Special Mission Devotional-Friday, January 28, 2022

What were you doing  from 10-12 noon on Friday, January 28th?  We were sitting in front of the computer and being a part of a 2 hour devotional with Elder Renlund and his wife, Elder and Sister Palmer, and Elder and Sister Schmutz.  Really, life doesn't get much better than that!

Elder Renlund directed the meeting and started with some sweet remarks to us as missionaries.  Then the three wives all spoke.  The next hour or so was all of them answering questions that missionaries had submitted prior to the meeting.  Then the meeting closed with testimonies from Elder Palmer and Elder Schumtz and then a concluding testimony and promises by Elder Renlund.

The questions addressed were highly varied to things about Covid, building of temples, and a host of other topics.

One thing I loved was listening to Sister Renlund.  Not just because her remarks were great--because they were--but Sister Renlund is the daughter of Elder and Sister Lybbert who we knew and loved in Hong Kong.  Her mom was a gifted pianist and could play songs and hymns in a variety of styles.  We used to love to listen to her play after Relief Society meetings--just for the fun of it (not on Sunday though).  Sister Renlund has some of her mannerisms and I had so many sweet memories of her mom, Nola, as she talked.  Both Elder and Sister Lyybert have passed away.

Originally this meeting was suppose to take place in person, but due to the high Covid numbers in Utah it was moved to a virtual meeting.  It would have been great to have been in person, but it was a unique and special experience, even sitting in our apartment.

We are so lucky.

The Missionary Board

Here is some of the photos of our zone members posted on the board in the mission office.  Can you see cute Sister Hall the younger these in the second row?  Finally got her picture up there.  She is happy about that!
 

TEAMS Computer Training

 Back to school afternoon as 12 members of our zone joined us at the Training Zone to learn more about TEAMS, a part of Microsoft 365 and a tool that the Church History Library uses to do video meetings, chats, phone calls, manage files, and all sorts of other things.

Our zone proves that you are never too old to learn something new.

We were among the youngest in the group and their ages went up to 83 years old.

There is a lot of experience sitting in that room...

just not with TEAMS.

We are so lucky to have some many opportunities to learn new things--spiritually and temporal. And very lucky to have Gary to explain all that we didn't learn in this first training.  He spent more time with some of our missionaries the next day practicing these new skills.

A Scripture and An Unexpected Blessing

Matthew 6:33 

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

When I was a freshman at BYU, I had a great professor for my first Book of Mormon class.  One of our homework assignments due each class period was to take one of the scriptures in the reading assignment and write a two-page experience related to that concept.  I have kept those and treasure the experiences I had recorded there.  I think it is a great format and I have often thought I should do that, especially with my “most important” scriptures.  However, this experience is centered on how this specific scripture helped me make a right decision and then blessed me in an unexpected way.

Background:  I got pregnant with Jessica in my last year of graduate school at BYU. She was actually born two weeks after I finished my course work and then a week later, I was called into a very busy YW calling in the Oquirrh Shadow 39^th Ward in West Jordan.  Gary was traveling for work over 80% of the time.  As a result, I made no progress on my thesis during that first year.

When Jessica was about 11 months old, we moved from that home into another one in the Vista Lake subdivision also in West Jordan but several miles from our previous home.  Of course, that meant a new ward and new callings!  Although I was sad to leave my young women, I was looking forward to maybe teaching Primary and having a calling with “less” time demands so that I could have time to work on my thesis. 

I was so confident in that plan that I signed up for classes for the spring/summer terms so that I could begin working on my thesis.  I took one class in spring term on campus and then another class in the summer term at the Salt Lake City BYU extension.

The story:  Even as I was unpacking in our new home, the scripture from Matthew 6:33 began floating around in my head.  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God...”  This was not one of the normal scriptures that I used in my every day living, although it was and is a very familiar passage of scripture.  It was there so frequently that it caused me to reflect and see if there was any major “sins” in my life that I hadn’t taken care of.  Was I doing something counter to “seeking the kingdom of God?”  No answers came, but the scripture was often in my mind—as I was doing my dishes or playing with Jessica or whenever.

A few weeks after we moved in, I was called as the young adult advisor of the Relief Society Board—not teaching Primary like I had planned, but a calling with even less time commitment.  My plan seemed to be working.  I started my spring term class and began the beginning work on my thesis.  And yet, this scripture continued to “appear” in my mind.  “Seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  These thoughts only intensified over the following month and at the beginning of June, I was called to serve in the Relief Society presidency—the first time that I had served in a RS presidency. I was 29 years old at that time.

And life became VERY busy.  Due to the nature of our ward which had many families moving into new houses and the fact that two of the four presidency members worked full-time, the Relief Society president and I did much of the day to day things.  I still attended my classes but work on my thesis halted completely.  There was just not time to do it all.

One Sunday near the end of the summer term, I realized that I had only one day that week which was possible for me to go to BYU to work on a final project for my infant development class which was due on Thursday night.  Although I had some general thoughts of what my project would be, I had been unable to work on it because of other demands of life and my calling.  Gary was out of town at this time, but he was getting back on Thursday morning and said that he could help me type my paper at his office, rather than me doing it on our small manual typewriter.  I made arrangements for someone to watch Jessica all day on Tuesday so that I could go to BYU to research my topic and begin writing my rough draft.  It wasn’t the ideal way to write a term paper, but it was doable.

Late Monday night, I got a phone call from Sister Paula Cox who was the Relief Society President (an amazing lady).  We chatted briefly and then she asked me what I was doing the next day.  I mentioned that I had made arrangements to spend the day at BYU to work on a final project for my class.  I asked her why and she mentioned that there was a welfare need the next day, but she would take care of it.  We chatted some more and then we hung up.  Immediately this scripture came to my mind and I knew that I was to spend the day helping Sister Cox with the welfare need.  I called her back and we made the arrangements needed to meet in the morning.  So, Jessica went to my friend’s and I went and helped.  I had a strong feeling of doing the right thing at the right time…and really the story could have ended then.  Lesson learned:  Seek ye first the kingdom of God.

But now for the rest of the story:

Tuesday night, I realized I only had about four hours free in the late afternoon/evening to work on this final project down at BYU.  I was able to find a teenager to babysit Jessica and on Wednesday I headed down to BYU.  Literally, as I was driving over the Point of the Mountain on I-15, a new idea for my project came into my mind.  Within about five minutes, the entire outline including ideas to use neighborhood children in my project came.  When I arrived at the library, I wrote down the outline and then began searching for the needed sources and information for the paper.  At the time, the library was using the card catalog system and for the first and only time in my life as a student, every book, magazine, and journal that I wanted was available on the shelves.  I was able to make the notes I needed and return home and write the paper that night, get my neighborhood children to draw pictures in the morning, and get the paper typed at Gary’s office in the afternoon to turn it on that Thursday night.

No surprise—that paper got an A+.  Of course, it did.  I didn’t really write it.

This scripture was given by Jesus in speaking to his Apostles.  His instructions were telling them to not worry about their food and clothing, because God knows they have need of these “things.”  But for me, in that week in August, I knew that I had been blessed with “these things” in the form of a final project paper which were given to me.  What a sweet and unexpected gift!

January 26 Devotional--Scripture Study

I had the assignment to give the leadership devotional this month based on topics that the mission president was concerned about.  This month, he wanted us to remind the missionaries how important it was to study the actual scriptures and not just rely on the many other books, Facebook groups, and YouTube/podcasts about the scriptures. 

I started off by talking about brownies and showing pictures and videos of brownies and asking if that was as good as eating an actual brownies.  Below is one of the pictures I used in my PowerPoint of Jena eating a brownie.

Then I gave the following message:

"Now, you all know that my devotional message is not about brownies.  In fact, because I asked for your input in preparing, you know that I am talking something about scriptures….and you might be a bit confused about this whole brownie discussion.

We are going to talk about scriptures.  Thank you for sending me some of your favorite scriptures especially on short notice.  I have sent an email with the attachment of our favorite scriptures to each of you in the zone.  I may send an addendum if I get more “favorite scriptures” in the next few days.  We will also post it on our SharePoint group.  Some of you attached some of the whys or stories related to your scriptures.  I didn’t not include those, but now I know that you all have a scripture to share and a story to tell so devotionals should be a “piece of cake—or maybe that should be a piece of brownies” for you.  Thanks for sharing them with me and with the zone.

I am going to share by sharing one of my favorite scriptures in 2 Nephi 32:3:

I found this photo of President Nelson studying his scriptures..so sweet.  He said:

“To feast means more than to taste. To feast means to savor.  We savor the scriptures by studying them in a spirit of delightful discovery and faithful obedience.  When we feast upon the words of Christ, they are embedded ‘in the fleshy tables of the heart’ [2 Corinthians 3:3]. They become an integral part of our nature.”         

President Russell M. Nelson

I wish that we could all have a discussion about hints and ideas which have help you refine your own process of scripture study and all have much to teach me, because while I have the habit of study and I have learned to love the scriptures—often my daily study is not “a feast.”

I am going to share a few ideas that I found as I reflected and researched on this topic—maybe they will be helpful , maybe not—but hopefully, you will get one idea whispered to you that you could do differently or better:

1. 

Fi1. First and deserving to be at the top of the list—we must be in the scriptures—the actual scriptures daily.  This was our assignment from the mission president this month—make sure that your study times includes reading scriptures.  There is so much out there that is good and supportive –books, Facebook groups, and YouTube videos which can expound and enhance our study of the scriptures.  However, they are not a replacement for actually reading the scriptures! You can use those other sources to answer questions or seek additional insight.  However, the most important teacher is the Holy Ghost.

2. 2. Prepare to study the scriptures by inviting the Holy Ghost to be a part—Elder Packer said that as you start a meal with prayer, so could you start your feasting on God’s word with a prayer.  Another thing I do is try to take some calming breaths to mark the change from daily life into the scriptures.

3. 3. Have variety in the way that you study—

a.    Read from start to finish. Use the footnotes.

b.    Use the Topical Guide and the Bible Dictionary and research specific topics.

c.    Get a fresh copy of scriptures.  Sister Julie Beck mentioned this once in a talk that she got a new set of scriptures with a new calling so that she could focus on what was most meaningful at this time of her life.  I love using new copies of the Book of Mormon.

d.   Pick a theme and focus on that as you read.  A man I knew read the bought a new paperback Book of Mormon each time he started to read it again.  He would write a theme or topic that he was going to focus on as he read and would mark related scriptures.  He actually numbered each of the books from the first copy he read as a convert and then he would give that copy away when he was finished with it and start again. Remember President Nelson asking us to focus on verses referring to Christ in our reading of the Book of Mormon.  Since the change to “ministering” in the Church, I have marked versions of that word in the scriptures.  It is everywhere in the Book of Mormon.

e.    I like the journal editions because there is more room to write notes.  I will make notes during Sunday School classes of comments and stories other share to remind me in later times when I am studying that book again.  When I started using the journal edition for the Book of Mormon, I started dating where I was reading and sometimes I make related notes such as “earth quake in Utah.”

f.    With Come Follow Me, we have an opportunity to study together in a way that hasn’t happened in the prior years of Gospel Doctrine.  It is a great thing to watch.  But don’t forget as we study the Old Testament to find a way to be in the Book of Mormon in a regular way during the week.  I have this experience prior to Come Follow ME last time that we studied the Old Testament in 2018.  I was teaching Primary at the time and I decided that it was time for me to read the Old Testament again from cover to cover.  Although I had read parts of it as part of Sunday School study over the years, I had only read it cover to cover three or four times in my life.  So I focused my study completely on that task.  By about the end of February, I mentioned to my dad that I wasn’t really enjoying my scripture study much.  His response was, stop reading the Old Testament and read the Book of Mormon.  I took his advice and immediately I felt that familiar spirit of that Book.  I still read the parts of the Old Testament related to my Primary lessons but my personal study returned to the Book Of Mormon.  Since then I have tried to continue to read the Book of Mormon while studying the other scriptures for Come Follow Me.

g.  While it is important to read and ponder the scriptures and there is no prize for how fast we finish a book of scriptures, I would offer one other suggestion:  Read the Book of Mormon or other scriptures from “cover to cover” like you might read another book for pleasure. 

I would like to close by sharing a time when a scripture made the difference in my life."  

I then shared an experience that happened years ago.  I wrote it down afterwards and I decided to put it in the next post, so read on if you dare....... 

Friday Night Dinner and Gameplaying

Well, it started out as Gary being asked to help Sister Newman with her computer.  Elder and Sister Adkins (my 'old' friend Lorna and her husband) work with Sister Newman in the mission medical part of the mission and Lorna suggested that Gary might be able to help her.  We were happy to and then it became a plan for dinner and game playing as well.  Sister Newman made a delicious taco salad for dinner with yummy pepper/bacon for hors d'oeuvre.  We then played Color Brain, one of our new games from Christmas.  It was a fun night and we love Sister Newman already.

Due to the pandemic, this is the first time we have gone to someone else's apartment or had people over to ours since October.  We had a zone social in November, went out to dinner at the beginning of December with some other zone leaders, and then did a zone temple trip and lunch but that has been the limit of gathering with others--It was so nice to be in a more casual environment, playing games and eating and laughing together! 

Oral Histories

Photo as we waited for an oral history to start

This is what part of our mission service looks like---oral histories!

It is truly such an honor to do oral histories with mission presidents and their wives.  We hear such sweet stories of sacrifice and service.  We have done around 50 interviews of individuals and couples over the past 14 months.  Every one is unique in its own way.  If you need an uplift, find an oral history on the Church History Catalog and spend an hour or two hearing the stories and observations of these mission leaders.

(Side note:  I normally am not HOLDING a camera during the interviews--just for taking this picture. Gary is sitting at his desk in our living room and I am in our bedroom.)
 

It Seems Like Everywhere We Go....

people know Jena ... and it finally happened at the Church History Library.  A new Church History Library employee on our US/Canada team went to Clearfield High School with Jena.  They had a happy reunion.

Jena and Hannah Peterson

Then on Wednesday night, I took Jena to her first Institute Class in Bountiful and the teacher was waiting in the lobby.  Immediately they recognized each other--Cameron (as Jena knew him) was one of the other teachers at her post-high program in Davis School district.  Jena knows him as Kaitlyn's teachers--one of her good friends.  So great to have a teacher with good experience to be leading her class this semester.

We felt it would be good to give Jena an opportunity to be around people of her own age.  Her class was very small --4 students on Wednesday--but Cameron said that many people stayed home because of concerns about Covid.

The pandemic is still raging, so that makes sense.

Happy Birthday, Ezri!!

Jessica pointed out that I had forgotten Ezri's birthday...well, not forgotten the actual birthday, but recording it in the blog.  I worried that I might do that some time so I was glad that Jessica caught that.  I had neglected to take photos when Ezri was opening her presents but trust me, she was darling.  She was so happy to get a baby doll.  I don't know if I have seen a child at 1 so thrilled with a gift. 

Luckily, Jessica and Elessia just did professional 1- year photos this past weekend so we had some cute pictures of her to post:  Her birthday is mid-December, but with the holidays and then Covid, her photo shoot got delayed a bit.  So....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EZRI!

WE LOVE YOU!

This is from her actual birthday party.

Below--she is a walker now!!

The Photo Shoot

Ezri, in many ways, is the most like Jessica as a baby.  She is fairly easy-going as long as she can be a part of the action.  She works very hard to try to keep up with her four older siblings.  She is very expressive with her expressions and sounds and loves to engage in "conversations" with you.  She is not super cuddly but SOMETIMES she is and it is great.  She likes the dogs.

We are so glad to have her in our family and (probably) is our grandchild caboose!  We love you, sweet Ezri!

Here is Jessica on her first birthday--Ezri doesn't have the blue-green eyes that Jessica has, but the blond hair....

Mission Life--What do I give up?

We have already discussed the washer/dryer issue (I prefer not to do a laundromat.) and the ice maker (we like them.) Those problems we could solve.  The thing I miss the most currently is a large bathtub.  When I don't feel good, I loved to soak in my bathtub at home.  Here the tub is too small for me to enjoy.  Sacrifices of mission life....(we truly have been so blessed!)  These are minor things compared to the sacrifices of missionaries throughout the world and throughout the ages!

Just trying to keep it real here!

Covid Hitting in Syracuse

Jessica first and then some of the kids and then Elessia have all been dealing with Covid this past 10 days or so.  We sent pizza one night and got some groceries for them another night, but weren't any help past that.  The nature of this illness and working with so many senior missionaries--we are trying to be as careful as we can be.  I am sure we will eventually get it, but hopefully in a situation in which we haven't exposed other missionaries or anyone.  It was hard to know that they were all sick without being able to really help.  The kids haven't been too sick, and Jessica and Elessia are improving but it has taken awhile.  I told her it is "funnier?" to be sick without little kids around--something to look forward to in the future--like 20 years from now.

Jessica had sent me a shopping list that included ramen noodles and Mac and Cheese, but both of those items along with most pastas were not on the shelves at WalMart that evening.  Either is ginger ale which has been out of stock for awhile.  Ginger ale is my preferred soft drink currently if I don't feel well but both ginger ale and saltine crackers have been gone from our local stores over the past few weeks.  Life in a pandemic!!!

Mission Life: The Rain

The weather has been so warm here--in fact, it tied a record on Thursday for 54 degrees--that the recent front that went by dropped rain instead of snow.

I love Jena's bright umbrella....perfect for a rainy day.

It almost matches our new lanyards.

We had a meeting on the 10th floor of the JSMB on Wednesday afternoon so I took a look outside at the construction around the plaza between the COB and the administration building.  Those white things you see are foam structures which will form the bases for flower beds.  They are using foam to reduce the weight on the whole surface.

It was rainy where we were, but snow very close by on the mountains to the north and to the east.

 

Lunch And A Walk With Ben

Ben's clinical was moved up a week due to some rearranging that needed to take place which actually worked great for me as we had January 3 as an holiday for the January 1 day on Saturday.

Ben did very well at his clinical and probably talked more on topic than any other clinical in the past 14 months.  So that is good.  That means lowering one medication was the right move, but now the problem is what can replace that medication and provide some relief for Ben.  The Million dollar question!

Ben was still experiencing paranoia about going outside, but decided that he wanted to go to lunch with me.  We headed to Arby's and then came back and ate in the car.  We passed the urban herd of deer that live on the State Hospital grounds.

After we ate, we took a short walk around the building for Ben to practice being outside so he could join a couple of activities over the next few days.

He was able to join those activities, then he had a couple of high anxiety days about outside, but now he is managing short visits outside again.  Seems almost like no rhyme or reason to it which is frustrating.  It was determined that he had a UTI and he begun treatment on Wednesday but that seems unrelated, but who knows.

One of the reasons for the change in Ben's clinical date that was given to me was to make it easier for the DBH liaison to attend the meetings.  Since I have not spoken to her since Ben's admission last November and Ben thinks he has only seen her once AND she has not attended any of Ben's clinicals, I was supportive of making it easier for her.  But she still was not there at the meeting. Darn...Ben has been asking about her--not because they have much of a relationship but because he sees her as the person from DBH who impacts when he can leave.  He feels they have sent him there to stay "forever."

With Covid and with our experiences with the liaison last time, I haven't been too worried about it.  Dr. Schenk reaches out herself once a month to check on Ben so I felt that was good enough.  However, since Ben has been worried about it and they moved the meeting specifically to allow it to be easier for the liaison, I asked where she was,  Everyone looked at each other in that "what should we say?" and Dr. Roundy asked if he could email me about it.  He said it is a USH problem with liaisons.  I indicated that I could reach out to DBH and indicate why we needed her to be involved.  He said at this point, it was a problem more on their end and he would email me.

Later that afternoon, I got more information about the problems and a name of someone to call and talk to about it.  Politics.....however, I see how it is impacting Ben and he feels DBH has forgotten him (even though he knows that I talk to Dr. Schenk.) and if it is impacting Ben, it is likely impacting other patients.

I ended up sick with a stomach bug for last half of the week, but it is on my "to-do" list for this week.  I don't understand much about why Ben has to have schizophrenia, but I do understand that things that negatively impact Ben impact other patients as well and Ben and I have to be a voice for all of those who don't have a voice. 
 

What I didn't Get To Say In Sunday School Today!

We have a very unique situation in Sunday School since our entire class is full-time senior missionaries.  Sometimes, it is more productive to listen to their comments than make one of your own.  So instead, I will share my response to:  "What is one of your favorite verses in today's reading?"  (It was Moses 1 and Abraham 3)

That would be Abraham 3:19 for me (although Moses 1 is one of my all-time favorite chapters of scripture):  It reads: 

And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am ^amore intelligent than they all.

That is how well our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know us as human and mortal beings.  They knew they had to remind us that they ARE more intelligent that us all! Sometimes as I am praying or when I am pondering and find myself laying out my "preferred" outcome, blessing, or whatever, this scripture comes to mind and it reminds me to step back and look for the direction from a loving God who truly knows so much more than me.

Earthshattering knowledge this is not.  But I find it a helpful reminder to me.  Maybe I am the only one.

Low-Key Happy New Year Eve Celebration

After three days and nights of activities, we chose to have a quiet New Years Eve Celebration.  We had hot dogs and other "party foods" which means stuff like vegetables and dip, cheese and crackers, nuts, etc.  Jena and Gary played one of our new Christmas games.  We watched a movie or two.....Somewhere along the evening, someone made a remark about how we weren't dressing up to celebrate this year.......

Shortly after that, Jena appeared with her red tie on--I guess she decided to "dress up" but when Gary followed suit and put on his red tie---you should have seen Jena's happy smile.

The party was ON!!  Jena went and got me a red scarf to wear around my neck so I wouldn't feel left out.

And properly attired, we watched the ball drop in New York, wished happy new year to family on text, and headed to bed around 10:30 Utah time...and that is how these missionaries welcomed in the New Year.

2022 has arrived!  Can't wait to see what it will bring!!!

 

Mission Temple Trip to Jordan River Temple

Another cold day for a temple trip so no picture out front.  

One sweet experience as we sat down in the room, a woman sat down by Jena and reached  her hand over to me and said, "You might not remember" but I did.  It was Nancy Ross, our neighbor in West Jordan when we lived in Vista Lake subdivision.  I have a variety of memories of them--all good.  The Friday that we got our offer to go to Hong Kong her brother was in town from Hong Kong where he lived with his family.  He was able to come and review our expat package and let us know that it was a good package. It was so helpful to us and gave us confidence to move forward into the great unknown.  Later, as we lived in Hong Kong, we became friends with him, his wife, and family.  We were able to talk briefly in the Celestial room with Nancy and Grant and it brought back so many memories of the three years we lived in that neighborhood.  A sweet tender merch to see old friends.

Back to our missionaries--We had 20 missionaries attend the temple and 16 joined us for lunch at a nearby Sizzlers...great conversations

We love these wonderful missionaries and feel so blessed to work with each one of them.  They all have a story (which we love to hear) and have made their own sacrifices to be able to serve whether it is full time or part time as missionaries.

Christmas Gift: #3 Out Of 4

And going from one of the entertainment field to maybe the opposite end--Wednesday night we headed down to BYU for some COUGAR BASKETBALL!!

Christmas break and lack of as many students as normal allowed us some nice seats and some good social distancing which was nice in the pandemic world we live in currently.

We even wore our BYU clothing for the occasion....

and my trusty BYU mask Gary gave me for my birthday in 2020 (didn't think I would still be wearing it 18 months later.)

Introductions have been upgraded since I was a student at BYU!  Go Cougs!

And we had to get a Cougar Tail---When in Rome, as they say!

It is a 18" maple bar which was yummy and one was enough for all of us.  Highly recommend them if you ever attend a BYU basketball game.

Ask anyone, I am slightly nuts about BYU but I loved being there with Gary and Jena and cheering for my Cougars (who won the game, by the way)

Rise and Shout!!!!

And for those keeping track--Gift #4 will happen in February so stay tuned.

Christmas Gift: #2 Out of 4

On Christmas, I revealed to Jena and Gary what the three remaining activities were on their Christmas family gift so they could get excited about the upcoming events.

The first one happened the Tuesday after Christmas at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City.  We headed first to the Food Court at City Creek Mall for dinner and then walked through the mall to get as close to Abravanel Hall.  A storm had come in and it was freezing cold outside.  Not quite the winter wonderland walk I was hoping for when I first planned it.

We went to attend--

This is a group which has been around about 26 years after starting as students at Utah State University.  It is an a cappella group of 6 men.  They do a wide collection of music, but mostly have performed during the Christmas season.  We have attend several of their concerts over the years and have some of their CDs.  This was their last concert.  About 10 years ago, one of their members passed away due to cancer and this past January, another founding member passed away suddenly from a heart attack.

Getting fancy with our posed pictures with the stage behind us--before the show shot.

It was a very sweet concert with a mix of their Christmas songs and some of their classic numbers such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, Farmer Tan, and The Lion Sleeps Tonight....and of course, a tribute to John Huff who had passed away with the throwing of rubber ducks on to the stage!  Here is an example if you have never seen the Rubber Duck song by John Huff.     
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_UlASVugk

I loved the whole concert and while it wasn't earth-shattering or life changing, I felt so glad that we had been there to see them say goodbye to their fans in this last show. We are so blessed to have opportunities like this during our lives.

Christmas PJS Everywhere!

It started because I was looking for new pjs to get for Christmas Eve for my granddaughter, Carter, who is 3 and loves all things dinosaur.  When you google that, you find out that there are thousands of dinosaur pjs for girls and boys and everyone else.  When I found a Christmas Eve book that featured dinosaurs, it cinched the deal--dinosaur pjs for everyone (I did send a quick text to Chantel to see if she thought Scarlett (age 7) might feel too old for dinosaurs.  She thought it might work.)

To top it off, I got Jena her own pair as well---

Here are Jessica's and Elessia's kids in their dinosaur pjs...

Scarlett modeling her purple ones--

Tosha is a brilliant connoisseur of Christmas pjs buying.  (Remember last year they had Dr. Seuss pjs).  This was their family photo this season in the pjs she got.  (Her kids like the dinosaur ones as well)  They did a mini-family photo shoot with a local photographer.

James was sick over Christmas this year which is never fun! We did see some brief smiles on Facetime, but he definitely didn't feel well.  Scott reported he was back to himself and enjoying his Christmas gifts shortly after Christmas.

Pretty cute kids if I do say so myself!