Rasmania 102

I was reading an email from John Hilton and I saw that he was leading a tour to Israel.  He said in the email that he had a few spots left.  I told Roy about it, and he said, "Let's go."  He called the travel agency, and after finding out about airfare, he booked the tour.  Afterwards, I found him looking up "Is it safe to go to Israel right now?"  Also, whenever we'd tell someone that we were going to Israel for a week,  they almost always asked, "Is it safe?"  We felt that if a tour guide was taking a group to Israel, then he must feel that things were going to be fine.   Flying to Tel Aviv is no easy feat, there is nothing direct.  We flew into Amsterdam, arriving to the hotel at about 10:30 AM, too early to check in.  We left our luggage and shuttled back to the aiport, taking a train from there into the city to take a look around.  We hadn't really thought about touring in Amsterdam, but if we had, we would've either taken...

  Brothers and Sisters, welcome! Today our hearts are filled with joy as we commemorate Easter, the day our Savior, Jesus Christ, broke the bands of death and rose in glorious victory after a time of great despair and uncertainty. As we reflect on this ultimate act of love and power, we will also consider what the promises fulfilled at Easter teach us about preparing for His eventual return. First and foremost, preparing for the Second Coming requires us to deeply trust in God. This trust is built upon our faith. As the scripture in Ether 12:6 teaches us, 'Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen.' Think of the disciples during those three days between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. They could not see the impending miracle, yet those who held onto hope and the Savior's promises were witnesses to the greatest triumph in history. Similarly, if we want to develop this essential faith, we must actively work to obtain it. We can diligently read the scriptures, ...

Happy Birthday Harvey Harvey turned 5 on April 24.  We weren't there to celebrate with him, but I was able to get his gift when Caitlyn and I were there earlier this month.  He also had his birthday date with his siblings back in November when Roy and I visited.  We're a little behind on the birthday dates because we had so many in late March and April.  We're still looking forward to going out with Todd, Finn, Ila, and Hyeji; and Ruby's birthday is tomorrow.  Happy Birthday to all of you (We should take the adults on dates, too, but we don't). Maverick got braces this week.  We had the opportunity to take Cub for a few hours on Monday morning to give Adrienne a lift.  Roy had him the first few hours (I had a PT appt.), then I took over.  He is busy!  On Sunday he gave Adrienne quite the run for her money when he dumped a whole carton of milk on the floor--then his macaroni and cheese lunch, and the final straw--he climbed onto the counter an...