A Very Cool Website For LDS Geeks

While searching the web for the anniversary date of the Relief Society (that's another story in itself), I stumbled onto the coolest website ever. https://tech.lds.org/

This is the site where you go if you want to volunteer with any of the churches technical projects, like making LDS apps for iphones or creating new LDS-related websites. It also gives support for ward clerks and more general support for how to keep you family safe on the internet. You can even log on with your LDS account and add a profile of your skills. The skills they need are mostly programming related, but I did see a section on drafting and 3-D modeling.

Probably most of you are yawning, but I was so glad to find it because I'm really interested in the technical-type projects that the church is doing. I'm excited that there are real oppurtunities to give service if you have those types of interests and skills.

Exercise

This morning Autumn helped Jonathan do his exercises. She did the same thing unprompted yesterday too.



If you cannot understand what she's saying in the video, here is the transcript.
"tickle"
"exercise"
"bye".

Valentine's Week Fun

We had a really nice Valentine's Day. The warm weather made it especially nice to be outside. Yesterday Autumn and I went to SDL where Jonathan works and we played by the pond. Autumn fed the ducks for the first time. She enjoyed it so much that she threw her glove into the water too. I tried unsuccessfully to grab it with a stick. In the end, I took off my shoes and socks and waded into the pond to fetch it. I probably did it because Autumn had started crying "Glove! Glove!" It was funny that after working six years at SDL, I had never before attempted to wade into the SDL pond. I finally did it in 50 degree weather while trying to keep a toddler from following me in! The coolest part was after all that we saw Jonathan walking between buildings and got to say hi. I love seeing my honey.

I made my first cheese cake ever. It was so yummy that I will have to make another soon!

Our Monticello Trip (Updated)

Here are some pictures and details from our trip to go down to Grandpa Burtenshaw's funeral. We left Logan Sunday evening and spent the night in Orem at Jon's parents' home. Diana was the only one home because everyone else was already in Monticello. I enjoyed hanging out with her. In the morning, we left around 7 for Monticello. Diana and Troy followed us the whole way down. The only bad spot was Soldier Summit where the road was covered in ice and snow was falling. Autumn did not nap for the entire 4 hour car ride.

We got to Monticello in time for the family prayer which Jon's dad said. It was a special time. There was a nursery for the children, but I decided to keep Autumn with me. Jonathan gave a very nice talk. All the grand kids and great-grand kids sang "I am a Child of God." Autumn was having a hard time in the chapel so I took her to the nursery. She had a good time and I listened to a lot of the funeral in the foyer where I could be reached if she decided she didn't like nursery. There were a lot of kids and I ended up helping there for a while. Jonathan's Aunt Cyndi and her daughter sang "Jesus' Love is Like a River". After the funeral, the motorcade was escorted by a police car. Although it was very windy and chilly, the sun was very bright. It made the snow sparkle.

At the cemetery, we all sang a hymn and then Uncle Kim dedicated the grave. There is a beautiful view of "the mountain" from the cemetery.

The ward served us a very nice family dinner. Here are most of the Phillips who attended. Not pictured who were there are Ray, Carol, Brian, and Gabriel.

The chapel is right next to the Monticello Temple where Ray and Alysa were sealed. Jonathan took this picture of the Angel Moroni statue. It reminded me of the angel that will announce the Resurrection. That is a very comforting thought that we will all see Grandpa again.

After the dinner everyone else headed back north or south. Jon, Autumn, and I drove up the road toward the mountain where Jonathan used to go with his grandparents when he visited Monticello growing up. We made it up to where the snowmobile trail starts.

There was a nice view of Monticello and the plains that I remember passing many times as a kid on our way up to Idaho to visit grandparents. If anyone can find the "T. Potty Stop" in the photo you get a prize.

This landmark is important to the Phillips Family as well as the Martineau family. Look familiar? It's Church Rock!

There is a road that turns off right across from Church Rock. It leads to Newspaper Rock State Historical Monument. Jonathan wanted to show it to us. By this time Autumn was finally having a nap. Jonathan and I got out of the car quietly to go take a look at all the prehistoric graffiti. The bear footprints are my favorite.

Jonathan stopped and took this sunset photo. I firmly believe that Grandpa Burtenshaw had a hand in the sunset, as I believe everyone gets to influence the weather for a day when they pass to the other side.

We spent Monday night in Moab. We walked to a nice grocery store and got deli chicken and veggies for supper. Are we healthy or what? The next morning we drove up to Dead Horse Point State Park. Little did we know that a cold front would be freezing us and the rest of the nation for the next couple of days. Still it was sunny and the view from the park was spectacular. My favorite part was watching this Chinese family enjoy the park. Despite the bone-chilling cold, they all had smiles on their faces as the kids joyfully ran from the trail to the parking lot. Autumn liked the visitor's center best. There were many buttons that started videos and even the Colorado River flowing. She couldn't really get to the kid's section because a foreign woman was sitting there doing one of the puzzles. Jonathan said she probably didn't know it was for kids.

Dead Horse Point has a story about how it got its name. We heard several versions of it while we were there. If you can discover the correct version, or better yet, a more creative story, you'll get a prize.

After Dead Horse Point we had lunch at Green River State Park. (You see, before we left home I checked out the State Parks Pass from the library, so we had to go to as many State Parks for free as we could.) No one was there, and we had to eat our lunch in the car, but it was memorable. We stopped in Orem for dinner at Jonathan's parents' house. The rest of the trip was unremarkable. Autumn went right to sleep when we got home.

Saturday at Hardware Ranch

On Saturday afternoon we drove up Blacksmith Fork Canyon to see the elk at Hardware Ranch. The elk were enjoying the free food as usual.

The Clydesdale horses are always impressive to see. The ones in the picture are taller than that lady, and I don't think she was short. Autumn has a new sound she makes for what horses say. It's got a bit of a laugh to it. "Nay-hay-hay-hay!"

What are Autumn and the mountain lion looking at? Let us know what you think.

Autumn wasn't afraid of the taxidermied animals, including the elk.

It was nice to get out of the inversion and go see some nature.

Crib Time and Other Updates

Our sweet little Autumn has just learned how to nurture her stuffed animals. She gives them kisses, carries them around with her, and even lets them suck on her binkie. Autumn now says over 100 different words. Her verbs are "sit", "wash" as in "wash my hands or binkie", "fix" as in "fix my twisted jammie footsie", "read it", and "coming" as in "I'm coming for a ride down the stairs."

Today Autumn got to visit Dr. Visick about her IBS symptoms. He thinks everything will be ok. He said she doesn't need to be on any milk (soy, almond, etc.) for a long time. He also gave us a stool sample kit just in case it's something else.

People have been wondering about our trip to Monticello. We are planning to spend Sunday night in Orem and drive the rest of the way on Monday morning. The funeral is at noon. We'll stay in Moab that night and finish the trip home on Tuesday.

Emotional Day

Today is turning out to be pretty emotional. Grandpa B. passed away this morning. I am so grateful that I could get to know him. What a good man he was to his family. We took a special trip to Monticello a month after Autumn was born so he and Grandma could meet their newest great-granddaughter. I'm so glad we did that. We've seen them several more times since then. Grandpa B. seemed to always have a great sense of humor, even after getting life flighted to UofU the first time. We met up with him there in the parking lot when he was discharged. He was so kind and friendly to Autumn. That never changed. We love you, Grandpa Burtenshaw.

I'm getting ready for New Beginnings this evening. I hope I can keep my emotions in check during my talk. Today I decided that Autumn has IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) so I'm reading up on it. I'm not getting very far because I keep crying when what I read matches her symptoms and IBS doesn't sound very fun. I'm grateful to find a new diet to try for her. We are definitely not winning with the current diet. Sorry whole wheat. You gotta go.

I'm hoping that tomorrow is a little less emotional and that I will see things with more of an eternal perspective.