The Favorite

In case anyone was wondering, Jonathan is everyone's favorite person.

Seth loves talking to him about WWII and planets. They were looking at pictures of some of the rovers on Mars. Jonathan is patient enough to explain and reexplain everything to them.

Joseph Machin

When my parents came out this summer, they brought a couple of binders filled with our family history. I went through them and photographed each page and now I'm typing all of the stories. It's not surprising that at some point many of my relatives were in Utah. As I read about where they were, I have been figuring out where they were and then we go visit those places.

Joseph and Sarah Machin  (he later changed the spelling to Machen) emigrated in 1869 and were able to take the train to Utah because of the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

Promontory Summit where the transcontinental railroad was completed.

They lived in Minersville for about a year or two after that. I'm assuming that he worked in the mine in the area. When he was living in England, he learned how to work in a smelter and he was probably working in a mine before that.

My favorite part of visiting the mine was looking out to the mountains. They haven't changed very much since my great-great grandparents were looking at those same mountains.

After a few more moves, they ended up in Sandy. There Joseph worked in the Mingo Smelter along with farming and other odd jobs. I found out that there is a plaque and a little mine car where the smelter used to be.

After working in the smelter for 15 years, the family moved up to Idaho for a brighter future for their children.

I am so grateful that my great-great aunt took the time to compile the stories and that I now have the opportunity to visit the same places that my ancestors once lived. There are still more places to find and I look forward to visiting them.

Payson Temple

We finally made it down to the Payson Temple. It is a lovely and very large temple.

I love all of the details in the stone.

We only have a few Utah temples left to visit!

Remember

Last month, I found out that there is a monument in New Jersey called "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism" that was gift from President Vladimir Putin, the people of Russia and the artist, Zurab Tsereteli. 

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The world changed so abruptly that day, but there were others throughout the world that offered their hands and hearts out in friendship. No matter how bleak the circumstances, you can still find good.

Khan Academy

Two years ago, I needed to brush up on some of my math skills. I asked Jonathan if he had any ideas. He introduced me to Khan Academy.

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It is a FREE website that has a number of different subjects. I feel like math is currently the most developed subject they currently have. There are videos on how to solve the various types of problems and then you solve the same types of problems yourself. I can't say enough good things about the free education that Khan Academy is offering to anyone who is willing to work for it. It is my dream for Jonathan to work there because they are providing such a wonderful service to anyone with an internet connection. Just imagine all the lives that are changing and the people that are convinced that they aren't good at especially math. They are opening opportunities that would otherwise be closed off because of the limits people place on themselves simply because they believe they can never be good at math. Education is powerful at changing lives and Khan Academy is making it more accessible.

Differences

Jonathan and I are extremely similar, so much so that it's a little creepy at times.

There is one way that we are very different. Jonathan enjoys having variety with our dinners while I could stick to the easy, yummy recipes we've been using for years. Since I work all day, Jonathan has taken over cooking. (Yes, I am spoiled. Yes, I enjoy it thoroughly.) He has started making spaghetti sauce from scratch and I'm pretty sure he has now used our Kitchen Aid more times than I have. Sometimes on the weekend, I make dinner. It almost always involves the Crock Pot and frozen chicken. I have no problem admitting that I am lazy when it comes to cooking. Hopefully for Jonathan's sake I will become more like him in the future.