Utah in October

In October we went to Utah to receive three days of training for our new callings as Nashville Temple President and Matron.  Our temple president’s seminar took place in the Salt Lake Temple and our meals were all on Temple Square, with our hotel a short walk away.

 

The seminar was an incredible experience that we will never forget.  We were able to receive instruction from each member of the First Presidency, several Apostles, and members of the Seventy and Temple Department.  A highlight was going on a temple session with the other 52 new Temple Presidents and Matrons.  It was truly a special spiritual experience.  We came back to Tennessee feeling better prepared for our new callings. 

We spent most our time attending the seminar, but we were able to squeeze in many other things: 

--Visit to Syracuse to see Russ’s sisters and various family members

--Cristy Valentine took us on a personal tour of President Monson’s office

--Lunch with Joel and Jenica in downtown Salt Lake City

--Dinner with Sharlene's cousins: Paul and Bonnie Oscarson, Judith Nielsen, Bob and Chris Brown, followed by visiting and dessert at Oscarson’s home

--Taking care of Andrew and Sam while their parents were in Arizona where Brad received his second Regional Emmy.

--Shopping in City Creek and the BYU Bookstore

--Delicious home-made breakfast at Sue and Ramon Sanft’s

--Picnic at Olympic Park with Cara and Will Dahlquist’s family, Randy Thorpe, Zach and Aunalisa Thorpe, Angela Christensen and family, Allie Sexton, Eric and Heidi Thorpe’s family, Joel and Jenica’s family, Brad and Susan’s family.  All braved the cold.

--Visiting the Lehi Barbers

--Visiting the Provo Barbers including lunch in the Harris Fine Arts building with Brad

--Visiting an old friend from Knoxville (Mike Gibson)

--Visiting Provo Bakery, the building of the new Provo Temple, BYU campus, etc.

--Celebrated Sam's 4th Birthday

 

 

Our welcome gifts & seminar packets at the Hotel Raddison

The Tabernacle Choir sang for us

Handcart Statue

Lunch with the Griffins

Lunch at the Church Office Building



Salt Lake Temple



On Campus with Brad



Cousins Allie and Ashley



Picnic at Olympic Park

Russ with Angy and Christian



Eric and Heidi Thorpe and boys



Sam, Spencer, and Lincoln



Susan, Angy, and Jenica



Allie, Cara, and baby Connor

Go BYU!!



Jonah, Hale, Koen, & Silas in Lehi

Happy 4th Birthday, Sam!



Home-grown pumpkins

 



Table cloth crocheted by Elaine gifted to us on this trip

My amazing sister, Cara

I have a very unusual situation.  And by “situation,” I mean family relation.  I have two older sisters and two younger brothers. My mother had many miscarriages, so I always felt very blessed that I got to grow up in a family of five children. And I love each one of them. 

But what I didn’t expect is that I would get the wonderful surprise of another sister many years after my mother died. My father remarried Jean and to them was born my younger sister, Cara. Cara is much younger than me and much younger than my children. We always laugh when we talk about her being the aunt to my much older children.

My sister is amazing. Cara is wife to the wonderful Will Dahlquist and mother to three darling boys.  The oldest, Lincoln will soon turn 4, next comes Spencer who just turned two, and baby Connor is about 6 ½ months.  Cara not only takes care of her three little boys, but she also is a professional photographer (go to her web site here), trained in HypnoBirthing and works at HypnoBirthing Utah. She’s also an advocate of Empowering Fearless Birth and was a speaker at this year’s conference.  Did I also mention that she is an artist?   She is multi-talented. She throws the most marvelous parties and is a fantastic cook.  There is so much more I could say about Cara, but I mostly just want to say that I love her and am so very proud of her.  I stand all amazed at her maturity and talent. And she’s just a really nice, nice person and friend to all.

Not only is Cara a loving wife and great mother, but she has weathered some pretty difficult trials in her very young life.  For instance, the birth of her first baby:  Lincoln spent the first 6 weeks of his life in hospitals starting with his birth at Orem Community, then to Primary Children’s, and finally to Lucile Packard Children's in Palo Alto, California.  Instead of Cara bringing home her first born baby, he was air-lifted to California, with Cara and Will traveling there shortly after.  She was amazing during this time!  If you want to read Cara’s story of Lincoln’s journey go here. And I could tell you the story of when her husband Will had a car fall on him and the long struggle with his recovery.  But Cara and Will are resilient and they managed these challenges with grace. So I’ll stop talking and share some pictures. I have more of when Cara was younger, but I was too lazy to scan them, but I’ve included a few.

 

A very young Cara



Cara with Brad and Lori



Cara and Lori

And then she grew up................................................

Lincoln's Open Heart Surgery shortly after he was born

The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee

Watching General Conference - Oct. 5, 2013

Cara's four boys!  :)

Cara is simply amazing!!!!

Baseball Hall of Fame - a dream come true

Russ had a very special 73rd birthday and I decided I wanted him to report it right here in first person.  So here's his report:

 

"Growing up, I loved playing baseball.  I often attended minor league games and then when we lived in the Bay Area for 14 years, we were able to watch both the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s play.  I loved watching Willie Mays and Willie McCovey play for the Giants.  After moving to Tennessee, we also watched a few of the Atlanta Braves games.  Many of the players I followed during those years are now in the Hall of Fame.  So it was a very special treat to go with my three sons Troy, Joel, and Brad to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York on September 13.  We had tried in years past to schedule the trip and thanks in large part to Joel’s persistence, we made it this year.  I would love to have had Sharlene with me as she also played baseball and softball in her youth and continues to enjoy it.

I flew from Tennessee to New York City where I joined up with Brad and Joel who flew in from Utah and with Troy who flew in from California and then we drove to Cooperstown that night.  We spent the whole next day inside the hall drinking in all the history and trivia about my favorite sport.  We saw several films, my favorite being highlights from past World Series games.  It brought back so many memories.  In addition to the actual plaques for each member of the hall, there were great displays and stories about Hank Aaron, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and all the other great players.  There was memorabilia galore including pictures, original uniforms, spikes, bats, and many famous home run balls.  It was truly a dream come true to be there.

The next day happened to be my 73rd birthday and we celebrated by watching a couple of innings of baseball at the Cooperstown baseball field where the yearly old timers game is held.  I would have loved to go out and take a couple of swings.  We then drove back to New York City where my sons treated me to a great birthday dinner and gave me a commemorative baseball they had all signed.  It was truly a trip to remember.  Thanks boys for the memories."

Arriving at the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame - Joel, Russ, Troy, Brad



Inside the Hall of Fame with Babe Ruth

Giants fans through and through

 

Some of the first to make the Hall of Fame

Russ anticipates the old timers' game

Celebrating Russ's 73rd Birthday at Five Points Restaurant in NYC

 NEW YORK CITY

The subways of New York City