Weekend

Saturday was a collision of General Conference, all the regular Saturday things, extra yard work because it was time + Adam was home on a Saturday, and we're hosting a party tonight at our house.

(Note to self:  don't do that on the Monday after a busy weekend if school is in session.)

Also, we were on the docket for cleaning the church again because it was a five week month.  Adam did that while I went to the grocery store in the 8:00 hour.  When Adam told me who was at the church, it was definitely the STP.  One of our former bishops taught us the acronym.  Same Ten People.  They are the people that you ask when you need someone to clean the church for the second time in a month on the day of General Conference.  I guess Adam is one of those people and I am not....

At least I married well.

Our kids helped a lot between sessions with the pruning and the gathering of limbs.  I helped a little outside but also cleaned the kitchen and did laundry and watered my plants and went through the mail.  Between the second and third session I went to Hobby Lobby and Walmart (ornament supplies for my class and party supplies for tonight) and we met up for dinner at Via 313 which has the best gluten free pizza and which was promised to our kids for their good help.

I went to bed in the 8:00 hour and was happy to do it.

Sunday was all set up to be more restful, but then I had a migraine.  I took my new migraine medicine.  My doctor said I may not want to use it while I'm teaching.

A lot of my migraines happen at school.

Anyway.  It was pretty effective at getting rid of the migraine.  It took about an hour, but then I felt super weird for a few hours.

Nobody wins with a migraine.

I did enjoy conference though.  I always feel a mix of encouragement and like I want to do better.  I also made all the ornaments for my class which has become my October conference project.

It was a lovely weekend and I enjoyed having Mark around and of course Emma too.  They are helpful and kind and add pizzaz.  I don't know what more I could want.

Yes, I do. 

Braeden and Anna and QE.  Braeden sent a video of QE watching the "conference pre-game show."  Every time a temple was on the screen, she got really excited.  I've said it before, that girl could do anything and we would all applaud.

Happiest of weekends

Saturday we went to the Mt. Timpanogos temple with Emma.  I have thought about Emma every time I've been in the temple since she was born.  I loved being there with her and was grateful for all of our family that came to share the day with us.  It felt like pure joy.

Mason, Desi, Marianne, Clarissa, my mom, my dad, Geri, Braeden, Anna, Adam, Emma, Me, Vanessa (Emma's friend), Olivia, Lili and Edgar.  Clarissa's husband, Timeon, was there too, but he left before the picture.

It was wonderful to be surrounded by so many people who show us such love.  Firm as the mountains around us, stalwart and brave (they) stand.

Afterward we went to Black Bear Diner for a very slow dinner.  We took a picture of my mom with her girls and their girls.

Desi, Marianne, Clarissa, Olivia, Lili, me, Emma and my mom.  Missing are Marianne's girls: Liberty and Carolina.  These women are my everything.

Sunday after church, we hustled our food prep and then went to the Carlsons' for Eleanor's blessing.  Another joyful time!  We love Anna's family completely and it is wonderful that we share our deep affection for these three:

Eleanor's dress was brought back from Belgium where Mark Carlson served his mission.  Anna and her sister wore it for their blessings too.  Eleanor looks a little stressed in this picture, but she was a champion considering how many people were there, wanting to admire her.

Braeden blessed his sweet baby and it was a time when my joy leaked out my eyes a little.

Here is who help bless Eleanor:  Braeden, Adam and the Marks

This boy has been the sun and I've been a planet basking in his light ever since he was born.

We took a four generation picture:

And a five generation picture:

All the best days in my life have been surrounded by my family and usually part of making covenants or participating in ordinances in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is easy to feel loved by my Heavenly Father when I consider these happy happy days!

Easter

Saturday afternoon, Adam said, "Would you mind if I go to a birthday party tonight for Kaden?"

That's a guy he works with, who is unmarried and they were apparently having a guys only birthday party. I didn't mind Adam going.  I went to bed early.

Sunday morning, I asked Adam about the party and he was kind of vague about it.  "Who was there? What did you do?" 

"All the guys. We just hung out."

Whatever.

Later he told me that he had an Easter gift for me.

I said, "Is that a thing?"

He said yes.

He told me it was in the living room.  I asked, "Is it a puppy?"

He said, "Close."

I asked, "Is it a bunny?"

He said, "Close."

I walked into the living room and Mark was sitting in the rocking chair and since he'd heard my question, he was making bunny ears above his head.

I burst into tears; I was that happy to see him.  

Adam said, "There wasn't really a birthday party.  I went to Logan to get Mark."

We went to church and I was happy to sit between Adam and Mark.  I sang in the choir and ugly cried during He is Risen.  I shouldn't be allowed to do such things.

We had Emma over for dinner and surprised her with Mark too.  We ate ham (except not Emma) and deviled eggs and potatoes and carrots and rolls (except not Mark).  We played games and ate jelly beans.

Adam took a video of Mark eating three super sour jelly beans (we got from Trader Joes) at once.  It was an exciting time.

I was feeling a bit under the weather so Adam took Mark back to Logan. 

I thought a lot about Easter.  (Hence the ugly crying during He is Risen.)  I am thankful for the love Jesus offers me.  I'm grateful that He suffered all the sins and pains and sorrows of the world so He would know how we feel.  I never have to feel truly alone.  He could have stopped the goings on in an instant, but He was willing to die for us.  He rose again on the third day and because of Him, we will be able to be with our loved ones again.  It is all a lot to take in.  

We watched a video as part of our Sunday School lesson and it showed the people chanting "Crucify Him!"

I was struck that He not only suffered for those who strive to follow Him and want to do good.  He also suffered for those who chanted for Him to be crucified.

He loves us all.

Cleaning the church

Adam and I were part of the crew cleaning the church early Saturday morning.  Sun was streaming in the glass in one of the foyers, highlighting how terrible the windows looked.  Someone must have cleaned them with disinfectant or something because they looked bad.

Julia began gathering and emptying all the trash, Ethan started vacuuming the chapel, Verdon cleaned the kitchen and then started vacuuming.  Garrett was vacuuming the halls and classrooms too.  He had his toddler there in a stroller.  (His wife was home with their newborn.) Tara and Sione arrived and started in on the bathrooms.  Adam and I tackled the windows.

It didn't go too well.

We sprayed and wiped and wiped and sprayed.

I despaired of how they still didn't look great and Julia told me, "The windows look a lot better than they did."

We moved on to other windows around the church and while I was cleaning the inside and Adam was cleaning the outside, I thought about serving in the church.

Sometimes we botch things.   Sometimes we say the wrong thing and offend someone; we don't follow through with an assignment; we fail to come prepared. Sometimes we forget something important.  Sometimes we use disinfectant instead of glass cleaner.  

Sometimes, even if we're doing the right thing, using the glass cleaner, we don't feel like we are too successful.

Sometimes our children are the ones who make tiny handprints on the glass doors and sometimes we're the ones wiping the tiny handprints of someone else's children.

I guess what matters most is in the showing up.  I loved being there with my neighbors, fanned out across the church, cleaning it.  It occurred to me how sturdy the church is and that it was OK if we weren't perfect at our jobs.  We were trying.

Also, I showed Julia and Tara pictures of my granddaughter and Julia, whose daughters are friends with Braeden and Emma and who has grandchildren of her own, cried when she saw a picture of Braeden holding his baby girl.  Tara grew up in Virginia Beach and her parents are Braeden's (and my) friends.  Ever since his mission, Tara has had an interest in Braeden's life and she and I feel connected.

I guess if you ever want to feel part of something good, show up when it's your turn to clean the church early on a Saturday morning.

***

When our children were little, Adam started the tradition of taking them to McDonald's for breakfast after cleaning the church.  It was a reward for their service.  We still do it.  When the teenager at the drive thru window handed us our Diet Cokes (breakfast of champions!) we noticed that they were different sizes.  They weren't different enough sizes that one was a medium and one was a large, but they were different.

Ever curious and a seeker of answers, Adam asked, "Why are they different sizes?"

The morose boy said, "They aren't."

Adam said, "Look!" and he held them up to each other.

The boy was completely disinterested and mumbled, "Huh, I don't know," and sent us on our way.

The whole thing mystified and sort of delighted us enough that we took a picture and texted our kids (there's a reason cell phones were invented and it is to send pictures of two Diet Coke cups to your kids).

Mark immediately texted back:

And he was right!  I wanted to go back and tell the kid at McDonald's but I don't think he was nearly as perplexed by the whole thing as we were.

All of this is to say:  we're having adventures over here.

Rejuvenating

After school on Friday I felt very tired and run down.  My throat was sore.  Did I have Covid?  It's always the question when I feel sick and it's the question I'm so tired of wondering about.

I felt better Saturday; I was still tired but generally I felt better.  I considered I would go ahead and go to the stake conference meetings we had.  I would wear a mask and stay away from other people.

I was sitting in a chair, mustering the courage to get out of the chair and Adam said, "You look exhausted. Why don't you stay home and watch the meetings?"  (They were being broadcast.)  Then he said, "You won't get any bonus points for going."

I had been looking forward to bonus points, but I agreed with him and I stayed home.  Adam was gone most of the day, assisting the stake presidency in his steady and helpful way.  

There was a leadership breakout session for Relief Society and Elders Quorum presidencies.  Adam told me there were five different leadership breakout sessions streaming at the same time.  He said it was like the opening Thursday of March Madness.  I don't exactly know what that means, but it sounds like a busy time. 

A member of the stake presidency, both patriarchs in our stake and the mission president and his wife spoke to us.  It was such a wonderful meeting!  I went in our bedroom and turned on the fireplace and snuggled under a blanket with my laptop and watched the meeting.  I felt warm inside and out.

The patriarch who gave Mark his blessing talked about the overwhelming feeling he hadn't expected that he has every time he gives individuals a blessing.  He said that he is astounded by the love Heavenly Father has for them and that none of us truly understand who we are.

He quoted President Boyd K. Packer from a conference talk he gave in 1989.  It was the second time this week that I'd heard it quoted.

You are a child of God. He is the father of your spirit. Spiritually you are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it. However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line. You are a child of God!

It made me consider the sacred experience of being there for each of our children's patriarchal blessings.  It was a glimpse into their potential and pedigree as a child of God.  What a blessing for parents to be able to feel that.

For the evening adult session, I also watched from home.  All the talks were so good!  People who have been through serious trials spoke with conviction about their trust in God and the comfort they get from keeping their covenants.

Sunday morning Adam had to go to the church bright and early but our ward was invited to watch online so I was home again.  It was two more hours of goodness.  Tito Santamaria, who is a good good man in our ward was one of the speakers.  He grew up in Chile and I've never met anyone who has more gratitude.  He loves his family and our ward and Pleasant Grove and Utah and America.  He said that he loves living here in Pleasant Grove, the capitol of Utah. (He's also funny.)

It is a pretty pleasant grove.  And I felt so much better by Sunday afternoon that I even cleaned the kitchen.  

Grateful Friday

 Last night we went to the Jazz game.  They are so fun!  We are minimally invested in the outcome of the game (although Adam lost his mind at one point when there was a dramatic one handed dunk).  We mostly like the spectacle of it all--and the delicious food.  There's a WGU table in a suite.  The table overlooks the game and there's a buffet and a waitress bringing you drinks and what's not to love?

We talk about things like how Rudy Gobert compares to the height of regular people and how Jordan Clarkson definitely has a Jack Sparrow vibe.  

I like these people.

And I'm grateful for time with them.

(It was starting to rain after the game and when I chided Mark for only wearing a sweatshirt, he said, "I'm not made of brown sugar."  That, my friends, is a boy born and raised in the PNW.)

What I'm most grateful for on this Christmas Eve is the birth of Jesus Christ.  I'm grateful for all the many many ways that makes a difference in my life.

As I've been studying the document, The Living Christ, this week, I was thinking about what His appearances after His resurrection revealed about Christ.  

I love the patience He has for Thomas when he is doubting.  Christ is not put off by our weaknesses.

I have loved, since I was a little girl, the way Christ interacted with children when He visited the Americas.  Of that visit, President Boyd K. Packer said  “In the account of the Savior’s ministry among the Nephites, we can see deeper into His soul perhaps than at any other place.”

He loves us, that is clear. 

God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.

The temple

Yesterday we joined Olivia, Lili, Ruben and Marcos, Tabor, Olivia and Ruby at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.  We snapped a few pictures before going in.

Ruben, Lili, Anna, Emma, Mark, Marcos, Olivia and Ruby

(Braeden was at work or he would have joined us too. Also:  Olivia and Olivia, Mark and Marcos, Ruben and Ruby, Liliana and Anna.  We don't need too many name combinations to be content.)

It was Ruby's first time going and I felt happy to be there with her.

I also felt happy to be there with these kids:

I think Olivia and I look happier to be there than Tabor but I also know that Tabor was making us laugh which is why we appear so mirthful.

It was my first time being back in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in over a year and it felt really nice to be inside again.  Tabor baptized Mark for one of Stella's grandfathers.  

What a wonderful world!

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.

Weekend

Friday Adam and I were so tired from the week that we got takeout from a Thai restaurant and watched a movie.  Sometimes you just have to do nothing.

We did all our somethings on Saturday.  We helped clean the church, did some chores around the house, went to Costco (in Spanish Fork and SO many people had their masks on incorrectly.  There are lots of big flags around here and they're all at half mast because so many people have died from Covid but we still can't wear masks correctly?!?  OK, that's the end of my rant).

We went to Spanish Fork because Adam wanted to have lunch at a restaurant in Springville.  It was good, so maybe worth going to Spanish Fork Costco).  While we were there, we saw one of Mark's friends.  His dad lives in Springville so that's why he was there.  They engaged in a complicated high five, fist bump, handshake combo.  It was just short of doing the hokey pokey and turning yourself around.  I like teenagers.  We talked at lunch about how Mark wants to celebrate his graduation.  He doesn't want to go, so he's clearly expecting a big hoopla.

Adam made dinner before Mark had work in the evening.  He was making chicken tikka masala and said, "We don't have sour cream."

My wimpy palate likes sour cream to cool the spices in chicken tikka masala so I said I would go to the store to get some.  Joan needed gas anyway.  Mark volunteered to come too.  He put the gas in the car and he pushed me along when I got distracted looking at pots outside the store.  (Felicia--the fiddle leaf fig--is well over 6 feet tall now and will need to be repotted soon.)  Next to the sour cream was the yogurt I like (and they haven't had at Costco lately).  We had decided we didn't need a cart and Mark said, "You can only get as much yogurt as you can carry."  More often than not, Mark thinks he's the boss of me.  I stacked yogurt up and tucked it under my chin and Mark walked ahead of me like he was trying to keep his distance from the crazy yogurt lady.

If I'd have gotten as much yogurt as both of us could carry, I really could have done something.

Sunday was a full and wonderful and busy day.  I am newly a member of our ward Relief Society presidency and we met for a couple of hours.  I feel happy and overwhelmed about it all.  I love the other ladies but I also wasn't exactly looking for more to do in my life but here we are.  I know my capacity can and will increase and I know it will work out, I just need to figure out how.  Besides that, we also had church and I did some family history with Marie Louise and the highlight of the day was that Mark got his patriarchal blessing.  It was an incredible and joyful experience.  I felt grateful and overwhelmed by the love I have for Mark and the love I could feel that Heavenly Father has for Mark.  

I'm also grateful for priesthood power on the earth.  What a gift!  I am grateful for worthy priesthood holders who use that power to bless others.

In the evening we had our kids over.  "Our kids" are an ever expanding and shrinking group.  They are dynamic in more ways that one.  Last night Desi brought the boy she's dating and it was fun to meet him and have them in our house.  Add in Emma and Hyrum and it was a party.

After Desi and Hyrum and Mason left, Emma asked us questions about the day Grandpa Linn died.  She wants to write about it for a class and she wanted to see if her memories aligned with ours.  After an already emotional day, I felt all the emotions again as I told her what I remember.  I remember feeling sad for myself and our family, but I also remember feeling loved by all the people who reached out with kindness.  One of the jobs I kind of took on was answering the door and I remember the parade of people who dropped off food and plants and flowers and cards and to me it was a testament to how much good Linn and Geri had done in the world and how that had made an impact because all of these people cared so much about them.

By association, I felt that love as well.

So all of this is to say that I cried a lot yesterday and my eyes are puffy this morning to prove it.

Conference weekend

 General Conference weekends are some of my favorite.  I love the cozy feeling of us gathering together to hear from our leaders.  I love the peace and affirmation I feel.  I love feeling encouraged to do more and be better.

At times this conference made me feel a little stressed, as in, am I up to this?  On my own, I would say no.  With faith and prayer and inspired leaders to follow, I feel more confident.

Emma came for the weekend and Braeden and Anna joined us for Sunday morning session.  We all coincidentally wore a uniform so we took a picture.  I'm holding Desmond, who is Braeden and Anna's practice child I guess.  It suffices until I get actual grandchildren.  I love how the clock creates a halo for Emma. She's angelic.

A while ago, Braeden said he wouldn't come over unless we wore masks so when he comes, we wear masks.  

Seeing tall boy Braeden in this picture reminds me of something that happened in my classroom last week.  Anna's wonderful sister Natalie, elementary teacher in training, has started coming a few times a week to volunteer.  She is super helpful and kneels right down next to students and helps them with math.  I've explained to my class my relationship to Natalie but it's hard to understand and keep straight.

On Friday they asked if my "sister" was coming.  Now, let me just say I was super flattered that they would think Natalie is my sister.  At the same time, I know they have little concept of age so I won't let it go too much to my head.

I said she wasn't coming that day.  They said, "Now how is she related to you?"  I explained and they said, "How old is your son that is married?!?"

I said, "23."

It was shocking.  One girl asked, "Is he six feet tall?"  (Apparently height and age are correlated.)

I said, "He's taller."

A boy said, "Damn!"

It is not always terrible to have a mask.  Sometimes I need it to hide my expression and cover my laugh when I can't let them know how much they are cracking me up.

We had lunch together, Braeden and Anna went back to Provo, and the rest of us enjoyed the last session of conference together.  We were pretty thrilled when President Nelson announced six new temples.  We thought happily of Timeon and Clarissa when he announced the one in Kiribati.  So much joy.  We are also really happy about a new temple in Lindon.  Will it be closer than Mt. Timpanogos which is a little over ten minutes away?  I said that people who live somewhere without a close temple who are familiar with Utah County geography must feel discouraged by the announcement.  Emma said, "Except maybe temples in Kiribati and Vanuatu gave them hope."

It's an exciting time to be alive.  We just need the virus to GO AWAY so we can go back to the temple!

Is God frustrated by COVID?

At the high school senior devotional, our stake president had a missionary from our stake join the meeting via zoom.  He had him tell his story.

This elder was called to serve in Tanzania.  He knew Spanish and had been assuming his mission call would be somewhere Spanish speaking, but no, it was in Tanzania.  He had no idea where that was.  Also, he would be speaking Swahili, which he'd never heard of before.

His friends who were doing virtual MTC also, received a big box of books.  He received an envelope with his name tags.  Everyone else he knew was in districts of 12-14 missionaries.  His district consisted of two.  Him and his companion.

He knew that because of COVID, he would be serving in a stateside mission first.  He researched and found out where the Swahili speaking missions were in the states.

Then he got called to Spokane Washington, which hadn't been on his radar at all.

Literally nothing about his mission was working out how he thought it would.

He was assigned to two companions, one a native African, who both spoke Swahili.  Swahili speaking missionaries are pretty new--the mission in Tanzania is pretty new--so that's why he didn't get a lot of books.  

Then he started telling one experience after another where he was able to meet people in Spokane who spoke Swahili.  Then, incredibly, because they are able to go onto Facebook and connect with the world, he started teaching some people in a refugee camp in Burundi.  There are over 50 people in the refugee camp who have been able to hear the gospel and want to be baptized.  There are no missionaries there but a mission president from nearby went to interview them.

He talked about connecting with a woman who was living in Norway but who had a following of people in Uganda that saw her as their spiritual leader.  He taught her the gospel and the 100 plus people she led also wanted to be taught in Uganda.

Story after story.

It became clear to me that because of COVID, he was in Spokane, where there probably wouldn't have been Swahili speaking missionaries anytime soon.  Because of COVID, mission rules were such that he was able to be on Facebook and connect with people in places where there wasn't a mission, or in Norway where there probably aren't Swahili speaking missionaries.  Because of COVID, the youth in our stake were able to meet with one of their own who was currently serving a mission.  

After he was done speaking, our stake president asked the youth, "Do you think God is frustrated by COVID?"

No indeed.  His work is continuing.  Miracles happen all the time.  We just need to be in the right place and doing the right things to be a part of it all.

I guess you could say I'm from pioneer stock

I had been curious ever since my conversation with Adam about how many of my family were pioneers.

Sunday afternoon, Adam and I sat down and figured it out.  Having a husband with a curious mind has its advantages.

Adam marked up a fan chart and I researched.

Everyone within the black line was either an overland pioneer or descended from one. (The little bumps outside the chart are pioneers that were off the chart.) My curious minded husband figured out that was 61% of the 128 people represented.  The ones with blue dots missed the overland pioneer time frame and came to Utah in the 1870s by train.

I keep thinking about it.

Each of those ancestors left home, whether it was England or Scotland, Sweden or Norway, or the eastern United States.  They left home and made a hard trip that I wouldn't have wanted to make.  (I like not camping.)  They buried children and spouses along the way and landed in an arid climate that in no way reminded them of England, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, or the eastern United States.  They built homes and churches and schools and roads and libraries and temples.  They raised children and  planted gardens and went on rescue missions to help other pioneers along the way.

I love living in this place where my roots are so firmly planted.

Their faith matters to me.  I hope I can carry on their legacy.

I love to see the temple

We took a Sunday drive to see all the temples in Utah County.

I thoroughly enjoyed our little trip.  The weather was perfect for a drive and we packed snacks and bottles of ice water so what's not to love?

Here are the Utah County temples in the order we saw them:

1) Mt. Timpanogos a.k.a. "our temple"

It's the one we see every day out our window.  Driving by it made me feel a longing to go inside.

Yes, Emma did this pose at EVERY SINGLE temple.  I didn't know she was doing that but Mark did.  This is why we can't have nice things. Ratty kids. 

2) Saratoga Springs

The temple there will be in a gorgeous spot overlooking the lake with all the mountain grandeur before it.  I wonder if/hope we'll be able to see it from our house.

We took a lovely route around the west side of the lake, landing in Goshen where I did my students teaching and then went to...

3) Payson

We can't not think about Braeden and Anna when we see the Payson temple.  I'm filled with gratitude that they were sealed in that beautiful place and that they are ours forever.

While we drove we talked about temples and which in the world we had visited.  I told them about the moment I decided I wanted to be married in the Salt Lake City Temple.  It was at my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary party.  They had a cake with a tiny Salt Lake City Temple on top made of crystal.  I realized that all my grandparents and my parents were married there and that was what I wanted too.

Up next was Provo.

4) Provo City Center

I can't see this beautiful temple without thinking about it being a tabernacle that burned and emerged more glorious than ever.

All the photos that are artsy like this were taken by Adam

5) Provo

This temple holds a special place in my heart because it was where we went with Stella for her first time to do baptisms for her family two weeks after Braeden baptized her in Virginia.

Our original plan was to see all the sites, even the ones not yet completed.  We generally know where the new Orem temple will be even though they haven't broken ground yet but:  we ran out of steam.

We had a lovely time and I 1) felt grateful for the wealth of temples we have here and 2) felt sad that we can't go inside.  Yet.  Someday soon hopefully we will be back.

Such a lovely time

I didn't take one picture!  Luckily people I love and who love me enough to let me steal their pictures did take pictures.

We had a wonderful weekend in Nevada.

Friday we went to Hyrum's graduation.  It was one of those unique Covid 19 kinds of graduations.  Desi was describing it to her roommate and her roommate was shocked that 1) everyone in the class had a truck and 2) they would then all fit on the football field.

It's Wells, Nevada so of course they all had trucks and I think the baby boomers were the only ones who had classes bigger than twenty something.

The graduates' parents were in the trucks and the seniors were in the truck beds.  They drove around the track and stopped off at a platform to be handed a diploma.  Then they parked on the football field. We stood with the Hyrum fan club outside the fence and I can tell you we were an effective cheering section.

Hyrum's sisters were responsible for decorating the truck 

The handsome graduate!  We are super excited to have him at BYU.  Emma made him a membership card to the Davis Dining Club.  It was pretty fancy.

There was a parade through town after the graduation and the best part of that was Olivia throwing smarties candy at the graduates and missing about 3/4 of the time.

The plan had been to go to a restaurant and celebrate after but I had this terrible allergy attack and we were all pretty tired so we went to Elko to our hotel room and spent a really horrible night.  Sometimes we struggle in hotels.  Mark had the best night and he slept on the sofa bed.

Saturday we went to visit with my parents.  We tried our best to keep our distance.  It was hard to remember to stay away from my mom.  I kept ending up right next to her and would back away.  My mom has been going through bins of pictures and mementos and she gave me some things including some silhouette drawings from when I was in primary, a 16 x 20 inch photo of me as a bald smiley baby and my tithing notebook.  When we were little we had these little spiral tithing notebooks to keep track of how much we owed.  It delights me.  I loved seeing the entries for $.10 here and $.07 there.  I told my dad that I demanded higher wages when I saw that he'd paid me $.70 for hauling wood.  He said he doubted I was worth that much.  I did have a record of my mom paying me $5 for finding some medicine so she was clearly the better one to work for.

In the afternoon we went to Olivia's for a potato salad making party.  I think I've made potato salad in my own home maybe once and I've made it with my mom and sisters many many times.  I love the process of making it.  And with our daughters helping it was speedy quick.  My mom made the dressing and I remembered when I was a little girl and my great grandma Jaynes was the one who made the dressing.  There's no measuring involved.  The matriarchs just intuitively know.

Later, my sisters and Adam and Robert and some of our kids were sitting around talking and it got a little heated as we turned to politics and the state of things.  Our kids were uncomfortable but my sisters and I have been arguing for four decades so we were fine.

At least no one pulled anyone's hair.

Earlier I had had a similarly intense conversation with my parents and I'd cried (because I'd started talking about my students).

I was talking about it with our kids later and I said that I was glad that I'd been raised in a family where we could disagree and express ourselves.  That is a blessing.

That evening we had a dinner to celebrate Hyrum.  Braeden and Anna came in time for those festivities and I loved having them there as well.  Marianne had my parents get their food first.  Then she had the "lucky men who were married to Dahl women" go next.  Robert and Edgar and Adam are a happy (and I should add lucky) trio.  They enjoy being around each other.  I ate dinner with them.  When I sat down, Adam and Robert were talking about the length they liked to mow their lawns.  I almost rethought my decision to join them, but the conversation shifted and I'm glad I stayed.  We stayed into the evening, visiting and enjoying being together.

Sunday was an even better day.  It was the day that Omar was baptized.  He was going to be baptized in Boulder Creek which was a fabulous idea and then the weather didn't agree.

It was cold.  So unseasonably cold.  It had been in the upper 80s on Friday and the high was in the 40s on Sunday.

It was snowing a little that morning and Olivia and her family prayed that it would be sunny for the baptism.

Tabor and Katie, who have moved to Lund, Nevada arrived and we were a happy group.  We gathered in Olivia and Edgar's living room with Robert presiding and my mom on the piano and Marianne leading the singing.  It did not take long until I was in tears.  It was just so nice to all be together and I felt the Spirit strongly as we sang together and some of those kids can sing!

Mark and Hyrum blessed the sacrament and Morgan and Marcos passed it.  There was a wonderful feeling in the room and I felt the purest kind of joy.

Lili gave a sweet talk on baptism and then Olivia and her kids sang a song.  Wow, I'm proud of my sisters.  They are such terrific mothers and women and I'm sorry I used to pull their hair (but they sort of deserved it).

I told Braeden I wanted him to be close and be ready during the baptism.  Boulder was running pretty high and Omar is just a little guy.  Clarissa's husband, Timeon is from Kiribati and since he grew up on an island, he basically grew up in the water.  Clarissa said he would be ready too.  And he was.  He wore a sulu and flip flops and white shirt and tie.  Kiribati is on the equator so you would think Timeon would be too cold for the high desert melted snow rushing past but as all his admiring cousins-in-law decided, he is a beast.

Also, the wind stopped and the sun started shining.

Brave Ruben baptized his little brother.  You can see Timeon downstream behind the bushes being a baptism lifeguard.  It was wonderful and very memorable.  The minute Omar came out of the water, Olivia scooped him up in a blanket and carried him up to Edgar who took him to their warm and waiting car. Ruben wrapped up in a towel and followed and once Edgar was driving away, it started snowing again.

So the takeaway is if you really need something, have the Cobians pray for it.  They got their sunshine.

Here's my sunshine:

Emma snapped this picture of my parents walking to the baptism.  I love it.  The winter parkas look out of place on a June day but I promise they weren't.

We all went back to Olivia's for Omar's confirmation and then a dinner.  Edgar cooked hot dogs and hamburgers outside in the falling snow and Adam joined him in solidarity (and because he likes hanging out with Edgar).

These cousins recreated a picture.  Here is the original:

Ruben, Liliana, Mark and Hyrum--they were all practically doing the splits on that huge horse.

Here they are now (different horse):

Cuties.

The snow kept coming and we decided we should probably hit the road.  Not too far on the other side of Wells, the snow stopped though.

It was 20 degrees warmer in Pleasant Grove than it had been in Starr Valley, but still cold.  Adam wondered if we should turn on our heat.  I said that on principle, we can not turn the heat on in June.

I'm very grateful we got to spend the weekend with our family.  It's been a long time since we've been together and I also loved worshiping with them and being together to celebrate big milestones in their lives.

Families are where it's at.

Respite

Adam has had a very busy work schedule and all of us were feeling weary and discouraged by the news.  We decided to head for the hills--or mountains as it were for a Sunday drive.

We took Braeden and Anna with us so we took two cars, Adam's Subaru and Joan.  It was Joan's first time on a dirt road.  I baby her like she isn't a Jeep, but she is, in fact, a Jeep and did fine.

The mountains were beautiful and restorative.  We tried to get to Cascade Springs but every route was closed.  So we drove around the Wasatch back up some very narrow and winding roads.  We got up to where the aspens were just getting their leaves and there were still a (very few) patches of snow.  We were at almost 9000 feet.

When Braeden and Anna were in our car (they're the popular couple so they took turns being with Adam and me and Emma and Mark), we were talking about our feelings of helplessness.  I said something about all the blessings I have been given and what am I even doing?  Anna said, "Well, you are a mother."

I am.  Here's my message to the world:

Braeden found that stick and said, "What a good stick!"  He asked Mark if he still collects good sticks.

Mark kind of smiled at him indulgently because he doesn't still collect sticks and said, "If you turn it upside down it will be a better stick.  You want the biggest part on the bottom."

My boys and their sticks....

(When it was time to leave, Braeden said he didn't want to take it because it was such a good stick and maybe someone had left it there and still wanted it.  I said probably their mom didn't let them take it home.  I said, "Sorry Anna, Braeden and his sticks are up to you now."  Braeden left the stick behind.  He is, you know, 23 now.)

Mark climbed up on a post and appears to be pontificating which is nothing new.  Emma stood at his feet and said, "Here Mark, trust fall.  I'll catch you."

But Mark just leaped down onto the uneven ground like a 17 year old boy.

How I love these four:

Spending time with them is good for my soul.

It is not lost on me how fortunate I am that I live in this impossibly beautiful place where I've always felt safe.  It is not lost on me that I've never been suspected because of the color of my skin and that I have always had opportunities and safety nets.  I never did anything to deserve any of it.

The horrible things happening in our country make me incredibly sad.  I don't understand the violence and destruction people are resorting too.  I don't understand how they can wreck their neighbors' livelihoods. I don't understand that level of hopelessness and fury.  I don't understand.  And I recognize that it's because I've never felt that level of hopelessness and fury that I don't understand.

We talked about it as part of our Come Follow Me discussion.  We talked about iniquity and inequality.  We talked about power and kings.  We talked about who our actual King is.  We talked about what we can do.  (Not a lot, it feels like.)

We decided we can vote.  We can try to be a positive light in our realms of influence and to the people around us.  We can pray.

I reminded them that we don't live in the kingdom of Davis.  We aren't in charge and we don't have to fix everything.  We live in the Kingdom of God.  We have a King and He loves all His children.  We need to follow His commandments and love His children too.

He is at the helm.

I like it here

Since Mark has more or less resumed his social life (sans anything school or work related), we decided to read scriptures before he begins his evening activities.  Mostly because I go to bed early.

One night last week Mark's friend Marek was on his way over.  I told Adam, "We haven't read yet."

Adam said, "We can do it after Marek gets here."  Then he paused,  "Do we know, is he a member of the church?"

I had no idea.

When Marek arrived, before they headed to the basement, Adam said, "We'll read scriptures later, Mark."

Mark said, "OK."

Marek said to Mark, "You guys do Come Follow Me?"

That answered that question.

Jackson arrived too and before I went to bed, we called Mark upstairs.  All three boys trooped up and pulled out their phones and turned to the scriptures.

It is a pleasant little grove we live in.

Easter weekend

On Friday we went to Provo to Emma's apartment to hang out again while our house was besieged with paint fumes.  (Adam stayed behind to be at the helm and use the faster internet at home.)

While Emma did homework, Mark and I went to campus to visit Braeden.

They have the same smiles and the same curly hair that needs cutting and the same football team.

They differ in that Braeden is never cold like his dad and Mark is more like me (hence the different outfits).

Every now and then I consider cutting Mark's hair but then I kind of think there's no point because he sees no one except us.  Also, he has SO MUCH hair and I would prefer to wait and let someone at Great Clips tackle it.

Saturday we put the kitchen back together and admired it.  The kitchen is a happy place.

Sunday was a lovely Easter day.  It was by far our smallest Easter gathering.

Just four people around the table (and one very bent candle for reasons beyond my understanding).

In the morning we had the sacrament and read aloud some passages Adam had marked in Jesus the Christ.  We read about the crucifixion and then the resurrection.  We also watched a Facebook live of Liberty and her companion.  How we miss the sweet and talented Liberty!  We decided we miss all the Johnsons--Sundays aren't the same without them.

We drove to a pond in Lehi that Adam inexplicably knew about and walked around it.  It was cold and windy, but the sun was shining.

In the late afternoon we played Quiplash with Braeden and Anna and the Johnsons.  Google meet for the win!

Other than that, we are enjoying being together, enjoying Reese's peanut butter chocolate bunnies (they are 6 carbs each if you have a diabetic in your life) and enjoying spring.

Popcorn is currently popping on the apricot tree.  (They aren't really apricot trees.  I have no idea what kind of trees those are.)

Grateful Friday

I'm grateful to unite my faith and prayers with many others today as we fast and pray for relief from COVID 19.

I'm grateful for a living prophet to inspire and guide me.

I'm grateful that I miss my students and teaching so much.  It is clear to me that I am in the right profession.

I'm grateful to have so much extra time with my family.  It will be hard to give that up someday.

I'm grateful for the beautiful springtime and wide blue sky.

I'm grateful we're healthy and employed.

I'm grateful for good books to read and good movies to watch and good music to listen to.  Creative and talented people sustain us all.

I'm grateful for technology that unites us.

I'm grateful for temple covenants.  Yesterday I was doing family history--Thelma and (Marie) Louise are back at it.  Over the phone mostly.  I found records of four babies who died in infancy.  What a blessing we can seal them to their parents. (We can seal the children who grew to adulthood to them too!)

I'm grateful for this Easter season.  I can't wrap my mind around, let alone express, my reliance on my Savior and my appreciation for Him for sacrificing and atoning for me and those I love.  Because of Him, I am strengthened when I feel weak.  Because of Him, I can repent.  Because of Him, I will live again with the people I love.

God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.

Wonderful weekend

As promised Emma came home.  I think to say she moved home would be overstating it.  She brought very little.

Just the necessities.  A few clothes and her guitar.

I love that multiple times a day she sits down at the piano and plays and sings.  I love hearing her and Mark talking and laughing in the other room or around the dinner table.  I don't know who's happiest to have her back, but it may be Mark.

Every night someone gets to pick the entertainment and she picked watching the new Pixar movie, Onward, even though she had already seen it.  She and I both cried.  We all loved it.

Other than that, we ate good food (my sourdough bread experiment was a success!) and watched General Conference.

I don't have words to describe it.  I always love General Conference.  It is always encouraging and uplifting and wonderful.  This was all that and more.  I think the upheaval in the world made me extra attentive.  Also, I loved the solemn assembly we participated in and the new proclamation regarding the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We wiped our tears and hugged for the sheer joy of it all.  Emma said, "Wait, I've got to see if Mark is crying."

He wasn't.

He has ice water in his veins while the rest of us just cry.

Prior to the conference, President Nelson asked us to consider what our lives would be like without the Restoration.  Even with a tolerably good imagination, I can't picture it.  Because of the Restoration, I am sealed to my family in the temple.  We will be together forever.  Because of the Restoration, I can learn more about Jesus Christ from the Book of Mormon.  Also, I can learn more about repentance and faith and obedience.  Because of the Restoration, we have living prophets to follow.  It brings me unparalleled peace to hear from them.  The entire coronavirus fiasco reaffirms in my mind that President Nelson is a prophet.  For years, our prophets have been warning us to be self reliant and prepared and then there was no food at the grocery store for awhile.  Young men are being ordained earlier to the Aaronic Priesthood and now they are administering and passing the sacrament in their homes.  We were provided a framework and curriculum for Gospel study at home and now we can't go to church.  It goes on and on but it adds up to me feeling reassured.  God is at the helm.

Face to Face

There are no two ways about it, diabetes is a pain.  Saturday night was rough for Mark because his infusion site was infected and his blood glucose was high and he didn't sleep well because his pump didn't want him to. (It vibrates and buzzes and chirps like a nervous mother hen.)

Sunday afternoon when it was time for the Face to Face meeting with President and Sister Oaks, I went downstairs and Mark was sound asleep.  We decided to let him sleep and we watched the meeting last night instead.

I loved it.  For one thing, Kristin Oaks taught one of my classes at BYU and I have loved her ever since.  It was a 6 credit spring term class so I had a lot of time with her.  She is wonderful.  It was a class where we were in classrooms and she would evaluate our teaching.  Every time she evaluated me, she'd start by saying, "First of all, Thelma, you look beautiful."

How can you not love someone like that?

What I really loved about the Face to Face was that President Oaks reminded me so much of my grandpa.  I kept thinking I should text my siblings and see if they saw what I saw but then I'd remember that they'd probably watched it the night before.

I've never compared President Oaks to my grandpa because behind a podium, speaking formally, President Oaks never reminded me of him.  But there was something about the casual setting and the way he gestured and the expressions he had.  After, I told Adam and Mark, "I feel like I just spent time with my grandpa."

It was a nice feeling.

I also felt very encouraged and inspired by the meeting.  I felt this love of all the youth by the Oaks.  They seemed to just emanate this awareness of the potential of everyone in that room.  It made me think about how Heavenly Father feels about each one of us.  He loves us.  He sees potential.  He is happy with the feeble efforts we make and wants us to make more.  He will help us.

So I was reminded of my grandpa. I was reminded of Kristin Oaks and how kind she was. I was reminded of my car pool friends I drove to Sandy with every day during that spring term.  (Two were sort of brash and from New Jersey and the other was from Arizona and had this aloof manner but we all got to be good friends.  I haven't thought about them in years!)

Mostly I was reminded that we are God's children and He has a plan for us and help built into that plan.

Not bad for an evening of watching a rebroadcasted video!