A Great Weekend in Lake Almanor and Beyond

What a great weekend I have just had. It started with a trip on Friday with Mary Anne and Jean to the Reno Temple. There were not too many of us there but it was a very spiritual experience and I am so glad I joined them on their monthly trek.

I was reminded of when Richard and I were called to serve at the San Diego Temple a few years before he passed away. We were both working full time, he as the head of the private loan side of our mortgage business and me as the head of the

brokering side of Choice Mortgage. We were both working over 60 hours a week and wondered how we could possibly have the time. We accepted the calling though, of course, and were assigned from 6 am to 12 noon on Wednesdays. How could we possibly do that, we wondered, we had hoped for Saturdays. We had to leave our Rancho Bernardo home before sunup to be at the Temple in La Jolla at 6 and then straight to the office after lunch at the Temple. There were always umpteen calls to make and frustrated employees and clients wanting our time and we always had to stay very late taking care of business.

But that call to serve was a. great, great blessing in our busy, busy life. Those six hours on Wednesday mornings became an oasis in the hectic, often frustrating work week. I also think those last years of Richard's were his most spiritual and perhaps some of the happiest of our married life and I know it was all because of our service to the Lord in the San Diego Temple.

As we had driven through Susanville Friday morning, Mary Anne said she was going to see 'Julie and Julia' on Saturday and I told her I wanted to go with her. Marjorie had said she would not go--was not a fan of Julia Child. Jean decided to come, too and Saturday was a fun day of a great movie and good mexican food after.

Julia Child died in 2004 and the movie was about this other girl, Julie, who in 2003 had taken a year to cook all of Julia Child's French recipes and write a blog about it. She later wrote the book and it was published after the death of Julia Child and then the movie was made this year. Nora Ephron wrote the screen play and was a producer. I have noticed so many of the movies I love like "Sleepless in Seattle" are Nora Ephron films and they are always wonderful. Love the talents of other people to bring joy into my life!

Saturday night Marjorie and I went to the Liberty

Quartet concert at the Lake Almanor Community

Church. They are a Southern Gospel quartet out

of Boise, Idaho and they are really good. They

have been around for 14 years and been coming

here for 7. My brother David had told me at

Jeanne's birthday party to be sure and see them

and then even called to remind me. I am glad he

did. We really enjoyed the concert. Here again, so glad for the talents of other people to bring so much joy into my life!

Anyway it was a great weekend, topped off by my staying up till 2 am on Saturday night to read a new book Jean had lent me, and then good messages at church on Sunday morning and home for a long, long nap. Life is good.