Happy Easter!

We worked on a couple of new puzzles in honor of the Easter season.

I got this one to remember our trip to the Holy Land and our special "cruise" on the Sea of Galilee.   It's called "Facing Eternity" by Del Parson.

Eggs are a special symbol of the Resurrection, Spring and new life.

"Easter Cookies"

From our new First Presidency

President Nelson:

"As Latter-day Saints, we refer to His mission as the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which made resurrection a reality for all and made eternal life possible for those who repent of their sins and receive and keep essential ordinances and covenants."

from "Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ Into Our Lives"  April 2017

President Oaks:

The book of Job poses the universal question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). The question of resurrection from the dead is a central subject of scripture, ancient and modern. The resurrection is a pillar of our faith. It adds meaning to our doctrine, motivation to our behavior, and hope for our future.

from "Resurrection" April 2000

President Eyring:

"I am a witness of the Resurrection of the Lord as surely as if I had been there in the evening with the two disciples in the house on Emmaus road. I know that He lives as surely as did Joseph Smith when he saw the Father and the Son in the light of a brilliant morning in a grove of trees in Palmyra."

from "Come Unto Me" April 2013

Joshua Spends The Night!

We had fun with Joshua spending a night and day with us.

We liked giving him treats!

And we played lots of games with him.

 A favorite was Phase 10 Twist.

Joshua was behind and Dan and I were both close enough to win on our next turn.  Joshua was on a Twist space and he decided to do it.  He got the Phase and he went out allowing him to move ahead 6 spaces, pass us both and win the game!

Dan took him on the 6 Bridges bike ride:

 They took some breaks but actually did the ride two times because they were having so much fun!

 Some of the other games we played were Tenzi, Racko, Scattergories, Uno, Chess, War, and Sorry!

 How come this is always what a Sorry game comes down to:

Everyone has 3 people in Home and 1 person in the Safety Zone!

Happens every time I've ever played the game.

(Maybe that's how the game should start?!)

The rest of the Perrys came for dinner and Family Home Evening.

Here is everyone working on Amelia's Easter Crossword puzzle:

 Jacob was so proud of this!

 We had a great time with our grandson, Joshua!

Wedding Time!

It was fun being in Utah for the wedding of Royce and Madi Plowman.

There was a dinner at Rodizio Grill the night before.

Here is a photo of Jody with her five kids:

And then a picture of her kids and their spouses:

I was sitting at a table with my siblings...

...except for Jody who was at the head table and had to give some remarks.

There were gifts for each of us:

And a very fun "memory" cake which we had for dessert!

We took time to get a picture of the five of us:

And then we added my Dad.

It was so great that he could be there too!

The sealing in the Salt Lake Temple was beautiful!

A nice photo of the Plowman family and this time with the grandkids:

Love anytime I get to be near the Salt Lake Temple!

The reception was at the Salt Lake Hardware Building with beautiful decorations...

...and some interesting decor:

Myself, Kathy, Marie, Claire

Time for Ricks Chicks Pix!

And the sparkler send off:

Fun With Kids In Florida!

The Melanchuks live across the street from the church building.

But after Church the kids all wanted a ride home in our rental car. 

We fit all five in the back seat!

The Melanchuks purchased a new painting for their home.

It's called "Lead Kindly Light" by Simon Dewey.

For Family Home Evening we paired off and talked about the painting and then shared with each other:

Daniel helps a lot with food preparation!

On Sunday we had a mini concert with piano playing and violin playing.

Nathaniel signed "Follow The Prophet" for us!

Here's the video:

Stories and puzzles with Grandpa!

One evening we went to the rodeo grounds to practice for an upcoming Family Fun Day since they couldn't hold the rodeo this year.

Kathryn got on Peppy to practice for the barrel racing:

Amelia was interested in learning how to tie up a goat after catching it.

She watched and learned and here she is doing it herself!

Success!

Amelia got on Peppy too.  The boys were busy running all over the place with their friends!

Winter Park, Florida!

On a day when the kids were in school, we visited a place that Amanda had heard about: Winter Park.

It's a lovely community with beautiful homes, a charming downtown and it's home to Rollins College, a liberal arts college founded in 1885.

We took this Scenic Boat Tour which started on Osceola Lake.

We were on an 18 passenger pontoon boat for about an hour.

Beautiful homes everywhere and most had a boat garage.

It's called the Venice of Florida because of the winding canals that connect the chain of lakes.

It was Nathaniel's first boat ride!

Also saw some beautiful scenery.

Love the Spanish moss hanging from the trees.

(Although we learned that it's not actually moss but a bromeliad—a perennial herb in the pineapple family.)

After lunch we visited Rollins College.  It'a beautiful campus.

The tuition is $48,335.00 per year or about $64,000 if you include room and board.  There are a little over 3,000 students.

The college's main claim to fame is Mr. Rogers!

Fred Rogers graduated magna cum laude from Rollins College in 1951 with a degree in music composition. He met his wife, Sara Joanne Byrd, while attending classes.  This month they are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the premiere of  Mr. Rogers Neighborhood on PBS.

We got to see his famous sneakers and sweater!

"At the start of each episode Mr. Rogers would change into a sweater and tennis shoes and sing, "Won't you be my neighbor?"  Each sweater was knitted by his mother Nancy Rogers.

 Our main destination was the Cornell Fine Arts Museum

Amanda had heard there was an Impressionist exhibition and entry to the museum was free!

We were blown away.

The Musée des Beaux Arts in Reims owns one of the largest collections of French 19th century landscape paintings, forty-five of which are displayed in this exhibition. The exhibition will only be at two venues in the United States and this was one of them!

We saw paintings by Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Rousseau, Boudin and another favorite, Corot. 

La Lecture du Role by Renoir

Spring Willows by Corot

La Louvre by Pissarro

It was great day!

On another afternoon Darryl took us on a hunt on the ranch to find a Civil War cemetery he had heard about.

It was definitely off the beaten path!

We finally found it.

Bull Creek Cemetery with at least one veteran of the Civil War buried here.