Loads of Goodies and Cousin Fun!

These pictures are just too cute not to share! Last Saturday, March 27, 2010, was our annual Rose Family Easter Egg Hunt. Though it is usually at our house, Julie and Stanton had offered their home this year so we could also attend a joint wedding shower for our niece, Chrystal Sandall, and Kelley Argyle, the fiance of our nephew, Mitch Sandall, that afternoon in Tremonton.

We missed Luke, Emma and Gavin, our little Florida kids, and Lori's Todd who was also not able to attend due to a scout function that day. But though not present, they are never forgotten as it is our long-standing tradition to dump the goodies all together after having been hunted and found, and divide the spoils evenly among ALL the grandkids! Grandpa saves his loose change all year and that also goes into the pot. When there were only a few grandchildren it used to go a long way...but among 16, not so much! Just all part of the fun and the kids just have a ball watching their sacks fill up with all kinds of goodies. You can't tell from the pictures, but the lawn and flower beds were absolutely loaded with eggs and treats.

Regan, now almost 12, and growing into a beautiful young woman decided she just wanted to help us stuff the eggs and divide the goodies. She was so much help I honestly don't know how we could have accomplished it all in such a short time without her. Thanks, Regs! Thanks to Julie for hosting and thanks to Cindy and Lori for making the supreme effort to gather all the kids and be there in good time that morning. We were blessed with a beautiful day for traveling and outdoor fun! It is a joy for us to see how much the kids all love to be together. It makes us very excited for our family reunion this summer at Lori and Brad's.

As I expressed to Cindy, I am grateful that we held the "hunt" the weekend before Easter so that our families can concentrate on the real "reason for the season" this weekend. I love that Easter Sunday falls on General Conference weekend this year. We are again attending Conference in Salt Lake at the Conference Center and are able to take our newest little 8-year-old granddaughter, Kate, with us. How fun that will be!

I remember several years ago when we were at Conference on Easter Sunday and we heard such beautiful messages on the Atonement. I am looking forward to that again. How grateful I am for my personal Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered unbelievably for my thoughtless, selfish ways. How I want to show my appreciation to Him! All I can do is repent constantly and try to do better. I am so ashamed of my "natural man" ways of thinking, speaking, and acting...I am so thankful that His arms are "stretched out still"! He is so patient and loving and just wants us all to be obedient and take advantage of his great atoning sacrifice. I am so grateful that we recognize and appreciate his suffering and death, but that we CELEBRATE His Resurrection on Easter...that He lives again that we may also live again! What a great gift He has freely given us. My heart is full as I approach this weekend. We love you and wish all of you a very wonderful Easter weekend!

Brigham and the Miracle of Boston

These pictures were taken last Saturday. You can tell he lost a little weight but he looks great, doesn't he?

These are all pictures taken the Friday before they left for Boston.
Such a precious little person!

Both because I was busy taking care of Chloe and Lily and because I couldn't seem to gather my thoughts, I did not post about Brigham's heart surgery until now. I need to get some impressions and feelings down in writing. This has all been such a whirlwind that in some ways it now seems like a dream. Julie expressed this to me when we went to visit them in Logan last Saturday. Did it all really happen? Oh, YES, it did! And our sweet little Brig is back home with his brother and sisters and looking as if nothing out of the ordinary even happened...unless you look at the scar on his chest which though it is healing so beautifully is a very constant reminder of the last few weeks. I have learned so many things through this experience. I know with even greater assurance that Heavenly Father knows each of us and has a personal plan for us. We just need to trust Him and have faith that whatever happens is for our best good and also for the best good of those around us. I believe that Brig's heart problem happened for the purpose of teaching all who love him more about that trust and acceptance of God's will that we need to have. But I also was reminded again of the power of the combined prayers of many, many people and that Heavenly Father listens to those prayers and is willing to grant what we ask when in accordance to His plan. It is sometimes hard to say "Thy will be done" and mean it. But as Elder Neil Maxwell said, our will is the only thing that is really our own to offer. We are grateful that at least for now that plan for Brigham is to remain with us here on earth! Our hearts are so full of gratitude and awe of the way all of this has unfolded. The miracle of the whole situation is, as Julie said, that they ended up at Childrens Hospital Boston with the most experienced and best qualified surgeon in the world to perform this very intricate surgery. Heavenly Father truly is Omniscient! Julie and Stanton have been given strength beyond their capabilities to deal with all this. The promised strength, peace and comfort of the Holy Ghost is real! We have all experienced it in times of trial. You look back on an event and wonder how you got through it...and you know. I am thankful that Julie kept such a wonderful journal of events including pictures and videos so that none of us forget this incredible journey from a "broken" to a healed heart. Through the infinite Atonement all of our hearts no matter how they are "broken" can be healed. Each moment spent with Brigham will be even that much more precious because of what he and his family have experienced and what we have all learned. We love you, Brig!

What We Believe Regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ

We just read a most marvelous talk from the April Ensign called "What Does the Atonement Mean to You?" by Elder Cecil O. Samuelson Jr. of the Seventy. If you have access to it and have not read it, it is worth sitting down in a comfortable chair and taking 10 minutes to study and digest. How grateful I am for our Savior's atonement which is, indeed, infinite in its scope. As Elder Samuelson writes, "The Atonement is intensely personal and uniquely crafted for our own individual circumstances and situations." My favorite quote from this talk is as follows: "He (Nephi) understood that there is a pattern for living that results in happiness, independent of the difficulties, challenges, and disappointments that come into all of our lives. He was able to focus on the big picture of God's plan for him and his people and was thus able to avoid being brought down by his frustrations or by the accurate observation that life is not fair. It isn't fair, but he and his people were happy nevertheless. They understood that an Atonement would take place, and they had confidence that it would include them." Here is the link: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=a6246a008952b010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0We are heading for Salt Lake Saturday morning for General Conference and taking Regan with us. I will post when I return. What a thrill to listen to prophets and apostles who communicate with Heavenly Father and deliver His messages to us.