Sunday Will Come

I can't believe it's been a year already since Benjamin was born and lost. Today it rained and snowed. It snowed the day of his funeral too. We drove all around town to find the perfect bouquet of white flowers to lay on his grave. We sat by his grave and remembered all the things that have happened this last year. I looked at his pictures- the few things I really have of him.

I don't talk about it a lot for several reasons. For one, it needs to be in my own way and on my own terms. For another, I am still working through all my feelings. For another, a lot of things about it are very sacred and dear to my heart. However, I will say I am glad it was around Easter. One thing I've learned over this last year is how real and wonderful the atonement of Jesus Christ is. Before it seemed like a nice thing to be true, now it matters. The hope that all will be made right some day through the atonement and the healing the atonement offers for our sorrows today are wonderful and amazing.

I just want to end with a quote. We put it on the funeral program and it is one I have been thinking about a lot lately. The beauty of it stirs my heart and gives me hope.

"(The day the Savior was crucified) was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.

I think that of all the days since the beginning of the this world's history, that Friday was the darkest.

But the doom of that day did not endure.

The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of mankind.

And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God, stood before them as the first fruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.

Each of us will have our own Fridays- those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death- Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come."

-Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Ensign, November 2006, Sunday Will Come

I believe that to be true.

Birthday

My birthday was this last weekend. We kept it simple but it was still fun. The Thanksgiving Point Gardens opened up this weekend and we walked through there. Jon made dinner and we relaxed and watched a movie in the evening. The picture of the candle is for you dad. My kids were very interested in how old I was turning this year. I tried to explain to them that I stopped aging but they didn't buy it :) Smart kids.

Optimal Resume at BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

Optimal Resume at BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

Check out my resume, would you hire me?

Graduation Announcement

Jon will be officially graduating with his masters of physics at the end of April. Please email either of us for more information if you wish to attend. In the meantime, here are some fun pictures I took of Jon around campus to celebrate. Spring is on the way!

just to set the record straight

The results are in from the April 2010 issue of Reader's Digest with the list of rankings for all 50 states on the deadliest and best roads. For a little background, when I lived in Idaho I heard Idahoans complain a lot about those darn Utah drivers and was surprised when I moved to Utah to find that the Utahans complain just as much about those darn Idaho drivers. Here's the rankings to show who is right along with a couple more states that might be of interest.

For Best Roads meaning the roads are safe, scenic, and sensible:
1. Kansas
5. Utah
10. Oregon
13. Georgia
14. Arizona
23. Idaho
27. Michigan
29. Texas
36. North Carolina
48. California
50. Louisiana

Deadliest Roads meaning a simple ranking of fatalities per 100 million miles driven:
1. Montana
12. Idaho
13. Arizona
16. Texas
17. North Carolina
20. Georgia
28. Oregon
36. Utah
38. California
43. Michigan
50. Massachusetts

So the Utahans win in both rankings. Utah has prettier, better built roads and less fatalities then the Idaho roads. Go figure.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Sam's birthday is this week. We took him to the Aquarium to celebrate since we got snowed out of our zoo idea. He got an extra special day at school and made a poster about himself to share with the class. He also got to bring a show and tell item- a plush jelly fish from the aquarium- and some cupcakes to share. This whole last year every time he wants to do or eat something he hasn't done in a while he tells us "But I haven't done/eaten that since I was three!" I am curious to see if this year it changes to "But I haven't done/eaten that since I was four!" Here are some facts about Sam that he put on his poster:

His favorite food is apples
His favorite movie is the Nightmare Before Christmas
His favorite book is the Cloudy With Chance of Meatballs book we gave him for Christmas
His favorite place is the zoo
His favorite animals are Gorillas
His favorite color is all of them
He hopes for Chocolate Cake (which he got)

For his birthday he wants:
a toy traffic light
a book
star wars movies
new clothes
roller skating shoes
camera
macaroni and cheese casserole with peas for dinner

If you give a mouse a cookie

We got discounted tickets to the play "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" from Sam's preschool. It was so cute! They did a great job adapting the book to the play.

the art of multi tasking

So right now I am:

making dinner
updating my blog
editing photos
preparing my sunbeam lesson
disciplining children
updating my iphone
helping my kids
checking my email

not to mention:

listening to music and tapping to the beat
planning out my to do list for tomorrow
and singing out bursts of random songs that come to my head

all at the same time. What we women have to do to get things done. Phew!

car ownership

We just made the last payment on our van! Wahoo! I am so excited to finally own it. To celebrate this momentous occasion I am taking it to the car wash to get a much needed scrub down since winter can be such a dirty time for cars. We hope the next time we need to buy a car we can pay cash for it. Payments are so overrated.