Sad Remainders

Tonight Kent said, "Do you think there's any hope for this plant?  Can I cut it back and have it regrow?" 

No my friend.  No.  You can't.

That plant right there is a sad remainder of Christmas.

Band Bash

This evening was the Timpview Band Bash, a band concert that brings together elementary, middle school, and high school students to perform exciting band music for their loved ones.  Both Brandt and Blythe participated, Blythe in the Sixth Grade East Side Band, and Brandt in the Centennial Middle School Concert Band.  Kent brought his deacons (and the deaconesses) to the concert because lots of those in the quorum/class were performing.  Blythe's group played When the Saints Go Marching In, Brandt's group played Chant and Tribal Dance, and together, with absolutely everyone, they played Shockwave.  It was a fun concert and everyone did well, although Blythe was not entirely confident in what she was playing.  It is wonderful to see the children developing their talents.

A Teacher and a Young Woman

Today Kent ordained Brandt to the office of a teacher.  I can hardly believe how he's growing.  He has been a very dutiful deacon, and I am confident he'll continue to grow in his priesthood responsibilities.  He is now Kent's ministering partner, and he'll begin helping prepare the sacrament.  He has self selected to be the official sacrament meeting program folder, and dutifully goes early to church each week to take care of that.  Brother Niven really relies on him to be there.  

Kent gave Brandt a really sweet blessing along with his ordination.  He praised him for his goodness and his desires to go what's right.  He counseled him to remain close to the Lord and to be valiant in the fight against Satan.  He blessed him that he would be a force for good.  It was beautiful to have Kent bless Brandt and see the priesthood in action.

This evening, we all attended a stake youth fireside with the Stake Presidency delivering a message about the Church's youth theme for 2020, Go and Do.  They asked the audience several questions, and members of the PV 6th ward were quick to respond.  When asked how we can communicate with our electronic devices, Brandt raised his hand, introduced himself, and said, "We can send email."  Good answer son!  

We were trying to get Blythe to answer some questions, but she kept scowling and saying no.  Then they asked if anyone had ever had an experience where they followed a commandment even though they didn't know why.  Blythe stood right up and very confidently shared a sweet experience which I will now have her recount.

"So, um, I Rollerblade and there's a hill next to my house. But when I go down the hill, a red fence blocks my sight so I can't see ahead of me but I know that there is a patch of grass so I can turn off onto it if I don't want to go any further. Now don't ask me why, but I was being stupid and wasn't wearing my helmet. So I start going down this hill and I think, I'll go as far as I can without pushing myself forward, to see where I end up. But then I hear a voice saying "turn off onto the grass" and I think that's stupid. It's just my subconscious. but as I near the fence I hear it again. "turn off onto the grass" and I think again that's stupid. But as I near the end of the fence I hear it more clearly and loudly "TURN OFF ONTO THE GRASS!!!" and I think fine. it wouldn't hurt me. I can go back down again. so I veer off onto the grass and right as I think that the voice was nothing, a black SUV comes screaming around the corner and down the hill. I know that if I didn't veer off and kept going, I would have gotten seriously hurt because I wasn't wearing my helmet. I also know that the "Stupid Voice" was Heavenly Father keeping me safe. 

Many people told her and me how touched they were by her testimony.  I certainly felt the Spirit as she spoke.  I was so pleased as her poise and confidence as she shared, even though she might have been scared doing so in front of 400+ people.  I didn't get a picture of her because I was behind her as she spoke.  It was beautiful to hear Blythe share her knowledge of the Holy Ghost speaking to her.  We are so glad to see her grow in faith and spiritual strength.

As it says in 3 John 1:4,  "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

Shopping Companion

This very amusing small person joined me grocery shopping today.  His mom and old brother and sister came too.  None of the rest of them were quite so entertaining as Kal.

Work

On Tuesday, I began working full-time.  The last time I held a full-time job was May 1997.  We moved from New York at the beginning of June 1997, and I haven't had a "real" job since then.  That's over twenty years.  I was driven to apply for work due to our lack of income and the lawsuit (which I can't talk about here), and was so grateful to get a job.  I don't want to work outside our home, I don't want to be gone all day, and I don't want to have to be the breadwinner in the family, but needs must.  The Lord very kindly dropped a job in my lap with little effort on my part, and I truly see it as a blessing.  Like the people of Alma, we are in bondage, a situation not of our making.  We've been trying to do good, but have found ourselves unable to work freely and move forward free of oppression.  While Heavenly Father has not delivered us from bondage yet, he has made our burdens light and given me work.

I'm working for the 2020 Census and was hired as an Office Operations Supervisor (OOS).  I'm making $19/hour (big money!) and so far have done virtually nothing but training.  I've watched government training videos, I have sat in training classes learning how to work the computer system, and I've read government training manuals.  Talk about a gripping read.  On Friday, day four of training, I was having a hard time staying awake and concentrating on what I was reading, so I went and walked circles in the conference room while reading the manual.  If I had questions or wanted to look at a form on the computer, I would go back to my desk.  But mostly I walked.  I've spent 30 of the 32 hours I've worked doing training.  I hope this coming week is better, but I'm not sure it will be.  Apparently I'm going to be the MQAC OOS, the Mobile Questionnaire Assistance Coordinator, or something like that.  No one knows exactly what I'm going to be doing, and it probably won't actually start until the Census officially begins on April 1.  That means, I've likely got weeks to do little or nothing.  It's not looking like it will be a super exciting job, but it's something.

 

Two pictures from my online training.

On the left, a "mechanic" indicating that I should keep my car is good repair if I'm using it for Census work.

Look at those beautiful hands.  

They've never seen the underside of an automobile.

But even so, I'd take my car to him.

Cuz he's hot.

On the right, an OOS responding to an enumerator's call for assistance.

Clearly, she's irritated at having to deal with some problem in the field.

I'm not sure what they're trying to convey here.

Should I be rolling my eyes when those I supervise call?

Do I really have to field these calls?

Was this the very best picture they could get of this woman?

That's easily two full inches of paper I read through on Friday afternoon.

Reading it left me looking like the woman pictured above.

The people I work with are nice.  Quite a few of them are veterans, as the Census Bureau gives hiring preference to veterans.  There are more men than women, but I think they will all be pleasant to work with.  I've tried really hard to be friendly and learn everyone's name.  I was delighted to walk in the first day (Tuesday) and see Mark Bigelow, a man in our stake who has a daughter Brandt's age and who bikes regularly with Spencer Magleby.  It was a treat to have a friendly face and kind word first thing.  I hope it will all pick up soon, that I'll pick it up soon, and that as soon as the Census is over, I can be done working for another 20+ years because our court case will have been settled.

I'm praying that I won't have to work anymore after this job finishes, but I'm also applying for other positions that look like something I could both do and enjoy.  If I want something better, I'm willing to work for that, looking for jobs, submitting applications, and being hopeful.  I wish the future were more clear, that when God gives me reassurance it will all be fine, I could see what that "fine" would look like.  Ah well!  That's how we live by faith.

Family Photos

 

Kent, Brandt, and I went to Britain Covey's wedding reception this evening. It was at the Covey's house and they had a photo booth at the front entry. We took funny pictures. Then we ate delicious food as we visited with neighbors who joined the Coveys and us in celebrating Britain and his new wife Leah. 

A Happy Helper

Kal, Cora, and Brick came to hang out with me this morning.  I start work tomorrow, and I know I'm going to miss this kid and his siblings.  I was working on laundry as we were home, and Kal was a super great helper.  He threw clothes into the machine, he pushed buttons, he moved wet clothes from the washer to the dryer.  I sure to love him!

Murray and Alex Are Sealed

Back in September, our nephew/cousin Murray was married to a lovely women named Alex.  They had a very small, immediate family only, ceremony in the backyard of the house where she grew up.  Naturally, we didn't attend.  But from the beginning, they planned on being sealed today, January 18th.

We drove to Idaho Falls yesterday and are staying in an Airbnb that James and Alisa rented.  We spent the evening visiting with family--Murray and Alex, who we got to meet for the first time (she's darling!!), Cory, Erika, and little (big!) Carter, James and Alisa, Lee and Cammie, David and Sharon, and Seth and Noelle (his fiance; we'll attend their wedding next month).  It is always so good to be with family we don't see regularly because we live far away.  It was fun to get to know Alex and Noelle, neither of whom we'd really had a chance to talk to before.  We stayed up late talking and watching The Chicaraffe, a silly animated program on Netflix that James got us watching.

This morning, we lounged around, then got ready to go to the temple.  We went to the reception venue to help do a bit of set up and discovered we should have gone over lots earlier.  There was some frantic hanging of decor, setting out of pictures, and food prep, but we did our bit.

Because we were all together, and Brandt and Blythe can't yet come to a sealing, we brought some family names and they went and did baptisms for the dead while we were in the sealing.  The sealing was very nice, and the baptisms were very nice, too.  The temple is closing today for several weeks, so it was very busy in the baptistry.  We got the children dressed and on the bench to wait, then returned to find them in the actual font area, but still not quite there.  We waited another 20 minutes or so, then Kent and I were witnesses as they were baptized.  It is a wonderful thing to be with your children in the temple, to see them worth to be in the Lord's house, and to feel the Spirit.  It is a joy to us that we can all be in the temple together.

We missed all the picture taking because of the baptistry wait, but took our own outside.  We returned to the venue for lunch and visiting.  Again, so fun to see family we don't see often.  We had a break for a bit, and returned to the house to watch more TV and play some games.  This evening, we returned to the venue for treats and talk.  Tomorrow we will join Cory and Erika and lots of Barri and Fredericksons for church and lunch, then drive home.  It has been a treat to celebrate Murray and Alex.

As a side note, it's Kent's birthday today, too. We've done really absolutely nothing to celebrate, but we will tomorrow or Monday, after we get back from Idaho.  Poor guy.  I hope he doesn't feel too bad.

It was COLD!!

Blythe made this Pic Collage of Murray and Alex

So cute!

Outside in January

It was a lovely day, sunny and not too cold.  I took Kal with me to pick up Cora, and then went to play at the park after we'd had some lunch.  We all needed to be outside.  Cora and Kal both climbed around on the equipment, but Kal most wanted to swing.  And swing and swing and swing.  I pushed him for really a long time.  He is a teaser teaser and when I initially began pushing him from the front, he kept trying to kick me.  It was a delight to be with these two, outside in January, enjoying some last moments together as I start working full-time next week.

This is the screaming that is happening because we had to leave.

Kal is not pictured, though he, too, was screaming. I had to pick him up and haul him back to the car.

Sunday Selfies

Brandt from various angles.

I think he's kinda strange.

25 Years

How can I sum up 25 years of marriage?  When Kent and I married in 1995, I didn't really look very far forward.  We began our marriage in New York and I am fairly certain we were happy.  I know it was an adjustment, and we had to learn that neither of us was a mind reader.  Being far from family was really good for us; we had to rely on each other, no one else.  We had to figure out how to be a We, not an I.  Through the years, we've had challenges and celebrations, happy days and long moments when it felt really, really hard.  But life is sweet, love is grand, and Kent and I are both in it for the long haul.  He's not going anywhere and neither am I.  This past year has been particularly challenging, but as a couple, we've pulled together, made the Lord a more significant part of our partnership, and seen the blessings that come from trials.  I picked Kent.  He picked me.  If we could go back and do it over, we'd make the same choice.  Marriage is a blessing and we're so, so happy to be celebrating our silver anniversary.  Given our financial situation, the big plans I had hoped to make--a trip to Italy, or barring that, a three day trip somewhere domestic--have been put on hold, and we aren't really marking today any differently than we've marked our anniversary in the past.  In fact, we went to dinner at Bombay House yesterday, without the children, which is exactly the same thing we did last year.  Ah well.  Life is good, even without foreign travel.

Here we are, looking ridiculously young, on our honeymoon in Paris.

Don't we look happy?

Zooming

I was hanging out with Mikayla this afternoon, working on a Christmas photobook that I was clearly late in finishing.  We recently gave up our high speed internet, so our computer is super slow, especially when it comes to downloading pictures.  Mikayla offered to let me use her computer, so I was there.  While Mikayla and Mom were cleaning out the storage room, the kids were watching TV.  They'd been watching TV for a while.  Brandt and Brick arrived home after school, and I suggested we go outside and walk around the block.  Brick had been in school, Cora and Kal had been sitting around, me too.  We needed to get outside.  Brick, Cora, and Kal wanted to ride their wiggle cars, Brandt was riding the small motorcycle.  They all went up to the top of the hill in the condo complex, and with great roaring speed, tore down the hill.  I stood at the bottom of the hill and watched for cars, and was amazed at the energy small bodies exude.  Cora and Kal propelled themselves up the hill over and over and over and over, with Kal continuing well after Cora gave up.  It was a delight to see their rosy cheeks, hear their joyous shrieks, and watch them move and zoom.  Mikayla and Mom came out with Freya and Thea in their snowsuits.  They couldn't move around very well; Thea face planted in the snow and Freya log rolled down the driveway.  It was lovely, brisk moment out in the winter sun.