Fern Casper Rasband Aug. 24 1932-Jan.18, 2018

Fern Casper Rasband passed away on January 18, 2018.  She took a bad fall on Wednesday of this past week, which probably expedited her departure from this world.  When I walked in the room, just a few minutes after she'd passed away, I noted the bruises on her face.  She looked pretty rough.  Happily, though, I'd been to visit her on Tuesday with Roy and she'd looked and acted happy.  She was glad to see us and we visited with her for quite a while.  The nurse came in while we visited and talked to her and we could see she was in good hands.
Grandpa, of course, will miss her.  He said that it was "so final."  Death really feels that way to us, but as I note how fast the last 20 or 30 years have gone, I realize that this life is but a blink compared to eternity.  At 88, I don't suppose grandpa will have to wait too many years to reunite with Fern and other loved ones.  Her funeral will be Friday, January 26.

Roy, Yuna and Grandma

Grandma with Max

Fern Casper Rasband

Elise with Mav and Grandma

 I got the above pictures off Facebook.  Elise posted these.  Their Theobald cousins are much bigger Facebook users and have posted lots of pictures.

On a happier note, we had a couple of birthdays this week.  Maverick turned 2, and Jieun turned ?  It's a mystery :)  I asked Jieun what she wanted for her birthday and she said, "Four hours of babysitting!!!  How can I refuse that?  So I tended her four kids while she and Dan went for dinner and a movie.  I think all of us had a good time.  Crista and Matt came over also because they were down looking at purchasing a 2nd car.  Crista said that the conversation on a 2nd car came about when she was at a work meeting--with her 2 kids, and, even though the meeting was still going on, it was definitely time for her to make her exit.  There was a lot more to it, but the idea of the bus ride home after a somewhat chaotic meeting was not on her list of favorite things to do.
We got to see some cute pictures of Maverick's birthday party:

Roy was in charge of the Klondike Scouting Event for our area.  He had over 200 scouts participate.  He said that a lot of the leaders asked him if he was going to cancel because there was no snow.  He said that there would still be a camp and that he was expecting snow.  Sure enough, if ye prepare, ye shall be blessed.  When he got to camp mid-afternoon on Friday, it was muddy and wet, but by the time the boys started arriving the ground had frozen and the snow had begun to fall.  By the next morning they had close to 12" and were able to do all the planned activities--even the snow activities.  It was the largest Klondike in seven years!

I gave my Relief Society Lesson in church today.  The lesson in Sunday School the hour previous  on the creation was excellent.  I really felt the spirit.  Thankfully, that spirit stayed with me throughout my lesson.  The new format (which has really been the desire of the leaders for a long time) of trying to make each lesson more of a discussion, is inspired.  I also love that the lessons will be taken from General Conference talks.  Today our discussion was on Elder Gary E Stevenson's talk entitled "Spiritual Eclipse."

We ended our Sabbath at a fireside with a Brother Bayliss.  He has sung with Broadway--On Tour in Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera.  His was a singing/talking presentation and we were able to feel his strong testimony.  With all of that theater experience, his profession is as a Seminary Teacher in American Fork.

Last but not least, a screen shot of Finn playing with his sleeping bag made by me (Lucky Finn, I think his bag is one of the best I've made so far).