I must begin this post with the special visit we had, at our sacrament meeting, by Elder Bednar. I guess this is a typical happening every few months in our ward since the Bednars built a home in the Crossings at Lake Creek. It was the first time it had happened since we returned home from Moscow and we were so spiritually impressed. After the two scheduled speakers gave their talks, Elder Bednar got up and began to speak. He talked about receiving magnificent signs from heaven and answered the question about why most of us are not opportunity to have them manifest to us. In a nutshell, he said it was because we didn't need them. The Lord is confident in our testimony which stands without seeing signs from heaven. He applauded us for our faith and service in the Lord's kingdom. It was a powerful message but even more powerful was what followed. The chorister got up and led the closings song. As we all sang the words, we recognized that the message of the song perfectly paralleled Elder Bednar's words. After we finished the song, Elder Bednar got up and said he has not requested that song but that it had been one of those little miracles from the Lord. (In fact, that song had been chosen weeks prior to his visit and there is no prior notice of when he will be visiting.) Elder Bednar requested we sing the song again, knowing what we now knew. It was sung with tears in our voices. After sacrament meeting, it was our understanding that Elder and Sister Bednar went into the Gospel Doctrine class and answered questions about being an apostle. The lesson was on the calling of an apostle. (We were teaching primary.) We are going to love having them in our ward.
Bednar's visit was at the beginning of this month and the end was capped off with a trip to Las Vegas, a visit to Bakersfield to see my Dad and Mom, and taking part in Lydia's baptism in Oregon. We spent a week in Las Vegas attending the WWC basketball tournament. It was a lot of basketball but fun to see the BYU women's team take the tournament championship and the men's team play in the championship game, even though they lost. We appreciated all the sunshine and the relaxing time between games. We went to a buffet and a show one night before the tournament started. We saw 'Show Stoppers', an performance of singing and dancing to famous Broadway songs. Very entertaining. The next day, we attended a session in the Las Vegas temple which is always enjoyable.....a nice peaceful setting before getting into the excitement (and stress) of the tournament games. It was fun to be together.
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| Inside the restaurant at the Wynn |
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| The entrance to the theater at the Wynn |
The buffet area of the the Wynn Casino was beautifully decorated with extremely large flower arrangements.
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| The beautiful Las Vegas temple |
During the tournament we ran into the Burnighams many times, the first being at the elevator after the first BYU men's game. Quite a coincidence. We also saw and visited with Jill Skipworth and Linda Murray at the game. They were there, from Spokane, to cheer on Gonzaga.
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Dave and Diane Burningham moved from
Utah to Bolder City, Nevada |
We left for Bakersfield on Wednesday and enjoyed a two day visit with Dad and Mom. (Dad will be 98 at the end of the month. He promised he would still be around when we returned from our mission and we were glad the Lord helped him honor that promise.) We took them to dinner at Black Angus on Wednesday for and early birthday dinner and enjoyed visiting with them that night and the next day. After treating Mom and Dad to dinner at Mexicalli's onThursday, Sam and Kathy, Ron and Patty, and Thad came by to say hi and have homemade ice cream and brownies. Again it was great to visit with all of them after not seeing them for almost 2 years.
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| Dad, at Black Angus, celebrating his soon to be 98th birthday |
Early the next morning, it was off to Medford, Oregon. We needed to make the 9 hour drive so we would arrive early enough to take Julia out to dinner for her baptism. (She was baptized while we were on our mission and when we were in Medford last month, she wasn't feeling well.) At Julia's request, we went to Hometown Buffet and had a delightful time with her. She is growing up so fast. After dinner, we returned to her home and enjoyed visiting with Ryan and Katie and their family.
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| Ryan and Katie's Grace and Nathan....so cute |
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| All dressed up to go out to dinner with 'Ma' and 'Pa'. |
We were sorry we could only spend one night with Ryan's family but we had to leave early Saturday morning to be in time for Lydia's 11 a.m. baptism. Paul had the honor of baptizing Lydia and I gave the talk on baptism. It was a beautiful morning and we were so glad we could be a part of this most important ordinance for Lydia.
Andrea put on a lovely lunch for friends and family after the baptism and then it was off to a voice recital for Charlotte, Jillian, Maggie, and Allison. We have such talented granddaughters. Their voices are amazing.
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| Maggie |
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| Allison |
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| Jillian |
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| Charlotte |
That evening, we took Lydia out to dinner to celebrate her baptism. She opted to go the Red Robin. (We were so glad she didn't pick Hometown Buffet, too.) Lydia was delighted with her mac and cheese and we enjoyed our teriyaki chicken sandwiches. We gave her a necklace, a baptismal journal, and a special marking pen for her baptism. Lydia spent most of that evening, and the next morning before church, filling out her journal. The visit to Andrea and Casey and family was all to short. We had to leave Monday morning but we were glad we could spend the weekend with them. I will be back in 10 days to babysit the girls while Andrea and Casey go on a cruise so that made leaving a little easier.
This was also a month of dental appointments, being with Jon's boys twice, and a change in our teaching assignment in Primary. Last month it was physical exams and this month it was dental exams. After 18 months, we had a little work to do. I had some places on my upper teeth where the roots was being exposed so the dentist filled those areas with a veneer. Paul had much more that had to be done.....a crown replacement and an onlay. Pretty spendy but it all had to be done. Hopefully, when we return in 6 months, we can get away with only a cleaning and no other dental work.
We had the privilege of being with Jon's boys twice in one week, this month. Jen brought them up to Heber to go sledding at Soldier's Hollow and then came by our home for dinner and a visit. It was so wonderful to have a nice, even normal, conversation with Jen. We were concerned about her attitude toward us now that she and Jon are divorced. It was the first time, since we have been home, that we have had any one on one time with her. It was a big relief to us that we could have such a nice visit with her. The boys had so much fun playing with the new foosball table we had set up downstairs. It kept them involved the whole evening until it was time to leave. The very next evening, Jon brought the boys up to spend the night and morning with us. Jon and the boys then came back up Sunday afternoon for dinner with Mindy and her children. What a joy to be with our grandsons three days in a row.
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| At Dairy Keen with Jon's boys Saturday afternoon |
When we returned home from our trip to Oregon last month, the primary president came into our Sunbeam classroom to give us an assignment change. We were asked if we would teach the 10 to 11 years olds. Of course, we said yes. We miss our little Sunbeams but it is so nice to prepare and teach lessons to children who can answer questions and have an understanding of the gospel. Our class consists of a group of 13 boys and 2 girls, most of whom are very well versed in the gospel.
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One group sitting at the kitchen table
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The last big thing to report his month is the Moscow missionary party we held at our home the weekend after Jon's boys were here. On Friday, February 27th, we had 22 returned missionary from our mission here for dinner followed by playing games, watching movies, playing foosball and pool, enjoying time in the hot tub, and just visiting. It was a great evening listening to everyone catch up on each other's lives since returning home. Some of those in attendance we hadn't seen since the first part of our mission. It was wonderful to see everyone again. We love our missionaries. Ten of them spent the night and shared a sourdough waffle breakfast with us in the morning before leaving. What a treat of a weekend.
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| One group at the dinning room table |
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| Three at the kitchen counter |
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| The ten who spent the night |
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| From Paul |
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| From Jen and the boys |
A couple of ending notes: Valentine's Day and Kailee's birthday were also celebrated this month. Two bouquets of flowers for Valentine's day thrilled me.
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Kailee requested lemon bars for her birthday dessert.
It was a little challenging coming up with a Sunday dessert using lemon bars. The result: Lemon bars topped with vanilla ice cream and a lemon sauce. It was OK but nothing good enough to do again. |
