P-Day in Madrid

We had a very fun P-day awhile back.  We went the Palacio Real, and these are some of the sights we saw along the way.
Greg wants to apply for this job on the weekends.

... or this one.

.... the guy on the back, not the front.

This one looks more appealing to me.

Plaza Mayor.  The building in the center is covered in art work, mostly nude ladies.  It is an amazing square, though, with lots of outdoor restaurants and cute shops.  They have concerts here sometimes.

More of Plaza Mayor.

During the month of December the whole square is supposed to be full of vendors selling nativities.  I'll be first in line!

Charlotte is standing in front of the famous San Miguel Market.  It is one booth after another filled with gastronomical delights.  People come there to eat tapas of every kind.

Greg found himself a tasty treat.

Charlotte is not as impressed.  We both found the bakery, and then we were impressed.

This is supposed to be the oldest building in Madrid.

The ceiling of the entry arch.

The archway leading out.

An interesting church along the way.

I think this is in memory of those who died in the Spanish Civil War.

Greg found another friend who hadn't heard his jokes.

This is the cathedral next to the Palacio.

This is the door of the cathedral.

The facade of the Palacio.

The most incredible armory is on the left.  We couldn't take pictures inside, and its such a shame.  You would be amazed!

Our good friends Charlotte and Dave Hawkins.

Another view of the cathedral as it faces the Palacio.

Another view outside the gates of the Palacio.

This is a statue in the Palacio garden.  The birds seemed to like this one best.

On our way outside the gates.

Only Greg could get his mouth around this.  We had a great lunch at Foster's of Hollywood.

Outside the opera house.

The opera house.

I love this building!

Greg managed to find a beach in Madrid.

These are pictures of pictures since I couldn't take pictures in the Palacio.

Ever ceiling in every room is painted magnificently.

Every carpet is amazing as well.  This is the throne room.

Every chandelier is incredible.

Their breakfast room.

This entire room is porcelain.

This dining room, set for a few of their closest friends, just can't be captured on film.  It was my favorite room.

This the palace chapel.  I wish I had a picture of the dome of this room. It is breath-taking!
Our visit to the Palacio Real was so much fun.  It is truly one of the finest palaces in Europe.

It was a great day out, with wonderful sights, good food, and awesome company.

The missing picture from my last post

This the missing group picture, with President and Sister Tenney in the middle.

These are two special Hermanas. Sister Mattson, next to Greg, is the niece of Mike and Iva Hawkins. Next to me is my darling friend Hermana McKenna Finch. Brigg, Caleb?  Just saying ....

The new temple counselor, President and Sister Montoya. 

A sneaky friend, Gloria Melendez,  got this shot when I was trying to set up the group shot.

Great Experiences

OK, this is a little random, but I just saw that this blog was not sent from a few weeks ago.  So here goes, even though it is old news. I think I published the pictures that go it back around the first of Sept.

Great Experiences

It has been a delightful week.  We had a couple of stakes from northern Spain visiting the temple this week.  It was the largest group of helpers we have ever had.  They all showed up everyday, on time, and stayed until the very end.  Each one of them worked so hard, and had the greatest attitudes of any group.  Since I was shift coordinator on Thursday, I was so happy  that the biggest problem I had was finding something for everyone to do. We were so impressed with them all and hated to say good-bye when it was time for them to leave.

My favorite day was Saturday.  Much to my surprise and delight, I was assigned the children's room.  There was a Nigerian family being sealed.  They had 3 little girls ages 2, 5, and 8, that spoke English.  I have never had that assignment before since most of the children that come to the temple either speak Spanish or Portuguese. These children were so darling.  I had them for almost 5 hours. That is a long time to entertain children with a rather poor stock of toys and books.  But they were very good, and it was fun to play with children again.  I really miss my grandchildren and I had a nice time playing grandma to these darling girls.  It was fun to dress them up in their pretty white dresses, and it was very touching to me when it came time to take them into the sealing room to be with their parents and place them around the altar.  It is always emotional to me to see the making of an eternal family. After the sealing they went outside in their whites to take pictures.  I ran home really quick to get my camera so I could get a picture of them as well, but I was too late.

Yesterday I had the privilege to be an attendant for a young woman taking out her endowment.  She is from the Philippines but living in Rome at this time.  She speaks perfect English and preferred to have her endowments in English.  Thus, I got another grand opportunity.  After finishing my part I took her to the endowment room along with her escort, a friend from Rome who is Italian, but speaks English as well.  I said my good-byes and headed to my next assignment.  But before I could get far, someone came to get me saying that the escort had taken ill, and I would need to step in.  I felt bad for the friend, but had the biggest grin on my face.  It was such a privilege and honor to sit beside this lovely and precious young woman.  She just glowed with excitement and goodness.  We got to visit a bit afterwards and I took her on a little tour of the temple. We really bonded, and when she returned today we had a good long hug and visited some more.  She will return tomorrow, and I think I have a friend for life.

We had our monthly mission conference on Monday.  It was a great meeting, with a wonderful lunch, and another inspired discussion by President Tenney.  He always seems to know what we are needing, and I love to hear what he has to say.  Afterwards we got a group picture.  I was put in charge of it, and I did a terrible job.  By the time I discovered how bad it was, it was too late to do anything about it.  I called my brother Sam, and he did his best to fix it, which I very much appreciated.  Then I got an email from another missionary saying he also got a single picture and sent it to me.  It was better than mine, so I was very relieved.

In the center is President Tenney and his wife.  To the right of President Tenney is President Somoza and his wife.  Next to Sister Somoza is my bffs Gloria Melendez and Ana Mancini.  The rest are too many to name, but I love them all.

The new counselor in the temple presidency, President and Sister Montoya.  The are Spanish, and speak no English.  Yet, we are somehow able to communicate.  They are fantastic.

I'm not going to go any further with this post, as I'm afraid of losing what I have, so I will publish this and work on the rest later.

Really Bummed!

Well, I have spent the better part of 3 hours writing a great blog and posting pictures.  Then disaster hit.  I have no idea where it went, and I haven't the heart or the energy to write it all again.  So I will just write a quick note letting you know that we are well and happy and will redo in the next day or two or three.

I would just like to say that we have been very worried this week as both Emily and Brenda are in the hospital.  Brenda is in Utah with pneumonia, and Emily is in Connecticut with pancreatitis.  We are praying hard in their behalf and would appreciate anyone else's prayers.

I'm falling hopelessly behind on my posts and pictures, but will try to catch up before too long.