Lots of pictures--two weeks

                                    Week of April 25-May 1: 

We had another quiet week.  Roy and I were able to attend a birthday gathering for Phil.  He just turned 65.  He is recovering fairly well from his knee surgery but now has nerve pain in his leg, so he said the verdict is still out on how well the surgery went. We had a fun evening visiting with Christine and Steve,  Nan and Bruce, and Charlotte and Phil (when they weren't entertaining all their other guests).  It was fun to see Charlotte's sisters (Christy and Cynthia), and all Phil's kids, too.

 Christine is in a sling for 6 weeks--when she went in for her surgery the doctor found two tears in her rotator cuff.  The surgery turned out to be more extensive then planned, with a longer recovery.  I'm not sure, but I think Glenn is doing all right since his eye surgery--Last I heard, his vision was still a little fuzzy.

The other news from extended family is that Ben Christensen got his mission call to Paris, France.  James is now back in Africa dealing with intense heat--but there are more people willing to listen to the message than there were in California.  He just has to learn French!

As usual, Roy was the supportive grandpa and tried to attend a sports game or two that the grandkids were playing in.  Effie has obviously figured out the object of the game, because when the other team was working their way towards the goal (no goalie at this age), Effie went over to the goal put her back to it and held on.

Week of May 3-9

This week was a little busier--at least with family interactions.  Nick came over a couple of times--once for a visit, and once to help Roy move the chicken coop.  His girls chose coming with him to grandpa and grandma's house over a movie.

Avie loves "Bleeding Hearts"

These two were pretty dirty when it was time
to go home.  Avie went home half dressed.

Adrienne invited all of us up for a birthday party at her home (Adrienne's birthday).  AJ went all out for his wife.  He even rented a pony for an hour for the kids to ride.  Some of our family was sick and couldn't make it.  It was fun and of course, we got some delicious German chocolate cake that Adrienne made.  Lisa had made a gluten free German chocolate cake.  She makes it a lot using Charlotte's recipe and then adds the German chocolate topping.  Both cakes were amazing.

Adrienne didn't even get to blow out her
own candles.  The sacrifices a mother makes!

Ila and Finn greet the pony

                                Oli

Gunnar's almost bigger than the pony.  He's sure getting tall.

Nick helping Camden

Effie

Ori

We miss Elise's family and are looking forward to having them come in June.  Unfortunately, Andy's too immersed in residency to be able to get away but the kids are really excited.  Mav said that Grandpa Rasband was his favorite grandpa.  Elise asked him why and Mav said, "Because he has a boat!"

I think Harvey has more hair than the other three
had at this age all put together.

Poor Effie, she is a little accident prone.  Today
Sara is at the instacare because Effie stubbed her
big toe and needs stitches.  They think she's a little clumsy
because of her eyesight.

The Vances love visitors.  Roy went up during the week
to pick up an exercise bike he purchased through Matt.  He spent a 
short time with Bridget, Greta and Crista.

A couple of visitors in our yard on Friday morning

Roy and I took the trailer up to Coalville and got away for the weekend--Roy's birthday and Mother's Day.  It was surprisingly cold.  I woke up this morning with very low water pressure--the hose had frozen.  The pipes were fine, but Roy had to take the blow dryer out to melt the ice off the spigot.   It was warm enough in the day for some walks, and we enjoyed dinner in Park City both Friday and Saturday night.  We did a little outlet shopping, too.  

It warmed up for walks in the daytime, and we spent some time in Park City shopping the outlets and having dinner.

We ate at a restaurant called, "Full House Asian Bistro"
This was the Tuna Tataki, it was delicious.

 I recieved a lot of Mother's Day wishes via the Rasband Clan texting thread.  I love that our family can stay connected this way.  They always show a lot of love for each other as well as their parents.  

Elise got this for Mother's Day.  I remember my kids
pre-school doing something very similar.  If I remember correctly
Elise thought I was 8 years old.  Mav obviously notices
Elise studying her scriptures.

It's also really nice to be able to catch our Sunday meetings when we're out of town.  I don't think we'll have that convenience too much longer.  I enjoyed a Relief Society Lesson where we discussed Joy B Jone's talk in conference.  We talked about how there is no such thing as "accidental conversion."  I appreciate watching my children teach their children about the gospel.  That talk is definitely worth rereading more than once.  Essential Conversations.  It's so important to "safeguard" our children/grandchildren.  A lot of the comments were from the young mother's in our ward.  One mentioned that when her kids come to talk to her, if at all possible she stops what she's doing and gives them her full attention.  I have to admit I could and should have been a lot better at this.  At least I didn't have a cell phone when most of my kids were small.  

Sometimes I wait to publish my letter until the day ends, knowing I'll have some new information by then for this letter.  When I do that, most of the time I don't get back to the computer and I either publish the next day, or get back to it the next Sunday (like this time).  So, I'm not waiting this time.  

I hope all of you have a Happy Mother's Day!