Trek to Zion

Mother and I drove to Las Vegas, picked up Natalie and kids and continued on to Salt Lake City, Utah. Such glorious weather! Snow capped mountains, pink blossomed trees and brightly colored tulips everywhere. We packed a lot into a few days: seeing Derek and Hillary's house in Bountiful (decorated with many mementos of BYU Hawaii years); meeting up with Derek at the Mariott Residence Inn in Salt Lake, where he now works; an unforgettable concert in the Tabernacle on Temple Square--the debut of Ryan Murphy, the Tab Choir's new conductor; dinner out with the Williams' for Thai food; a girls and kids' day at the discovery science museum (kids went wild over all of it); a fun morning at the pretty deserted (more room for us) This is the Place monument. Kids rode ponies, chased baby goats and sheep, toured log cabins from early pioneers. Highlight was our trip to Temple Square following church on Sunday. Sunny and warm, spring flowers everywhere. The little ones were enthralled with the awesome statue of Christ in the visitor's center and we all took in the serene surroundings of the Salt Lake Temple and fountains and walkways. A day of joy. Fun to spend time with Becky and Royden. They were lovely hosts. Mom and I went to a clever theater-in-the-round performance of The Three Musqueteers with them. Then a lovely afternoon family gathering at the Havell's. Kids loved jumping on the trampoline....Ride home was a bit long. Despite the hastles with the rental car (we were in our third Enterprise rental by the time we got back to Vegas), it was a fun, happy trek. Cousins Katherine, Andrew and Jocelyn got reacquainted. I loved how Jocelyn called me "Grandma Chreeeesty!"

Easter Conference Weekend: Getaway & Gathering

Ray and I headed north for two days to explore Cambria's moonstone beach (sighted pods of lazy sea lions, fat squirrels and rabbits), tour Hearst Castle (the garden tour for the first time. Hearst had 20 full-time gardeners, loved fragrances and unpicked fruit so it would hang beautifully on the trees; and tour of the Casa Grande, where he resided on the hill during the last of his 88 remarkable years. He piped in music and news from his own radio stations), and enjoy an exquisite striped sea bass and scallops dinner at the Black Cat in town. We listened to O'Reilly's memoir--Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity--as we traveled....Then Sunday a glorious day of conference! Easter morning addresses were exquisite and deeply moving. Loved the story of Abram and his brother trying to give each other parts of their harvest, of Jason, the young boy who "left" to serve a mission "on the other side" with his brother who received a call, and the family who was comforted by their faith in the resurrection; of the statue of Christ whose hands were damaged in a bombing and later fitted with a plaque that read "You are his hands"; of Gloria Ten Baum who lifted her hand in agonized obedience only to feel the love and forgiveness of God flow through her into the hand of the Nazi guard, once her tormentor, now reaching out to her. After conference we enjoyed a wonderful roasted chicken and potatoes au graten dinner with Blaise and Laura and family and joined in on Will's hunt for Easter eggs. (He and I also read Halloween books, his favorites, from the library. Will makes great monster impersonations and is always on the lookout for dragons.) Ian crawls now with an amazing one-armed scrunch with which he can move very quickly! Very busy little boy. Very busy mother.....We are uplifted by the wonders of nature and the sacred, tender, loving witnesses of the spirit felt in talks by our prophet and priesthood leaders. How glorious to know we can have peace and safety here in this life and be together in the life to come.