Mardi Gras! (G Rated)

So apparently Mardi Gras is not just a one day or one week festival. It is a festival that lasted for almost a month. The parades started in New Orleans and through-out other Louisiana towns at the beginning of February and culminated on Fat Tuesday, February 21st. Having heard about the debauchery and vulgar behavior that tends to accompany these festivities I really had no desire to go until one of our sales reps. told me about the parades in Metarie, LA. just west of New Orleans. Metarie is the home of what is locally called "The Family Gras". Parades and festivities that our geared towards families and Children.

I have a couple of pictures from the Krewe of Zeus parade which Darryl, Cristobal Brionnes and I went to on Monday Night the 21st. It is the largest night time parade outside of New Orleans and it was wonderful. I have a few blurry phone pics from that parade.

Since most businesses in Louisiana are closed on Fat Tuesday it was an optional work day for our Dome Employees. Several of us decided to head back down to Metarie to enjoy the Krewe of Argus Daytime Parades that started at 10:30 A.M. and Finished around 4:00 P.M.
It was a BLAST!
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The crowd, estimated to be between 400,000 - 500,000 thousand anxiously await the start of the parade. For the spectators to dress up in costumes is a fun tradition of Mardi Gras Parades everywhere.

Hutch finds a perch. (Greg Hutchens)

Cody and Dakota Garrett watching the first float come by. The hands in the air are hoping to catch some beads, toys, stuffed toys, cups, flowers, balls, etc. that are thrown from the floats. (And in Menan they worry about throwing candy! Ha!)

The ladders are an interesting invention. The roll them to the parade with Lawn chairs, ect. inside the box. Stand them up, seat a couple of kids in the box part (secured by a bar across their waists) and stand on the back hoping to see better and catch more stuff. It works great!

Hutch took some great pictures from his special spot.

Queen of the Argus Parade.

Many bands came by, some H.S. Marching bands and several in vehicles or on floats serenading us with great Jazz. This one was in a converted school bus.

Some of the "Maids Of Argus" Royalty. I hope you can enlarge it and see the costumes.
I believe one of these young ladies (there were 4 floats of maids) gave Cody his Flower.

The spectators came early to get a good spot. Many brought grills and coolers for the day. Some staked their claims as early as 7 a.m. By the time the parade was half over they were needing a little nap.

Some of the floats, like this one, were double deckers with participants chucking souvineres off of the top and bottom. The spectators were up to 50 feet back off the street and the guys on top would fling bead and other things to those of us in the back. I got a football, and several beads this way.

Some of the floats are really fantastic!

After the Krewe of Argus came the Krewe of Jeffersonians Elks Parade. This is what is called a "Truck Parade". Over one Hundred, Yes I said Hundred, 18 wheelers pulling decorated trailers with lots of loot on board to be thrown to the thronging crowds.

These first floats were animated the the characters on top would spin and turn. The magician/singer below is a mannequin.

Dakota Garrett, Cody and Codi Garrett. They would collect tons of stuff and when it got too heavy to wear, put it in a bag and collect some more. Awe look, Someone gave Cody a flower. I think he flirted with the pretty maid to get it. :-)

Codi and I at the beginning of the parade.

Me at the back of the crowd. Yes, I caught a football there.

Part of our haul.

About 40 minutes into the truck parade we were ready to call it a day. There was still another truck parade to come and things were starting to get a little raucous as the hours went on due, in large part I am sure, to the heat and amount of beer and alcohol that was being consumed. It was not a bad atmosphere, just one I wasn't enjoying as much. Cody felt the same.

Berkley Garrett puts Jaden on his shoulders in hopes of getting a toy.

These are just the beads Cody Captured! I didn't get nearly as many.

All in all it was a fun experience and I am glad we got to see what Mardi Gras was all about. I am especially grateful to the city of Metarie because I didn't see a vulgar or unseemly sight during the 3 parades I watched. Thank you.

Just My Opinion On The Whole Sordid Mess!

How in the world do the media and political machines and pundits of this country take a religious or ethical stance against a Presidential Mandate requiring employers to pay for contraception and turn it into “Republicans want to ban birth control!”? What kind of arrogance, audacity and “The world owes me a living” attitude does it take for a decent young woman, who is attending one of the elite law schools in this nation, to go on National TV and request that the government, (ie. taxpayers) see to it that her contraception and the contraception of friends and acquaintances be provided for them so they won’t have to worry about the consequences of their behavior?

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY?

In the 70’s many women were clamoring for “Equal Rights” in all things; not just equal pay, which was a good thing, but equality in military service and assignements, social treatment and all facets of life (I knew a girl who got mad if a guy opened a car door for her because it implied she was too weak to do it herself and not his equal, or if he complimented her on her dress because that meant he didn’t appreciate her intelligence, etc.) Well ladies, our wishes, desires and dreams of the early 70’s have now come to pass. We have reached a low point in our society where our own President, and obviously a large percentage of our population, think we are all so loose and “cat like” that we cannot control our own sex drives and we need, nay, demand that the government make someone besides ourselves pay for our contraception and consequently our behavior. What ever happened to abstinence, if you can't afford it don't do it? (if you laugh at that suggestion then I assume you are one of the aforementioned populace) In their eyes are women so ignorant and stupid that we don’t know how to get a prescription for the pill or even find a couple bucks at the bottom of our purses and go to the vending machine at the truck stop and buy a condom? It could be they think we are too lazy or lackadaisicial or fiscally irresponsible take care of our own health needs.

Through our own efforts in demanding equality we have demeaned our sex ,cheapened our very womanhood and have become accepted just like the guys in the locker-room, where describing your latest conquest in lurid terms or calling a certain “hot to trot” girl a slut or easy, was just accepted as giving your buddies inside information. Is it any wonder that so many radio talk show hosts have no qualms in saying what they think even if it is demeaning and in poor taste? We asked them to do it. “Don’t give us any special treatment! WE ARE YOUR EQUALS, TREAT US JUST LIKE YOU WOULD THE MEN!”

We wouldn’t throw such feminine hissy fits if they said such things or worse about a guy? I long for the day when women loved being gentle and were yet as tough as steel, and no man would dare have said a public word to besmirch her, no matter what her true character was because deep down there was respect for womanhood. That kind of language and treatment just wasn’t publicly acceptable. But then, that wasn’t equal treatment either.

I can only find one word to describe the political and social state that we Citizens of the United States of America find ourselves in. Sad.

The Murder of Our Friends

Never, in my wildest dreams, did I ever think I would write the words in the title of this blog.

Doug Dooley

I haven't written about this before; frankly, it's just been too hard and disturbing to think about. But since I do use this blog as a type of journal, I wanted to write down a few thoughts. Below is a picture of our friends, Irwin and Shirley Marchand. He was 74 and she is 72. Above is a picture of Shirley's son, Doug Dooley. He was 50. Darryl and I knew Irwin well from meeting him at church and other activities. He was a fun, kind, gentle, hard working man who loved God and his fellowman. When he spoke in church about the redeeming love of his Savior, Jesus Christ, it was apparent that he was a man who knew about the principles of the atonement first hand and applied them in his life. We did not get to know Shirley as well as she was having some health problems and was unable to come to church regularly. But all who knew them loved them. Doug was staying with them while he was working in the area.

Saturday, February 18, 2012 was "Bishop's Storehouse" day in Baton Rouge. Brother and Sister Marchand were service missionaries called to oversee the volunteer workers and the unloading and distributing of food to families in need. Although they had been sick during the week Brother Marchand had assured a friend on Friday evening that he would be there on Saturday morning to unlock the building and oversee the work.

Saturday morning came and Brother Marchand did not show up to open the building. Some tried to call but received no answer. It was assumed that Shirley had taken a turn for the worse and they were back at the hospital. Throughout the day no one was able to reach them. After working at the "storehouse" Darryl, Cody and I went to the temple. Cody mentioned to us that something just didn't "feel" right. He couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly, but it just felt wrong and .....? He just didn't know. In reality I think we all felt a little unease during the afternoon and evening.

Sunday morning at 8:00 Darryl received a phone call from one of his assistants telling him that Brother Marchand had died sometime Saturday. Darryl is very careful about information given him and will not repeat it unless he gets it verified. He called Bishop Masten and was given the sad a tragic news. Brother Marchand, his wife and her son, Doug, were bludgeoned, and their throats were slit. A safe was stolen from their home with a rare coin collection in it. Brother Marchand and his stepson were dead and his wife was clinging to life undergoing emergency surgery at the hospital. The attack had taken place sometime between 10:00 p.m. Friday night and 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning. When Doug's wife had tried to call him all day Saturday and couldn't get him or her in-laws she became worried and local law enforcement were asked to check on them. They found the bodies around 9:00 p.m. Saturday night.

What kind of monster does this type of thing? By the look of the human damage was this really just a robbery or something more?

Yesterday I had the privilege of singing "How Great Thou Art" at Brother Marchand's funeral. I have sung at dozens of funerals over the years. Relatives whom I love, Babies and children of friends, teens, the elderly, the young who died of disease or accidents, those who committed suicide. This funeral was the first time I was unsure if I could make it through the song. For a few short months I had come to know this kind, wonderful old man who loved and cared for all he met. Who could be so evil to do such a horrible thing?

I prayed like I had never prayed before that the Lord would strengthen me and bless me to be able to sing in such a way as to bring comfort to those whose hearts were broken and peace to the hurting soul, but deep down I also wanted to be able to sing in such a way that if the person who committed this crime was present that the song would rack them to their very soul with guilt and fear for what they had done. Was this wrong of me to want, for just a moment, such power with my voice? I know I was blessed, for I was able to sing with more power and control in my voice than I have had in a long time.

It was a beautiful funeral service that did much toward bringing comfort and peace to the broken heart. There are still so many unanswered questions we have, but we were assured by President Riggs, the Stake President, that whoever did this horrible crime would face the justice of the law of the land and would never be able to escape the Justice of God, and they needed to be pitied.

They have found the safe.

Click HERE for a link to the news stories.

The Blessing of Tyree

10 days ago Darryl and I flew home to Idaho so we could be there for little Tyree's blessing. Jesse and Kelly had the family over and it was a wonderful day!

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Kelly and his girls.

Jake, Hillary, Cali, Travis and Gideon visit before the blessing.

Tyree is so darn cute and she has the cutest smiles!!

Grandpa Darryl blessed Tyree and Brandon and Blaine Ball, Uncle Travis, Uncle Jake and Great Grandpa Demont Crystal stood in on the blessing.

Then the family ate dinner and visited for a while.

Demont and Glenna Crystal with their Great-Grandaughter, Tyree.

The Crystal Clan

Jesse and the girl of the hour, Miss Tyree.

After everyone left Tyree just chilled with her toys.

Gideon is such a good big brother to Parker.

Miss Parker.... I love your hair!!

And Aunt Hillary loves you so much she could just eat you up!

Clan Cunningham

Thank you for a wonderful weekend! We love you little Tyree!

DISNEY!!! (finally)

I know, I know.... It has been 5 weeks since we were there, so here they are... My wonderful family!!! On Sunday the 8th we finally got together to take a family picture of the 9 of us.



I will add that Shiloh was leaving to go back to South Carolina, and Skye and Jesse were still in the process of getting ready for church. My kids are fabulous!

On Monday we made it to Disney World!!!



I will say that Ryan's mom, Donna, is a Professional Disney Patron. She got the balloon and tied it to the stroller so it was easy to spot. As the day progressed the right ear shrank and we always knew where our group was gathered. She also was like having a walking map and information booth right beside you. I love you Donna!

This was Jesse, Skye, Hillary and Cody's first time to a Disney Theme Park along with Parker and the new babies of course. It was so fun watching my big kids have fun!

Above is a mural inside Cinderella's Castle, below is Reagan with her Mickey Mouse ears.... Maybe she will grow into them. :-)

Jesse, Tyree, Cali, Parker and a very excited Skye getting ready to FLY on the Peter Pan Ride! (One of my favorites!)

Somehow I get the feeling Reagan is not that impressed. She loved it when Ryan would carry her like this. 

Lily loved all the rides and liked to go on them with Grandma.

Tyree's ears are a little big too. Well, she'll just have to bring them back next year.

It's a small world......

.....and it definately has Grandma and Parker's attention.

Much to the delight of her "Nona", Reagan woke up and her face 'lit up' while watching "It's a Small World".

There were so many fun things to see and do. Fortunately... or maybe Unfortunately, Grandma was having so much fun playing I didn't take very many pictures. Ransom loved the big 'rotating water globe of the world'. 



Lily is such a fun 'little mother' when it comes to her siblings and cousins. While waiting for Mommy and Daddy at Splash Mountain they found a great place to play. We constantly heard things like....

"Look at me gwan-ma, I am in the house"

"Look! Me swide Gwan-pa!" Me House!

They found Brer Rabbit's house ...

And Lily took great care of little Parker.... "Quick Parker, come here."

"Okay, now you have to smile real big - Gwan-pa wants a picture!"

Another favorite for us is THE HAUNTED MANSION.... ohhhhh..

Last year it was raining so we just went straight inside. This year we entered through the graveyard and found some pretty fun things to play with.

*****

Tyree and I try to make a face like Old Aunt Maud...

Hillary thought she looked more like this old gent....

And Cody tried to look like the old Sea Captain Uncle Mac. Parker wasn't too sure. 

What a wonderful day.... I can't wait until next time!