Another View of Spring Time in the Rockies

7 Pictures of 148

(not necessarily the best ones)

On my daily walk.

A Profusion of Blue Forget-Me-Nots

And a little wildlife

A Raging River in SpringtimeA raging river and few spring blossoms

Symbolic Loves of My Life

Snow-in-Summer and more.

A single blossom of thousands on this tree.

It's beautiful from outside

and inside, a bit of heaven.

Celtic Woman

Once was not enough. Last year we had the opportunity
to go to a Celtic Woman Concert at Kingsbury Hall in
Salt Lake and enjoyed it immensely. For Christmas Jared
and Shana gave us tickets to go again. Tonight was the
night and again we were not disappointed. Ellis and
Jeannine went with us and they thought it was great as
well. If any of you want a good nights entertainment be
sure to catch them if they come back to this area. Thanks,
Jared and Shana for all you do and especially for getting
us old duffers off the couch and enjoying life a little.

Mothers and Mother's Day

As I contemplate womanhood on this Mother's Day
I think of my own mother. She lived a long and,
for the most part happy life. Yet in her final years
and in her final hours she struggled with failing
health and a deteriorating body. Now she has been
gone for more than two years and sometimes I still
shed a tear and miss her so, but more often than not,
I think of her as the beautiful young woman she was
when I was born and as the wonderful mother who
nurtured me as a child, who encouraged me when I
was down and discouraged at times as a teenager
and who guided me even as an adult as I faced the
challenges of life. I knew I could always count on her
unconditional love and her unfaltering example of
faith in the great eternal plan of our Father in Heaven
and that everything would be alright in the end. I
never had a doubt that she knew who she was, "A Child
of Royal Birth", and why she was here and where
she was ultimately going.

I feel much like Abraham Lincoln must have felt ,
when he said: "All that I am or ever hope to be,
I owe to my angel mother."

I still feel her influence in my life and am so grateful
for all she has done and continues to do for me.

The picture below of Greg Olsen's "Heavenly Hands"
painting has often come to my mind and reminded
me of the love and guidance I received as a youth
and continue to receive even to this very day from
my wonderful mother.


There are other women who also have played a
very significant role in my life. I will mention some
of those who have been most important to me.

My thoughts go now to a wonderful mother in Georgia,
who brought my dear wife into the world and nurtured
her, much as I was nurtured by my own mother. She
taught Iris the important principles of the gospel and
helped her to establish a faith,which would be unshakable.
She allowed her enough freedom to come out west, where
I was fortunate enough to meet her and persuade her to
marry me. Because of my sweet and faithful mother-in-law
I have had the happy lot and honor to be married to one of
the choicest daughters of God. I will be forever grateful for
her love and her faith as she, with "Heavenly Hands" and
heart raised Iris to be the woman I love and the mother of
our seven wonderful children.

The next woman on my list is, of course, my eternal
companion, Iris. I feel that our meeting and life together
was inspired by our Father in Heaven. Somehow it just
seems that all that has happened over these years of our
life together was meant to be. There have been many
good times, a few difficult ones and even some that have
caused heartache and tears, but together we have
weathered the worst and learned from our experiences
and together we have relied on the Spirit, which has
brought comfort to our souls and has caused us to grow
and develop in faith and understanding as we have
raised our own family. Often I have seen Iris with
"Heavenly Hands" and heart reach out to comfort a child
and bring peace to our home. No words of gratitude will
ever suffice for all that she has done and is to me. I love
her with all my heart and rejoice in the prospects of
eternity together with her.

Next, I would like to mention seven other special women,
the mothers of my 23 and soon to be 24 grandchildren.
Our grandchildren are very precious to us and we share
a similar concern for them as we did for our own sons and
daughter. It gives us great comfort to know that each of you,
Rene, Shana, Chalisa, MEgan, Alison, Candice, and Samatha,
that you too, love your children unconditionally and
that you too, with "Heavenly Hands" and hearts nurture and
care for your own children, our beloved grandchildren, and are
raising them up to be good people ,who care for others and
have faith in the things of most worth. I see each of them
developing in their own way with the aid of sincere and loving
mothers, who take the time to nurture and provide the things
of most importance as they develop attributes of character
which will serve them well in this life and in the eternities.
We feel very fortunate, that our sons chose great wives, who
not only wanted children, but who also take the time and have
the patience to teach them and to love them. We are grateful that
our daughter, Alison, is a loving mother and that she sets such a
great example to her own children and others.

We rejoice that each of you wonderful women are mothers, and that
you are all a part of our family. We look forward to an eternity of
wonderful associations and love with each of you, who are, wonderful
daughters of our Father in Heaven.

Here's wishing all of you a very HAPPY MOTHERS DAY and many
more to come. We love you all very much.

Mother's Day Surprise from Alison

When we arrived home from St. George this evening,

I opened the door and could smell something different.

We stepped in and found that some magic person had

refinished our kitchen counter tops while we were away.

Alison had been at work. I don't know where she finds

the time, but she is always thinking of others and brings

joy to us even in our absence. The kitchen is beautiful and

Your Mother loves it. Thank you so much for all you do

and especially for all you are. We love you very much.

If I Could Hie To Kolob

Starting on Saturday Iris and I took a little vacation.
We went down to St. George and Southern Utah for
a few days. We wanted a little change of pace, some
sunshine, and I wanted to go for a hike. Iris volunteered
to go with me, so I picked a nice, scenic trail, which I thought
we could both handle. It was about six miles round trip
and not too steep, though we did have climb over a few
rocks and cross the creek umpteen times. I was worried
that it might be to hot, but it was just right, in the low
seventies. We took our time and I took pictures as we
enjoyed the magnificent scenery. The trail we hiked
was called the Middle Fork of Taylor Creek in the
Kolob Canyon section of Zion National Park. Here are
a few of the things we saw. Neither words nor pictures
can do it justice, but at least maybe you will get a feel
for the beauties of the area.

This is the middle section of the Double Arch Alcove at the

end of the trail.

This is the upper section of the area at Double Arch Alcove.

It was impossible to get it all in one picture. The cliff must

be 1500 feet high.

The colorful, water stained area inside the Alcove at the

base of the Double Arch.

Here we stand in the cool, damp area directly beneath

Double Arch Alcove. We didn't do too bad for a couple of

senior citizens. There was water dripping of the cliff just

above us. I thought I would like to see it from that point

after a heavy rain storm. There would be a 200 foot

waterfall to compliment the already present

beauties of this especially beautiful place.

This a a partial view of the Double Arch Alcove (Middle

Section).

And this was the best part of the entire trip.

She did not know what she was getting into

when she married me, but I appreciate her

and love her very much. We both count our

blessings to be able to do what we did and

see what we saw. It is not hard to stand in

awe at the creations of our Heavenly Father.