Happy New Year!

The Dogs were none too pleased with their Hats this year...

Lily would not even wake up enough to take a picture, Charlie, is giving me the I hate you look, and Jade well, she just can't wait to go to bed....

Merry Christmas!

It all started with a Christmas tree that fit snuggly in our trunk. A free tree at that, since we waited until the last minute.

Next followed by Henry's new Christmas Sweater.

 Next was the traditional Benihana's dinner with everyone in their festive sweaters!

 Checking out the tree of light in Holladay, incredible!

 And you can't leave out Christmas Jami's!

 And of course Christmas is about seeing old friends and giving them funny slippers!

 

And then the final fate of Hen's poor little tree... almost looks like a shrub..

The Girls went to the Nutcracker! Always so good!

My nephew Chase's Baptism

 

The additional reason it was a miracle I got to sit next to my Dad, was I had a horrific cold and was coughing and blowing my nose the whole flight. My Dad was way more forgiving than any other passenger would have been.

Chase’s Baptism Talk 

Hello everyone, I am Chase’s Aunt Kara from Salt Lake City and I feel so blessed that I get to be here for Chase’s special day. I remember when I was eight years old and also had the opportunity to be baptized by my dad. It was a special day that I will always remember.

 

I remember feeling so much joy and warmth in my heart.

I remember feeling so much love from my family and my heavenly father. It was almost like I was wrapped in a giant hug all day.

 

Chase, I was wondering what did it feel like for you when you were just baptized?

 

I know that you will always want to remember this day so I have a journal here for you so that you can write down all of your thoughts and feelings so that you will always have it to remember how wonderful it was to follow in our Saviors footsteps and be baptized.

 

Ok, now I have a riddle for everyone. When you think you know who it is you can quietly put both hands on your head. And if anyone guesses please don’t yell out the answer.

 

·         I am a personage of spirit without flesh or bones

·         I can be felt by all, but can only become a constant companion to those who have been baptized and confirmed by the holy melchezidek priesthood.

·         I am the third member of the Godhead.

·         I have been called many names because I have many responsibilities. Some of those names are the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, or the Comforter.

·         I do not yell and have been known to speak in a still small voice.

·         I speak most often to your heart and mind, but if the need arises you may hear me in your ears.

·         I work closely with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to help you live righteously and receive the blessings of the gospel.

 

That’s right, it is the Holy Ghost.

 

By raise of hands can anyone see the wind? Not what it can do to the leaves or the sand, but actually see it?

 

If we can’t see wind, how do we know it is real? That’s right, because we can feel it.

 

So if the Holy Ghost doesn’t have a physical body like you and me, how do we know he is real? That’s right because we can feel him.

 

What does the Holy Ghost feel like? Does anyone want to share?

 

For me, it is a calming peaceful feeling like everything will be alright. Or like that giant Hug I talked about earlier. I know that was the Holy Ghost helping me to feel the love of our Heavenly Father the day of my baptism and I have felt the comfort of the Holy Ghost whenever I have been making good choices and needed help.

 

Does anyone know some of the things the Holy Ghost can do for us?

Comforts, guides, protects, helps us to know what is true, and what is right and wrong.

 

So how do we know all of these things about the Holy Ghost if no one has ever actually seen him?

 

I will give you a hint… it is something that is from long ago, but that we can read any time that we want.

 

Yes, the scriptures teach us about the Holy Ghost.

 

Chase will you read a scripture for me?

 

Moroni 10:5

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

 

So the Holy Ghost will guide to know right from wrong. And if we know right from wrong, we can know how to make righteous choices, and if we make righteous choices we can return to live with our father in Heaven after this life.

 

Are we always going to make right choices? No, because we aren’t perfect, that is why we came to this earth to learn and become more like our Savior. That is why we have the sacrament. The sacrament gives us the opportunity to repent of our mistakes and we can be made clean again just like you were today Chase.

 

I just want to leave you with my testimony

Chase, I want you to look around the room and know that everyone person in here loves you more than you will ever know. Thank you for letting us be apart of your special day.

 

 You are so smart and I know that you will be a great example to all around you as you continue to Choose the Right and lean on our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ through prayer. I know with all my heart that they are so proud of you and because of that love you are about to receive the most beautiful gift we can receive in this life. The Gift of the Holy Ghost.

 

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving! Another year at the Grand America.

Our trip to Paradise!

Hen and I were blessed to go on a 6 night trip to the Big Island of Hawaii with my work. Here is a brief itinerary of our schedule while we were there.


Friday, November 11- Arrive in Kona
Saturday, November 12- 11am Massages, Snuba diving off of the captain cook monument cove
Sunday, November 13- Church in Waimea (story to follow), brunch at the famous Merrimen's, Luau in the evening
Monday, November 14-Stargazing trip up Mauna Kea, Poker/game night
Tuesday, November 15- 11am Massages, Manta Ray Night Snorkel
Wednesday, November 16- Shopping in Kona, Lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp, East Coast Lobster Bake at the Hotel
Thursday, November 17- 12pm Massages, Sunset Sail, dinner at Hualalai Grille, flight left at 10pm
Friday, November 18-arrived home to Salt Lake City

Day 1-Saturday, November 12

Hen and I took one of the convertible rental cars and headed out to go snuba diving at the cove of the captain cooks monument.

Now I had picked this company because I knew they had snuba diving available. They were the only ones on the island with a certified instructor. And I had snuba dived two other times, but Hen hadn't before so this was his first experience. Out of about 60 other snorkelers on the boat we were the only ones smart enough to take advantage of this opportunity. So you may saying, does she mean "scuba" diving, and to that question I would say no. Snuba is the combination of scuba and snorkeling. You have a snorkel mask, but you also have a mouthpiece connected to an oxygen tank. The oxygen tank, instead of being strapped to you back like in scuba, sits on a raft on the waters surface and the hose connects down to your mouthpiece. This allows you to go down about 15-20 feet and stay down there for 30-45 minutes. It was incredible! The marine life we saw that lived in the coral was so vibrant and the variety of fish were endless. I think I have made a fan out of Hen of the snuba diving. We will definitely go again if the opportunity presents itself. On the way back to the dock lots of spinner dolphins showed up and put on a show!

Day 2-Sunday, November 13

A sacrament meeting, we won't soon forget. 

Sunday we woke up planning to go to the Kona ward that was by the temple at 11am. Our friends Sarah and Kerry called and invited us to go to the 9am Waimea ward with them instead. Kerry's mom has a time share at the Waikola up the street and that is the ward she always attends when she is in town, so that is why they wanted to go. So the four of us started the drive, about an hour, to the Waimea ward. When we got there we were pretty early and the Bishop of the ward met us in the foyer. He then proceeded to tell us that he would "love if we would do something for him." At which point, Henry and Kerry said, oh our Wives would Love to do whatever you need. Sarah and I agreed, thinking it will be like the opening/closing prayers. We were very wrong. He asked if we would give 2 minute talks about why we decided to attend church on vacation. Sarah and I were pretty surprised by the request, but were happy to oblige. So sacrament meeting starts and the four of us are sitting there singing ( with the greatest chorister of all time btw) and in walks two of our co workers and their wives. They sit down and don't even see us. I turned to Sarah and said, I wasn't nervous before, but now I am definitely nervous. I thought we were going to get to be anonymous....After the sacrament, the bishop announces that we will now here from Sis. Sarah Jackson and Sis. Kara Becker. Our co workers turn around looking for us in the audience and when they spot us their jaws drop to the floor. It was pretty comical. Sarah got up and bore one of the most beautiful testimonies I have ever heard. When I got up I shared that I attend church while on vacation because being at church makes me feel like home. The spirit and peace that I feel there brings such a comfort when we travel especially since the church is the same whereever you go. After the meeting our coworkers invited us to brunch at Merrimen's which is a famous restaurant in Waimea. It is also the reason they had chosen to come to the Waimea ward that morning. We all had a good laugh about  how interesting the circumstances were that we all ended up at the same ward at the same time. That night at the luau, this story had clearly made it's way around my coworkers and people were coming up to me and commenting how they wish they had to come to our ward to hear Sarah and I speak instead of going to the ward in Kona.

Day 3-Monday, November 14

The day started out with some time at the beachtree pool. Of course Hen had to order a pina colada in a pineapple. He is on a beach chair in a cabana.

This is a picture of the pool we spent the most time at while at the Four Seasons

Next was our adventure to the top of Mauna Kea

"Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Standing 4,207m above sea level, its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. Elevation 13,803 ft. Much of the mountain is under water and when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is over 33,000 ft tall, making it the world's largest mountain from base to summit, surpassing Mount Everest! With its high altitude, dry environment, and stable airflow, Mauna Kea's summit is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation. Since the creation of an access road in 1964, thirteen telescopes funded by eleven countries have been constructed at the summit. The Mauna Kea observatories are used for scientific research across the elctromagnetic spectrum from visible light to radio, and comprise the largest such facility in the world." (taken from Wikipedia) They say it does actually snow on Mauna Kea at times in the year and the locals drive up and ski down and then drive up again!

Our adventure started in these vans being picked up from the hotel

https://www.hawaii-forest.com/

When got to about 7,000 feet we stopped and had a picnic dinner to started to get acclimated to the elevation. The further we went up the volcano, the less oxygen there was. Whenever we stopped we had to move slow to not get dizzy. At the summit at almost 14,000 feet it was about 30 degrees by the time the sun went down. The sunset was so gorgeous! Being above the clouds was like we were on the top of the world! After watching the sunset at the summit we came down to about 9,000 feet to the visitors center and our tour guide had an awesome telescope where we star gazed for about an hour. It was the night of the super moon! And the super moon was so bright it was hard to look directly at it. It was big and beautiful! And the number of stars we could see and Planets was incredible! Our tour guide was so knowledgeable a really awesome!

On our final descent down the volcano, our guide pointed out a moon bow. Something so rare, and that only comes out when there is a full moon and the moisture in the air is just right. It is like a rain bow but it is all grey. I wasn't able to get a picture of it, but this is what it looked like. Our guide said he had only seen 4 in his life time and that ours was the brightest one he had ever seen! I didn't even know they existed!