be like without these wonderful people in my life. I love all of you and thank you for your examples of love, courage, strength and friendship. My time with you this month is everything my journals from high school promised it would be. I love you all very much! And for the record, a member of the ward came up to Richard and I before sacrament meeting and after introducing myself he told me that our group was "legendary in these parts. We've never seen a conversion explosion like that in this state since." Darn right...and we have a New Era documenting the whole thing!

Life With Macy 2000-2009

In the fall of 2000, Richard took me to a farm in Draper, Utah because he was trying to convince me that we needed a dog. I didn't want a dog...but this little "runt" was the last to come crawling out of her box with all of her brothers and sisters, and... well, she stole my heart. I knew I had to have her, even though the breeder insisted she wasn't cute enough to take. We visited her at the farm every week until finally the breeder got sick of us and just let us take her home. When leaving he made it a point to tell us that he would fully refund our money if she died within the next 2 weeks. I thought he was a jerk and I was glad she was coming home to our house. She loved kisses and hugs and everyone fell in love with her when they met her. She filled our void of not having children of our own-and that probably showed to a lot of people. But we didn't care. We loved her and would do anything for her. She loved to go on walks and visit the neighbor dogs along the way-we were even in the process of planning a big summer B-Day Party for Macy and her brother, Copper, with all the other pups in the neighborhood. She didn't like my singing and would always stand on my chest and lick my face until I stopped. She had fun when we took her to Yellowstone...she would stand in the back window of the car and bark at the Bison and growl like she was going to attack them-it was the funniest thing to see! She was the most beautiful dog in the world and we know she knew it. Macy was one of a kind and we'll miss her always! Below are a few pictures that reflect our short time with Macy.

The first time we painted our walls, Macy contributed by pulling the painters tape off the baseboards for us. She was always a good little helper!
She even assisted us with yard work after the summer storms would pass by.

She loved pillows and didn't think it was a big deal if she messed up the bed just to find that perfect spot to sleep!
She never cared much for Santa! This was her first Christmas and Santa was never invited back to our house again!
This is a picture of Macy with her brother Copper. Richard found Copper while working in Jackson Hole and couldn't wait to bring him home to be a part of the family. He's missing his sister a lot these days but we're so glad Copper is with us and we hope to see him happy again sometime soon. We miss you, Macy!

Happy Birthday America

I took this picture of the flag flying over Fort McHenry facing Baltimore Harbor-how many of us know the history behind our National Anthem?

Francis Scott Key was a poet and a PATRIOT. During the war with England in 1812, he boarded a British ship in Baltimore Harbor under a flag of truce with the hope of securing the release of his good friend, Dr. William Beanes. Dr. Beanes had been captured by the British. They had expected to return to shore quickly but the British fleet was preparing to attack Fort McHenry and they both were detained on the the ship for the night. "In the darkness of the night, the two men had no way of knowing whether the enemy attack had been successful. But at the first light of dawn, they could see the American flag still waving from Fort McHenry. Their relief and gratitude were overwhelming, and Francis Scott Key immediately began to write, "The Star-Spangled Banner." This poet and PATRIOT "transformed one suspenseful night into words that symbolize for all Americans not only the sacrifices that have been made for freedom but also the vigilance with which this blessing must be guarded." (Karen Lynn Davidson)
With that I say, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!" And to the many men and women serving our country within or outside the walls of the USA-I say "THANK YOU!" Please know that your diligent service and sacrifice for all of us does not go unnoticed.
We miss you, Jacob Bowden, and you will be in our prayers always as you serve us proudly in Afghanistan!!! Today when asked who in our family was serving overseas...Richard proudly said, "my brother." He loves you so much-Aunt Sabrina and Uncle Richard!!!

Baseball Temple Trip 2009

Richard and I fell in love with Baseball a couple of years ago, when we decided to catch a game at Camden Yards-Home of the Baltimore Orioles! Ever since then, we've wanted to see a game in every stadium...and add a temple in the area to the trip. While visiting with our friends down the street last year-we found that they had the same interest-which led to our first Baseball Temple Trip last month. The trip took us to the cities of San Diego-Home to the Padres, Anaheim-Home to the Angels, and Los Angeles-Home of the Dodgers. We visited LDS Temples in San Diego, Newport and Los Angeles. In between these attractions, we visited a place in San Diego with the best seafood around~stopped and grave yard hunted for my mother's grave in El Cajon Cemetery, a place I haven't been to since I was 4 years old~we had a blast at Universal Studios~dropped by West Coast Choppers in Long Beach~walked the stores at Coronodo Island~Watched the firworks from Disneyland every night from our Hotel and still never had the desire to go inside the gate~shopped the stores at the Garden Walk~and finally, walked the Hollywood Walk of Fame! We brought luck to the home teams and a curse upon the stars! We watched a fireworks tribute to the late great Michael Jackson at Dodger Stadium and grew silent at the magnificent size of the inside of the Los Angeles Temple! We ate Hot Dogs and Garlic Fries and sang at the seventh-inning stretch~and we stood in silence with 51,000 fans for Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. It was amazing and memorable.