March 28, 2016
We’ve had quite the fun week last week. Monday afternoon after packing up and doing left over laundry from our Snowflake trip and Mountain Man Rendezvous, we headed down to Tucson for a little family get away. We swam in the heated hotel pool and relaxed in the hot tub. Later we went out to dinner and stopped for ice cream cones on our way home.
Tuesday morning as we were headed to the zoo I was checking Facebook and got the sad news that there were bombings in Brussels, Belgium. I read that there were missionaries injured. One of the names sounded familiar and I realized it was the maiden name of my friend Chelsea Snell who is my 1st counselor in young women’s. I called her and asked her about it and she confirmed that it was her dad. I was so sad for her. The only thing I could think of to do to help out was to ask my family members to exercise their faith by praying for him. So as we walked around the zoo I spent most of my time texting.
April 3, 2016
I wrote that last bit of letter poolside while my kids were enjoying our last day of spring break. I didn’t get very far though and have been side tracked by other things. After our trip to the zoo we drove to go tour the Kartchner Caverns near Benson. They were amazing! That was my favorite part of the trip. Sadly, we weren’t allowed to take any pictures.
Wednesday we went to old Tucson studios. It was a fun park. The kids had a good time with unlimited carousel rides and unlimited old time car rides. They were able to drive the old cars themselves. Chad and I enjoyed the walking tour where we learned about all the movies and tv shows that were filmed there and some that are still being filmed. We all enjoyed watching a cowboy perform rope tricks and a stunt show. On our way home we stopped at the outlet stores and looked at shoes and had pizza.
Chad had to go back to work on Thursday and Friday. I don’t remember what the kids and I did, except I did a lot of laundry. Sadly, laundry doesn’t ever go on vacation.
Saturday was Joseph’s 13th birthday. After the girls’ soccer games we got lunch at In-n-Out and Chick-fil-a and had a picnic at Joseph’s grave. It was a nice time, but at one point I got very sad when I looked over all those infant/child graves and thought of all the sad Mamma's who had to bury their baby. I started to remember the events of finding out Joseph wouldn’t make it and his birth and I was kind of sad the rest of the day. However, preparing an Easter lesson on the Resurrection for our laurel’s class helped me feel better. Having Joseph’s birthday right before Easter and my lesson helped my testimony grow and I felt like I was able to bear a more powerful testimony of the Resurrection to my laurels class than I would have otherwise. I'm so grateful for the reality of the resurrection. Because of Jesus Christ, our Savior, I know I will see and hold my son again.
Sunday was Marlee's 7th birthday. It was fun to celebrate her life and Easter together. We're so glad her Aunts and Uncles and cousins on the Flake side of the family who live nearby could have Easter dinner and birthday cake and ice cream with us. She has a lot of people who love her. The back to back birthdays and Easter wore this Mama out though.
Monday we relaxed and the kids when swimming at the Power Ranch pool. Tuesday the kids went back to school so Tilly and I were alone again. By Thursday Tilly was kind of lonely so we invited Westen and Braelee to go to the train park with us. When we took them back she asked if she could play at their house. Friday we invited Westen and Braelee to play at our house, but Braelee was too scared to stay without her Mamma. Westen, Braelee and Tilly get along well and have fun together.
Friday was April Fools. I don't know what got into me. I haven't ever really done a prank, but I pulled several on my kids that day. I guess I finally had the time and the ideas. When the kids were asleep on Thursday night I moved them in to different beds. I was giggling the whole time. I think Chad wondered what happened to me. That morning I got the bright idea to put our old for sale by owner sign in our front yard and take a couple pictures of the house, post them to Facebook and say that we were moving to Snowflake. I fooled a lot of people. It was fun. However I’ve got to remember that April fools pranks come with a price. I got a heart wrenching text from my dear friend Sharon. She is the older lady who was recently released as my 2nd counselor in Young Women’s. She said, “When I saw the ‘For Sale’ sign in your yard today my heart just sank!” I replied, “It is an April fool’s joke. You are stuck with us!” She said, “That makes me so happy! I could not bear the thought of you moving away! I kept trying to say all day that I was just being selfish if you had a great opportunity, but I couldn’t get past it! Whew! That was a close one!” I felt terrible for making her sad. She is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.
Friday night was our ward talent show. Spencer did a funny synchronized swimming act with the teacher’s quorum and he got three friends together and they sang Barbara Ann in a quartet. They did a nice job, but were visibly nervous. Chad and the Elder’s quorum presidency went right after Spencer’s quartet and dressed up in Minion costumes and lip synced the Minion’s version of Barbara Ann. It was funny.
Yesterday and today has been general conference. I’ve enjoyed listening to the speakers. However, I’ve had a stomach bug today and haven’t felt well, plus my upper back still has a knot that hurts a lot so I’m not in very good shape today. One of the things that stood out to me from conference was Elder Hallstrom’s talk. He said something like, “A first response to trials is to remember you are a daughter or son of God.” When he said that my mind thought of first responders [police officers, firemen, EMT’s] to big accidents and calamities like the bombings of the world trade center, Brussels bombings, car accidents, etc. I realized that as a parent, a member of the ward council and as a young woman’s leader I am often a first responder to people as they go through trials. My first action in those situations can be to help others remember that they are a son or daughter of a loving Heavenly Father.
In closing I’ll share a quote I came across while I prepared for a laurel’s lesson about the resurrection. It opened up a new way of thinking for me. Neither Chad nor I had ever thought about the resurrection like this before.
"Death came upon us without the exercise of our agency; we had no hand in bringing it originally upon ourselves; it came because of the transgression of our first parents. Therefore, man, who had no hand in bringing death upon himself, shall have no hand in bringing again life unto himself; for as he dies in consequence of the sin of Adam, so shall he live again, whether he will or not, by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the power of his resurrection. Every man that dies shall live again" (Teachings of Joseph F. Smith).
Love,
Mindy
Spencer's synchronized swimming act with the teacher's quorum
https://youtu.be/FP_os2eQhT8
Spencer's Barbara Ann Act
https://youtu.be/4yKKaSuRhfs
Chad's act with the Elder's Quorum presidency
https://youtu.be/sCeljt_7EaE
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