Letter - Visit from Kayla, TCC, Eternal Lives

Sunday, February 16, 2014

3:58pm

It has been such a fun week.  I woke up this morning at 6:30 about an hour before I had hoped to get up and couldn’t get back to sleep.  I started thinking about what I was going to write in my letter today and about all the fun things that we did this week and then couldn’t turn my brain back off to get back to sleep.  So I got up and made some blueberry muffins before my 9:30 meeting instead of sleeping.

Last Sunday was nice, busy, but not overwhelming.  Sunday evening I attended a cornerstone choir rehearsal for the Gilbert temple dedication.  We have to have one of our two songs memorized by tonight, parts, words, rhythms, etc.  I’m glad that I had lots of practice memorizing choir songs in high school and college so it was pretty easy for me.  Words that are put to music are lots easier to memorize than they are without the music.  I found out that the cornerstone ceremony will not be rebroadcast to the later dedication sessions.  So if you want to see that ceremony and listen to me sing in the choir you’ll have to attend the 9:00am dedication session.  J  I’m very excited to be able to sing my thanks and praise for our new temple with the choir.  It is such a blessing to me.  I’m very impressed with the talent level of our director and the choir members.  There are a lot of great musicians in the choir.

Shortly after the choir rehearsal was over on last Sunday my sister Kayla and her girls arrived at our house.  They drove over from Huntington Beach, CA so they could tour the Gilbert temple.  I’m so glad they stayed with us!!  It was lots of fun.  I didn’t tell my kids that they were coming.  I just told them they got to get to stay up late for a surprise.  Karalee and Bryant skipped school on Monday so they could stay home and play with their cousins that day.  Spencer and all the 6^th graders put on a play at school that day so Spencer and I didn’t feel like he should miss that.  He didn’t have a part in the play; he was just in the chorus with all the other sixth graders.  He told me he didn’t want me to go and watch, because it was a dumb play. 

On Monday my Mom and Crystal drove down from Snowflake to visit with Kayla and my Mom went to the open house too.  It was a nice surprise to have Crystal come.  That afternoon my nephew Ray came over to visit with his mom and probably the rest of us too.  Amy and her kids came over after school and then Brandon and his family came over to have FHE with us.  I was so happy to have everyone in our home.    

Marlee got wiped out from staying up late with her cousins.

Tilly giving Jason a Valentine

Crystal has a nice shiner.

Tuesday morning Kayla, Mom, Crystal, Celeste and I met at Sweet Cakes in Mesa because Kayla saw a show about that restaurant on Netflix and wanted to try it out before she left town.  It was really yummy and now I want to try and make cinnamon rolls with homemade caramel sauce and nuts instead of cream cheese frosting like they did.  Chad liked it that way too.  Tuesday afternoon Bryant had an orthodontist appointment and was supposed to get his tongue rake taken out, but they noticed he’s been going around it a bit and still pushes his tongue on his  teeth when he swallows so they want him to keep it on for 3 more months.  He was so excited to get it off, but took the news of having to keep it on longer well and didn’t even complain once.  I’m so proud of him.  He’s really growing into a mature young man.  Tuesday evening Spencer and I had stake TCC practice, which went well.

Wednesday I finished sewing the two temple cultural celebration (TCC) costumes that I was working on while the girls went to Grammy days and during nap time.  Whew!  Glad to have those finished and off my plate. 

Thursday morning Spencer had to get a physical for the football league he’s playing in.  He had to get a tetanus booster and didn’t like having a sore arm for a couple days.  Thankfully, I don’t think he is as bad around needles as his dad is though.  J  Remember how they had to revive Chad with smelling salts after the delivery of Tilly?  Ha ha.  Thursday evening I had a Captain of 10 meeting for the TCC.  The stake center we met at was packed.  When I realized that we were going to add 10 people for every 1 person at that meeting for the TCC I finally got a glimpse of how big the rehearsals and celebration are going to be.  Discovery Park is going to be standing room only!!  There are so many details that have to go into planning an event like this.  It is exciting to be a part of it, it takes a lot of time, but it is worth it!  The lady who wrote the cultural celebration play, I can’t remember her name, told us of the experiences she had while writing it.  It was amazing!!  Quite a few years ago she was asked by President Thornock, a stake president in one of the Gilbert Stakes, to write a dance festival for four stakes, around 4,000 youth, in the Gilbert area.  The two days following that call, ideas for the whole festival filled her mind.  She wrote them all down, through the night.   Then when she was asked to meet with Pres. Thornock that week he said, well, we need to make a plan of what we are going to do.  She showed him her binder of ideas that she had been given and said, you mean like this?  She told him how the play would go from the beginning to the end.  The person who wrote the music had a similar experience.  Then they festival got canceled.  She told of how agonizing that was for her.  Then a while later she saw an ad about a play contest, I think it was a contest at BYU, but I could be wrong about that.  She thought, I have a play, and submitted her work.  The director of the contest called her and said he wanted to meet with her.  She thought she had won the contest.  At the meeting they sat down for three hours and he told her things she could do to improve her play.  He told her he’d never met with someone who hadn’t won.  She asked, then why am I here?  He said there’s going to be a temple built in Gilbert and this is the play you are going to use for the cultural celebration.  It was neat to be there to hear her story.

Spencer's coaches told him to wear his helmet around the house a bit to get used it and to build strength in his neck muscles.  I laughed when I saw him practicing the piano with it.

Friday was Valentine’s Day.  The kids had a half day at school.  Since Spencer was home to babysit, at 2:00pm I met Chad for lunch at D-vine, one of our new favorite restaurants.  Chad got me some chocolates and wrote me a very nice love letter.  It made me feel so loved, I cherish it.  I bought Chad a new jacket; made him some trail mix out of his favorite nuts and some Reece’s Pieces, and deep cleaned our room that has been a dumping ground for various projects and odds and ends since before Thanksgiving, and wrote him a love letter.  Earlier in the week, I came home with a new skirt that I saw at Seagull Book and told Chad that that was my Valentine present.  I think he was glad he didn’t have to go shopping to get me something.  J  Spencer had football practice on Friday night so we spent the evening here at home with the rest of the kids.

Tilly riding a scooter in my high heels.  Love it!!

The girls and I spent a lovely Valentines morning out front.

After my lunch date with Chad, I was able to stop by the hospital and hold my 2 hour old Valentine nephew Clark Moore Sanders.  Son of Devin and Suzannah Sanders.  He was so sweet.  It didn't make me baby hungry though.  :)

8:40pm

I’m back.  We had dinner and I went to another choir rehearsal.  I love singing in a big, talented choir.  I forgot how enjoyable it is.  It’s been a long time.

Yesterday afternoon Chad and I went to the temple to do sealings.  We saw my nephew Ray there and recruited him to come do sealings with us as the sealing office was really slow.  We had a really neat sealing session and the sealer took a lot of time teaching us.  He asked us to pay attention and count how many blessing we are promised if we are faithful to our marriage covenant.  I counted 18 blessings.  He also taught us the meaning of Eternal lives.  It is found in D&C 132:24.  “This is eternal lives—to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent.  I am he.  Receive ye, therefore, my law.”  Eternal lives means we won’t have only belief, or faith, we will “know” God and Jesus Christ.  He said it might have other meanings too, but that’s what he’s learned.  Something else in the sealing ceremony stood out to me, we covenant and promise to specific things when we get married.  I have thought a lot about what a covenant and a promise is and how they are different.  I’ve looked them up.  I like to look up definitions.  I will keep thinking about them and what that means in my relationship with Chad.   

Chad had a soccer game with Macaia, our sister-in-law, on Saturday night.  He's fun to watch.

Suckin' air.  He's a little out of shape.

Chad taught the kids how to play racko while I made dinner this evening.  We love that game and haven't played it for a long time. 

My quotes for today are from the hymns we sang in sacrament meeting. 

1. “I would be my brother’s keeper; I would learn the healer’s art.  To the wounded and the weary I would show a gentle heart” (Lord, I Would Follow Thee, Hymn 220).   I love the phrase healer’s art.  I want to be able to learn The Healer’s art and to show a gentle heart to those who are hurting and tired. 
2. “‘These deeds shall thy memorial be; Fear not, thou didst them unto me’” (A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, Hymn 29).  Our deeds are what we will be remembered by.  Whatever we do, or don’t do, to our family, friends, and neighbors, whether good or bad, we have done it unto the Savior.

Love,

Mindy