I complained I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet

This morning as I was leaving the aquatic center, a friendly fellow student asked me if I had anything fun planned today. I said I was scheduled for a mammogram but that wouldn't be fun. She said she doesn't get them any more because she's had a mastectomy on both sides.

Grace's baptism

We flew to Salt Lake to Grace's baptism. It was a wonderful experience. Grandpa and I gave the talks and Aunt Gail led the singing. Grace was so attentive and sincere. Velvet's Dad and stepmom also flew down from Corvallis. And Grace's aunt Ashlin was there too. Carl did both the baptism and confirmation. Velvet said the opening prayer and Carl said the closing.

"and they shall live together in love"

At last night's FHE we talked about President Uchtdorf's talk on Things that Matter Most from the last conference. Two things jumped out at me.

First this paragraph: "Printed material (including puzzles for me), wide-ranging media sources, electronic tools and gadgets--all helpful if used properly--can become hurtful diversions or heartless chambers of isolation." That phrase, heartless chambers of isolation, breaks my heart. If we know someone who seems to want to draw a circle around themselves and shut everyone else out, we should draw our circle larger to include them in it! I don't think it means that Dad and I should do every single thing together. But neither should we do every single thing apart. We play Scrabble daily, we watch movies, we eat supper together, we go on walks--that's when our best conversations happen. And of course we do Cub Scouts together, work our shift at the FHC, and serve in the temple together. Hopefully we do enough together to stay connected.

The second idea is when he was talking about our relationships as a family and he said, "We talk with, rather than about, each other." One person told about her children who cannot get along (ages 41 and 43) and they come to her wanting her to arbitrate. Another told about his brother with whom he could not get along for many many years. Another about her sister who was estranged until the last few years of her life. We came away thinking, as we have so many times before, we are so happy our children love each other and want to keep in touch with each other.

I see this carrying on down into the next generations also.

We love you all.

The pickup man; or return of an old friend

When we bought the camper van in 2005 we sold Eldon's beloved truck to Ken. Later Ken sold it to Mike Andrus. Now Mike has graciously agreed to sell it back to us! Mike and Maia waxed it and it was as clean inside and out as a whistle. (Mike bought a 2005 Honda Civic hybrid.)

I'm happy I don't have to coordinate trips with my car any more.

Surprise!

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon we went on a walk to the pond even though it was quite cold. We saw a pair of lovers on a park bench overlooking the pond (not an unusual sight). Then we noticed crutches leaned up against the bench. So we invited them to the house for hot chocolate.

I noticed Emily was keeping her left hand in her pocket and then I noticed Jason whisper something in her ear. So finally she said, "Do you want to see what Jason just gave me?" Wow! It's a very pretty ring--a light purple sapphire set on a bed of very sparkly small diamonds. Gorgeous and unusual. They have set July 5th for the wedding.

We are very very happy for them.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve turned out to be a lot more exciting than we thought it would be.

We spent the day at the temple, thinking it would be slow. But it was the busiest day we've seen all year. The sessions were filled almost to capacity and initiatory was really busy.

We invited Jim and Carrie to supper and Emily and Jason joined us at the last minute. That was a pleasant surprise. Who would think they would want to hang with old people on new year's?! We played the new game Brenda gave us called Quiddler. Then Jim and Carrie went home because they were tired. Grandpa worked on the Dial-a-bus budget and the rest of us put together one of my new puzzles. It's called College of Magical Knowledge by James Christensen.

The young people left at 11:30.  As they were leaving Emily asked me if I had any predictions for the new year. I said I couldn't predict. Either she would go on a mission or they would decide to get married. But I would be the last to know which. They banter like a married couple because they are so comfortable with each other. I think her exuberance livens him up. And his stability steadies her.

Since we were both still up at midnight, we greeted the new year with a kiss. Happy New Year! I'm sure 2011 will be exciting whatever it brings.