Meeting an Apostle on Easter

So my mom informs me that Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles  is coming to Flagstaff for their stake conference.  It also happens to be Easter weekend so I am all in.  The cherry on top is that he and Brother Carl B. Cook a newly sustained general authority  are staying at the hotel.  So, I know where he's going to be and I am thinking a million things a minute on how I can get my kids to be able to shake his hand.  I mean, there are billions of people on the earth today and only 12 apostles, how often is this opportunity going to come around?!

Then I thought, shoot, missing Easter with their families?  No Easter egg hunt?  I can fix that.  :)  So I made sure the Easter bunny found their hotel suites and left some eggs for them to find.

We had it all planned out that we would be waiting in the lobby of the hotel when they arrived at 10:00.  10 min before we got there my mom called and said they were already there and were headed for their rooms.  I was so sad, I told the kids to pray hard and drove waaaayyyy tooooo fast to get there.  She called as I was speeding down the road and said Elder Nelson had said we could meet them at noon and to bring our camera when she told them how much we wanted to meet them.  We were so happy when we got to the hotel and they were waiting for us in the lobby.  My mom had stalled them for a couple of minutes because they had arrived 30 min early.  They were both so gracious and kind.  Griffin was so thrilled.  He told Elder Nelson he heard his talk at General Conference and he liked how he talked about the little boy who wanted to get closer to the TV so his sister held him up closer.  Elder Nelson said that's my youngest grandson.  Griffin said yeah, and he's going to grow up and be an apostle just like you!  Elder Nelson smiled and said, well, he will definitely grow up to be a good daddy!  We then helped them up to their rooms and Elder Nelson went into his room first.  Then we showed Brother Cook to his room and Griffin couldn't contain himself any longer...he ran in and grabbed the Easter basket and held it up and said Look, the Easter Bunny came and hid eggs for you!  Brother Cook said isn't that great, my wife was worried I'd be missing the egg hunt and now I can have my own!  Griffin was so happy. 

After we left Griffin kept saying, "Mommy, I just can't stop smiling!"

I guess that is just what happens when you meet a "special witness of Jesus Christ." 

As they were leaving on Sunday Elder Cook said "Tell Griffin that I had found only 11 eggs until I knelt down to pray and looked up into the lamp and there was number 12."

So, that's what we did for our Easter weekend, we meet an Apostle and a General Authority!  Not bad. 

 

Griffin's Gets Baptised!

Griffin was baptised on April 9th.  It was a fantastic day for him with many friends and lots of family.  Both sets of Grandparents came and lots of Aunts and Uncles.  We were so happy to have so many to share this special day with.  Grandpa Jenkins gave the opening prayer, Uncle John gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and Mary lead the music.  Griffin was so thrilled when he received the Holy Ghost.  He ran around giving everyone huge hugs and then as he passed Brax in his wheelchair he stopped and tenderly gave him a kiss on the forehead.  It was so sweet.  I was so proud of Griffin and the great choice he made! 

Brad and Griffin

Freer Family

Grandparents

Jenkins Family

Mommy and Daddy

Our Family---Lewis on floor behind Brad hiding

Lewis was having a hard time sitting still, he wanted to be doing headstands in the seats, so Lynette took him out for a wile to get the wiggles out.  They came back in for Griffin's confirmation and had a hilarious conversation.

Uncle Rob & Auntie Lynette

Lewis and Auntie Lynette's conversation:

Lynette:  Lewis do you want to go back in and see Griffin recieve the Holy Ghost?

Lewis:  Sure

They go in and Lewis stands up on the pew to get a better look.

Lewis:  Auntie Net, I can't see the Holy Ghost, where is he?

Lynette:  You can't see him.  He will be in Griffn's heart.

Lewis:  Will he still be able to breathe?

Yep, we are raising spiritual giants!!

Our Famly

Griffin's Baptism announcement

So my big boy has turned 8!  It's time for him to get baptised.  He is so excited!  If anyone wants to come, you're invited! 

Lewis and the Toothbrush

 So I found Lew's toothbrush in the backyard the other day. I brough it in and rinsed it off with hot water, it had some dirt on it, and I put it away. About an hour later he was brushing his teeth and with his mouth full of toothbrush he says "Thanks for washing the poop off my toothbrush mommy!" So, aparently that wasn't dirt. Nice.

Later after bleaching the toothbrush, I asked him why it was outside.  He said he'd been brushing Zeus's teeth with it.  Yeah, Zeus is our dog.  It just gets better and better!!!

Who's your Student of the Month? Griffin's Mine!!

WOO HOO Griffin is the student of the month! Way to go Big Boy! We are so proud of you!!!

Explaining he got the award for being trustworthy, doing his work and making good choices in class.

Receiving award



The proud boy with his award!



Post award Doughnuts, thanks PTO



1 year Anniversary

Yep, as of February 11th we have officially had this house for a year.  In honor of that, I have decided to post some before and after pictures.  Enjoy....




boys room before

  

Boys room after





girls room before    

girls room after



guest room before

  

guest room after





guest room after

 

kitchen before







kitchen/dinning before



Kitchen/dining after

 

kitchen after

family room before

family room after



pool before



pool after



front room before

 

during...



after



 

Happy Face Found

Yesterday at church, Lewis had a meltdown.  We went out to get a drink of water and he couldn't be reverent enough to go back into the chapel.  So I sat with him on a chair in the foyer.  He wiggled and tried to get off my lap and when I wouldn't let go he broke into full blown crying.  So we moved into a classroom where he wouldn't disturb others. 

He had to sit on a chair, fold his arms and be silent, then we could go back in.  He was having none of it.  He spun in the chair, wouldn't fold his arms and sobbed:  "I hate church"  "My wanna go back in by Henna and Mae Mae"  "This is dumb"  "I am telling daddy on you"  "I wanna go home"  "I hate chairs"  were some of his more memorable phrases. 

Finally (30-40 min later) he was sitting correctly, and folding his arms but still screaming/crying with his mouth closed figuring I'd think that was close enough to silent to let him go back in.  Sadly, no, I wanted no more crying.  As we were sitting there the door cracked open and his friend Eden (age 2) appeared.  Lewis loves Eden.  He broke into a  huge smile and said "Eden!  Mommy, look, its my friend Eden, she made me find my happy face!  I'm not sad any more." 

And, he wasn't.  He gave Eden a hug and they sat in the chairs folding and folded their arms and then Lew and I went back into the chapel. 

Happy 12th Birthday Girls!

Yep, they're 12!  

Hard to believe I know!  It's amazing how fast it goes, only 6 years till they are gone, 2/3 of their time with me is over.  They had a great birthday on Veterans Day with all their friends, they made homemade pizza, handmade some Christmas cards, did a White Elephant type gift exchange and ate lots of yummy cupcakes (decorated by Grammy) and ice cream!  It was so fun. 

They are super excited to be able to go to Young Women's at church now.  They went to their first activity on Sunday night and tomorrow is their first combined activity with the boys.  Sooooooo EXCITING!    It's a whole new world people!!!

Zoe and Zander--Welcome to the Family

 

So we got  ourselves 2 new puppies in September.  We first met them in August on our travels to Utah but they were just a week old then and we had to wait to get them till they were 8 weeks old.  I only wanted one but the girls decided to pool their money and buy another one.  So we have 2 new babies who are perfect in every way except for the potty training part!  I figure with a life span of about 15-16 years, these will be the last puppies I ever train, yippee! 

Tiny Zander

Tiny Zoe

Lewis is really loving them.  He lays by them, goes in and out the dog door with them, hand feeds them food from their bowls, cleans up their poop off the carpet (he does a really good job too!) and pets them constantly.  He calls them the "blue one and the pink one" because of their collars.  He even remembers them in his prayers.  He is in heaven. 

Lew with the blue one

The girls are really happy to have a puppy they can call their own.  They got Zander.  Brad and I are happy too because we can make them clean up, wipe up, scoop up and wash up any accidents because it's "their dog!"

Griffin is so loving to them.  He gets them to play and run around and has a super fun time with them.  

Dinner Time

Sleepin with Daddy

Zander trying to sneak to school in Grif's backpack

Zander

Zoe

We are so happy to have them because it will make putting Daisy down that much less painful because we have them to cheer us up.