Easter Program 2026

 WHEW!

Did you hear that great sigh of relief on Palm Sunday?  I'm pretty sure it was heard around the world!

As Choir director, I am in charge of the Easter and Christmas programs in our ward.  It is a lot of work, taking many, many hours.  From writing or deciding the script, listening and looking at a lot of music, choosing the music, deciding solos and special musical numbers, asking them and getting them the music, asking narrators, scheduling the final Saturday rehearsal, setting up the mics, etc, etc.  It is such a beautiful relief when it's all over and feels a success.  This year, I used "The Living Christ" as the script, inserting music between sections of the document.  Choir members served as narrators.

We have such a great choir.  We had 7 basses, 5 tenors, 7 sopranos, and 6 altos sing in this program. They are such wonderful people.  We all felt such a unity as we joined our testimonies of Jesus Christ in song and word.  I love Him.  I know that He lives.  Happy Easter!

Short Visits from Camerons

 Kristen and kids left Friday morning and the Camerons came Friday night.  It was also their spring break and they were headed to California for the week. It was fun to have them here overnight and for a few hours in the morning.  How we love the Cameron family.

I went in the living room and found this sweet scene.

Then they stopped on their way home from California.  They wanted to get home for Sunday, so they went the whole way on Saturday.  It was fun to have them for a half hour or so.  You can see conference playing in the background.

Mackrory Spring Break Visit

 We so enjoyed having Kristen and her four youngest kids come for a few days during their spring break.  

Since we all served missions in Japan, we love to go to our local Japanese restaurant- Sakura.  We so enjoyed visiting two on one with Kristen.  We talk to her at least weekly on the phone, but it's just not the same as in person.

I enjoyed listening to Lisi read each night.  She is a very good reader.

One day, Ken, Kristen, Jake and I went to Utah Tech University for Jake to have a campus visit. They treated him very well and gave him a good tour of the campus. He was very impressed and loves the weather here.  I told him coming here includes Sunday dinners at our house!

The little ones enjoyed doing crafts and drawing.

Is she just the cutest?  She is such a delightful, happy child. 

One evening, they went up and hiked the Dragon's tail stairs.  This is a very popular hike consisting of 333 stairs. We had frozen lemonade and milkshakes afterward.

It is fun to do at night because is beautifully lighted.

Pictures of it during the day.

We all went out to dinner one night, but I guess we didn't get pictures.

We loved having them come and look forward to next time!

A Taffy Full of Love

 Each day at his school Gabe goes to visit his last years' teacher.  She keeps candy for her former students' visits.  She allows them to choose one piece of candy from the jar each day.  Gabe knew we were coming on Wednesday, so on his visit to his teacher that day, he chose a taffy he knew I would like- a licorice one.  He remembered that it was my favorite.  He kept it safe for me all day.  He sacrificed his candy for me.  When we arrived, he ran to me and gave it to me.  What a sweet, loving gift.

important Work

It is such important, eternal work we do in the holy temples.

 

March Book Club: Theo of Golden

 We love our monthly google chat book club discussions with our daughters.  We always start with everyone reporting on what is happening in their lives.  

At our Thanksgiving gathering, I gave each of them a copy of my new favorite book: Theo of Golden.  They all usually only listen to audiobooks.  At that time Theo wasn't available on audio, so I bought them each a copy and challenged them to read it.  They all did and loved it.  All five of us loved it.  I have read hundreds of books in my life.  Right now, I would say this is my favorite book ever.  We had such a good discussion.  Ken had just finished it and shared many excellent quotes from the book.  Everyone provided amazing insights.  We love discussing books with our daughters.

If you haven't read or listened (it is available on audio now), we highly recommend it!   

Fun Trip to Logan

 March 11th we traveled to Logan.  We had such a great weekend with the Camerons.  We did sealings at the temple with Shonna on Thursday morning and took her to lunch afterwards.  We had dinner at their home that night.

We love participating in their Come, Follow Me each evening.  They always sing around the piano. They had learned a beautiful song, "With a Little Faith"  They all know every word and Shonna rocks it on the piano.  It was so touching.
On Friday, both Ken and I had dental appointments with Blake.  Mine was for the next step in my implant.  Ken had to have major dental surgery- removing a very stubborn tooth and drilling into the bone, preparing for two implants.  It took a while to recover from that.  We are so grateful for Blake and his excellent care of us.

That evening we went out to dinner and then for ice cream.

Shonna and Luna having a conversation. Luna is a great granddog and is always so happy to see us.

On Tuesday, we watched BYU win in the March Madness tournament.

Come, Follow Me

On both Thursday and Friday we took Shonna to lunch.  We love spending time one on two with her.  She is a delightful individual.

After our dental appointments and lunch, we visited Ken's sister Lorene  in her new apartment in Logan.  She just finished her mission and moved here.

At Costa Vida

Gabe sat with us and literally talked nonstop about his favorite book series about dragons and 12 tribes and a lot of other stuff.  What we didn't know at the time is that there would be a quiz after! We had to name the tribes. Somehow, his food disappeared despite his mouth being 100% occupied with talking!  Gabe is an avid reader and wanted to share.

Doesn't look like they're having much fun.  Just digesting, I guess.

Lily did her dance solo for us.  We will see it for real in a couple of weeks.  She is on her high school's dance team and we are going up for their spring review.  She will do her solo at that.

On Saturday we attended my first and ONLY karate tournament.  I absolutely abhor boxing.  This isn't as bad as that, but it's not for me.

Caleb

The sparring  was the last event.  We spent the morning waiting . .                  

. . .and waiting.

The younger three all won in their divisions.  Here is Gabe with his trophy.    I guess Caleb won his division as well because there was no one else in his division.  They had him spar with a black belt!                                                                                                                                 

                                    

Hannah is small, but she is tough.

Lily

I didn't love karate, but I sure love these kids.

We left after the tournament to travel back home.  We needed to be here for Sunday.  I am the choir director and we were preparing for the Easter program.

I had to take a screenshot of this.  I had my best nights' sleep that night since I got my Fitbit many years ago.  7 1/2 hours!  I scored an 89.  I usually get around 70.  I was so exhausted.

We so enjoyed our weekend with the Camerons!

A Twon Called Solace

 

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Modern Fiction Physical Book
I loved this book! This is my kind of book: Character-driven, modern fiction. It is set in northern Canada. It is the story of a distraught family whose teenage daughter has run away and her greatly disturbed little sister. A very depressed man moves in next door. He is going through a divorce. It is the beautiful story of how they help each other. There are other endearing characters as well, all of whom I am missing. I want a sequel to find out what happens to them. It teaches that our actions greatly affect others- sometimes in profound and long-term ways. It is such a good story and so beautifully written. 5+ stars.


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HE IS RISEN!

 

                            Happy Easter!

Born a Crime

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Non-fiction memoir Physical book
This was an immersion in another country, culture, and race. I learned so much. I enjoyed Noah’s sense of humor and candid storytelling.


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I'm OK

 

Stay Positive

 A very timely mantra:

How I loved President Hinckley.