The Traveling Easter Day

for Liam, Zander, Alex, Carter, and Ezri along with Jessica and Elessia as they headed down to Mesa, AZ, to attend the funeral for Elessia's mom.  Carter's doctor gave them the clearance to drive down and I think that they were glad that they made the effort to get five small kids down there even if it was just for a few days.  These are important family times and it was good to be there all together with the extended family.

So the kids didn't get a traditional Easter (but there will be a dinner and Easter egg hunt at our house tomorrow with Scarlett and James who are in town) but they did get time to go to the Phoenix Zoo which they all loved.  They had to buy some summer clothes since the weather in Utah was around 50 degrees and in Mesa it was in the 80s and I think one day int he 90s.

Here is Zander feeding the giraffe, but Liam told me that he loved doing that as well and that its tongue was "very very long."

The only downside of the trip--other than five little kids in a car--was that Carter had been very car sick during the trip down so they decided with her doctor that they should fly her back.  So Jessica flew back with Carter and Ezri and Elessia drove back with the other three kids.  Carter got scared early in the plane ride and cried, so a neighboring passenger offered to take Ezri and held her for the rest of the flight for Jessica so she could hold and comfort Carter.  I was so grateful that someone reached out and offered help to Jessica in that plane.  Afterwards, she and Jessica talked a bit and the lady told Jessica that she had come to Scottsdale for brain surgery herself and was flying home for the first time after being there a number of weeks--so she had empathy for Carter's recent surgery.  What are the odds?

Everyone is now home and doing well.  Carter seems almost back to her typical self but we are excited to watch her grow in the coming months.

Whew---I think I am caught up with the blog!!!

Our Out Of State Grandkids' Easter

Scarlett and James enjoying their first Easter Egg Hunt.

A older boy in the neighborhood hid eggs for all of the kids in the neighborhood.  They said that it was very fun!

 Tosha and Austen had a busy weekend with Cooper's birthday party on Saturday the 3rd, then Easter with neighbors at their house on Sunday, and then Cooper's actual birthday on the 5th.  Then the following Sunday they hosted a going away party for a neighbor and family who are being moved.

I love that the same little bunny prints that used to come to our neighborhood every year showed up in Tacoma this year.  How great is that?

Cooper, Ava, and Niki

My April Conference "Review"

 

My remarks at April Mission-wide Zone Leaders Meeting on April 7-

"Last Saturday evening, I put the following on my Facebook page:

“My summary of the first day of General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

Although that scripture was not quoted today, that is what was done....the thread through the talks in all three sessions.

Can't wait for tomorrow...Easter Sunday and Conference...a perfect combination.”

Then Sunday afternoon I added:

And day two...ditto and amen!

I think that sums up our feelings about General Conference—"We talk of Christ, we preach of Christ….”

To be totally truthful—when I was younger, I really didn’t like it when Easter fell on Conference weekend----I felt it focused the talks too much on the events of Easter and there wasn’t the same “variety of talks” what ever that means.  The same when Conference landed on April 6 and it felt like that was a leaning toward the Restoration of the Church.  Fortunately, in the intervening years, I have matured at least a little—and I loved an Easter-Conference weekend like the one we just had.  And while it did not have some of the “surprise” factors other than the list of 20 new temples—this was the best conference ever!

Let me share some of the powerful “one-liners”—Some of these are taken from news releases and some are from my notes which might not be exactly what was said—just the gist—

President Nelson: “He is risen to lead His Church.  He is risen to bless the lives of all of God’s children, wherever they live.  With faith in Him, we can move the mountains in our lives.”

Elder Uchtdorf: “no matter your circumstances, trials, sufferings, or mistakes; you can know that He lives, that He loves you, and because of Him, you will never be alone.  God is among us.”

Elder Neil Anderson: “While we weep, we also rejoice in the glorious resurrection of our Savior.  Because of Him, our loved one and friends continue their eternal journey.”

Elder Soares:  Savior is our ultimate caregiver.

Elder Gary Stevenson: “When we confront life’s wind and rainstorms, sickness and injuries, the Lord—our Shepherd, our caregiver—will nourish us with love and kindness.  He will heal our hearts and restore our souls.”

Elder Mutombo:  Jesus Christ is the light of the world so we do not need to walk in darkness.

Elder Gerrit Gong:  He shared about becoming like Christ—the Good Samaritan and then stated “We prepare for His promised Second Coming as each day we do unto the “least of these” as we would unto Him.  “The least of these’ is each of us.”

It is not enough to feel the power of the talks and of the Spirit during Conference.  The goal is to take their messages and allow the Spirit to direct us in our own growth of the next six months.  Many of the talks referred to “excavating our faults and weakness” to become better followers of Christ.  Others admonished us to reach out to others in better ways and make all feel a part of our wards and branches and our lives.

How powerful was the analogy Elder Dale Renlund used; We should not only avoid “throwing stones” we should be “stone catchers.”  We need a lot of stone catchers in the world—both outside and inside the Church.

We were reminded of the two great commandments: To love God with all of our heart, mind, and spirit and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Now I have two endings for my remarks—when I discussed that with Elder Hall, he suggested that I pray about that to know how to end.  I replied, that I did and that is why I was asking him.  As we discussed the two endings, Elder Hall ended by saying—Choose the way that is needed by those in attendance….

One ending shares the personal direction I feel to love even more like the Savior than before.

The second is related to my answers to my personal question I posed before Conference weekend started.

Here is my first ending:

I love people.  For as long as I remember, that has been the case.  My parents were great examples and I learned from them.  I also feel it is one of the gifts of the Spirit that I was blessed with---I can’t sing or draw, so I had to have something.  Although not a new thought, I was struck by the need to do better to become even more like Christ in the way I interact with people.  I am a good neighbor and friend.  I highly value helping people feel a part of the group.  I have served in the community.  But one of the overriding feelings I had was that I need to do better—that through the ways that I interact with others, I wanted them to feel the love of the Savior and their Heavenly Father for them.  I have some ideas on where to improve and I trust my Heavenly Father does too.  I want to be a discipline of Christ who serves the least of these—which is all of us and is a stone catcher for those who need protection.

One of the privileges we have in our assignment at the Church History Library is interviewing mission presidents and their companions.  One very common thread that almost everyone says in one way or another is how kind and attentive the Apostles and other members of the Seventies are during interviews with them and other interactions.  They are role models as you are to me—to do a little better, be a little more responsive to the spirit, and be more proactive rather than reactive to those around me.  To serve and interact with each other more like Christ would."

And I ended with my testimony, but I can’t remember exactly what I said.  So this is my summation of General Conference.  What was yours?

 

 

Mission Firsts For Us!

On the first Wednesday of April, we were able for the first time attending our mission-wide zone leader meetings IN PERSON.  It was so great to be in the same room with all of these amazing missionaries who we have only met through zoom.  One of the zone leaders said he almost skipped down the hall to the meeting because he was so excited to be in person after 13 months of zoom meetings.  It was also a special experience, because the mission president had invited each couple to share comments for five minutes or less about General Conference which was the weekend before.  Gary assigned that to me.  My remarks are in the next post.  It was a very sweet and spiritual meeting as the members of the mission presidency, their wives, and then the 12 zone leader couples, and the missionaries assigned as branch presidents and their wives shared about their experiences with conference.  Such a great meeting.  In fact, President Randall decided after everyone shared that he didn't want to cover the business items of the agenda, so we had a zoom meeting the next day to do that part of the meeting.  It was fun to talk briefly with the other zone leaders and their wives and I look forward to additional meetings with them.  Next month, we will walk there from our apartment.

Then, on April 15, another first--the first in-person mission wide devotional held in the Chapel of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  This is where our branch also meets.  It is a gorgeous room with an amazing organ.  We still had to wear masks and social distance in the meeting, but we were there with about 40 or so missionaries and it was great.

Jena came with us as well to be part of this historical event-
for us!

It was a bit of a rainy day which required umbrellas on the way in, but left a spring time shimmer everywhere on the way out.

Even with the massive reconstruction going on, areas of the Temple grounds where possible are filled with flowers.

As I was taking pictures, Gary and Jena walked ahead......

Some of the cranes at work----remarkable time to be able to serve downtown.

We had a chance to speak briefly with President Randall and he indicated that plans are "in the works" for Jena's service opportunities downtown.  He told us that there is another couple with an adult child who is also coming to campus so they are getting things in place for both of them.  That is exciting for us.  He also indicated that Jena will be able to attend a YSA ward in the area or maybe a different branch, details to follow................

We are so excited for the opportunities that Jena will have to serve, but also for the relationships she will develop with others.  Today in Church, one of the senior sister missionaries in our branch came up to her and said that she was so excited to see Jena with her missionary tag because she had a grandchild with special needs who was eight years old.  She said that she was going home and calling her daughter and telling her about Jena serving with us.  We told her about Jena's service as a young service missionary as well, so that made her even more excited.  We are so lucky to be able to serve with Jena.  Once again--we are Jena's mom and dad--but we are Sister Mom and Elder Dad now, I guess.

Cooper is FOUR years old!

Cooper was able to have a birthday party with friends which is pretty exciting in the pandemic kinds of year.  They invited the friends who lived by them on the base to come and have a big celebration for his big day...and he was one happy little boy!

Cooper is a big fan of Penelope and Wreck it Ralph so Tosha made his dreams come true with cute cookies, cake, and all of the party trimmings.

Tosha made this darling cake!

Afterwards, mom and dad were exhausted but Cooper was still bubbly about his birthday and how fun it was.

We are so lucky to have Cooper in our family.  He is fun to talk to and so excited about the things he is passionate about.  Love you, cute boy!

Playground Fun

While Elessia's older sister, Jill, came and stayed the week with them to help with the kids, I became the playground grandma.  A couple of afternoons, I came and took the other three kids to different parks so that Jill and Ezri could enjoy some quiet time.

Fortunately the weather was good enough that we could have fun, although some days required coats and hats.

Here are some photos from the different times we went to the park.

These first ones actually included Carter as they were the week before the surgery when Elessia was in AZ.

Carter

Jena with part of the gang

Zander (Spiderman)

Liam

Zander

Liam

Liam and Alex

The International Peace Gardens--fun for me because I loved talking about the different countries which were represented in the garden.  Liam likes to learn about countries.

Part of the Chinese Garden

They loved the path to this big rock---

and loved the little bridges as well.

We went to a few other parks as well.  It was great to be outside with sunshine.  

Carter's Surgery

After at least a year and half of collecting a variety of diagnoses such as low muscle tone, sleep apnea, swallowing problems, etc., Carter was finally correctly diagnosed with Chiari Malformation.  That means that the space at the base of the skull and the spine is too small.  Because of the growth of the brain, pressure was being put on the brain stem at this point and could explain all of the things they had observed in Carter through her life.

Surgery was scheduled for Monday, March 29th, and while it was very scary especially for Jessica and Elessia, it was also exciting to think that it was possible that many if not all of her symptoms would be relieved and that she may catch up in her development.

Here is Carter, waiting for surgery!

Surgery went well and the doctor was very hopeful.  It will take several months to see if there was any permanent damage to the brain/nerve tissue or not.  The doctor reported that the area was very white, indicating that there was significant pressure, but that things had gone well.

She had to remain in the hospital for five days which is never fun.  She mostly slept the first few days and really didn't even begin to play with toys until Thursday.

Skip the next pictures if you are not a fan of stitches:

The doctor did a great job at not removing a lot of hair.  Since Carter likes her hair, that was a nice bonus.

She liked her Frozen toys from us, but she didn't quite have the energy to play with them yet.  I think this was on Thursday.

Going home day---Yay!!!!

Carter continues to recover well.  She will have a swallow test this week to see if that has improved enough to have her come off of thickened liquids.  She would love to eat fresh fruit again and drink regular water.  Thickening liquids has stopped all of her lung difficulties so it has been worth it, but it is a pain and she is not a fan.

Meanwhile, the other kids and I----next post!!!

Our Other Life--

While missionary life is fulfilling and exciting, it doesn't mean that our "outside life" has stopped.  Life keeps happening all around us.

Jena keeps busy with her missionary service at the seminary and the Distribution Center.  She is telling everyone that we are moving to Salt Lake to a new apartment and she is so excited.

This is her faith poster for the entry into the seminary building.

She was excited to attend the "Lamb of God" movie with our mission.  One of our zone members slipped us "some important mission papers" right before the movie:

How sweet was that?  After we got home, Jena immediately wrote Sister Jones a thank you note and then asked me to make sure I took a picture of the treat "for the blog."

Tosha had surgery to begin the process of repairing the damage from her surgery back before Ava was born.  It has been a long slow recovery complete with an almost full-body compression suit for six weeks--doesn't that sound fun?  Her doctor was very pleased with the results and Tosha's healing so far.

Ben remains at the Utah State Hospital.  We have recently been able to visit since we have been vaccinated so that has been great. 

Scott and his family are in town for Chantel's weight conditioning business and will spend a week in Utah.  His boss at work was recently fired so that makes for uncertainty in the workplace.  Hopefully things will settle down for him.  We are excited to see them tomorrow for our belated Easter dinner and hunt.  And Scott will help us with some moving heavy things that we need to do to prepare for our upcoming movie.

It has been a few crazy weeks and no place more crazy than for Jessica and Elessia---Monday, the 22nd, Elessia got word that her mother was put into ICU for not clear reasons.  She had been in the hospital due to diabetic complications, then had been moved to a rehab hospital, and then moved back in critical condition.  Elessia flew to Mesa, AZ, with the baby Ezri while Jessica "piece milled" care of the other 4 kids while she was gone so that Jessica could continue to work some.  Jessica had just returned to work the prior week after her 3 month maternity leave and already was taking days off the next week for Carter's surgery.  Luckily they have good friends and I came down in the afternoons on some days and overnight once to help get everyone taken care of so Jessica was able to manage some working.

Elessia's mother passed away on Wednesday so they were very grateful that Elessia had gone down.  Baby Ezri was the hit of the family as they hadn't met her yet.  She was the bright spot in a hard situation.  

Besides Jessica and Elessia's kids, the youngest cousin on
that side is 12 years old--so they had to make due for sleeping arrangements.
She slept all night.

As Carter's surgery was scheduled for March 28, the family scheduled the surgery for the following week which allowed Elessia and her sister, Jill, who was watching the kids during the week Carter was to be in the hospital, to drive back to Utah together and gave the kids an extra day to get to know their Aunt Jill before the surgery.  More on the surgery and then their return trip to AZ on the next post!

And, of course, the three of us are busy trying to get the house and yard ready and to pack things up in preparation for the upcoming move.  We have lived here 23 years so that is a lot of stuff to go through.