Historical events this week. . . .

What a fun week..we had....

• Mother's day
• Visited 13 wonderful sisters
• Spent one day with my sister Judy
• Field trip to Gettysburg
• Celebrated Sister Brown's birthday

      I always love Mother's day and this one was no exception. We had a wonderful day at church with talks centered around Mothers. The young men handed out yummy bags of chocolates to all the mothers.. After church we were invited to Noni's home for a Mother's day dinner.  Lasagna and salad with crusty bread and a variety of desserts.  She has 2 children still at home her daughter is in 6th grade and her son is a Freshman.  It was so nice to get to know such a wonderful family.  When we arrived home I got to talk to my family and that made the day the best ever. 

Noni and her kids

     We went to Jennifer's home for lunch on Monday. She is the mom of 4, her two oldest were in school, but we got to see Evan who is 2 and baby Kate who is 12 weeks old.  Jennifer fixed brunch that was yummy.  Her husband is in the bishopric and they are such a special family. We had a great visit.

Jennifer & Kate

     Our next visit was with Gayla..she lost her husband last fall and is still suffering greatly from the loss.  We thought since both Sister Brown and I had also lost our husbands we could give her some comfort.  She is very angry and not wanting to accept the loss.. We understand that she used to be very involved in so many activities and now sits in her beautiful home and stays away from everyone and everything.. It was hard seeing her in such pain and we spent quite a bit of time just letting her talk and vent.  We are very close to her daughter Kristin and love her to pieces.. We will continue to visit with Gayla and give her as much help as she asks for.
    
     Our last visit on Monday was with a darling lady names Ada.  She is in her 80's and such a sweetheart.  We loved our visit and as we were leaving Ada said, " I wouldn't trade a million dollars for this visit".. we were so touched and know we will visit her often.
    
     We kept having the impression that we need to re-visit a young mom Lindsay, that we visited last week.  She is the mom of a 2 year old and a new baby and is overwhelmed.  She was so appreciative of our visit and thanked us so much for thinking of her and coming to see her again.  I love when we get impressions like this and follow it and know it touches the lives of the people we visit.
    
     Christine was our next visit.. she is a counselor in the RS and a young mom of 2 very cute active boys, 2 and 4 and expecting her 3rd boy.  It is so much fun to go into a home with little children, they have to perform for us and show us all their stunts and tricks. We love it and love being welcomed into their homes. Christine is a delightful young mom and it was a great visit. Her husband is in the Navy and stationed at Patuxtent Air Base.  He is studying Physics' in the Navy.
    
     We were invited to go to dinner on Tuesday with Rose.  We had a wonderful time with her.  She is a beautiful native Navaho from Yuma and loved to talk about Arizona. She works for the State of Maryland in their DMV division.  She and her husband have lived in Maryland for many years. She has a son and a daughter and we were so surprised to find out that we know her son's in-laws.. they were in our ward in White Plains 1 and I am in the card club with Jane.  Both of her children live out west, her daughter in Rexburg and her son in Provo. It was really fun to get to know her..  We made plans to do it again soon.

     On Wednesday I sent Sister Brown to the temple and I hopped on the Metro and headed to downtown DC to meet my sister Judy and her two oldest grandkids.. We met at the Smithsonian American History Museum.. I got there a little early and told Judy I would be sitting by the steps.  I got a call about 15 minutes later saying they couldn't see me and we discovered there are "2" entrances to the museum.. I was on one side they were on the other.. My brother in law is in DC for business and Judy and the kids came along to see the sights of DC.  It was such a fun day, filled with laughs and adventure as we toured the museum.  We then  walked over to the Natural History Museum and had lunch.. and the kids really liked this museum better.. there is so much to see and we also saw the  I Max movie "Tornado Ally", and visited the butterfly pavilion. Visiting the museums with 2 ten year olds is way fun, they were so excited at each exhibit.  It was so much fun to spend the day with my sister and wish it could have been longer.. I then got back on the Metro  and headed home.. a wonderful day... 

Keelyn & Anders with Me

Judy in the butterfly pavilion

Ready to see "Tornado Alley"

      Thursday we started with a lunch appointment at Kitty's home.  She was so much fun and had fixed the most delicious chicken chopped salad.. Two of her kids were home from BYU for the summer and they joined us. Julia is 21 and has just received her mission call to serve in Sacramento, California as an American Sign Language Missionary.  Nathan, Kitty's son is 22 and served his mission in Las Vegas. Kitty had invited Ann, another sister from the ward to join us for lunch. We had a wonderful visit with everyone.

Sister Brown, Ann, Kitty & Me

We added Julia and Nate

     We drove over to see Diana, who lives in an assisted living facility. When we arrived we discovered she was in a event being held at the center and we really didn't want to disturb her, so we will visit her again on another day.

     Our next visit was with Sarah and her adorable daughters Abby who is 2 and Ellie who is 3 months.  Ellie had open heart surgery when she was 10 days to repair a hole in her heart.  They are the absolute cutest girls.. Sarah's husband is a full time student and they are living in the basement apartment of her parents home. 

Sarah, Abby & Ellie

      On Friday we were invited to have lunch with Johnna.  She is the niece of one of my friends I had growing up thru high school.  It is so fun to have a connection with her and to be able to talk to her and hear how her Aunt LaVerda is doing & catch up on her family.  Johnna is the mom of 4 and the grandmother of a darling little boy 2 years old.  Johnna and her family have a very large iguana who is 11 years old.  She used to have an iguana rescue facility when she lived in Florida and now just has the one.  Johnna is the young woman's president in the ward. Her husband is in the Navy and is in charge of all the vehicle maintenance on the base.  

 Johnna & Me

 YIKES

            We visited with Arline next.. One of our favorite ladies to spend time with.  Her husband Pete's hearing has been impaired for a long time and the doctors finally figured out if they put tubes in his ears it should help.  They had just gotten back from the doctor and Pete said he could hear a little already and the doctors said if would continue to improve.. He is very excited.. He was busy in his workshop and said he would show Sister Brown his flight simulator next time.. We sat and visited with Arline for about 2 hours and she really opened up about the death of her daughter and the struggles she and Pete have had since his illness caused his career as an airline pilot to come to a halt.  We love to spend time with her and hear her stories.

     Our last visit of the day was with Melissa.. we had an appointment at 5:00, but when we showed up at her apartment she wasn't home.. so we left a message that we were sorry we missed her and we would call soon. 

     Saturday the senior missionaries had a field trip to Gettysburg, PA.  We met in DC at the visitors center and all drove together. I love learning more of the history of our country. We had nine of us on our outing and it was really a fun time.  We hired a tour guide that drove our van and spent 2 hours showing us all the important historical facts of Gettysburg and the pivotal 3 day battle of the civil war.  This is where President Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.. The town of Gettysburg is beautiful and quaint and we had lunch in the Farnsworth House Inn.. It has been voted one of the best places to eat by many authorities.. and we loved it. 

 Our guide lined us up as the troops lined up for battle

 President Lincoln delivered his famous address on Nov. 19. 1863 at Cemetery Hill.

The Farnsworth Inn

     Sunday, Sister Brown wasn't feeling well so I headed south alone to church and then to dinner at the home of the Hendricks. They are the parents of 3 VERY active boys.. Kenneth is 2, Logan is 4 and Jared is 9.  Dr. Hendricks is a Flight Surgeon for the Navy. We had a wonderful visit and great lunch. Sister Hendricks is expecting another baby boy in July.. She was a joy to visit with.  

Dr. & Sister Hendricks and boys

            Sister Brown is leaving on Tuesday to go home to Utah for some special events in her family.  I will be solo for two and a half weeks..

"When hard trials come, the faith to endure them well will be there, built as you may now notice but may have not at the time that you acted on the pure love of Christ, serving and forgiving others as the Savior would have done. You built a foundation of faith from loving as the Savior loved and serving for Him. Your faith in Him led to acts of charity that will bring you hope."                                   --Henry B. Eyring