Easter

I think about Jerusalem. I envision the donkey the Savior rode from Bethphage. I've seen so many donkeys in that land. I think of the crowds following Him across the Mount of Olives waving their palm branches. I think of "the place of the skull outside the Garden Tomb where the Palestinian bus station is and I see the likeness still.

But most of all I think about the Garden Tomb and all that it brings of hope. I remember the words of all the kind British guides I have ever known in that beautiful place who always say, "Remember, the tomb is empty."

And that is the witness I send you on this Easter day. The tomb is empty. He lives. He loves us. He teaches us. He guides us. He blesses us with living prophets. He restored His church through Joseph smith. He has atoned for our sins, errors, pain, heartache, and mistakes, though we must do our part to have the Atonement work in our lives. I am confident we can do it. yes, the tomb is empty. And that makes all the difference.

Easter Party at Bamma's

We had our Easter party today and missed the cousins a lot who are in London. We didn't have nearly as much candy on the lawn as we usually have. You can even see in the picture of all four children that we still have some unmelted snow on the lawn. But it was a beautiful day.

Uncle Rolf gave a really neat lesson on the last week of the Savior's life. Olle and Leif listened so carefully. Then Sally added the part about how the spirit goes to work with Heavenly Father and the body stays in the earth until resurrection. After she showed the picture of the Savior with His spirit, she had pictures for each of the children of Finn with his spirit separating from his body. It was really easy to understand.

The candy hunt went well and the egg dyeing was as interesting as usual with lots of cracked eggs and lots of spilled dye, and lots of blue fingers, too. We loved it.

It's fun to celebrate together. We're thinking of our London cousins today.

My Squirrel is Awake

While I was putting ham in the oven for Olle and Leif and Elsa, I looked out my kitchen window to find my squirrel eating away on my dried up back lawn! He's beautiful.

Remember how I told you in October that I watched him gather leaves and tuck them in the hollow under my sidewalk by the back door? I've thought of him so many times over the winter, wondering if he was sleeping warm while the snow was so deep everywhere. And now here he is! Awake and just fine.

I wonder if he has any squirrel friends in the neighborhood. It's odd for a squirrel to be all alone somewhere. How did he get here? Where did he come from? All I know is I'm glad he chose my yard for his home.

I wish I could take a picture to show you. But every little sound scares him. I'll keep watching, though, to see if I can get a picture when he doesn't know.

Today is cold and windy, though the sun is shining. I hope his bed under the sidewalk is still warm.

Winter in Spring

The skies are cloudy and gray again today, in fact, we had a new skiff of snow. The winter snow isn't even gone from the shadowy places in my backyard yet. So winter drops in every day or two.

I offered to stay with Rolf and Sally's children for the afternoon so they could ski at Sundance. That meant I got to play with Elsa and Liesel, both growing up so fast. Elsa carries the pictures of her princesses every where she goes. And Liesel is sitting up nicely.

Olle, Leif, and I finished the simple version of Treasure Island. It was great. Those boys do love an adventure!

BYU beat Colorado yesterday in the tournament in Las Vegas. They play again tonight. Go Cougars!

Happy Days

Yesterday I went to the Benefits Office to talk about retirement. It is a strange feeling to realize it's the end of something. The closest I can come is how I felt at the end of my mission when I became aware that everything would soon be different.

The man showed me how much money I would have coming in, told me how much my insurance would cost, explained that I would benefit from retiring on July 1 rather than August 31, and sent me away. I fairly danced across campus, I was so excited.

Sharon Larsen also solidified today that I'll do TWO tours to Israel in October. After the first one ends, I will just stay while the second one comes. I have asked Laurie Swim to come with me. She's easy to travel with and will be great fun to have along.

So. . . .happy days!

Finding Costco

Finally we Skyped with the Knell cousins today. When Gretchen picked up Abe from work I was home for lunch. I loved seeing everybody on the computer! What fun!

Everybody but Uncle Abe had been swimming. But before that they bravely searched for. . .and found. . . .Costco! Sadie says it look just like ours. McKay said when they walked in he thought they were in America! But most of all, they saw in Costco, a basketball hoop! Not to buy, just to know that it exists. They were glad.

You know, of course, that nobody in England plays football. At least not what we call football. They play soccer and call it football. But now we know that people in England do play basketball. Like us.

I think it's funny that a store seems most like America. And basketball.

Every day I think of Spring

Imagine, it's been just a week since Zach, Sadie, McKay, and Lucy left for England. It's so fun to hear about their adventures and I hope they keep writing to tell us.

Today we have the most beautiful weather of the whole spring! It really gives us hope. The sky is clear and the snowy mountains are purple and blue and white. I can see the lake out my window at the University. It looks like a mirror in the sunshine.

We have no leaves on the trees.

Maddie meowed yesterday to go outside. Amazing, she's refused to go out all winter.

Zach, I'm glad you like Mastermind. We'll have to play it again. By then Olle and Leif will be very good at it, I'm sure.

We had our regular Sunday dinner with only half the family today. But the Knells near London had already raved about their church services in Basingstoke saying they have the nicest people and lots of children and good friends already.

We're amazed at the blessings of belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To think that we can find the same teachings far away is such a blessing to the whole family.

At Bamma's house we had schnitzel and rice, corn and cookies. Afterward Uncle Rolf taught Olle and Leif how to play Mastermind. The boys caught on pretty quick.

Liesel is sitting up really well and Elsa's sentences get longer and longer and clearer and clearer. It seems like everybody is growing up.

Cousins

Just a week ago we had dinner together. Amazing, isn't it? We took this picture as the cousins told each other goodbye. I hope I always remember Elsa's kissing everyone, she doesn't give her 2-year-old kisses easily.

New things I like to see

I hear the Knells went to see Windsor Castle. Zach says the queen wasn't there, though. Sadie says the king doesn't sleep there, but she doesn't know where he sleeps.

Sadie liked the gardens at Windsor. Zach liked the medieval armor. McKay liked the soldiers marching by, and Lucy liked the ducks. I also hear that Lucy likes the double decker red buses, but she hasn't ridden in one yet.

Bamma likes the sun shining in the sky every day this week. Can it possibly be spring?

Multiplication Tables

After my major text messaging with Sadie yesterday, my phone ran out of battery before I left the University. When I plugged it in I had a message from Olle. It's always fun to hear from Olle. He asked if he could borrow my flashcards for multiply and divide. I don't seem to have any divide, but I ran my multiply cards over to him in Lindon.

Everybody asked if I'd heard from England and they were glad to know all the information I know.

Then I watched Olle do the multiply cards with his dad. Olle is good at math! He likes the numbers and only had to think carefully on a few high ones. His class is only part way through, so he's working ahead of the class.

Leif is reading a book about motorcycles. And Elsa is carrying her princess pictures everywhere. I like to have her tell me their names because I like the way she says "Cinderlella."

Olle was excited to show me that Liesel has a neck now. Isn't that wonderful? She does have a neck. That's a sure sign of growing up.

The sun is shining today. I like that. I can see the mountains all white clear past Spanish Fork. Spring?

Grandchildren in Lindon and London

Sadie text messaged me for 2 1/2 hours today while I was waking up and eating breakfast. I learned lots of things from her now she's been in England for almost 2 days. She says they have pom trees, I think she means palm trees. She says they have woods. She says her bedroom is peach colored and so far it is her favorite place.

Sadie says they have a car but the steering wheel is on the side where the passenger sits. But so far her mom and dad have been able to manage driving on the other side of the road. However, Uncle Abe had a meeting in Southhampton and they were an hour late because they kept getting lost. Oh, dear.

Sadie said their house was cold when they got there, but it is warm now. And she assured me that she isn't tired.

I keep thinking of all the adventures all nine of you have in front of you. Let's talk about them here on Bamma's Blog.