Top 10 Lessons Learned on Our Road Trip to San Diego

 

Last weekend, we drove south with Max to see Les Misérables at the San Diego Civic Center . It was his Christmas present/this is all you get Senior trip. It was a grand time! Here are The Top Ten Lessons Learned on Our Road Trip to San Diego:

Lesson One: Bring duct tape along. You never know when your car will start falling apart at 80 miles an hour.

Lesson Two: Pack a skirt made of neoprene. (wet suit material) It won't wrinkle, it holds in your belly before and after road trip eating and you can be at peace if you get thrown in the ocean at La Jolla Cove. (skirt larger than appears in photo)

Lesson Three: Blame the person next to you. When playing a game of Jenga and you knock down all of the blocks and the sound reverberates for miles around, have your husband or son close by.

Lesson Four: Eat every possible meal at Snooze AM Eatery. There are locations in Colorado, California, Arizona and Texas!

Lesson Five: Hula Hoop BEFORE your 1,500 calorie breakfast.

Lesson Six: Bring an intriguing novel, so you are oblivious to the LA traffic your husband is attempting to navigate.

Lesson Seven: It is possible to eat your way through So Cal.

 Lesson Eight: Do not buy Gelato two doors down from a cigar shop.

Lesson Nine: Those $80 Les Miz tickets really cost $1,000 after California Hotel tax!

Lesson Ten: There are glimpses of Heaven on earth. I ran into my first mission companion in the San Diego, CA temple. She was standing at the foot of the stairs, with her striking black hair spilling onto her white dress--an angel. It has been 25 years since our first meeting in Auckland, New Zealand. President Lloyd (our mission president at the time) told Sister Hamon to teach me Maori. I didn't learn much Maori, but I did learn about service, devotion and love.

Thank you, Max! Thank you for being born, melting our hearts with your laugh and smile, being the kind of man I would want your sisters to marry, enduring the not so smooth ride in the Geo Prizm, continuing your education both formal and informal and for allowing your cheesy mother to write about it!

Spring Has Sprung 2018

 Sarah came home for Spring Break and we took a trip to the Oakland Museum of Art and LOVED the Hip Hop Exhibit!

 Natalie and the rest of the tribe tried their hand at Graffiti 

 Graffiti is one of the elements of the Hip-Hop movement. One Hip-Hop artists said, "Hip Hop is the greatest life hack. We danced in the street because we didn't have access to ballet lessons. We spray painted abandoned buildings because we didn't have a canvas, we created our own music because we didn't have music lessons.."

 Max and Sarah deciding what to create

 

4 out 5 of my Hip-Hop Artists

 

 "Hip-Hop began as a cultural response to the ongoing political struggles of disenfranchised communities..."

 Another Spring time adventure- Sadie's Sunday School teacher; Brother Sheranian had a back yard brownie party! Holding baby Eleanor was a bonus!

 Natalie's last track meet of the season with LoLo, Grace and Lorenzo!

 Sister Anna Lloyd and Sister Young are celebrating spring with a visit to Colonel Sanders Original Kentucky Fried Chicken

Even Colonel Sanders needs to have his own copy of The Book of Mormon

Bring it on- 2018!

Like most of you, twenty-seventeen (and the first week of twenty- eighteen) brought the bitter and the sweet. My mother lost her husband of forty-one years, we've lost several members of our church congregation, the president and prophet of our church, Thomas S. Monson left this earth on Tuesday evening and just yesterday, we discovered our angel friend, Susanne Harwood passed away. The sweet include: Sarah returning home from her mission, Anna leaving to serve a mission, Hailee, my youngest sister, bringing another bright life into this world and our health and finances continuing to sustain our needs. One may think, "Okay, Susan- your "sweet" list is nice, but look at your "bitter" list, so much death, so much sorrow." I agree- a lot of sadness. But my joy outweighs my sorrow because of the hope in Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus Christ, my family and friends will live again. And when it is my turn to leave this magnificent world, I will be able to hug, "high-five" and laugh with them. Because Jesus Christ was resurrected, all of us (believers and non-believers, bond or free) will be resurrected too. We can have joy in this life because He showed us how to live. In the midst of our sorrow, we can have hope--hope in Jesus Christ. The Psalmist was spot on when he said: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." So bring it on 2018!!

Here some pictures of our sweetness and joy on the first day of 2018!

For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the skies

For the joy of human love

Brother, sister, parent, child

 

  Friends on earth and friends above 

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our joyful hymn of praise