March 23, 2016: We met at Katie and Tyler's on Grandpa's actual birthday.
The Mellors had too much going to join us. :(
We started the fun with a backyard Easter Egg Hunt.
It was a chilly, windy day, but the hunt was fun. Grandpa
got to be the Easter Bunny and hide all the eggs.
As you can see, it was a very successful hunt. Some of the eggs had fake
money that was then used to purchase the prize of your choice inside.
Baby Wil
Baby Gabe
The meal was a "T" party. Everything was tiny and/or could be eaten with a toothpick.
This is Grandpa's first plate full.
Grandpa had a rather silly birthday cake.
But...he still made a wish!
Buying prizes with fake money turned out to be a high light of the evening.
This cool light projects images on the wall.
The fun wore Grandpa right out! HAPPY 66th BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!
LEVAN HOMESTEAD
NEWS---March 2016
Dad: I got some projects done in March. I finished splitting the rest of the wood and
got it in the wood shed. Then I got the
Christmas lights down so the “red-neck” jokes would stop. I hurried a kestrel nesting box trying to
attract a pair of kestrels, but so far all we have is starlings trying to move
in. Tyler shared the pattern with us.
Then we poured the concrete pad and footings for our little chicken
coop. Bethany and SJ picked a dozen chicks for us, so that project moved up in
priority. I also got the garden spot
fertilized and tilled. I didn’t plant
anything yet, but we are ready when it quit freezing every night. We did do some fun things, too. We went to
the Rock and Gem Show. I always enjoy
walking through that and looking at the rocks and all the things people can
make from them. I took Bethany to the temple once and then I tended Wil while
Mom took her on a Saturday Morning. We
went to the Hale Theater to see “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dream
Coat.” Grandma Anna decided not to go last minute so we took Katie. If you haven’t seen that production, you
should. It is not exactly what you read
in the Bible, but the music is great and
the message is timeless. The Pharoah was
a cross between Elvis and Johnny Depp.
There was even a little Ponderosa and a French serenade. You would think that the makers of Veggie
Tales had something to do with it. We followed the prophet and went to our
Caucus meeting. I ended up being elected
as a county delegate. That will be a first for me. We had an Easter Themed birthday party at
Wilkins’ for my birthday. That was fun.
I got to be the Easter Bunny and hop around her back yard to hide the
eggs. But the most exciting thing was
having Jake call me from Hong Kong. Mom
got me a pneumatic nail gun for my birthday.
I will tell you more about that next month. We got to be a part of the Provo City Center
Temple Dedication this month. Mom and I went to the 9:00 a.m. session, then we
had my birthday dinner at noon, and then Mom and I tended the kids while Tyler,
Katie and Bethany went to the 3:00 p.m. session. The messages were so unique for that
temple. They were very different from
the ones given at the Payson Temple. The
Spirit was the same, but there was a different feeling and it was good. On Easter, we went to my ole Buddy, RayLynn
Hurst and his wife Dalene’s mission report.
They have been serving on the Deseret/Citrus ranch in Florida with Scott
and Janna. We had lunch with their family
afterwards. Since we grew up together on West Mountain it was especially fun to
see his brothers and sisters again.
March 31 was my last official work day at Ash Grove Cement. I took homemade doughnuts out to share with
each department so I could say good-bye.
My friends in the maintenance shop had a little barbeque put together
for me. It was a good feeling to see Ash
Grove in my rearview mirror for the last time.
Mom: March was good for me. Dad has covered some of the events so I will
just skip over those. Just for the
record, Baby Will sat up alone for the first time on April 4th. Dad
and I stacked the wood in the wood shed and he sat in the grass the whole
time. We were all surprised and
impressed. Andrea shared the 30 day
Atonement reading challenge with us after Christmas, but Dad and I decided to
do it for Easter. Wow! It definitely
sweetened our Easter experience, expanded our understanding of the Atonement
and deepened our gratitude for it. I did a lot of extra cleaning and preparing
this month for Dad’s retirement celebration.
I was so pleased with the invitations Sarah Hunt helped me design. I can
describe the picture I have in mind, and she can make it so much better than I
pictured. She makes me look good!
Some of
the drivers have nearly maxed out on their hours thanks to Obama Care, so I
have had more activity runs than normal.
That pattern will continue through the rest of the school year. My
favorite was the Richfield run with the Sterling Scholars. We had a winner and
two runners-up this year. I was able to
do some shopping in my bus. J I got lumber for the
kestrel box and some great bargain buys that day.
We
enjoyed SJ’s Levan Birthday Party on the 5th and managed to get new
birthday portraits of the kids taken this month. (Look for your copy soon.) I also had a Green Party with the activity
day girls on St. Patrick’s Day. That was
here at the house, and was lots of fun.
We had
some great temple days this month.
Bethany and I got to do a session together while Dad tended Baby Wil.
(SJ was with her dad.) That was so nice.
That evening we attended the Women’s Conference together while Dad tended
again. The conference was powerful and I
knew immediately where my focus needs to be right now. That was comforting. Then Dad and I went to the temple on March 24th. That was the four year anniversary of Grandma
M’s passing. We went because I sometimes
feel closer to her in the temple. There
was no unusual experience, but there was a very sweet Spirit there, and my
thoughts and memories of her in that setting brought me peace and joy. Dad mentioned the Provo City Center Temple
Dedication. Without doubt, the message and symbolism there is that God can
built sometime beautiful and sacred from the ashes of life if we will allow Him
to. I learned a good lesson making
doughnuts to send to Ash Grove. The size
of your cutter really affects the number of doughnuts you get. I had to make 5 ½ times the recipe to get the
job done. I realized that well into the
project and getting Dad out the door on time was truly a photo-finish.
Sister Kenison: See andreaapril.blogspot.com
