Rainbow Gratitude

It is finally Spring!!! I can't tell you how much I relish walking outside in my bare feet through my vibrant green grass and wearing no coat as I hear the birds chirp and smell the wet pavement from the rain the night before. Living in Ohio we have a lot of rain, especially this time of year. I really love watching the room light up as I lie in bed at night and then hear the loud claps of thunder shake the room. It makes me grateful that I have a nice safe house that keeps me warm and dry. Along with the frequent rain comes rainbows. There really are few things as miraculous to me as a rainbow. I love to see them paint the sky with their beauty. Interestingly, so does Alden.

The other day we were getting ready to go to a play that a couple of Michael's seminary students were in. It had just rained and the sun was breaking through the clouds. Michael said, "Oh, I'll bet there is a rainbow." Sure enough, there was double rainbow lining the sky. Michael and the boys were so excited as they talked about the colors that make a rainbow and that a rainbow is God's promise to us that he'll never destroy the Earth with a flood. Alden's exuberance soon turned to seriousness, and he turned to Michael and said, "Papi, I think we should say a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for this rainbow" (this was of course in Spanish, but I'm not going to attempt to translate it). Alden then offered the sweetest prayer thanking God for blessing us with this rainbow. I love what an amazing kid he is.

The End of March Excitement

Our past few weekends have been filled with fun and excitement. Michael's birthday was on Saturday, March 22. We had a nice day and enjoyed a visit from Michael's parents. They treated us to dinner at the Packard Grille and then we came back and ate birthday pie (Michael's not a big cake fan, so I make him birthday pie instead). The next day, we, along with the rest of the Christian world, celebrated Easter. We had an uplifting and enjoyable church service, and then came home and dyed Easter eggs and had a little Easter egg hunt with Grandpa and Abuelita. It was one of the sillier Easter egg hunts that we've had. We hid all the eggs in fairly simple spots, yet the last 15 minutes of the hunt were spent with me, Michael, and his mom trying to locate the last hardboiled egg. We were quite certain that we'd find it this summer, but we weren't exactly looking forward to those prospects. Eventually we did find it, so no rotten egg smell in the Monday's house this July--Hooray!!! Hyrum especially enjoyed hunting for candy and Easter eggs. He was perfectly content with the first piece of candy that he found. He wasn't exactly interested in doing much of anything else, other than eating that piece of candy. That evening we also had our good friends Jeff and Laura Talbot and their two girls over for Easter dinner. Our kids always have such a great time playing together, and we always have such a fun time talking to them.


With it being Easter, I am reminded of the great and atoning sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the life that He lived to show us the way and then His willingness to suffer for our sins in Gethsemane and die for us. I know that He was resurrected on the third day and am so grateful for that peace and knowledge that I have that I can live with my family forever. What a great gift He's given all of us!


Last weekend, we took another trip to Toledo where Michael and I bought new furniture (this was a couch and love seat that we've been eying for nearly a year--our current couch is one that Michael's had since law school--needless to say, we're pretty excited!). We also took the boys the circus. Abuelita came with us and spoiled the boys rotten. They got glow-in-the-dark dolphin necklaces, a pony ride, and an elephant ride! Hyrum was very wiggly, but I think he had a great time too. It was the third circus that the boys and I had ever been to. Our first one (mine too) was last year. Circuses are great. If you haven't been to one, I highly recommend it (I imagine that I am one of only a few people who made it to 32 years old before seeing a circus).