Today's Special

Megan met me for lunch today and after eating we still had lots of time to spare before she needed to be at school and I needed to check on my next meeting. So we walked over to Deseret Book on South Temple. My favorite section of that store is always the Bargain Buys and look what I found there today...

I was so excited to see this book on the shelf...and on sale (plus with my church employee discount and rewards points it was a great deal)! It's a picture book jam-packed with random facts about all 50 States. For example, did you know that McIlhenny Tabasco sauce has been made in Avery Island, Louisiana from a secret family recipe since 1868? Or that the pipe organ in the Salt Lake Tabernacle has 11,623 pipes? (Truly, this book is a must-read for all of you auditioning with Jeopardy.)

It is by Lynne Cheney (wife of Vice President Dick Cheney). I also love and highly recommend her two other children's books if you want fun, informative, coffee table-type books about the United States and its history.

Happy Reading!

No, I Haven't Fallen off the Face of the Earth

I promise, I am still alive and well (though "well" is a relative term) after my trip to Rexburg. My only excuse for silence the last 15 days is that I have been SOOO busy.

In less than two weeks I have had to coordinate five big emergency meetings, babysit missionaries at three 6:00 a.m. rehearsals, host three Apostles and four members of the Seventies, disinvite one individual from singing in the visiting choir for the priesthood session of general conference (he didn't clear the security check), coordinate another score-plus of small meetings, and attend more staff and production meetings than I care to count. And that is just life at the office.

I have also endured a check up at the dentist, threw a ward activity (indoor soccer -- it was tons of fun...you missed out!), attended a dance concert, put together an Amazing Race game for the youth city councils' annual conference in Logan, went on a date with Kedrick, managed somehow to fit in two endowment sessions at the Bountiful temple, cleaned the house, babysat the nieces and nephew, etc., etc., etc. Let me assure you that all of this did not occur without incident. I have fought plenty of fires, certain impertinent missionaries, and held back many tears, but I do see the end in sight (only to have general conference looming as the next obstacle in the way, of course)!

Part of my reason for posting today is to be the first to announce Daniel and Megan's good news (just because I like to be first). They went for the first ultrasound this morning and found out they are having TWIN BOYS!

The doctor says they are identical. We are all excited and yet not too surprised. I think we all started wondering and thinking it could be a possibility, especially when Megan mentioned last week a similar thing happening to Dan's coworker. I don't know if Megan has any twins in her family but they will be the first in our family. It is very exciting! Now we'll have all sorts of identical numbers: 3 nieces, 3 nephews; 3 children per couple. . . . . . . . I really think it is time to break such monotonous equality -- Jill and Megan-Di, you'd better get married and start your families right away!

You Can Check Off That Goal

Megan and I took a little road trip up to Rexburg, Idaho over the weekend. She went to visit a high school friend who attends BYU-Idaho and I went up for the ride. We arrived mid-afternoon on Friday. With Megan at her friend's dorm on campus I was left in a very quiet hotel room so I jumped in the car and drove 25 miles back to Idaho Falls and went to a session in the temple. (New temple #1 for 2008.)

Saturday I took the two girls to breakfast and a little shopping. Back in my hotel I tried to figure out what you do in this small town for fun. Coming up blank I picked up the girls again and we dropped in at the Rexburg temple; they did baptisms and I snuck into a session 2 1/2 hours earlier than my appointment. (New temple #2 for 2008.)

But now Megan and I had the whole evening open and nothing to do. We searched through the local phone book and tourist guide in the hotel room. We took a gander at the brochure rack in the lobby which was filled with pamphlets for activities in Utah. What to do? What to do? Luckily, this sleepy town did have a movie theater.

We ended up at "27 Dresses" with Katherine Heigl. The theater filled up fast, mostly with women: many college coeds and many married women out with the girls on a Saturday night. (Wonder what the husbands do while the wives are out in sleepy Rexburg...). I enjoyed the movie but I had to listen to commentaries from the girls behind us throughout the show, "That is the ugliest shirt I've ever seen!" "Oh, he is sooooo cute!" "They swore!" It got kind of annoying.

I'm glad to be home and back in a city that offers a bit more than a temple and a movie theater. However, I am also very grateful to have accomplished the goal I made in my last post of doing ordinance work in two never-before-visited temples. Check mark on that one...now to move on to the several that remain.