Our fun get-away..

Finally, after about a week of getting back to normal I have a chance put up some pictures. While it is always nice to be at home, we didn't want to go home back to the cold and snow from the sunny 60F beautiful weather! The wedding was lovely and a happy time being with family. My parents rented a house so that we could all be together, have a place to hang out and let the kids play.

The hot tub was an added bonus we all enjoyed:

Amellia, Riley, my nephew Parker, Olivia and Claire
The happy couple, Matt and Wendi Murray were sealed in the Mesa Temple on January 19th.


David and Rebekah Murray

Our family

Dad and Mom

Lorna and Daphne Christopherson.

Baden and Emmaleigh Neilson and their boys, Wyatt, Parker and Troy.

On our way home we made a quick stop at the Hoover Dam. I've always wanted to drive over the Dam. It is interesting to see it in real life, not quite what I expected. We didn't get out and tour it because well, the thought of a side walk that looks over a huge dam and my {overly excited and curious} children sent me into a panic. It ended up being really busy that day as well. Speaking of panic, check out the bridge they are building to divert traffic from being on the dam! That's one I will have to close my eyes for next time I head down that way!
You can see the dam in the bottom of this picture to get perspective on the height.
This is where it will connect on the other side.

Praise to the Man!

We will miss our beloved prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. We adored him and all that he stood for. We revered the man that he was, he is one of our heroes and will be blessed by the wonderful legacies he left us as a church and a people of God. My heart breaks that we will not see him next conference but rejoices in the reunions he finds himself in beyond the veil. Truly, praise to the man!

We are off..

To the great state of Arizona! We will be enjoying warm weather while we attend the wedding of my brother Matthew Murray and Wendi Christensen and spending time with my family and friends. We are so excited for this little mini vacation and the addition of a new family member. My family is spread out all over the Western US and we look forward to opportunities to be together. A few of us won't be there, though. Stephen, Deedra and Tristan aren't able to make it because of their work schedules and Lorna's husband, Brian is currently serving in Iraq. They will all be missed. Catch up with you all when we trudgingly come back to the cold!

Still Standing

Friday night we survived a storm that had some fierce winds {gusts to 100mph}. The power went out around 7:30 pm so we spent the night listening to our house being torn apart and praying the roof wouldn't fly off. It was unnerving listening to the siding rip off and hear every staple pull out of the wood. It snowed after the wind so we haven't even assessed the damage on the roof other than around 9 pm one side of our house was littered with shingles and the wind only got worse and continued on past 2 am when I finally fell asleep. Around 7am I woke up because it was so quiet and looked outside to see a neighborhhod that looked like a war zone. Fences down, Trampolines tossed and mangled etc and then of course some houses untouched. Mother Nature is so unpredictable.

Grandma

On Sunday, December 30th, it was the one year anniversary of my Grandmother,

Wanda Ruth Logsdon Murray, passing away after a long battle with cancer. The year has gone by quickly and I have often thought and wondered about her. I just wanted to share a few memories and things that will always remind me of her.

Orange Bubbalicious Gum

birds

a Southern drawl

seeing her strategically crouched over her heater to eat a bowl of ice cream

watching her make cheesecake at 1 am

listening to her sing 'The B-I-B-L-E' and 'Jesus Loves Me' to us

trips to Tennessee especially when we went to Gatlinburg and The Big Rock Candy Mountain

all the dresses she loved to sew for us

hearing her yell, with exasperation in her voice, "Y'all go out yonder and play!" when her grandchildren were causing too much trouble

her smile

her love of Jesus Christ

pleasure she got from singing in her church choir

the time when I was in college and she called to warn me about GHB

watching her play with babies

sad that I couldn't call her in her last few months because she couldn't talk well enough....

the list can go on and on. I love and miss her and find comfort that I will see her again.