Continuing my Sunday, March 25 post...........

As I was saying...this is the Fisher Family we went to see during our time in Utah/Idaho from March 3-12.

As Julie Beck, the president of our General Relief Society, taught to share Gospel truths as we blog...I will add some of Walt and my core convictons:
We believe in the United States of America and in its Constitution laid down by the men raised up by God to do so.  

We believe that President Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's Prophet on the earth now for the whole world.

We believe in the prophecies of our Prophets, Seers, and Revelators.

We believe that the Bible is a Testament of Jesus Christ.

We believe that the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 

We believe in the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through His Prophet, Joseph Smith, the Restorer of all.

We believe in the glorious Second Coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of all.

We also believe that families can be together forever because of the restored Priesthood ordinances that seal a husband and wife for eternity in the temple.  Thus, the children are born into this covenant and are sealed to these parents forever.

Now back to our Gem State...

It just happened that during our three days with our oldest daughter, her husband, and children, they had been asked to perform at seveal half-times of a basketball tourney being held to raise money for educational programs in Madison County.

On Thursday night we saw Michael, Ashley, Sam, and Heidi dance. (Janie and Shawn are directors of the Idaho Ballroom Academy so their children have been involved in ballroom dancing most of their lives.)

Here's Ashley and Michael's dance team...

Here's Ashley and Michael...

Here's Katie's ballroom team...

Here's Katie and her dance partner...

Aimee and Michael came by to see us... 

They were married for time and eternity in the Rexburg Idaho Temple on June 25, 2011.

Janie, Katie, and Heidi were ready for some of those yummy bar-b-qued spare ribs Janie had cooked for dinner...

Ashley and Sam liked to snuggle with Grampa...

And that's good for our first day with the Fishers, March 8, 2012. Will do Day 2 with them in the next post.

Meridian Magazine - Candy Popcorn Easter Eggs - Meridian Magazine - LDS, Mormon and Latter-day Saint News and Views

Meridian Magazine - Candy Popcorn Easter Eggs - Meridian Magazine - LDS, Mormon and Latter-day Saint News and Views



I was actually trying pin this, but it posted on my blog instead.
I did get one of my Anne Morrow Lindbergh's books from a website to Pinterest...but couldn't get this Popcorn Easter Eggs there.


Have a great day.

Family in Rexburg

Fishers in Rexburg...

   We drove to Rexburg, Idaho and loved being with Janie & Shawn and their children for three days.

After hearing Sister Julie Beck's recent interview about what to do with our leisure time...like when we blog, I will add more about my beliefs regarding families, the Restoration, prophets, the priesthood, and my other core convictions.

Families can be together forever because of the restoration of priesthood ordinances through which the power of sealing on earth and in heaven has been bestowed through a living prophet on the earth.  

     

This was a welcome sight...

I had 8 more photos with dialogue...

which somehow posted once, then disappeared...

I'll put them back in tomorrow.

Hi...In case you've been waiting for the rest of this post....I'll just do it in a new post.

Over and out.

We're away from our family for three years so others can be with their families for eternity...

Families are Forever…

We're away from our family for three years, so others can be with their families for eternity.
     But we do get to be with them for a few days every six months when the temple closes for semi-annual maintenance and deep cleaning.
   We flew in to Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 3, and flew back to San Salvador on Monday, March 12.
     During that time we were able to be with 5 of our 7 families, and 20 of our 32 grandchildren--10 granddaughters, 10 grandsons; my 92-year-old mother, my only sibling, Janice; and a niece, Vickie.
Sunday...March 4
     We went to Church with Julie & John, Jacee, Jackson, Maddie, and my Mom, Verna Albertson.
       Then all our Utah families gathered for dinner:
Gary & Kathy, McKell, Abbey, Jacob, and Isaac.

Steve & Natalie and family - Kelsey, Kimble, Carter.
Kelsey had just driven up from Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, on her spring break.

I didn't get a photo tonight of Steve & Natalie...here's a family photo of them from "My Pictures" computer file: Steve & Natalie, Kelsey, Cortney, Kimble, Carter.

Here's David & Julie, Josh, Anna, Sam, and William...we'll have more photos of them when we post about the next Sunday, March 11 when we did Church and dinner with them.

Here's Abbey, Anna, Jacee, Jackson, Jacob, Maddie, Sam, Kimble, Carter, and Isaac at the kids' table at Julie & John's home...

Same g-kids from other end of the table.

   Here's Kathy, Gary, Grampa, Julie, Steve, and David.

After dinner, Josh showed us the fox trot and other dances they just learned at his Jr. High...and since we are a dancing family, most everyone joined in.

It was so wonderful to be with family that I didn't take time out to get a photo of everyone together until some had left.  Here is who I did get a photo of...
Front: Jacob, Jackson, Sam, Carter, William, Anna. 
Second row: Grama Eileen, Grampa Walt, Steve, Great-Grama A.
Back: Josh, David, Julie, Julie. (Yes, Josh, age 14, is almost taller than his dad.)

Later that evening, my sister Janice came to see us...

Janice and I said goodnight to Mom. She is the one who started the: "Night, Night, Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite" which is a bedtime saying throughout the family.

And that was our first full day in Utah with our families there.


The next morning was exciting when Julie and John woke their kids up very early with the surprise:
"Get up....we're going to Disneyland today!"

And that adventure will be another post.

Wednesday came and went...
    so here's a new post of what we did 
Wed., March 14, 2012.

We went to a natural spring water park at San Vincente. Bro. Ortiz, on the left, grew up there and was our "guide."

Walt, 2nd from right, sat by the waterfall for a while with some of the other of our group.  I sat by the edge
of the water close to them.
If we didn't keep our feet moving, the minnows nibbled on our legs and feet.

Walt enjoyed swimming several laps back and forth. (Center in blue shirt.)

After a couple hours of relaxing there, it was off to Pollo Campero's for lunch. 

This is like a Kentucky Fried Chicken - Central America style.

We all liked Walt's San Salvadoran cowboy hat.

Here's our mini-van driver (in red), The Walls, and Elder Thompson on the left, The Ortiz family on the right.

Then we headed back to San Salvador...
about a 1 1/2 hour drive.  My injured right knee and leg hurt the whole way over and back since I couldn't get it in a comfortable position in the tight mini-bus with 11 adults and 2 children (the Ortiz's daughters - LuciaAndrea, 8; and Laura, 10).

We saw the Chanchitenango (or something like that) Volcano during the hour and a half drive over and back.

Back before dark and unloading the mini-bus.

A fun day, but we're all tired...

And that's what we did on Wednesday, March 14.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 11:33p.m.

Julie, thanks for getting us to the airport, with stops at Costco and Franklin-Covey on the way.

How can ten days go so quickly when we're with our family?!

Back safely...got unpacked today, drove temple missionaries to get groceries...had temple building personnel from Salt Lake City come to inspect our apartments...Walt's been at a priesthood leadership meeting with Elder Amado...now it's time for bed.
 ......will add more to this blog tomorrow.

To Utah & Idaho for 10 days...

Our temple is closed for its semi-annual two-week maintenance and cleaning, so we have flown to Utah, then driving to Idaho to be with 5 of our 7 families...

Gary  and three of his kids were at the airport for our 11:30pm landing, and drove us to Saratoga Springs...

Here's Gary & Kathy, McKell, Abbey, Jacob, and Isaac when we gathered on Sunday, March 4.

Here's the ones I got a photo of Sunday evening.

I forgot to get a group photo before some of the others had left.



We gathered again on Monday evening, March 5, for a pizza supper and had a great lesson on

"Posterity" by Gary. He asked for definitions of what "posterity" means, then explained that all of us together tonight were the posterity of

Great Grama 'A'

and also of

Grama 'n Grampa Petersen.

He had each one fill out a 4-generation pedigree chart...

They all learned that Grama 'A's' full name is

Verna Beth Huffaker Albertson,

and that our names are

Walter Ray Petersen

and

Eileen Marie Albertson Petersen.

He showed that on the 35th generations back that they were related to Kings in England and Scotland.

Here is everyone at the Monday Family Home Evening...

I don't think I've loaded yesterday's photos yet.

(To be finished later.

I've torn the muscle behind my knee and am

needing to ice it with it up on a pillow.

It's hurting a lot.)