River Rose Temple Run

January: Attend the Temple and perform a temple ordinance, limited use, or work toward receiving a recommend.

February:  We will gather on a Monday evening (TBA) for a River Rose Ward Family Home Evening.  Please bring a picture of a temple that is special to your family and share the story of why.

March: Everyone (primary children, adults, youth) is invited to participate in our temple art gallery.  Make a sculpture or drawing or your favorite temple.  We will gather to admire our pieces of art, enjoy each other's company, and have an ice cream sundae bar.

April:  As a family, walk the temple grounds, or visit Temple Square.

May:  We will gather as a ward family and watch the movie "Mountain of the Lord."  A movie isn't complete without popcorn and treats.  TBA

June: Ward Temple Week:  Attend the temple as many times as you can during the week.  We will end the week with a testimony meeting to share our experiences.

Tabitha

What an enjoyable time I had visiting with a new sister in our ward- Tabitha Slaughter and getting to know her. Tabitha and her family moved to Riverton four months ago.  While visiting with her, I was impressed how her young daughter, Macey, got out her coloring book and crayons and quietly colored those pages while us grownups visited with no interruptions. 

Tabitha was born in Cerritos, California.  Besides her mom and dad, there were six other siblings.  At the age of 5 years old they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico until she was 12 years old.  She described how wonderful it was to live nearby where the Balloon Festival takes place every year, and how she watched those beautiful, large balloons filling the sky. 

At the age of 12 years old she and her family moved to Woods Cross, Utah and then at 16 years old to Waukee, Iowa.  While in Waukee she met her husband, Eric, who was not a member of the church.  Being impressed with Tabitha’s lifestyle of being a Mormon, he visited with missionaries and was eventually baptized. 

Shortly after they were married in Waukee her husband joined the Army and they moved to Arlington, VA. While there, Eric who was an honor guard, performed many funerals at the Arlington cemetery…usually about six funerals a day. This is where their son, Caden, was born. Caden is now 8 years old.

The army moved them to Columbus, GA where Eric was a drill sergeant at Ft. Benning for two years.  This was their first ward together as a Mormon family.  Eric spent seven years in the Army. They had their second child, Macey, while in Columbus.  Macey is now 4 ½ years old.  

Off to Utah they went where they now live on 134^th Street managing the Storage Units.  Eric is also working towards his Master’s Degree taking classes two days a week at the University of Utah.  Their third child, June, five months old, was born in Utah.

Tabitha enjoys quilting and has made some beautiful quilts.  She also loves cooking, baking, and playing the piano. She enjoys working out which she is not able to do as often as she would like now that she has three small children.  Impressive that she and her husband ran a marathon.

Tabitha is so easy to talk with.  She has a sweet personality.  When you see her in the halls and classrooms, take time to say hi to her and you will see what I mean about how sweet she is!  So glad that she and her family has moved into our ward.  To know you is to love you, Tabitha!

Letter from Caspersons, December 30, 2013, 38 Weeks in Africe

Dear Family and Friends,

 

We've had such a busy month in December that today feels like a real vacation.  We had four people pull in our driveway this morning (three missionaries and their driver) who were on their way to pick up three other missionaries because their visas have expired and they are making a quick trip to Kenya to get their visas stamped their, then they can come back into the country for 90 more days without paying exhorbitant fees for the expiration.  Whatever the case, they were "starving".  We hated to see one elder "starve" because he couldn't have weighed more than 120 pounds soaking wet, but the other two looked like they could have handled starvation for a little while longer.  However, being the nice people that we are, and the fact that we just happened to have some waffle mix in our refrigerator (another story), we fixed them all breakfast and then they went on their merry way.  It wasn't even 9:30 before they LEFT our home, so we were stuck with making our own breakfast again (we hadn't eaten yet....or maybe that shouldn't have to be an explanation...whatever), and then do all of those dishes.  Our favorite thing...NOT!  Nevertheless, they will all be back home tonight in Uganda and the problem will be semi-solved, like many other things in a mission.  It's kind of like being on the telephone on hold and listening to music.  After a while you realize you've been listening for months and it's time to go home and someone else will just have to make that phone call again and listen on hold for their 18 months.  Not much gets totally resolved, but when it does, we're definitely happy!  The visa problem is one of those kinds of telephone calls.  Snore!

 

So, we have attached photos of our safari.  It's definitely not all the photos you will get.  We have some videos, too, but I've been told by other resources (mostly senior missionaries who have kids to help them solve these little computer problems) that we can set up a site through Google that will allow us to download our videos and then you can receive them and play them.  The most famous will be the full elephant sauntering behind us about 30 yards or so.  Wait a minute, it was actually in front of us.  We spotted him from the road while going on a last effort trip to see if we could find a lion to photograph.  So, he's by a tree minding his own business, and we decide (with our guide's permission) to get closer by going off road and getting so we could really film him better.  He was flapping his ears back and forth and the guide said that it was to cool himself off.  He's all alone, and we're in two trucks, we are behind the other truck, but only feet away.  So, this elephant starts to walk from north to south.  He's eyeing us, but doesn't seem at all bothered by us.  It's not like we're talking loud or anything, but we're definitely saying a few things and how great it is to get such a close up shot of an elephant all alone, etc  We're totally out of our trucks, but not far from them.  So, he saunters about 50 yards inbetween some trees and then stops and stares at us.  He turns and looks like he's going to go the other way, and suddenly turns back toward us and starts charging.  WE FREAK OUT!!!  He could have squashed us like ants under a shoe, but instead the guide starts clapping her hands and that elephant (who, by the way weighs between 6 and 7 tons) just stops in his tracks, turns around and walks away.  It was exciting and scarey at the same time.  We're lucky we had bodily control.  I got him on film running toward us a little bit, but I hear myself say, "Uh, OH!" and I turn it off and get in the truck.  We backed out of their and got going pretty quickly.

 

We saw baboons, including a new baby baboon...so ugly it was cute.  But, the hotel people chased them off because the baboons will steal your stuff. They were right by the pool area and I was lounging reading a book and there must have been about ten of them.  Of course, I didn't have my camera, but they came mighty close to where I was and I thought they were going to grab my glasses, but the hotel guy came and chased them off.  They've been known to be a nuisance, but of course, you're willing to put up with it if you have never seen them before.  It's kind of like your kids, after a while you get used to them and then they don't bother you any more!

 

We took the "African Queen" (what else) which was a nice two-decker pantoon boat over to the beginning of the falls.  It was a mile and a half hike up and it was steep, but we seemed to make it ok.  Of course, sweat, red faces, twisted ankles, hurting knees, and bug bites cannot figure in to the equation, as we figured some of us would suffer since we don't hike like that every day.  Heck, we don't hike like that every year, but some were in better shape than others.  You could not stay clean on the hike.  No way...because sometimes you had to sit on your bum just to get down a little rock slope so you wouldn't kill yourself for the climb to the next height.  Nevertheless, all of us who tried the hike made it and it was worth it all the way.  The scenery was beautiful and there were actually two falls that formed into one deep ravine that was more water than anyone would need to provide to electricity for all of Africa, it seemed.  We took pictures at the top and hung around for a while.  There used to be a bridge across the falls, but it was gone, and we decided that we wouldn't want to be the people who designed and built a new one...those waters were rapid.  Someone told us that the tribal kings used to throw people into the falls for kill them and if they didn't die, they didn't worry because they knew the crocodiles would eat them when they got to the bottom.  The river itself isn't that deep.  We saw hippos everywhere and if they would step up into position, they were in shallow water.  Now, the hippos were a little creepy.

 

We could see their eyes everywhere!  The first night we saw them it was getting almost dark and it looked like a bunch of rocks, but in the end, it was hippos.  They come of for air,and if they know someone's around, they get their eyes out of the water to make sure you're not going to attack.  If they had a baby boy hippo, the females would try and keep them out of their little group by literally pushing them away.  The females would protect their own.  And they are huge.  The little baby hippos were so cute, but you know, a brand new baby probably weighs about 200 pounds, so you can imagine what the mamas look like!  We did see one dead hippo and the baby was right by it.  The guide said the crocs will not attack babies because there's not enough meat on them, but they will kill a bigger hippo.  This poor baby didn't know her mama was dead, but we did....we think the smell tipped us off besides being tipped on her side and was in total rigormortis.  Just sayin'.

 

Of course, with all of this adventure, we had a great hotel and had buffets three meals a day.  Some of us would come to the table and ask why we were even there, because it wasn't from hunger!  We had a senior missionary meeting during all of this that was great and also had a little Christmas white elephant gift exchange. Someone actually got "white elephant" book ends.  It was funny!  Another person got their dream gift, a white T-shirt and socks, we got a bag of chocolate chips all the way from America, and Dad got a humanitarian T-shirt.  About a dozen people got salad spoons and forks from the gift shop in the hotel...evidently there may have been a sale on those, but it was hilarious in the end.  By the time people had gotten to number 30 or so to choose their gift, that was all that was left, and of course nobody wanted them anymore.  However, I don't have any, and was thinking maybe I shouldn't have been so stingy about those chocolate chips, but truthfully...I wanted them BAD!  President Chatfield got some toffee coated peanuts and his wife let him keep them but made him share them at our other Christmas party two days later, so he probably got about half a bag to himself. 

 

There's more to all of this stuff, but I'll just have to tell it another time.  Tuesday we had Christmas Eve with the elders and sisters, had 33 plus ourselves and served teriyaki pork roast with pineapple over rice, a tossed salad, rolls, and spice cake with ice cream.  There wasn't anything left.  We also had gifts from the mission for all of them, and because of some special friends in the U.S., we had a bag of candy for each elder and sister especially for them from our friends and us.  We played lots of games, once of which was which was a minute-to-win it game where you had to put a cookie on your forehead and try and use your facial muscles to get it into your mouth without using your hands.  We laughed so hard at that and one elder we thought my wet his pants he laughed so continually.  We watched "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" and "Joy to the World" as well, and had a lot of fun for about six hours, and then we sent them all home before it was too dark as we had elders from some distance who needed to travel home.

 

We've also had a wedding this week and it was beautiful.  It was the marriage of one of the girls in the mission office and one of the guys here in Jinja.  They've been best friends since they were little kids, both served missions here in Africa (they're Africans themselves) and it was a really huge event.  We went to the reception, all of the senior missionaries having made potato salad to go along with the other food.  There was African dancing and of course, karaoke.  We stayed until almost the end and that's when they cut the cake.  The couple and their bridesmaids and best men, etc. come down and they are all dancing and they get to the cake and then they light these fireworks kinds of things that stay lighted for a while.  Then they dancing around the cake and have two chairs at one side.  Then the couple sit in the chairs and they have already sliced some of the cake and they share the cake with each other.  Then they take cake to the bride's family first and serve them some cake.  Then they take cake to his family.  When the bride served the cake to her new husband's family (who were all women who helped raise him since his mother, father and all brothers and sisters are dead), she bowed down and served from the knees, which is the utmost respect.  These women loved it.  When these women got up to tell her family about their "son" Moses, they all danced to their designated area and then they (as old as they were) bowed down to the bride's family.  So, when the bride bowed to them, they were very, very happy about that.  Anyone could have some cake after that, but we left, because December had seemed to be one big, sleepless, getting ready for everything in the world month, and we were just tired. 

 

So, now you see why today seems like a vacation.  We're just doing normal stuff for P-Day..including laundry, etc.  We almost had to go to Rwanda this coming week, but thankfully we get to stay here.  There's not doubt we'll be sent in the future at some point to do something for the mission president, but we're okay with not having gone this soon after so much has been in the works.  We'd like to get back to normal things, like our meetings and trainings.

 

More to come in the future, but for now, CJ, we hope your birthday was great!   Ryan, we're celebrating yours in a big way.  The entire world is taking the day off in your honor, except here in Uganda.  It's just another day to them.  Oh, and Ethiopia...their calendar says that next September it will be 2007.  So, they're behind our calendar a bit, so think of how young you are there!  We were thankful to talk to our kids on Christmas Day and my parents.  We pray for you always and hope things are going well in your lives.  After hearing your voices and seeing some of you through Skype, it was a most rewarding Christmas for us. 

 

Thanks to others who sent Christmas greetings.  God bless all of you.

 

Love,

 

Mom and Dad, Ed and Kim, Grandma and Grandpa

 

 

Mckenzi and Marilyn

Mckenzi Dixon:

In the middle of a cold snap - 16 degrees and snowy - Mckenzi Dixon shared that her favorite vacations involved sunshine and the ocean: renting a beach house on Mission Beach in San Diego for a week and taking a Caribbean cruise. Ah, can't you just hear the surf???   But back to reality...

Mckenzi's birthday was May 2nd and she is a senior at Herriman High School.

When she was in 5th grade, the Dixon family moved to their home on Crimson Patch Way from West Jordan.Mckenzi is the only girl in her family and has 3 brothers. To her chagrin, she is not treated like a princess!

Mckenzi is very fortunate to have her great-grandmother, now 104 years old, still living close by. Another family distinction is that her maternal great-grandfather, Elder Robert L. Simpson who passed away in 2003, was a General Authority who married her parents in the Salt Lake Temple. 

Some of Mckenzi's likes are: drawing, film studies and painting. Shrimp is her favorite food, and like many of her peers she enjoys dancing, movies and music.

On the verge of turning 18 in a few months, Mckenzi has one foot in Young Women's and one foot in Relief Society. If you see a cuddly, dark-haired young woman snuggled up to her mom, Kami, in Relief Society some Sunday, please stop and say hello. Watch for those dimples to appear!


Marilyn Bluth

Marilyn Bluth moved into 5046 W. London Bay in July. She is finding that one-by-one, siblings, children, and other family members are moving to the Herriman area. Marilyn recalls a time when Brigham Young sent a member of her family to settle this area. It is like a homecoming of sorts!

Born in El Paso, Texas, Marilyn's parents moved the family to Utah when she was 14. As an adult she moved to Oregon and lived there for 20 years before moving back to Utah to care for her mother who suffered from Alzheimer's. After her mother's passing she felt it was time to move. And we are the lucky recipients!

Marilyn has three children: a daughter in Pocatello, a daughter who moved next door and is renting the Davis' family home while they are serving a mission in England, and a son who is attending school in Eugene. She has five grandchildren, whose visits are always a delight; and also has a cat, who is more like a child than an animal!

This is a stressful time of year for Marilyn working as a dispatcher for Fed-Ex and trying to get everyone's presents delivered on time! When not working, she loves hanging out with her sister - they laugh and have a lot of fun together no matter what they do. One goal Marilyn completed this year is indexing 10,000 names by December 1st (before work got too hectic). Her sister is an indexer at the prison, so they enjoyed a healthy competition!

Marilyn has a fun personality and a beautiful laugh. She will be a wonderful addition to our ward family!

Madeline

Madeline Kenyon

Madeline Kenyon is bright and buoyant. She turned 17 on August 13th this year and is a senior in high school. 

It can sometimes be difficult to be the oldest sibling - responsible for setting an example, etc., but Madeline is up to the challenge! She has hopes and dreams! She has goals! And wow, is she talented! Madeline plays lacrosse, sings in the school choir and played violin in the school orchestra until life got too busy.

Some of the things Madeline enjoys is Italian food, 80's music, reading classics, dating and going to movies. Having taken French for two years, and now ASL, she has always looked forward to serving a mission. (She is keeping her fingers crossed for France, like her mother!) In the meantime, Madeline is a fabulous babysitter and is saving her money for her mission and college!

Madeline's goals for the future includes becoming a speech pathologist. Being financially wise, she wants to attend SLCC for the first two years of generals, then go to USU. Told you she was smart!

Belinda and Terralee

Belinda Ortiz

We had a delightful visit with Belinda at her home on Duncan Meadows Ln.  She is a warm and welcoming sister, who was born in Southern Chile and her family moved to Northern Chile when she was a teenager. She really loved the place she grew up because it was never winter and the weather was always nice and the landscape was very beautiful.

She converted to the Church when she was in high school. She, her mom and her brother were baptized at the same time. Her mom and sister and brothers are still in Chile. She is one of five children in her family, and she and one of her brothers live in the United States.

Four years after she got married in Chile, she and her husband moved to the United States and lived in Montana then moved to Utah. She was married for 25 years and has been divorced for a year.  She has three children.  Addy is 24 years old, Camila is 22, and Emily is 11.

When we asked her about her hobbies, she said she loves to go walking, and also plays Ping-Pong and tennis. She also loves to read the scriptures and other books. She loves traveling and would like to see as many islands and beautiful gardens as possible.

Belinda said the biggest adventure in her life has been to come to the United States. She really enjoys some of the cultural differences, such as the food we eat in America. She has also experienced some culture shock, such as the pace of life and the weather in the U.S.

We were glad to get to know Belinda.  We are so happy to have her in the River Rose Ward. WELCOME Belinda!

 
Terralee Cazier

Have you been the mom of three very young children?  If so, you have experienced the stage in life that Terralee Cazier is enjoying at this moment.  She is the proud mom of daughters, Evelyn, 6 yrs old; Addison, 3 yrs old; and son, Ammon, 5 months old.  She and her husband are so happy to have their little family. They have been married for 11 years in June,  when they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple.

When Terralee graduated from high school, she became a dental assistant and hygienist.  She continued working in that field until she was able to become a stay at home mom.  Her first love of course, is spending time with her family.  She also likes to find time to read, but time is at a premium with three young kids.

Terralee and her husband were able to get away for a really fun vacation to California together, without the kids.   They felt very spoiled by getting to stay in a really nice hotel. They actually went to Disneyland (such a fun thing to do as adults alone!).  The thing that was even more fun was to go on a whale watching cruise.  Unfortunately, they didn't see any whales but were able to spot some dolphins.  As much as we love our kids, it is so important to get away with our spouses to enjoy and do fun things together focusing on each other, again.  Then it's always great to get back home to our families, and appreciate the lives that we are so blessed to be living.

Terralee, we are so happy you and your family have moved into our ward.  We are glad to add your children to our Primary and to the wonderful group of young mothers and children who live around you on Duncan Meadows.  Your neighbors are awesome and those of us who live a few blocks away, also are anxious to get to know you better. 

October Super Saturday

I realize this is a very late post on the subject, and I was hoping to get some photos of the event before blogging about it, but I am going to go ahead and post.  Here is the summary of what we did at Super Saturday.

Cooking Demo
Penny Wardle and Kelsie Goble

In this entertaining cooking class, we learned how to make easy cookies from a cake mix.

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:  spice cake mix, small can of pumpkin, 1/2 bag semi-sweet morsels
In a large mixing bowl,  mix together spice cake mix, can of pumpkin, and semi-sweet morsels.  Drop by tablespoon on greased cookie sheet.  Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 8-10 minutes until done.

Spice Cake Cookies
Ingredients:  spice cake mix, egg, 1 stick softened butter, 1 tsp vanilla
In a large mixing bowl, mix together all ingredients.  Drop by tablespoon on greased cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes until done.

Skin Care/Make-up Class
Bobbi Farnworth

We received some excellent skin care and make-up tips during this class.

Skin Care
Bobbi said that it is really important to wash your face twice daily with a gentle cleanser.  This is because of free radicals in the sun and air and what you put on your face whenever you touch your face.  It's important to wash both morning and night.  In the morning, your skin has built up oils from your hair and from sweat and sleeping on your pillow.  It's best if you have long hair to pull it up off your face in a loose bun on top of  your head.  You should also wash your pillowcase once a week. 

She also said that it is important to exfoliate 2-3 times per week and recommends to not use a generic  apricot scrub because it is too harsh for your skin.  Exfoliate by using a gentle scrub in circular, gentle motions with two fingers and use your forefingers for the bridge of your nose.

Use a moisturizer for the daytime after you wash and exfoliate that contains spf (sunscreen).  Benzoil peroxide can help with breakouts.

Make Up
For eyeshadow, you should use a primer but one without a shimmer as a base.  She prefers Mac from Nordstrom's.  Always use brushes, not the little swabs that come with your makeup.  She says smaller and flatter brushes will cause more pigment of color to stay on your face.  A fluffy brush is good for blending.  Darks recede back and light colors will pop out.  She suggests that for eyes, to start under your brow and buff with a blender brush.

Eyeliner should be black and applied with an angled brush.  Brown eyeliners tend to contain red and make eyes look tired.  She also prefers black mascara over brown for the same reason. 

Always do your skin care regime before applying your foundation.  The foundation should be liquid and applied with a flat stubby brush.  A mascara trick to keep it full and longer-lasting is to apply a layer of mascara, then dust with a layer of baby powder, then apply another layer of mascara.  To remove eye makeup, she recommends eye makeup remover wipes, which you should be able to find most anywhere. 

For lips, you want to line your lips, then use a powder foundation to neutralize them.  Use a pointed lipstick and get the corners with your liner. 

For concealing dark circles, you want to conceal after putting on your foundation and use under the eye primer.  And one huge tip to prevent eye circles and premature aging of the eyes is to NOT RUB YOUR EYES!

Repurposing/Staging a House
Sara Beck

This class was good for reminding us how to keep our houses looking market-ready.  The best thing to do is to keep the house as clutter-free as possible.  Allow a lot of light and make the house look open with how your furniture is arranged.  She suggests making your house look like a model home when you stage it.  There were some more specific projects she showed samples of, but I was not able to capture or notate everything she talked about.  However, she did leave us with a flyer, which I will try to put in here as a pdf, when I figure that out.  :)

Projects
There were several projects taking place during the day.  We made sweater pumpkins as decorations for Halloween.  There was a tent that could be used for kids to play inside in and an FHE packet.  There was also a burlap wreath and extender slips.  In addition, a few service projects were ongoing--collecting toothbrushes and other hygiene items for hygiene kits to be taken to China, making newborn hats, also for China, and working on a quilt.