Rasmania 102

Things in our household have finally settled down.  We had a crowd, for Christmas, then Zack's surgery, then the funeral...Thankfully, Zack is recovering well.  He finally slept through the night after eating some pureed foods (rather than just Ensure), with the okay from the doctor.  This is especially great for Crista and Matt as they have been somewhat fatigued.   Today was a great day.  We went to Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School in Manila, then came home and listened to talks by Ori and Nick, who were both speaking in their ward (it was recorded on Youtube). This was Ori's first ever talk in Sacrament meeting, since she is now 12.  Ori spoke about her baptism, sharing some stories about listening to the Spirit.  She also mentioned she was Nick and Sara's favorite child.    Nick shared how his testimony developed throughout his life.  He said that he went back and read through his journals in preparation for his tal...

 This has been a difficult week, but looking through different eyes, most things have also been for the greatest good.  Zack had his cleft palate surgery early Monday morning.  Crista stayed at our house Sunday night and left before we woke up to meet the doctors at Primary Children's Hospital.  The surgery took several hours, and though Crista was told not to leave the premises, she came home for a short nap.  She got back in plenty of time to be there when Zack woke up.  Roy and I had offered to go to Logan to watch over the kids there, but since they were in school all day (except Todd who had preschool), Matt opted to stay and work and get them off to school.  That left me free to help Crista out at the hospital on Tuesday morning.  Zack had had a hard night and was napping in Crista's arms.  Crista's such a great mom; the doctor had told her it would be a three night hospital stay, but she knows Zack and knew he would do much better at h...

Last Sunday evening, after my blog was done for the week, we went up to Adrienne's for dinner with just Elise's family.  Elise made the rolls (she wanted to redeem herself because her rolls on Christmas didn't turn out.  It'd been a long time since she made them and she felt nervous and rushed).  She did great the second time around. Elise and her homemade rolls There were pictures in last weeks blog of the train and the grandkids watching the train, but I didn't see Cub enjoying it until Adrienne sent this picture and a couple of videos: Our holiday festivities continued on into the new week.  The adults met for lunch on Monday.  Jieun was planning on coming, but Dan ended up taking her into the emergency room instead because of pain in her side.  He thought maybe an appendicitis.  He was wrong, but gall stones were found in her gall bladder, so they admitted her for surgery (Dan had wisely told Jieun not to eat in case surgery or some other procedure...

Before I begin sharing thoughts and pictures this week, I want to mention that our dear Elder Jeffry R. Holland passed away this week.  He bore eloquent testimony of our Savior throughout his life.  I'm grateful for these leaders who devote their life to testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ. This year, the song "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" touched my heart.  The song was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a well-known poet.  He was feeling deep despair in 1863. He had lost his wife in a tragic fire in their home and his son had been severely injured fighting in the civil war.  He felt keenly the dissonance between the ideal of Christmas peace and the reality of a nation full of violence.  When he heard the Christmas bells that year, he began his poem, I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play,  And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men. I thought how, as the day had come, The belfries...