Friday Adventure...Thailand

Completely the best vacation I had ever been on. We've traveled to Europe twice and loved those trips, but this trip was the complete package deal of adventure and leisure. It was nice to have optional activities planned and then have leisure time to do what we wanted. The tour guides were great and helped us with everything and showed us the best places to visit and experience.

We first stayed in Koi Samoi which is in northern part of Thailand. It is a jungle and beautiful. We were able to go to Tiger Kindgom and pet the tigers. Crazy. Then, we rode on elephants through the jungle. They even performed for us on how they can trasport wood. One elephant even painted a picture of a tree. Brilliant. Next we saw the long neck ladies in their village. They were nice, and we took pictures and bought some of their stuff.

Next we stayed on an island at the south of Thailand. The resort was awesome. We had our own personal swimming pool in our room. The breakfast was delicious, and the veiw was breathtaking. But, my favorite was the beach. It was a reclusive beach where they bring water and treats every so often just because. One day Ryan and I were at the beach for almost 6 hours. The second day Ryan went scubadiving, and I stayed at the hotel with another wife who didn't want to go scubadiving. So, we went to the spa and got 2 hour facials and foot massages. It was more of an ampucture procudre, but it was good. Then we ate lunch at the beach and laid on the beech for another few hours until the divers got back. That was the day that I like to claim as a vacation day. It was wonderful. I brought my book down to the beach to read, but I had more fun talking to my new friends. We had so much fun.

We flew to Bangkok and got to see the big city. We found a good place to shop. I got me some cute shoes. We took a speed boat tour around to the families who live in houses along the water. It was sad. The houses were falling down. Little children, barely clothed, were playing everywhere and jumping into the filthy water. But everyone was so nice and waved as we went by. The night ended with all of us going to a Thai Fighting event. We didn't stay until the big fighters but we watched 2 fighters with younger kids and they did pretty good.

We flew to South Koreo for a quick tour of it's city and palace. Then we ate some dumpling soup...that were not that good. We each picked up a souvenir or two and then raced back to the airport.

Monday Book Review

 'Turning Pages' by Tristi Pinkston

5.0 out of 5 stars "Sweet love in the library", February 20, 2013

"I love Tristi. She is a great writer, and she always has me hooked on the first page.

'Turning Pages' is a cute story of a young girl who works at a library and is struggling with some major changes in her life. Her father died in a car accident, and her family is made to sell their home. When the news of her library being torn down, everything in her life seems to be crumbling along with her library. Her new cute (engaged) boss, Blake, at first seems like the extra straw on the camels back to make her problems worse, but he later becomes a friend to her and helps her gain the confidence she needs to help her with her life.

Without giving any spoilers, this story has a fun, happy ending. I finished the last page with a smile on my face. It made me want to go to my library and snuggle up with a book on their old, tattered couch.

The story was very well written and kept me entertained with a bit of humor. I like books who can have me laughing out loud and feeling so well what the character is feeling. I really felt like I was in Addie's place, feeling her pain and happiness.

Thank you Tristi for another great book"

Trista turned 8

We are so grateful to have our sweet princess in our lives. Each of our children came into our family in different, unique ways. Trista was adopted into our family, and she is definitely made to fit into our family. We love her sweet spirit. She would do anything for anyone. She loves to share...especially her treats with her daddy. She has so many friends, because she is so sweet and funny. Let's not forget about funny - she is always making us laugh.

Some things she likes:
favorite color...all colors but especially pink and purple
favorite toy...her night night, but she likes to play with her barbies
favorite movie...probably 'elf on the shelf'
favorite book...she's reading all kinds of books.

Her birthday party theme was 'snowflakes'. We cut snowflakes, made cupcakes with snowflake sprinkles, had snowflake stamps, and played some games.

Funeral/Baptism...aka...life after death/atonement

Ryan's grandpa died last Monday morning. He was sick, and it was a blessing for him to die so soon. We had the funeral Saturday morning, and lots of family came to support and remember him. It's times like when someone dies that we look at the purpose of life. I taught my Young Women's lesson yesterday, and it was about the plan of salvation. I am so grateful to know that we live after we die, and we'll get to see those we love again. Death is not the end; it is only the end of the 2nd act of a 3 act play. Life after death is the next act.

My daughter was baptized after the funeral on Saturday afternoon. It was a great way to look at life in a full circle. The reason we will all be resurrected and live again is because of our Savior's sacrifice for us. He died for us so we could live again. When we are baptized, we make covenants to our father in heaven and to Jesus. We are baptized in His name and promise to be a witness for Him.

What a great, spiritual day to be reminded about life.