Sorry for the long delay in posts. I had promised that I would post pictures that my sisters and I donated money for framing that we presented to Mom for her Christmas present. It was a surprise to her that we were able to give them to her this year. A few years ago, I asked a friend of mine, Ann Marie Mowrer, to have her mother paint a portrait of my dad from from pictures that we had. Sherrel Watkins, the artist, went above and beyond anything that I could have imagined and she added an extra portrait of Mom, too. She is very happy with them and here that are in case any of you are curious as to how they turned out.

The photos do not do them justice.

We had a wonderful Christmas and 2009 got here just fine, too. We are so happy to have the blessings we do- and hope you all have a wonderful new year.

PS- for those of you that are reading that might have ties to the Gallup area-- a little update of some of the Church goings on. After many months of prayer and working through details and approvals, today the two Ramah wards were combined into one ward and in Gallup the three wards were put back to two wards. We hope that the desired affect of greater ministering to the people in the area will allow real growth.