A Good Week

SUNDAY
We had big expectations for the Super Blood Moon and Eclipse. 18 months ago we got up at 2:00 in the morning to see it and were glad we did. It was fascinating. Dan, Marge, Nicholas and I watched from our new windows in the Family Room.

This year, it appeared at 8:00 p.m. But we couldn't see a thing. Everyone seemed to be commenting on it but we couldn't find it anywhere! Our neighbors were out looking with us and couldn't find it either. We left at 8:30 to pick up Marty at the airport (coming home from his BYU/Michigan weekend) and Nick came with me so we'd get farther away from Mt. Olympus and a better chance of viewing.

When we finally could see, it was dark and shadowed. Still not sure if it was hidden by clouds. It wasn't the eclipse yet.  Later that night we watched the eclipse, but it wasn't super-sized anymore.

MONDAY
For Family Night we went to TonyBurgers and after a Peter Breinholt concert at the Holladay City Center hosted by our piano studio. It was super fun for me -- the kids thought it was weird that I knew all the words to his songs.  Pretty sure the parents all loved it even more than the kids. He still has an awesome voice. And apparently is a neighbor.


TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY
We had Read With Me morning at Nick's school so I got to go with him and read Percy Jackson.

Beautiful Morning!

Later, Nancy taught scripture class and she was in rare form, joking and making us laugh. She's usually a bit more serious than Diane.  She taught about Job and as always had a beautiful way of understanding the depth of the scriptures. Most editions of the Bible tell the story of Job as an epic poem.

The most prominent theme of Job is, "Why do the righteous suffer?" "How could a just God allow evil and suffering in the world?"

But the Purpose of Job is to show that God can redeem all. He doesn't take away suffering and misery. No amount of righteousness can even save us. Job's righteousness is not what restored him. But instead, it was the Power of the Atonement. Which can redeem ALL.

Job SEES that the purpose of his suffering doesn't really matter. But it's his connection to God that is most important. We need to put our trust in him.

This looked so welcoming -- it made me happy all week. 

And in the theme of suffering, I had Parent/Teacher Conferences Tuesday and Wednesday. Ugh. They always make me panic because mid term grades never look very good. Not to mention, it takes several hours and it's tricky to balance getting kids to where they need to be and also spending the several hours it takes to see all the teachers at school.

I was pleasantly surprised this year. Everyone had some work to make-up or tests to re-take, but had already made plans for improvement and their teachers were pleased with both boys' efforts. Phew! But seriously, the worry leading up to it is traumatic!


THURSDAY
Chris did his Eagle Scout Project! Yayyyyyyy!!! He did a project serving the children at Primary Children's Hospital. Each year they have a Harry Potter party at Halloween. But they need wands donated.  Christopher (and all of us) were the beneficiaries of Kathy Vanek's amazing Harry Potter parties for 5 years. She made wands for each of the kids and they were always thrilled with them and still have them.

So Chris used her machine and his troop made 40 wands to donate to Primary's. He used his lawn mowing money to buy the supplies and also paint and brushes to donate as well, because they like the kids to be able to paint them.  Finally, he sent out flyers to our ward soliciting donations of new or gently used items that the Hospital can use for the kids to play with. Tomorrow he'll call Primary's and schedule a time to deliver.

FRIDAY

Look what the rain brought to the mountains! Snow!

Friday night we hosted Dan's mission reunion -- The Buenos Aires, Argentina, Norte mission. Dan even gave air miles to his Mission President so he could fly up and attend. It was so sweet to watch President Berta walk in and all the grown men and women get emotional as they saw him again. You could tell they loved him so much. He had a huge smile on his face and was equally thrilled to seem them all.  It was beautiful to be there.  And the reunion!! Everyone was so happy to get reacquainted!

Dan and Kurt ordered Cafe Rio and Empanadas. Many people brought treats -- fracturas, a cake filled with dulce de leche, alfajores and of course Mate.

People started arriving at 6:00 p.m. and the last few guests didn't leave until after midnight. Everyone was enjoying each other's company so much, we hated for it to end. I was friends with many of them myself from either several having been Dan's roommates, or just good friends who we had spent time with at BYU -- especially Brad, who had married my best friend, Randi (who later married our other roommate, Jenne after Randi died), Sam Chiara, and of course, Kurt.