Reminiscing

Brian and Dani in Paris!


Amy and Dani in Paris! (We received these photos right after I posted this, so I'm adding them after the fact because they are just too good of all three of them. Love it.)




The Mill Road Ward held their Primary Program today. It's an annual Sunday church meeting where the children present the entire thing, singing things they have learned, and addressing a theme they have studied throughout the year. They were great. There were lots of them, and they sang well. Kyle, of course, the biggest kid there, couldn't hold still. He even tried to scrunch down a few times as he is now as tall as I am, and towered over all of the other kids. The kids did a great job, and there were some wonderful talks about experiences kids had in their own families, that were touching. They concerned faith and healing, both physical and spiritual. The theme was families.

I thought of our wonderful ward family in Ascutney, Vermont, and missed the kids who sang as loud as they could, just for the joy of it, who were so out of tune (Adam, Parley, etc.). We LOVED that. I missed Sarah, Rachael, Melissa, and the rest. Then they said or sang something about seeing family members who had passed away again, and it was hard not to cry. I was thinking about, and missing, Rainee. If I feel that way, I have to wonder how Brian, Erin, Patrick and Sam are doing. I haven't talked to any of them, really. Partly because we have cell phones, which are at times crazy, we're busy, etc, but I want them to know that we miss them, miss Rainee, and we are a little tender right now missing home and everyone there, including Jarah, our very lovely Golden Retriever. So, we are fine here, but at times, a wave of missing everyone and everything so dear to us there hits. As someone says, the rug has been pulled right out from under us. My reply was, yes, but there is a new rug here, and loving hands have caught us, we just need some time to adjust.

Blaine was able to attend all three meetings at church today, and has been able to stay up much more. Energy is slowly returning, and he has been using exercise equipment at his sister's house like he's been told. :) He's also been eating pretty well. Yesterday, his head was down on his arms on the table, and I thought he didn't feel good. I was watching him to see if he was OK, when he suddenly raised his head and said, "I DEMAND ICE CREAM!!!" The kids scrambled to grab money and race away in the van with Josh driving. They came home with a whole tub, and big grins. A good time was had by all.

Summing up, we're grateful for home; both of them. We miss everyone back east, and want you to know. We are grateful for these good people here, who it will take time to get to know. Thanks for all your love, and for all the good things in our lives.