March 15' Highlights

A few highlights of March included being able to see 3 of my 4 kids and 2 of my 6 grandchildren. Its really hard living so far away from all of my family, but I do feel REALLY blessed that I'm able to see them as much as I do.

 Lindsey picked me up from the airport in SLC and we were able to go shopping and purchase a few things for her new home. We met Jared in Provo one day and went out to lunch with him.

 Tytyn loving grandma's mini Ipad…I think Tyrel is looking pretty happy there to.

Halter is getting so big and gets around really fast now!!

I got to visit grandma Larsen a couple of times.

I got to see Tyrel's awesome feed lot where they have been feeding 1300 head of cattle twice a day.

 Here's a picture of Lindsey & Tyrel's new home!!

Lindsey's kitchen, almost done.

You have to love this entry way. Its Tyrel's dad's brand and Tyrel & Lindsey's brand that they put on their cattle…. its definitely original.

 We were helping Lindsey do some cleaning to move into their new home.

Cute boy!!

One day I drove to Rexburg and attended the temple with Jacob. It is such a blessing to be able to go with my children. Afterwards, we went out to lunch and had a good talk about his future. One thing I miss about my kids being gone is having long talks together. We used to do that all the time so it was a real treat.

Its always so sad to say good-bye to these little guys, as I never know when I'll get to see them again.

I have to share a cute story Lindsey told me last week. She was putting Tytyn to bed and he asked her if he could have a friend come over and play the next day. She said they would have to see what was going on. He continued to plead with her about having a friend come over & she finally asked him who he wanted to have over. He thought for a moment and then said, "grandma." She told him I lived really far away & couldn't just "come over". He said, "well she can just fly to Blackfoot and then she would have a short drive to our house." That story made my whole day!!

When I flew home from Utah my sister Christine flew back with me for a week. We had a great time shopping, going through recipes, visiting, hanging out at the lake, etc. We even put the boat in one beautiful day and Russ went waterskiing!!! I love "sister" time:)

Russ and I made a quick trip over to Spokane, Wa. for one night to meet with our financial planner. We spent the night with my sister Delina & her husband Jay. Even though it was short, it was fun to see them. They run a "mean" Bed and Breakfast!

On our way out of town we stopped at Spokane Falls for a couple of hours and rode the gondola over the falls and walked around all the bridges. We even saw a guy proposing on the bridge:)

I loved this giant wagon slide.

For the first time I made the trip to Seattle with 4 friends to Time Out For Women. I really enjoyed the day being with some ladies I have truly grown to love from our ward.

The BIGGEST news of the month is Jacob got engaged March 27th to Janette Lopez!! We are so excited to have a new member of our family in August. We don't know her very well yet, but she seems like a great match for Jacob. I pray they'll have much happiness throughout their lives together:)

Utah

I can't believe how behind I am on what's been going on in my life. Where did this past month go? Because this is pretty much my journal I decided to catch up a bit.

The end of January Russ and I took a trip to Utah with Father Dickey, a Catholic Priest from our home town whom we've been befriending for the past 3 years. He really wanted the "Mormon Experience" and he got it. We had some "special tours" and it reconfirmed to me how awesome the Lord's church is!!

The first day we had a tour of the Church Library that is 5 years old. You can find any information about the church (good or bad) at this library. They showed us different ways they've recorded conference talks over the years, how they store things in vaults at a certain temperature, etc. You can also see some of the original manuscripts from the Book of Mormon. Elder Hamula was nice enough to meet us there and take the tour with us.

I'd never been to Welfare Square before and it is quite amazing. They bake 5,000 loaves of bread a day. It smelled so good as we were walking around.

             This was the cutest quilt some lady made they had hanging in the hallway. I love it!!

Its amazing to think about all the service that is done by members of our church to feed the hungry. Here they are cutting 40 lb. blocks of cheese.

One of our tours was to the Bishops Storehouse out by the airport. It is 13 acres of buildings stored with  food, tires, gas, etc. This sculpture represents the Good Samaritan and how we should always strive to help others.

I really like this quote by Heber J. Grant in the Storehouse.

This is a picture of the first Bishops Storehouse.

We had to drive around in this little golf cart because it is so big!!

I got to sneak away one day and meet Lindsey & the boys in Pocatello.

It was so fun to see them & kiss those adorable cheeks.

Jacob and Janette made the trip to Pocatello also to have lunch with us. It was really nice to finally meet Janette. She seems like a great young woman.

On Sunday we attended Music and the Spoken Word at Temple Square. It was so nice to visit with Doug Furness, who is in the Tabernacle choir and one of Russ' oldest and dearest friends.

A BIG thank you to John and Jan who let us all stay at their home. They fixed us a fabulous Israeli meal that I'm ready to have again!!  We also got to go to Matt & Annie's to celebrate January birthdays for the Clayton family. I loved catching up with some of my nieces and nephews.