John and Christine's Adventures: December 26th through January 1st

December 26^th through January 1^st: Thursday we packed up and then we drove to St. George in southern Utah. Before going to the condo we had rented, we stopped at Smiths for groceries. All of our children, except James and his family, will be together for the next four days. We had 10 adults and 12 children all together. That night we fed everyone leftover Chinese from Christmas Eve and still had leftovers. I have to learn how to cook for less than 50. Jill, our daughter-in-law’s family, owns a condo, so John and his family and Charlotte and her family stayed in Jill’s condo. Chris and I and Kate and her family and Ginny and her family stayed in the one we rented. It was cozy but worked just fine. After dinner, we had a gift exchange for all the cousins.

Gift exchange.

Our children were so thoughtful and generous with their gifts to us. I was blown away by the gift we got John and Jill, Kate and Bryce and Charlotte and Alex. Our daughter-in- law, Jill, had taken my blog of our mission and had it printed in a hard back book. I cried as I turned the pages, so many memories and good feelings.

My Christmas Gift from the Kidos.

Friday, we took all those who wanted to go to the Johnson farm dinosaur track museum. John B. and his oldest decided on a bike ride, but everyone else enjoyed the museum.

Miles, Xela, Moose, and Kimball at the museum.

Willa getting a ride on Papa's shoulders.

Everyone trying to make Origami pterodactyls.

Ginny and Mom

Drawing Dinos.

4 cousins Jake, Xela, Stan and Luke.

After the museum it was lunch time and we made sandwiches. In the afternoon we took everyone to Frozen. There was a problem with the projector and they had to restart it twice, so after the movie they gave everyone a free pass. It was Kate’s birthday and she had chosen to go to “One Hot Grill”. She had read on a blog that it was the BEST hamburger in St. George. We located the small restaurant, but it was empty as I entered and some of the chairs were on the tables and it looked like they were ready to close. After the manager assured me they were open, I said, “Then fire up the grill, you got 22 hungry people to feed.” On the wall was a sign that read capacity 20 persons. We filled up the place. The food was great and the service even better.

Kate the birthday girl standing up.

Me and my burger.

Badger and Mom

John and Moose, notice the sign.

Saturday everyone had their morning free. We met at noon at the Sand Hollow Aquatic Center. We had arranged to have a birthday party there for Xela, Ginny’s daughter who turned 4. Everyone went swimming and then we had lunch and cake and Xela opened presents.

Don't look at the beached whale in the foreground.

Bathing beauties.

Kate and her family.

Xela's party.

More party fun.

That evening was game night. Badger was the CEO champ and we all had fun talking and playing games together. Sunday we filled up 2 rows at church. It was so fun to have almost all our posterity in church together. We had a ham and baked potatoes for lunch. We all drove to Pioneer Park on the bluff above St George. The kids had a good time hiking and walking on the hills and rocks.

Sam and Xela

Evan climbing the crack.

I did not make it through the crack.

We are pretty happy to be with our kids.

Monday I had to get up at 4:00am and head back to Salt Lake so I could make it to work by 9:30am. Mom stayed and helped clean up. It was a wonderful weekend and we loved being with our kids and grandkids. In the middle of the night I woke up and as I laid in bed trying to go back to sleep, I had the impression that I should start a new blog. So I got up and made a new blog. I have been thinking a lot about, how can I bless the lives of my children and grandchildren. I even pray for inspiration. I feel I received some as I laid in bed. My new blog is called “This I believe”. I want my grand children to know me and to know what makes me tick. So I will be posting short essays on what I believe. If you are interested, send me an e-mail and I will update you when I post. Here is the Introduction to the Blog.

This I Believe: Introduction

I woke up about an hour ago. It is 1:26am. For those of you who know me that is unusual. I am generally in bed early, last night it was about 9pm, and I get up early about 5 to 6 am. I have been laying in bed thinking and what came to my mind is the need to write another blog. A blog about what I believe. Four years ago, Chris and I went to China with the China Teachers Program at BYU. We were assigned to teach English at Nankai University in Tianjin China. We lived there for 2 years. As part of our classes, we developed lessons based on principles from the stories of people who had submitted their beliefs to the NPR radio program “This I Believe”. Part of the final exam was for the students to stand in front of the class and give a talk on what they believed in English. This experience was very rewarding and it started me thinking what do I believe? This blog is part journal, part family history, and part my attempt to maybe help others to think about what they believe in. I am inspired by the scripture, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." -- Proverbs, chapter 23, verse 7. For me this means that what we think about, what we believe in, what motivates us is what we really are or what we will really become. You can really know what kind of person you are when you look at what you think about when you don’t have anything to do. Where does your mind go? What do you think about? Where is your heart? I have to say that most of the time on our last mission, when I had time on my hands, my thoughts were often about how to return to live with Father in Heaven? What must I do to lay hold of eternal life? Since returning home my spare thoughts have been on what do I need to do to finish Charlotte’s kitchen. I miss thinking about how to get home. This blog is also an attempt to get me back on track with what is most important and to leave a record for my children and grandchildren and generations to come about what did papa think about and believe in. I hope they will read this and come to know me and maybe they will believe in what I believe in.

Tuesday I got together for lunch with two good friends and old mission companions, Lee Crayk and Doug Thayne. It was so fun to talk and be with them. Mom and I got away in the afternoon and went to the movies with our free passes. We saw “Saving Mr. Banks”. I did not ring in the New Year. I was in bed asleep by 8:30pm. I worked on New Year’s Day. I hope everyone that reads this blog will have a great 2014. 3 weeks and waiting.