Summer Begins--Hooray!

The kids asked if we could do an "ABC Summer" this year, and I agreed, as long as it was low-key and they planned most of it.  We started on Memorial Day (A for America!), and played with water balloons on B day and got Crumbl Cookies on C day.

(Look at Benson's silhouette on the fence!)

C and summer are also for cleaning!  We cleaned out and rearranged the playroom so Benson and Scott could move in there (giving Gracie her own room--finally!), and Benson's ball went up on the ledge over our door that collects all sorts of things (mostly dust and Nerf bullets), so he and I devised a mop-broom-duct tape solution to clean it off and get his ball down.  It hasn't looked this clean since the hail storm six years ago, when we had to get new Sheetrock around some of the edges.

The rest of the week also included Ben going out of town for work from Tuesday to Thursday, eye doctor visits (two kids per day), Tessa and Benson's well checks with our new doctor (same practice, though; our other doctor moved), a primary activity at our pool, piano lessons, feeding the missionaries, a scoliosis check up for Emma, and a piano recital for Benson and Tessa.  We had a busy couple of weeks coming up, so we had to fit as much as we could into the open days!

 

The scoliosis check went well.  Emma's curve is mostly holding steady, and since she isn't growing any more, they anticipate that it should stay in the percentage that doesn't need surgery.  However, if something happens where she does need surgery, they can take care of it until she's 25, and then hand her over to very capable adult surgeons, if needed.  We're hoping that the curve holds steady!

Choosing new frames

Benson played "Pumpkin Boogie," "Down By the Bay," and "Boxcar Rumble," all fast and loud, just like he likes his songs.

Tessa played "Memory" and "Fiesta Espana."  Beautiful!

Gracie worked on the model building merit badge.  She had to build a space ship out of a material of her choosing, so she did Legos, and if I had to go to space, I'd choose her design.

Oh, and we got a sudden storm that blew more of our fence (almost) down.  Ben keeps patching it with 2x4s, and hopefully this will work again until we can replace the whole thing.  (Technically it's our neighbor's fence, but they don't seem interested in fixing it.)

And now---time for camp!

I Love to See the Temple!

Things are slowly getting back to normal post pandemic at the temples.  We have to use the online reservation system, which has taken me some time to figure out how to get an appointment before they all fill up.  Ben and I were finally able to attend an endowment session in April (no masks required!!!), and then I got the girls a baptism session on the day after school got out, which we invited Joseph and his kids to join us for.  And most exciting of all, the Guam Temple, which my parents have been serving their mission specifically to help open and train the workers, was dedicated on May 22nd.  I want to include some pictures and some of my mom's thoughts about this.

May 22, 2022

Dear Ones,

At the beginning of the week, the senior missionaries had a service project to help weed the beds around the temple in preparation for dedication. There is a landscape company hired to take care of the beds, but it rains so much here that there are always weeds to be taken care of.

I had a final meeting with the laundry staff and Darrel met with the office staff, just to review and answer questions. I think we are ready to go.

There were lots of visitors who came to the temple to take care of last-minute details. There were people setting up for the broadcast of the services to the outer islands, people doing touchup work after the open house, people setting up our audio/visual system, etc. We are so grateful for people who came from all over the world, literally, to help with the last details of getting the temple ready.

The youth also got involved in preparing for the temple by finding 1000 names of their ancestors to do baptisms in the temple. We are so proud of them and their efforts.

Friday evening, the Stake had a cultural event to celebrate the opening of the temple. There was a delicious meal and then dances, singing, and even a drum line. The people came dressed in their island dresses, beautiful embroidered Micronesian skirts, and flowers in their hair. The stake center was over-flowing with love and people. One fun thing that happened was that Brother and Sister Creamer had come to Guam many years ago to serve in a church position and had come back for the temple dedication. It turns out that Sister Creamer wrote the beautiful children’s song, “I Know that My Savior Loves Me.” On the way over to Guam on the plane, she wrote a third verse to the song especially about the Yigo temple for the Primary children to sing. I will include the words at the end of the letter.

Saturday, we had some audio/visual training on how to use the new system and the new headsets for translation of the temple ceremony into nearly any language. The technology is truly amazing.

Following our training, we were invited to attend a youth devotional with Elder Bednar, one of the Twelve Apostles, who had come to dedicate the temple. He did not give a talk, but basically had a question and answer with the youth. Through the questions and answers, he was able to help the youth understand that the temple is centered on Jesus Christ, and we go to the temple to bind ourselves to Him through ordinance and covenants. He also taught that the temple itself is the jewel box but the true pearl of great price is what takes place inside of the temple.

And Sunday was finally dedication day! Darrel and I went early to help with ushering. There were three dedication services, so everyone who wanted was able to attend one of the services inside the temple, including all the missionaries on the island. As we finished ushering the people for the first and second dedication sessions, we would go to the chapel and watch the sessions through the broadcast. We were able to attend inside the temple for the third session. Each session was different with different speakers, choirs, etc. Even Elder Bednar’s talks were centered on different themes. The only sad part of the day was that the first counselor in the temple presidency came down with a bad case of Covid and had to miss all the dedication events, including speaking at one of the sessions. We all felt so sorry for him and his wife and pray for his speedy recovery. Other than that, it was a glorious, joy-filled day.

Happy birthday to Caytie!

We love you all! Stay true and faithful,

Linda and Darrel, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa

“I Know that my Savior Loves Me” by Tami Creamer, 3rd verse:

Here in this beautiful House of the Lord,

We help bring loved ones to Jesus.

Binding our families through God’s holy pow’r,

Eternally strengthened, we’ll be.

The temple is witness of God’s love for me,

A blessing from heav’n above.

A place full of peace, where heav’n and earth meet,

Forever our families will be.

Waxahatchie Ren Faire

We finally made the pilgrimage to Waxahatchie to see their annual Renaissance Faire.  Ben and I have wanted to go and we're glad we did!  It was a fun (warm!) day, and it was nice of the people who live in this world to invite us in for the day.  Our favorite part was the jousting--oh, and the glass blowing demonstration--and the food!--and also the nice medic who gave us a ride to our car at the end of the day.  (PS--the mermaid show is not actually a show.  We were expecting them to swim around, but they just sat in their water and took questions and tips.  Also, the maze is "eh," but the Haunted House is actually pretty scary because it is so dark!  And if you want to buy elf ears, get some online before you go, because the price is exorbitant at the faire.)

(This caterpillar bit Tessa, and it started really hurting.  There are some poisonous caterpillars around here, so I took a picture of it and of her knee in case it got worse.  Thankfully it just got better.)

Apparently they make it all haunted and open again around Halloween, so we'll see if we make it down there for that.  It was a great (and yes, pricey) way to spend the day!

Is It...Alive?

Found this guy on my walk on the last day of school.

Super cool and creepy.  I didn't touch it to see if it was alive or not.  We just let each other continue on with our day.  Crawdads and I are happy to live a parallel existence.