Florida in the Fall!!

Tarali, Steven and I were missing our Florida children, so decided to take some time off and go to see them, and to have some fun with them. We were gone from Nov.1-10. It is so fun to have Tarali taking pictures again, since she decided to get her a new digital camera. You will need to view both of our blogs to get the over all perspective...

• The biggest birthday party/beach cleanup ever! 50 children plus parents. Even though the birthday girl wasn't feeling so well, she still made sure that every child got their thank-you gift before leaving.
  

Other pluses from the birthday party:

• The waves that day were more like the Pacific Ocean than the Atlantic Ocean, since it was just the day after the hurricane that ended up being a tropical storm. But the "Utah boys", got some serious boarding in.
  

• Rich saving a little girl from the waves.

• Steven was setting up this picture, so we could have this cool picture of sea weed, when he got slammed by a wave, almost ruining our camera.

• Chad's school

• A field full of Iguana's that all ran en mass to the water when we appeared.  (We did find this one inside the botanical gardens.)
  

• Walking the beach with Sharon. 
• Walking down to the causeway where we found 4 large pieces of coral. Sharon carried or strolled 3 of them back from the causeway, and Steven carrying one of them so we could have a memory of Florida to take home with us and also to share with Angie and Sharon. (Wonder what the baggage inspectors thought about them being in the suitcases!)
  

• Finding a snake coiled up in Richard and Sharon's garage. ( We wanted to get a picture of him, but he slithered away.)(Look at the big, brave guys with their brooms to catch the snake!)

• Going to the Cheesecake Factory, enjoying a wonderful meal, when in comes 3 of the biggest, burliest body guards, and 8 young people, that we later found out were a rock group called          "Pretty Ricki" and their dates.  We decided that we were glad that we didn't have to have  body guards around us all of the time.

• Alot of DS Lite, Tetris, Brain Age 2, Rook and Nertz, playing with the babies, and Indigo and Kiara, traveling alot between Ft. Lauderdale, and Miami. Enjoying the beach, and our children.
  

Each day was beautiful, with no humidity, and just fun being together.

Thanks kids--We miss you already.

The Finnigan Story!!

Long, long ago, in a land far-away.......

Well, actually it was long ago, but it was here in this land of Salt Lake City. Living in Idaho, before satalite conference sessions, (I think we were only able to get one of the sessions), my parents loved coming to Utah for General Conference. They would stay at the old Temple Square Hotel, right across from temple square. My brothers, and then later on my husband, would accompany my dad across the street to the tabernacle, for general Priesthood Meeting. ( My sisters and I would drool at the window, watching all those men going in to priesthood meeting.) After the men got out of their meeting, we would all go to Snellgroves Ice Cream parlor for ice cream. It was so fun! We all loved it. It still brings back feelings of love and closeness as a family.
After my dad passed away, and with the advent of better TV coverage, the trips at conference time stopped. My brother Ronald lived across the street with his family, and until they moved, our families, and any other family member that was here, would still get together and go to priesthood meeting, ( but this time they would go to the stake center), and then we would gather at our home for banana splits. One of Ronald's girls, started calling it Finnigans, and the name and tradition stuck!!
This year started a new era in our priesthood meeting sessions, with the first Finlinson grandson going to priesthood meeting with his dad, grandpa and uncles.



Afterwards, banana split time!!

President James Esdras Faust

As General Conference approaches this weekend, we anticipate that there will be a change in the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles, due to the passing of Pres. Faust, August 10, 2007. I remember the day that Pres. Faust, or Jim to the family, was called to the Twelve Apostles, September 30,1978. Steven was working out in the yard, and after hearing the announcement, I ran out to Steven and said, "Guess who was called to the Twelve!" We were so happy for him, but none so proud as Stevens dad. We heard fun stories over the years from dad, about "Es", as he was called in his younger years, his antics, and the love that he had for his grandparents, who were now also my grandparents. I was blessed to be married into this wonderful family, and over the next 30 years was privileged to be in family gatherings where we were able to hear him speak and to feel his spirit.



Pres. Faust was able to go to Oak City, 9 December 2006, to speak at Aunt Elva's funeral. As he talked to Pres. Hinckley about going down to the funeral, he described her as the "last leaf" on the Finlinson tree--the last of his aunts and uncles to leave this world. He asked the Prophet if he could go, that he would really like to be with his family. He spoke about Aunt Elva's Great grandmother, Eliza Hartley, who came across the plains in the Martin handcart company, and who is buried in Oak City. Her grandfather was Farewell Hartley, the youngest of Eliza's children. He went on to tell about how Eliza had a 10 yr. old handicapped daughter that she literally pulled in the handcart across the plains. He reminisced about his childhood. "We were poor--everyone was poor. But my favorite Christmas was the Christmas without presents." He said, "We had ground cherry jam. We didn't have any cranberries--not many cranberries grow in Oak City. But what made it wonderful, was the love in the family."
Pres. Faust then told us that he was now the patriarch of the Finlinson family--the oldest living grandson, and as such he wanted to talk to us. He said that we have an obligation because of the "believing blood" that courses through our veins. He said, "I am charging each of you in this room to live your lives worthily, and I want you to concentrate mostly on raising a righteous posterity!" He then said, "I was with the Prophet, just yesterday. I see the whisperings of the holy spirit in his life for the church. I see him laying down track for the Church for the next 10 years. We are not leading this Church, the Savior is.
He then gave us an apostolic blessing--the last of many he has given to us over the years. This was the last time that he was with us as a family. Even though he had to use a wheelchair, that day he stood, and walked. He spent time with us at the funeral dinner, and we all partook of his wonderful humble spirit. Most if not all of our children and grandchildren have had the opportunity to "hug a prophet." I hope that they all remember him and the feelings they felt while in his presence.
We will miss this wonderful servant of the Lord. I wanted to write the words that he spoke that day, so they would not be lost to our children and grandchildren. We have a wonderful heritage, on both sides of our family, and we want each of you to remember the "believing blood" that courses through your veins.

The picture below is Helen, and Steven. The center lady is Clarice Nielson, a cousin.

Saying Goodby is so very hard to do....

We knew this time was coming...First we had to say goodbye again to Richard, Sharon, Kiara, Indigo and Samuel--again. And now Angie, Chad and Abby.
We had our last Sunday dinner together, our last game of colored eggs, and our last pictures together. When Abby comes back again she will be so grown up.
We will miss you guys! We are just happy that Richard and Sharon get you for awhile.

FAMILY FUN!!!

It's July 20, and the 10 days that we have all been looking forward to is finally here!! Richard, Sharon, Kiara, Indigo, and baby Samuel are coming, and we are going to Party, Party, Party. Since they got here in the morning, we had pretty much the whole day to have fun.
We started with the whole family gathering up Millcreek Canyon for a barbeque.
(I know there are alot of pictures, but after all they are the cutest people in all of the world--and besides I am just figuring this whole thing out!!)











It's been a LONG day!!




CONDO POOL FUN

This doesn't include the whirlpool, hot tub, 1-2-3's, and A_B_C's!!




RIVER FUN!!!

Lets hit the river!!











BEACH FUN!

Ready set go!!!











Jared is that a chocolate grasshopper you have there?


We also had fun with Sharons sisters, and a barbeque and game night with their friends. Tarali and Sharon stayed up every night playing Tetris.
So long-you weren't here long enough, but we had fun while it lasted. We miss you already.