Mulan

A few weeks ago, two of my nephews were in their school's production of Mulan and I drove up to Bountiful to see them in all their glory.  It was entertaining and if nothing else, I know that they had a blast doing it.  Sean was a warrior and Brandon was the Chinese Emperor and a warrior.

Brandon and Sean.

Sean

Alauna and Natalia being silly.

New Year's Fun

I spent New Year's Eve with Jamie, Rob, and their family up in Bountiful and of course we had loads of fun.  We ate lots of snacks, drank some Martinelli's,

and watched a few movies.  We were going to play some games too but somehow we never made it that far...

After getting some much needed sleep that night (I am still fighting a sinus infection and working full-time was definitely not helping me get over it), we all went sledding!  First we headed over to the stake center as there is a pretty decent hill there, however, a ward had the same idea we did.  Off to the next spot...  We found a hill at a park and spent some quality time getting to know that hill.  Everybody went down the hill (even Jamie!  I have pictorial proof!) and had tons of fun!  Brandon and Sean even went down a hill and off a wall onto the snow below!

Brandon going off the wall.

Alauna and Natalia getting ready to go down the hill.

Jamie going down the hill with Rob and Natalia cheering her on.

Sean tried multiple times to master this hill.

 Coming back up the hill with Rob giving Alauna and Natalia a ride back up the hill.

 Natalia not quite making it on her own.

Brandon

Mountains in the Sand

These are from when I visited my sister, Jena, in Wisconsin back at the beginning of July. We went to the beach, a lighthouse in the middle of Milwaukee, Summerfest twice to see Guster and Flogging Molly, purchased art from an Art-o-Mat, and many more really cool things.

Guster

Lobster, anyone?

Evidently Milwakuee REALLY REALLY needs to be saved so they have taken to putting really big crosses on boats out in the harbor.

Mountains in the Sand

Mountains in the Sand 2

The lighthouse.

Flogging Molly.

Barking Sand . . .

Barking sand. . . who knew?

I am currently visiting my sister, Jena, in Wisconsin for a few days. On Friday, we went to the beach and drove a little bit more up north towards Sheboygan. We went to this nice section of Lake Michigan that is located in Kohler-Andrae State Park. The water was surprisingly warm, except a few spots where the current was coming in. The sand was actual sand with a few small shells thrown in and easy to walk on. We had already walked a ways down the beach, walked through the nature center, and were walking back towards the beach when we discovered that something was barking at us.

Upon further investigation, we discovered that the barking was coming from the direction of our feet. It sounded kind of like a pack of hounds off in the distance on the hunt. Only dry sand barks, not wet sand. And thus, we observed that sand could bark.

Passover

  Back in March, one of my sisters, Jamie, and I attended the Passover feast that is put on every year by one of the professors here on BYU campus. It was really interesting and highly educational. I learned about the opportunity to attend Passover from my religion professor this last semester. I was taking a world religions class . . . finally! I have also wanted to take this class but have never been able to fit it into my schedule until this semester. I loved this class and I learned so much. Plus my professor really knew what he was talking about as he has been to most of the places we were talking about, has friends in all the religions we talked about, and has lived and studied in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas for several years. So he knew his stuff.
  Anyways, so did the professor, Victor Ludlow, who puts on the Passover feast every year. We did the whole thing, from start to finish. We started off discussing the different elements that make up Passover and why they are all there and then went through it all. We sang, drank (grape juice), partook of the seder plate (including the bitter herbs), read scriptures, and ate. It was fun and I would do it again. However, it did take longer than I know I was expecting. It started at 6:30 pm and got over about 10:15ish or so but it was still good.
This is the parsley that you dip into salt water. - Symbolic of the coming of spring and the perpetual renewal of life.
Haroset. - A mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon, and wine. - Represents the mortar the Israelite slaves used in Egypt.
 The Seder plate. (The white stuff behind the shankbone is the Maror aka the bitter herbs (horseradish).
 This picture depicts the exodus from Egypt and is entirely composed of miniature watercolor letters telling the the story from Exodus.

It Comes to Us All . . .

So, I have actually had this since the middle of February but had not posted it yet. Better late than never, right?

Death. It happens to us all at some point or another. We all experience it with loved ones, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, etc . . . Death is an interesting concept and so is how we all react to death.

I think part of why we all react to death, aside from the fact that you just lost a loved one, is that it reminds us of just how human we are. Most people like to think that they are invincible and do not like to be reminded that they are not. At times, I also think that the closure that death brings is more for us than for the person who is actually dying.

My grandfather passed away at the end of October last year. I loved (and still do) my grandfather a lot. I was really sad when he passed away but happy because he was not in pain any more, he was in a better place, and I know that I will see him again. I was sad because he was gone and I would not have any more opportunities to get to know him better. Unlike some of my cousins who have had many opportunities to get to know him because of close proximity, especially growing up, most of my siblings and I have not. Why? We grew up mainly in Ohio while Grandpa and Grandma lived in Colorado. After his funeral at my Aunt Holly's house, my cousins were all able to share a lot of special memories that they had been able to create with him. I was only able to share more general memories of him. It made me kind of sad but happy for them that they were able to have that with him. I am sad that he is gone because I will not be able to create more memories with him and he will not be there for a lot of important milestones in my life that have yet to happen, like graduating college and getting married someday. And because he will not be here.

Another death that impacted me greatly actually occurred about 1 1/2 weeks before Grandpa passed away but I did not find out about it until February. Warren Johnson was a great man. I taught him in the second area that I served in while on the mission in Minnesota. His wife and him really came to mean a lot to me. They were always willing to help us out with whatever we needed but that is not why they meant a lot to me. It was and is because of who they are. Words cannot adequately express how much he came to mean to me. Warren had brain cancer. I went back to Minnesota in October for a wedding and I was able to visit them for a few minutes. It was so sad and hard to see Warren like that but yet so good at the same time because I was able to say good-bye and tell him that I loved him. It was made even more special by the fact that even though Warren was pretty far gone at that time, he still recognized who I was. One week later (as I recently found out), he passed away in peace. It was better for him because just like Grandpa, who had stomach cancer, he was in a lot of pain. Warren is in a better place now and is not in pain anymore. Even though his death was expected, his death still hit me hard because I loved him and we would not have anymore time on earth to talk and because I will miss him just like I miss Grandpa.

However, I am happy for both Warren and Grandpa. If I did not know about the plan of salvation, death would be that much harder but death is a time to rejoice because you get to go home.