April 9th - a red letter day ! (for two reasons)

Today I started serving in the Ogden Temple !
This has been a dream goal of mine for some time.  I'm very blessed that it has happened, and Roger totally supports me, and I love and appreciate that support so very much. 

I will train for 4 weeks, and then I'm on my own !
You don't have to memorize any more, so that's a BIG plus :)

I serve on the mid-day shift on Wednesdays  10-2

There are several women (and men) from Morgan who serve on this shift. 

45 years ago today - we had our Rainbow baby (though I didn't know babies born after the death of a baby were called this).  Our Manda,  How much we love her.  She is a beautiful wonderful daughter and wife and mother and sister.  Happy 45th Manda :)  

The Beginning of the End (of this mortal life only)

Who knew when I had the inspiration to have this photo taken on March 2, 2025, that it would be our last family photo together on earth. 

 

On Monday, March 31st, Dad lost strength in his legs, and we put him in bed.  

Hospice came on April 1st.  What a blessing they are.  By Thursday, April 3rd, the nurse said he probably wouldn't make it through the weekend, and sure enough, at 3:40 am on Saturday morning, April 5th,  Dad went home to heaven. It was very peaceful, and he just slipped away. 

What a reunion it must have been.  Lance, Tonya, Ambure, Tenzin, his parents and sisters.............

Click here to hear Dad's testimony 

Family Cruise

Landon and Kacey surprise their three oldest with a family cruise out of Galveston Texas.  The best part of the surprise, was that their cousins (Brittany's family) were going too !! 

 

They cruised down into Mexico, and also into the Caribbean.

Little Miss Bentley stayed home with Lola (and Grandma Carol). 

Can you say GREAT Grandparents !?!?!?!

The last night I was in Arizona, Cam and Josiah made an announcement !!

We couldn't be more happy and excited for them :)   Congratulations Cam and Josiah !!  

 

More Hip trouble in AZ

On Tuesday, March 25th I planned a THREE TEMPLE tour (Desert Peak, Saratoga Springs, Taylorsville).  When I got to the Desert Peak Temple (pictured above) at 8:45 am, I looked at a text.  

Brendon:  Amanda is going to have surgery on her hip again today.  She doesn't want to ask for your help, but she needs it if you are available.  They are going to replace the replacement ! 

I was so so concerned !  Apparently while she was SITTING at work the day before (Monday), her hip had dislocated AGAIN !!  Another ambulance ride, more emergency rooms.... !   She had been in the hospital all Monday afternoon, evening, and overnight.  They couldn't get it put back in the socket, so they were going to operate. (They ended up doing the operation on Wednesday instead of Tuesday).  

I quickly went it and did some initiatory work in the Desert Peak Temple, and then drove down to Saratoga Springs (the back way through Eagle Mountain).  While in the Saratoga Springs parking lot, I was able to have a conference call with Roger and Amanda.  It was decided that I would get the quickest flight I could out of Salt Lake, so I could help in Arizona.  I made the reservation for a 5 pm flight, and then headed home as quickly as possible to pack, and head BACK to Salt Lake for my flight. 

 

He doesn't look too excited to see me - but he was !! 

We had fun in the hot tub

And the pool 

Manda came home from the hospital all better on Wednesday evening.  They took out the stupid hip joint they had put in her, and replaced it with the same one they had done for her first hip replacement surgery in October 2023.  A dual Mobility hip - Why didn't they use this in the beginning for her second hip replacement on February 5th?  Who knows.... :*(  She said the minute she stepped on it, she knew that THIS fix was just like her first one.  They didn't need to re-drill/cement the rod in her femur this time, just unscrew the ball, and put the dual mobility ball on.   

While down there in AZ I was able to go with Cash to his preschool for fun times. 

Hang out with him and Camryn

Go to some indoor fun gyms 

Share in the LOVE !! 

Happy boy - Happy Mama

We went to the Aquarium

Cash loves the yellow jellyfish the best. 

Love to Eat - Love to Play

Manda was getting along so well, that I came home late Saturday night. 

More Dancing

On Friday and Saturday (March 21 and 22) I was able to go and watch Bright and Bex at Farmington High School with Grandma Ben. 

It was great to hang out and watch a few performances

Grandpa Roger came down on Friday, and as usual, he likes to give Bex a bad time by asking, "What's on your shirt?"   He gets her most of the time, but she's learning :) 

The girls are GREAT dancers ! 

We watched Bright on Friday, and Bex on Saturday, with Brightyn doing her solo on Saturday also. 

The girlie cousins and aunts came to support, and even Payson was there ! 

We sure love our beautiful dancers. 

 

Moab/Arches Trip for Landon's family

 

Click here for fun video of their adventures

Hip Problems

Amanda had her second hip replacement on February 5th. (Her first was in October 2023)
On March 14th she slipped on some water on the tile in her house, and down she went, landing HARD. For two days, she felt pain in her hip, and heard/felt a clicking sound.
On March 16th she stepped out of the shower, felt/heard a big POP, and down she went.  Her hip had become dislocated !!!

Bren called the ambulance, and they had quite the time getting her out of the bathroom and bedroom because the gurney wouldn't make the corner.  The ambulance crew rigged up some poles, and a tarp, and got her on that, and carried her out to the gurney.   Cam and Josiah picked up Cash, just as the ambulance was leaving for the Emergency Room. 

The ER people were very kind and good, and worked hard to put the hip back in the socket.  First, they gave Manda a sedative, but they couldn't get it back in.  They finally ended up calling her surgeon, and he came over, more sedative was given, and he was able to pop it back in place.

After about six hours in the ER, she was able to come home, and that's when she called us to let us know what was going on.  She went back to her surgeon for her six week postop appointment in March 18th, and he sent her to physical therapy.  She went to the PT today, and he's got her on a regimen of exercises to help.  He was really pleased with her movement, and promises to get her in shape going forward with no problem.  

 

Funny Crazy Dream !

I had the funniest crazy dream this morning, right before I woke up. 

I was with Cash, and we weren't at our home, or at his home, but he came and got me and took me downstairs into a kitchen where he had baked some cookies !  They were all there, stacked one on top of another on a cooling rack.  Don't ask me how he did it?!  He wasn't burned, and I didn't even know he had baked them.  I think in my dream, we had mixed them up together, but while my back was turned, he baked them himself !  He is THREE !!   

I was just so amazed, I whipped out my phone and took pictures.  

A few minutes later I woke up from my dream, and my first thought was, "I've got to send Manda those pictures!"  Then I remembered it was all a dream.   Still can't get the smile off my face

 I decided to blog about this, and I created this image from Microsoft Copilot.  

Book I've been working on

I've had a children's book in my head for 10 years.  I wrote the story years ago, taken from Family History accounts.  I wanted GOOD pictures to go with the words, and even considered hiring an artist.  It has nagged at me for along time, and I kept putting it off.  It wasn't until my good friend Sherilee told me about the great AI (Artificial Intelligence) pictures she had created using Microsoft Copilot that I thought I may be able to get something to work for me. Last fall when we stayed at Sherilee's cabin near Sundance, we played around with Copilot, each of us creating pictures to go with our stories. It was amazing, and fun, and frustrating !    

This past week Sherilee and I went to Roots Tech in Salt Lake.  There was Sherilee's book front and center that she had created using a program called LORE.  I became really excited, and knew that I could do this myself, as I have made many books using Picaboo for my grandkids.  In the last few days,  I finally put the words and pictures together.  The original name of the book was changed (with much reluctance on my part), and "The Adventures of Will Dickson" came to be !

I reached out to my sister and cousins, and they were very interested in getting a copy.  I plan to give copies to my grand-children soon.  

I put the pages of the book (a generic version) into a video - click here to view.
I hope to create more books this way, to bring our ancestors to life :)