We absolutely loved the peace, tranquility and spiritual uplift we received from listening to our prophet, Russell M. Nelson, and other general authorities of the church on General Conference Weekend. It was not only memorable because they spoke in an empty room to a worldwide congregation watching from their homes all over the world, but the focus was on the Restoration of the Christ's gospel begun 200 years before because of Joseph Smith's first vision of the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove in upstate New York State. President Nelson also led members in a sacred Hosanna Shout, read a new Proclamation about the Restoration, announced the construction of new temples including one in Shanghai, China and Dubai UAE, and invited the entire world to join us in fasting and prayer on Good Friday, April 10, for relief from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It was truly an amazing and memorable conference.
Saturday afternoon between sessions, we drove to Brigham City, for a walkthrough on a condo, Kristen is closing with buyers this week. Here are Dakoda and MaKayla in front of their soon to be home.
Sunday evening Campbells joined us for dinner. It was a fantastic weekend!
Monday, the company we contracted with before this lockdown began, arrived to tear out our kitchen countertops and replace them. They tore them out and replaced the side counters but couldn't do the island because it needed additional reinforcement. Steve was just the person to do it correctly so he dedicated a lot of time the next two days to make sure it was secure. We were without our kitchen sink, etc. for at least a week. It was a good thing that Taylor's family had gone to Bountiful.
Tuesday, our ward held a caravan parade to welcome home missionaries who were sent home due to the virus. Bishop Peck led the way in his car. A lot of cars were decorated or had balloons. We help up a sign and threw out candy to the missionaries. What's a parade without candy? The missionaries stood with their families in their front yards as we drove by, honked and waved. It was fun to have something to look forward to.
Taylor and Jen invited us to Bountiful to visit and see their vacation home. Since our kitchen wasn't usable, we decided to drive down, visit, tend the kids for a couple of hours, host an Easter egg hunt, and possibly make another trip to Costco. If was fun getting out of the house and out of town.
It was nice enough to grill and eat outside which was a great change. The kids loved the game room, hot tub, play area, theatre room, etc. What's not to love about an inclusive vacation home!
This was the view from the front of their house. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous and we loved our walk with the kids around the temple that evening.
The next morning, we tended the kids while Jen and Taylor went for a bike ride and then we had our hunt which the kids thoroughly enjoyed.
Because it is spring, we had unexpected snow storms at home. We reminded ourselves that it was a temporary setback. Because we live in the foothills, we get snow when others just have rain.
April 10 was a real mental boost day. Our daffodils began to bloom, we had our first walk without winter coats and gloves and we felt the spiritual comfort of our day of fasting and prayer with millions of other believers around the world. We are so grateful for a modern day prophet who prepared us for this experience and who comforts and assures us that this virus trial will pass.
President Nelson prays with us and for us.
On Saturday, I assisted the Campbells with some trimming of sumac trees and then we had another Easter egg hunt with their family. Fun!
At the same time, Steve was home supervising the rest of the installation of our kitchen counters.
It looks awesome! On Monday, the plumber will install a new disposer and the faucet. Steve will install new plugs and switches.
Sunday, after our in-home worship service, we hosted Hilary and Adam's family for a nice ham Easter dinner with the highlight of Adam's homemade rolls!
Later that day, we drove to Bountiful again and joined our ham and potatoes with delicious veggy side dishes prepared by Jen. Both families wanted us to celebrate with them, but were not sure that meeting all together under the circumstances was a wise choice.
We loved walking near the temple again that afternoon. You can see the spires between Taylor and Steve.
Jen holds up a bright little quilt I made for her to wrap around her while reading, etc. The balloons remind me of her adventurous spirit as she has followed Taylor around the world and lived in China for over 10 years. That is a huge adventure and accomplishment!
On Wednesday, Prices stopped by our Murray house to pick up some final items before they drove to St. George. The roofers were there reroofing our house. We were there cleaning up the yard and filling the dumpster with a tree, rose bush trimmings, weeds and branches.
We got the tree, branches, etc. loaded in the dumpster literally minutes before they came and picked it up. We were so relieved and blessed by the timing.
I decided it was time to toss my yard working shoes.
As the weather warmed up, Steve painted our little outdoor table and chairs. We also restained the logs enclosing our garden beds.
Steve nearly had a heart attack when we noticed flashing lights in front of Hilary's house. We were sure there was a serious accident with AJ. Then we realized there wasn't an ambulance. As we arrived on the scene, we were assured that this police escort and cars with school officials, were part of a caravan to honor the valedictorians from Ridgeline High School. It is so sad for the senior class that all of their final school activities including prom and graduation have been cancelled. They do their class work online but aren't allowed to associate with friends or have any of the normal sports or celebrations.
Our relief society president asked for volunteers to make masks for our local medical personnel. In a couple of days, I sewed 40 masks. I was so grateful that the materials were all prepared by other volunteers so all I had to do was sew!
After looking like a shaggy dog for weeks, I reached out to a darling hairdresser in our ward. She assured me that with her doctor's permission, she is continuing to do hair in her home salon. She scheduled me for a cut. Hooray!
That same afternoon, Korinne and Jenna came over to our house to make dinner preparations for Adam and Hilary's 20th anniversary. I assisted a little and the kids put together wonderful surprise dinner and celebration.
We watched the weather and the next rainy day, we tackled the rest of painting our master bedroom.
We like the lighter, brighter, updated look of our bedroom now.
Our local school district is teaching the kids to look for free handouts as they deliver "free" lunches every day in the school buses. We could see some need for this is distressed areas, but our neighborhood can certainly afford to feed their own children. Even here we are getting a nanny state. It drives us crazy!!!
We love having a quick meal on our deck with our newly painted table and chairs.
Steve works very hard in the yard and around the house every day. Sometimes when he sits down for a break, his eyes can't help closing.
I am so blessed to have such a hard working, diligent, responsible husband. I love this wonderful man!!!
