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 ~ 

 HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY~

I can hardly believe we are halfway through March and looking forward to the official first day of Spring later this week. 

It is also a great week to celebrate Kim.  Her birthday is on Thursday the 21st.  

She is a wonderful daughter, wife, mother, sister, and aunt and brings sunlight into any room she enters.  We are so thankful for Kim and grateful she grew up to be such a special person in spite of our 1st time parenting efforts.  We love you, Kim!  Have a wonderful Birthday!🎂

IF YOUR HOME IS SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN COLORADO THIS WEEK, BE THANKUL 😀

What a week with so much snow, and 2 snow days off from school ~  It started snowing Wednesday evening, and continued through the night and the next morning, until we had just about a foot. I was trying to complete some school work, when I could hear shoveling outside, and peeked out to see our neighbors shoveling our sidewalks and driveway.  It was so heavy and there was so much of it, I don't think Dad nor I would have lasted very long.  It started snowing again Thursday afternoon and snowed through the night. until about 11:00 Friday morning.  We had another foot of heavy snow but decided to be brave and went out to shovel.  Our neighbor came out to help, and a little girl from across the street, Maddie, came over with her shovel.  It only took about an hour and we survived it (although I did need the Tiger Balm that night.  Here is what it looked like from our house ↓

Thank You Maddie

Hollie and Ben built snowmen

At this point I think I could just move past Spring -   I am ready for Summer! 

Fun happenings in our family this week ~

Angella said that Ben was so happy she was home on Snow Day Friday that all he wanted to do all day was sit on her lap.  He has got the best manners and when I ask him to do something for me that he doesn't want to do, he'll say "no thank-you".

By-the-way, his birthday is coming up on Sunday. 

Also,  Angella was recognized in her recent employee appraisal as an outstanding manager and they couldn't imagine the company without her.  Way to go Angella!

MOVING EASTWARD - 

Guess who got to go to 

this week?  COME ON DOWN, MS. KATE!

Apparently, there is a traveling Price is Right Live show that is going around the country and had a stop in Cedar Rapids.  I think this would be so fun!  Love this show but haven't watched it in ages.  Kate went with some friends and said they had a blast!  

No dates for Colorado but I am going to keep checking on it 😁

ALSO, Kate and Jonathan were the only ones who sent a Sunday Selfie to me, and I love this photo of Sayre who changed his clothes after Church all by himself. ( I love the belt).  I'll send out a reminder next week for a Sunday Selfie from everyone -

 MOVING FURTHER EAST ~

Every year in Chicago the river that runs through downtown is dyed green and you-know-who was in the middle of it this year - Blythe and her friends!  

Also, to note, Blythe is on the school badminton team again this year.  With her height, I am sure she is a star player! ☆☆☆

This past week in my class we learned about the Family Systems Theory with a special emphasis on addictions.  I know when we hear that word we automatically think of substance abuse, but there are so many different kinds of addictions. The sad part is that Satan can lure us into an addiction, and then if we don't feel bad enough already, he fills us with shame, guilt, self-loathing, and feelings of worthlessness.  I love the story that Brad Wilcox shared in his talk a couple of years ago, Worthiness is not Flawlessness, in which he said, "One young man I’ll call Damon wrote: “Growing up, I struggled with pornography. I always felt so ashamed that I could not get things right.”  Each time Damon slipped, the pain of regret became so intense, that he harshly judged himself to be unworthy of any kind of grace, forgiveness, or additional chances from God.

 He said: “I decided I just deserved to feel terrible all the time. I figured God probably hated me because I wasn’t willing to work harder and get on top of this once and for all. I would go a week and sometimes even a month, but then I would relapse and think, ‘I’ll never be good enough, so what’s the use of even trying? At one such low moment, Damon said to his priesthood leader: “Maybe I should just stop coming to church. I’m sick of being a hypocrite.” 

His leader responded: “You’re not a hypocrite because you have a bad habit you are trying to break. You are a hypocrite if you hide it, lie about it, or try to convince yourself the Church has the problem for maintaining such high standards. Being honest about your actions and taking steps to move forward is not being a hypocrite. It is being a disciple.” 

This leader quoted Elder Richard G. Scott, who taught: “The Lord sees weaknesses differently than He does rebellion. … When the Lord speaks of weaknesses, it is always with mercy.”

I think sometimes we forget how much the Savior loves us, and how His atonement can create comfort, peace, and hope in our lives.