What a great blessing it is for a young father, an authorized holder of the Priesthood of God, to take his infant son in his arms, be joined by other worthy priesthood holders, and give his son a name and a special blessing, as directed by the Spirit of the Lord! It was our great blessing to join with Tom and Amy and their family and Tom’s parents, Brad and Sharol, for this significant occasion. Gideon David was the baby so blessed and Jacob and Allison were the proud brother and sister. Though our numbers were few, when compared to the hoards of family and friends that often gather for such occasions in Utah, our joy was multiplied and it filled our hearts as our “little family” shared this event together.
In order to be at the blessing, we drove down to Southern California on Friday, April 11th.
On Saturday, we had the fun of all working together to paint the new master bedroom that Tom has built. It is a beautiful fennel green and will have white trim- very light, airy, and very
classy- and it will be a wonderful “retreat” for Tom and Amy.
Everyone got into the act- Jacob and Allison mopped the floors and Jacob paints a mean wall!
The dynamic Grandma duo painted, fixed meals, and tended Gideon.
Can you tell that David and Tom painted the popcorn ceiling?
Later in the week, David and Jacob painted the baseboards and Tom painted the doors, so by the time we left, it was getting pretty exciting!
There's nothing like a little music and dancing to recover from a hard day of painting! After all, isn't that what the pioneers did?
We had a multitude of experiences during the week we were there. The best part was spending time with Tom, Amy, and family. In the mornings, Amy and I would go for a little jog and Jacob, Allison, and Gideon would snuggle up with Grandpa and read stories- no complaints from the “peanut gallery” and it was a highlight for Grandpa.
David and I had a couple of outings by ourselves during the week. Visiting the Getty Villa in Malibu was an amazing experience. It is a re-creation of an excavated villa in Herculaneum, a city that was buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, much like Pompeii. It was built to house J. Paul Getty’s collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan ancient art, but the villa itself and the grounds were the highlights for us. We took great two tours, as well.
We also went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. I have to admit that I came out of there understanding what a great President and great person Ronald Reagan was. He was a man of integrity and values, whether he was in Hollywood,
in the Governor’s office, or the White House.
I loved the special exhibition of Nancy Reagan’s gowns and dresses worn
during the White House years. It was a fun afternoon.
Tom was really busy with a big project at work, so the rest of us kept ourselves busy with a shopping and lunch excursion, playing and picnicking at the beach, and experiencing
the fun and fabulous Noah’s Ark at a Jewish Cultural Center and Museum.
Here you can see the animals hanging out!
This elephant roared into life with a little help from Jacob.
And Allison cleaned up after the animals, with a little help from Amy.
It's a bummer of a job, but somebody's got to do it.
While the kids worked and played hard, Grandma and Amy supervised and took pictures, Grandpa and Gideon chilled out on a comfy swing.
As a bonus at the Museum, there was a Bob Dylan exhibit on loan from the Experience Music Project in Seattle- not too much fun for the kids until we ended up in an interactive gallery where we could re-mix Dylan songs, jam on guitars and drums, sing the vocals on hit songs, etc. Jacob and Allison loved it and we discovered that Jacob must have been a drummer in the pre-existence. Nobody had to teach him how to play! He jammed for at least half an hour!
We had a great afternoon at Ventura Beach, even though it was a little chilly.
We found a somewhat sheltered little nook and made castles in the sand.
Allison can't believe Jacob's awesome biceps!
We also had the fun of helping Amy celebrate her 30th birthday while we were there. It was a party for several days and one night, we tended for Tom’s big birthday surprise,
a date-night with Amy to attend “Wicked” in downtown L.A.
On our way home, we visited Death Valley. It was very different from what we had expected and very interesting- such a variety of terrains. I guess we really didn't get an understanding of the reason for Death Valley's notorious name since it was a little cool- even in Furnace Creek. There were dunes. . .
seemingly sculptured vistas. . .
The Devil's Golfcourse (a salty wasteland). . .
and the lowest point on the continent.
We saw Borax Canyon and toured the (mini) Borax Museum, hiked through some pretty great scenery, crunched on the salt flats, and toured Scotty’s Castle, where the guide did not “break character” for the 1 ½ hour tour. We just stepped back into the 1930’s to see the home of a world class con artist and his rich friend, who didn’t give a darn if he was duped.
We also stopped over in Las Vegas for a couple of nights. We had never seen all the big new resorts and attractions, so we thought it would be a fun diversion. I was pretty blown away by the Bellagio- especially the atrium (or conservatory).
We also enjoyed the Venetian- a little deja vous with its canals, gondolas, singing gondoliers,
and a mini St. Mark’s Square- minus the pigeons!
It was a little slice of heaven- enjoying the Bellagio fountains and Italian gelato.
Pretty amazing- Paris is in the background.
We stayed at the Orleans Resort, about a mile from the Strip. I found it for $55.00 a night on the internet, so we really wondered what it would be like. It was fabulous- a huge plush room, a wonderful fitness center, hot tub and pool, and a delicious, expansive, and inexpensive buffet. In addition, I had gotten some family names ready and we did an endowment session at the Las Vegas Temple and then were asked to stay and do a sealing session.
It was a great ending for a wonderful trip with lots of fun and meaningful experiences, lots of loving, and even some learning thrown in for good measure.
