Weekend in St. George

The month of January ended with a fun weekend in St. George. Kristin & Michael bought a house in St George, so Jeremy and I wanted to go down and help them with some renovation/cleaning/painting or whatever they'd let us do. We ended up doing a little moving and cleaning and not much else that was helpful. They had already done a lot and weren't quite ready to start new projects. So, we got to take a couple of naps, go out to a few nice meals, spend time w/ their adorable children, and enjoy a very inspiring church experience at their ward:
A man with Down Syndrome sang a duet w/ a woman, "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus." It was one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed. I can't describe how I felt. The innocent, eager, sincere look on his face as he sang those words was just so inspiring to me. I don't know how his singing partner kept it together. I just bawled through the entire song. Two young men, both with severe physical disabilities, also reported on their recently completed 1-year long service missions. Both had such positive attitudes about their limitations and it seemed their testimonies were shaped by their circumstances. The second speaker said he was born without femur bones, or essentially, without legs. I wish I could've met him or seen what his lower half looked like to exactly. One thing he related to us was the conversation that may have taken place in the pre-existence as he begged to come to earth. "Let me go! Give me no legs - heck, throw in some acne, I don't care! Just let me go!" Everyone laughed at this, since it was apparent that he had some acne scars. What a great attitude. Wow. He also said "I love myself. I love who I am." I think those of us with complete bodies have an extremely hard time loving ourselves and our bodies, so I was quite impressed w/ his perspective.

We enjoyed the kids and took lots of pictures - especially of Ellie, since she is less mobile than Carter! No two pictures were the same - she has so many different faces - it prompted me to create "The Many Faces of Ellie." Such a cutie!!

For more pictures, see my Gallery.

January's over already??

I know I say it all the time... Time is flying by much too fast for my taste. January was busy and, looking at my calendar, filled with dinners w/ friends and family members, which are always fun. Here are my highlights!

- An enjoyable dinner at the Jordan River Temple cafeteria with my friend Kim
- Meeting our friend Ollie & Renee's new baby Juliet ("Baby Jet") - Jeremy's stepmom Brenda's birthday dinner at Matt & Britton's
- Dinner at Cheesecake Factory with my old friend Sheri (former mission companion, now mom of 3 in Heber) - Dinner at Jeremy's mom's (Workmans) - always healthy & scrumdili-icious!!
- A nice day off to honor MLK with a lounging day with my sister and a visit to Park City with Jeremy
- Dinner at PFChang's with my friend & co-worker Kristin McQuivey to celebrate her birthday - A gourmet, homemade dinner with the other RS Presidency and both EQ Presidencies, prepared by the men. Impressive!
- Dinner and a movie (Leap Year) with my friend Melanie
- A lovely steak Sunday dinner at cousin Scott & Shannon's - so fun to chat w/ them for hours
- A fun birthday get-together to celebrate my friend Amy's birthday
- Dinner as a RS Presidency at our new bishop's house to get to know him & his wife - such a yummy dinner, I snagged all her recipes in their recently published recipe book! Excited to try some delicious menu items! Thanks, Sally!