First of all, was General Conference. I loved it! Most of the talks were about family and parenthood. Sometimes I wish I had heard these talks when I was still raising my children. Maybe I would have been a better parent! On Sunday, afternoon there was a talk given that really impressed me. I was actually starting to snooze a little and I suddenly awakened with a strong feeling that I, especially, needed to hear this talk. (I have been praying for guidance in certain areas of my life and wanting to know more what I could do better!) As I opened my eyes I saw and heard this man speaking:
It was Bradley D. Foster of the Seventy. I knew this talk was an answer to a prayer. I especially loved his story about the mother cows and the calves. How grateful I am for good men and leaders of this church.Second, Easter was on General Conference Sunday. As usual we had invited all the children and grandchildren over for dinner and an Easter Egg hunt. I love when we all get together. The children love getting togethe and playing all over the house while the adults share stories, laugh and tend to little ones. We missed Jenn, Jason, Jaylee and Jenni who were in Pennsylvania and Brian, Mary, Jenna, Catie and Matthew who were away visiting relatives in Ellensburg, Washington.
As good as the kids and parents were at find all the eggs we found some several weeks later. Luckily these were plastic eggs with candy and were still edible.Third, this was also Mark and my 38th wedding anniversary. Mark took the day off work and after a morning of getting things done around the house we took a drive to the Olympic Peninsula to see the Lake Quinalut Rainforst. It was good to get away and just drive and talk. Mark may not agree since he did all the driving. We found the Lake Quinault Lodge and ate. It was very good! One might argue it was not exactly worth the price.
I loved the atmosphere of the lodge and especially dining while overlooking the lake. It was cloudy and misty just as you would imagine a rainforest would be. Then we took a drive around one of the roads in the rainforest and this is what we saw:Lots of little streams and falls!
Rain forests are amazing and beautiful! Miles of moss-covered trees!
Also in April we were invited to a little program/concert by Tommy. Cute, Cute, Cute! We love it when we get to attend grandchildren's programs, etc.
The program was about the alphabet and especially the vowels. Darling songs!
Tommy was in the chorus!We went to the Daffodil/Tulip festival near Mount Vernon. Talk about beauty! The flowers were so bright and colorful.
Like being in Holland!! Cute place named RoozenGarrde near Mount Vernon.
What a special occasion to be able to attend the open house of the Vancouver, Canada Temple.
We went with Maria, Eric, Tommy, Blake and Brody.
I was so impressed with the little ones. They were so reverent through the tour of the temple. They stayed pretty close to our guide and listened to her when she spoke. Of course they sometimes moved around a lot like little boys, but always calmed right down when asked to be reverent. I noticed this even more when they were in the celestial room. I just hope they felt of the beauty and the spirit that was there. At the end of the month I got to go with James, Jamie, Ryan, Emily and Allie to the Woodland Park Zoo to celebrate Emily's 4th birthday. It started out fairly dry, but really rained during the trek around the zoo. I was so amazed at Emily's attention to all the animals for a 4 year old. She always looked at and commented about each animal she saw. I especially enjoyed watching the zookeepers move the giraffes from one field, across the pathway, to a building for keeping dry. That close up they really looked tall...even the baby giraffe. Before we left, we found a place to eat and get out of the rain. The ride home was interesting since I sat in the seat next to Allie, who smiled and played almost all the way home. But, just at the end she was coaxing me to get her out of her seat (first politely, then a little more forcefully). She made me smile!
So you can see why it took me so long to post this. So many things to do. In fact, I was able to do it today because I have a nasty cold and stayed home from church. I must admit I have a full and blessed life!
