Spiritually Uplifting

I had to share this moment before I forget all about it. Today I had a very spiritually fulfilling day at church. I have a calling in the primary (which is great), but I don't get to sit in and have the great a-ha moments very often because I am in teaching the four year olds and before that it was nursery and before that I was the pianist for the primary and before that I was teaching nursery (not very much adult interaction going on, but I love the kids). Today there was a special stake meeting. Elder Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve came to Denton to speak to us. There was also the mission president and his wife from the Dallas Fort Worth Mission that spoke, along with a member of the seventy, and the stake president. It was almost two hours of the spiritual enlightenment I was really needing. It was nice to listen to Elder Oaks speak and laugh. He is just a man and he is a character. He joked and then he spoke on serious matters, but he did it with so much love. I could tell he really meant it when he said he loved all of us. Between all of the speakers, there were quite a few funny stories and moments shared (if you want to hear any, you'll have to call and ask because I can't do it justice on a blog). It really was a special opportunity to have those general authorities so close and having special messages to share with us here in Denton, Texas. There has not been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve since 1981 and Elder Oaks said it was time. He had a special message for the youth of the church about having good friends and influences and staying away from those that will bring them down and try to talk them into doing things they know are not right. Another thing he emphasized was not letting those in this area (the evangelicals that protest us and give us a hard time) get to us. He said we know we are Christians and the best we can do to convince those that are against us is to show that we not only say we believe in Christ, but we actually live Christlike lives. He told us not to try to argue or anything like that because it will not get us anywhere. I have had my own personal experiences here in Texas with people that I thought were full of good intentions turning on me and telling me how I was not Christian and how I was dooming myself and my family. It is hard not to get defensive, but now I know I just need to smile and say that I know for myself what I am and I am not going to argue with someone who obviously knows little of my beliefs and change the subject or just walk away.
It has been interesting thinking about this after the meeting. I have to think about those types of encounters, but so do my children. My son, who is in elementary school already has his friends asking him about what church he goes to and what he believes. He has a friend that is atheist and his parents are really pushing him to talk to his friends about it, but my son has a pretty strong testimony for a little guy and he comes home some days and tells me about he told his friend about how Jesus loves all of us and that he knows that he is real and that God does exist. It makes me so proud of him. There are times that I am afraid that someone might say something to shake his testimony (like about how so many churches around here teach that members of our church are not Christian), but I have come to realize that he knows what he believes and he is not afraid to speak up to his friends. I hope he can always feel open to kindly discuss what he believes and why. I also hope that his friends can be a good influence on him. It is crazy to hear what seven and eight year olds discuss at recess. I think my son is ready to be baptized in just a few months.
It was a day that left me with the warm fuzzy feeling and I am hoping it will stay with me for a long time. It is good to know that our church leaders are aware of our situations in all parts of the world and that they do care about us all. They are so full of wisdom and love and today just made me so excited for General Conference coming up and the messages that will be shared with us then.

Many Happenings

I have been such a slacker, but that doesn't mean our lives have been boring.

Steve passed his quals with good compliments from the board who reviewed it and gave him his oral examination. He worked so hard on his two week paper and the hard work paid off. Now he just has his dissertation to complete. He submitted a topic proposal for it and it was approved the first time (This is apparently rare. For everyone we've heard of, it usually takes at least two times). He is on schedule to complete it and present it along with a lecture recital and his defense of it all in early June. He will then be known as Dr. Hunter (as long as his review board likes what he does--which I am sure will not be a problem). In June, Steve has also agreed to do one more round of Collegium for Eugene Corporon and then we will be on our way to.... somewhere. That is the part of the equation we are not sure about yet. Steve has submitted job applications to a few universities that are looking for trombone/low brass professors. Hopefully at least one of them will like what Steve has to offer and invite him in for an interview and a job. :)

I know I shouldn't be getting my hopes up, but he has applied for a job at Dixie State. This is closer to home and family. It would be a wonderful job, so if you have a moment, pray for us and the people who will be reviewing candidates for the job. We are hoping to hear back on some of the jobs in the next couple of months, so I'll keep you posted of any news.

Onto another aspect: Nathan won second place in science fair this year. He was so excited. We are so proud of how hard he worked and how well he did. He will be able to compete in the district level science fair. I don't know exactly when that is, but when it happens, I'm sure Nathan will be excited to attend.

Amy turned four (can you believe it?!) on Feb. 16th. She had a fun day and received some nice things. She had the cake of her dreams (she told me about a month in advance what she wanted)-- funfetti with pink strawberry frosting. The cake did not disappoint her. Justin, Alli, and their two kiddos joined us for the evening to have Amy's birthday dinner. She chose steak (new york steak to be exact), and fresh broccoli (she loves broccoli). Last year she insisted on hotdogs; it looks like she is moving up in her food tastes; let's just hope next year is not too expensive. :)

I turned 29 a few days ago. It is my last year in the twenties and I am hoping to still feel young for a while. Steve had things to do that night, so we didn't do too much, but he did get me Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (one of my childhood favorites) and a puzzle book. He also got a new game (which is lots of fun, so if any of you are ever around, ask to play it) Carcassone. It seems like a mix of Settlers and Tsuro (two fun games). We have spent too much time playing it together and with Allison and Justin. It's a hit! It won the same award that Ticket to Ride (another fun game) won, so it has to be a good game.

I haven't said much about Lucy, but she is getting so big. She is also a climber, as of late. She has been climbing up on the counters any time I leave her alone for a minute and she is instantly into the cupboards trying to find food to throw down to the dogs. So far I have lost a loaf of bread, hotdog buns, goldfish crackers, and some pringles to the cause. The dogs didn't know what to do with the can of stewed tomatoes or the box of mac and cheese she threw to them. I think they were just glad the can didn't hit them on their heads. I have been trying to convince Lucy that she doesn't need to climb so much by trying to wear her out during the day, but so far-- no luck. I am sure she will outgrow this phase because this is exactly what her brother did at this age. I never thought there could be another kid like he was, but she is following in his footsteps. I hope that means she will be as good of a kid as he is now when she is older (not that she is horrible--she really is a sweetheart). In the meantime, I can look past her mischievousness each time she looks up at me and says, "love you." This is what she told me right before I took the picture below. Except her actions this time were emptying the bottom two shelves on the bookshelf and making a mess on the floor, which she tried to hide by covering it up with a blanket and Nathan's backpack. I have to give her credit for her creativity.

On another note, a while ago, there was a freak snowstorm in Denton. There was record snowfall (and I'm not talking about a couple of inches. I think the weatherman said we got eight inches). Now for Utah, this would not be too big of a deal, but here it shut everything down. Nathan ended up having a five day weekend because of it and he was thrilled. Steve even had work and school off (because he works for UNT and a local high school). The good thing about this is that it gave him all the time he needed to finish his 15 page topic proposal for his dissertation and get it in. Maybe that is why it passed the first time through; he had plenty of time to think about every word.

This last set of pictures shows Amy in the new "princess dress" my mom sent to her. Lucy wanted to get in on the action. Then we had to take a picture of how nice Nathan looked dressed up for church. Ignore the girls' hair. It wasn't done yet. They were super cute when it was fixed, but of course I don't have any pictures of that. Maybe next time.