Our Mini Town

So our little town is complete with a barn, bakery, store, and church. The church is a replica of the tabernacle that I went to as a child. Mort is an amazing artist, and it's fun to watch the grateful birds.

Fun Times with the Fam

It's been a wonderful few weeks. At the end of March we were able to travel to Idaho for Bryson's baptism. Rob and his family also drove up with other family. We had a great time watching the kids swim, attending the baptism, and watching a great play that Ben starred in. Here are a few shots of the event.

Sabrina and family came up the next week so Brett could finish some business. They are thrilled that his nights and weekends are now free. Yee haw!

We love family times.

God is in Charge

There is a young father in our ward who has been on dialysis for several years now as he has been waiting for a kidney and pancreas transplant. They have never been able to find a match for him. Our bishop has met with the family many times and asked about doing a ward fast for him, but he wanted to wait until he was going through surgery. He kept getting sicker and sicker, and a few weeks ago his wife's visiting teacher asked about a fast, and they agreed. This visiting teacher called the Relief Society president, it was brought up in ward council, and they decided that today would be a fast for him. Last week the fast was started with a prayer. Saturday morning a match was found. During fast and testimony meeting the ward was fasting while he was going through surgery. God is in charge, and testimonies were strengthened today.

It's Going to the Birds!

I commissioned my talented friend, Mort, to make a couple of bird house for us, and I'm so pleased with our new store and barn, and I look forward to becoming a bird watcher. I took pictures of both bird houses close up and well as from a distance.

He is now working on a replica of the Summit Stake Tabernacle that I attended as a child. I can't wait to see the result.

Deja Vu

About twenty years ago I listened to some neighbors talk about nutrition and decided to try a diet that eliminated cow's milk. I can't remember feeling much better, and it was hard to cook for everyone. To top it off I had cavities for the first time. I gave up on that adventure and have been drinking lots of cow's milk since then. During this past year Sabrina decided to eliminate cow's milk in her family's diet after lots of research and trying to deal with stomach issues. This made me nervous, and of course I voiced my concern. However, lately I've spent quite a bit of time with their family and have paid attention to the various items they consume as Sabrina makes sure they all have adequate nutrition. I marvel at all the information she has learned and the steps she takes to keep her family healthy. This week I went to the doctor about my own stomach issues which have gotten so bad that pain immobilizes me for up to an hour at a time. Tests were taken to make sure I didn't have something going on, and then my doctor asked if I consumed a lot of dairy. She told me that allergies to lactose can cause the symptoms I was describing, and that as people age (oh not that dreaded phrase again) their bodies have a more difficult time with lactose. So now I'm going to be using Sabrina's knowledge for my own diet. I'm glad there are more products and resources available now. I certainly don't want to get more cavities for Trent to fill!

Heaven, I'm in Heaven

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays. I've had lots of visitors this year, and have enjoyed myself tremendously. Eight out of ten of our grandchildren live out of state, but we've been able to see them all except Braden (who had to get back for finals). I took a few pictures, but I was trying to fix something on my camera when it erased all of my pictures, so I'll borrow some from Debbie and Amelia. Sabrina and her family came into town first and were able to attend a lot of family events. She was still here when Debbie and her family joined us last week. This is a picture from Debbie's blog of us singing to people in a care center. James was taking the picture.
 
We also went swimming and had a dinner. Fun times! Trent, Amelia, and TJ rode into town Tuesday night, and have been racing ever since. They stopped long enough to open presents with Sabrina's family on Thursday night and Rob's family on Christmas. The Santa suits were from a party with other grandparents, but they were so cute I had to add them - Thanks Debbie for thinking ahead and purchasing them months ago.

We went to Morgan on Christmas Day, and TJ met his Great Grandmother Heiner. Since we are in Utah, the weekend was capped off with snow for the Floridians to play in. I will miss my grandchildren as they go back home, but hope our fun memories will last forever.
 

Second Time Around

So, three years ago when we sold our house a multitude of miracles occurred. Once again it has happened to us - even in a horrible housing market. I'm sure it is not anything to do with Wes or I because I know of good people who are having a hard time selling a home. I'm sure it's because we just happen to have homes where God wants to put people.

We have been trying to decide what to do with our new home since we started building it. Originally we planned to rent it out until the housing market improved so we could sell our current home. We went back and forth about selling versus renting and which home to sell or rent. At the first of the month I mentioned that we should pray about it. That Sunday was Fast Sunday and Wes sat next to a man in church who he had heard was looking for a house in the ward and mentioned that we had a house we were going to sell. They looked at it that day and wanted it. The miracle part was that the man was fasting about finding a home himself. We just found out today that they were going to put an offer on a house that very day, but just didn't feel right about it. They are good people who will be wonderful neighbors.

We know that it doesn't always work out this smoothly, but we feel very blessed to be a part of this second miracle.