Happy Easter...

We are having a quiet Easter today. We will be joining some family members tomorrow at my dad's for an Giberson Easter dinner. We did get a visit from our neighborhood Eastter bunny (He left the footprints, not the baskets.)

Gary enjoyed an afternoon work which was richly deserved after a very busy work week and the disappointing loss of the BYU Men's Volleyball game against UCSB. We made the trip down for the first time this season....and it was actually their first home loss (hope there isn't a connection, :( ).

One highlight of the week was being able to attend a Webelo Activity with Gary where we took the boys out to join the 11 yrs. olds at a campout at Antelope Island. The other Webelo leader was camping with the 12 yr. olds with his son. His wife offered to come in his behalf (She is the Cubmaster.) and I got to ride with her. We had a small walk before dinner and then cook hot dogs for dinner and ended it with smores. Gary had planned some great skits for the Webelos to perform and we all ended it with the famous Bacon cheer (well, some of us didn't lay on the dirt and act like frying bacon!). It was fun to be out with the Scouts and enjoy a brief camping trip even if we headed home before dark.

It is great to work with the Scouts even if I am mostly just a Welbelo leader wife. Scouting is such a great organization and I am glad that I have had so many opportunities to be involved with it.

Here is "Hop-ping" you had a great Easter, too!

My hands hurt....

I thought I would mention that so that I can get it "off my chest", as they say. I will whine about it once and perhaps I will never have to whine about it again. (No promises though.)

I have arthritis, in my hands and probably in other joints throughout my body. I haven't got the results back to rule out some of the more unusual types of arthritis, but it is likely the garden variety, osteoarthritis. 90% of people over the age of 55 will have some effects of arthritis, so I have lots of company.

Now there are some problems with that...arthritis is for old people and I certainly can't be old, because I have a child still in junior high and no grandchildren. In addition, that means that the pain/aches/swelling/ etc. that sent me to the doctor are now a part of my life and I really didn't want to hear that. (I was hoping for the "take 1 pill twice a day for 2 weeks and you will be great" visit.) The worse part is that he showed me the x-ray of my right hand (no need to do both--they are basically in the same shape.) and it had all the signs of arthritis, including the breaking down of the joint and the deposit of calcium along the bones. In addition, I am developing bone spurs along my finger tips....just the sound of it made my hands hurt, much less seeing it in black and white. Bone spurs are a common effect of arthritis.

There you have it...I am old (and if you are near or over my age you are too.)

April showers.....

brings LDS Conference on the first weekend in April. That has included some snow showers as well although in general the weather has looked beautiful. It is always fun when there are snow furries when the sun is shining.

Conference was great. As usual, certain talks stand out and I can't wait to read them again and get the exact quote that I liked from several of them. I liked the whole "To Be and To DO". How important it is for us to really Be what we should be or at least be working towards that goal of "being". Elder Bednar and Elder Holland were another two of my favorities. And then there was sweet Elder Richard G, Scott's talk about his wife. All nice.......

We have enjoyed a very quiet weekend when Jena gone for Youth Conference since Friday and will get back tomorrow. They went to cabins up in Idaho to watch conference and do other activities together. We are excited to hear how it went. She has been excited for weeks about this and taking her scriptures and notebook to watch conference together. Her only disappointment was we couldn't find any BYU pjs which she had wanted to take (since she (and I) did not want to take her old, very old, High School musical pjs.)

One high point of the weekend was Ben asked if he could go to the priesthood session of Conference with Gary. It is the first time since the fall of his senior year that he has gone to the Priesthood session. We were happy about that but it was very hard on him as well. Gary said that they talked a lot about going on missions and young men actively looking for spouses when they were young---two of his dreams that he isn't able to accomplish at this time. He was very sad when he got home. He has gone outside every day this past week, mostly playing tennis against the wall at the park. That is another good thing. Overall, the medication is helping on the outside, but not so much on the inside. That is how he describes it. He is amazing in facing hard things and pressing outward. We just need to find a safe place with young men and women who can care about him and help him continue to engage in life.

No other news. Hope your weekend was great as well.