Home Away . . .

from home = St. George

This trip we took our bikes

and enjoyed the Virgin River Trail

Where we saw the coolest bike fixing station.

It was an Eagle Scout project.

It had tools, a pump, and a bar code

you could scan on your phone and

have instructional information on how to fix your bike.

Then we had to get a tiger's blood avalanche at Swig!

I had to take this to prove it got to 90 on Friday!

(try to ignore the dust)

The girls got there Friday night and we ate

at the Pizza Factory. And took pictures in the firetruck!

The next morning we tried out a new place to us.

Fractured Prune Doughnuts.

They are made fresh, hot, and to order!

You pick your glaze.

And any toppings you want.

Can I just say . . . YUM!

She still gets sprinkles if available.

We took a trip out to show Paige the petroglyphs at Little Black Mountain.

And everyone did yoga.

And planked. (sort of)

I tried to wax artistic.

Someone must be watching too much Karate Kid.

Then we moved on to the Glitter Pits.

Silly.

Fun.

Diamonds.

White as snow.

And did more yoga.

Then we ate at our favorite!

These two cuties!

Courtney and her beverage of choice.

 

Driving home we saw some fantastic clouds!

I love clouds.

 

And we saw the Payson Temple.

Until next time St. George!

The Great Elton John

I have been listening to Sir Elton John

for more years than I care to admit

and this morning

he was singing to me on my SiriusXM station

while I was driving to work.

He was singing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"

and the first line just hit me today.

"I can't light no more of your darkness."

At the risk of anyone thinking I have a lot of darkness in my life,

I don't.

But . . . 

Sometimes we all expect other people to fix - whatever - for us

to make it all better

to light our darkness.

Another but . . . 

that just isn't how it works.

No one can do that for us.

We have to do that for ourselves.

Conference

Another general conference has come and gone.

They are always a source of inspiration and learning.

I work for the Church so everything gets a little crazy and busy in April and October.

When my Dad was a Seventy, he and Mom came home for each conference

 and those were highlights of the year! 

Paige used to think that Grandpa and Grandma Wood lived at the airport.

This is an unusual post for me in some ways, for one thing, 

I shockingly do not have any pictures to post. 

And usually I just post family stuff.  

But today I wanted to share some of my favorite general conference talks of all time.

Here are the ones I am thinking of right now - in no particular order. 

Come Unto Christ

Well this one might be the best of all - since it is my Dad!

Hidden Wedges

A Prayer for the Children

Patience (not a conference talk)

This is a BYU Speeches talk and therefore not on YouTube 

but you can link to the text. It is so, so great. 

Thanks to our Sunday School teacher for sharing it the Sunday before conference.

Happy watching, listening, or reading. 

My Dad

My Dad, Lowell Dale Wood, was born in Cardston, Alberta, Canada

in January of 1933.

This is a picture of him in the tub with his loving Mom watching over him.

I just thought this was such a cute picture!

Bathing again - with his little brother this time.

This is a Christmas card sent out by my Dad's grandparents Edward James and Mary Ann Solomon Wood.

The picture is taken on the farm which was run by my Grandfather. My Dad is on the horse on the right.

Deanna, Lowell, and Rex

Newsworthy event in a small town!

This is an interesting shot, because my Dad was never much of a hunter!

Here with his 4H calf.

With his friend Keith Olsen.

Baseball - who knew?

I bet this is a photo of the entire high school.  He was the

student body president.

In 1952 he got called to the Johannesburg South Africa Mission.

Imagine the shock - coming from a tiny little community in Southern Alberta.

(Mission calls are somewhat different now!)

He got his passport picture taken . . .

said goodbye to his parents, William Dale and Donna Woolf Wood,

his siblings Greg, Judy, Karen, Deanna, and Rex,

 

and his grandparents, E.J. and Mary Ann Wood,

and boarded a boat headed for Africa!

I just loved this bike picture!  

 It must have been quite a culture shock!

Love the hats Elders! 

 President David O. McKay visited Africa while my Dad was there, I think it might have been

the first time the prophet had visited South Africa. Quite historic!

This is not his whole story. Only a very small portion.

I am just loving all these old photos lately so I thought I would post some

about one of my favorite men to ever have lived. I love and miss him so much.

Who knows, I might even post the 2nd half of his life sometime!