Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication

We have had a very exciting weekend here in Utah. Several months ago the first presidency announced that the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication would be broadcast on Sunday the 23rd of August in two sessions. And what was really strange, was that all church meetings on that day in Utah would be canceled so that members could attend either of the dedication sessions. I think it emphasized how important Temple's are to the Lord and that they truly should be the center of our lives.


Sunday morning Pam and I attended the 9:00 am session, but we had to be there much earlier. I was at the stake center at 7:30 am looking over everything. Our instructions indicated we should ensure our chapel was secure and clean and beautiful. We had done all we could to ensure all of those things were in place so that our stake center would be an extension of the Oqurrh Mountain Temple. People began arriving as early at 7:45 am and by 8:30 am the chapel was full and we were well back into the cultural hall. When we locked the doors at 8:45 am we had over 720 members in attendance.


It's always wonderful to see the Prophet and he arrived with a small party of dignitaries and right at 9:00 am the session began with President Monson conducting. We heard from Sister Lifferth of the General Primary Presidency, followed by Elder Paul Johnson and Spencer Jones of the seventy. We then heard a wonderful talks from Elder Bednar of the twefve followed by President Uchtdorf. Finally the dedicatory prayer was delivered by President Monson. Such a beaufiful and spriitual prayer. A multi-stake choir provided the music and they were beautiful.


In the afternoon I returned at 1:30 pm and we went through the same routine concerning the building, ensuring it was clean again and set up for another session. We had high councilors at each of three doors checking recommends or dedication tickets and by 2:45 pm we had over 400 in attendance. President Monson again presided and conducted and was joined by other general authorities and general officers of the church. We heard from Sister Silvia Allred of the General Relief Society Presidency, followed by Elder Paul Sybrowky and Elder Craig Zwick. Elder Zwick was Travis' mission president in Chile. Finally we heard from Elder Ballard of the twelve, followed by a wonderful, tender address by President Monson. President Eyring delivered the dedicatory address, which was the same prayer as in the morning. Again another equally wonderful choir provided the music.

With the Oqurrh Mountain Temple commencing operations today, it makes 130 operating temples throughout the church. I hope and pray that we all take advantage of temples near our homes and enjoy the work taking place within for ourselves and our ancestors. Pam and I made a commitment many years ago to attend weekly and for the most part we have accomplished that goal and plan to continue to do so. It has made a tremendous difference in our lives.

Cottle Family Reunion 2009 - Denver

Pam and I and Erin, Weston and Kate drove to Denver on Wednesday the 29th of July and joined other members of the family for a 3 day family reunion. Unfortunately Andrew was in Munich, Germany during this period and could not be with us. Johanna, Cynthia, Sarah and Jennifer put together our activities and it was a wonderful fun-filled reunion. Upon our arrival we made the rounds of the family and visited and enjoyed seeing everyone again. Erin and Weston stayed with Travis and Jennifer and Pam and I stayed with Tom and Johanna.

Thursday morning Jennifer and her girls and Sarah and her children and little Alex went to a swimming pool nearby and spent an enjoyable time while the rest of the family went golfing. We had two foursomes and played 18 holes at the Broken Tee golf course. The weather was suspect because it was cold and rainy but the 4 hours in which we played turned out to be very nice and we had a good time. That evening we all assembled at Tom and Johanna's home and enjoyed a wonderful meal of Tom's stuffed hamburgers. When we had all we could eat, we drove to Tom and Johanna's chapel and played "Human Foos Ball." A few of us had played before, but for the majority it was a new game, but a lot of fun and from the young children to an old man like me. We had a great time.





Friday our plans took us to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in downtown Denver. We began our odyssey through a number of venues around 11:00 am and spent 3 or 4 hours enjoying the Space Odyssey, Expedition Health, Edge of the Wild, South Pacific Islands and Australia, and finally Gems and Minerals. There was a lot more to see, but we were tired and called it a day around 3:30 pm. We drove to Andrew and Sarah's home and had our evening dinner and enjoyed visiting. To cap the evening off we walked to a nearby elementary school and played a rousing game of "Kick Ball" and stretched a few muscles. It must have been fun because only darkness caused us to end the game.








Saturday morning we all assembled at the Chatsworth Reversoir swim beach near Roxborough and had a fun-filled late morning and afternoon playing in the water, visiting on the beach and for several getting more sun that they needed. It was a perfect day at the beach, with a clear sky and temperatures in the 80's. We had lunch of hot dogs and chips and other trimmings and enjoyed the day.









Saturday evening was an Adult dinner at one of our favorite spots - "Texas Roadhouse." Spencer took care of some of the children in Highlands Ranch and Drew the others in Roxborough. Eveyrthing turned out perfectly and the 11 of us at the restuarant enjoyed the meal and visiting.

Sunday was the conclusion to our reunion and perhaps the best day of all. At 11:00 am the family met at the Roxborough chapel following sacrament and sunday school meetings and attended the ordination of Drew to the office of Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood. Travis ordained his son and gave a wonderful blessing. Following the block of meetings we all met at Travis and Jennifer's home in Roxborough for the final events of our reunion. Travis and Jennifer prepared a wonderful meal and we ate and ate and ate some more as we visited and watched all the fun antics of the little children - in and out of the house, and up and down the stairs. They had endless energy. The girls had stuffed plastic easter eggs with candy and Tom and Johanna went outside and hid them all over the yard and then the children went hunting, starting with the youngest and finally with Spencer.

After an hour or so we held an adults meeting on the patio and discussed the future of our reunion and then the children joined us and we had a final devotional. I told about one of our ancesters - William Henry Cottle and their crossing the plains and eventual settling in Plain City, Utah. I then began a testimony meeting and one by one we heard wonderful expressions of love and devotion to family and the church from all the adults and also Spencer and Kali. It was a wonderful conclusion to a wonderful reunion. We look forward to 2010 in Monroe!

Summer 2009

Well summer is here in Monroe and we have enjoyed the beautiful weather, occasional rain storms and moderate temperatures (so far!). Our yard is looking good and here are a few shots of the trees and flowers.


Our garden is looking good and thus far. We have peas, beans, potatoes, and corn growing nicely.


The rest of the yard is green and beautiful.

Our Sacred Grove!


Here's proof that we still buy cat food!!

Finally, the rumors are true. We are no longer a truck family. I know it is pretty silly, but the 2005 Dakota just didn't find its way into my heart. It had such a stiff and hard riding suspension and the desire for a van was just too dominant. So we have been looking, as you know, and finally came up with a good deal here in Richfield. We bought a 2007 Grand Caravan as shown and it was like slipping into a familiar glove. It is much like Travis' and Andrew's van, a SXT with 3.8L engine, stowaway seats, power sliding doors and other features. It doesn't have DVD and I was disappointed because I wanted to watch movies while Pam drove!!!



Well with summer hopefully will come a few trips. If we show up in Denver some day, don't be surprised.

Memorial Day 2009

I wanted to give a little update on our activities here in Monroe. It is Memorial Day and it has been a fairly quiet day for us. We began mid-morning taking flowers to the cemetery to decorate the family graves. It's always an occasion at the cemetery to visit many, many friends who are also there doing the same thing. The day began in beautiful fashion with clear blue skies and all the flowers and contrasting green lawns made it a beautiful morning activity (sorry I left my camera home).

Following that Pam and I went to Richfield and played a round of golf. It was a perfect morning and the recent rains had caused the rough to be about 2-3 inches high. Unusual for Richfield. But we had a good time and Pam scored a Birdie on the 7th hole with a beautiful drive and then a long iron right to the middle of the green. She had a 15 foot putt and ran it right in. It was great.

Back home Pam has been busy planting flowers in a couple of planters on the front porch. It looks really nice and brings some color to our front door. We have had Monsoon weather the past week with afternoon thunderstorms and frequently rain. Saturday we had about 8 hours of non-stop light rain and everything in our yard has just jumped out of the ground. Unfortunately that includes the lawn, so I have to mow again!! But our garden is doing very well and everything has come up and is doing well.

Sunday evening I presided over my first Seminary Graduation and it was really nice. I had been a high school advisor to a quarter of the students and taught all but 4 of the graduates, so I had a personal interest in how they were doing. We had a good program and it was fun passing out the certificates and congratulating my friends. They will next graduate from High School on Friday.

Well family, I hope all you "face book" fans will not forget your blogs. We so enjoy the updates and pictures. Hope to see all of you sometimes this summer.

Denver Visit April 2009

Pam and I finally got a week with little going on here in Monroe and took off for Denver on Monday the 27th of April. We had a wonderful trip visiting our four children in Denver and our grandchildren--maybe it's visiting the grandchildren and also their parents!

Here are a few pictures of Benjamin, little Alex, and Cynthia. It was amazing how good Benjamin looked and so happy and healthly.




On Friday the 1st of May we attended Megan's Ellis Island Program and also Grandparents Day at her school, the Collegiate Academy of Colorado. It was an interesting and well done program by the students. Megan was great and her story of her family relative that imigrated to the US through Ellis Island was very interesting.











On Sunday afternoon, the 3rd of May, Tom and Johanna hosted a family activity and dinner at their home and it was wonderful. Tom cooked a beautiful roast with all the trimmings and we ate and visited and covertly enjoyed a Nuggets vicitory!!

Tom has done a very nice job on the window replacement in the front of their home--it's been quite a job, but they are making headway.


Is this a cute couple of guys or what?






Monday morning, the 4th of May, we returned home to Monroe with Andrew Wood in tow! He's been a great guest in our home and has burned up the backyard, the streets of Monroe on his bike, and is rivaling Alex on creative creations with Construct's. He's spending a couple of weeks with us and we hope he is enjoying himself!