We've been a little busy...

Saturday we helped clean the church, Dallin had baseball tryouts, we did yard work, then the kids went to a friend's house while Adam and I went out to eat.

Sunday morning I left at 7am to travel with the Young Men and Young Women of our ward to a care center in Randolph, Az where we helped the residents participate in a church service.

Before we met the residents one of the caretakers spoke with us about what to expect. He mostly spoke of how even though their bodies may have limitations, the spirit inside does not, and if we tried we may have the opportunity to communicate with these amazing people through their spirits. He spoke at length about past experiences of visitors and small miracles of "awakening" some of the residents had displayed, but the biggest benefit of the day, he explained, would be on our part-how WE would be blessed because we had the privilege of meeting these amazing people. He was right.

Each youth and adult was assigned to a resident (our new "friend). We were to help them from their cottage to the central meeting place, sing songs with them and generally give them some individual attention for more than an hour, then return them to their cottages. Some residents were in wheel chairs, others in wheel beds while others were very mobile and would sneak up behind you and give you a hug or a pinch. Some sang along with the songs while others were vocal without being understood by anyone but themselves, and with some there was no response at all.

My "friend" was Maria. She was about 4' nothing and walked very slowly. I was assigned to her because Maria only communicated with Sign Language. The caretakers were excited to be able to have someone who could sign with Maria. She was a very sweet lady who took my hand but did not communicate very much at all. Our walk to the meeting place was much slower than the others, but we pointed out birds and enjoyed the sunshine. On one occasion she stopped and pointed out a piece of garbage someone had dropped and indicated that I should pick it up before we went on. While in the meeting, she mostly watched as I sat next to her and signed the songs. Once in a while I could see she recognized a song as she would sign a word with me. She was such a gentle lady. I enjoyed being able to spend time with her. It was a good experience.

After we returned our friends to their cottages for a snack, we had a short sacrament meeting then headed home.

I got home in time to relax for a bit, make some fun snacks, then we were off to a friend's house to watch the Super Bowl. Dallin dressed for the occasion!


He looked so cool thanks to Brady for the Jersey and Rae for making the cool helmet! It was perfect to wear to a Superbowl party.


We really enjoyed visiting with friends, eating good food, playing with babies, oh, and watching the football game. It was very exciting! Every time something good (or bad) happened, the men would scream and the babies would cry. We counted 11 kids ages 9 and under! It was a house full.

We got home and put the kids to bed a little later than usual and hit the hay ourselves. It was a super weekend.


Oh, Maura learned how to scoot around on this little car this weekend. She makes "vrooom" sounds and everything!

She finally has enough hair for me to brush (kinda') and we've even tried putting little teeny tiny clips in it! Yay for hair!

It was a super fun weekend, but it was nice to have a schedule today and get back into the weekly routine.