Millar Moments: TRIP TO OREGON FOR GRACE'S BAPTISM HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY

This month we took a quick trip to Oregon for Grace's baptism. We arrived on a Friday afternoon just in time for the last minute preparations for the baptism at 4:00. Paul and Ryan went to fill the font while the rest of us stayed home to get things ready there for a buffet dinner afterwards. Ryan performed the baptism. Aubrey gave the talk on baptism and Julia gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Both were amazing talks and it was easy to tell they had prepared them right from the heart. Afterward, we all gathered back at Ryan's for a light buffet dinner. We are so glad we are on the type of mission that allows us to travel for family events such as this. While in Russia we witnessed Julia's baptism via SKYPE. This is much better to actually be present.

It was also Nathan's birthday so we took him to In and Out for lunch right after we arrived and then on Saturday we took both him and Grace to toys r us so they could spend their birthday money from us. Grace bought some miniature food models called Shopkins which are all the rage for her age group right now. She only spent half of her money but Nathan spend over and above his $50 to buy a transforming Lego Batman car. We spent the afternoon putting the Lego car together.

Earlier that morning we had witnessed Julia play a basketball game and after toy r us we met Katie's sister and her family for lunch at a unique pizza place. Each of us ordered what we wanted on our individual pizzas as we passed down the counter of many condiments. The pizza was then baked and brought out to us. It was very good pizza to boot.

Part of our tradition with grandchildren being baptized is that we take them out to dinner alone with us. Grace chose Hometown Buffet, as have all her sisters, so that is where we took her for dinner on Saturday night. All too soon it was time to fly home. We did have a nice time to visit with Ryan and Katie on Saturday evening and then were able to go to Sacrament meeting in the morning before Katie took us to the airport. A quick trip but very much worth the time.

Grace is obsessed with Grandpa's waddle

At the BYU game

We needed to get home as Deon and Gary were staying at our home while we were gone. They had a wedding they wanted to attend on Friday so they came in on the Wednesday before we left. On Thursday, we attended the Provo City Center temple and then went to a BYU basket ball game to root on the Cougars. We gave them our tickets to the BYU game on Saturday so they got to go to two games while they were here. We were thrilled to come home on Sunday to a meal all prepared by Deon. We spent Monday just hanging out together, going out to lunch in Park City and then home to watch a couple of movies. We always love being with them.

Another fun thing that happened this month was taking one of our special young single adults for Russia out to lunch. Sasha Liesivich is in America and while he was in Provo we arranged to meet him at the Provo temple after we did a session. We took him to Zuppa'a for lunch and had an incredible visit. He had to try BYU ice cream so went to the creamery. It was then to the BYU book store where he was going to meet a friend who would take him to Salt Lake where he was staying. He is living in Los Angeles, California, right now, trying to secure work. He eventually wants to earn enough money to go to BYU. We hope all works out for him.

A treat for us this month was babysitting Aria for a week while Todd and Kailee took her parents and sister, Kara, to Hawaii. We set up a crib in our bedroom, brought up the highchair, blocked off the stairs with gates, and moved the coffee from the living room so she would have lot of room to play. Todd and Kailee had brought up several of her favorite toys and downloaded her favorite children's music onto my phone. We were set. We were busy continually but loving every minute of the time we were able to spend with her. Paul took care of most of the missionary work except for Tuesday night when we got a babysitter (Kayla Baird and her husband) so I could accompany him on a home teaching visit to the Buehlers and a teaching appointment to Sandra Verbina, a single sister.

Our favorite thing to do with Aria was to take her to Dairy Keen for an ice cream. She was so cute. After taking a bite of her ice cream she would pick up the napkin and wipe her face. She loved the ice cream, for sure. Aria is so darling that anywhere we took her people would rave about her and how cute she is. We think they are right. We were sad when it came time for Todd to pick her up. He got an early flight in so he could pick her up, take her things to Lehi and then pick up the rest of the family at the airport. He was battling a blizzard the whole way so we were glad when everyone was safely home in Lehi.

We went to a BYU luncheon where the football coaches announced the players who had committed to come play for BYU. We met Jan Holiday there and had a nice visit with her. Other BYU happenings was the big win over the number 1 team in the nation, Gonzaga. When we played them in our gym we lost in a very close game. When they played in Spokane our team won in a big upset.

As for our mission....we are teaching a lot of people and are usually gone to appointment of some kind Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights from 6 to 9. We love being busy but finding a time to eat dinner is always a challenge with that kind of schedule. Each week we send in a mission miracle. One of those miracle came while we were teaching the family mission plan to a family in the 15th ward. Paul just happened to mention our need for a tutor for a refugee 7th grade student living in Heber with a foster parent. We had been calling around to see if we could arrange a tutor to help out one of our former sister missionaries, Sister Hawkins. We had never brought this up before in any of our family mission plan discussions but Paul felt inspired to mention it on this night. It just so happens that this family runs a tutoring company in Park City so the father volunteered to tutor on his own time. A miracle indeed. The other thing we reported was our gratitude for an inspired stake president who decided that the stake missionary committee needed to go out on splits with us and the elders twice a month. On the 1st and 3rd Wednesday we are assigned to go out with a mission leader to less active members in his ward. So far it seems to be working quite well. Once everyone gets on board, it will be a fantastic plan. President Blickenstaff of the mission presidency even responded to this. He said, "This is a terrific report about a terrific stake president who really has the vision of missionaries and members working together. Thank for your efforts to love the people you are serving. What a great time and place to serve a mission. When you two stood together at the pulpit in the Lake Creek 2nd Ward to bear your testimonies earlier this month, we felt your love and the power that accompanies righteous efforts."

Other mission events included us speaking in church in the new Old Mill 2nd Ward. This ward had just been divided from the Old Mill Ward so there were lots of sustainings to do to staff the ward. As a result we had to shorten our talks but felt they were still effective. We probably will be assigned to speak every month with the high counselors.

We also attended a Zone Conference where all the senior couples were in attendance, even though a major snow storm hit during the night before the conference. Many had to come from as far away as Roosevelt and Vernal on not so good roads. We were glad we only had to travel down the canyon. The meeting was most inspiring and informative as to our responsibilities. We especially loved the opening remarks about family coming first on this mission. That is one of the blessings of serving from home - we can be with and attend to the needs of family members without feeling guilty. We learned that there are more senior missionaries than there are younger missionaries in the Utah Provo Mission. We must be making a difference.

Other happenings this month included a night out with our friends, the Rusts, to dinner and to the Hale Theater. We had dinner at La Jolla Groves in Provo and then watched the hilarious musical, Peter and the Star Catchers. A most enjoyable evening after spending the afternoon in the temple.

And then there us Aria - lots of pictures this month as we had to send pictures and videos everyday to Todd and Kailee in Hawaii.