Funerals

We have attended two funerals of good friends the last week. Jim served with both Mike Falck and Jinm Dunn in two different Stake Presidencies.  They were both good men and will be missed, but probably grateful to have been able to move on and progress and be active again. It brings you to a realization of your own mortality for sure.

 I choose not to go in the middle of a cold winter..........

Very nice hearse and the limo is for the family to follow in to the cemetary.

Homecoming

We talked in our ward today.  If we have given our homecoming talks, does it mean we are really home?  It is starting to feel a little more real.  It was great to see so many of our temple missionaries.  It was real dedication to make it to the 9 a.m. meeting.

We were able to visit for a little while afterward at our house.

Mordues, Hansens, Manwarings, Williams, Hoges and Taylers.  We were blessed to serve with wonderful people.... and not just the ones in this picture.

I found a bakery close by that does a reasonably good "Danish kranse"and I loved pulling out all my Danish dishes and decorations.

Missionary Meeting(s)

After attending our Stake Conference this morning...

 We drove out to Bountiful to hear Barb and Boyd Mordue report on their mission.  They did a terrific job and had us in tears as they talked about their sweet experiences in the temple. It was fun to get a little update from Copenhagen.

Don and Kayla Hansen, also some of our returned temple missionaries, came to the meeting as well.  It was so great to see them again.

Inauguration Day

The changing of presidents is always an exciting and amazing event.  Amazing that it can be done peacefully ( except for a few demonstrators) and exciting because of all the events.  These are a few second hand shots, but you get the idea.

 After the Inauguration Ceremony they drive to the White House.  The Trumps got out of their armoured car and walked a little.   I was impressed with Melania's lovely blue coat dress. The weather was cold and she looked terrific.  It was the perfect length, not too short....

 There were three Inaugural Balls, (down from 10)  This is the Trump and Pence (Vice President) Families dancing the first dance.

 Trump and Pence.  Mike Pence was our favorite of everyone running.

It will be an interesting next four years. Trump does not come from the political crowd. He seems to be more of a doer than an ideologist.   I was happy to hear his reference to God several times in his Inaugural address.  We haven't heard that for a while.  We echo his sentiment, "God Bless America."

Elsie Honey Williams

Our twenty-fifth grandchild, Elsie Honey Williams, was blessed today by her father, Brian.  Since Brian is the bishop of his ward, he filled out the meeting by having Jim and I speak about our temple experiences.  We will report in our home ward on January 29th at 9.00 a.m.  Jim worried about standing at the pulpit for 20 minutes, but did a great job.

Aunt Debbie got the best picture with Elsie.  Ours at the luncheon afterward, will pass for historical purposes,  Elizabeth's mother, Michelle, (Elsies's mor-mor) made the beautiful dress.

Back To The Temple!

We made it to our Stake Temple Day at the Salt Lake Temple today.  It was so good to be back in the temple. First time or Jim since November 1. The Salt Lake Temple really is a magnificent structure and it was interesting to see the changes in decorating they have made the last three years.  It is feeling more like the original of the late 1800's, beautiful and solid, with more dark wood furniture.

Welcome to the House of the Lord.

 Parking just across the street under the Conference Center is terrific and free for temple attenders.

A Lovely Invitation

Today we were invited to the Church Administration Building to meet with Elder Timothy Dyches, Assistant Director of the Temple Department and  General Authority Seventy.  He was our first contact when we were at the Temple in Copenhagen and followed our exciting exit very closely.
He was very kind and just wanted to make sure we were recovering and doing well.  Which we definitely are.  We had a lovely visit.

 His office is on the 4th of the 26 floor building, but has a spectacular view.

 The foyer is VERY spacious

 And the underground parking (by invitation) was almost as nice, close and out of the rainy weather.

Princess Party

All of our children and grandchildren are now back into their various cities and homes safely.  It is always fun to have everyone come to visit and great to have them home safe again.

But the partying continued.  Molly, our granddaughter, celebrated her 4th birthday with a Princess Extravaganza, including a visit from Cinderella and Jasmine, Molly's favorite princesses.

 As you can see, everyone was so excited!

The "Royal" family, Brian and Elizabeth, Molly, Kate and baby Elsie.  A fun day for everyone including Elizabeth, who planned and made the whole thing happen.  Some people create quilts and some create great parties.

 Pin the Tail on the Donkey was about as extravagent as I got.

Lights on Temple Square

Our son, Mike works right across the street from Temple Square.  We went to his office for a fabulous view out the 9th floor window.

Looking into the new City Creek Shopping Area.

Downtown Salt Lake is beautiful, especially at Christmas time.

Happy New Year!

Thanks to Kyle, a great son-in-law, we had fireworks for New Year's Eve.  A respectable tribute to our wonderful Danish New Year's Eves.  However, we lit them according to the East Coast's midnight which made it 10.00 p.m. here.  It was a much better time for all of our neighbors who weren't doing fireworks......

 

By New Year's Eve, everyone in our family had arrived for a couple of days together.  On New Year's Day, three were missing, but we grabbed an impromptu photograph anyway,

For years we have had a Holiday Open House for our neighbors. We held it again this year on New Year's Day.  It was honestly pure chaos, but lots of fun to visit with old friends.

 Creative grandkids, ate where they could find a spot....

Happy Birthday To Me On December 26.

Our family celebrates my birthday by going out to eat at a buffet.  Since Sweet Tomatoes closed we went to Golden Corral this year and had a great time.  An easy way to feed 27 people of all ages exactly what they want.