A Few Pictures and a Thought

Roy was very busy all week with work meetings and a voluntary audit with HIPPA to make sure his company is compliant with all the privacy laws.  We didn't have a very eventful week, but we did get to spend a little time with Crista's family in Logan.  We have owed Greta her birthday date since the beginning of February, so we drove up to Logan, picked her up and headed to "Max!" Well, TJ Max, but the thank you note Greta had pre-written to me said, "Thank you for taking me to Max."  TJ Max is one of the few stores in Logan where we could find birthday gifts.  Todd was pretty disappointed when we came into his house for one minute, and left with Greta the next.  He even had his shoes in his hands trying to get Crista to put them on him. 

Greta and grandma at TJ Max

 

We had a good time with Greta at "Max."  Afterward, we went back, picked up all the Vances and went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant on campus. It was pretty good, but they were busy and the service was slow.  It would have been fine if it was just the adults, but we had four little kids with us.  They were pretty good actually, but they were hungry.  Every Saturday morning, Crista and Matt take their whole family to Running Club.  It's a place set up to help refugees, but it's open to everyone.  When a child reaches the 40-mile  milestone, they get a new pair of shoes.  Ruby liked that idea a lot, so she ran three-miles her first two times.  Now she's slowed down a bit, so it'll likely take her a little longer to reach that goal.  Greta told me that running club can be "kind of boring," but she met a new friend yesterday.  Bridget adopted a 20-something friend and hung out with her the whole time.  One of the refugee children were shocked that Todd could stand and walk (I guess he'd been in the stroller a lot).  Yesterday they tried hurdles for the first time.  We were told that Ruby did great, leading with whichever leg was in place for the jump.  Greta would only try it holding Crista's hands, and Bridget just plowed into them (on purpose), knocking them down and running on.

 

 I've been studying hard for next week's gospel doctrine lesson, but during my studies I have also gone through a few conference talks.  One that I've returned to several times since it was given in October is the one by Elder Neil L. Anderson: Drawing Closer to the Savior.  I just wanted to share a few quotes from that talk, but I'd encourage you all to read it again.  

We realize that as evil increases in the world, our spiritual survival, and the spiritual survival of those we love, will require that we more fully nurture, fortify, and strengthen the roots of our faith in Jesus Christ...Today and the days ahead require more focused and concentrated effort, guarding against diversions and carelessness.

Then Elder Anderson tells us that we need not be fearful. 

 The Lord will never desert His covenant people.  There is compensatory power of spiritual gifts and divine direction for the righteous...[This] comes as we strengthen our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and keep His commandments, as we come to know Him and love Him. 

 He gives us some thoughts on how we can grow as wheat among the tares that are growing right alongside us.  1) Immerse Ourselves in the Life of Jesus:  We can do this easily by simply studying (with effort) the Come Follow Me program.  Especially as we study the New Testament. 2) Make Covenants with the Lord:  Dad and I encourage you to get to the temple; our offer of babysitting stands!  3) Safeguard the Gift of the Holy Ghost. And 4) Choose to be Different from the World.

As I said, this is a wonderful talk to read over again to remind ourselves what we can do to safeguard our testimonies and our loved ones.  

Adrienne is alone this week because AJ is heli-skiing with his dad and brother.  They put the deposit down last year with big plans to take the girls this year, but Adrienne's pregnant, and Alec's wife had a baby fairly recently.  They'd put too much money down to bow out, so they are in Canada and apparently having a good time.  We invited Adrienne and the kids to dinner to hopefully give her a little break.  We played some pingpong.  In the picture below, Ila's trying a marble maze.  She really liked it even though it's a bit old for her.

Foster's growing quickly, but she still looks very tiny to me.  You can tell she's a first baby because she's always dolled up!  We mostly see Foster when Jordan and Jennie come to do laundry.  Jennie did my hair yesterday, so I got to hold her for a while at the salon.