So, it wasn't a real vacation with palm trees and beaches but it was a much-needed vacation from school! YAAAAY!!!  Kim and I had a short break from classes this week and it was wonderful!  I still worked at Timberview on Tuesday and Thursday but when I got home I was able to sit outside, enjoy the sun, read my book, and take Sendai for a walk without having to feel guilty that I wasn't working on school assignments.  

Speaking of sitting outside . . . Thursday late afternoon Dad and I were in the Kitchen talking when we heard this horrible noise outside - the kind of noise you know has got to be something you really don't want to see . . .

Apparently, a gust of wind came up and pulled the umbrella out of it's stand and on the way out it hit the table top and shattered it.  Such a mess!  A million pieces of tiny glass particles to pick up - not to mention I lost my favorite relaxation spot. We have been on the look out for a new table and hopefully can find something in the next couple of weeks.   

FAMILY NEWS ~

Paul is officially on my list of great dancers!  Anyone want a lesson?  (Thanks Sammi!)

Watch out Blythe and Chris - You have some serious competition 😃  

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLIE!

Hollie has a birthday next week but she celebrated with Emma this week. What a lucky girl with such great sisters!  Emma and Hollie had a sleepover and then went shopping and out to eat the next day.  I think we will celebrate Hollie for the next two weeks ~

BEN and EILIS were here over the weekend.  Ben loves trains so Josh took him to the train store at the Mall which could be every little (and big) boys dream store. One evening Josh told him he needed to have patience, and his reply was "I don't like patience".  What six-year-old does?  😄

FROM CHICAGO ~

Kim and Blythe got matching dresses and they are so cute! (the dresses and the girls)    

Kim and Chris were out last night and on their way home they stopped to see Spencer at the restaurant where he works.  

It's not fair that I only get to see him once a year 😞

We miss you, Spencer! 💕

AND since no one, and I mean NO ONE, sent me a Sunday Selfie today Dad and I decided to inflict you all with one of us 😊

Friday, I had a dental appointment, and our dentist, Dr. Murdock came in for a short visit before I had my cleaning.  He is so great - I worked with him when I was in Relief Society, and he was assigned as a High Councilor to our Ward.  He was telling me that he held a meeting for his dental team earlier that week and shared with them part of a conference talk by Elder Uchtdorf from April 2012.  I told him I would come home and read it - I did, and it was so good I wanted to share some of his thoughts tonight.  

"I imagine that every person on earth has been affected in some way by the destructive spirit of contention, resentment, and revenge. Perhaps there are even times when we recognize this spirit in ourselves. When we feel hurt, angry, or envious, it is quite easy to judge other people, often assigning dark motives to their actions in order to justify our own feelings of resentment.

Of course, we know this is wrong. The doctrine is clear. We all depend on the Savior; none of us can be saved without Him. Christ’s Atonement is infinite and eternal. Forgiveness for our sins comes with conditions. We must repent, and we must be willing to forgive others. Jesus taught: “Forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not … [stands] condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin”and “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”

Of course, these words seem perfectly reasonable—when applied to someone else. We can so clearly and easily see the harmful results that come when others judge and hold grudges. And we certainly don’t like it when people judge us.

But when it comes to our own prejudices and grievances, we too often justify our anger as righteous and our judgment as reliable and only appropriate. Though we cannot look into another’s heart, we assume that we know a bad motive or even a bad person when we see one. We make exceptions when it comes to our own bitterness because we feel that, in our case, we have all the information we need to hold someone else in contempt.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, said that those who pass judgment on others are “inexcusable.” The moment we judge someone else, he explained, we condemn ourselves, for none is without sin. Refusing to forgive is a grievous sin—one the Savior warned against. Jesus’s own disciples had “sought occasion against [each other] and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened.”

May I add a footnote here? When the Lord requires that we forgive all men, that includes forgiving ourselves. Sometimes, of all the people in the world, the one who is the hardest to forgive—as well as perhaps the one who is most in need of our forgiveness—is the person looking back at us in the mirror.

This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon.  When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following:

Stop it!" 

(The Merciful Obtain Mercy. April 2012)

I was talking with a friend this week about how hard it can be to forgive and often I don't think it can be done without help from our Savior.  Holding a grudge and being unwilling to forgive is such a huge burden to carry.  I hope you will all take to heart the words of Elder Uchtdorf!. Ask for Heavenly Father's help to forgive - it works! 

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK AND KNOW HOW MUCH YOU ARE LOVED!!!

BEST HUSBAND EVER !!!

Added an Air Tag

After 2 failed attempts at making rice in the instant pot, Kevin surprised me with a new rice cooker this week.  What happened to the old one is still a mystery - maybe one day it will show up - but we are making sure this one never leaves 😁.   It has been kind of a crazy week - I babysat Helma on Monday, Tuesday I worked at Timberview and studied in the evening.  Dad had his Dr appointment on Wednesday, and while I was waiting for him, my good friend Michelle from 

Liberty came in with her husband.  I last saw her when we both retired so we had a great time visiting and catching up on who is doing what (ok gossiping), however, I missed 2 hours of time I was hoping to use studying for my final.  After we got home, I took Sendai for a walk and taught her all about theories, assumptions, and critiques, etc.  She is officially the smartest dog in the state of Colorado!  I did well on my test, got an A in the class and have been learning how to breathe again these last few days.  

Max came into town on Thursday after spending a few days in Houston with his Dad.  He had an assignment in one of his classes to do some job shadowing.  His plan was to go back to Provo, but he wasn't able to get on a flight so made a quick change of plans and came

here.  Thursday evening, we went out to dinner and Emma joined us.  How fun to have grandchildren around!    Friday evening we went out to Adams for pizza.  Max's good friend and missionary companion, Devin flew out so Max would have some company on the way back to Utah. The weather has been nice enough that we were able to sit outside and visit.

I got my first bite of pizza with a cauliflower crust and it was really good. And, got to do a photoshoot with Paul 😃 - Thanks, Adam and Cory for letting us invade your home and backyard.  We took Sendai intending to keep her tethered to a tree.  She did well, but then she fooled us all. She went outside just before we were ready to leave, and was hanging around on the deck with everyone until she went down by the fence and made a jump for freedom - She made a dash through the neighborhood that lasted for just about 5 minutes when Jake cornered her.  That was probably her last trip to Monument 😀.  

Max and Devin left around 10:30 and drove through the night, but made it home safely.  

SAYONARA, RUBY!  Off to some new adventures with Max ~

MY FAVORITE SUNDAY SELFIE!  Thanks for sending Kate 💕

ANGELLA sent me this video of Ben that was so sweet.  He is telling his mom to "clock out" because it's time to read.  When Angella was working from home and he wanted her attention, she would tell him that she needed to "clock out" before she could spend time with him - also, pay attention to the book he wants to read 💗

WHAT ARE THEY STARING AT? 🌞

Blythe, Cora, Kim, Spencer

Grant, Blythe, Cora, Spencer

The Eclipse is a marvel to me.  A couple of years ago Elder Stevenson shared some perspectives on a Solar Eclipse.  He said, "If you imagine the sun as the size of a common bicycle tire, the moon in comparison would scarcely be the size of a small pebble.  How is possible that the very source of our warmth, light, and life could be so greatly obscured by something comparatively insignificant in size?  Although the sun is 400 times larger than the moon, it is also 400 times farther away from the earth.  From Earth's perspective, this geometry makes the sun and moon appear to be the same size.  When the two are aligned just right, the moon seems to obscure the entire sun.

It is another testimony to me that the creation of the Earth, in all that it entailed, could only have been done by our Heavenly Father, and His Son Jesus Christ.  It has also made me more aware of the powers of heaven, and the beauty in nature that we see every day.  

I love you all so much!  Be safe this week and do good things 💝

 HAPPY EASTER and HAPPY GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. I feel so badly that I didn't get the bloc posted this week.  I had a good start on Sunday but then it got late and I had some distractions, and it got later, so I went to bed fully planning to finish it on Monday.  The days just got away from me so I"m combining two weeks into one blog.

Last Saturday we had a cute family of 6 get baptized and so on Easter Sunday five of them were confirmed.  That took most of our Sacrament meeting, but what a great reminder of how important the Gospel is in our lives.

We came home after Church and enjoyed dinner with Adam, Cory, Sammi, Paul, Lily, Jake, and Milo. It was so fun to have them and when dinner was over we watched some of the videos of the kids when they were little. We are so blessed with technology today.  Thanks so much for the family photos I received this afternoon -

Angella has been mothering sick kids this week.  Ben had an ear infection and Hollie was diagnosed with Strep.  Both are doing better, but we missed them!  

 Kim and Chris at a Polish Catholic church that blesses Easter baskets every year.  People bring their decorated and filled baskets and the priests bless them.  Their good friends, the Dubiels (Stake President) have been going since President Dubiel was a kid.

Mike and Barbi with Courtland and Allyanna

We made it through SPRING BREAK 2024!

Jonathan had to be in Salt Lake towards the end of the week, so Kate and Sayre found some fun things to do while he was gone.  Sayre decided to have a birthday party for Rex (his dinosaur), complete with snickerdoodles and birthday presents (rocks he painted and wrapped)

Ben made brownies and Eilis and her cat, Juno, slept in ~

 

Jake spent one night with us, and while I was in a meeting the next morning, he made a spear and shield out of computer paper and tape.  I love the creativity!  Jake and Paul both got haircuts and they are so handsome 😁

One story I wanted to share about Jake is that he loves Subway sandwiches.  What has become a tradition for him is whenever he orders his sandwich he always asks the person helping him what kind of cookies they think are the best.  Then he orders the cookie and gives it back to that person.  After we got his haircut we went to Subway and the lady who helped us didn't know what to say when he gave her the cookie.  It is such a sweet thing to do, and what a great example!

Jake also received the Student of the Month Award at his school on Friday.

Congratulations Jake!

Hollie and Ben came for the weekend and this morning after conference Ben and I took Sendai for a walk. Ben got tired and kept insisting we had walked 16 miles even after I told him again and again, it was only 1 mile.  Our weather has been sunny, but cool and very windy - so 1 mile was good enough for me.  

When the girls were little we took lots of walks to the little bridge that crosses over a small creek.  It used to be wooden but a couple of years ago it was updated to concrete.  Ben found some treasures to bring home - skipping stones

Before Ben left today he wanted to play a game of Chutes and Ladders. However, he didn't want anyone to play with him, because he "wanted to win" 😂

Love these kids 💕

Blythe, the badminton queen, and also team captain are JV champions!

Way to go, Blythe!

KIM and I are finishing up another term of school this week.  Wow!! I have loved my class and learned so much, however, I don't remember ever having all of the assignments, and busy work, reading, and writing, when I was a young college student.

In one of my reading assignments this week, I literally had to look up half of the words  - this is just a sample;

"Poststructural methodologies, therefore, criticize the use of linguistic categories (e.g., gender, race, class) that are fixed, unitary, and essentializing. Consequently, poststructural feminists question the very existence of restrictive social categories by recognizing the fluidity and contextual embeddedness of identities".   Yikes!  17 pages of this 😳

Yay! I just have to take my final on Wednesday and then I get a little bit of a break before starting again.  Kim is signed up for two block classes which is what I am hoping to do, but won't know for sure until I meet with my advisor on Friday.  

GENERAL CONFERENCE

I loved conference this weekend and I loved that there were so many talks about the Temple.  I think we  all recognize that life is getting harder, our society and political system are a little crazy, and the power we receive from going to the Temple may be what helps us get through it all.  President Nelson told us that we could expect to receive revelation, answers to prayer and increased power in the temple.  Dad and I are so excited to return to working at the Temple in May.

I am so happy that Kate and Jonathan are getting a temple in Des Moines. It will be a little closer than Nauvoo, and much more accessible. 

Speaking of Kate and Jonathan - They sent me their stay-in-pajamas-conference-day photos.  Thanks!

I hope you all have a very wonderful week!  Whether you are 6 or or 48 you are my favorite people in the world, and I pray for you every day 💖

“Love of the Lord is not complete if we neglect our neighbors.” — Elder Stevenson.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!

Our babies are growing up way tooooo fast!  Ben turned 6-years-old on Sunday and we celebrated with spaghetti and brownies - his favorites.  He got pajamas, hoodies, a train set, a mini strobe light, Hot Wheels, coloring books and crayons - it seemed like Christmas.  We had a fun evening celebrating him and he is so excited to be 6.

Josh and Ben went to the Denver Aquarium on Friday and had a great time.  Though Josh said about the time they got to Castle Rock and had to stop for a break, he realized Ben had left his shoes at the house.  Thank goodness for the Outlets!

KIM ALSO CELEBRATED HER BIRTHDAY 

with Chris and all of the kids at home, including Max, who made a surprise visit from Provo.

Every Mother's dream is to have all of her children, all together  (often) 😀

KATE and Jonathan got a surprise at Church today -

The Married Student Ward was dissolved and boundaries were changed in 4 Wards. Kate said her Ward lost a lot of people/good friends, which is always hard.  She said the 4 Wards have Bishoprics, but everyone else who had callings were released en masse.  New callings coming their way . . . . . 😊

A Sunday photo of Sayre 💕












ELLSWORTH Sunday photos -

FUN THINGS TO REMEMBER FROM THE KIDS THIS WEEK 😁

Sayre loves Twix candy bars.  You may know that there are usually two twix bars in a package, HOWEVER,  I bet you didn't know that just one bar is called a Twik 😂

Jake came over today while Ben and the girls were still here.  I asked him if he would mind babysitting Ben while I took the girls to the Mall. (Ji-Chan was in the office working) Jake did such a great job! They got out the Legos and watched a little Bluey. They played CandyLand, and I think everything was fine until they played a couple of games of Chutes and Ladders.  Ben was sad that Jake kept winning and Jake was trying to console him when we got home.  This is what Jake said to Ben, "You know, Ben, I'm going to tell you something my Dad says to me.  He says do you think adults cry when they lose or don't get their way?  Would you like to see an adult cry?"   Poor Ben - he was tired and I don't think he really cared one way or the other 😄

These were their Lego creations - Ben made a car, and Jake made a hot tub with a man inside.

Also, tonight after dinner Jake asked for some ice cream.  When he finished he came into the office and asked for some more.  When I questioned him about having more he said, "Well, you know, I'm older now and my body needs more sugar". Really?  😃

I love the things I learn from my grandchildren!!!

Remember the top hat from last week? Sayre loves it so much that he put it on over the hood of his coat, and he also wore it for breakfast 😆

Finally, Hollie is on her way to Master Chef stardom - Here she is trying her hand at flambeing (I'm not sure what).  Just take a look ~

I love you all so very much!  Each one of you are an important part of our family and adds just that touch of uniqueness that makes us strong and understanding of each other.  I love Easter and how each day this week we can remember our Savior and all that His atonement, death, and resurrection can mean in our lives.  Take time this week to think about your many blessings and all of the blessings that have come to our family.  Heavenly Father has been good to us.  He has seen us through challenges and trials, and has cheered us on when we were ready to quit.  Our Savior loves us, and it is such a comfort to know that He will never leave us alone or stranded, but will always be there to strengthen us and help us find answers when the hard times come.  I hope you all have a very wonderful and very happy Easter ~