Tragic snowmobile accidents, Alzheimer's, cancer, complications from surgury/diabetes/other illness, "unexpected death," etc, etc

Reading nearly 200 obituaries over a span of 12 hours tends to get to you.

Not so sleepless in Seattle … but snowy

Thanks to Bill and Diane (Ben’s great parents), we were able to fly to Kent, Wash. to see our nephew Ethan get baptized, and stay with Ben’s brother Matt, his wife Dani and the rest of their kids! We had a lot of fun and really loved the Seattle area, even though I about froze to death the entire time.

Seriously, it was around 25-30 degrees, and – even though Logan was 0 today – Washington felt WAY colder to me. I’m part wimp, but I think the humidity had something to do with it.
We were so lucky to experience a rarity in the Seattle area: A snowstorm! It only accumulated like three inches, but it totally shuts down the town. School and church cancellations and everything. Because it’s a rarity, no one is prepared for the layers of ice plastered to the hilly, curvy roads it creates. I think I saw one snowplow, and NO salt. But Dani was a great host, and braved the roads to show us some of the sights!

The trees are my favorite things we saw. They are so thick and tall and green. Everything is green with moss, which I think is beautiful, but I learned can get pretty annoying when it grows on your cars and stuff. My jaw drops when I see the trees; they are so glorious.
By Monday, the skies miraculously cleared, the sun came out, and we were able to squeeze in a trip to the top of the Space Needle to be greeted by furious freezing winds but a very awesome view of the city. We also got to drive along the waterfront, a nostalgic place for Ben and me. And would a trip to Seattle be complete without stopping at Ivar’s? I don’t think so. It was the last place we went before heading to the airport.

View from the Space Needle.

And, thanks to Sidney letting us sleep in her bed, Ben and I both slept better during the trip than we do at home! It was awesome!

We are still missing the kids – our little apartment seems too quiet after being with them! We hope to see them again soon! Thank you to all the Wilson’s who helped us have such a great time!

Close your eyes! Close your eyes! Aaggg! The top of the needle is just so romantic.

P.S. I want to give great big CONGRATULATIONS to Ben for getting EXCELLENT grades this semester! Way to go Benji! One left to go!

"Sure, sure."

Fellow pining Twilight fans will appreciate this post's title, unless they're Jacob-haters.

Which, sadly, I used to be. But, since my second reading of the saga, I feel like I've grown empathetic for "the child," as Edward often refers to him. He pretty much saves Breaking Dawn, in my opinion. I much prefer listening to the story through his thoughts than through Bella's. He is so funny and way more logical than she is. The best parts are his chapter headings ("What do I look like? The Wizard of OZ? You need a brain? You need a heart? Go ahead. Take mine. Take everything I have.").

Jasper, I think, would be an extremely interesting and entertaining narrator for the story.

Any other Twilight narrator suggestions?

Goodbye, Elder Wirthlin

We heard the news of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin’s passing this morning. As always with this kind of news, a shock of sadness went through me.

Last week we read his talk from October’s conference, “Come what may, and love it.” I remembered watching him give the talk, and how much it stood out to me. He was so sincere and the Spirit was especially strong. The steps he advised taking to overcome adversity were very clear: learn to laugh, seek for the eternal and understand the principle of compensation. He shared some memorable stories from his life and his family.

I read that during this, his last conference talk, Elder Wirthlin suffered from a case of locked knees, and his muscles started twitching. As soon as he started shaking, Elder Russell M. Nelson stood and helped brace Elder Wirthlin by placing one hand on his back. I must not have even noticed this, because I can’t remember seeing it. But it’s very touching.

I hope to never forget that talk as well as all the counsel he gave throughout his life.

As with all the leaders of the church around the world ranging from prophet to nursery leader, I am very thankful for Elder Wirthlin’s willingness and sacrifice he made for the church and the world. I don’t know what I would do without his and others’ examples, words of counsel, and motivations for hope they provide me with. I can only continue to hope that one day I can be half of what they are and he was. I feel like the road is long and winding ahead of me.

Thank you Elder Wirthlin.

When Bushes go BAD!

On Sunday Maddie and I went for walk up 600 North. During our walk I (being the nerdy landscape architecture student that I am) took notice of some of the landscaping faux pas along the way.

Bushes that were once small get big

Some of them get really BIG, the house above is when we thought "bushes gone bad"

Don't plant a tree right next to your house, not only is it a fire hazard. It just doesn't look right.

This image is a good example of Xeriscape gone bad. It is a good thing to cut down on water use, but if you decide to do something like this you have to be dedicated to keeping it looking nice. Nothing is as easy to maintain as grass! I know it is hard to believe but someone tore out lawn to put in this ugly wood chip pit.

Bowling balls are NOT yard art!

Again here we see the sad effects of plants growing, its not their fault the don't get to choose where they are planted. When trees meet powerlines they generally lose.

"Everything is good for something, even if it is just a bad example."

We also saw a really cool Ent.

This view of the Wellsville mountains from Old Main Hill in the morning is one of the best parts of my day.

He knows what's good for him

Although I've seen childhood pictures of Ben wearing horrid Y attire -- he denies he was ever a real BYU fan, but I don't believe him -- he has learned a thing or two since we've been married. The most important being that the U is pretty much the only team out there that won't let its fans down.

Way to go UTES!!

Blackmail?

I found Lauren, Natalie and Peter quite attractive in this picture from Chloe's "mission farewell" party. I may or may not save it for future weddings. It all depends on whether or not I magically find some Utah-BYU tickets in my possession before the game tomorrow.

Alas, this picture brings to my being some painful memories. Lauren and I were looking for our dear mother at this party, and could not find her anywhere. We looked through the living room, squoze (squeezed? hmm) our way through the kitchen and over to the stairs where the extremely strange smell was lingering. We looked downstairs, outside. People told us, "She was just here" and pointed us in the direction she went. No luck. Someone said, "She's sitting on the porch next door at John's." When Lauren went over, Mother dear was mysteriously gone yet again. Mother is surprisingly sneaky despite her stumbling tendencies. Finally, upon giving up and about to shed some tears, we spotted her in the kitchen doing something.

Oh Mama! Thank goodness! We were two very scared little girls without our Moma.