Butterfly Biosphere (Thanksgiving Point)

 We visited the butterfly biosphere at Thanksgiving Point last week. Diana liked it so much that she asked if we could go back every five minutes the entire time we walked through the nearby Tulip Festival. We ended up returning to the butterfly biosphere for round two after the tulips.

Diana showed no fear of the butterflies. She marched around sticking her finger out to get those little things to hold on. And she succeeded quite a few times!

Douglas enjoyed the butterflies as well.

Penny thought she liked butterflies . . . 

. . . until the creature flew from her finger onto her shirt. She frantically pulled down on her shirt in an attempted to put some distance between the butterfly and her face.

Smile for the camera!

"Okay, that's enough."

"It's starting to move up!"

"Get it off right now!!"

Meanwhile, Diana calmly released her little friend.

Sam succeeded in getting one of the large, blue butterflies to take a ride on her finger, which is very hard to do.

Diana liked the mist.

Penny liked this butterfly. It stayed on her finger.

While admiring Penny's butterfly, another butterfly landed on Diana's head.

Then it flew over to Douglas's shoulder.

Sam shared her blue butterfly with Douglas.

And Douglas put it on my hat.

Had we allowed it, this girl would have spent the entire day with the butterflies.

The Prodigal Son Returns (Joseph receives his temple endowment)

My brother, Joseph, spent over 20 years trapped in the world of addiction. He tried to get out many times, but poor decisions always led him back to drugs, alcohol, and other destructive behaviors which, on multiple occasions, landed him in jail. More recently, Joseph worked hard to get in good standing with the Lord and the law. His efforts, combined with a lot of help from God, our parents, and others, culminated in a beautiful, sacred experience in the temple today. Lizzie flew in from California, Sam and I drove south from our home, and we all met in the Provo Temple to be with Joseph as he received his endowment. 

For more information on the temple endowment:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/what-is-temple-endowment?lang=eng

Joseph at the Provo Temple with his very happy parents.

Marcia (Mom), Daniel, Joseph, Kelly (Dad), Don (my uncle), Jarem, Judy (my aunt)

Three weeks ago, on Sunday, April 3rd, Joseph received the Melchizedek Priesthood and he was ordained an Elder in preparation to receive his temple endowment. He was ordained by our father, Kelly.

For more information on the Melchizedek Priesthood:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/melchizedek-priesthood?lang=eng

For more information on being ordained an Elder:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/elder?lang=eng

Lizzie, Sara, Joseph, Dad, Mom, Daniel, Sam

Photos after our temple session.

Photo from the Provo Temple looking out over Utah Lake.

It's been many years since we've had a photo with our entire family in it. What a wonderful day!

After our temple visit we returned to the home of Mom and Dad and we shared our thoughts and feelings in their living room.

Joseph wrote a book about many of his experiences from the past 20+ years. The book can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Addiction-Joseph-Hammond-Ogden/dp/B09XXK64FT/ref=asc_df_B09XXK64FT/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=564641475597&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7271648182833910421&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029699&hvtargid=pla-1653518546068&psc=1

San Francisco

 

Sam and I got away for a couple of days to spend some time in San Francisco. It was Sam's first time in the area. After two years of seeing masks in airports and on airplanes, it was nice to see faces again.

We walked along the beach near the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The view from one side of the Golden Gate Bridge (Crissy Field)

The view from the north side of the bridge.

We drove into the hills on the north side of the bridge to get another view of the bridge and San Francisco.

A sign at one of the lookout points. We were warned by a fellow traveler in the San Francisco Airport to not leave anything(!) in our vehicle wherever we parked. He said smash-and-grab incidents are very common in the area. He said some people go so far as to leave their vehicles unlocked when they park so the criminals won't break the windows to get inside.

The view from "Battery Spencer" (Fort Baker site).

We drove back to the famous Fisherman's Wharf to get some food.

One of San Francisco's many little trolleys.

Sam ordered the tomato basil soup in a sourdough bread bowl and I ordered the crab and corn chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. We drank pomegranate blackberry lemonade and strawberry guava lemonade. We also ordered a crab-spinach-artichoke dip with some of their delicious garlic bread. The food was excellent.

We spent the night in a hotel on the other side of the water, in Berkeley. This morning I was not surprised to find oat milk at breakfast. I had some 100% vegan oat milk along with my biscuits and sausage gravy.

We drove over to the Oakland Temple to attend a session. Twas a gorgeous morning with my gorgeous wife!

This was our little rental car during our two-day San Francisco trip.

We stopped for lunch in Chinatown on our way back to the airport this afternoon.

Sam ordered Mongolian beef and I ordered the Oriental Pearl fried rice. Another delicious meal to end our short trip.

We had to top off the tank before returning the rental car. This is the most I've ever paid for gas in the United States.

I'll end this blog post with a big THANK YOU to Grandma for taking care of our children while we played on the coast.