The Brockbanks are Famous!!!

Harold just received his UW Dental Alumni News --
which he promptly put in the recycling bin.
He then received an email saying
our family was in the magazine

This is from last years BYU/UW game

where the UW Dental Alumni sponsored a pizza lunch.
They let us stay even though we were wearing
BYU Blue!!!The Brockbanks are always up for a free meal --

especially if we get our picture in a magazine!!!

A Week in the Temple

(The Brockbank Children at the Seattle Temple in 2003)

Over the years our Family has tried with each vacation
to visit the LDS Temple in the area.
For many years that meant just stopping
and taking some pictures.
As the children reached 12 years old
the ones that were old enough
would do Baptisms for the Dead.
All of our children are now old enough
to do Baptisms for the Dead.
This week we went to 3 Temples
and did over 125 Baptisms for the Dead.
The Redlands Temple The Las Vegas TempleThe Brockbank Children at
the Las Vegas Temple 12 years ago and . . .this year!
The Ogden Temple
This was the last day the Ogden Temple was open
before it closed to be completely remodeled.Here is Blake with Gwen and her friend Maddie

Is this a Mission or a Vacation!?!

Transfers came last week and
now Brandon is in Nassau, Bahamas!

Brandon's Mission is beginning
to sound like a Caribbean Vacation!
To get to the Bahamas,
Brandon had to fly to Miami from Jamaica then onto Nassau.
Brandon is having a great mission!
This is the ward in Negril -- if you have a hard time finding
Brandon, he is the one standing in the back!
I'm not sure if you call this a beard or a dreadlock!

Palm Desert Vacation

After finally arriving in Palm Desert, California

we had a fun vacation with the second half of our family.
(Even though we missed having the rest of our children
with us -- I don't feel bad because these kids
didn't go on all the vacations our older ones did
before Brad, Blake & Gwen joined our family.)
Here are some of the highlights of our trip:
Shopping at the Flea Market
Pool Time
Boat Ride in the Marriott Hotel
General Patton's Memorial Museum
including its Tank Yard!
Palm Springs Aerial Tram

which was 2-1/2 miles up the mountain.

We left the hot valley to find SNOW!Brad, Blake & Gwen went on their own hike . . . because the mother had brought TWO RIGHT SHOES!
(Maybe I need to have someone pack for me!)

The Drive to Palm Desert

Spring Break meant a Road Trip for the

Brockbank Forced Family Fun 2011.
We started out from home and
headed down I-15 for California.
With our trusty GPS we were on our way!
(wondering how we used to go on trips
with a map or a TripTik from AAA.)
After leaving Las Vegas, our Trusty GPS directed us
to Highways 95, 62 and 177 which we drove for over 4 hours.

The roads looked like this for miles and miles and miles!
It was like riding a roller coaster in a car!
All along the way Blake kept us entertained by
letting us know when he saw a Call Box
(which was about every 2 miles.)
The scenery was the same as we drove
across the Mojave Desert.

As we turned onto Highway 177
there was a lone gas station and we decided
we would go until the next gas station.
Our Trusty GPS told us there was one along
the highway that we could easily reach.

When we got there it looked like this:
And our gas gauge looked like this:
Lots of silent prayers were said in the car
as the low gas indicator "dinged."

The Trusty GPS said there was no gas stations nearby.
But we were blessed as we came down US 10
and saw the gas station at Chiriaco Summit!

A verbal prayer of thanksgiving was offered at that point!!!

Next Forced Family Fun we need to remember:

Nothing is better on a Road Trip
than a full tank of gas!!

(You would have thought we learned our lesson
on the way to Palm Desert,
but on the way home we once again listened
to our Trusty GPS and drove home through
Yucca Valley on Highways 62 and 247.
We did keep the gas tank full for this drive!

Our Jamaican Missionary

It has been a while since we have received

some pictures from Elder Brockbank in Jamaica,
so I thought I would share the ones that came today.
Brandon is now in the tourist town of Negril.
Each morning as he eats his breakfast,
he gets to look out on the Caribbean Ocean.
He loves being in the Jamaican Paradise.

Brandon was able to get his feet wet when

he baptized one of their investigators a few weeks ago.
Brandon is really enjoying his mission.
I don't know if you can have a bad hair day
with dreadlocks this long!!

Jesus the Very Thought of Thee

This is Bernard of Clairvaux.
The words to the hymn "Jesus the Very Thought of Thee"
are attributed to this monk who lived in the 1100's
which are called the Middle or Dark Ages.

I think maybe Bernard had more "light" in his life
than many people today.
Please enjoy his beautiful words about the Savior.
(Remember to turn off my music before you hit play)