When you have a big family, you get to celebrate a lot of birthdays!

I forgot to share this picture last week:  Jieun and I finished this doll sized quilt made entirely by hand--mostly by my mother.  I'm sure my stitches weren't as neat and even as hers, Jieun probably did better, but it was neat to work on, and finish something that my mom worked on.  I will have to find a place to hang this in the new home.

This week was spent recovering from last week.  I don't know why, but jet lag zaps my strength, even when the time change is insignificant. 

However, we did have some fun family activities to participate in.  The first was Finn's birthday party, the 2nd Hyeji's.  Somehow the years just keep zooming by.  Finn's great grandma Green said she couldn't believe Finn was only one-year-old, though, because he's already running.  His favorite toy at his birthday party was the cane of this same great grandma.  For some reason he just loves walking around with it. 

For Hyeji's birthday, Roy and I picked her up and took her to lunch and then let her pick out her birthday present.  We gave her the choice of where she wanted to eat.  She picked McDonalds.  I spent a few minutes trying to talk her into a different choice, but Roy convinced me that McDonalds actually had some good choices.  He was right, unbelievably.  With their "Create your own" menu, I was able to order a grilled chicken sandwich on an artisan bun with guacamole for the sauce.  It was quite delicious.  Hyeji told her mom where we went.  she said, "Grandma didn't like McDonalds, but she likes it now."

Good news:  On Friday they started framing our house.  We expected it to have happened about a week previous, so that when we arrived home from Mexico we'd be pleasantly surprised at the progress.  But, alas, it was not to be.  The framer that was going to frame our house was still working on another project...finally our builder made the decision to put someone else on the job.   

I must admit, I've thought a lot about our son, Thomas this week.  This week marks the 23rd anniversary of his death.  It's a wonderful blessing, though, to have Easter also mark this anniversary every year.  We always have the promise of the resurrection to reflect upon when we think of his loss.  Dan gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on Easter Sunday and spoke about that wonderful promise.  We missed his talk as we were in Mexico, but he sent me a copy.  He used a talk by Dallin H Oaks called Resurrection, as the basis for his talk. Here is a link: Resurrection, I'm sure it's worth a re-reading.  He also used my Ensign article from 2003.  Working Through My Grief.  He said that his ward was touched by his story.  It's hard for me to read over the article that I wrote.  Some of it was changed from my original draft and I could pick out exactly which parts I hadn't written.  It does bring back some very painful memories.

 Nan sent me the poem that my grandmother wrote about her son Glenn that passed away at the age of 12 1/2 from blood poisoning that I talked about in a previous entry.

              "You walked always in pleasant paths

                   Nor needed to be sad

                For there were many lovely things

                   That helped to make you glad.

                You found the early buttercup

                   The lark's ways well you knew;

                You made friends with the furry things,

                   They loved and trusted you:

                But you slipped quietly away

                    While heaven spilled her tears,

                For you were young and strong and gay

                    And wise for your brief years.

                The lightning flashed in fierce dismay

                    The thundering protests ran

                From peak to vale and back again

                     For earth had lost a man.

                The wild winds lashed and moaned aloud

                     Their sorrow to convey

                That one who filled life to the brim         

                     Must now go far away...

                The angels must have come that night

                     You left us with a smile--

                The fearful storm could show it's might

                     Peace beamed on you the while;

                But on our hearts the cold rain fell

                     For many a weary mile."

                                                                                --Maude Osmond Cook

Reading my grandmother's poems after Tom's death really made me feel a connection and closeness with her.  I understood so much more than I ever had before.  One the day of Tom's funeral it was freezing cold and rainy--unusual in Atlanta for April.  However, the sun came out briefly as we dedicated the grave.  This poem reminded me of that.  It seemed appropriate to have terrible weather on such a day.

On Saturday, after a long morning starting with a staff meeting at 6:30 followed by a CPR review, Roy and I enjoyed a lovely violin recital that Caitlyn played in.  She is really getting quite good, but she didn't want me to include the video here.  After the recital we worked on the yard and got the front yard looking quite presentable.  Dan and Jieun came over and helped us for a few hours.

A quick story about my sweet husband:  There is a little autistic boy in our ward.  His family recently moved in.  At the scout auction, his parents bought him a handmade wooden airplane.  He loved it, but after about 10 minutes it broke.  Roy picked up a sturdy "Planes" airplane at the store and took it to church today.  He gave it to the little boy and his dad and told him he could play with it after church.  Roy is always thoughtful like that.  I could learn a lot from him if I was a little more humble.

I'll finish off with a few more pictures:  Yuna, comfortably planking while watching TV.  Maverick, giving us one of his beautiful smiles, and Ori, enjoying a sugarfest.