Mother's Day 2024 5/12/2024

Happy Mother's Day!  David had no meetings this morning or after church, so he was around all day.  It was wonderful.  We like when Dad's around even when it's not Mother's Day.

I was able to go to my parent's ward to hear them speak in Sacrament Meeting.  My mom talked about Alma 42 and that Christ is always the answer.  She spoke about questions she had as a child, things that caused her to lie awake in bed at night.  She wondered about the eternities and couldn't quite comprehend what that looked like.  She wondered about if her mistakes, tantrums, etc would keep her from being saved.  When she joined the church, she said it was if she was received "a wonderful flood of light".  This was the title of a talk given by Elder Maxwell and it was exactly how she felt.  

She spoke about how Christ makes mercy and judgement work together.  It was a beautiful reminder of Christ and all He has done for us and how He is the answer now and in times to come.  He is ALWAYS the answer.  The scriptures of full of truth that point us towards Christ.

My Dad talked about Mother Eve and Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Two women whose lives and choices effected eternity of all of us.  These women were chosen because God knew they were women of courage, faith, the ability to submit to God's will and to follow Him.  It is quite remarkable that the entire plan of salvation involves the role of these women.  Christ is central, but they are remarkable, loyal supporters.

Today Kenny, Ashley, Gayle, Mimi, Papa and Sister McBride came over for dinner.  Having our table full fills my heart.  One of the sweetest moments today was lying in bed between Brooks, who was not feeling well, and Cam.  I was singing primary songs and it was peaceful as they both drifted off to sleep.  These times while they are young and they still want to snuggle me are the best.  

Birthday Celebration and Christlike Interactions

My 44th birthday was great!  David and I went to brunch at Beaumont Cafe with Caleb and Trisha Hartle.  I guess Trisha and I share a birthday.  Although she is younger and wiser than me.  We had plans to have the family head downtown once the boys got home from school, but Porter did not want to miss out on friends, so we stayed at the house while the kids played.  Gayle stopped by and Gayle, Mason and I ended up going to the Dodo for dinner.  It was so fun to have Mason tag along.  We tried and shared some new things and everything was delicious.  Then once we got home the whole family headed downtown to the Radisson Hotel.  David had a conference there and he booked a hotel room for two nights.  We swam and then David took ALL the boys home and I stayed at the hotel all alone.  David experienced his first night alone with all the boys :).  They didn't leave the hotel until around 8:30pm, so they went to sleep shortly after they got home.  Regardless, it was a nice, quiet night.  I got in bed and watched a movie.  A cheesy hallmark type Christmas movie.  I stayed up later than normal and slept in just a little bit.  Ran and read that morning and then David showed up with Brooks and Cam.  While he presented at the conference, I took the boys to the Church History Museum.  We played in the children's section and then Gayle met us.  We went to say "hello" to my parents at the Church History Library and met some of their fellow missionaries.  Sister McBride has become one of their good friends and she was so excited to meet my boys.  She ran up and bought them a little treat.  It was so incredibly kind of her.  Gayle and I walked through City Creek with the boys and then it was time to head home to pick up all the other boys after school.  After school we brought all the boys back to the hotel to swim, then we met up with Alex Kirry and he gave us a cool tour of the KSL building.  Our hotel was about a block away.  He let us sit in the producers booth during his show and then even let everyone into his recording room for the last 10 minutes of his show. Super, super cool for the boys.  Then he walked us down through the newsroom and we were able to meet Kevin Eubank the meteorologist for KSL.  Kevin was so kind.  During his commercial break, he ran out and got the boys pencils and calendars.  It was so thoughtful of him.  Later we went and ate dinner at Crown Burger and then headed back to the hotel.  This time Jonas, Porter and Mason spent the night with me.  It was late again by the time we got back, so we hung out in the hotel room watching basketball and a movie.  It was fun to hang out with just the older boys.  Then next morning we swam again, Papa and Ash joined us, and then headed to the Utah Sport's Hall of Fame Museum.  We had a great weekend.

This past weekend we were the recipients of show much generosity.  David worked Saturday, so I took all the boys, except Porter, and Declan to SeaQuest Aquarium.  When we first got the the aquarium,   a kind gentleman gave us about 20 tokens, so I was able to divvy them up amongst the boys.  3 of the boys used their tokens to get their faces painted.  It was entertaining to see what each boy picked.  Brooks picked the scratches ascross his face which looked so realistic as if he'd been scratched by an animal.  Mason picked a pineapple wearing sunglasses.  Their picks definitely reflected their personality!  Workers were so kind to us while we were there.  Jonas asked how many tokens it cost to get a fish pedicure, (the fish eat the dead skin off your feet.). The worker said 3 tokens for 3 minutes, but Jonas replied that they didn't have enough tokens because Declan had already used all his tokens.  So, the worker told him that he could bring his mom back and she'd make a deal.  When I got there, the deal was that she would give everything a fish pedicure if I wrote a 5 start review and mentioned her by name.  So, I happily obliged and Brooks, Mason, Jonas and Declan all got pet massages for 5 min.  So kind of that worker. 

Lastly, Jonas was still holding onto his 3 tokens.  He really wanted to hold a snake and had missed his chance earlier.  We walked all the way back through the aquarium, but there weren't any snakes out.  At the beginning of the  aquarium, there was some cats and Jonas decided he wanted to hold them.  But, when we talked a nearby worker, they said the cats were on a mandatory break. Jonas was super bummed.  Then we asked a worker if they get could a snake out to hold.  They originally said no, and then they had a change of heart.  Jonas was thrilled to get to hold the snake.  It really made his day.  

Stake Conference Weekend and Staycation

 Last weekend was Stake Conference.  We were blessed to have Bro Michael Strong as a visiting authority as well as his wife Cristin.  On Saturday (2/10), David and I met the Strong's for a light lunch and had the chance to get to know them a little bit.  Then we split up and David and Bro Strong went to do some visits while Cristin and I went to visit some sisters from the stake.  Cristin had never done this, but has a friend whose husband has the same calling and her friend started doing this so Cristin thought it sounded like a great idea.  She said in the past she has either waited in the car or stayed at the hotel while her husband did visits and had meetings.  

It was great to get to spend time with her and see how she loved the people she met.  She was open and honest with them.  It allowed others to be open and vulnerable as well.  The first sister we visited was Betty Lund.  Her husband passed away in December and the feelings of loss are still raw and fresh.  She was so kind to let us into her home and allow us the chance to her of the love she has for her husband and the good man that he was.  

Next we visited Kelly and Kim Sheffield.  Kelly has been suffering from Alzheimer's for the past several years.  His is physically well, but cognitively he is not there.  Kim has been his full time caregiver until recently when she hired someone to come in a couple of times a week for a few hours each time.  Kim also has an adult daughter that is mentally disabled.  So, she has a lot on her plate.  Her upbeat attitude and ability to still laugh and enjoy life is remarkable.  Although, she recently went to get on medication and to  see a therapist because she has noticed that she is not doing as well as she has in the past.  I'm sure the overwhelm of all that is her responsibility has weighed on her.  Cristin was very open about her past struggles since they returned home after presiding over one of the Peru missions.  It made me remember my own mission president talking about when he experienced a mental breakdown years prior to becoming a mission president. 

We are all real people, living real life experiences.  The reality of this mortal experience is that there will be sorrow, heartache, physical/mental challenges, etc.  But, there is always a way up and a way out,  Christ is the ultimate answer, but sometimes we also need to use the resources available to us and rely on the support and love of others to help us through.  This life is not meant to be endured alone, but it is meant to endured. 

After our visits, Cristin and I headed over to Gulsen Akay's house for a tea party.  Makbule (Gulsen's mom) Kristen Oaks, Julie Hall, Erin Voegler and another sister from our stake were there.  Makbule prepared another amazing spread of food.  The company was fantastic and the food was delicious.  I feel so blessed to get to be invited to this special gatherings. I have loved getting to to know Gulsen and Makbule. 

There was a dinner at the church with Bro and Sis Strong, the stake presidency and their spouses, all the bishop's and their wives as well as the stake auxiliary presidents and their spouses.  It was a great dinner but we wish there had been more time to sit and visit.

Stake conference was wonderful.  The speakers were inspiring and the invitations were personal.  Bro and Sis Strong both gave fantastic talk as did David.  Bro Strong did a little activity and then asked us about what a disciple of Christ looks like.  It makes you stop to reflect on how we each behave.  Do we "look" like a disciple of Jesus Christ?  Is it clear to those that we encounter every day.

Then he showed a video that was actually a commercial for Thai Life Insurance.  It was a young man doing small and simple, acts of kindness/service day after day.  Nothing extraordinary, but as he loved and served, he was changed as were the lives of those he served.

2/16- David and I had a little staycation in Salt Lake City.  My parents and Ash were so kind to watch ALL the boys so we could get a way.  We shopped, ate, walked around, visited an old friend that lives downtown and enjoyed a relaxed 24 hours away from home.  We will need to do this more often!

Jeopardy and Final Basketball Game (2/5/2024)

Tonight Porter was telling me that his class played Jeopardy at school.  They were put into teams of 4 or 5 students.  I knew this was coming up and Porter was excited about his team because he felt like amongst all of them they had all the categories covered.  

Categories:

Harry Potter

Music

Sports

Star Wars

??? Can't remember the other categories.

As Porter was telling me about the questions he answered, I could not help but laugh.  He ALWAYS knows some of the most random things because his brain absorbs everything.

Question: Who is the male tennis star with the nickname King of Clay?

Now, Porter DOES NOT watch tennis nor does he pay attention to tennis.  Well, somehow he managed to guess the correct answer.  Rafael Nadal.  You might wonder, as I did, how the heck he knew this.  After inquiring, he told me that he used to search up stats on a baseball play, Rafael Devers, but Rafael Nadal's name always came up first.  So he had remembered over a year ago seeing this tennis name!

Question: Who was the number #13 player on the women's soccer team?

Once again, why would he know this?  Because girl's in his class are big soccer fans and he has heard them talk about it.  Answer: Alex Morgan

There was a Harry Potter question and he knew that in the movie it was one answer, but if it was from the book it was a different answer.

Porter also figured out that Ms Savarie had searched up the wrong answer for a question that she asked.  She had searched which NBA team had made it to the play off's the most and used that answer.  But her actual question she asked the class was which NBA team had won the most championships.  Porter picked the Celtics because they are tied for the most championship wins.  Ms Savarie had selected the Lakers which is who they are tied with and the Lakers have been to the most play-off games.

I would have loved to have been in his class during the game.  He always shocks me and makes me laugh.

Jonas had his last basketball game of the season and his team WON!!  This is only their second win of the season and they tied 1.  They won all of their beginning games and the last 3 they did great. It was so fun to cheer him on and feel a little anxious about them holding their lead, but they did it!  I was thrilled for him.  He has really worked hard this season and has gone out there and hustled, been aggressive and patient.  The beginning of the season was really hard for him since they kept losing, but he kept showing up (with a little encouragement/forcing) from David and I.  Jonas is great at dribbling, stealing, rebounding, passing, layups and being a team player.  He doesn't make it all about himself.  He's willing to find the open man and give up the ball, but he will also drive to the basket and have fast break aways.  There was one boy on his team that scored for his first time, in 3 years, during a game!  And that same kid even stole the ball once.  He woke up a little during this game and I hope it built up his confidence to realize he could get out there and do it!

Tonight after we all got home, the boys and I sat around chatting.  It was the best!  These are the moments I live for.  It makes the hard of motherhood worth it.  I felt a little bing in my heart, a reminder of the promised blessings of doing Come Follow Me in our homes with our family.  We have been much more consistent lately and I really do think it's bringing a piece of heaven into our home.   I hope we will stay engaged and committed.