General Conference April 2017

Saturday and Sunday were General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I had a really good time. Saturday, we got up and listened to the first session. Kevin painted and drew during most of that session. When it finished, we packed up a lunch and drove out to the canyon for a picnic. We had a lot of fun, and it was really pleasant. Grig always feels a lot better when we are able to make it out to the woods. Kevin really enjoyed climbing a small tree that we found.

We got back in the car just in time for the next session to start. After we got home, we made graham cracker houses with frosting while we listened to the 2nd session. Kevin had a really good time doing that, and his house turned out really nice. The frosting was yummy too.

This was the house I made.

This was Kevin's house.

Grig's house had a few technical difficulties, but it tasted good, so that was okay.

After the session ended, I fell asleep, and then, while Grig took a nap, I made onion blossoms and heated up some left overs for dinner. I think they turned out really good. After dinner, Grig listened to Priesthood session on his computer while Kevin and I hung out. Afterward, Kevin went to bed.

Today, we got up, watched the first session of conference, and then we headed over to my grandma and grandpa’s home. They fed us a delicious lunch of fried chicken and potatoes, and then we watched the final session together. Kevin did really well at being reverent during the last session. He was drawing pictures of ties with the other kids, but at one point, I looked over and he was really focusing on the television. He seemed to be listening intently to the talk. I was really proud of him.

Some of the things I learned from conference was that I need to study the life of the Savior more. That was brought up a lot, by a lot of people. I also felt like I needed to make sure my priorities were in order. The other thing that really stuck out was a talk about immediately following promptings when I receive them. The speaker told us that when we question or ignore promptings, we lose the ability to hear the Spirit. I don’t want to do that.

It was an excellent set of meetings, and I’m always pretty sad when they end.

Walking with my Husband

Yesterday, our family took its first walk in a while.  We have this wonderful river trail near our home, and after Grig got off work he, Kevin, Dakota, and I went on a walk.

Walks have always been a part of our relationship.  When Grig and I were first dating, we used to take long walks every night.  It was wonderful and somewhat magical.  We would talk for hours about everything!  We would discuss our fears, our past, our hopes, and our expectations.  We would talk about plots of books we were writing.  We would discuss our families and our differences.  We resolved a lot of things and came to agreements about how we would handle them in marriage.

One day, Grig came to my apartment.  I was sleeping on the couch and he wanted to go on a walk.  However, when I am asleep, it can be very difficult to wake me up. He tried pulling and tugging on the snuggie I was sleeping in, (and yes, I do have a snuggie).  He tried talking to me and I tried to curl deeper into the couch.

Finally, he broke through my haze.  I sat up, reached for my boots and realized with a shock that someone had replaced them with tennis shoes.  When I questioned my roommates, they all acted innocent and I shrugged it off.  I didn't really get it, but that was okay.

Grig waited impatiently as I slowly got ready, and then we took off.  We walked in a big circle to get to the park where we would usually walk.  It was a way we'd never gone before, but since we tried to alter the routine frequently, I wasn't too suspicious.  I knew he was up to something, but I figured I would find out eventually.

We made it to the park, and as we walked in, Grig put his hand in his pocket and told me that he'd written a poem for me.  However, it was a tree poem, and it could only be read up in a tree.  I readily agreed.  It was sweet of him to do that for me, and we both loved climbing trees.

He brought me to a particular tree and soon we were up in its branches.  He placed me a bit higher in the tree, knelt on a lower branch and began to read.  This is his poem he read, hopefully he won't be mad I posted it.  (He kind of hates it.)

Let me help you into this tree with me,

No inane barking, no mad dash streaking tree, bush, back again,

Just smooth rising to branches we'll weave together,

While the maple grows us beyond and forever.

Then, Grig pulled a box out of his pocket and presented a ring to me.  That's when my brain went into shock.  I had been expecting him to propose, but not for a couple more months!  We had just barely been looking at rings the night before!  (It turned out that the ring had been his grandmother's.  It was a huge blessing that it just happened to fit!)

So, I did what I always do when I'm really surprised.  I emotionally froze and became deadpan.  

"Oh, a ring," I said taking it out of the box and putting it on my finger.  

His face full of nervousness, Grig asked, "Does that mean yes?"

In response, I leaned forward and kissed him.  (I think it was like our second kiss.)  Suddenly, cheering broke out around us.  All of our roommates and close friends came running out from behind a building where they'd been hiding the whole time.  Grig had planned this all with them ahead of time! 

My response?  

"Oh, people."

We jumped down from the tree and hugged everyone.  They had been filming and the camera continued rolling as they presented me with flowers that Grig had bought ahead of time.  It was super sweet.  Finally my emotions began to kick in again.  I became very excited.  

After we had finished hugging and being congratulated by everyone, Grig and I galloped off into the sunset.  (Literally, we started galloping over to his car.)

So, that's the story of how I got engaged.  

Did I mention it was Halloween?

These pictures are actually from that night.  Another friend took them during the events described.

So, walks have always been a foundational part of our marriage.  We've tried to continue them as we've been going, but when I got pregnant it was more difficult, and then after the c-section it was impossible for a while.  Last night was wonderful!  

We walked over two miles and spent more than an hour and a half exploring the river bottoms.  The dog and Kevin really enjoyed it, though Kevin became really tired toward the end and fell asleep.  It was wonderful.  And most enjoyable of all, Grig and I were able to talk without interruptions and distractions.  

We always become closer after walking.  Our relationship is stronger than ever.  I know we'll just continue to grow in love for each other, especially if we continue walking together.

The beautiful flowers Grig got me