Quotes of the Week

 Contrary to the doubts of some, there really is such a thing as right and wrong. There really is absolute truth -- eternal truth. One of the plagues of our day is that too few people know where to turn for truth. I can assure you that what you will hear at conference constitutes pure truth.

-- Russell M. Nelson

May each of us, regardless of our individual circumstances, listen with open hearts and minds to what we hear in the coming weekend so that the Lord can continue to direct each of us in our individual paths.

-- Russell M. Nelson

I promise you prayers are heard and they are answered according to His unfailing love and cosmic timetable.

-- Jeffrey R. Holland

Quotes of the Week

 Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Learn more about His Atonement, His love, His mercy, His doctrine, and His restored gospel of healing and progression. Turn to Him! Follow Him!

-- Russell M. Nelson

You are not here by random chance or mistake. You chose to come to earth to learn, grow, do remarkable things, and become more like your Heavenly Father.

On this journey, you will face times of hardship, personal trial, discouragement and disappointment that can feel overwhelming. When I feel distant from the Lord, when answers to my prayers seem delayed, I have learned to follow the counsel of President Nelson to review my life for opportunities to repent. He reminds us, "Daily repentance is the pathway to purity, and purity brings power."

-- Henry B. Eyring

Perhaps you feel trapped in such a time right now. During such times, please remember that your Heavenly Father loves you. He always has, and He always will. Because of His infinite and perfect love. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to strengthen you and help you move forward and Jesus came because He loves you deeply too.

-- Jeffrey R. Holland

Madison--Shrek Jr., Luke--Wizard of Oz; Painting Escape Rooms; Wearing Green; Spring Snowstorm; Temple Sealer

We had been planning to go to Omaha to see Luke in his school play. When we learned Jacob was sick and then Claire was sick, we decided to cancel our plans. We were so sad about missing Luke! 

The consolation about staying home was we could go see Madison's play, Shrek Jr. Madison played two different characters. One was Elsa.

The other character she played was teen Fiona and she even had a solo singing part. 

It was a fun play with all the various storybook characters portrayed. The elementary students were wearing cute costumes and did a wonderful job on their performance.

Madison came down off the stage scratching her head like crazy. Her red wig was driving her nuts and she was sure it was giving her lice. Funny girl!

Since we had gotten our tickets at the last minute after we found out we were not going to Omaha, all the seats were not together. 

Sarah was the sweetest and told me I could sit on the third row with Rebecca and she would sit in the back with Glen. Loved her for that!! They were having a harder time hearing back there and missed some of the cute things going on that we could see clearly up close.

We were able to help Rebecca out the next day by picking Caroline up after her two-day leadership conference at Utah State. She is a part of the North Salt Lake Youth City Council and was excited to go once again to Logan this year for this opportunity.

I was glad Caroline was able to see Madison in her play once she got home from Logan.

This Spencer boy was having a birthday right during all the Shrek Jr. hubbub. He said he didn't want to go see the play and was happy to be home doing his own thing on his birthday.

The now 14-year-old got a nice warm lounging coat blanket that I am now wishing I had to keep me warm when I am sitting around and feeling chilled.

Since Rebecca was so tied up with helping out with the play all day, Brooke was a kind sister making Spencer a cute birthday cake. That was so sweet of her!

I was so happy when Laurie sent me photos of Luke performing as the Mayor of Munchkinville in his high school play, Wizard of Oz. She also sent short video clips so we could hear him talking and singing a little bit. 

He did such a great job and it made me sad once again that we missed seeing him in person.

Ben is now living out his dream. He has always wanted to open up an escape room business. He, Haley, Rebecca and Sarah have been working for a long time getting ideas and supplies together for some escape rooms. 

Ben leased a building, got a builder to make some rooms, got it all ready for painting and then the family has gotten busy doing the painting of all those rooms and hallways.

Kade got into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day. He was green from the tip of his green hair to the tips of his green croc shoes. 

And look at Magnus and Wynne wearing the St. Patrick's Day green.

Natalie and Emma came up from Provo for me to give them a ride to the airport. They were heading off to meet their family in California to go to Disneyland on their siblings' spring break.

They were giving me a hard time about not wearing green. OOPS!! I forgot!

They showed me this photo of a guy they saw and suggested I could wear something like this.

Once back home, I decided I would get more into the spirit of the day and changed my shirt.

We have been keeping up the tradition of going to lunch every month at Dave Ziemski's favorite restaurant El Matador. It is so close to us and lucky for us, Dave doesn't mind driving to Bountiful. 

Last month he talked about what he was making in his wood carving class. It was fun to see what he has been working on and knowing that he has been branching out more doing things he enjoys.

He had been sick, so he hadn't been able to go visit Bonnie in the memory care center for a week. 

We finished our last week at the prison and it was a very nostalgic day for us. We really enjoyed serving there for nearly four years. The Sunday meetings were always so good. 

I kept consoling myself on Sunday, as we were back in the Springwood Ward after our long absence, by thinking about how we would not be attending the prison anyway because our branch was in lockdown due to scabies.

Then I thought about how Glen had been scratching at a weird sore on his ankle and was sure he had scabies. It was the weirdest sore because it had a main line of redness and then all these tentacles spreading out on both sides of it. 

I am happy to report he does not have scabies!! 

Same scabies leg just got another injection in the knee. The last injection helped the pain in the back of his knee, but it did nothing to help the pain and numbness on the side of his knee. So he got another injection not going in very deep and we will see how he does after this treatment.

This was good news from our daughter who has been dealing with the lingering effects of sepsis from clear back in September. She has been taking medication for half a year!!!!! We continue to be very thankful she is still with us after that big scare.

Just as we are trying to get adjusted to Glen being a patriarch, we got invited to the temple president's office where Glen was asked to be a sealer. President Webster conferred the sealing authority upon him right then. We are a bit overwhelmed!

Last night we both were invited to stay after our temple shift for temple sealer training. After all of Glen's instruction, I was then asked if I would like to be a sealing assistant. Some of the temple sealers' wives enjoy that assignment so they can be helping organize the patrons for the sealers.

Glen was asked to work two sealing shifts per week--Wednesday evening and Saturday early morning. Thankfully, they do not need the early morning help on my part, so I will probably be helping out during his Wednesday evening shift. I am waiting for more clarity on that and when they would like me to begin. 

Look what happened on March 14th.

That all melted and then this happened on March 18th. 

And continued on into March 19th. It was a dumping!!! Most snow we got all winter. 

The poor deer are questioning if spring is really upon us.

Quotes of the Week

 Your children are watching, listening, and learning. As you teach them, you will come to know their true nature as believed sons and daughters of God. They may forget the Savior for a season, but I promise you He will never forget them!

-- Jan E. Newman

The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power -- power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. This power eases our way. Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to His higher power.

-- Russell M. Nelson

One of the most evident signs that we are drawing closer to the savior and becoming more like Him is the loving, patient, and kind way with which we treat our fellow beings, whatever the circumstances.

-- Ulissess Soares

Murphy Bed Installation; Prince of Egypt; Patriarch Ordination and Setting Apart

Jeff and Sarah are happy they now have a finished basement. 

Sarah invited us over to see the finished product and asked her dad to help Jeff put together the Murphy bed in the bedroom down there. Sarah wants to have that room be the exercise room, but still be able to use it for a bedroom when guests come to stay with them.

If the bed is stored upright, then there is more room for exercising. 

Dallas decided he would go help out and between the three men, they got the job done in a few hours. Jeff had gotten a great start on it before we even got there. He had carried the boxes downstairs and had opened them all up and had started putting it together.

Sarah was beaming with happiness at the progress the men were making. She had read reviews that it would take eight hours to put together. So two extra men cut that time way down.

Success!! And it sure works well in there--just as Sarah had envisioned.

It was fun to get the tour of their newly-finished basement and see their furniture all set up down there.

Sarah got us all set up sorting their trillions of Lego pieces into bins by color. 

Looked cute sitting at the boys' work stations. But, I left wondering how long they would actually stay sorted into the right colors once the boys started building things and taking them apart.

It was play time! Mom has been feeling pretty poorly lately, so she and Dad gave up their Hale tickets. Of course Rebecca was thrilled to get the tickets. She brought Caroline with her to see Prince of Egypt.

I am always impressed with the amount of decorating that is on display both inside the theater and in the lobby staying in the theme of whichever play is going on at the time. 

I really enjoyed the play. A comical moment was when Moses descended from the rafters in his horse-drawn chariot. Halfway down, he looked up and beckoned for Ramses to join him. 

It soon became evident that there was a problem with Ramses as he was not arriving on the scene on cue. Moses was lowered to the floor and waited and waited for whatever glitch it was that was holding up the show. 

When Ramses finally joined him, the stagehands prompted them to continue. Once again they got right back into character and off he and Ramses went to the races in their chariots.

Rebecca and Caroline decided on the restaurant for our meal after the play. They chose Texas Roadhouse and Rebecca got to sit on the saddle for the big birthday YEE HAW!!! Caroline ate Rebecca's free cup of birthday ice cream.

The next week was Madison's 11th birthday. She planned her own "Wicked" birthday party with a group of friends in their basement. 

The three Golden girls.

Rebecca got a photo of Brooke in action at Lagoon Biergarten Restaurant. We have never eaten there and are (almost) tempted to go try it out--but only when Brooke is there. 

I went to a BYU basketball game a couple of weeks ago with Glen. We met up for a pre-game dinner with our granddaughters and their friends. 

We enjoyed meeting Natalie's friend Aubrey, Emma's friend Olivia, and Emma's boyfriend Wesley. He is a cute guy and we really like him.

Last Sunday was a big day for us. We had arranged for the grandchildren to play together at Rebecca's home so we could have only adults here for Glen's ordination. 

I felt like a shrimp next to my two daughters. Sarah is barefoot and Rebecca is in heels that didn't compare to my shorter heels. Love these two beautiful girls!!

We had to get the lineup of all girls there for the event: Sarah, Natalie, me, Haley, Rebecca and Nani.

And, of course, we also needed a line-up of all the men in attendance: Ben, Dallas, Glen, Dad and Jeff.

Natalie had asked if she could spend the weekend with us, so she was here. We were thrilled when we learned late the night before that Dad would be here and Nani came with him. We all were sad Mom still wasn't feeling well and was unable to attend. 

The whole stake presidency arrived shortly after everyone had assembled--just as I had planned as I didn't want to keep them waiting. 

We had a prayer and then President Chad Gardner talked to all of us for a little bit. The most touching part was when he got all emotional sharing with us how he had been thinking for several months about a new patriarch and just couldn't come up with a name. 

Then when he finally landed on Glen's name, he felt a strong spiritual prompting that he is the one and his counselors confirmed the wrestle he had been having and the peace that finally came to them all.

He shared with us that he is the only one who can stand in the circle to ordain a patriarch. Such beautiful words and blessings and strong feelings came to all of us as he performed the ordination and setting apart for Glen to be the stake patriarch.

Then it was my turn to be set apart by President Joe Cowley as Glen's scribe for all the patriarchal blessings he will give. It was very sweet as he mentioned former scribes such as Emma Smith and Oliver Cowdery and now I will have the opportunity to be a scribe as well. Cool thought!

Glen has been requesting copies of patriarchal blessings of his relatives who have died. This one particularly interested me as I was impressed with the beautiful hand-written pages of this blessing. I was also giving thanks that I can do my transcribing on a computer.

It was a very sacred and special experience we all had that day. After the stake presidency left, we were all sitting there basking in the feeling. Dallas said he felt something different than he had ever felt before and tried to describe it. Finally he came up with one word -- power. 

The grandchildren were retrieved and brought to our home for Sunday dinner. Maverick was cute as he was getting some attention from Madison and Eli.

Natalie not only wanted a break from Provo, but also wanted her grandpa--the resident family tax accountant--to help do her income taxes.

We finished our time together by going to Natalie's favorite restaurant--Outback Steakhouse. 

We had a cute little interaction via FaceTime with Monty who just turned 4 years old. He was cute telling us he wasn't 4 yet (even though we were talking to him on his birthday). 

He explained it was his birthday, but his party was on the weekend and so he wouldn't be 4 until his birthday party. SO CUTE!!

We called Abe yesterday and Monty joined in on the call. Monty kept asking, "Where are you?" We told him we were in the basement, but he would ask it again. 

We finally figured out he was frustrated he couldn't see us on the phone like he had been able to on his birthday. 

So Glen quickly remedied that situation by hanging up and calling back on FaceTime. Fun interaction with that little grandson who says he is now 4 years old.