Mission, ROOTS Tech, and Grandchildren

Due to the worldwide Pandemic, Roots Tech, an annual family history conference, went completely online.  We have off and on attended the conferences which are held in Salt Lake.  We loved them but felt like we couldn't justify attending every year if we hadn't put into practice or action the things we learned at the last one.  This year it was free as well and our mission encouraged us to be involved and get others involved.  Although we didn't get to watch quite as much as I was hoping to, it was quite amazing and I still have classes on my playlist which I can watch for the next 11 months.  People's lives are amazing and fascinating!  The last Roots Tech had around 30,000 people and the Salt Palace was packed especially for the youth and young adult events.  This one had almost 1/2 million people from 200 countries and territories register and join it at some point.  Maybe your Facebook feed included posts about it.

One challenge they gave us was to write about our experiences during the pandemic as in the future there will likely be other pandemics and how we managed might help others down the line.  They suggested that you focus on:  how you lived, who you loved, and what you learned! I have written in this blog about some of that, but I think I will write something specifically addressing those topics--you should too, if you were alive during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Saturday after a number of hours of Roots Tech watching and housework, I decided to update my grandchildren pictures on the fridge and the grandchildren plaque.

Jessica made this plague for us for our anniversary and used it to announce that baby 3 was on the way. (However, if you remember Baby 3 brought baby 4 with her, but they had put a bunny sticker over Baby B on the ultrasound so we wouldn't know until the gender reveal on Mother's Day.)  They had put an "extra" clothespin "just in case" they said.  Since then, we have added 2 more in addition to the twin.  With Ezri's arrival, I had to reconfigure the whole arrangement and finally did that yesterday.

And new pictures on the refrigerator--I love seeing their faces everyday! (I know, we are the only people in America who still hang a paper calendar on our refrigerator...at least that is what it says on Facebook.) 

And mission work continues well and keeps us busy..........
 

Random Photos From the Grandkids

I made little Valentine sacks for the Grandkids but as I was putting them together, I realized that I hadn't picked very well---WHO puts heavy duty toothpicks in the hands of kids 6 and under??  I knew they would all love the sharks so didn't think clearly.  So I warned my kids and sent them anyway

They are fun...

The Valentine packets---

Needless to say, the grandkids loved them.  Tosha sent these photos of her kids playing with them.

 

And no injuries were reported from the toothpicks--at least that my kids told me.  I will try to do better next time.  Jessica or Tosha pointed out that I had toothpicks in their Thanksgiving turkey craft as well.  Note to self--no more toothpicks!

Tosha also sent the set of pictures of Ava:  She loves spaghetti and she has a big personality!

From Jessica:  

Zander drew this picture of you (Meaning me)--in the rain--

It looked a bit scary, so I told Jessica to reassure Zander that I love to walk in the rain.  He said, I know.  

From Scott and Chantel-

Look at this cute card Scarlett made for her parents--

These grandkids are growing up and developing their personalities and their interests.  It is fun to have a front-row seat to that (but not directing the play like their parents.)

We Got Our First SHOTS

During our mission devotional on Thursday, our mission president started off his talk by saying, "I just got an alert on my phone and the governor has just announced that individuals 65 and older can now get appointments for the Covid-19 shot."  Now in the future, you might know how this "big" experiment worked out to mass vaccinate the population of the world to stop the Pandemic.  Hopefully it is successful, but maybe  it won't be.  However, right now, it seems like the best route to take for us individually and for our society.  Each person needs to understand the situation and make the best decision for them.

I was able to get on my phone and make our reservations on Thursday as we were driving home from visits in Salt Lake.  So Saturday afternoon, Gary and I went down to the Fair grounds and got our vaccines at a very well organized drive-thru shot clinic.  We didn't even get out of our cars.  Gary got his shot in the left arm, me in the right--which works out for how we sleep---

Driving into the rodeo arena---

Inside they had many "stalls" which each held two cars each.  One person came to your car window, confirmed some details, and then another person came  and gave you the shots.

You then drove out and sat for 15 minutes in your car as volunteers walked around to make sure everyone was doing okay and then we were out of there. No waiting, no fuss---

We will get our second shot in three weeks--March 13 or after.  

Gary and I have sore arms today but nothing else.  Scott had his second one this past week and had a bad headache for a day or so, but that was his only reaction.  Hopefully we will have mild ones as well to the second one.

I have to admit that as we pulled out of the arena, I got a little teary eyed.  I am grateful for those people who worked so hard and probably through evenings and weekends to make this possible.  Of course there are unknowns that only time will tell if this worked and if we reached all peoples in all places and we handled it in the best possible way with compassion and love for all men---only history will tell the final story of this pandemic.  But we are living it--and how we choose to manage ourselves and be an impact for good is up to us as individuals!

I have said before that life is an adventure--how true that is.  Not all adventures involve travel to fun places, some of them are pandemics and earthquakes and hurricanes and personal illnesses.  We need to embrace them all and use them to grow closer to God and to our fellowmen.  (End of Soapbox.) 

A Winter Walk With Grandkids

On Saturday, we met up with Jessica, Elessia, and their kids for a walk on the Jordan River Parkway.  We have been trying to arrange an outdoor activity when the weather was good enough to be outside for a bit.  We continue to try to mostly stay home and social distance as much as possible, so we haven't seen them much.  It is not possible to wear masks and social distance from preschoolers...

As you can see, we had blue skies and white fluffy clouds, but there was a bit of a wind that kept it a bit colder.  Nevertheless, it was fun to be together for an hour and to be outside.

They love their Aunt Jena....

On the bridge, but Carter had already slipped away before baby Ezri joined the photo!

Carter----

Alex---

Liam---

Ezri---

Zander---

Elessia, me with Zander and the twins

Jessica sent these photos later---

It has been a bit of a hard week for us as Carter has been diagnosed with Chiari Malformation Type 1.  This means that her brain is growing faster than her skull and it is putting pressure on her brain.  They did an MRI this week which discovered this problem.  It can explain all of the different problems that she has been diagnosed with since her birth, but it wasn't anything that the doctors had expected. She has an "urgent" appointment with a neurosurgeon on March 11 and will likely have surgery at the end of March or in April to reduce the pressure on the brain.  It has the potential to eliminate all of the problems or only some of them depending on the extent of damage to the nerves being impacted.  It is a big scary thing, but with the potential for amazing help for her.  As you can see, she is a happy darling little girl.  We are glad that finally there are some answers, but it is still a very uncertain time.

Bodies are amazing but very complicated!  We will keep you updated.