Angel Moroni

The temple spire is up.  It's time to put the Angel Moroni on.

Close up of the spire.

The statue was shipped in this crate from Salt Lake.

The cable is attached.

Three men were sent up in in a basket to set the Angel in properly.

 

        There is a hole in the spire, in which a rod will fit in just so.  Attached to the rod were two cables:  one was the lightning protection cable and the other was to secure the statue.  The cables are fed into the hole in the spire.  Someone was inside who could get the cables as they were lowered and then secured the statue from the inside.  The lightning cable is eventually taken all the way down into the ground.

A lightning spike will replace the cable after the statue is in place.

That was cool!  The Salt Lake office liked this picture.

Awesome!

President and Sister Anderson of the Fort Lauderdale Mission.

Our temple project missionaries, Elder and Sister DeGraffenreid from Kanosh, Utah.

               What a privilege it was to be able to witness the placing of the Angel Moroni on top of the temple.  There was some worry about an approaching hurricane.  In fact, the statue was placed on the temple a day early because of the impending storm.  It was originally scheduled for Thursday, October 25th, but instead was done on Wednesday.  Prayers were sent up so the weather would cooperate.  It was somewhat windy, but did calm down.  I love the picture of the clouds opening up right over the angel and the light shining through.  There was a little bit of work that needed to be done on the top of the spire so the Angel would fit on properly, but everything went very smoothly and it looks magnificent!

I love that the flight patterns for Fort Lauderdale airport fly directly over the temple!  And being close to the freeway, there are thousands and thousands of people who drive by every single day!  Wonderful things are happening here and lives are being touched!  It's difficult to express into words how blessed I feel that we are here doing this amazing work!  I couldn't ask for a better life than this.
              

Fun With the Missionaries

Our silly picture

Love this picture.  I've really enjoyed getting to know the senior missionaries and President and Sister Anderson.  We've enjoyed the dinners we've had at the mission home every second Monday.  Last week, President Anderson wanted pictures, so he set the camera and then ran back to sit next to his wife.  The first picture was straight with all of us smiling and then there was this one!  I liked this one best.  President and Sister Anderson are sitting in front of me.  Love it!

Making It Clear

Mark seems to think that everyone who reads my posts will think that all we do here in Florida is play.  So, I'm making it clear that these are the highlights of our stay here.  It's NOT what we do everyday.  We really do work most of the time.

Okay.  I hope that's cleared up now.

Epcot

Friday, July 27th, Mark and I went to Orlando.  We went first to the temple-he to help with baptisms for the dead for another ward and me to do an endowment session.

I was so grateful for this opportunity because when we were there a couple of weeks ago, my mind had been so preoccupied I wasn't paying attention and felt badly about that.  This was an opportunity to make up for that time.  It was a good experience.

We had decided that since we were coming to the temple that we would stay over and go to Epcot.  We were actually able to spend the evening there after going to our motel and changing.

It's been about 25 years since we've been there.  Naturally it's changed a lot!  So being there was like going for the first time.  There are actually two parts to Epcot.  The first is where that gi-normous golf-ball looking thing is.  It's all about innovations and progress, taking care of the earth and stuff like that.  It was neat and we enjoyed it.  That's where we spent most of our time.

The second part takes you through 11 or 12 different countries.  The buildings and areas around are built to look authentic to that part of the world.  Each person who works there is actually from the country.  Mark found out that Disney contracts with each individual to come over for a year.  Most spoke very good English.

Naturally there are gift shops at each place.  There are also restaurants or cafe's.  Most places have some kind of special presentation or ride that depicts that country.

Friday night we got over to see Canada.  There was a surround-view movie with Martin Short showing the beauties of Canada.  It's one of those that makes you feel that you're right there and it can make  you a bit queasy.  But it was enjoyable and very beautiful.

We stayed and watched the fireworks showing over the lake.  They were timed to music and  were amazing!

Saturday, we planned to spend the day going through all of the countries, but they didn't open until 11:00 so we went back to do some of the things we had missed the evening before.

Someone had told Mark we could get a passport and get it stamped at each of the countries so we bought one.  We thought that would be fun.  Like I said, the architecture is amazing and I loved learning about each of the countries.

With Donald in Mexico!

We had lunch in Norway-a sandwich with ham,cheese and apples, a combination I hadn't really thought of, but very good.  I enjoyed learning a bit about the Vikings and the Troll ride.

In Italy we each had a piece of chocolate with hazelnuts-delicious!

The fountain in Italy

Italian ears!

In China

Japan looking over the lake

 There was an amazing drummer group in Japan, two women and a man.  Wow!  What a workout!  We had a refreshing shaved ice in Japan.  I wish I could remember the name for it.  It hit the spot cause it was hot!

We enjoyed a beautiful a'cappella group in the United States and a wonderful, amazing production about America.  I felt so proud to be an American!

France

Mark next to the famous Spitting Gargoyle of Notre Dame.  Love this picture!

France

 I would have loved having an old fashioned English tea (herbal of course) with crumpets, cucumber sandwiches or biscuits (cookies), but we were running out of time.  Another time perhaps.  There was a band playing oldies from British bands from the 70's and 80's.

Had to take a picture with Tigger and Winnie the Pooh in England.  We're just big kids!

I got all of my countries stamped.  It was fun talking to the young people who are here for a year.  I also got a huge woven bag in one of the Moroccan bazaars.  Love it.

The last thing we did before heading home was to ride the mono rail to the Magic Kingdom and back again. We'll be able to park-hop the next time we come.

Long drive home, but what a fun weekend!

Temple Progress

View from the roof.  Imagine how many will see this beautiful temple every single day!

Elder DeGraffenreid

I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago.  More has been done since then.  It's so exciting to me to see the progress that is being made on the temple!  Mark took me around.  The panels are beautiful and the designs that have been stamped into them are unique.  I know Mark is proud of what's happening.  It's in his voice as he explains everything to me.  I know it pleases him when I express my enthusiasm and compliments. 

I even went up onto the roof. (there were stairs)  The view is amazing!  The temple is situated in a wonderfully strategic place close to the freeway.  It will be seen by millions of people who drive by.  It will be a beautiful landmark when it's done.

When the members here talk about the temple (and they talk about it often), I feel so blessed that Mark and I are here to help make that possible for them.  What a blessed life!

It's Not a Lizard!

I had never seen the lizard that lives in our light; well, I take that back.  I thought the lizard I had seen sunning itself on our stairs was living in our light.  But Mark saw it just outside of the light one day and said how weird looking it was.  He described it to me.  After he left for work, I went on a web site for animals in South Florida.

What we have living in our light is a gecco!  He's been hard to see, but I finally got a close-up of him a couple of times.  This is what he looks like.

It is typical of geccos to live close to homes.  He likes the light because when it's on at night, it attracts insects.  He's usually out first thing in the morning.  That's when I got these pictures.  He usually runs back inside the light when we come outside.  I was lucky to get these, because he's so fast!

A Day at the Beach

Mark usually does not love gong the beach.  I think it's mainly because he gets burned.  But a while back we went to the beach to say goodbye to some friends who were leaving.  Many of those who were there had umbrellas and were blissfully sitting under them visiting and snacking and just enjoying themselves away from the blistering heat of the sun.

Mark thought we could do that too.  He bought a couple of beach umbrellas at Walmart and on Saturday, June 30th, we packed up our beach gear, stopped at Publix for some snacks and went to Fort Lauderdale Beach.

It was a beautiful day.  The beach was pretty packed, although coming earlier as we did, (a little after 1100) we found some good parking. After we got there the parking lot filled up pretty quickly.

We stayed for four hours.  We enjoyed people watching, I read, we ate our snacks and enjoyed the water.

Even though there aren't really breakers like there is on the Pacific side, there are still waves that move toward shore.  I found it interesting that we could wade quite a ways out before it got deep where I had trouble touching bottom.  Once we were out there we could feel the ocean surges.  It is a living, heaving mass!

I loved being there.

I had chosen not to wear sunscreen.  It wasn't until we got home and showered and changed that I realized how burnt I was.  We had sat under our umbrella, but out in the water, the sun reflected off of the surface and burnt my chest and face.  Because I wore my I sunglasses I had racoon eyes!

We had been invited to a dinner party that night.  I tried to camouflage my burnt face with make-up, but after I got home, I realized how pointless it had been.  I still looked like a racoon!  How funny!

So, live and learn.  I'll be more careful next time. The interesting thing is Mark got burnt too and we were really careful to apply sunscreen to him.  The funny thing with Mark is his forearms are so brown from working outside every day at the job site.  If the rest of him got as brown as his arms, people might think he was of a different race (and who knows, maybe he is somewhere back in his genealogical line).

All in all it was a wonderful day!

Thirty-Seven Years!

June 26th was our wedding anniversary.  We've been married 37 years! 

It was a work day for Mark, so we went out to dinner to the Outback Steak House.  Mark even ordered their bloomin' onion!!  That's actually so surprising because Mark hates and despises onions, calling them weeds and worse!  I think he did it for me because I LOVE onions.  But he even had some.

It was a lovely dinner and we enjoyed our time together.

After dinner, we went to Dairy Queen and each got a small Blizzard.

I know to some this may not seem like much of a celebration for an anniversary, but being empty nesters gives us the opportunities to do many special things throughout the year.  I told Mark, however, when we reach our 40th, we will definitely have to plan something extra special to celebrate.

July 1-8, What a Week!!

Our bishopric counselor called June 30th to ask if Mark and I would speak in Sacrament meeting.  Amid Mark's protests I said we'd be glad to.  Our topic?  "Mountains to Climb" from Preisdent Eyring's talk in April's General Conference.

It was a busy week, because not only were we speaking, I was also responsible for finding a special musical number for Sacrament Meeting, plus substituting for the music in Primary and directing the ward choir on Sunday.  I was also trying to finish my History class and get all of my assignments turned in.  Plus it was the 4th holiday.  AND were looking for a house in Salt Lake, so I was consumed with trying to find something.  They've (the homes) have been going so quickly!

Thankfully I had a lot of help with the Spirit.  It was through the Spirit that I got my idea for a special musical number.  I ended up getting a quartet together from choir to sing a hymn.  We actually practiced that morning and then performed.  It went well.

I tried to do a little bit on my talk every day, but ended up writing most of it the Saturday before.  I used some ideas for Primary I found on Sugardoodle along with visual aids I printed off.

Everything came together and turned out great.

Mark lucked out.  He already had a talk written on trials that he had given for a high council talk.  All he had to do was review it.

I especially thought Mark did a good job.  After the meeting we had several people come up and say how they had really needed to hear the things we said.  One woman I know in the Primary, thanked me for our talks.  She has a friend who is really struggling with some terrible trials she's gone through, thinking that God hates her.  Allison, her friend was really hoping she would understand the purpose of trials and that God does love her.

One quote from President Monson was a good reminder for me: 

:  “Lest we question the Lord concerning our troubles, let us remember that the wisdom of God may appear as foolishness to men; but the greatest single lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and a man obeys, that man will always be right.”  (President Thomas S. Monson, April, 1998, 52.)

Since I tend to feel sorry for myself and wallow at times of trial, I also really liked this quote I found on Facebook that made me smile:

“Breaking News:

The Pity Train has derailed at the intersection of Suck It Up, and Move On, and crashed into We All Have Problems before coming to a complete stop at Get the Heck Over It.  Any complaints about how we operate can be forwarded to 1-800-waa-waaa.  This is Dr. Sniffle reporting LIVE from Quit Complaining.  If you like this share it.  If you don’t, suck it up.  Life doesn’t revolve around YOU.”

That got a chuckle from the audience.

Mark thinks we may be off the hook now, when it comes to speaking, especially since he also spoke for our Family Home Evening group at the Mission President's home.  (We meet on the 2nd Monday of every month with the senior missionaries and President and Sister Anderson).

 

I told him not to hold his breath, because I think as the temple is nearing completion, he or both of us may be asked to speak again.  So...we'll see. 

Happy 4th of July

We had a pretty quiet fourth, but we did go for a long bike ride all around Weston.  Mark needed a prescription, so we started out going to Walgreens, then we just continued to ride along Weston Road.  It was a pretty ride, because we were riding on sidewalks along lakes and among trees. Weston is a beautiful city, very clean, and well taken care of. 

At one point, we noticed that the city center had a kind of carnival going on, so we stopped to investigate.  I think they must have had a parade earlier, but there were a couple of things going on for kids.  The fire department was showering anyone who wanted to get wet.  There was free hotdogs and brownies.  We didn't stay long, but rode on home.

We enjoyed "1776" later on.  It was interesting to be reminded of the struggle it was for independence and the sacrifices so many made.  I know God inspired the process and the people involved.  I'm so grateful for the sacrifices of so many and I'm proud to be an American!

Food Storage

Ever since President Spencer W. Kimball asked the members of the Church to get their year's supply of food I have been interested in obtaining and maintaining food storage.  At the time we were living in a tiny farmhouse in Shelley, Idaho.  I think the year was 1977. 

There were times when we were so poor back then that we lived off of our food storage.  I know many who may read this have been in that position.  In my case Mark was working construction in California and I had no money, or not much to speak of.  I guess that's the point of food storage; food on hand when you need it. 

Since it is hurricane season here in Florida, we have been counseled in recent weeks to make sure we have food storage, particularly emergency supplies in case of a hurricane.  Last Monday Mark and I finally filled up our 7 gallon water containers.

We were unable to bring our food storage with us when we moved here; we have no place to store it.  We are slowing building up an emergency supply of food with meal packets you add water to.  Over a period of months we will have enough, I think.  This will fit our needs  until we get back into a house.

In my opinion, the biggest challenge of food storage is rotating and incorporating it into everyday meals.  I saw a food storage book on Deseret Book entitled "I Can't Believe It's Food Storage".  In reading the information about the book I noticed a web site, so I checked it out.  I think this is going to be a fun site to explore, so I am sharing it here:  Everyday Food Storage

 Enjoy.  I know I will.

Temple Progress

Columns were added later in the week.

The precast concrete walls started going up a couple of weeks ago.  It's exciting that the temple construction is getting to that point.  Of course a lot still has to be done before all of the walls are up.  It's amazing to me the process that puts these gigantic panels into place without damaging them.

I went with Mark a month ago on-site to see these precast panels.  They are gorgeous!  I hope to be able to watch when the next group of them go up.

Now if it would just stop raining!

See how gargantuan that crane is!

That's me! 

Memorial Day

When we bought our bikes our goal was to ride on Saturdays for the exercise and just to explore this beautiful area we live in.  Well, it's been so rainy, we haven't been able to do much.  On Memorial Day, however, it was a gorgeous day.  So Mark and I rode our bikes to Markham Park.  It's a beautiful multi-purpose park about a mile away.

Our tires were low.  I don't know if the humid weather has anything to do with that, but it was hard going until we got to a gas station and could get air in them.  What a difference!

Markham Park is huge!  Different areas are used for different purposes.  We stopped where people with model airplanes can fly them off an airstrip built for this fun hobby.  Some of the planes have retractable wheels.  One person had a jet!  It even sounded like a jet.  We enjoyed watching especially that one as it flew high in the air.  When it finally landed, we marveled at how much practice that must have taken, and how much money must go in to this kind of hobby.

It sure was fun to watch, though.

Very cool!

In another area was a shooting range with a couple of buildings for different gun or shooting clubs.  Of course in another area there was a playground and a swimming pool.  There was also a large lake with a sign saying there were live alligators and not to feed or entice them, and, of course, no swimming!

There was also another area for camping;  it was quite a large area, very nice, and several people had parked their trailers or pitched their tents.

The whole park was so beautiful with lots of trees and grass.  We explored all the different roads and finally discovered one that went around the entire park.  All in all we probably spent about 1 1/2 hours riding around enjoying ourselves before heading home.  I'm a bit saddle sore today, but we enjoyed it very much.

Our ward gathered at another park in Plantation for a picnic.  Everyone was to bring what they wanted.  We found them gathered under a ginormous shade tree, visiting and eating.  We had Boston Market (salad) and Kentucky Fried, so that was our picnic.  This is still a fairly new ward for us, so it was nice to sit and visit with people.  Many had brought frisbies or other games.  Someone brought kites.

After getting home it was a quick clean-up-our apartment isn't very big.  Then off for groceries and then a relaxing evening.

Mom and Dad called.  Rick's dog had eleven puppies!! 

It was a wonderful day!