Happy Anniversary Remembrance for my Mom and Dad...

Today...September 29, 2011 for my Mom and Dad 74th wedding anniversary:

Happy Anniversary Remembrance

September 29, 1937

                  Verna and Arnold are forever!

Verna age 1946  Age 26                           

Arnold 1946   Age 34

As Eternal Sweethearts

you will both be in your prime.

Mom is 91 and living with Julie and John in Saratoga Springs, Utah. She has been a widow for almost 29 years.

Daddy passed away from colon cancer on Feb. 6, 1982,

at the age of 69. We still miss him.

Mom says she misses him more every year. 

We are so thankful for Julie and John taking such good care of Mom while we are so many miles away in San Salvador.

Because of temple covenants, 

my Mom and Dad 

will be together forever!

Here's one of my Mom's favorite songs about September...

She said she always turned mellow in the Autumn....starting in September...

that's why she eloped with Daddy when he dared her at the start of her Senior year...

Try to Remember

Try to remember the kind of September

When life was slow and oh, so mellow.

Try to remember the kind of September

When grass was green and grain was yellow.

Try to remember the kind of September

When you were a tender and callow fellow.

Try to remember, and if you remember,

Then follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,

Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Try to remember when life was so tender

That no one wept except the willow.

Try to remember when life was so tender

That dreams were kept beside your pillow.

Try to remember when life was so tender

That love was an ember about to billow.

Try to remember, and if you remember,

Then follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,

Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,

Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,

Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember,

Although you know the snow will follow.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember,

Without a hurt the heart is hollow.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember,

The fire of September that made us mellow.

Deep in December, our hearts should remember

And follow.

Mom and Daddy...we will love you forever!

Dinner at our Stake President's home...

It was raining when we gathered in front of the apartment complex after the broadcast and piling into the temple van, and one couple rode with Los López as they guided us to their home about 10 minutes from the temple grounds.

I had taken photos of everyone else, so they took a photo of us just as the dishes had been cleared.  Notice the bright, colorful tablecloth.

Gladis is telling us about her early life on her Mom and Dad's dairy  farm in El Salvador. Gladis's 6 brothers and 4 sisters all learned how

 to work when they were young.

 Sister Wall and Sister Gibbons are working very hard at studying Spanish. They are understanding more all the time.

 Hermanas Kitley and Thompson are also studying Spanish and coming right along. The four Elders learned Spanish on their first missions: Elder Wall--Central America; Elder Gibbons-Uruguay; Elder Kitley-Argentina; Elder Thompson-Colombia.

Walt went out to the patio to help Presidente López grill the carne--lomo aguja, which Elder Kitley told us is like a rib roast cut.

This little gal was cooking the homemade tortillas when we arrived.

Hermana López must have spent most of the day cooking because her red beans, rice with corn, homemade salsa and homemade tortillas were delicious...

...but her homemade flan was the best Walt and I have ever had!

Presidente Jaime López is our Stake President. He is also our Temple Recorder. His darling wife, Gladis, and he invited us and our 4 Sr. Couple Temple Missionaries to dinner at their home last Saturday after the General Relief Society broadcast.
She had a colorful buffet of typical San Slavadoran food, which we all enjoyed.  We had a delightful evening with them sharing fun stories about each other's lives.
Their three sons are studying in the states: Eduardo at U. of Utah, Omar at BYU, and Diego is a senior in high school in New York, living with an Uncle...one of his Mom's 6 brothers.
This photo of Presidente López with his three sons was taken when they were here visiting for the Temple Open House and Dedication.

President López showed us his favorite photo of his three boys.

We love our Sr. Couple Temple Missionaries...

A first for us...milkshakes for breakfast...because

we're going to PriceSmart and didn't have any more room in freezer...so made room by using up the ice cream from PriceSmart's trip in August.  Walt dipped the homemade cinnamon rolls in his milkshake...another first.

 As Bill Cosby said once: Healthy breakfast...wheat, milk, and fruit!

Our four Sr. couple temple missionaries were wisked off this morning to get their one-year visas. We're all going to PriceSmart when they return.

L-R: Dave & Marilyn Gibbons, Lon & Nancy Thompson, Trent & Arlene Kitley, Frank & Diane Wall.

They are working so hard and have made miracles happen in starting up this new temple.  They are guiding many, many new local temple workers in their assignments.

May versus can...

So now that I may blog, can I? (Meaning finding the time again to blog.) 
....in our blog now when we refer to "The temple" it will be the San Salvador El Salvador Temple. [Please not that there is no comma in the name because it is a name and not a sentence.]
   The temple was scheduled to be closed at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon for our workers to get to their scheduled events for the Women's Conference (that's what they call it here).  ?Is it officially the General Relief Society Meeting?
     We had 5 or 6 scheduled first-time couples coming, plus sealings. Several bus loads came.  Then a family came in to be sealed who had not called in ahead to be scheduled. When Pres. Alas, the second counselor in the temple presidency explained to them that the temple was closing for the afternoon and there wouldn't be time for them to be sealed, the wife/mother burst into tears.  So Pres. Alas said: "I will do the sealing at two o'clock."

It was a blessing that so many of our morning shift workers came for their 4:30 to 12:30 shift. Many of them ended up staying till 4:30...or  5:00 so had more than 12 hours straight.  And I don't know if some even got a lunch break.
At one time we had the waiting room full, the front entrance full, and fifty plus waiting outside to get in.  It's great to have the temple overflowing and already wish we had more space inside.

Here we are at the home of our temple recorder...Presidente Jaime Lopez. He and his wife, Gladis, invited us and our four Sr. couple temple missionaries to their home after the Women's broadcast Saturday evening.  I will add photos and more about it soon--hopefully Monday on our P-day.

    F A M I L I E S   A R E   F O R E V E R !  ...and the temples make that possible.

We' back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yipee, yi, year!

I hit one circle in "Settings" and we're back in the blogging world.  But now it's time to go to bed...so will have to update tomorrow...except we may need to go to the temple even tho it's our day without a shift...with the busy schedule and closing at 1:00 for the workers to get to their homes in time for the Women's Conference satellite broadcast.
      More tomorrow. It's great to be back.

nnn