Family Photos from Nauvoo Pageant 2012

Though we decided to not apply for the pageant in 2013 (The baby is due in a month or so and we will all need the rest!), we thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Yellow cast this year.  There is nothing quite like serving in the pageant cast.  It is wonderful for our family.

 

Foisters Spotlighted in News Segment on Mormon Faith

Recently I received a call while at work just after we returned home from a couple of weeks in Nauvoo, and then Utah for vacation.  We were asked to allow a news crew into our home to discuss what it is like in a typical Mormon family.  Though it is hard to say what a 'typical' or 'normal' family is, we were grateful for the opportunity to share.  I was surprised they wanted to come that very evening, giving us just a few hours of notice.  I called Anna and asked her if we could have a few more guests for dinner.  She thought I was teasing her, but readily agreed.

Filming and interviewing for an entire evening boiled down to a few seconds of broadcast, and included other families.  We assumed that would happen.  The producer and camera man were very kind and easy to work with.  We enjoyed getting to know them a little bit and sharing our beliefs with them. 

Quetzaltenango Guatemala

Anna Marie and I recently spent time visiting her parents in Guatemala who are serving as missionaries in the Quetzaltenango mission. Anna Marie's sister flew in to watch the children while we were away. Though we missed the children, we really enjoyed the Guatemalan culture and people. Anna Marie has even asked a couple of times about the possibility of us moving there. I think she was inspired by our good friends the Rosados. After spending 20 years in California in high paying, but high stress jobs related to IT and computer engineering, decided to move to Quetzaltenango a couple of years ago. Though very different from the states, both the parents and the children are happy with the decision. But don't worry...I don't think we'll be able to follow their example anytime soon.

Here are photos from the trip...


Part of what we enjoyed was working as missionaries with Dale and Cynthia. This first slideshow shows some of the people we worked with, as well as a wedding and baptism. The baptism was their first one since they arrived. We were honored to have all four of us participate. I said the prayer, Anna and her mom sang a special musical number, and Dale perfomed the baptism.



These photos of people we met amaze me. Many woman cary heavy things on their head. Cynthia asked one one if she could try lifting the bag on her head. She couldn't move it. The woman said it took two men to lift it on her head. There is another photo in this group of a seven-year-old girl who worked as our waitress at a small restuarant in Panajachel, near Solola and Lake Atitlan. It was a family business that each member took part in. Amazing.



This slideshow is of a museum and ruins we saw near Huehuetenango.



Of course there was nothing that matched the beauty of the new temple dedicated by President Uctdorf this past December.



After a long and treacherous ride up the mountains, we arrived at Las Fuentes of Georginas where a natural hot springs, heated by the volcano, flows into various pools. The pool closest to the source is very hot, almost to hot to be comfortable. It then flows into other pools. The further away from the source it is, the more tolerable it is. The furthest pool is about like a hot tub. I learned that many locals take a cold shower there on site, then jump in the hottest pool, then back to the cold shower repeating the cycle until you feel like you will die. I tried it five or six times and felt great the next day, though I couldn't convince Anna to join me. Due to all of the steam and humidity, some of the photos are fuzzy. It was like a bathroom after taking a long, hot shower.



We enjoyed shopping in the market each day, where everything is fresh, including the meat!




As strange as it sounds, we enjoyed spending time in the Quetzaltenango cemetery. Brother Rosado and his children are seen in the photos as well. They are very honest in their epitaphs. One said, "Here lays a lazy man who would not work in life." It is a very large and old place. We didn’t see 1/10th of the entire place.

The photos of the pink tomb are of Vanushka. The legend goes she was a very beautiful, young, South American woman who was murdered by a jealous woman. Her tomb has since become a shrine for people with love difficulties. People write messages and leave things hoping Vanushka can solve their problems and help them find true love. It reminds me of letters to Juliet.

2012 Cast of the Nauvoo Pageant

Yea!! We were accepted to participate in the 2012 Cast of the Nauvoo Pageant! We are very excited. Now, if only we can find some friends to lend/rent a camper we could stay in for the two weeks...

You are invited!

Quotes To Live By

The children were asked by an art teacher they are working with, to bring their favorite quotes today as they will make frames for them. As we were discussing them this morning in family devotional, the didn't have to think long about which to use. Without hesitation the older two chose the quote and poem below. I thought I'd post them here as they are important to the children. The last one I added because it is one of my favorites. Now, if we could only live by them more...

“I have been asked what I mean by “word of honor.” I will tell you. Place me behind prison walls—walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground—there is a possibility that in some way or another I might be able to escape; but stand me on the floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it. Can I get out of that circle? No, never! I’d die first.” Karl G. Maeser

A Little Brother Follows Me

A careful boy I want to be;
a little brother follows me.
I do not dare to go astray
for fear he’ll go the self-same way

I cannot once escape his eyes;
whate’er he see me do, he tries.
Like me he says he’s going to be-
that little brother following me.

He thinks that I am good and fine;
believes in every word of mine.
The bad in me he must not see-
that little brother following me.

I must remember as I go
through summer’s sun and winter’s snow
I’m building for the years to be
that little brother following me.

-Author Unknown

"This is the greatest wealth we possess -- to know how to direct our labors rightly, spending every hour advantageously for the benefit of our wives and children and neighbors."

"Time Should Be Spent Wisely -- What have we? Our time. Spend it as you will. Time is given to you; and when this is spent to the best possible advantage for promoting truth upon the earth, it is placed to our account, and blessed are you; but when we spend our time in idleness and folly it will be placed against us. We have to give an account of the days we spend in folly." Brigham Young

I have been thinking a lot on the dangers facing families today. It seems as if the attack on the family is increasing in ferocity, increasing our urgency to do more to save them. I recently re-read the talk Elder Gene R. Cook sent me titled, "The Eternal Nature of The Family." He gave the talk to Institute and Seminary Teachers in the Salt Lake Valley East and West Areas on June 12, 2001. I think I have mentioned the talk on here before, but it is still the most powerful talk I have read on the family.

A few excerpts:

_________________________________________________________________

What is it that we really desire? What is the bottom line of all of this? I think the following words were given by revelation and I would teach them all over the Church: “Successive generations of faithful families sealed in the House of the Lord.” That is the outcome. We are not only after your family being sealed, but successive generations of your faithful family sealed in the House of the Lord. What beautiful words. What inspired doctrine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The question was asked, “Why is the home so influential?” One of the Twelve answered this question in an inspired way, suggesting four things that make the home a unique environment for teaching.

1. Parents are the only ones who can really fit the armor of faith individually to each of their children. It is a unique fit, isn’t it? You can generally talk about the armor, but you cannot specifically fit it to the child the way a dad and a mom can fit it.

2. No one can love like those from home. As much as you love the young people, it is not anywhere near how much Dad and Mom love them. If they can experience that love for marriage through their dad loving their mom and their mom loving their dad—if they can see their affection, their absolute delight in being married—they will desire to have what their parents have.

3. No one can see a temple marriage in action anywhere better than in the home. No one can set that example for your children better than you and your wife, brethren and sisters.

4. Home is a unique place to teach. There are magical moments that occur there. Young people are not taught when you are ready to teach, are they? It is when they are ready. In a class, you can sit them all in a line and give them the “what for,” but whether they listen or not is another matter. A good dad takes that walk around the block with a young son who stops to say, “Dad, that time we were fixing the bike together and you stopped and bore your testimony to me....” That is a magical moment. A mother is with a daughter, preparing a cake for dinner, when the daughter takes a moment to say, “Mom, I really love you.” Those are magical moments never to be forgotten. Those are the moments that are unique to home and not to be found anywhere else.

_________________________________________________________________

What a marvelous blessing a loving family is.

SpongeBob Is Bad For Kids' Brains

On my way home from work yesterday, a story on NPR caught my ear. Scientific (as scientific as a limited sample can be) proof, that SpongeBob and other fast-paced television is not good for our children.

The researchers said that the cartoon's fast-based scenes may make it more difficult for young children to pay attention and think. The article states a test was given to children after watching SpongeBob, coloring, or a slower paced PBS show. Those who watched SpongeBob performed significantly poorer than children in the other two groups.

We have thought for years that this type of entertainment overstimulates and dulls their minds. As a result we do not watch any television in our home. We also miss the commercials, which are often worse than the show itself.

We do allow the occasional family movie, but even this is critically selected from a short list of older films we know they will enjoy, mainly because we knew and enjoyed them at the same age. The added benefit is obvious lack of anti-family messages seen in programs today. And as Julie Beck said, anti-family is anti-Christ.

Here is the link to the NPR article if you are interested:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/09/12/140401099/spongebob-may-be-too-speedy-for-preschool-brains