Happy Easter 2022

When you get a swimsuit for Easter and can't wait to wear it all day you just have to put on a coat and some pants to head outside to do the Easter egg hunt. She asked if Phil and I were the ones that hid the baskets or if the Easter Bunny was real. I just started asking her questions. I think she realized she wasn't ready for the truth. Conclusion: the Easter bunny is real.

The Newville's had cousins in town so they joined us for the egg hunt. Nona loved playing with Skyler and quickly left out Eddison! They all enjoyed finding the eggs. Cannon and Gideon hid the eggs so there were some that were pretty hard to find. 

One was up in the tree pretty high. 

I took Nona over to the park on Saturday to an egg hunt put on by Kings Church here in Tillicum. It was so cute when they did the little Easter message and Pastor Jen said "raise your hand if you believe their is a God" Nona's had shot right up. Then she asked "how many of you have accepted Jesus into your heart?" Nona's hand shot up again. I sure do love a great positive message and gathering with others to celebrate good things. It was super rainy, but good. Life is so great. I am so grateful for my Savior and all that He suffered and overcame for me. I know He lives and that through Him I can become better. That brings me so much peace and happiness.

 

Nona in March

This girl is the best and it is so fun to have a little one here in our home and family. She made these leprechaun ears in school and was so serious when I was taking the pictures. She gets to do so many fun crafts and activities in school. She loves to read and is working so hard on making sure everyone in her class feels important and that they have a friend. When I drop her off at school in the morning she always gives me a kiss and tells me she loves me so much and hops out of the car to say hello to whomever she sees. Then she skips with them up the stairs to the school, but turns one last time to blow me a kiss. She is happiness and kindness and spunk and love. She made this video on my phone and Stephanie sent a text about a class project kindergarteners were doing where you could call in and they would give you a pep talk. I told my seminary class about it and played Nona's video so they would know they are loved. I even sent it to them again the next week over spring break in the group text so they would know how much I miss seeing them early in the morning.  Next year I won't have Cannon here in the morning to be with Nona while I teach seminary so this is my last year. I am so sad and will miss it so much. I am just trying to love it and soak it all up in these last 6 weeks. 

Young Womens Camp Kickoff

Nona came with me to Lyla's camp kickoff and was pretty sure she needs to attend this summer just for all the camp songs we learned. If someone isn't excited to go they just need to hang out with Nona. Paige is going to do a great job again this year as the Camp Director and I get to go and be a cabin mom. It will be a great time!...or so I keep trying to convince myself. I just need to keep listening to Nona.

 

Miya's Home for a Visit

We had amazing weather, 70 degrees and sunny, the day we picked Miya up from the airport for her week here. We went to Alki and enjoyed walking and eating in West Seattle. The weather turned for the rest of her visit and we even got snow in April a couple of days, Nothing stuck, but they were big flakes that covered the ground for an hour. She heads back to school today and we all hate to see her go. She is doing so many amazing things and only has 2 more semesters at BYU-I until she graduates. She was just in Boston for her EA conference. She traveled by herself and had a bit of an adventure trying to get an uber and then finally  having to take a bus fromt he airport to her hotel in the rain, just to find out they wouldn't check her in because she wasn't 21 years old. It was around 1:30 in the morning, but she was able to wake up the other 2 guys from BYU-I who were attending the conference, but staying at a different hotel, to come check her in. She said the biggest shock for them of the weekend was finding out she was only 19. They are nice guys and took a Lift over to her hotel, got her checked in and gave her a hug to make sure she was okay. She had a great time after that first day and enjoyed seeing Boston and meeting people. Sure do love this adult child of mine and so fun to have her experiencing so many great things. Now we are off to play pickleball before her flight this afternoon.

 

Adjusting

Teaching seminary is one of the best callings I have ever had. The pandemic made it a little crazy and we learned to do a crazy make-shift class with a Zoom meeting and some Groupme posts and questions for the last part of the 2020 school year. Then this last year we did all online and had 4 days of Canvas lessons and 1 Zoom lesson a week. I learned that with a TON of motivation you can get most students through with credit to the end of the year. I also learned that it is always better to meet in person even with these youth that are so tech savvy and determined to feel connected to each other through their devices. It will be so hard to get up early every morning starting again next week, but I am so excited to be able to be together.