Happy March to the people I love most in the world! Tonight is just going to be a short blog - we got home from Church in time to make some banana bread and put finishing touches on our Temple Prep lesson for tonight. We had a young couple who joined the Church just a year ago - they are amazing with 5 small children (they didn't bring the kids), a young man who is being ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood next Sunday, and his father who joined us tonight.  We have another young man who will be meeting with us next week.  We had a great discussion and were able to keep the meeting to just an hour.  Dad has an Institute Conference tonight so my time in the office is limited but wanted to share a few important items . . .

1st -   Happy Birthday to Grant!       

His birthday is on Saturday, March 8th.  I have so many fun memories of Grant - Grammie Camp, Chicago visits, driving in the Liberty High School parking lot, and traipsing through the Rome Colloseum last summer.    I talked to him earlier this week and he told me that he had to "channel his inner Grammie" to iron his shirt to wear to a wedding he was going to with his beautiful friend Jordan.  Looks like he did a great job😀.  Love you so much, Grant, and hope you have a wonderful day! 

2nd - Kim (and Chris) "Caved" ....  

And Blythe got the puppy she has been dreaming of 😃

He is a Golden Retriever mix and so far without a name.  He is 4 months old and I am sure we will have lots of fun puppy stories in the near future.

This reminds me a little of my favorite story this week - In my group meeting for school on Wednesday we were discussing some of our reading assignments and one section was about fake news, the internet, cell phones, etc., and how they can overtake our lives if we let them.  My friend, Aimee was telling us about how she wanted a dog (their family dog had died) but her husband was very reluctant.  So, she said every morning when he was in the shower, she would get his cell phone and type in "cute puppies", "dog treats", "dog toys", "puppy tricks", and of course, his Facebook feed then became all about puppies. Two weeks later her husband asked her if she still wanted a puppy because he had changed his mind and decided he wanted one too - 😂

3rd - Family This n' That

 I am so grateful we were able to spend a few days last October with Francie and Ray.  Ray passed away early this morning and we will really miss him.  He and Francie began dating when they were in High School so from my perspective he has always been a part of our family.  Jenny wasn't sure when the services would be, but Dad and I will definitely be going.  I will keep you posted ❤

This is a Hawaiian war club and in the midst of our decluttering this week it fell off of JiChan's desk and hit him in the head while he was sorting through things on the floor - He wanted to make sure I showed you how much blood he lost 

 I promise it wasn't me! 

  I didn't do it 😀

This is Sayre looking all grown up!  He had new Church clothes and is growing out his hair a little on top - it makes him look older 😥

AND thank you Kate and Jonathan for always sending me great Sunday Selfies!

Also, a well-deserved thank-you to Eilis and Sammi for always being willing to check-on, feed, and play with Sendai when we are at the Temple. 

She thinks she is queen for a day when anyone walks in the front door and pays attention to her.

        

                        Grant Ellsworth - Mar 8

                       Kimberly Ellsworth - Mar 21

                       Benjamin Hopkins - Mar 24

This morning I watched a short video of Elder Holland speaking to a group in California who had lost their homes in the recent Los Angeles Fires. Attached is the link - it is only a couple of minutes long but so good! Elder Holland

We love you all so much!  Please have a wonderful week ❤ 

I know I usually have thoughts to end with, but today I want to start with a quote that we have discussed in my class assignments this week, and that we were able to merge with our lesson on humility in our Addiction Recovery class.  

 In his talk regarding the slope and the intercept, Elder Clark Gilbert said, "We all have different intercepts in life - we start in different places with different life endowments.  Some are born with high intercepts, full of opportunity.  Others face beginning circumstances that are challenging and seem unfair.  We then progress along a slope of personal progress.  Our future will be determined far less by our starting point and much more by our slope.  Jesus Christ sees divine potential no matter where we start.

He saw it in the beggar, the sinner, and the infirm.  He saw it in the fisherman, the tax collector, and even the zealot.  No matter where we start, Christ considers what we do with what we are given.  While the world focuses on our intercept, God focuses on our slope. In the Lord's calculus, He will do everything He can to help us turn our slopes toward heaven." 

   What a beautiful warm(er), sunny weekend we have had!  This afternoon I took Sendai for a long walk and it was wonderful.  I am sure we will still see some snow and cold temperatures before  end of March, but at least for this week it is supposed to stay warm and sunny and that makes me happy ~

 I had a busy week with school assignments and a big test.  We have a paper that has to be completed every week and submitted before our group Zoom meeting, and because my group meets on Wednesday mornings, I spend a lot of time on Mondays and Tuesdays completing the reading assignments so I can finish the paper and get it turned in.  This week I did some extra studying for my test and it went well, and then I took Wednesday afternoon and spent some time with Helma while her daughter, Donna, ran a few errands.  Helma is frail and often not cognizant of what is going on around her but in spite of that, she always seems to know who we are.  

 A BIG thank-you to Josh this week, who saved me from total disaster (maybe I am being just a little dramatic - or maybe not 😊)  The person in my Wednesday morning group who always starts our Zoom meetings was having technical problems this week, so I volunteered to start it at the last minute.  In my haste to get it going, I didn't realize that my Zoom had reverted back to my personal account so when I hit the record button, it recorded to my computer instead of the cloud.  This made the file too large to post on our discussion board.  This year I have learned a lot about being patient with technology.  I have learned not to give up, that there is always a way to find what I need so I can complete the assignments that need to be done.  That being said, I tried for hours to find a way to get my recording to post to the discussion board, without any luck.  SO, I asked Josh for help and he was amazing.  He was able to take the file and make it smaller, so I was finally able to insert it into the discussion to complete the assignment.

 I was so happy to see these cute faces in my house
this week!

Thanks for coming by ❤

AND, Kim and Blythe were in Target this week - looking at (or buying) facial products, clothes, and I'm sure smelling everything along the way.  Love these ladies ~ 

Kate and Jonathan have had their fill of snow and super cold weather over the last month!   This is such a great video of Sayre and Clementine 😁

And I love their Sunday Selfie 😎

I am not sure if any of you have ever watched these programs done by Albert Lin but they are fascinating.  Albert Lin is a scientist, engineer, but I think mostly explorer and he does these amazing while exploring past historical events in the world.  You can find him on Disney +.  Jonathan sent us a short excerpt from one tonight and I tried to download it and add it to the blog, but couldn't make it work (sound familiar?)  The episode we were looking at is called Lost Cities: Revealed, Season 1, Episode 1.  

I love that some of his findings we can relate to our Temples.

STILL Decluttering 😳

 We started cleaning out our office yesterday.  I threw out all of my notebooks from classes I have taken over the last three years (that was a big step) and Dad sorted through books - some going to Goodwill, and others downstairs.  

Obviously, there is a lot left to do, but it feels so good to be working on it. 

HAVE A REALLY GREAT WEEK!

  

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!  AND HOPE YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL WEEK ❤
  We had a really nice Iowa visit with Kate, Jonathan, and Sayre, but left a day early on Tuesday to miss an incoming snowstorm.   However, SURPRISE to us, it was snowing in Denver so we ended up with a delayed flight anyway 😀.  It was all worth it  - playtime with Sayre, walks with Clementine, shopping and decluttering with Kate 😊, put together a kitchen shelf (I supervised, Kate did all the work), cards with Kate and Jonathan, yummy food, a manicure by Kate, finished my first book of the year (the Nightengale - so good), and got through a couple of more episodes of Call the Midwife, not to mention some school work - whew!!!

I love this series so much! It begins in the early 1950's and one of the midwives looks a lot like my Mom.  

Kevin kept busy in Iowa with a "to-do" list from Kate.  He put in new toilet paper holder in the bathroom on the main floor, re-caulked the kitchen sink, and most importantly, repaired Papa's duck.

  Remember the duck with the "flappy" feet? Papa's friend, George made it for him.  

 Such fun memories! 

Wednesday, we had a wonderful surprise visit from Emma.  She is contemplating a change in employment and wanted to know what I thought.  I love that she wanted my opinion, that she is weighing all of her options before making a decision.  I don't get to see her too often, but what a treat!!!

She will be amazing at whatever she decides to do ❤

 Shortly after Emma left, this cute girl showed up!  (in case you couldn't tell, Sendai is trying to steal the scene from Sammi)

 We love these girls so much and especially love when they stop by for a visit.  Sammi did a great job of taking care of Sendai while we were gone, we didn't worry once about the good care she was getting.  AND thanks to Eilis who also stopped by to check on Sendai and play with her before she had to go to work.  

Friday, we met Lily and Sammi at Panera for lunch.  

If you notice Samantha has on "floaties".  It is part of the "Senior Assassin" game that Seniors at her school participate in.  I don't know all of the rules, but I just know that Sammi was safe from getting shot by a water gun because she had the floaties on. 😁  It's all new to me!

 

Also, Samantha left early, early Saturday morning for a quick trip to Salt Lake City.  She was meeting Aunt Kelly and her cousin Hailey, who is getting married in May.  Sammi went over to help shop for wedding dresses.  

 

I wonder if it will be like "Say Yes to the Dress"?

Lily had a road trip to Phoenix last weekend for a soccer tournament.  She traveled with a teammate and her family by car - for two days - can anyone relate?  I may be in my own handcart, but I do love road trips.  Lily said the tournament was great and she even scored!  Way to go Lily!  I love that she has loved soccer from the time she was little and she just keeps getting better. 

Chris spent a few days last week in Huntington Beach for a work conference. How lucky to get some California sunshine. 

 However, I will say that any day the sun is out and the skies are blue - it's a great day!!!

Kim and Blythe went to visit their little friend, Miles, who suffered a skull fracture this week.  He is their Bishop's son, and of course, it happened as they were planning to leave for a Florida vacation.

I vaguely remember a time when Dad and I were planning a short weekend trip and Adam got hairspray in his eye and we spent hours in the emergency room with him - I think he was about 2 years-old - just old enough to tell the doctors to stop putting water in his eye. 😢

 

 We are excited to see Hollie and Ben this week. They don't have school so they are going to come spend a couple of days with us.  Hollie helps me clean and she is such a great cook!  AND maybe, we might have to do some shopping 😁

Thursday Kevin and I were released from our callings in the Addiction Recovery Program.  We were invited to share our testimonies in the High Council Meeting that evening.  It was so nice to see people in our Stake that we don't get to see very often and answer the many questions they had about ARP.   The Bishop asked us today if we could help for the next month to teach the Temple Prep classes in our Ward. We are excited for something new and for our ward members who are getting ready to go to the Temple.

 Saturday, we had a great day at the Temple. It was snowy most of the day and when we came out everything was so beautiful.  I was helping a young sister who just received her mission call to Brazil, and when her family joined her in the Endowment Room, we recognized that she was a niece to Kim and Chris' good friends the Pulsiphers.  The more I go to the Temple I realize how much strength and power I receive that helps me through the craziness that can happen during the rest of the week. 

 I realize I don't say enough how grateful I am for Kevin (Dad, and JiChan) - 

He is my rock! He supports me in the time it takes for me to complete my school work and prepare for my primary lessons.  He makes the bed, does the laundry, washes dishes, cooks, and is patient with me when I am at my worst. 

Thank you, Kevin!  You are amazing and I am excited for whatever adventures we will have this week. Love you! ❤