Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Utah with the Buchanans. I took the camera to be sure that the event was properly recorded. The camera never came out of the suitcase.
Alicia and Scott are exceptional hosts and a good time was had by all.

This blog documents another thanksgiving event. We are so thankful that Evan has completed an honorable mission and is home to start the next phase of his life.


The welcoming party, including Scott Starkey's girlfriend. Kea and Davin and their "Welcome Home" signs.

The triumphal return.

The soon to be ex-missionary and his grateful parents.

Elder Evan

Here are some pictures of Evan, taken yesterday. My friend has a class on campus every week, so I think she's seen him 3 times now. Why I love this picture- 1. He looks like he is Europe, not WA. 2. He is wearing a FILA jacket.

Miscellaneous Stuff

These are just some miscellaneous pictures that I wanted to share.


Downstream from Niagara Falls. Can you see the Maid of the Mist?

Evidence that your SUE is the one who painted Krista's room.

We are missing the one with her mouth open. Have you seen her?

This is the plant that pays the bills. Go see our new website mtposo.com

Niagara Falls & the Erie Canal

We did some other fun things while in western New York.

We met with thousands of our best Canadian friends at Niagara Falls, Canada.

Gma at the falls.

Sue is King of the World on the Erie Canal.

Gma and Sue - cruzin'

Other Sites

This is a reconstruction of the Joseph Smith Sr. home, where Moroni appeared 3 times to Joseph Smith.


The Sister missionary who was our tour guide at the Grandin Publishing House, where the Book of Mormon was first published.

The Hill Cumorah.

A reconstruction of the Peter Whitmer, Sr. house where the church was organized on April 30, 1830. There were over 50 people at that meeting but I don't think they were all inside.

Sue at the top of Hill Cumorah. The grass below is where the audience sits for the Pageant. Parking is across the street.

The Grove

"Oh, how lovely was the morning..."



From Joseph Smith, Sr. home looking toward the grove.

The Palmyra Temple from the grove.

Sue and Roger at the temple.

Gma, Roger, Russ, Tracy at the temple.

The visit to the Sacred Grove was exactly what I had imagined. I will never forget it.

The Tomlinson Inn

We stayed at the Tomlinson Inn. It was the place that Samuel Smith sold a copy of The Book of Mormon to Phineas Young. Phineas gave it to his father John, who gave it to his son, Brigham. All of them joined the church.

This is us recreating the meal before Samuel arrived.


This is the special "water feature" that I ordered for our stay. The toilet leaked and was collected in a trash can below.

This is the tour bus that Gma invited to "come on over to the house." We were visiting the grave of Brigham Young's first wife when we met.

The revival that Gma held with the tour bus.

The un-modern side of the kitchen.

It was a wonderful place to stay because it does have historic significance and we were together, alone. The only down side is that we played Crowns and Gma cheated all the time.

Roger's Reponse to Teresa's Tag

I am hopelessly devoted to Sue.

I miss my youthful health.

I think "the moral majority" is neither moral nor a majority.

I know that all will be well if I do my part since the Savior already did his part.

I want to be a better person than I am.

I have enough time to do lists like this.

I search for low-sodium food.

I wish all of our family could live closer - like in Bakersfield.

I hate it when I lose something. It drives me crazy.

I am scared that our country has become so wicked that we deserve all of the sorrow that comes our way. "God bless America" is just wishful thinking.

I fear socialists, extortioners and unions, which are all about the same.

I always eat sweets.

I love my family and friends.

I feel sad when I think about children who are not loved by their parents.

I hear the sweet music of Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groben and Michael Buble whenever I can.

I don't control what I say and how I say it as I should.

I wonder what the next 10 years hold.

I care about my family & friends, church and country.

I regret not leaving my comfort zone more often.

I am not good at overcoming pride.

I believe that only the gospel restored by Joseph Smith has the power to give me peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.

I dance only to embarass Sue.

I sing for my own enjoyment. I don't enjoy singing in choirs.

I write thousands of emails.

I win about half the time.

I dream of a lot of things. I just don't remember them when I wake up.

I lose the other half.

I never want it to be said of me that I did not take care of my family.

I listen to Sue, even though she doubts it at times.

I read almost anything that is non-technical. I love biographies of people I admire.

I am happy with my life.

Christmas Gift Exchange 2008

Merrrryyyyyy CHristmas!!!! It's never too soon to get shopping. Krista and I just did the drawing.

Alicia-- Landon
Scott- Laura
Teresa- Scott
Steve- Krista
Laura- Evan
Brian- Sarah
Jessica- Steve
Landon- Bryce
Sarah- Tawna
Bryce- Jessica
Evan- Alicia
Tawna- Teresa
Krista- Brian


We made sure that the names drawn were different from last year and the year before. Happy shopping.
COmment that you've seen this.

Steve & Teresa's Hawaiian Vacation

Steve and Teresa went to Hawaii. Sue went to babysit in Georgia. Krista went flitting around town. This blog documents what I did.



Put the pillow in the middle of the bed to make believe that Sue was sleeping next to me. (The pillow did not try to take all of the sheet.)



Tried to figure out how the food was supposed to get from the cold box to the table in an eatable condition. I would have starved without Jolly Cone.



Exercised.



Had Piko sleep in my bed...until she pooped in the closet. She now sleeps in the laundry room.



Tried to remember that her smiling face would be home within 2 weeks.


It was the longest that we have been apart in 34 years. SO, GIVE ME A BREAK!

My Tahoe Memories

The other members of the family have posted their favorite pictures from our Tahoe vacation. These are mine...



Aunt Jessica enjoying Sesame Street with the munchkins.



Brandon waiting patiently for his turn.



Grandma enjoying the grandkids.



Reading lessons



Brielle and Kea waiting for the downpour.

Seattle

I was so excited that we were going to be able to see Seattle that I took extra precautions to make sure that the camera was in my carry-on luggage. I also wanted the battery to be fully charged, so I took care of that. When I grabbed the camera in Seattle to go sight seeing, it wouldn't work. Some knuckle-head had forgotten to make sure the fully-charged battery was back in the camera when it was packed. So......these are all taken from my cell phone.



The view from our hotel room.

We took the Duck Tour, as Evan recommended in his last email. We kept a lookout for him but he was probably looking for girls to teach at U of W.

This is Sue on Mercer Island, where Evan served.

This is Sue in the water sculpture.

This is Roger in the shower. I got wet.

The Space Needle

This is Sue at the Space Needle



We are waiting 50 minutes to be served our lunch (there was a "mix-up" in the kitchen). We know it was that long because it takes the restaurant 48 minutes to turn 360 degrees. The view was beautiful.

This is the view towards the University of Washington. If you look closely, you can see Elder Evan in the upper right corner.

Buchanan Stuff

This is Sue and Brielle taking a nap. Notice that the princesses are napping on Sue's pillow and the turtle is on Brielles.
This is the Utilikilt in Seattle. A great place for Scots.

The Allred Boys

We had a great time in Utah. I did take my camera but I forgot it everywhere we went. I did not take a single picture of Anne, so you can go to the LA Allred website for her pretty face.
I did take a couple of shots on my new phone/camera. They are not very good quality, mostly because of an unsteady hand, but here they are...


Landon & Aiden making beautiful music together in the children's museum.
Bryce in his new apartment, with the cross-stich of his mission that Teresa made for him.

I am missing a picture of Elder Evan, but I will post that when we go visit him in Seattle.