APRIL 2025 - Easter - Spring Projects and Wichita Kansas with family

 

LINDON UT TEMPLE

I begin this month's Blog with a picture taken on April 30 at 6:30 AM of the Lindon Temple.  I am usually not up and out at that time of the morning but I needed to take Preslee to an early school choir practice and as I came around the corner to turn to the school I was overwhelmed with the Temple all lit up - it is still in construction phase and the lights are not on every day yet.  What a beautiful way to start my day!

We started the month with a quick day trip to Twin Falls Idaho.  My brother, Tad needed a part for his Razor (recreation vehicle ) and so we picked it up and then it needed to get to him in Idaho.  It was going to be a beautiful day and we decided it would be nice to get out of the house - and one of our favorite Breakfast Dives is in Twin Falls - The Buffalo.  We planned to arriver just before noon so we could have lunch, visit with Tad and Kris and then we stopped to see my other brother, George and hit the road to return home.  It was worth the eight hours of driving just to spend time with my brothers and to have a delicious lunch.  

I joined MWEG - Mormon Women for Ethical Government this month.  One of the events for this month was making a quilt square that would be collected and made into quilts for all of the Senators and Representatives from each State receiving a completed quilt.  It was to portray constructive advocacy of the Constitution and the initiative was called PEACE BY PIECE.  

This was the quilt square I submitted. 

FAMILY

Grandkids bring out the best in me and certainly make life better.  Logan likes finding new recipes and we have a great time trying them out.  He reads the recipe to me and I do most of the cooking.  This was Italian sausage Marinara sauce with three eggs poached in the sauce.  Oh my goodness - it was so good.  The fresh herbs, peppers, onions, fresh parmesan really made a delicious sauce.  He was so happy and ate the whole pan!  Logan likes his Grandma time.

Preslee started a SILKS class this year and is loving it.  It is not easy and takes a lot of skill and energy.  She comes home from class sore every week from learning new moves and using parts of her body she is not used to using.  She had her first recital and we loved watching the different levels of classes climb and swing from the "Silks" in a beautiful performance.  

Brian and Beth invited us to come to Wichita for a full weekend of events with their family.  It did not take much convincing to say yes.  I needed a hair cut and the flight to Wichita means a stop in DFW as a connection.  I got a hair appointment called our friends, Tii and Mary and they were our Uber for the day.  We started with hair cuts, refrigerator shopping, lunch at Fuzzy's Taco Shop and back to the airport.  Our flight was delayed to Wichita - happens almost every time and so we got to spend a little more time with Tii and Mary and then off just in time to arrive for Brian and Beth to pick us up after their school carnival.  The kids had a great time and enjoyed their green and pink hair and fun faces for. a few hours.  

Nora started violin lessons about 8 weeks ago and had her first recital.  She has already accompanied her school choir on a number and then played that song at her recital.  It was a delightful morning hearing the young students and how accomplished they were.  So proud of her.  

The day was just beginning - off to soccer.  We usually like being at the soccer field but Spring brings all kinds of weather and it decided to drop 20 degrees with wind and pouring rain.  Nora and her team did not skip and beat and played their hearts out.  They won by one goal and it was a good game.  

Off to Menards - like Home Depot but better - and then to my obligatory visit to Aldi.  

While Brian and Beth worked on a home project the kids and Russ and I settled in for a movie night and watched WICKED.  We loved the music and the story.  Nora and William know every song and most of the dialogue and made for a fun night at the movies at home.  

Will got a new toy at Menards - a Bubble gun - it is actually a really cool toy and att he end of the movie when the screen went black he blasted the bubbles and it made a really neat picture.  Hard to see but it was a fun conclusion to the night.

We went to Church with them on Sunday, listened to them sing in the Stake Choir practice and then home for dinner.  The weekend went so fast and we loved our time with them.  

SPRING PROJECT

We finally decided to build a path from the patio to our stairs up to the gazebo.  No grass would grow there and it was just a hard dirt path.  I found a great sale at Lowe's on the paving stones and we loaded 30 stones weighing 35 pounds each on the cart at the store, then we had to load them in the truck, unload them from the truck and then prepare the path by digging it out, leveling and adding a layer of sand before we laid the stones.   We realized if we had ordered online, they would have loaded them in the truck and it would have saved us a lot of lifting - my morning chair exercise lifting 3 pound weights doesn't hold a candle to that little exercise!

It turned out really nice and we are glad to have one more project completed in our yard.   

Every sprinkler head was working when we turned them on this month when the irrigation water came in.  That is a Win 

We had two extra paving stones and decided to put them at the entrance to our path to the shed - we haven't been able to get grass there either.  I started digging to prepare the area and level it and I hit a green box.  I kept digging and found the backyard sprinkler box buried  under 3 inches of dirt.  I dug it all out and cleaned off all of the wires and mechanisms.  We covered it with a reinforced metal plate and put the paving stone on top so if we ever need to access the box we can.  We would have never found it if we had not decided to put those stones there.  Tender Mercies when you least expect them.

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER

Easter has become the most spiritual Holiday of the year for me.  I love decorating my home with images of Jesus Christ, lambs, bunnies, and all things Spring.  In the past few years we  started a new tradition of celebrating Holy Week beginning on Palm Sunday.  This year a neighboring Stake (group from our Church) had a Palm Sunday Walk along the Murdock Trail close to our home.  They all gathered at the Park and walked with Palm fronds and sang songs of praise to Jesus Christ.  Over 200 people participated.  

We found out some dear friends from Germany, Henry and Elke Kosak, would be participating in the Walk.  We wanted to see them and so we went over to the Park and found them among all of the people and were able to say Hello and get a picture together.  Henry is the Director of Pathway International for Europe and they had come to Utah for General Conference, His Masters Degree Graduation from BYU and to see their daughter and her family.  Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor" - the Kosaks are our German neighbors and are making a difference all over the world to so many people.  

We attended a Palm Sunday Sing - a-long at our Church to begin our week of honoring Jesus Christ.  It was a special day as we studied Christ's Triumphal Entry.  

Monday we studied more about Christ cleansing the Temple when he found that His Father's house, a "house of prayer," had become a "den of thieves."  His act of bravery can inspire us all to do what is right, whether it is popular or not.

Tuesday we learned more about the Parables he taught of His Second Coming - He taught about the need for preparation, including the story of the Ten Virgins.

Wednesday Christ is anointed with Oil by a woman in Bethany.  She was one of the few that understood that Jesus must die. Her silent actions demonstrated her complete devotion as a true follower of Jesus Christ.

Our Youth had a fund raiser for their Summer Camps and I made a Lamb Cake to be sold at the Auction.  In Texas my baked goods were a hot item at the auctions and brought in a good amount of money.  I don't have the same track record here and chocolate chip cookies sold for more than the cute Easter cake.  The Joy came from the young boy who won the bid and walked around showing his friends "his Lamb".

Thursday Jesus spent the last night of His mortal life observing the Passover with His Apostles.  He instituted the sacrament.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, He began the atoning sacrifice, where, in agony, He took on the crushing weight of our sins, infirmities, and sorrows.  Partaking of the Sacrament every week brings me closer to the Savior.  

Friday we studied The Crucifixion - there on the cross, Christ felt the pain, sins, and suffering of the world again, including the agonizing separation from the Father when He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark15:34)

We started  the day attending a session in the Timpanogos Temple.  As we had studied the time from Christ's Cruscifixion until His Resurrrection we wanted to share the blessings of his gospel with those who have lived and departed this life.  In 1 Peter 3:18-20 we learn, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; . . .For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."

In a vision given to President Joseph F. Smith, October 3, 1918 as he was pondering on the scriptures in 1 Peter he wrote the following of what he saw: " . . .spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus Christ that lived in mortality; and who had offered sacrifice in the the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God; and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer's name.  All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand."  

Saturday Christ ministers to the Dead.  After Jesus died, His body was dressed and laid in a tomb.  But while His body remained in the tomb, we learn from modern revelation that His spirit ministered among the dead and organized His followers there to continue preaching the gospel to those who had not yet received it.  

Ruth and George Haney graves

Eric's Grave

On Saturday we visited the graves of my grandparents, parents and our precious baby, Eric.  There is no greater time than Easter to feel the Peace, Hope and Comfort that we will be united as a family in the morning of the First Resurrection because of that Easter Morn when Christ broke the bands of death for All Mankind and appeared in his resurrected body to Mary, his Disciples and many others fulfilling the promises of Isaiah - "For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must "rise again from the dead." John 20:9

Jesus Christ Himself declared, "I am the resurrection, and the life:  he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live," John 11:25

I have not ever shared a photo of Eric publicly - I only have a few photos of him.  He was only with us on earth for 6 short weeks and returned to Heavenly Father.  Christ's Resurrection has given me Hope that comes with the knowledge  that we will all be resurrected and our family will be together forever.  THIS IS REAL.  Easter has more meaning to me than any other Holiday of the year.  

Sunday we studied more about the scripture in Matthew 28:6, "He is not here, for he is risen, as he said".   His Resurrection broke the bands of death for all mankind.  Jesus Christ Himself declared, "I am the resurrection, and the life:  he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."  John 11:25.

As I attended Easter services on Sunday I had the opportunity to partake of the Sacrament as instituted by Jesus Christ.  "I give power that he shall break bread and bless it and give it unto the people of my church, unto all those who shall believe and be baptized in my name.  And this shall ye always observe to do, even as I have done, even as I have broken bread and blessed it and given it unto you.  And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you.  And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me.  And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you."  And then he commanded his disciples that they should take of the wine of the cup and drink of it, and that they should also give unto the multitude that they might drink of it.  And Jesus said unto them, "Blessed are ye for this thing which ye have done, for this is fulfilling my commandments, and this doth witness unto the Father that ye are willing to do that which I have commanded you."

I am so grateful to weekly partake that I might always remember Him and be a witness of Him to others.  

"Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me."  D&C 19:23

Emily always does nice things for Logan and Preslee on Easter.  After Church they opened their Easter baskets - No Easter Egg Hunt this year- missed having little ones around.  

Easter Scene

Easter Dinner

We invited Ryker and Yevheniia Webb - friends from Cumorah to dinner.  It is always such a special treat to have people over for dinner - to all my Utah friends who have huge family dinners on Sundays - you wouldn't get as excited as I am to have company.  I like to have people enjoy the food I fix and not just have the three of us eat after all of the effort.  Emily is the master at setting tables and creating a warm atmosphere and I provide the food.  It was a delightful afternoon and we loved having them in our home.  A very special way to end the week and conclude our Easter Week - just as we started with "loving our neighbors" - near and far.  

It is blooming at our home and Spring is finally here.  I am already looking forward to sharing our May adventures with you - it is going to be Great!  We are off to a great start!

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU - Enjoy your day!

The Grimmett's