The last Leg of the Adventure

The beauty of the Northern Great Plains as we headed into North Dakota.

The International Peace Gardens on the border of Canada and US. Beautiful!

Going over the Bear Tooth Pass into Yellowstone.

Of course we had to see this grand old park.

Our grandson, Jaden, loved all the hot pools, mud pots and of course Old Faithful.

It has been a grand adventure, literally traveling from border to border. But we were able to visit all of our children , family, and friends. We marveled at the beauty of our country and how blessed we are by the Lord. We were able to visit with our grandson, Taylor, who is serving with the National Guard in Afganistan, and was home on leave.

We were thankful that we were able to make this trip, and now we are glad to be home to just be in our house and here in quiet, small Grantsville, Utah. There is no place like home.

The Middle of our Summer Adventure.

This part of our trip started out with visiting Hoover Dam and standing with the new bridge in the background.

After a night in Kingman, Arizona we then headed to the Grand Canyon. What an amazing place.

Family reunion for the McBrides, my first cousins, was our next destination. We stayed with Ken and Judy and had a wonderful time visiting with cousins, some not seen for 49 years.

We loved the Arizona cactus, even if it is sideways.

Our next bridge was at Page, over the Glen Canyon Dam.

Our Summer Adventure Continues!

North Dakota is amazing! I never thought the great plains could be so beautiful.

Steve and his oldest son, Gregg. They had a great time as horse shoe buddies.

Steve and grandson, Dakota. Turned 15 while we were there.

Heated game of "Spoons".

Jaden and his cousin Lucas were inseparable. They played from the minute they awoke, until midnight or later each day.

More pictures to come. It was a great trip.

Summer Adventure

Our summer adventure started with a stop at the Manti temple. So beautiful. One of our very favorite temples. We always feel like we are there with the pioneers.

Then to St. George, and the Tuachan theatre where we saw Tarzan. It was amazing. Flying monkeys and of course Tarzan. We loved it even if the weather was a bit warm.

Then to Phelan, CA. Mavrick baseball! Three nights and three games. Lots of fun!

Took time out during the day to go do a round of bowling. Kade came in first, Abi second, Grandpa third.

Saturday was the real reason we started out on this adventure, our grandson, Kade's baptism.

Tune in again for a continuation of this adventure.

Home!!!

On our way home from Argentina, we took a wonderful few days to unwind, rest, and enjoy the beauty of this wonderful country that we will probably never visit again. Our rest stop was the Iguazu Falls on the border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Standing on the edge of Devils Throat Falls Amazing! Makes Niagra Falls seem tiny.

There are over 250 different falls within the park. Everywhere you walked there was another fall just around the corner in the jungle.

If you wanted you could get right under the mist of the falls.

Here we are arriving home in Salt Lake City with a big group of our wonderful children and grandchildren there to greet us. Our first time to see our new grandson, Rendon.

Steve just couldn't contain himself. Carpet at last. Had to give the carpet a big kiss.

Glad to be home in the good ole USA. Home at last.

A Lesson Learned!

Steve and I have prided ourselves on nothing bad happening while here in Argentina. We have become very comfortable going down town, riding the trolleys, taxi's etc. Almost everyone we know has had a robbery occur at some time down here. Most of the missionaries have been robbed more than once.
Well today, we headed down town. Feeling very confident and probably a bit over confident.
As we borded the trolley to head home after running our errands, Steve felt in his pocket, his wallet was gone. I looked in my purse and my camera was gone. We had been robbed. How slick they had been, we had felt nothing.
As we evaluated our trip, we had done almost everything wrong. We were an easy target. I had not turned my zippered compartment on my purse towards me, there it was an easy target. Steve had his wallet in his back pocket, not in his front pocket. He was carrying a large sum of money. He should have taken it out before leaving home. As we waited for the trolley, we were in a crowd of people. We should have moved away and waited from behind the crowd. Several times on our excursion we both had little thoughts telling us to do all the right things, we ignored them.
As I thought of what happened, I thought of what can happen spiritually.
We can grow very self-confident, become sloppy about observing the commandments, and not listen to the "still small voice". We can become a victim through our own doing. We need to stay ever vigilent, and realize that Satan is always there, just as the pickpockets were there, waiting for us to let our guard down. Ready to take advantage of our weak moments.
We are sadder but wiser from this experience. We are both glad it was just things that can not be replaced and not our souls. We share this hoping our lesson can bring safety both physically and spiritually to those we love.

How Big is Jesus Christ?

It is Easter time. A time to think of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We took a drive to a beautiful valley of Valley De Uco with the snow capped Andes mountain range in the background. There on the top of a hill overlooking the valley was a magnificent statue of Christ with His arms outstretched blessing and protecting the valley. As we approached, I could not help but think, "How big is Christ?" "How big is Christ in my life?"

The statue is about 50 feet or more high. Here He stands in comparison with the Elders who were on our trip. I could not but think, "I am very little and small in the sight of God, He has many, many people to love and care about."

But even though my picture is sideways, I looked up at those big arms and thought,"They are big enough to surround and hold me in His love. I have so felt those big arms around me here on our mission. At those times when I so pleaded for His help, He was there, and will always be there.

The marks of the nails were in His hands as a reminder of all that He gave for me. And here He stands as a reminder of the resurrected Lord .

I am so blessed to be here this Easter in a country that is not ashamed to display the Christ for all to see. He is special, and no one worries about Him offending others. He is worshipped.

How big is Christ? I don't know , but I do know His love is big enough to atone for all of us.

I love Jesus Christ.