Pure joy

We had a wonderful weekend.  Friday I had an Easter egg hunt with my students.  I wrote math problems on eggs and hid them around the classroom.  The more eggs they found and answered correctly the more chances they had to win prizes! prizes! prizes!

I was feeling completely discouraged about another math test that I'd given them and this basket of correct answers filled me with hope.  They do know some stuff!  

Friday night we went to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Hale Theater.  Mark and Adam checked in with the Mariners during the intermission.

It was a great show and I enjoyed it even though I was verrrrrrry sleepy.  By the time Friday night rolls around, I'm sort of worthless for anything besides sleep.

Saturday and Sunday were fabulous! General Conference never ever lets me down.

I alternated stitching the binding on Braeden and Anna's quilt (I finished it!) and taking notes and I was wearing my reading glasses and I'd take them off and put them back on depending on if I wanted to thread my needle or see the TV.  As my dad would say, I was busier than a three fingered fiddler.  

Saturday night Adam watched the priesthood session with his boys for the last time for at least the foreseeable future.  It was a beautiful day and Adam put camp chairs in the back of his car and selected a park near the restaurant where they were going to eat dinner. 

I love this picture.  

Mark came straight from work so he's wearing his work clothes.  When he was a little boy, he used to bring a clipboard and pen to stake conference and draw tiny stick figures battling.  It was his self prescribed way to help him sit still (sitting still = not his forte).  Now he plays a mindless game on his phone to help him listen.  

As for Braeden, who is sharing Mark's air pods, he is all laser focus.  Braeden can be forgetful and absent minded but not where the Gospel is concerned.

I love my boys.

I also love Mt. Timpanogos in the background.  It's like a huge set piece, the scenery of our life.

Anna worked on a school assignment and Emma and I worked on her bedroom (and I also quizzed her on state abbreviations and capitals because she wanted to see if she knew them all--she did).  My idea was to get rid of all the detritus in her room before she moves back home.  We filled a garbage bag of garbage and another garbage bag of clothes to donate.  And we still have more to do but it was an excellent start.  I love doing stuff like that and I especially loved it with Emma.  She's a good companion.

Sunday was more wonderful conference talks to listen to.  I took several pages of notes.  It's amazing how I can feel like I have so many ways to improve, but I also feel encouraged and lifted.

In the very last talk, President Nelson announced that there would be 20 new temples built.  Amazing!  I got teary as he went down the list, knowing how much that would mean to the people who lived in those places.  Then he announced a temple in Elko, Nevada!

Cue ugly crying.

It was just so overwhelming and joyful to me!  I immediately thought about all the good people in my stake when I was growing up.  I thought about my grandparents (both sets) who were stake leaders and helped build Zion there.  I thought about my parents and my dad's cousins and my siblings who live there and who have worked and served in the stake.  I thought about all of their influence and hard work and what a blessing this would be to the people who live there now.

We thank thee O God for a prophet!

As soon as the closing song started, I got a text from Erin, my dear friend and college roommate (of nearly 30 years ago!).  She sent a string of hearts.

It's nice to have 30 year long friendships.

From that elation, we prepared our Easter dinner.  Mostly Adam did the cooking.  I set the table (and took a picture of it, because that's what I do).

I also kept telling Braeden to stop eating jelly beans!  I didn't want the aesthetic spoiled before we'd even sat down to eat.

We had ham and baked potatoes and asparagus and roasted carrots and deviled eggs and pie that Braeden and Anna brought.  It was a feast!

Then, because we weren't ready to be done with conference talks, Adam played part of a talk by Elder Holland from 2009 about Easter. 

I'm ever grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I'm grateful for the many ways His Atonement has blessed my life.  I love glimpses I see that reassure me that whatever happens, everything will be OK.  President Nelson told a story of visiting some Pacific Islands a few years ago.  They were going to have outdoor meetings and it was raining.  In three of the locations, the people prayed and the rain stopped.  In Tonga, the people prayed and the rain did not stop.  

President Nelson showed a picture of the audience, wearing rain ponchos, listening to the meeting and said they had faith for when the rain didn't stop.

It keeps reverberating in my brain.

I want to have faith even when the rain doesn't stop.