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Something I am learning through this "growth opportunity" aka a big, honking TRIAL, is that I need to stop thinking that if I can just make it through this, life will be grand .  I've always kind of had that thought of mind--we have times of trial, and times of peace, but they can't be simultaneous.  However, if I just endure , the trial will be lifted and I can really enjoy life. This is, like, a baby human being way of thinking.  The adult  way of thinking is that I signed up for trials when I decided to come to earth, and I'd better make the best of each situation, or I'm going to die, wondering when life was supposed to begin. Several days over the past few months, I've wanted to beg Heavenly Father to help us, to help John, to comfort us, to take the trial away, to give us a miracle, but all I can do in my prayer is be thankful.  In fact, my prayer becomes very lengthy as I think of all the blessings we have been given during this time.  I feel ov...

We knew when we were in New Mexico and Utah that we had a house waiting to be packed as soon as we got back.  Or at least I knew--John might have been in denial.  It took us a day to get settled back into life, and to get to the U-haul store to buy the necessary boxes, but eventually we started. In fact, John decided to rent a truck so that he could start bringing boxes over to the storage facility (Pirate's Cove--don't get me started on how poorly named the place is, sparking thoughts of plunder, stealing and violence).  Thankfully, and I can't adequately express my gratitude to the kids, they spent several days of their Christmas vacation helping us pack up a bunch of the house to get ready for showings.  In fact, I would guess they packed up 60-70% of the house for me, so when I walk in a room, knowing that I need to get every single thing into a box, there just isn't that much left.  Without any kids at home, I don't know what I would have done if I needed...

When we came home from our trip to New Mexico, our dog sitter, Gretchen, had told us how much the birds were going crazy over "the hummingbirds".  I was surprised to hear this, because I've been out on the Catio with the cats before, and they hardly even blink an eye when the hummingbirds come to the feeder.  However, within a morning of being home, I could tell that there was a very specific something happening outside that was NOT normal. I belong to a FB group called "Michigan Bird Watching" or something like that, and a read a few weeks ago that the Baltimore Orioles (yes, the bird came first before  the baseball team) were back in Michigan, and people were posting photos of multiple birds at one feeder.  Orioles are the kind of songbirds that you want around because they are just that, songbirds, and because they are spectacular looking.  Both the male and female are black and orange, but the males are like peacocks with their orange, all bright and loud ...

Two things: I needed sopapillas. I couldn't leave Albuquerque without some sopapillas.  So John, Mark and I found a place, Monica's, down in Old Town.  We placed one order.  And then another.  And then Mark took a leftover sopapilla off the table next to us. And then Dave's office.  He drove us around, giving us a tour of the base, but then we got to see his office.  And it took me back to the "den" of my grandfathers.  But of all the medals and plaques and trophies, Dave is the most proud of his taxidermied bass.  And while there, he called an 87-year-old man who fished with him in Louisiana so that we could hear what a character he is.  And then he told us pee-in-your-pants stories about fishing with Archie.

It's crazy how our last two weeks developed.  When we knew the dates that Mark was moving down here for the air show, we decided to come down here and help him move him, and see our friends, the Carlsons.  Then, they told us that the air show was happening the following weekend, and asked us to stay for that.  Then John checked to see if there was a medical conference happening (so that he could get his plane ticket paid for) and there was.  Then, our friend Shawn Clark, invited us to his sealing which meant we could see Hannah.  As we've been moving through all of these events, we've realized that this trip was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father.  We never would have planned any of this ourselves, but it has been the best thing that could have happened to us.  And to think it all started nine months ago when Mark interviewed with Sandia at Illinois.... The last thing we had to attend was the Air Show at Kirtland AFB.  Nancy had us out the door...

We woke up Friday morning and per the usual, John decided to check his phone (which happened to include Facebook).  He saw that that very day was Nancy's birthday!  She hadn't said a thing  to us about it, so I wasn't sure if FB had it right.  However, we walked out and asked her, and yes indeed, it was  her birthday!  She told us that she doesn't really like to celebrate birthdays because it just means she's one year older, but we told her that that just wouldn't do with the Kennedys around. We already had some plans for the day, but we switched them around so that we could make the day her  day. The main plan for the day was to go to the Albuquerque temple together, and we kept that on the schedule for 2:00.  We were just going to have leftovers at home, but she decided she wanted to go to Schlotzsky's for lunch.  That was certainly fine by ME! ;-). Then it was off to the temple. What a beacon the temple has been for us over the past ...

So the original plan was to go to the temple in Cedar City on Tuesday morning and then drive back to Provo, but since we hadn't actually been to Bryce for more than hour, we knew we needed to head back.  So we got up super early and drove five minutes to the Cedar City temple. The temple deserves its own paragraph if nothing else.  I think it might be the most beautiful temple I have ever visited.  It sits on the top of a hill in the middle of the town--everyone can see it from every vantage point--and it's beautiful and white and heavenly.  I mean, it was almost so bright, being white and the sun reflecting off of it, that we couldn't even fully look up at it. Plus, I don't think it's more than five minutes from any place.  And it only got better once we walked in.  The entire temple reflects the beautiful surroundings of the area--paintings even of the hoodoos in Bryce, and decorations of the junipers.  And for the first time I've ever seen, there ...

We have two elders who currently serve in our ward, Elders Thomas and Slagle, and over the past month or two, we have gotten really close to them.  They originally asked if they could come over to share a message, but as soon as they met us and realized our awesomeness, they started asking if they could bring over an investigator, Josh Allen.  Then, when he was baptized, they asked if we would be willing to take them to the temple to do baptisms with Josh.  And when I left for this trip to NM and Utah, I asked Elder Thomas, an accomplished organist, if he would cover for me in the ward for two Sundays. As we've gotten to know them, inevitably the subject of our aversion to Utah comes up.  Elder Thomas can especially talk trash with me about the beauty of Utah versus the beauty of Michigan; I mean, he seriously can hold his own.  I think though that he has some street cred because he isn't actually from "Happy Valley" but instead is from Southern Utah.  He...