Tender Mercies and Baby Zayne

I feel like Moroni when he speaks in the Book of Ether and talks about his weakness in writing. I wish I could express myself better, but I guess its better to write something than nothing.

A few weeks ago Russ and I attended the temple. We have trek in a few weeks and they wanted all the ma's and pa's & adults involved to attend a session. It was on a Saturday afternoon. The traffic was HORRIBLE getting up there and it took us 50 minutes longer than normal to get there. Unfortunately, we didn't have very many attend. After the temple a few of us went out to dinner. Just as we were getting ready to leave I checked my phone and had a LONG text from Lindsey. She was filling me in on a Rhino accident involving Tytyn and Halter. Without going into a lot of detail,  the rhino rolled over and Halter was thrown out. There were 5 little kids in the rhino and 2 adults. None of the children were hurt, but both of the adults were. Lindsey was very shook up about it, but we were SO thankful that all the little ones were safe. We continue to pray for the two adults.

As I was thinking about what happened I realized it was around the same time we were in the temple and I remembered this quote by Vaughn J Featherstone:

"I promise you that all who faithfully attend to temple work

will be blessed beyond measure--your families will draw closer to the Lord,

unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when satanic forces tempt them. 

The veil will be thin and great spiritual experiences will distill upon this people."

Another thing that stood out to me was the man who gave the prayer that day blessed the patrons in attendance with protection.

The next week Russ and I were hiking in the Hoh Rain Forest and had no cell service. We pulled into a Ranger station and I started to get a whole bunch of texts. Kristy had texted each of us and ask us to keep Shelten in our prayers, as his head had gone through a glass door and shattered it. He had several pieces in one ear and had to be put to sleep to get them out and stitch him up. He got several cuts on his face also. Poor guy. Kristy said he was very brave!! Fortunately he is healing fine and should be OK. We feel so blessed that the Lord was watching over our sweet grandsons and helping comfort their parents.

Now for some more positive news, Grandson #6 has arrived!!
Janette went to the hospital Tuesday evening to be induced and after 27 hours of labor delivered Zayne Jacob Larsen on Wednesday, June 28th at 11:17 pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20" long. He is absolutely perfect and we are SO excited for them to start this new journey!!

Happy Parents!!

Meeting his cousins for the first time.

This is Jacob on the left and Zayne on the right at one day old. Their weight was only 1 oz. different.

Its hard to believe that was 24 years ago this month and now he's a dad!! So happy for them:)

I feel SO blessed, but its hard living so far away!! I want to kiss those cheeks!!

Highlights of May

 I went down to Salt Lake for a few days to attend Janette's baby shower. One night we played games until late & it was so fun!!

Cute Janette

Christine, Maren & Lindsey

 My sister, Christine gave Janette a baby shower and did such a nice job!! It was so nice of everyone to take time out of their busy schedules and support Janette. This is their first baby and they're so excited. I love how our family is so supportive of each other. She received so many nice, useful gifts.

 Cathy, Janice, and my mom.

 Emily, Tiera & Sherrie

 Me and Jessica

 Janette & Jan

Kenzie, Kennedy & Marcie

Jacob has really developed a talent for making things. He made everything in this room, but the rug & giraffe hamper. He loves using his talent and does a GREAT job!!

 This cute guy got to come with mom. He looks so big here:(

 Janette's shower just happened to fall on Mother's Day Weekend. I was able to see three of my kids, which was really special!! Saturday evening I got to go out to dinner with my two boys and their wives & it was SO nice. 

Mother's Day I was able to spend part of the day with my mom. My sister, Delina was down from Spokane so we all got to go to church together.  It was a REALLY nice weekend:)

 Russ signed up for some Continuing Ed. in Las Vegas. It was our first time back there since we moved  22 years ago!! We flew in and met Misty, my niece and her husband Jon at the temple. We were able to do a whole bunch of sealings from our side of the family. What a special treat.

We went to dinner to at the Hash House & the servings were huge!! They're known for chicken and waffles so Russ had to try them out. We spent the night with Jon & Misty and enjoyed our visit and their hospitality!! They have such a cute family.

 The next morning we were supposed to meet one of our friends at the Bellagio for breakfast, but he cancelled at the last minute so we decided to go anyway. Talk about "over the top"! Check out the ceiling in here!! They do have a really pretty arboretum though. Everything is made of flowers, which  I love!!

We drove by the house we lived in 23 years ago. There is no grass in the front yard now.

We drove out to Hoover Dam one day & a lot of changes have been made since we lived there.

Lake Mead

Russ was dreaming about renting one of these for $249.00 an hour!

The Parkins came to Las Vegas for the same course. While the guys were in classes Lynette and I had fun shopping:) One night we went to dinner and Celine Dion. 

Waiting for the Celine concert to start!! I didn't realize she is the youngest of 14 children and all of them either played an instrument or sang. Every night her father would build a fire and they would sit around it and sing and play their instruments. They didn't watch TV. It was a GREAT concert and she has an incredible voice!!

Another night we went to the Australian Bee Gees. It started out a little slow, but improved as the night went on.

From Vegas we drove to St. George and spent 3 days with Jeff, Karen, Dave and Sherrie. We had a great time riding through the desert, playing games, eating too much and having some good discussions. Soooo fun being together!! We missed John and Jan though.

I LOVED all the beautiful cactus blooms.

I loved all the beautiful red rock and cliffs. Its hard to believe its been 40 years since I attended Dixie College. Its definitely NOT the same town it was then.

Visited Jacob Hamblin's home.

We were able to go to the temple together.

For Memorial Day we had a bunch of friends up to the lake for dinner and boating.

This is Russ' partner, Greg and his wife Lori. They've had two foreign exchange students this year from Italy and Denmark. They had never been boating before and had a great time.

One of the highlights of the month was doing ministry visits in the Shelton 2nd Ward. Each organization in the Stake meets at the appropriate building the week before their Ward Conference & visits ward members with the local leaders. They choose who they feel needs a visit. I went with one of the RS counselors to visit a Hispanic sister who has 5 children. Her youngest is 10 and has autism, he doesn't speak at all. One of the reasons she doesn't attend church is because she's embarrassed when he clicks his tongue, when he gets anxious. We talked a lot about this and encouraged her to come and made her some promises. I asked her if she would be comfortable if I made a little announcement to the adults in the joint third hour of church about her situation. She was fine with that. Sunday as I was sitting in Sacrament meeting and the opening prayer was being said I heard someone clicking their tongue....I was so excited, because I knew she'd come!! It was music to my ears. I turned around after the prayer & made eye contact with her & gave her a big smile and wave. 

The third hour I explained her situation to everyone and was so surprised how many adults came up to me after and were so appreciative of me explaining her situation. Many people went up and hugged and talked to her afterwards. I pray she'll continue to come and feel everyone's love. One of the families Russ visited with the Bishop hasn't been out for 15 years and he came also. There were several other people who came as a result of these ministry visits. One by One!!