September 14th through September 20th

September 14^th through September 20^th:  Monday we
took Ginny and Sam and their girls to lunch and then they treated us to a trip to Tracy Aviary.  Kate joined us with Stan and Abby.  

Sam playing with Willa and Xela a the Aviary.

Pelicans

Resting at the Aviary.

Owls

Feeding the ducks and pigeons.

Eagle

Bird watching.

Pink Flamingos.

Peacock

Cousin Fun.

Black neck Goose

Willa in not quite as big as a Condor.

Andean Condor

Ugly Bird

Tuesday morning early I took Sam and Ginny and their 2 sweet girls to the airport.  They have promised to visit us during our stay in Guatemala.  We spent 3 days, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Family History Library scanning pictures.  They have scanners that you can stack pictures on and they will scan them and then enhance them and then you can save them to a flash drive or an external hard drive.  It is so much faster than using a flatbed scanner.  We scanned thousands of our family photos.  We were going to take them all to Guatemala so that we could work on them.  But now we can work on them off the hard drive we loaded them onto.  Many of them we will be adding to family search.  

I must be about 5 years old.  Wearing my dad's WWII hat.

How did I ever convince her to marry me.  She is so beautiful.

Mom cut my hair on Friday.  I got what I paid for, for this haircut.  Mom forgot to put on the guard.

Someone got into the Nutela.

Friday we did a lot of shopping.  I got 2 pair of white shoes, white ties, a new white suit and 12 white shirts.  Chris got a new white skirt.  Saturday we got up early and went to the temple.  Chris then worked on salads for this afternoon and tomorrow.  I went into SLC and went to breakfast with my brother Van.  In the afternoon we had a family picnic.  We invited all of the Norman extended family to get together before we leave for 3 years.  We had cousins come from Idaho and my sister-in-law from Washington flew down.  Gar, my oldest brother passed away a few years ago and it has been a long time since we have been together.  Alice, my sister, did not make it because she is suffering and down with a bad case of the shingles.  But many of her kids and grandkids came.  My other two brother, of course, came and many of their kids and grandkids.  

Saturday afternoon picnic.

Saturday afternoon picnic.

Saturday afternoon picnic.

Tilda helping herself to the salsa.

Sunday we spoke in a ward that shares the building with our ward.  We had been asked by the high councilman to accompany him.  We then gave our homecoming and farewell talks in our home ward.  About 40 friends and family came and supported us.  We felt good about our talks and felt like the Spirit was present.  We received many kind thanks for the messages we shared.  Mom spoke of the blessings of technology in hastening the work of salvation on both sides of the veil and that the temple is an invitation to each of us to deepen our relationship with Heavenly Father and our savior, Jesus Christ.  I spoke about how we need the dead in order to have the opportunity to be in the House of the Lord on a regular basis, so that the Spirit can work on us and transform us into a person prepared to live with Father in Heaven.  In the afternoon we had an open house at my brother Van’s condo in Salt Lake for just the Norman family.  Most of the family came on Saturday, so there were only a few who we hadn’t seen yet.  It was so nice to see many of my nieces and nephews and their children and of course my brothers and their wives.  It was a great weekend and it was filled with emotions and the tender mercies of the Spirit. 

Sunday game of CEO.

Danielle and her daughter Ada.  Van's only great granddaughter.

More CEO

Jacob and Micheal.  My brother Van's grandsons who are at BYU and just finished their missions.  One went of Russia and the other to Colombia, Mom, Me and Charlotte.

Maude, Van's wife, my niece, Tad's daughter Liz and Van my brother.