These are my relatives???

One of the senior sisters in our mission set up a tour of the McCune Mansion through the Utah Historical Society. This is a mansion that was built and lived in by my great-great aunt, Elizabeth Claridge McCune. She is my grandmothers (Nana McLaughlin) aunt (sister to Samuel Claridge, Nana's father). She married Alfred McCune and he became very wealthy through his businesses of transportation/railroads. They built this mansion in Salt Lake City just two blocks above the temple on Main Street and 2nd North. It is HUGE and would cost over $22 million to be built today. It was a very interesting tour. The tour guide gave me a big hug after she found out that I was related to the McCunes. She said that she has been giving tours for over 20 years and had never met an actual living relative of them. The mansion is used today as a reception and conference place. The McCunes donated it to the church and for many years it was used as a music school. Here are some of the pictures I took of our tour:

This is the senior couples who come to the tour with us on Thursday, Sept. 18 standing on the front steps of the home. We had to split our group up to two different days because there were so many who wanted to go on the tour.

This is a picture of the side of the home

This is me standing by the picture of Elizabeth Claridge McCune.
The fireplace in the entry reception room

Part of the ballroom
A small couch in another part of the ballroom
The fireplace in the ballroom
A clock in the entry hall

These are all pictures of the master bathroom, sinks, fireplace, shower etc.

This is a room at the far end of the ballroom

Sitting in the sunroom

Part of the side yard

This is hard to see but Mike is rubbing the nose of the boar statue in the yard.

It was a fun morning. I don't know where all the family money went but I do know one thing....

......................................I didn't get any of it!!!!!!!!!

Our Temple Square Senior Couple 'family'

Here is a picture that was taken on September 21, 2008 outside of the South Visitors Center of the Senior Couples who are serving on Temple Square with us. A lot of them are hard to see because it's so small but I thought I'd share it with you anyway. We're up on the right hand side about 4 rows up. I'm about 2 people above and just to the right of the gal in the bright blue top. These are WONDERFUL people and we love serving with them. They are all great examples of selfless service to the Lord. Our mission president and his wife are on the front row on the right.

Grandma & Grandpa time at Dinosaur Park

A few weeks ago Heather called and invited us to go with them to the Dinosaur Park up in Ogden. After our shift on Temple Square was finished she came and picked us up and we were off to the park. It took about 45 minutes to get there. Of course, there was never a dull moment in the car during the trip. Lots of talking and laughing.

Here's Heather and Lexie:

Here's Branden, Hayden, Ethan and Devin in the dinosaur playground:
Now this is what I call 'using your head"!!
Anyone ready for a game of 'hide and go seek'??
All aboard for the ride of your life!

And they thought their dad was tall!!!
Grandpa helping the boys to feed the fish:
Oh no.........Grandma's in trouble again!!!
We had a great time. The weather was perfect and the company superb!

Family Fun

We have many wonderful times this summer with our family. In July everyone was together for the first time in many years to enjoy each other and take part in the blessing of two new granddaughters in our family: Shelby Elizabeth Chatfield, daughter of Chris and Amber and Alexis Bryann Carlson, daughter of Heather and Bryan Carlson. We all had a wonderful time together and here are some pictures to prove it: The first one is the grandkids at the park.

The next three are Chris, Aaron and Brynn jumping over each other. It was amazing to see Brynn get all the way over the top of Aaron but she did --maybe she should try out for the Olympics in the high jump - she'd probably make the team!!

We also got some pictures of us with our 5 children. What a family!!! Parent magazine wanted to get a copy of this but we turned them down. We're just not into the limelight!!! ha ha The next picture is our whole family and last (but definitely not least!!!) is us with all of our grandchildren!!!! What could be better than this. Life is wonderful!!

Cove Fort Utah Trip

We took a trip to Cove Fort to visit our good friends Joyce and Owen Bae who are on their mission there. Their mission is a 6 month mission so they entered the MTC on March 17th the same day we did and they will complete their mission on September 15th. We have heard a lot about Cove Fort so we decided we'd give it a try. It was a wonderful trip and the Fort was wonderful. I don't know that I would have wanted to live there without any neighbors but the Hinckleys seemed to enjoy it.

Joyce and Owen took us on a 'special tour' which was more indepth than the usual tours and we learned a lot about the Fort. The Hinckleys lived there for many years and raised their family there during that time. It was a waystation for travelers and they had wagons stop by for the night on a daily basis. Sister Hinckley would prepare food for everyone who came to stay overnight. So, on a daily basis she baked bread and prepared meals for many extra guests besides her own family. I don't know how she managed to wash clothes, linens, etc. make clothes, clean the fort, educate her children along with all of the rest. She was one remarkable woman. As you can see the fort is in great shape for being so old.

They had a great relationship with the indians and never once did they have to use the fort as a safe haven against attack. As you can see in one of the pictures, Joyce is looking through one of the gun holes that was built into the fort in case that was needed. We even climbed up onto one of the covered wagons used in those days. Not my idea of comfortable traveling conditions but I'll bet it was better than pulling a handcart. The air conditioning and non-reclining seat leaves a bit to be desired but it gets great mpg.We even learned how to play some of the games they played in those days. It would be a great way to loose a few of the extra pounds I've gained here. Fortunately Mike has bought me a treadmill for my birthday so I can use that instead. I try to walk 2.5 - 3 miles. If the weather is not too hot we do it outside together, if it's too hot and when it gets too cold I will use the treadmill.

If you ever get a chance be sure to stop by Cove Fort and take the tour. It's right off of I-15 going south from Salt Lake City toward the Grand Canyon. Just watch for the signs past Filmore and you can't miss it. It's definitely worth the trip.

Park City - A Mission Vacation!

We wanted to share our mission 'vacation' with you. Part of our mission is the Family Tree Center in Park City. Occasionally (we hear its 2-3 time during our mission) we will be assigned to that venue for a week. Such was the case in June. We were assigned to cover the center from June 22 - June 28. What a treat!!!

For those of you who have never been there, the Family Tree Center is a small version of the family history library. Anyone can walk in and we will teach them how to look up family ancestors. It's a very fun place to serve. Park City is a very big tourist attraction in the winter because of the wonderful skiing available. We found out that it is also a big attraction in the summer as well. There are art shows and other venues that come to Park City on a continual basis.

The Family Tree Center is right on Main Street so multitudes of people walk up and down the street every single day. It is open to the public from 10:00am until 9:00pm. It is a 3 story building with a basement. The center is on the main floor and the basement level and has about 10 computer stations where the guests can look up their ancestors. It's very exciting to watch someone come in and find a grandparent or other relative that they never knew about before. They are thrilled to pieces!

The 2nd floor is an apartment for the 2 sister missionaries who are assigned there for a 6 week period of time. There is also an office on that floor. The 3rd floor is an apartment for the missionary couple who is assigned there for the week. We have most mornings off until 3:00pm and work the 3-9PM shift with the sister missionaries.


When we went up we worked with Sister Bleazzard (from the USA) and Sister Gasmin (from the Phillipines). They were so fun to work with. We took them out on their p-day to Heber City (they chose where they wanted to go). We went to the Heber Creeper, the crater, up main street, ate lunch at the Dairy Keen (I said it right - it's not the Dairy Queen, but the Dairy Keen) The food was delicious and they always feed the missionaries for free. They gave us more food than we could eat so we took it home and had the rest for dinner. The sisters had a great time kissing the frog at the golf course to see if he would turn into their 'prince charming'. I didn't need to do that because I already have mine!

While we were in Park City Mike and I also went to the Olympic Park Village (where part of the winter olympics were held). It was very interesting. We took the tram to the top of the Olympic Ski jump. It is so high I don't know how anyone would have the nerve to go down and jump off................!!! We did ride the Alpine slide though. It was so much fun!! There's a picture of Mike on it but you can hardly tell it's him. It takes off at the top of the hill by the ski jump
and goes to the bottom. Each person rides it by themselves and can control their own speed. We did NOT ride the bobsled which is driven by someone else and goes anywhere from 60-70 miles per hour down the hill. I wanted to keep my sanity a little longer (at least what I have left).

Every morning we woke up and went for a walk through the city. They have a wonderful walking trail that is a few miles long and takes you though their beautiful parks. We also walked up into the hills and overlooked the city one morning. It was breathtaking. The walks were great but I still didn't loose a single pound. We also had the excitement of the city loosing all its power one evening. It happened a little before 8:00pm and after about 20 minutes without any power and then finding out that they were not going to be able to get the power on for several hours we decided to close up shop. We then went up to the balcony off our apartment and invited the sister missionaries up. We brought all our 'junk food' out and had a party on the balcony. We had so much fun and laughed like crazy. What a fun experience - one we'll never forget.


We had a great time. We just found out that we have been assigned to go again on September 28 for another week. YEAH!!! Here's an invitation to anyone in the area to come and visit us while we're there!!!

It's Luau Time!

The Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission has a tradition of having a luau every summer. This summer was no exception. We were asked to be on the committee (along with 3 other couples) to organize and put on the luau this year. It is actually held twice because only half of the mission can come to it at a time. Temple Square is open to the public 365 days a year so half of the mission needs to stay home to "man the fort" (or is that "man the temple")

The luau's were held July 15th and 17th. It was held up in Big Cottonwood canton at a really nice campground. Out assignments were to buy and prepare the green salad, homemade root beer, rolls, paper products, sound system and ice. We had never made homemade root beer before so it was quite the experience for us. We made 35 gallons and the sisters loved it. The menu was bbq chicken, slow cooked pork, rice, salad, pineapple, rolls, watermelon, root beer, cake and smores. Everyone loved it and there was more than enough food. There was entertainment put on by the polynesian sisters in the mission. After their entertainment they had different groups get up and taught them different polynesain dances. We have sisters from Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and we had a sister from Nepal dance also.

There was also sand volleyball, frisbee, dance contests, and a huge tug of war at the end. The first night we fed about 125 people and the second night it was about 110. What a fun activity. It was amazing to see some of these very quiet, reserved sisters let their hair down and just have fun. We have some amazingly talented sisters here on Temple Square. Many had never heard of root beer before let alone taste it. They had also never heard of smores. What fun to teach them and then watch them make and eat them over and over again. We still hear about it today.

Our children will be happy to know that I did not embarrass myself by 'trying' to do the hula. I can't say the same for Mike. He did get a lot of whoops and hollers when he was up there though. His hips didn't want to cooperate real well but you have to give him credit for trying! I'm just thankful that he didn't put his back out trying.

The first picture you see here is Mike stirring the homemade root beer. We found that when you use dry ice to make it you have to stir it constantly or else the mixture freezes to the dry ice and it not longer keeps it cold or adds that fizz to it like you want. We now feel very comfortable in being assigned to make homemade root beer.

The second picture is of all the polynesian sisters who put on the program for us. They are all wonderful dancers. It's hard to understand how those hips can sway so gracefully no matter what build you have. We have sisters who range from the very most petite to exactly the opposite (sort of like me!). The next picture is of me helping cut the cakes for dessert.

The following pictures are of Mike and I with some of our special sister

who we have gotten to know very well and feel very close to. The first one is Sister Amado from Brazil, the second one is Sister Gradupe from Latvia, the third one is Sister Rodriguez. She has recently come on her mission from Mexico and I am her mentor in learning to speak English a little better. Don't ask me how they think I have the ability to do that but I'm trying. I'll say one thing, we do laugh a lot!!! The last one if Sister Bak from Russia (on the left) and Sister Thorn from Sweden. We would adopt any one of these girls in a heartbeat. They are so wonderful.