April 2019

1^st—The subdivision pool opened on April 1^st. It wasn’t an April Fools joke, but it sure felt like one. We woke up to 35 degrees that day. Jared told Calvin and JJ to wear pants because it was chilly outside. Calvin balked, “What IS this? Like our 10^th winter??” He’s not wrong. It has been cold and rainy for most of the first part of the year. February is historically glorious and warm allowing us to open up the windows. I haven't been able to do that at all this year.

--Apparently, Jake felt the need to be joke-ster and take advantage of April Fools being on his “write home day” because while we did receive an email, it was just a teaser. The little snot. It’s a good thing he’s cute and at a safe distance of 3500 miles. Jared wasn’t too happy about not getting a letter from him that morning. Wes McCullough emailed us and said, “Jake gets that from his dad!” And then when Jake wrote for real the next week, Jake blamed his prank on Jared, too! Haha! I guess Jared only has himself to blame. ;)

2^nd—We had three music performances this evening, so I graciously bowed out of my Stake Council meeting. First it was Orchestra Solo and Ensemble for Karcyn and then a pre-UIL Choir concert for both Karcyn and then Cooper at the high school.  I curled Karcyn's hair for her and put it up. She’s much like her mom when it comes to hair—very low maintenance and simple. But as she left for school that day the last thing she said to me was, “Thanks for making my hair pretty, Mom!” It was so sweet. She participated in an ensemble with two boy cellists. And they scored a 1 Superior rating! There is a boy, Matthew, who has shown an interest in Karcyn since 5^th grade (yes, two whole years 😊). He is in the boys’ choir so his mom introduced herself to me and asked if we could get a picture of the two kids together.

He is a sweet boy. He is the same boy who gave Karcyn the stuffed dog (from Build-a-Bear) with hearts on it for Valentine's Day a year ago.  He is the same boy who received a thank you card from Karcyn that indicated she was very grateful they were friends. We ended up walking down the long hall and out of the building together. As we neared the door, I noticed that Matthew hurried to it before Karcyn and opened the door for her so she could go through it. Hmm. One point for Matthew for being a gentleman. Matthew has asked when she can start dating and Karcyn has told him and several other boys, "Not until I'm 16 and then it's group dating." Matthew seemed okay with that. If he wasn't he didn't show it. They have science together this year.

--I play Words with Friends with my parents and sometimes Jared. I played a word worth 105 points on my dad. Such an occurrence is pretty rare—in point value and against such a tough opponent. It likely won’t happen again, which is why I’m documenting it.  

3^rd—I drove Jared to the College Station airport at 4:30am so he could catch a flight to Orlando, Florida for an ENT specific medical conference for physician assistants. He would miss General Conference on Saturday, but was catching a 5am flight from Orlando to be back in College Station by 10am on Sunday, so he could catch the Sunday session of conference with us back home.

--Cooper was super stoked about his newest bowling ball purchase. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of bowling balls. I thought they were all the same and the difference was in how you throw it. Well, the latter is true, but there are also different balls. Based on hooks and resistance, etc. Not surprisingly I have no clue what this one does, but Cooper likes it! Plus it's purple...like the CSHS Cougars!

--This is how were were feeling the beginning of April. There aren't very many negatives in our book for living in Texas. But allergies are a big one. Seems like all my kids are affected by these in one way or another.

5th--Since Jared was out of town and Cooper was working, I decided to have a movie night with the kids' favorite dinner (spinach lasagna) and special movie treats. Calvin actually made dinner for us and we watched "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler. It was really funny!

6^th—It was a stormy morning with lots of thunder and lightning. Which, of course, I loved. The first two sessions of General Conference on Saturday were wonderful and I was very proud of Cooper, Karcyn and Calvin who sat and watched all four hours. Even Jared was able to listen with one earbud in while plugged in to the BYU channel on his phone. 😊 Jared and Cooper (and Jake when he was here) had a tradition of going out to eat before the Priesthood session of conference on Saturday night. Because Jared was out of town, I suggested to Cooper that he just stay home and watch it in my room. Then he could graze off our food at home and lay on the bed. Not ideal, but it worked and it was fun to have him there and give us “updates” on the Priesthood session when he emerged periodically for food.

--I had been communicating with Luke (our Brazilian boy who went home right before Christmas) to make sure he had received documents from the state of Texas validating his studies here for recognition in his country. He did. And then he sent me this picture and asked, "By the way, have you met the brand new area seventy?"

Those are Luke's parents, at the Conference Center in Utah over conference weekend! Luke's dad was one of the fifty-ish men who were called and sustained as area authorities/seventies. He had been serving as the Stake President in Porto Alegre for at least eight years. Since Luke was about 8 years old. We are honored to know such a fine family in Brazil and to have had a piece of them as part of our family for a few months.

--From my point of view, I definitely have a delightful marriage, because I am one very lucky girl.  

7^th—I wrote Jake a letter Sunday morning and we slowly got in our church clothes to get ready for conference. Even though we’d be watching it on TV, it is still the Sabbath. It was another stormy day. Jared texted me when he got to Dallas. He had gotten up at 2am to check out of the hotel and return the rental car and be at the gate for his 5am flight. About the time he was going to board the plane for College Station, he texted me and informed me that his flight had been cancelled due to the weather. Dang. He’d miss the first part of conference. When I asked him when the next flight was, he said there wasn’t going to be one. They were all cancelled. Which meant he had to find another rental car so he could drive THREE hours home in very dicey weather. In fact, we were under a severe thunderstorm warning and tornado watch. Fortunately, he was able to secure a rental car. Unfortunately, it cost $40 more than the rental he had for five days in Orlando, likely because it was just a one-way rental. And then he was on his way home, completely exhausted, driving in treacherous weather, parallel to the storm system.

Gratefully, he made pretty good time all things considered. I picked him up at the College Station airport after the first session of conference and we were able to watch the last session together as a family. And boy howdy, I am so grateful we were together because at the VERY end, the prophet announced seven new temples and while we are always eager to hear the locations of temples around the world, nothing prepared me, not even the prophet himself, who even gently requested that we refrain from outbursts, for a temple location that would impact our family. We were fairly certain there wouldn’t be one announced in College Station, Texas. So we were out of the running for a personal impact. But the final temple location announced by President Russell M. Nelson was Budapest Hungary and I lost it. Screamed and then wept. It rocked our world. I never dreamed we’d hear about a temple in Hungary in our lifetime, let alone while our son was laboring in that very country as a missionary, laying the foundation for this great work. Temples are not often announced in eastern Europe. And while this will be a HUGE game changer for the saints in Hungary, it’ll be such a blessing for all those smaller surrounding countries as well. The Lord is hastening His work!! I just wish Jake had been awake to hear the announcement himself. That was the one session they weren't be able to see/hear live. 

This was my Facebook post that afternoon:

8^th—I had agreed to sub for another kindergarten teacher because she asked me personally. To be honest, I hate subbing on Mondays. They are my P-days (preparation days as I do laundry, grocery shopping, getting ready for the week, etc.) plus we now have the added possibility of Jake calling. Which he did! Around 5:30. We all said hi, but Jared talked with him the most. 

When teachers reach out to me in person and with enough notice about needing a substitute and I am "technically" free from any other appointments, I feel like I need to accept, so I can build up my reputation as a dependable substitute. At 1:37pm, while I was reading a story to the kids, my phone vibrated. It was a call from Pecan Trail Intermediate. All of my kids are in a different school and this was Calvin’s school calling. I normally let those calls go, but something made me answer it…in front of the kindergarteners. It was the school nurse. She started with, “Calvin is okay” but explained that while he was in PE, another kid’s head collided with his face and his mouth got slammed. There was A LOT of blood she said, but they got it to stop and his teeth are still intact. Even still, she said if it were her child, she would take him to be seen by the dentist, just to verify everything is okay. I told her I agreed, but that I was subbing (at the school next door), and that I was try and set something up ASAP after I was done. I was getting ready to take my class to recess, so I called our pediatric dentist office, where there are 2-3 dentists. Except it took five calls in twelve minutes before someone even answered the phone. That was not a good sign. The receptionist told me that they only have one doctor there that day and asked if we could wait until the following day to come in. While I’m usually accommodating in that way, my mommy gut told me he needed to be seen before the end of that day so I pressed for that. She scheduled him for 4pm and said if they could get us in any sooner, they would. The other kindergarten teachers were so sympathetic and understanding. They arranged to cover my car duty and I was able to leave right after school with JJ to get Calvin. I told JJ that Calvin got hurt and suggested maybe he could say a prayer for his brother. I thought he’d say one quietly in his heart. But as soon as he got in a buckled up, he started praying out loud that Calvin would be okay. Calvin came down to the front office and the right side of his lip was really swollen. He said it didn’t hurt as much anymore, but felt something “go up” on impact. Despite only one dentist, we got called back a few minutes before 4pm. The dentist (Jake and Cooper’s orthodontist) did a manual exam and said that his teeth were intact, but he ordered x-rays just to make sure and verified the teeth were okay. However, further examination showed that the gums over two of his upper teeth were shoved upward when he got hit. Just like Calvin had felt. The dentist said Calvin would need some stitches to pull those gums back down into place. Poor Calvin. He was so brave when the doctor was numbing him up. That is SO painful and the last thing we expected would happen. He didn’t flinch or make a peep. 

When the doctor was done, he left the room to see other patients while we waited for the numbing to take effect. I moved over to sit by Calvin. He was very still. I stroked his hair and rubbed his arm. He started to very mildly shake a little bit from the shock. But aside from that, he didn’t move—probably willing himself to be calm. His arms were folded across his chest and he tightly grabbed my hand that had been rubbing his arm with his hand that was tucked under as a single tear slipped out of the corner of his right eye. I wiped it away and one more trickled down into his ear. And that was it. The irony of all this is that of ALL my kids, Calvin had the most perfect baby teeth and his permanent teeth came in the exact same way. They are a golden gift for parents—I think at least one of my kids should spare us from braces.

His face hurt a little bit more that night and the next morning, especially as he was getting feeling back in his face. But he was smart and proactive about putting ice on his mouth. Cooper said he looked like the Joker and they had fun bantering back and forth doing Joker imitations. Finding soft food that Calvin would actually eat was challenging, especially to take to school. But we managed. I’m really glad I stuck with my mommy gut about getting Calvin in to the dentist that day, not only because he really did need help, but because I had forgotten 5^th graders had state testing the next day. I couldn’t take him out of school early for an appointment even if I wanted to. So it all worked out! I was a little disappointed to learn that our dental insurance covered everything that day except the stitches. I called the office to ask if we could rebill under another code. But when the gal looked up our account, she found the doctor had written off the $250 charge for the stitches. Such a blessing! 

10^th—JJ went on his 1^st grade field trip to the Waco (Cameron) Zoo. The next day, I saw an article in the news that said a first grader, visiting the zoo from College Station had shattered a glass wall that was part of the caiman exhibit. My heart stopped just for a second. That had to be JJ’s group. And surely…if he were involved, he and his teacher would have said something or notified us. No one did, but I decided to ask him about it anyway.

“Hey Bud, was there a glass window that broke while you were at the zoo?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t see it. But Jude (his classmate and our cul-de-sac neighbor) did it. He wanted to kill the alligator.” (Yikes!) I hadn’t mentioned which animal enclosure it was and caimans look like alligators. Oh my. The report said it was going to cost $10,000 to replace. It makes you wonder though, how sturdy the glass was to begin with if a 1^st grader could throw a rock and shatter it. Fortunately, I think insurance is going to cover the cost. I’d be mortified if it had been my child so I didn’t dare ask Jude’s mom about it either.

--One of the SUPER AWESOME things about the personal finances class offered through the Self Reliance Course is that you find out from friends, who also have a 16 year old and newer cars than you do, that their insurance is only HALF of what yours is and they give you their insurance guy's number and you make the switch...saving a couple hundred dollars a MONTH!!! The change was effective on April 10th. Whoop!

12th-13^th—Stake Youth Conference weekend. It blows my mind how much preparation goes into planning a 24-hour experience for 120 youth. Months of behind the scenes planning with the youth and logistical details without them. The camp in LaGrange, TX (about an hour and twenty minutes from College Station) was a brand new venue and while my presidency and I toured it in October, we didn’t know anything about how things worked or what we could anticipate or how to make the youth plans work within this space. I have never organized any event of this type or magnitude, but I have remarkable counselors and took comfort that the Lord would direct us because this was His work, not ours. Still…I was worried we hadn’t asked all the questions or that there were things we weren’t anticipating. The biggest question mark was the service project. Jake and Cooper attended last year and I knew they were rained out of their service project. The weather was not looking favorable for us this year either as the weekend drew closer. The camp had plenty of outdoor projects we could help them with. We just needed the weather to hold. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have any service to do and an empty hour to fill. Though, I think letting the youth go back to their cabins to reflect or rest would have been totally okay. But we really wanted to serve and the youth love to serve, too. I will say...we had four different golf carts or Polaris ATVs at our disposal. Those are absolute musts when getting around a very large and spacious camp. I don't know what we would have done without them. Incredible time savers and life savers for a couple youth who had leg injuries. I was told multiple times that weekend, that I could totally drive the carts around, but I didn't trust myself. However, getting a ride from the Stake Young Men leaders is super fun! :) 

Saturday morning (13^th), we woke to the skies dumping rain. My presidency was praying hard. I didn’t mind the rain before the service project. Just not during the allotted service time that afternoon around 1. Fortunately, the rain didn’t last 10 minutes. Then right around the lunch hour, it started to dump rain on us again. And then it passed. But around 12:45, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. There were some pretty dicey looking clouds blowing in. 

They looked pretty ominous, but because of their shape and the wind speed, my friend said it looked like we were just getting clipped by the tail end of the front. We did take cover just to be on the safe side. It rained hard for about 5 minutes and then it was done. Our prayers were answered! We were able to do our service project clearing out underbrush and felling trees. We worked so fast and efficiently, the camp had to stop us. There were three massive burn piles and those had to be dealt with before more work could be done. We exceeded their expectations which, of course, is so pleasing to us. The youth just dove in and got to work.

The BEFORE picture (Cooper is on the far right...with a breathing mask on...dumb allergies).

And...AFTER! The area is now "see through!"

Unfortunately, the storm system that clipped us, ended up putting our families at home under a tornado warning. And an EF3 tornado hit the town of Franklin, in the Hearne Branch, within our stake boundaries. I had served and worked with Tracy Stone, the former RS president, whose home was damaged in the tornado and pictures of it made national news. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Tracy’s husband died unexpectedly right before Christmas.

The feedback from youth and adult chaperones about Youth Conference was that it was a smashing success. Lutherhill Camp was a beautiful place and the staff was wonderfully helpful and kind. This is the Carby Chapel on Saturday evening during the testimony meeting. We spent most of our group gatherings here. 

Of 120 youth, almost 100 of them bore their testimonies, most of which shared that the conference was a huge turning point for them and they are so grateful they came. I was privy to handfuls of miracles that surrounded this conference weekend and it was an honor to be a part of those miracles. But I was also REALLY REALLY glad it was over!!

14^th—My eyes were open, but I did not feel awake. 😊 I was exhausted—feeling run down with a sore throat. I couldn’t imagine that my staying up til 1am the night before because of three very chatty girls would make me feel that way. Jared suggested it wasn’t just the one night, but the culmination of the two months before that. He’s probably right. Time to exhale.

--We had family home evening later that night since the rest of the week was jam packed. We got onto the subject of some members who leave the Church because certain policies change. Yet they think it’s a valid excuse and that the Church is giving in to political pressures. We explained to our kids that a living, growing church needs to have policies that grow with it and likened it to our own home. We have rules (doctrine/truth) that never change. For example, no flip phones until age 14, no smart phones until at least 16 ½, no sleepovers, no group dating until 16, no PG-13 movies until age 13 and they’ve been screened by parents, no rated R/MA movies, no alcohol or drugs. These standards have not changed in the last 22 years since the Hough family was established. But how we manage our home has and will continue to change as the kids grow up, such as chore charts, how/when we do Family Home Evening, kid of the week, calendaring/schedules, rewards for super report cards, birthday parties, etc. This seemed to help them understand the difference between church doctrine and church policies.

15^th—JJ was working on some math problems and he was mumbling an addition problem under his breath. I heard the number "twelve" as I walked past him. A few moments later, from the study I heard him holler, “Mom!! I need more fingers!” Haha! To which I hollered back, “Use what you know!” JJ not only reached, but exceeded, his yearly math goal in Education Galaxy. He made it to the highest level.

16th--Karcyn was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society--recommended and approved by her teachers. She had to write an essay as well in order to be accepted. This was the same girl who couldn't talk until she was almost four years old. We are very proud of her and how much she loves learning  and are most grateful for all the extra special teachers and leaders who have helped guide her along her way.

--Calvin with an itchy red bumps on his face and neck. *sigh* If he goes outside, he's bound to end up with some unpleasant physical response. 

17th--In order to maximize the most out of the dregs at the bottom of a cereal box, Calvin came up with this brilliant idea, a technique employed by other siblings as we see JJ doing here: pour the cereal into a colander and swish out the crumbs! I' can certainly get behind "waste not, want not!"

—Jared was packing up for his 3 day fishing trip to Lake Fork, Texas. He started gathering up five or six fishing poles. I asked, “Why do you need so many fishing poles?” They were only going to ONE lake. There was a long moment before Jared replied with a wry smile, “If you fished, you wouldn’t have to ask.”

To Cooper, Jared said, "Wish us luck that we catch fish on this lake. It’s tough.” [It’s historically crowded and big weather issues can creep up]. Not having learned my lesson from the question I asked earlier, I piped up and inquired, “Then why do you keep going back?” To date, Jared has been to Lake Fork 3-4 times and hasn’t caught anything and he said, “Because it’s what we do. We like being on the water.” And it’s a good thing, too, with that record. Which reminds me of a Doc-ism from my father-in-law. “That’s why they call it fishing not catching.”

--This meme is spot on accurate!! It's been such a bad spring for allergies...even for those of us without chronic allergy problems!

18^th—Jared was gone on a fishing trip, so true to form, something health related had to pop up with the kids. Calvin woke up at 5:30am with itchy hive-like bumps on his arms and neck. (I really need the allergens to please leave us already!) I didn't have much I could do for him. I put some anti-itch spray on his problem areas and then after he got dressed, I gave him an ice pack to numb his left arm which was bothering him the most. It seemed to help. Thankfully. 

--JJ was cast as crazy Pig 4 “Piggly” in the First Grade Musical “E-I-E-I-Oops.” There are 8 first grade classes so 140-ish first graders. Only two from his class were cast with speaking/dancing parts. Mr. Suel, his amazing music teacher, told me when I picked JJ up from his first after school rehearsal, that he was SO glad he cast JJ as pig 4 because he just KNEW that JJ would be able to “ham it up.” It was so entertaining! These little kids were outstanding--like mini professional actors! There were two shows and I went to both so I could enjoy it twice and get pictures at different angles. JJ takes after his siblings in that he is NOT afraid of being on stage or in front of a crowd. He had a good coach. Mr. Suel is incredibly talented. In fact, we learned from the principal that he made the entire farm backdrop and when the cow costumes they ordered didn’t come in on time, he bought material and made four cow costumes a few days before the show himself. Unbelievable! We are being zoned to a new elementary school in the fall and will miss Mr. Suel A LOT.

This picture of JJ (far right) CRACKS me up! That just gives you an idea of what he was like on stage. 

Speaking part. 

  He's on the far left showing excitement.

 On the far left, excitedly leaving the front of the stage.

Front and center doing the Dab. Haha!

JJ with his hands in the air, having way too much fun, if you ask me. :)

Far right, swaying with the pigs and all smiles.

Piggly with his mom...Mrs. Piggle Wiggle? 

19^th—Around these here parts, we get Good Friday and the Monday after Easter off, so it is always a blessed four day weekend! I took Calvin to see the movie "Breakthrough" on Friday as an enticement to do what’s right. The student council (of which he is a part) at his school were invited to see a private premier showing of “Shazam” as a thank you for the service they rendered to a local business. But the movie was PG-13 and he’s not even 11 yet. So I told him that I would take him to a movie of his choice just the two of us. It’s not his fault the movie he was invited to was not appropriate for our family standards and I hoped this enticement would show him that there are always better alternatives and choices to what the world offers.

--Karcyn offered to make dinner. How could I refuse? Chocolate chip pancakes! An important standard in anyone's repertoire. 

JJ's a BIG FAN!

Delish!!!

20th--The kids really, really wanted to go to the pool. Even though it had rained the day before and the water was likely not "warmed up." It was a bit like a Polar Bear Challenge--Texas Edition. But to their credit, after catching their breath, they stayed in for about 15-20 minutes!

23^rd—Tuesday was the first day back in school after the long weekend and it was Cooper’s only day of school for the week. He was getting ready to go to New York City with his choir. I drove him to the school around 2am EARLY Wednesday morning. 

I went to bed that night before waking up again, but Cooper thought it would be "fun" to stay up. I think he regretted that when sleep didn't easily come on the bus or the flight. They took a charter bus to Austin and caught a 5am flight to Newark and then they were bused to their hotel right in Times Square in New York City. It's hard for me to believe that I went to New York City my senior year with the high school choir 24 years ago!! I wish I could have gone with him. Can you find the redhead in both pictures?

His chaperones, Mr. and Mrs. Strohmeyer, were so kind to send the rest of us parents updates and pictures throughout the week.

Wed. 24th--Saw "Wicked" (so jealous!)

Th. 25th--New York Style Pizza! 

Top of the Rock Observation Deck. What a view!!!

Fr. 26th--Taking the Subway and a walking tour of Central Park.

Cooper bought himself a Grand Central Station umbrella for $23. Kids were making fun of him saying he could buy an umbrella off Amazon for $6. But turns out their stroll through Central Park was a bit on the soggy side. Guess who had the last laugh!?

Getting ready for their Choirs of America performance at Carnegie Hall. This picture was supposed to be a pose like a Gentlemen's Quarterly (GQ) model, but apparently Cooper didn't get the memo.

 Sat. 27th--Going to see the Statue of Liberty.

Lady Liberty and Jenn in 1995.                                                    

Lady Liberty and Cooper in 2019.

Lunch on Ellis Island and the Broadway Show Aladdin that night.

 Sun. 28th--Rockefeller Plaza and shopping. It was a fabulous trip for Cooper. We're so glad he could go.

Meanwhile, back in Texas...

24^th—I visited my friend, Donna, who I am a ministering sister to with our Relief Society President, Annie. Donna’s health is not good at all. Sadly, her days are running out. We sat with her, laughed and cried together. I held her hand. We spent an hour and a half with her. It was yet another stormy afternoon. Things were building in the sky. In fact, David, Donna’s husband came in to tell us we might want to be on our way because of what might be coming. They live up by the airport, a good 20 minutes north of my house. Annie is in the middle by the church. We left shortly after that around 5pm and about 7 minutes down the road a siren alarm went off on Annie’s phone. We were under a tornado warning. Holy schnikey. That came out of nowhere. We weren’t too far from her house, so I ducked and covered there. We learned the tornado—an EF2—was just north of us in Bryan. So I jumped in my car and headed home which was south, in the opposite direction. That makes two tornadoes, an EF3 and an EF2, both in our stake boundaries, twelve days apart. That is highly unusual.

25^th—I cashed in a gift card for a massage and facial that I got two years ago for my 40^th birthday. I was so happy to learn the card was still honored. Later that night, I had a “presidency meeting” at BJs—really we just ate yummy food, enjoyed each other’s company and debriefed about Youth Conference. I knew my counselor and secretary were going to be released that weekend and I wanted to spend some time as a presidency before those changes hit. It's hard to let go of such a great vibe and tribe. They're laughing because the stake scheduler was contacting both of them about needing to meet with President Roeth in the Stake (they were both moving...one out of state necessitating a release and the other was moving within the presidency). But they were both unavailable due to a "meeting" that night (at BJ's :) and the poor scheduler was getting their two messages mixed up. Our "meeting" went well past 10pm. Time flies when you're having a blast!

27^th—Jared and I went to the temple. It was a glorious morning. We were super productive when we got home. Jared tackled his mom’s yard and ours. I hit the garage and closets to spring clean, among other things. The kids worked hard, too! 

Because Cooper has a horrible allergic response to mowing and trimming, Calvin has been "called up" and is now taking over yard duties--especially at Grandma's house. 

This is how Jared feels. Haha!

JJ did all of his regular chores, so he swept out the garage to earn some extra money. And did a pretty awesome job considering the broom is as tall as he is!

28^th—Calvin sang in the Stake Primary Choir at Stake Conference. It was beautiful.

--After Stake conference ended, every single member of my presidency was set apart except me. I was the only thing that didn't change. From left to right: Jennie Linford (Secretary), Anne Burnett (2nd Counselor), me, Allison Dunn (1st Counselor). I'm excited for what the future holds for us as we lead the Young Women organizations into the future. 

--I had my final self-reliance class on personal finances once my girls were set apart. This was definitely a “bright spot” in our stake. Twelve people began the course twelve weeks ago and twelve people finished it. Historically, most groups lose a few people over the three month span. We did not. Furthermore, our group was so diverse. We had a recent widow (she’s in her late 40s, early 50s)—as in, he died right after Christmas and this class started the end of January. We had a retired couple, a student, two other couples and people with kids ages 4-19. It was a fabulous variety of experiences and knowledge. The best part though, is that we had a woman attend who was not a member of our church. Anyone can take the class. She attended the orientation with a friend who ended up not doing it. But she came every week all on her own. She was truly inspiring to me!

--Cooper arrived home safely on Sunday night around 11:30pm.

29^th—My 42^nd birthday. Spent not feeling 100%, grocery shopping, doing laundry and taking Karcyn to her piano lesson that evening. But it’s great to be alive! I just planned on having berries and ice cream or whipped cream for a treat because Jared isn’t eating carbs, Karcyn can’t eat cake and Calvin’s birthday is two days later, so we really don’t need an overabundance of sweets in our house. But when it came time to sing happy birthday, Jared pulled out a small cake from behind his back. It was a Nothing Bundt Cake. It looked so yummy, though I couldn’t tell what flavor it was. I smiled and ogled at it. JJ and Calvin both asked if it was carrot cake. They had tried a carrot cake sample once and loved it. Though it was a high quality carrot cake and was good--for carrot cake--it is not even my fifth favorite. So my instant reply to their question was, “Ew, I hope not!” Everyone busted up laughing, not expecting me to be so brutally honest. Lucky for me, it was white chocolate raspberry. De-lish!

--I got a neck massager (at my request) from Jared for my birthday. His poor fingers and hands need a break. Cooper was taking it for a spin. 

Excellent point, Mama!

 #truth

4/30—Transfers were this week for Jake so he wasn’t able to call me on my birthday, even though Mondays are usually P-day for him. And he couldn’t call on Calvin’s birthday (5/1) on Wednesday because he’d be traveling. So he split the difference and called in between the two birthdays. 😊  He is going to Gyor—and continues on as a Zone Leader. His companion is Bridges Elder, who is technically his “grandpa.” Meaning the elder who trained Jake when he first went to Hungary (Peery Elder) was trained by Bridges Elder when he first got to the country. Hence Jake’s missionary “grandpa.” Haha! 

--You might live in an SEC college town when the Stake adds the university football games on the Stake Calendar in order for auxiliaries to plan activities and meetings accordingly. It has been experienced that certain games (especially ones at "home") will not elicit the hoped for numbers of attendees at church functions.