Independence Day

I thought I'd better start being responsible and post something on my blog again. It will probably take me a couple of days to catch up. We've had a really fun and busy July. When Ryan's not at school and I'm not at work, we've tried to get out and enjoy the summer while we still can.

We woke the kids up early on the 4th of July and took them to the Freedom Festival in Provo. Ryan took the kids to eat breakfast and see the hot air balloons take off while I ran the 10K. They loved the balloons! It is always fun to watch this neat event. There are so many of them! Fortunately, I too got a glance of the balloons during the 3rd mile of the race.

Here's Adelyn, posing as usual.

The 10K was awesome. I started out kind of slow and eased into it, but by the last couple miles I was trying to catch and pass as many girls as possible. It paid off in the end because I ended up the 11th girl overall and 3rd in my age group. I was pleased--it is so nice to actually race again.

The parade was great this year, as always. We met Ryan's family there and watched it with them. This is the Orem City royalty float. The girl to the far left is one of Ryan's former students, Graceann. Ryan has also taught two of her brother and we've become good friends with her family.

This is the American Fork marching band. Rumor has it they take State just about every year and were in the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade this last fall. They are amazing! Needless to say, there are several die-hard band mom's in our ward here in AF. And apparently they practice every morning at 7:00 (even in the summer) and serve as an alarm clock for many other families in the ward.

This was one of the booths at the Freedom Festival. Adelyn walked so easily across this tight rope. She has such amazing balance and she's not afraid of anything! We also visited a few craft booths and a rare reptile demonstration.

After the parade and festivities, we went home and rested awhile before going to my brother Doug's house in Salt Lake for a barbecue. Everyone had a great time. The kids went swimming and played on the swing-set and sandbox. . .

The men passed around the soccer ball and made plans for their next golf outing. And the women chased the kids around and did what we do best: talk and talk and talk. When the sun went down, Ryan and Doug put on a great firework show for us. And the neighbors completed the package with an amazing air show. They were shooting off all kinds of illegal stuff that lit up the whole sky. It was awesome! It was a perfect 4th of July.

My Addie Christine

We got Adelyn's 3 year pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. She was so cute and totally posed for all of them. She had a lot of fun; she's always loved being the center of attention. These are just a few of the great ones.

These are some of the questions I asked Adelyn recently about herself. She is such a little character.

Favorite Foods: macaroni and noodles, fish sticks, cereal, fruit of all kinds.
Favorite Songs: "I am a Child of God," "Castle on a Cloud," "Silver Moon Beams," "Teach me to Walk in the Light," and "I Love to See the Temple."
Favorite Snacks: fruit snacks, popsicles.
Favorite Candy: bubble gum.
Favorite Fruits: apples, strawberries, melon.
Favorite Vegetable: carrots.
Favorite Flower: "the ones that spray." (After some prodding, I found out she was talking about a sprinkler; apparently our sprinkler resembles a flower.)
Favorite Tree: apple tree.
Favorite Insect: butterfly.
Favorite Holiday: Santa day (I laughed and quickly reminded her it was called "Christ"mas.)
Favorite Shows: Dora, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Tigger and Pooh.
Favorite Movie: Veggie Tales.
Favorite Color: Pink (and purple).
What she wants to be when she grows up: "A mommy that cooks the food and drives the car."
Best Friends: Jaron, Amber (Ryan's sister), Kiley and Savanna (her cousins).
Favorite Books: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Where the Wild Things Are," and the scriptures.
Favorite Phrase: "No, let me do it!" and "No fair!"
Favorite Things to Do: swimming, dancing and singing; playing at the park; go on outings to new places; camping; doing crafts, painting and drawing; cooking with her plastic kitchen set; reading stories and more stories; going to "nursery class;" and teasing Preston.
Favorite Animals: Horses and cows.
Favorite Disney princess: Aurora.
Favorite Sibling: Preston, but she thinks she ought to have a little sister too.
Things She Can't Wait to Do: start school, go to Disneyland, learn how to read, drive, grow up. :(

Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat.

Ryan and I ran the Wasatch Back Relay this past weekend. It was Ryan's third time doing the relay, my second. We've always run it with a team put together by one of our good running friends from our old Lehi ward. His name is Sam, and the team is conveniently named, "Green Eggs and Sam." (I guess that would make all the rest of us eggs--green ones.) It is always interesting to think about the dynamics of this team. None of us really know each other except from the relay, and we span every decade of life from 20's to 60's (Ryan and I are the youngest on the team). Yet, we have so much fun running together and getting to know each other. Running a race like this together--180 miles across barren Northern Utah through all kinds of weather, over all forms of terrain, and on very little sleep--really makes you feel close to your teammates and appreciate their support. And there's something about runners: they're all pretty much awesome people.

Incidentally, regardless of our many efforts to prepare Preston to be babysit-able, in the end we just decided to bring him along as our mascot (I should have dressed him as a green egg, I suppose). It was so fun to have him come and he did pretty well, although he still loathes the car seat.

My favorite team mate, Ryan, who probably ran more miles during the 24 hours we were racing (17 total, I think) than he's ran the whole last month combined! I don't know how he manages it, but he can run fast and far without hardly any training. He is the envy of many.

One of the exchanges from Ryan to our team captain, Sam.

Personally, I had a blast! I challenged myself and nearly ran myself into the ground trying to catch the other teams during my three legs of the race. It was good to have an opportunity to be somewhat of a competitive runner again. I've kind of lost that part of myself. I remembered how much I love to run and it made me want to get back into road racing again.

Preston and I after my first run. I was the 12th and final runner of the team. I ran at 7:00pm, 3:00am, and ran through the finish line with my team at 2:00pm.

This is most of our team at the finish line. It took us just over 27 hours total to run from Park City to Logan. We finished 142 out of 545 teams, or 31 of the 210 in the open co-ed class. Not bad! And more importantly, we had a fabulous time doing it.

Hogle Zoo

We met up with some of Ryan's family and my parents and sister and had a fabulous time at Hogle Zoo. The last time we went to the zoo was three days before Preston was born. It was hot and I was four days past my due date and I hoped the walking would somehow put me into labor. Although the experience was somewhat easier this time not being pregnant, I still carried Preston around on my tummy the whole time (in the Bjorn), but fortunately the weather was much nicer--overcast and cool. Incidentally, all the animals were more active (including our kids, as we found it nearly impossible to get them to sit still for a picture, so most of these pictures are of the animals).

Me with my kids.

Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes? This one has a white belly, so the stripes are probably black, but who knows.

I thought these giraffes were awesome. Did you know that giraffes are six feet tall when they're born and they grow an inch a day!?

You gotta love these lion head drinking fountains. At first, Adelyn was a little unsure about putting her head into a lion's mouth. But after I assured her it was fake, she put her head, hands and arms in without another thought.

I love the elephants! What funny looking animals!

This is a really neat shot from the bird show. A bald eagle and the American flag--a nice tribute to our great country. The bird show was amazing!

Ryan is getting great at his camera skills. I think this one looks like a post card. What a beautiful rooster!

Me with Preston in the reptile house. He slept nearly the whole time we were at the zoo.

It is hard to tell, but there really is glass separating us from this leopard. And it's a good thing because he seemed really agitated while we were looking at him. They did a little cat show where they fed him bits of meat and showed us how they have trained him to stand on his hind legs and follow a play ball and other stuff. It was neat!

My Little Carrot Top

Preston got his 9-month pictures taken about a month ago, and I have to admit that I am quite pleased with how cute they turned out. He is such a little sweetheart and I thought now would be a great time to tell everyone a little more about him.


Preston is a total flirt. He smiles big and sticks out his cute little hand to wave at everyone he sees, but the second anyone moves to try to hold him, he ducks behind my arm. Should some well-intentioned person grab him before he gets a chance to hide, he immediately fusses and leans back to me. Then he turns back to them and smiles apologetically as if to say, "I really do like you, but I need to hold my Mommy right now."

He's also a little snuggle bug. He loves to be held and is such a happy little guy as long as he is in my arms. Everyone is so surprised when I tell them that he's a bit of a high-need baby because most people have never heard him cry. I remind them that they've also never seen him by himself. :) I call him my velcro baby. It's as if I've had a piece of velcro securing him to my left hip, where he's spent the last 10 months. He also loves to crawl over and rest his head on my tummy when I'm laying down. He's so precious and personable and just loves to be close.

Preston also loves music, singing and dancing, and he's a real groover. He also happens to be hopelessly mischievous and loves to do things just because he knows he's being naughty. He quietly gets into everything within reach and can make a bigger mess in less time than any baby I know. And he has the most curious little hands! He grabs everything within arms reach. He also loves to tease, and he laughs so hard when I pretend to eat his hands or feet, but he just can't resist putting them in my mouth over and over.

Food is another great joy in his life. If it were up to him, he'd probably nurse until he's five or six (good thing it's not up to him). But he loves all kinds of food, especially big-people food, and he makes impatient grunting noises when it's not coming as fast as he wants it. And I have to admit, he does have the temper of a red-head. The reason I don't let him cry much is because he never just whimpers or complains, he wails! He's very opinionated and stubborn when he gets his mind set on something. But surprisingly, he is very patient with Adelyn and all her bullying. He absolutely adores her and loves to laugh and play with her.

Preston also absolutely loves Ryan. He's never more excited than when Ryan comes home from work. They're buds and they like to veg together on the couch and talk about boy stuff (well, maybe someday they will--now it's mostly just garbling from Preston's end). Ryan and I feel very lucky to have such a great little guy to love and care for. We really couldn't have asked for a sweeter little boy. We love you, Preston!

Third Annual Ostler Reunion in Heber

We spent this past weekend enjoying our Ostler Family Reunion at the Heber Valley Camp. It is the perfect place for my abnormally large family to get together and spend a few days because we sleep in cabins, have running water and electricity, flushing toilets, and even showers. It also has several challenges courses and a lake that you can canoe across. Typically the men play bocce, volleyball, and go hiking while the women cook, talk, and talk some more. It is always a great time. And best of all, this year no one got sick!

This is a pretty good depiction of how Adelyn feels about camping. She was probably the happiest she has ever been. She loves being outside, playing in the dirt, sleeping in a sleeping bag, playing with cousins, and enjoying the fresh air.

Adelyn has two girl cousins her same age, but she rarely gets to see them because they live in Georgia and Arizona. But they had the greatest time playing and getting to know each other better. They put on a great show playing with Adelyn's instrument set and marching around like they were in a band. It was so cute to watch.

This was the last picture we took with our old camera. Somewhere between loading two screaming kids into a paddle boat, our camera slipped out of my pocket (or perhaps it was kicked out by a squirming baby) into the lake. After searching for 45 minutes, my brother Jay, brother-in-law Jake, and nephew Daniel somehow managed to find it at the bottom of the lake and fish it out with a pole and net. It was quite amazing to watch actually. We saved the memory card, but unfortunately the camera got a little too wet and is now nothing more than an expensive piece of metal. I was sad that we have no pictures of us doing the challenge course. I finally got to do the zip-line and Adelyn wanted to do it so bad. She climbed half-way up and lost her grip, but she wasn't scared at all and was mad that she didn't get another chance. Fortunately, there's always next year.

My Tribute to Julia

Happy 25th Julia!

I thought I would sneak this little post in to clear up the fact that I am not the amazing one in the family. That it is clearly my wife Julia. Without her, all would fall apart. Here are just a few things that sum up who she is:

STYLISH: Julia is always looking her best, even when she says differently. I can't help saying I am married to one fine babe.

STUDIOUS: It would be impossible to have an RN and not be a little smart. What they fail to recognize is that Julia is more than just a little smart. She is the smartest person I know. She has never known what it is like to get even an A- in school, and she continues to learn and expand her mind. What a genius.

ROMANTIC: I have really become lax in my old age, but Julia is happy to surprise me with a card or little note, stuck in my lunch box, or send an email with a pick-me-up message, along with many other little romantic and kind acts to say I love you.

ATHLETIC: I could never imagine being pregnant, gaining @#! pounds, and then having to exercise it all back off. I would just stay fat and lazy for the rest of my life. Not Julia. She would run four times a day if I would let her. She loves exploring new trails, sweating hard, and running fast. I love how committed she is to her physique, so we can both live well into our old age and fulfill our goals and dreams.

COMPASSIONATE: Nobody is as sweet and loving as my wife. She just knows how to care for people, how to make them feel special, unique, and important. She is always fretting about having quality relationships with her family, my family, and of course within our little family. She has a capacity to give that would wipe the average person completely out. What an extraordinary gift she is to us all.

DETERMINED: There is nothing she can't do and nothing she sets her mind to that she will not accomplish. She gives all her heart and mind to things. Some of this looks like competitiveness, which I'll say she is very good at. There are few games we play any more because she always won, and it is hard to run with her as well, because she has some inner drive saying it is a race or something...which means she must win. :)

MOTHERLY: Julia just loves her kids to no end. She prays for them, she carries them around, she heals their owies, wipes their tears, cleans their clothes, cooks their meals, dresses them, bathes them, teaches them, and just about anything else she can possibly manage to keep them happy and content. What a great mom to have around.

ARTISTIC: One of Julia's favorite things is scrapbooking. She is a scrapbook extraordinaire. She is so good at it too. These kids are lucky to have her, because they will be able to keep memories for a lifetime. Her own memories are fun to read as well.

So there you have it. It is not a complete list, but a good start, to let all of you know what an exceptional wife I have, and only a quarter century old to boot. I can't wait to see what the next quarter has to offer. :) I love you honey!

A Tribute to my Ryan

Today is Ryan’s 29^th birthday, and I thought now would be a good time to tell the world about how much I love and admire him. We have been married over 5 ½ years and have grown so much together. Mostly, I have grown to love everything about him and stand in awe of what an amazing person I'm married to. He is probably the most well-rounded and passionate person I have ever known. Here is just a sample of some of his many strengths (in no particular order). Sorry, this is going to be long.

Athlete: He plays nearly every sport, though he definitely has his favorites. He was an all-star baseball pitcher growing up. He has played tons of soccer and has a life-long dream of becoming a professional golfer. Running is just a hobby, but after just a couple months of moderate training, he ran a 3:28 marathon (just under 8-minute mile pace). He also loves cycling and doing anything outdoors.

Romantic: Although he probably prefers action movies, he is always willing to snuggle up and watch a good chic-flick with me. He loves plays and operas, and was on the ballroom dance team at UVSC for a year. He always writes me nice notes and makes my day by doing the little things.

Father: He loves nothing more than making our children laugh. He is a professional bed-time story teller and silly-song-singer. He loves our kids so much and always finds ways to have quality time with each of them to give me a good break. Adelyn is a total daddy’s girl. He teaches her how to cook, play soccer, draw cartoon characters, and wrestle. He's a much funner parent than I am; I often find myself telling both Adelyn and Ryan to be reverent in church.

Teacher: I never imagined being as proud of my husband’s profession as I am. Everywhere I go, I meet people who know Mr. Rocque, the French teacher at Lakeridge Junior High. He is well-loved by all of his students and their parents. He just absolutely loves his job! He teaches his students that learning can be fun, cultural awareness is important, and your teacher can also be your friend.

Student: He loves learning and is always teaching me new things. He speaks three languages fluently and can speak bits of five or six others. We always joke that he writes better in French than in English. He reads a lot and keeps up with world events and politics, and somehow gets almost perfect grades in all of his university classes. He has finished 19 years of school and plans to complete at least five more with his PhD. He is also one of the most efficient and focused people I’ve ever known.

Mr. Fix-it: He LOVES to assemble things. The second we get home with something that needs to be assembled, he is reading the instructions and putting it together. He has learned how to install flooring, change out light fixtures, and install all kinds of appliances. A few years ago, he drew up blue prints and constructed a full-size computer desk just from looking at a picture he found in a magazine. He also changes the oil on our cars and can even replace the brakes.

Chef and Food Connoisseur: I prefer his cooking to anyone else’s, including most restaurants. He makes cooking into an art and rarely follows a recipe. He loves cooking every kind of food and is always up for a new challenge. He once made a lasagne that had about 30 ingredients (seven different kinds of meat alone) and two pages of instructions! Food Network is by far his favorite TV station.

Tourist: He is a world traveler and is always itching to go somewhere new. He loves learning about different cultures, trying new food, seeing old buildings and historical sites, and learning about the people.

Missionary: He was an extremely devoted and obedient missionary. He popped out of bed every morning and went straight to work. Using his love for languages and study of culture, he became immersed in the people of Ukraine and touched their hearts with his great love for the gospel. For months after he came home, he cried every time he went to a grocery store and refused to sleep on a mattress (Ukraine is a very poor country).

Priesthood Holder: He has always been a worthy and valiant priesthood holder. He loves the gospel and is a great scriptorian and teacher. He has always made temple attendance a priority and is always available to give a blessing to our family. He makes sure that we say our prayers, read our scriptures, and do FHE every week, and he presides over our home in a loving and patient way.

Musician: He was the French horn first chair in the American Fork band in high school. He also taught himself how to play the piano and can play most of the hymns and other great classics. He also has a really good voice. One of my first memories of him (before we even met) was of him singing a French aria for our single’s ward talent show. He has perfect pitch, though he often forgets the words.

Friend: He gets along with all kinds of people and can usually find something in common with anyone. He hates teasing and sarcasm and very rarely speaks negatively about other people. He is also very forgiving and understanding. He loves people genuinely and always wants the best for everyone.

I love you so much, Ryan. Happy Birthday!!

Discovery Gateway

If you still haven't made it down to the new children's museum at the Gateway, it is my hope that this blog entry will convinced you that it is definitely worth the money and the trip. This place is a children's paradise! It has every neat toy a kid could ever dream of, all in a safe, clean, fun environment. Adelyn just went crazy running around from activity to activity. They have music, games, crafts, kid-size houses and automobiles, a farm land, a fountain you can play in, and much, much more! Here is a sample of what we did:

Adelyn rowed across the river...

Drove through the city...

Picked out all her food a the grocery store
and paid for it at the cash register...

Came home and cooked it...

Then she and her friend Alexis Rigby served us the lunch they made.

This is all of us: me with my kids, Leslie with her daughter Emma, and Emily with her daughter Alexis and son Kevin. Leslie and Emily are two of my good friends from high school. It was great to get together again and catch up while our kids had the time of their lives.

They even have a real-size life-flight helicopter and a control tower. Amazing!

There is also a pre-walker area where Preston hung out most of the time. He loved it!

Warning: this is a possible side effect of spending about 3 1/2 hours being over-stimulated and running around like crazy at "Discovery Gateway." But as you probably already guessed, I think it was worth it!

The New Plan

Well for those of you who don't already know, amidst all of this housing uncertainty over the last few months, we were also very up in the air regarding our future plans. Ryan was accepted to a doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin, but we had waited forever (it seemed) and still hadn't heard back from BYU. I ought to mention that Ryan had not even discussed with his principal the possibility that he might not be returning to teach next year. He had also gone so far as to accept the position of student council adviser for the 2008-2009 school year. As far as future educational paths were concerned, however, whether or not Ryan would be accepted to BYU was a rather important detail while shopping for a house...um, which state should we be looking in: Texas or Utah?

Toward the beginning of April, I had all but resigned myself to the fact that he wasn't going to be accepted to BYU and that I ought to start seriously considering Texas survival techniques (in fact, I spent several feverish days looking into cross-country moving, campus housing, Medicaid and other government help, etc., etc.). Ryan called me one evening from his school with the announcement that he had a full schedule of French classes next year and would no longer be able to be the student council adviser. I was floored and elated--I hated the idea of him being so busy again with extra-curricular activities. He had gone from just five sections of French this year to over seven sections; they even had to turn some students away because there wasn't room. Amazing! He is such a great teacher and the kids love him so much! So, now we're thinking: "Maybe God wants us to stay even though he might not get into BYU?"

So, we continued the Utah County house hunt. To condense the end of an already really long story, Ryan got into the BYU program! But by the time we found out, we had already put an offer on this house in American Fork and had pretty much decided to stay regardless. I think God sometimes makes you take a step in the dark before the path becomes clear again. It is amazing how everything has worked out after such a long time of uncertainty and confusion. We are so happy to finally have some direction again. Ryan will start his Educational Leadership doctoral program at BYU this summer and be able to continue teaching at Lakeridge full-time, which he absolutely loves. The program is 5-6 years and he'll probably be really busy that whole time, but at least we know that it is the direction that God wants for us.


As for me, the only new thing is that I am going to start back at my old job at Utah Valley Hospital. My first day back is this Friday. I will just do one night shift a week. Thankfully, Preston has decided to be a good sleeper and even sleeps in his own bed and loves it, so it should work out pretty nicely. Anyway, sorry for the long journal entry. I PROMISE to actually download some pictures and have a much funner post soon.

Home Owners Again--Finally

So, for those of you who don't know, we got out condo under contract to sell in February and planned to close April 21. Ryan was so busy at the time that he recounts that he literally came home from work one day and our condo was sold. We felt like we had plenty of time to find a new place and we were very optimistic that we were going to get a great deal in this falling market.

Well to make a VERY long story short, we put nearly full-price bids on three different houses (two townhomes and a house) and didn't get any of them. At the beginning of April, we found ourselves miserable and completely unsure of what we were going to do. Ryan was starting to wonder whether allowing me to sell our house so suddenly had been such a good idea after all (I was thinking the exact same thing).

Finally, we found a house that we really wanted in American Fork and put in a pretty low offer. The seller counter-offered with a price just $1000 below the asking price. Yikes! We countered again about in the middle, and the seller countered back by asking to have an entire week to decide while he went on a cruise and he worked with another couple who had also given him an offer. That did not sound fun to us at all, so we asked him what it would take to get under contract before he went on his cruise; he told us to submit a full-price offer. After a little deliberation, we did. Yikes again!

We were getting our loan all ready and moving forward quickly when, before the seller was even back in town, the appraisal came $7000 under the asking price. When the seller came back into town, he was quite upset and wanted to talk to the appraiser, who by then was out of town for a week (what's with all of this vacation time in April?!) He insisted on talking with the appraiser before committing to anything. After another long week, we submitted an addendum to purchase the home for the appraised value, and the seller finally accepted it ONE day before the day we were supposed to close. As of yesterday, we have signed all of the paperwork and we are once again homeowners. We have been living with in-laws for two weeks, and it is such a relief to know that we will soon have our own space again.

Like I said, the house is in American Fork. It is actually a twin home, but it has its own land with it and no HOA fees. It has four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a two-car garage, and (my favorite feature) the laudry is upstairs where all the bedrooms are! It also has an unfinished basement, so we will have room to grow. It is everything we were looking for (and more, really)and we think we'll absolutely love living in American Fork where we are closer to family. Ryan graduated from AF High, so he will feel right at home. We feel like everything has worked out exactly as it was supposed to and we are excited to start a new chapter in our lives, although we were sad to leave Provo and our friends there. But stay tuned...we will probably throw a house warming party in a couple of weeks!

Easter Bunnies

Since Easter usually comes in April, I decided it wasn't too late to post about it. (Although, I do admit to falling miserably behind on my blogging lately.) So, anyway, here goes.

In preparation for the Easter egg hunts, Adelyn and I practiced our "hunting" skills by taking turns being the Easter bunny and hiding her rubber ducky. She was so cute. She would either hide it in plain site or in the place I just barely hid it. But of course, I humored her and took an EXTREMELY long time finding it every time.

Egg Hunt #1: Unsure whether the folks were going to host any other egg hunts, I took matters into my own hands and bought a TON of candy and eggs and invited Addie's friends to have an egg hunt here at our complex. They had a good time, and it was a good warm-up for the more serious egg hunts...

Apparently, Adelyn thought we should just skip the pictures and just get on with the candy eating.

Egg Hunt #2: Pioneer Park. Personally, I thought this one was a waste of time. Way too many kids and far too little chocolate, I mean candy--ya know, for the kids. :)

Egg Hunt #3: Rocque residence. Much better bang for your buck. Only five kids and probably 100 eggs! Grandma Rocque LOVES to spoil her grandkids.

A little mommy time.

It's all about family (and candy, of course).

Egg Hunt #4: Ostler residence. I forgot the camera, but it was VERY fun (lots of chocolate)! Mary hid all the eggs and the grandkids went wild. They were so cute because the older ones helped the younger ones and everyone shared in the end. Now, that's the true spirit of Easter.

Adelyn would not sit still for these pictures, but insisted on doing a dance indicating how happy she was to be dyeing Easter eggs.

Her favorite color is pink, and somehow all of her eggs reflected her preference. But she decided to make one of her eggs red for me because she knows it's my favorite. She also loved the "egg jackets" and stickers.

I think we found the "real" Easter Bunny. Really, I just had to throw in another shot of Preston. Of course, Addie thought this was the silliest thing ever--Preston with bunny ears. She laughed for a solid half hour.

Easter Day was really special. Personally, I had a really wonderful experience at church. The talks and musical numbers were fabulous and I really felt the Spirit. During the piano/violin duet of, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," I got out the hymn book and whispered the words to Adelyn. Before I knew it, I was bawling and couldn't even continue. That is such a powerful song. No wonder it was a favorite of Joseph Smith's. Easter is such a wonderful celebration of Christ's life and resurrection and I was so grateful to have an opportunity to think more about Him and what His life means to me.