Grandpa Cannon

My Grandpa Cannon passed away at the beginning of August. I can't even begin to express how much I love and look up to my Grandma and Grandpa Cannon. They have always been my heros. I already miss him but I know where he is and that I'll see him again. I am very grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and that families can be together forever. How lucky I am that I get to be his granddaughter forever!

I am so grateful I lived close to him growing up and was able to spend so much time with him. He and my grandma were always there for birthdays, school projects, awards assemblies, recitals, performances, graduations...you name it and they were there. My grandpa was the one to give me my patriarchal blessing and to seal Brandon and me in the temple. During one of our last visits he gave us some council and advice. He told us to always remember that the gospel and family are the most important things in this life.

I wish everyone could have known my grandpa. He had a way of making everyone feel special and important. I have been reading through notes, talks, and cards he has given me through the years and ran across this. I think it shows what my Grandpa Cannon is like.

Guidelines For A Fulfilling and Happy Life

From One Who Has Been There

(written by George I. Cannon at age 63)

1. Have faith in and follow Jesus Christ. It will bring you eternal happiness.

2. Love and listen to your spouse. Have a second honeymoon at least once a year.

3. Take time to teach and enjoy your children. They are a lot more important than a clean house and yard.

4. Think: "How much can I give?" not "What can I get?"

5. Buy only that which you can afford. Don't envy others.

6. Seek for and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

7. Be a "Bebiggler" and not a "Belittler." Look for the doughnut and not the hole.

8. Be a helpful and concerned neighbor.

9. Listen to good music. Read good books. Engage in stimulating conversation.

10. Be a participant, not just a spectator. Don't be afraid to say "I'll try."

11. Don't expect perfection of anyone until you have achieved perfection.

12. Make a contribution in your work or any assignment you accept. Give credit to others. Show appreciation and compliment others.

13. Work is a blessing and not a curse.

14. Be an honest person.

15. Plant some pansies every spring and get your hands into the soil.

16. Own a popcorn popper and an ice cream freezer.

17. Enjoy being alive!

Grubbs Family Reunion 2009

The day after my sister's wedding we drove to Durango, Colorado for the Grubbs Family Reunion! We had a lot of fun visiting with family, eating yummy food, taking beautiful hikes, going 4-wheeling, and of course...playing FIREBALL. Fireball is a Grubbs family tradition where you light a ball of twine on fire, go into a large empty field and play catch at night. Oh...and you do it with your bare hands. It seems a little crazy...okay VERY crazy but once you get over the fact that you are playing with fire (something your parents always told you never to do) and realize that you won't get burned it is actually really fun. These are some of Brandon's uncle's pictures of the game.
The players. Don't worry...all of the little kids stood on the side lines and watched. Some of the daring ones however did get a chance to throw one or two with the help of their parents.

It was a fun reunion! Thanks Bill and Diane for hosting it this year!

Suzy's Wedding!

On July 25 my little sister Suzy married Scott Morris. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple and it was a beautiful wedding. Here are some pictures of their big day!

The night before any of our sisters get married we have a special Family Home Evening (no grooms allowed!). We all gather in my parents front room and give the bride-to-be a scrap book page with some fun pictures of us with them and a wedding gift. My dad reads from the Family: A Proclamation to the World and then plays the Moonlight Sonata. This time was special because it was Pioneer Day and we had a huge firework show to finish the night.

Here are some pictures of everyone waiting for the happy couple to come out of the temple.

The Morris's eventually came out and we took lots of fun pictures.

They had their reception at the Carmelle. It was beautiful!

Here are some silly boys watching as the bride and groom get pictures taken outside the reception hall.

It was a great day! Welcome to the family Scott!

The latest and greatest

Wow...it's been a whole month with no update from Seattle! Not too much has happened but I'll give you all a quick update on our lives.

A couple weeks ago we went to the Bellevue Strawberry Festival at Crossroads Park. The lawns were full of booths selling random stuff. I got a free back 'message' but they were pretty much trying to get me to go to their chiropractor. We ate Hawaiian Shave Ice and a Dingleberry (chocolate covered strawberries on a stick). We also watched a few bands perform on the Main Stage. But the highlight of the day was watching the kids strawberry shortcake eating contest. Some of the kids were a lot more into it than others. There was this one little boy that just started crying when all the other kids face planted right into their food.

For the Fourth of July weekend we headed over to Spokane (sorry no pictures). The plan was to go to Priest Lake and go camping but I was a party pooper. I haven't been feeling that well for the past week...I've been having migraines, fevers, muscle aches, and just recently developed a cough...YUCK!! But I think I'm on the recovery! So because I wasn't feeling the greatest we just hung out in Spokane with Jim and Debby, Rich and Debbie, and Grandma Beth. The boys played two days of 18 holes of golf while us girls tagged along to walk the course, drive the cart, find their wild balls, and hit a few of our own. The night of the Fourth we went to Coeur d'Alene to watch the fireworks over the lake! It was gorgeous. Jim sneaked our way into the absolute BEST spot right along the lake for the show. Some of the fireworks were so big they felt like they were right over us...it was incredible.

Now we are back in Seattle and getting ready to move next week. We love our apartment but to save a few hundred bucks a month we are moving to another complex in our area. Hopefully next year we will buy a house so our next move will be a little more permanent. I think moving is one of my least favorite things. Especially the thought of going from one third floor apartment to another third floor apartment! But we will survive and it will definitely be worth it in the end.

That's it from us. Here is just a random picture of Brandon I took when we were at the mall the other day. There was a little kid riding in this helicopter and Brandon wanted a turn.

A Little Miracle

I can't believe it has taken me so long to write this post. I don't know how many times I have sat down to write about this experience but I just couldn't think of the words. But I knew I needed to share my thoughts with all of my friends and family about a little miracle we were able to witness.

Over the last month and a half Brandon and I have had the opportunity to work with the missionaries in teaching a young mother about the gospel. The missionaries tracked into Angela one Saturday after we had them over for dinner. Angela lived in our building with her 3 year old daughter and her boyfriend. She was at a crossroads in her life where she was looking for something more and thought religion was the answer. I was lucky enough to tag along to all the discussions. Last Saturday Angela was baptized!! I can't tell you how excited and happy I am for her! I wanted to share a few things I learned through this experience.

I have never been on a mission and have never have had many opportunities to help teach the gospel to an investigator. I was very nervous that I would not know what to say or how to answer her questions. During discussions the missionaries would ask me to bare my testimony. Then as I would be hanging out with Angela she would ask me some pretty tough questions. I was surprised at the words that would just fall into my mouth. I now realize that it is not the person or the words that matter in preaching the gospel. The Holy Ghost is the most powerful teacher and testifer. I will also never forget the spirit I felt as Angela prayed aloud for the first time or when she bore her testimony for the first time.

I also began to really understand how faith is the first princle of the gospel. I grew up in the church and have taken for granted my testimony, beliefs, and how I live my life. As I sat in the discussions I tried to put myself in Angela's shoes. What would I think about faith, prayer, the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, prophets, the law of chastity, or the word of wisdom if I was hearing about it for the first time? Would I believe any of it? I was amazed at the giant leaps of faith Angela took as she learned a principle and then would chose to apply it into her life not knowing from previous experience the happiness it brings by living that principle. Things that seemed so simple to me would require her to make huge life changes. I was constantly surprised by Angela's faith despite all the resistance from family and friends.

I also learned a lot about my own faith. The missionaries challenged Angela to be baptized on a certain date. That date came and went with no baptism. There seemed to be too many obstacles standing in her way making baptism seem impossible. The missionaries then challenged her to a new date of May 30. While we were in Cancun, Brandon and I would talk about if we thought Angela would be baptized on that day. I expressed my doubts and we both agreed it probably wouldn't happen. Then to my big surprise I had a message from Elder Livingstone on my phone when we got back. It pretty much said, "A lot has happened while you've been away. Angela wants to be baptized on Saturday and she would like you to give the closing prayer at the service." I called Brandon at work and said, "You will never believe what has happened!" I felt so humbled knowing my doubts had overshadowed my faith. How did I not have enought faith to know that everything would work out? I learned that with God nothing is impossible.

I am so grateful for the joy of missionary work. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ restored church on the earth today. I am so happy to have been able to see a friend come to know of this truth.

One Year Down

Brandon and I got married one year ago yesterday! I can't believe it. Sometimes it feels like it just happened but then I think about all that we have done in the past year....new state, new jobs, new apartments, new wards, new people, new adventures, a whole new life. I am so glad Brandon has been by my side for it all! To celebrate Brandon came home a little early from work and took me to the temple. We then went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

I love you Brandon! Thanks for marrying me!

Cancun

We finally went on our trip to Cancun and it was absolutely AMAZING! After months and months of waiting it finally came...and went a little too quickly. I am also happy to report we made it there and back without any scary encounters with drug cartels or coming down with a nasty case of the swine flu. It was actually quiet nice down there because of all the bad PR Mexico got on the news this last month. The resort was not crowded and we never had to wait for anything. There were maybe 10 people on the beach at a time and we always had about 5 servers waiting on us hand and foot. Let me tell you...a girl can get used to that.

There is too much to write about so I thought I would just use pictures. (That's all I really look at on blog anyways.)


This is our hotel: Dreams Cancun all-inclusive resort and spa. I have never been to an all-inclusive resort before but let me tell you that is the way to go. Everything was free game: water sports, restaurants, entertainment, drinks, even the mini bar in your room.

Our room was pretty awesome. We stayed overlooking the dolphin pool. In the morning we would either wake up to crazy chirping birds or the dolphins splashing in the water.

Here is where we spent most of our time...THE BEACH!! The water was clear, blue, and WARM. They had floaty toys and tampolines to play on, kayaks, and snokel gear.

One day we went to Chichen-Itza, an ancient Mayan city. Here we are in front of the famous temple. You can no longer climb the steps up to the top. The craziest thing about the plaza is that when you are standing in the right spot and clap the acoustics somehow make the echo sound like a chirping bird. When our tour guide told us that I didn't believe him but he was so right...it really does sound like a chirping bird and nothing like a clap. CRAZY!

All of the stones had engravings on them. This was on the walls of the 'ball field.' Notice the stick that pierces his nose and the huge earrings. He is thought to be royalty.

The Mayans practiced human sacrifices and are often thought of as violent people. These skull carvings line a huge stage/platform where they performed some of these sacrifices. They also would make human sacrifices by throwing people into a large Cenote, or sink hole, where the person was unable to climb out and would eventually drown.

Before we went to Chichen-Itza, we first made a stop at a Cenote to go for a swim.

Doesn't he look excited to jump in? Or is he scared?

Here is what it looked like from ground level. We then had to make our way down a tunneled stairway with chains as handrails to get to that platform below where all the people are standing.

It was really cool when you got down in there. It was fresh water and there were hundreds of little fish swimming around.

This is a really ugly picture of me but I thought it looked cool with the vines all around.

Here is Brandon jumping from the highest platform. I am proud to say I jumped from there too but mine wasn't nearly as graceful as his dive.

Here we are back at the hotel. There was a light house on the point. We would walk along this path looking for hermit crabs every night and iguanas during the day.

Can you see the iguana?

Sunset!!

This is Brandon at our favorite bar...the Sugar Reef. We would lye on the beach and our friend Jimer would come by every so often and bring us Pina Coladas, Tango Mangos, or whatever we wanted. It was bliss!

This was one of the four restaurants at the resort. Most of them were on the beach.

Well that is about it! We had a wonderful time just relaxing and hanging out together. It was the best 2nd honeymoon any girl could ask for! Thanks again Brandon for taking me!