THANKSGIVING 2011

It Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be Thankful for.


I am grateful to my many friends. I don't spend time with you all. Some its only on the Internet but I am glad that I live in a time where I can stay in touch even remotely with friend and people who I have met along the way.





I am glad Shayla is home from the Hospital and that the clots are treatable. I am Thankful to live in a time where we can treat things that killed many people without them even knowing what it was.





I am most grateful for a family that loves me despite my flaws and am grateful to spend it with them. (Karina you'll be missed but glad we saw your family a few weeks ago)





Despite live in "trying times" I am grateful for the blessings I have. I have seen poverty and cruelty in the world but I know of the goodness of God as well.





I would like to share a story that a cyber friend shared with me yeas ago. It has meant a lot to me.

At the end of the war in France in 1918, there was a Thanksgiving service held by the Army chaplains of all the major denominations. Elder Roberts sat at the rear of the stand. During the service it was announced that "Elder Roberts, the Mormon Chaplain from Utah, will now step up and led the Thanksgiving Psalm." Elder Roberts was stunned, but he got up from his seat and moved towards the podium. Elder Roberts was a Biblical scholar. He knew and studied the Bible regularly, including the book of Psalms, but he had never heard of the "Thanksgiving Psalm". As he walked forward to the podium the Spirit whispered to him "read the one hundredth Psalm." He turned to the Psalm and read:

1 MAKE a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth emarrass to all generations.

After reading this Psalm and returning to his seat, Elder Roberts noted that many of the Chaplains were looking at the floor, looking a bit ashamed. Elder Roberts felt that this had been an attempt to embarrass both Elder Roberts and the Church. Returning to his tent after the service, Elder Roberts knelt down and offered up a prayer of thanksgiving; thankful for a mindful Father in Heaven who provided that prompting in a time of need.

For some it will be a day of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, and hours and hours of American Football. For others it will be a time of reflection and gratitude for those blessings that Heavenly Father has bestowed upon them.

I hope that all of us, whether it be in the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, England, Germany, New Zealand, or any of the other countries that you live in; will take some time and reflect upon the blessings that you and your family have had for this year.

"Count your many blessings, angles will attend..." is one of the hymns that we sing at Sacrament meeting. Why not do so with your family? Take an inventory of those blessings that you have in your life, both temporal and, more to the point, spiritually. You will more than likely see that you are not forgotten nor ignored by a loving Heavenly Father. May the blessings of Heavenly Father be with you and your family.

Happy Thanksgiving. Reuben Dunn

Thanks Reuben for reminding me about Thanksgiving!

White Water

It has been a realy long time since I have blogged here. Alot has happened in the last year and I will try to catch up on somethings and others are best just skipped over.

I hope to have alot to Blog about in the next few weeks as I will travel to to see my daughter Karina who lives the farthest from me. I miss her and her family.

As many of you know I am the Young Mens president in our Ward. Our younger scouts went to Scout camp but a few of the older boys wanted more so we went white water rafting.

We traveled to Northern California to Gold country area and went to a place on the American river at Camp Lotus. The people at River Runners that ran the trip are the best people. They made us feel at home and took care of our every needs.

We slept in tents but had showers and toilets close that were very clean.

The river has been running fast this year as there is so much snow still in the mountains that feed this river. They are still skiing at Mamoth Resort.The water was cold but it was in the mid 90's so it felt good after awhile.

Here is where we set out from.
We got used to the water where it was peaceful.

heading down river.

Jumping from the cliff

I guess I should have watched where I was jumping.

getting a little more turbulent.

It was hard to take pictures on the river. They took professional ones when we traveled through the class 4 and 3 plus but they weren't within our budget.

This was a vey enjoyable time and if not for my pinched nerve It would have been perfect.

If you want to know more about this trip check out riverrunners.com

We also toured the Gold rush state park and made a stop to the Sacramento Temple.

I hope to be able to blog more about goings on. I am looking forward to my trip to North Idaho to see Karina and Family. We should have more to write about and pictures.

Happy Father's Day

My Dad has been out of this life for awhile yet every Father's Day brings back memories. This year is no different. I have 3 of my grandchildren living with us. It is great to see how they interact with their dad as well as the love they share with me.
I remember my dad and his love to my mom and siblings. Dad was a very hard worker. I have kept some of the tools he had in our basement and I remember how he taught me how to use them.
My dad never made a lot of money. As a police officer he did his best to teach us to stand up for what was right. He used to give us hair cuts down in our basement. I don’t remember ever paying for haircuts until I was in junior high. Even then it was from somebody dad knew from his police beat.
My dad could talk to anyone. He always made me feel safe as he always knew what to do. Even when he had no clue he would be so positive that you thought he did know.
I will never forget his example to family as he came to my games and other events.
He has set the bar very high for me to follow. He had faults as we all do. He has been a hero to me my whole life.
This Father Day and always I love him

Memorial Day!

Today is memorial day. I am so thankful for the sacrafices made over the years for this country by brave young men and woman.I like most of this counrty celebrated it more as the first day of the summer. We spent most of the day at a park in La Mirada.

As I write this we are getting ready for a BBQ in the back yard. The day was perfect if only Karina and family were here as well.

Abby as ever is ready for pictures

Sitting in a tree

Sharing a tree with big sister Emma

The Three Wonder Kids.

Tamar's family

Fresh from driving across country we decided the first thing to do was to go to the beach. Saturday we spent the day at Corona del Mar In Newport Beach. It was a beautiful day. Other than looking like Frosty the Snowman I was so white, we had a good time..The most imporant thing is pictures so here are a few...

Sand in the face isn't as good as sand in the mouth.

Grandma feed me grapes

Here is Trever explaining the fine art of sand castles

Shayla and Emma deciding if the was are big enough for the boggie board..
Kyle thinking they aren't very courageous.

Heart Attack

No, despite being out of shape I didn't have a heart attack. It's Valentines day and for Valentines day we participated in a fund raising project for girls camp called heart attack. For a small fee the girls would attack your house with valentine wishes.

I didn't know that Linda did the same thing as I did for her and Shayla.

Yesterday we were all gone for about an hour and when we returned this is what we found. I am sure every one on our street was jealous of the love that dwells here.

Today is a beautiful day and as I type it is about 4:30 and warm. It was in the 80's today. We will barbecue steak for dinner. It should be wonderful.

To make the day complete my favorite TV show starts again tonight. Woo-Hooo Welcome back Amazing Race.