May 31, 2012

Hey, dear family and friends!
It seems like forever since I have felt well enough to do this. But, I am finally back on my feet, over the flu virus, and going strong. I am thankful for your prayers.  The ward members here have really been kind to us. I felt badly about not being out doing our work for so long, but I it turned out that the Lord didn't quit working. I feel that in at least three instances our prayers were answered and people's hearts were touched by their situations. I am grateful. He does what we cannot do.
Oh, and another good thing happened. Elder H got to go fishing for a few hours one morning while I couldn't do anything. The bishop and elders' quorum president took him out. He enjoyed that.
The really great news this week is that Sarah and her family have been here for a visit. We have had soooooooo much fun. I have the best grandchildren in the world. We were blessed with great weather. We were supposed to have thunder showers two of the days they were here, but it held off until today as they were leaving.
They arrived about nine-fifteen Saturday night. I was pitiful. Our next door neighbors have two children. They have relatives from out of state visiting for a total of six kids. They were running in and out. Every time I heard a child I ran to see if it was family. Of course, I knew most of the time that it was too early for it to be them, but was a little crazy. Finally, I went outside and paced up and down the road for a while. Then I leaned up against some car ports in the parking lot. The elders came driving in. They parked their car at their apartment and came over to visit with me for about fifteen minutes. They had just gone across the driveway when Mark drove up. They helped me to stay sane. I was worse than a kid at Christmas. My stomach literally hurt, I was so excited. So, I got the greatest gift I could have...time with family.
I could not believe how very much they have grown and changed. It is difficult to tell from the photos, but they have all grown up a lot in six months time.
This is a picture of the girls at their Aunt Amy's wedding in Memphis. (That is the reason they were on this side of the country. They were there a week and then drove up to see us.)

Addison, Kaili, and AnnMarie

On Sunday we went to church. The folks in our ward were really happy to have our family here. We were happy as they were able to meet several of the people who we are working with. We had a good dinner and played Uno Attack, and generally enjoyed being together.

Elder Jones, Elder Bridgewater came to say goodbye. (We lost Elder B this week on transfer day. He went to  Lansing and will be zone leader. We have a new elder, Elder Snow, from Gilbert, AZ. (picture next week.)

Sunday night

On Monday we had a morning swim at the pool in our apartment complex. The girls loved that and they would have stayed in the pool all day every day. They are little fish!!!

Walking to the pool

Kaili & AnnMarie

We then went to Battle Creek's Binder Zoo. It is awesome!!! It is out in a wooded area and very shaded. Walking through the trees was wonderful. The temperature was ninety two degrees, so we liked that. I am going to put in several photos. The highlight was watching the girls feed the giraffes. Of course, my timing with the pictures was not great, but they handed the giraffes lettuce leaves and they ate them out of their hands. Giraffe tongues are really long. The girls were cute as can be.

Tram ride. Mom, Dad, & Grandpa were in the next car.

Addi & friend

This is taken from down the trail. I thought you might like to see the platform.

Every day, often, the girls would say, "I wish Aunt Cathy, Aunt Kristin, Uncle Paul, and Aunt Carly was here." They love to have us all together and I do, too. We would have loved to share all of this with you. Please know you were missed!

We went back to the apartment and went swimming. Boy, did that cold water feel great!!!

On Tuesday we went to South Haven, a town on Lake Michigan. The beaches are amazing. Kaili chased seagulls all over the place. Elder H got chicken and stuff for lunch on the beach. The rip tides were strong so we could not get in very far. It's okay. The lake was only about 52 degrees. It didn't take long to get used to it. We had a lot of fun.

It was a great day!

Wednesday we hung around the pool, toured Battle Creek, shopped at Horrock's, and went out for ice cream. Here are a few more photos.

And so too soon the time was up, and they left this morning for Utah.

We went back to work and had a good day.

PS. I got to feel my grandson kick his mother!!!