Just Our News

New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

It's been almost a year since I posted. I thought I would post my goals for 2011, and hopefully, this year I will do a better job at posting. I have been thinking a lot about a book I read many years ago, and as a result, these are my New Year's resolutions:
Agreement 1
Be impeccable with your word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Agreement 2
Don’t take anything personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
Agreement 3
Don’t make assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Agreement 4
Always do your best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

I believe if we could make these a part of our daily lives, we will be much happier, live with more peace, and live as our Heavenly Father would want us to. I ask my family to help me with these goals and remind me if they see me not keeping these agreements. (Oh, and I promise I won't get mad if you say, "Mom, remember the agreements!!) ha ha.

CHILLIN' AT GRANDMA'S HOUSE

2010-03-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

"I'm so cute!!!"

"Are you lookin' at me?"

"My name is Ava Kate and I look like this 95% of the time, especially when Uncle Shad is making funny faces at me!"

" Grandma gives me the silliest things to play with"

LIFE IS A TEST

2010-02-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

"If any man or woman expects to enter into the celestial kingdom of our God without being tested to the very uttermost, they have not understood the Gospel. If there is a weak spot in our nature, or if there is a fiber that can be made to quiver or to shrink, we may rest assured that it will be tested. Our own weaknesses will be brought fully to light, and in seeking for help, the strength of our God will also be made manifest to us." George Q. Cannon

WOW!! BUSY YEAR!!

2009-12-31T21:08:00.000-08:00

With just a few hours left in 2009, I am reflecting back on what an amazing year it has been. Brett came home from his mission in July; we welcomed our precious granddaugher, Ava Kate, into our family on September 3rd; then 12 days later, September 15th, we officially welcomed Annika into the Sommerville Family as we celebrated Brett and Annika's marriage. We have been truly blessed with these wonderful events and additions to our family. It was so nice to have our entire family together this Christmas season, after being separated the last two years. There is nothing better than being surrounded with all of our children, laughing, playing, and of course, in our family, a whole bunch of teasing and sarcasm. Unfortunately for Robyne, she seems to get the brunt of it from her three older brothers. I keep telling her it is the way they show their love, but for some reason (ha ha) she doesn't believe me!! We look forward to finding out what 2010 has in store for us!!

WHAT WE KNEW BEFORE

2009-12-18T06:29:00.000-08:00

"We knew before we were born that we were coming to the earth for bodies and experience and that we would have joys and sorrows, ease and pain, comforts and hardships, health and sickness, successes and disappointments, and we knew also that after a period of life we would die. We accepted all these eventualities with a GLAD heart, EAGER to accept both the favorable and unfavorable. We EAGERLY accepted the chance to come earthward even though it might be for only a day or a year. Perhaps we were not so much concerned whether we should die of disease, of accident, or of senility. We were willing to take life as it came and as we might organize and control it, and this without murmur, complaint, or unreasonable demands"--Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 106

THE REASON FOR THE WORLD

2009-12-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

This is what I learned this morning in my studies as I sit here feeding my beautiful grandbaby. We have all the answers as members of The Church but the most important thing we are here on this earth to learn, we sometimes forget..... without charity, the pure love of Christ, we are nothing.
This is a post that I came across that says it all. Be sure and listen to the song at the bottom of the post. It is amazing...
http://mormonmatters.org/2008/02/10/the-reason-for-the-world/

TEMPLES

2009-12-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

As I am preparing to teach the Old Testament to my Sunday School class next year, I have spent my morning reading time learning about the ancient Temples. The importance of the Temple has been on my mind continuously and I want to make it a goal next year to attend the Temple much more often than I did this year. As I was reading this morning, I came across this quote which perfectly states my thoughts I have been having these last few weeks:

Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, emeritus member of the Seventy, said:
The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Satan has and will unleash every evil, every scheme, every blatant vile perversion ever known to man in any generation. Just as this dispensation is the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. We and our wives and husbands, our children, and our members must find safety. There is no safety in the world; wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership alone in this Church will not guarantee it.
As the evil night darkens upon this generation, we must come to the temple for light and safety. In our temples we find quiet, sacred havens where the storm cannot penetrate to us… Before the Savior comes the world will darken. There will come a time when even the elect will begin to lose hope if they do not come to the temples. The world will be so filled with evil that the righteous will only feel secure through their faith in Christ and within the temple walls. I believe the Saints will come to the temples not only to do vicarious work but to find a God-given haven of peace. The true and faithful Latter-day Saints will long to bring their children to our temples for safety’s sake… There will be greater hosts of unseen beings in the temple. Joseph told the brethren, “And I beheld that the temple was filled with angels” (History of the Church, vol. 2, page 428). I believe prophets of old as well as those in this dispensation will visit the temples. Those who attend the temples will feel their strength and companionship. We will not be alone in our temples.
Endowed faithful members of the Church who keep all their covenants including the sacred coverings will be safe as protected behind temple walls.9

I am so grateful for my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the privilege I have been given to be sealed to my family in the Temple of the Lord. I am blessed to live within walking distance to the Temple and know that I will be held to a higher standard as to my attendance. We must become a Temple-going and Temple-loving people in these last days, as that is the only thing that will give us the power we will need to withstand the troubled times ahead.

Where has two years gone?

2009-07-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

It's really hard to believe it has been two years minus 6 days since we took this picture of Elder Sommerville. Can't wait to post new pics in less than a week. It will be a wonderful reunion with the family.

THINGS I'VE LEARNED ABOUT MAKING JUDGMENTS

2009-07-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

Commenting on Christ's request that His crucifiers be forgiven )"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" -- Luke 23:34) one commentator noted:

Who are the "they" who "do not know what they are doing?"...In Luke 23:34a the "they" for whom Jesus is praying includes both the Romans and the Jews in proportion to their respective roles in Jesus's death...In [Luke's] understanding, no matter how much the evil was plotted, the perpetrators can always be said not to have known (i.e., appreciated God's goodness or plan) or else they would not have acted as they did. In opposing Jesus's followers to the point of stoning them, Paul who was allied with the chief priests said: "I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things against the name of Jesus the Nazorean" (Acts 26:9). Yet surely Luke would judge that Paul did not know what he was doing...One might sum up Luke's attitude thus: If there were those who did not know because they had not been told, there were also those who did not know because, although they had been told, they did not grasp.

In other words, just as Jesus could say, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do," it can be said of all who sin, "They know not what they do." For, which of us, having an eternal perspective restored to us, would continue to do things which we know to be contrary to God's will?

When we look upon those steeped in sin or those tempted to stray from the path, we must, with Christ, petition the Father to forgive them. We must ASSUME THE BEST of them and part of that "BEST" is recognizing that most people commit sin because "they know not what they do." It is the Lord's place to judge their hearts and their choices. It is our place to unconditionally love them as He loves them.

HANDBOOK 2009

2009-05-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

HEALTH:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2008.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

PERSONALITY:
11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

SOCIETY:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

LIFE:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

LATEST INSTACARE VISIT

2009-05-19T08:52:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I had just been thinking, wow, it's been so long since our family has had any kind of medical emergency. Medical bills had become a weekly, if not daily, part of our visit to the mailbox. From surgeries, cancer checkups, knee MRIs, feet pain checks, mouth surgeries, cysts, etc. We were just beginning to feel like we were finally catching up. Well, not to worry, last night Shad's eyebrow and the court met with a bang!! Blood all over, as you can see, and a trip to Instacare at 9:50 p.m. Luckily they close at 10:00 p.m. and to our great surprise, seven stitches later, we were in and out in about 25 minutes. I think that is a record for the time spent in Instacare!! We were very grateful we did not have to go to the emergency room, and back to the familiar, medical bills in our mailbox!! By the way, we did end up winning the game...Go Miners!!

TEMPLES Part I

2009-04-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

These next few posts are taken from a paper prepared by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone May 26, 1993. Sixteen years later, I believe it is imperative that we follow this counsel:

The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Satan has and will unleash every evil, every scheme, every blatant vile perversion ever known to man in any generation. Just as this dispensation is the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. We and our wives and husbands, our children, and our members must find safety. There is no safety in the world; wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership alone in this Church will not guarantee it. As the evil night darkens upon this generation, we must come to the temple for light and safety. In our temples we find quiet, sacred havens where the storm cannot penetrate to us. Unseen sentinels often times watch over us. The Prophet Joseph plead with God during the dedicatory prayer at Kirtland: "And we ask Thee Holy Father that Thy servants may go forth from this house (temple) armed with Thy power and that Thy name may be upon them and Thine angels have charge over them." The Lord has promised, "For I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."(Doctrine & Covenants 84:88) Surely angelic attendants guard the temples of the most high God. It is my conviction as it was in the days of Elisha so it will be for us. "They that be with us are more than they that be with them."(2 Kings 6:16)

HOPE

2009-03-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

"We must not lose hope. Hope is an anchor to the souls of men. Satan would have us cast away that anchor. In this way he can bring discouragement and surrender. But we must not lose hope. The Lord is pleased with every effort, even the tiny, daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him. Though we may see that we have far to go on the road to perfection, we must not give up hope."--Ezra Taft Benson, "A Mighty Change of Heart," Ensign, Oct. 1989, 2

FUTURE ADVERSITY

2009-03-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

President George Q. Cannon put present and future adversity into perspective when he said:
“No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, [God] will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character [to do so]. He is an unchangeable being; the same yesterday, the same today, and He will be the same throughout the eternal ages to come. We have found that God. We have made Him our friend, by obeying His Gospel; and He will stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them, if we only trust in our God and keep His commandments.”

2009-03-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

Shad's Junior Prom 2009

Shad and Whitney went to prom together Friday night. They went to dinner at "The Roof" and then prom was held at the State Capitol.

Something to think about with all of the"Big Love" hoopla.

2009-03-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

Quote made years ago by Hugh B. Nibley:
"Even though everyone may discover what goes on in the temple, and many have already revealed it, the important thing is that I do not reveal these things; they must remain sacred to me. I must preserve a zone of sanctity which cannot be violated whether or not anyone else in the room has the remotest idea what the situation really is.... No matter what happens, it will, then, always remain secret; only 2 know exactly the weight and force of the covenants I have made--I and the Lord with whom I have made them--unless I choose to reveal them. If I do not, then they are secret and sacred no matter what others may say or do. Anyone who would reveal these things has not understood them, and therefore that person has not given them away. You cannot reveal what you do not know!"Author: Hugh Nibley...Source: "The Temple and the Cosmos," p. 64.

WHY DO WE HAVE TRIALS?

2009-03-13T06:48:00.001-07:00

Elder Neal Maxwell said: “The truth about foreordination also helps us to partake of the wisdom of Alma , when he said we ought to be content with things that God has allotted to each of us. ( Alma 29:3-4). If, indeed, the things allotted to each were divinely customized according to our ability and capacity, then for us to seek to wrench ourselves free of every schooling circumstance in mortality is to tear ourselves away from matched opportunities. It is to go against divine wisdom, wisdom in which we may once have concurred before we came here and to which we once gave assent.”

BUILDING A GODLIKE LIFE

2009-03-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

"...we must be careful, as we seek to become more and more godlike, that we do not become discouraged and lose hope. Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible. The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives changed dramatically, in an instant... But we must be cautious as we discuss these remarkable examples. Though they are real and powerful, they are the exception more than the rule. For every Paul, for every Enos, and for every King Lamoni, there are hundreds and thousands of people who find the process of repentance much more subtle, much more imperceptible. Day by day they move closer to the Lord, little realizing they are building a godlike life. They live quiet lives of goodness, service, and commitment. They are like the Lamanites, who the Lord said "were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not." (3 Ne. 9:20; italics added.)"--Ezra Taft Benson, "A Mighty Change of Heart," Ensign, Oct. 1989, 2

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM ELDER SOMMERVILLE

2009-02-24T12:49:00.000-08:00

President taught in the last zlc after reading Helaman 5:12 that the winds will come. He said they might come with doubt, temptation, trying to cut corners with your job, whatever it might be, but that everyone has to have that trial. He said I know you can't even imagine possibly doubting what you know and preach to be true, but when those days come the Lord will test just how deep your roots are planted in gospel sod. That principle scares me, because I know a trial will have to come some day, 'cause I feel like I haven't really had a trial by fire, and I say that with the most humility possible. But I love this gospel, and it's amazing what it can do for you....

2009-02-21T08:03:00.001-08:00

"If we can pattern our life after the Master, and take his teachings and example as the supreme pattern for our own, we will not find it difficult to be consistent and loyal in every walk of life, for we will be committed to a single, sacred standard of conduct and belief." --Howard W. Hunter, "Standing As Witnesses of God", Ensign, May 1990, 60

OBEDIENCE

2009-02-13T06:39:00.001-08:00

I have been thinking a lot about obedience lately. Mostly, I think, because the Long Beach Mission stresses 100% obedience constantly. When Brett bore his testimony to us during his Christmas phone call, the two things he said he has learned most on his mission is the power of obedience and the power of the Book of Mormon and its ability to change lives. I came across this quote in my daily studies and I just wanted to share it:
"Regardless of our age and stage in life, daily obedience to gospel principles is the only sure way to eternal happiness. President Ezra Taft Benson put it most poignantly when he said, 'When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.'” - Elder Donald L. Staheli, May 1998 Ensign

QUOTE OF THE DAY

2009-02-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

"It is important that you have oil in your lamps so that when you say to the Lord, "Here am I; send me," you are prepared and qualified to be sent. We are all heaven sent, but what we are able to accomplish in the Lord's work depends to a large extent on our willingness and ability." --James E. Faust, "You Are All Heaven Sent", Ensign, Nov. 2002, 110

PLEASE TAKE ACTION!!

2009-02-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

If you love the United States of America as much as we do, we would encourage you to take the following action. This comes from the Web site glennbeck.com, however, we wanted to post it on our Blog for our family and friends, and, of course, for any Blog stalkers out there that happen to stumble upon our Blog:

GLENN: So I'm going to just ask you right now just to think of these things and just answer out loud. Just say to yourself yes or no. Yes or no. Is this who I am? Is this what I believe? Because I believe you and I agree on most of these.

1) Yes or no: Do you believe America is a good place, that we've lost our way over the years, that we have done bad things but generally speaking we tried hard. We try to make amends. We have tried to do the right thing. Just like everybody else, we fail from time to time and we have truly lost our way in the last 20 years. But gosh, if you look at America, she's good and our founders were good and our founding documents are good. We've just strayed too far away from them. Yes or no.

2) Yes or no: I believe in God. I may not go to the same church or synagogue or mosque as the majority of people in America, but I believe in God and he is the center of my life, and God does not tell people to behead others or to persecute others that see God in a different way. As long as that god is not telling them to persecute others.
Yes or no.

3) Yes or no: It is my responsibility to try to be better and a more honest person than I was yesterday. Sometimes I fail, I'll make mistakes, but it's my main mission to be better than I was personally than I was yesterday.

4) Yes or no: The family is sacred. I and my spouse are the ultimate authority under God when it comes to my family. I raise my family, and that comes with a grave responsibility. If I fail, I answer to God.

5) Yes or no: If you break the law, you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6) Yes or no: I have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but that is not a guarantee of equal results.

7) Yes or no: I work hard for what I have, and I will share it with others that I choose when I choose, should I choose. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8) It is not un-American for anyone to disagree with my opinion, but my opinion or others' opinions may be anti-American. Anti-American rhetoric would be anything that is destructive to the Constitution and our country as our founders understood it.

9) And the last one is the government works for me. The government answers to me. I do not answer to the government.

How many are there? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. There are nine of them. Do you agree with seven of them?

Here's what I want you to do. Step one: No matter where you are right now, I want you to take a picture of yourself. I want you to take a picture, and I ask you and you'll understand as we go in the next couple of weeks, I ask you if you could bring these and ask your children -- can we post these please on the Internet, on the website? I want you to ask as many people as you know, do you believe in these things? Just seven out of nine. Do you believe in them? Then will you please take a picture of yourself. If you ask your family and you ask your children tonight, do you believe in these things. Take a picture of your spouse. Not as a family. Take them one at a time and send them to me, e-mail them to me at Wesurroundthem@gmail.com. This is how much I believe that you are not alone.

Glenn Beck will be having a special on his TV show in the next couple of weeks regarding this "we surround them" movement. It will be a way for those who believe in our Founding Fathers' principles, and believe in preserving the freedom of our country, to have our voices heard!!

2009-01-30T16:37:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to announce that Tara and James are going to have a little Carpenter added to their family in August!! Yes, that's right, we are going to be grandparents. Wow, that just doesn't sound right yet; but we couldn't be more excited for them, and, of course, for us. Everyone we talk to tells us how much fun being grandparents is. We get to spoil, and not discipline, finally!! After 22 years of raising our own kids, we are ready to dote on our little grandbaby. The best news of all is that Tara's due date is August 28th; that's right, Robyne and Aunt Marci's birthday!! Congrats Tara and James!

2009-01-27T20:20:00.000-08:00

2008 Christmas was spent in California, visiting lots of family and friends. We started out in San Francisco and saw the sites. We headed to Fresno to visit Grandpa Sommerville and Aunt Kathy and Uncle Gil. We had a great time bowling with Grandpa, but, of course, he beat everyone. He gave Robyne some great pointers! Next we made our way down to Porterville to visit Grandma and Grandpa Irish; had a great visit getting to know the dogs and cats!! Next stop was good ol' Bakersfield, visiting Grandma and Grandpa Van Wagoner, Uncle Craig and Aunt Cheryl and our nieces and nephews. We then headed down to San Diego where we met up with Shad and his Bingham basketball team for the Torrey Pines tournament, with, of course, stops at Knotts Berry Farm and Sea World. We were so happy that Grandma and Grandpa Van Wagoner and Uncle Dave, Tyler and Ian could come down and watch some of Shad's games. We were so happy to see everyone. We even made a stop in Long Beach to see a couple of Brett's old apartments and to meet President Sexton. What a treat that was!!!

2008-11-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

So it was October 17th here in Utah and it was looking like it was going to be a pretty decent day with temps in the low 70s. Since we only got the boat out for one trip this year, I thought it would be nice to get out one more time. Checked on line and water temp at Utah lake was 60 to 65 degrees. Pretty chilly but not way cold. So here's Shad on what was very good water, nice and smooth. We got there a little before noon so the air temperature was still only in the low 60's and I forgot the wet suits at home in the garage. Well, I don't know if you can see it on this picture, but the water temp was only 48 degrees!! It was so cold you couldn't breath in the water. Once you got out of the water, it was actually quite pleasant. I guess that comes from all of those early morning runs when the water temp is 70 and the air temps are in the 50s.

But, we could only handle two runs and then we had to get out. It was just too cold. My problem, however, was that I couldn't get out of the bindings when I was done. I was freeeezing! But I finally made it. I can tell you, had I had a wet suit, it would have been a great day.

If you look at Shad's run above, you'll see a shallow layer of colder air that had some moisture in it. Yea, a bit cool.

Check out this picture of Annika's legs. You can see the goose pimples on them. She's a bit of a light weight, ha ha.

So the crazies were me, Shad, Annika, Robyne, Cliff, and Cliff's friend Shana. We all got in the water except for Cliff's friend, she was the only sane one. I'll do it again next year but I'll remember to take the wet suits.

2008-10-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

Golf in Midway

2008-10-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

It's Adam's birthday and his annual golf outing in Midway. Here is a picture of a calm lake with Curt and Adam getting ready to tee off. We normally play Wasatch State Park but it was already booked when Adam made the Tee times so we played at Soldier Hollow. As you can see, it was a beautiful day and a beautiful course. It is a links course with a lot of sand and I found a lot of it. It rained pretty heavily for about 15 minutes but the rest of the day was just great! I can't wait till next year's birtday.

More Pics of Our Trip to France

2008-10-05T19:26:00.001-07:00

The day after we spent one day in Paris and saw Notre Dame, we went out to the Loire Valley. Whoa, was is beautiful. The first chateau we went to was this one and with the exception of Versailles, it's probably one of the biggest chateaus in France. It's called Chambord and it is absolutely amazing. All of the different roof lines are amazing. There is a very cool spiral staircase in the middle of it where one person could go up and another person could go down at the same time and not pass by each other. It is speculated that Leonard da Vinci designed the staircase as he was asked by Francois the 1st, the king of France at that time, to come to France and Francois and Leonardo da Vinci were good friends and Leonardo lived close by this chateau. Anyway, here's a picture of the staircase.

A pic of the front, or in this case I guess it's the rear, of Chambord. This was probably my favorite chateau that we saw. Francoise the 1st commissioned this chateau and spent a total of like 22 days here. It was made to be nothing more than a hunting lodge. He never saw it completed however. This picture shows a little motorized boat in the lake that surrounds about 50% of the chateau. It's way big. You could put four or five waterski courses on it and still have plenty of room. Maybe they used it for fishing but I never really saw any references to fishing, but a lot of hunting.

Here's a picture of Chenonceau. My ranking puts it right up there alongside Chambord in it's coolness factor. This place has it's own beautiful gardens, big gardens and it's built over a river. Originally there was just a bridge crossing the river here and then Katherine Briconnet decided to build on the bridge. In France it's called Château des Dames as recorded in the French history books, Chenonceau owes a large part of its charm to women: it was built in 1513 by Katherine Briçonnet, then made even more attractive by Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Médicis, and saved from the rigours of the French Revolution by Mrs Dupin. No question it's very beautiful. Notice the french babe posing for a shot for me? Her name was Cherie and she's from Versailles - jk, don't know who she was but I got her in my shot while she was posing for her beau.

This shot is of the chateau out in Angers. It's different since it was built more of a fortress rather than just a hugh fancy house of the rich and famous. Here, Kelly is standing on the actual drawbridge. The walls of this place where several feet thick and way tall. Very different from the other chateaux that we saw so this one was fun since it was so different.
What can I say but "beautiful"! I picked this chateau, actually three of the chateaux that we saw, I picked since I bought pictures of them when I was coming home from my mission. I had never even seen them while on my mission so that has always been a goal of mine. I had them framed a few years after my mission. Jerrol's mom did it and it cost a small fortune. I had no idea they would cost so much but hey, they still look great and now I'm going to frame our photos of the same ones. This one is Saumur. It's way cool too cause it overlooks the Loire River. Here's a shot from across the river. Speaking of the river, here's a shot out of our bedroom window at our Bed & Breakfast. Yea, it was pretty romantic. I highly recommend a trip to the Loire Valley if you plan a trip to France. It was relaxing and very enjoyable. Rural France is very charming.

Our favorite day, however, was when we slowed down a bit and decided to spend the entire day in Amboise France. A big town/small city, it has a great little downtown area right by the Chateau. I think we had lunch and dinner on the same small street there in town. I think I could have spent three lazy and relaxing days right there. I probably will never get there again in my life, but I will return in memories. Here's a shot of the area from the cafe where we had lunch. Amboise happens to be where Leonardo da Vinci lived when he came to France and he's buried right there in the Chapel of the Chateau.

This is just a picture of the courtyard of the Louvre from one of the windows in the Louvre. It is so amazingly hugh it would take several days to see everything. We met another couple from Salt Lake that had spent several hours there and didn't see the Venus de Milo statue. The glass pyramid wasn't there when I was there last. I actually liked how they put it together like that. I was afraid I would think it looked stupid.

The first day back in Paris, Kelly and I took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe. We got out of the Metro and were right there at the head of Champs-Elysees. We walked all the way from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde. This is where I took this pic of Kelly with the Eiffel Tower in the background. I really wanted Kelly to see this area since we get to see it every year in the Tour de France.
One of the few shots of me during our Paris trip. This is one of the fountains at the Place de la Concorde. The weather was really outstanding during our entire trip. It was pretty cool in the mornings but the sun came out every day and it was very warm in the afternoons. We had a little bit of rain the very first day we were in Paris before we went out to the Loire Valley. Enough for us to buy an umbrella but we didn't use it much.

On our trip back to Paris, we stopped first at the Palace at Versailles. If you've never been there, it's really hard to describe the enormity of it. The thousands and thousands of hours to build the palace is unfathonable to me. The craftmanship is perhaps unmatched in any other building in the world. There is so much gold leafing in the palace. They said that in one room alone, during the reconstrucion, it took over 5 lbs. of gold - just in one room.

Our Trip to France

2008-09-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

So I finally got Kelly to France! She was talking about wanting to go on a neat vacation. I asked where she wanted to go and I was thinking she'd say San Diego or San Francisco, her favorite cities. When she said Paris, I couldn't believe it. We made the reservations that night. So here we are.

I tell everyone that the real Mona Lisa is the one standing in front. Way cuter than the one hanging on the wall.

The night picture is a shot I took of our street where our apartment was in Paris. We stayed just a half block away from Sacre Coeur which is right by Montmarte. It was a great place - Tiny to be sure but way fun.

We originally planned on leaving on a Saturday but because we were flying to Houston the same day hurricane Ike decided to come on shore we left on Friday. We stayed four nights out in the Loire Valley and saw lots of Chateaux out there. Wow, unbelievably beautiful. We stayed in a great little B&B in a place right outside of Amboise, France. That is where Leonardo Da Vinci spent the last few years of his life and he's buried there at the chapel on the grounds of the chateau there. Our stay in the Loire Valley was very relaxing and extremely enjoyable. After our fifth day out there we changed gears and went to Paris. We stayed there six days and saw all the sights!

Here's a night shot I took of the underneath side of the Eiffel Tower. We went to the very top about twenty minutes before sunset so we were able to see the sunset over Paris. We hung out up there for about 40 minutes in all so we could see the lights of Paris.

Everyone asks me if the language came back. I must say I was pretty pleased with it. The first night I was watching TV and I think I understood about 20% of what I heard. Then the next day it was like a switch was turned on. I rented our car and didn't use English at all. I had a 15 minute conversation with the owner of the B&B and he told me he'd never heard an American that spoke French as well as I did. Well, I think he was being a little too kind or he hasn't been around a lot of Americans that speak French but after 25 years, I'll take that compliment.

Paris is pretty much how I remembered it except it seemed way busier and hectic. I guess when you live there, you don't go to all the tourist areas and you pretty much avoid the crowds. The worst part of the trip was when we left in the morning to go to the airport. Kelly's metro ticket didn't work and I told the attendant that we just bought the ticket's the day before. The guy says that they're not going to work since the train going to the airport was on strike and not running. Oh great, I could just see us getting to the airport too late to make our trip. I had no idea how long it would take us to get there in a taxi. Well, it all worked out. Ticks me off that they sold me those tickets when they knew that line was on strike. Other than that, a great and memorable trip.