The Blessing of Gabriel
Lane Wilkins, in the
Vineyard 2nd Ward, on May 31, 2015.
Those in the
Priesthood circle: Father- Tyler Wilkins, Grandfather- Darrel Kenison,
Grandfather -Orson Wilkins, Uncle- Neldon Mellor, and Bishop T.J. Moore.
Grandma Anna is holding Gabe just before sacrament meeting began.
Following the blessing we had a yummy dinner at the Wilkin's home in Orem.
Ty, Leia, PLUS Grandma and Grandpa Wilkins.
Gabe was a very good helper. He slept through the entire party.
(Love the spikey hair!)
Leia found Unkie Neldie first thing---- as usual. Kaleb
A cousin blanket picnic.
(Haylie, Dallin, Luke, Kaleb and Ty w/ Aunt Lindsey in the background.)
Hmmmmm...where to begin!
Katie: our hostess, cook and planner!
Darcy, Rocky and Brian stopped by.
Rocky is a very sober child, but super adorable.
Ty has a way of finding the babies. :)
Grandpa Wilkins is a bit like the Pied Piper when it comes to kids.
The dessert brownies were finger lickin' good!
We had a whole flock of super-heroes with capes.
(The next day Katie had a lot of laundry.)
Memories of that day made us all smile!
LEVAN
HOMESTEAD NEWS: May 2015
I used the heaters in the bus
every morning through the last day.
Sometimes I was scraping frost from the window shield, but spring has
finally arrived. Our garden and flowers
are in. We had lots of rain throughout
the month and our lawn looks like a carpet right now. School is out and I don’t
intend to take any bus runs this summer. Can’t wait for some lazy days of
summer!
Tyler
and Katie came down one week end early in the month. Katie gave me a perm and Dad helped Ty build
a portable fire pit out of an old washer drum. Both projects went well.
I
taught my R.S. lesson for this quarter. (May 3rd) The title was “Human Intimacy: teaching and
safeguarding our children. I spent about 20 hours getting ready for a 35 minute
lesson, but in our world this topic is so vital that it was worth it. Those extra hours are where the Spirit can
really deepen your understanding and teach you things you can learn, but cannot
teach. The Spirit was there and my
efforts were well received.
Dallin
had his 7th birthday on Wednesday (May 6). We went up to his birthday dinner and
party. He is one who knows how to
receive gifts. He was so excited and
grateful for everything that is was touching.
On
May 8, we went to the Payson Temple Open house with Wilkins, Joyce and Richard
Johnson, and Gary Harvey (Jason’s friend).
There were so many people there that our tour felt a bit rushed, but it
was wonderful. There are over 1200 going through each hour on most days. That
was pretty accurate for the day we attended.
I was told there had been over
22,000 one day! Going through with Luke
was delightfully memorable. His enthusiasm for every detail and eagerness to
learn and understand was contagious. That will always be a precious memory for
me.
Dad
planned a fun FHE on the 11th. We rode the 4-wheeler up Deep Canyon, over the
skyline drive and then down Chicken Creek.
It was gorgeous! I really enjoyed
it although we were gone for 3 ½ hours and got a little bit lost. :- / I also had a tender spot where the storage
bags had rubbed and banged, but I’d go again in a heartbeat!
I
had the BYU State Track Run. (May 15) It was a chilly, rainy day, but the meet went
on. We had two girls take State in their event. J I went to the Provo Temple first thing, as
usual. Then Katie picked me up so I could tend her kids while she went to the
temple. I love me job!
Steve
and Paula Bateman came home from this mission to the West Indies this month. The chapel was packed for their report! (May 17th) (Like the Christmas program—packed!) The choir had to sit in the choir seats to
have a seat. What an adventure Elder and Sister Bateman had! Their mission
included multiple countries, multiple languages, multiple cultures, multiple
monetary systems, and abject poverty. Their stats ran 10 baptisms to 5 inactive
people being reclaimed. Of those 5 only
2 were “kingdom builders.” That term gave me cause to ponder what qualities a
“kingdom builder” has and where I stand in that role.
I
took Dad to the JHS Spring Choir Concert for FHE on the 18th. (We take turns planning FHE. J )
The choir really does get better each year.
This year they got straight 1’s at state competition. The concert was both fun and inspiring, but I
was disappointed that they didn’t include “Bridge of Troubled Water.” That’s been their alumni theme song for
years.
May 20th
was our 39th wedding anniversary.
I talked Dad into taking the day off and going on a field trip to “This
Is the Place” park with me. He rode the
bus up with a load of 4th graders from Red Cliff’s. J (Tory C had that trip, too.) It was a lovely spring day and we had a great
time. Dad had never been to the pioneer
village and there have been additions and improvements since I was last
there. It is like stepping back over 150
years. Paul had arranged for a sub to cover my night run, so once the kids were
unloaded, we had a late lunch at the Chinese Restaurant in Nephi and then went
to the Manti Temple. That is perhaps the
last time we will go to that temple without a special event. Payson Temple will be open soon and it will
be “our” temple. It was a sweet
experience that evening because we had just seen first-hand, how those who
built this pioneer temple were living. I
was humbled at that thought.
May
23: We got to feed the missionaries on
the day we got little Joshua Cordell.
Our Elders are a dynamic team and swapping missionary stories made
dinner even better. (That is one of the
blessings of having your very own missionary.
Thanks Sister K.)
One morning Alanna (our foster
child) was waiting for me when I pulled into the High School. She had an announcement to graduation with a
ticket to attend. I was pretty tickled
that she made it and that she wanted me to come. Dad was working swings all week, so my
evenings were free. I decided to go.
(May 27) Celeste Robinson saved me a
seat and it was the best of any graduation ever! The program was nice, short and sweet and
then we had a surprise party for Alanna following the ceremony.
The last day of school was May
29th, Dad and I had our hot “School’s Out” date the next day. We went to the Hale Theater Production of
“BIG FISH.” It was not what I
expected. It was a very sweet musical
about a father whose dreams of greatness never came true, so he made up for
with it with magical, but embellished biographical stories. His son, over a life time, failed to
appreciate his stories because he was never certain what was “REAL” and what
was not. As his father was dying of
cancer, he discovered how wonderful his dad’s stories had made his own uneventful
life and the threads of reality became more clear. At the birth of his son, he followed the
pattern of sharing the magical stories from his childhood. The music was
amazing! I was blessed by a parent who made childhood wonderful because of her
amazingly, creative stories--- although they were seldom biographical. We
stopped at the Salem Cemetery on the way home to pick up the planters from
Memorial Day and to say “Thanks” for all the wonderful stories! I made Dad and I BIG chef salads before
leaving home. We stopped at Salem Pond
and enjoyed them for dinner. That is a very nostalgic, peaceful place for
me. It was the perfect ending to our School’s out celebration.
Sister Andrea Kenison:
See andreaapril.blogspot.com
Here's proof that she did it! 
