HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JONATHAN!  Thank you so much for being such a wonderful husband to Kate and an amazing father to Sayre - A Giant’s fan, a fabulous Five Crowns player, and a superb pizza maker!  

You are a blessing to our family  ❤️

We have had such a wonderful week in California.  The Temple was amazing - absolutely gorgeous on the inside.  Every exterior window has stained glass and the stained glass is designed to look like almond blossoms.  My favorite was a deep blue carpet, upon entering the Temple, with orange poppies.  

I love how the architecture and furnishings are a reflection and honors the history of the area.  Much of the artwork depicts local scenery. Also when the lights are on like the ones shown in the Celestial Room, they reflect almond blossoms on the ceiling.

Thursday afternoon we drove down to Modesto to see Francie and Ray.  Ray has been in a rehab facility recovering from congestive heart failure (too much fluid in his lungs) and they found he also has colon cancer.  We spent quite a bit of time with him while we were there.  I think he is anxious to get home but needs to be a little more steady on his feet before that can happen.  We had fun spending time with Francie and took her birthday shopping on Saturday.  She is getting to be a little forgetful but Jenny and the boys are always there and have been so helpful. 

We really enjoyed our visits with Steven and Matt.  Matt brought Max over with him and he is unbelievably 12 years old already

Matt also sent me some really cute photos that he had of some of the kids when they were little.  His “little” girl Corinne, is 16 now!

Hailey, Blythe, Kayla, Corinne

I hope all of you will get to meet Allyana sometime soon!  She is Courtland’s 4 year-old, absolutely adorable daughter.  She came in the living room one morning after she had explored my bedrooms with Dad’s ear plugs and reading glasses on, wearing my good shoes 😁

It has been fun to get to know these kids after only seeing them in photos. 

We miss you all but it has been great to get away for a few days.  Tomorrow we are going out to Beale to get another suitcase (Francie gave me a quilt to bring home), and then by the cemetery, and a couple of other places I wanted to see.  There are changes everywhere, but still have fond memories of growing up in this small community.  One of the things I forgot to mention about the Temple is that outside in each of the four corners of the Temple they have planted olive trees much like you would find in the Holy Land, with benches where you can rest and reflect on your Temple experience.  There has definitely got to be a return trip coming up sometime in the near future 😊💕

This is short tonight because I am working on my mini iPad and it’s hard 🤪 but I love you all so much!