Jon and McKenzie' wedding

Jon married McKenzie Atkin in the Oquirrh Mountain temple on Thursday December 5th. 6 of his brothers and sisters were there, and we missed Mike, who is serving our country on active duty, in Bahrain.  It was a freezing cold day.  High was only 16 degrees.  But it was sunny and clear and we all were warmed by the beautiful sealing ceremony.  

Christy and Shelly and I as we were waiting outside the temple for the happy couple.

      All 16 grandchildren were waiting in the bitter cold for a picture with Jon and Kenzie.

                               Paul, Shelly, Roland, Dan, Tommy, Christy, with Jon.

Dan and Kylie

Dan and Kylie are expecting a baby boy in February.  That is grand boy #7.  The boys are trying to even the numbers.  Right now we have 10 grand girls and 6 grand boys.

Rhett got the croup while we were in Star Valley.  He was in the hospital 3 days there and then was sent by ambulance to Primary children's hospital in Salt Lake, where he stayed another 3 1/2 days where he could get breathing treatments and be under observation.  

                                                        Brooklyn and Dan

One of my most precious memories during this wonderful two weeks that we have been here, is the morning that Brooklyn crawled in bed with me early one morning before the sun was up.  I couldn't see who it was.  But I felt her long Curley head  and knew it was her.  I asked her if she was snug like a bug, and she answered, "no, I am snug like a raccoon."  I told her that she was so quiet and sneaky to get in my bed without me even knowing it.  I said she was sly like a fox.  She said that she was like a pink sparkly fox.  She put her arms around my neck and just stayed there for about 15 minutes.  Grandma's love moments like those!

   Here is Brooklyn in her pink sparkly fairy costume!

Tommy and Cam

We went to Star Valley, the day after Thanksgiving.  Tommy, Jon and Daniel played in the SV Basketball tournament.  It was great to visit my parents. 

            Cam is half way through her pregnancy.  You can't even tell she's pregnant.

                 They found out they are having a boy.  That will be grand boy #8.

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls- Aesop

Our granddaughter Isabel learned this quote by Aesop.... and dressed up in her pilgrim costume and said, "Gratitude is the sign of a noble soul."  I really like that.  When I am grateful, I feel like I am at my best self.  I love to be around people who remember to be grateful.  I don't like to be around someone who complains all the time.

We have so many things to be grateful for at this time in our lives.  The #1 on my list is family.  How blessed we are to have 8 children and 16 grandchildren.  What a wonderful blessing we had this year to come back to Utah for Jon's wedding, and to be here with all of our children (except Mike who is serving our country in Bahrein).  14 of our 16 grandchildren made it to thanksgiving.  We enjoyed an unbelievable feast with everyone at Paul and Sarah's house.  

Lauren helped me make the turkey relish plate.

                           All the children ate outside in the garage at the kid's café.

                                                   We got a game or two of Settlers in.

                                 We brought all the kids an Italian soccer shirt.

                                                   The sun was a little bright!

                I  am so thankful for family.    What a blessing to have 16 grandchildren.

Last day with Shelly and Ryan

We have been blessed all week to not have had rain like was forcast all week.  But it rained and thundered all night Thursday and Friday morning.  I had arranged with a friend down in Paestum to get a tour of the Casafecio where they make fresh Mozzarella di Buffala.  It was scheduled for 9 am Friday morning.  After all the cheese we ate yesterday, no one really wanted to think about Mozzarella di Buffala! but my friend had been so great to arrange this tour! and it was raining! and we wanted to see the Ancient Greek temples nearby.  So we went and had a wonderful morning!  Everyone really enjoyed seeing them make the cheese.  We got free samples, which I loved! 

We drove over to the temples and we were able to get good pictures and see everything we wanted.  

This temple was built by the Greeks in 700 BC.  Quite amazing how well it is preserved. The square areas just below the upper triangle part, under the shelf, were each filled with stone pictures of mythological stories.  These were removed when they excavated this temple, and were on display in the museum. Below, are a few pictures of these sculpted pictures.

There is a very famous lid to a tomb that has a diver picture on it.  That is in the museum too, along with other artifacts.

We found a gellateria open and we all had an ice cream cone.  It was the first of four ice cream cones for some of our group.  I think our American visitors have a rule which is, "never pass up a gallateria"!

After Paestum, we had lunch at Franco's.   

Then I went home and took a nap and the younger four went off to Pompeii to see all they could see on their last day in Italy.  They regally liked Pompei and the nice thing was that it didn't rain too hard and they were able to have a great time.

We went over to an investigator's home for dinner as soon as they got back.  We had a wonderful time.  I can't remember laughing so hard ever.  We had pizza and ice cream for desert.  It was a fantastic end to a great visit with Shelly and Ryan and their friends.

Here we are just before heading to bed.  Shelly is checking on their flight information.  We loved having them come visit us.  I can't believe that we are heading back to utah on Monday morning, for Jon's wedding.  Picture me very happy!!!

Thursday with Ryan and Shelly

Thursday morning, we went to the outdoor market in Battipaglia.  The girls bought a few things.  I found some socks to wear that were long enough to wear under my skirts and keep my legs warm this winter.  So I was happy with my 5 euro purchase.  After an hour and half of shopping, we stopped by the caseficio where they sell Mozzarella di Buffala cheese.  We bought a kilo and ate them right there on the spot as a mid morning snack.  We love this cheese so much and we were really excited about sharing it with Ryan and Shelly and their friends.  Everyone had 1 little ball called a bochincino.  They thought it was alright but no one was crazy about it like we are!  We had a lot left over that I thought we could eat later.  Then we drove 15 minutes up into the mountains above our house and everyone took a little hike. Here is the view from the top of the mountain.

              You can see all the way across Battipaglia and to the Mediterranean Sea.

                  Here is Ryan, Shelly! Christy and Scott up on top of the world!

After the hike we had lunch at a member's home back in Battipaglia.  She had the anti pasta all dished up on plates as we got there.  And it was a huge plate for each of us of Mozzarella di Buffala as well as two other kinds of cheese! three large pieces of each! and a selection of proschuito which is raw meats.  I thought that Christy was going to gag! because she really didn't even like the first piece of mozzarella di Buffala, we had given her that morning and now she had a whole plate full of it!  But she was a trooper and ate it all.  I knew what else was coming so I only ate about a fourth of my plate.  Next came homemade Raveoli which were really good and really filling.  By now everyone is stuffed.....but wait there is more!  Next came a plate of meatballs, all homemade.... Then green salad.....and then cake....and then fruit....!!!!! Now, Shelly can understand how painful it is to eat at member's homes. It tasted all very good but it was about 10 times what we could fit in our tummy. Everyone wanted to just go home and sleep.... But they didn't. (I did!!). Paul took them to the Mall to get gifts to take back home and then on to Salerno to meet our organist non member who we like so much.  They arrived back in time for English class.  We taught our English class and then we went to dinner at our favorite Pizza place, Donna Sophia's, along with about 20 kids from our English class.  We had a fun night.

D&C 10:69

And now, behold, whosoever is of my church, and endure to the end, him will I establish upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.