Returning From Hibernation ~

Well, I decided it was time to come out of hibernation today. However, with the snowstorm that just struck; I think I should have waited for a while. I found out that Bears can hibernate for100 days; I thought that was interesting. I have enjoyed my rest from blogging and less social medal, but I feel drawn back into it because I miss my friends. I'm anxious to get back and read how you are all doing

My dearest daughter Jenni and her son Ben shoveled the walks and driveway today. We have a snowblower, but it was out of gas. My beloved husband left at 4 am this morning to work at the temple, so I was happy that we got it done before he came home. Meanwhile, it is snowing again. 

The following is what I have been doing while in hibernation. I have had many enjoyable January moments to write about. 

My wonderful husband and I had a fantastic NewYears Eve with our daughter Jenni, Michael, and their children; Alyssa, Emma, and Ben. The first photo below is a favorite. It shows the girls watching the fireworks from our window. 

Next on my agenda was our Stake Relief Society Presidency made the dinner for the Stake High Priest Quorum and their wives. We had about 85 attend the dinner. It was delicious. We had some great help to get it all done. After the dinner, there was a Stake Fireside, featuring a well-known speaker, Brad Wilcox who spoke on Christ's Atonement and Grace. It was an inspiring message for all.

The following morning, I was up bright and early to drive up to Heber Valley Camp. This camp is above Heber City, Utah. It is a huge camp with many campsites. One of the wards in our Stake was holding their youth winter retreat. They stay overnight in a Yurts. These are round type cabins. 

The drive up was good until I hit the main road to the camp. I pulled into the parking lot and was taken to the camp area in an enclosed like a golf cart. It had a heater which was nice. I was asked to give a presentation on Compassionate Leadership. I had a fantastic young woman named Kayla from the Laural class, who helped me with it. I taught two sessions with 15 -20 youth in each one from the ages of 11-17along with their leaders. It was a beautiful experience, and I enjoyed the opportunity. 

The next day was the Sabbath, and our Stake Relief Society Presidency had two Ward Conferences to attend. I was privileged to lead a discussion on having a Missionary Mindset in gathering Israel. It all centers on ministering as the Savior would have us do. 

We next had a trip to take to Minneapolis, Minnesota to visit my daughter, Christina, Brandon and their children; April, Abbey, Faith, and Levi. The trip was made to attend the ordination of our grandson, Levi. The Aaronic Priesthood was conferred upon him, and he was ordained to the office of a Deacon.  
Our air flight there went very well; except for the first leg to Denver, there was no room for our legs. I am happy it wasn't a long flight. We had to get up at 2:50 am to be at the airport at 4 am. That is a stretch for me. 

Here is our marvelous family that we were visiting. They all join in together to make the meals and clean up. My daughter is very much into nutritional eating. She makes everything from scratch. She has taught her daughters how to cook this way. I think it is fantastic. 

On Sunday, we attended their ward meetings. We are now only meeting for two hours instead of three. Today was their ward conference. This means that all the stake leaders attend and the Stake President and Bishop are the Sacrament meeting speakers. Then the 2nd hour is the Relief Society and Elder's Quorum. Here the Stake Relief Society President lead a discussion like I did last week; except on a different subject that was chosen by the Stake Presidency. 

After the meetings, we went to the Bishop's office for Levi to have the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon him and ordained to the office of a Deacon. His father then gave him a blessing with this ordination. 

On Monday, the boys went out to sled down the front yard hill. It is a very long hill. They had such a good time. There was plenty of snow in Minnesota. 

That afternoon everyone pitched in and helped to make Tamales. They turned out delicious. That evening they invited a family from the ward and the missionaries to come to dinner. It was a very yummy dinner with even homemade ice cream. We then had a Family Home Evening discussion, and the missionaries gave part of it. It was an incredible evening, and everyone seemed to have a good time. 

Tuesday was our last day with this marvelous family. On Tuesday evening we went out to dinner and then we went to the St. Paul Minnesota Temple. We went there to do baptisms for the dead. This was our grandson Levi's first time doing the baptisms. We had several male and female ancestor's names to do. It was a very spiritual experience for all. 

When we came home from the temple, our sweet daughter asked if her father, Roger would give her a priesthood blessing. Then the other three Granddaughters requested one too. It was an honor for him to bless them. Both Roger and Brandon assisted with these blessings.  It was a profoundly spiritual experience. 

 We got to bed late and then had to get up again at 2:50 am to get to the airport by 4 am. My husband paid for 1st class leg room for the trip home; which was nice. We got to Denver and then had a15 hour layover. We discovered the layover was that long just before we left for the trip. He thought that we got home at 11am instead it was 11 pm. I was very concerned about how we would handle it all. We were blessed to find some lounge-like chairs in a quiet area. You could face two chairs together and actually take a nap as pictured below. I did fall asleep for about an hour. We worked on some computer stuff and then watched a movie off his I-Pad, which was fun. The last leg of the trip was perfect, and we were very grateful to be home. 

We celebrated my sweet husband's 73rd birthday on January 29th. He was sick with a cold, so we didn't have more family with us to rejoice; just those that are living with us. It was a sweet celebration. How I love this exceptional man of mine. I am so grateful to have him as my eternal companion. I am very blessed. 

Last weekend, we traveled up to Sugar City, Idaho to attend the Priesthood ordinations for two of our grandsons. Ryley was ordained a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood and then Kason received the Aaronic Priesthood and ordained to the office of a Deacon. Their father did the ordinations which followed with special blessings.

Some of the family had influenza, so we didn't stay to spend the day with them; which was kind of sad. However, we had the flu last year and wasn't taking any chances of catching it again. 

We headed home and was hoping to not get in a snowstorm that was predicted to be coming. We were blessed to drive home safely. 

I am happy to be back blogging again. In the nine years, I have blogged, I haven't ever taken a break. I am anxious to get back reading the blog posts of my dear friends. I will be by soon. 
Sending a lot of love and hugs to all of you that follow my blog.