This Beautiful World!

Yesterday morning I read the talk Michelle Craig gave in this most recent conference. She talked about having eyes to see clearly yourself and other people, and especially how God feels about you and other people. For some reason the part about seeing yourself clearly stuck with me. Then I had a day that felt like Heavenly Father really saw me and loved me extravagantly. He let me be with SO MANY people I love and let me be in his world as fall is coming in the mountains. He let me have heart to heart talks with a dear friend and a dear sister, and fun walks with both them and my family. And I felt like I was given eyes to see that this is what Heavenly Father thinks of me: worthy to receive the richest gifts, even though I am so very far from being the person He and I would like me to become. It was wonderful and exactly what I needed.

As a backdrop to this story, we had decided to sneak to Utah (even though it was a pandemic) to celebrate Wyatt's 19th birthday with him. Then we decided that would be a great time to have a baby shower for Mariah. And Alan had some continuing medical education that could be done anywhere since it was virtual. So we bought flights and hoped for the best.  It truly was the best!

We got here Thursday evening, and Wyatt came to pick us up from the airport, since he had been quarantined at our condo for a couple of weeks in preparation for our visit. We had a great time hanging out with him, eating dinner outside on a perfect evening and joining him at the condo. 

Friday Alan did his conference in the morning while I took birthday Wyatt and Griffin and Eve to Orem where they hung out at Barnes and Noble and Deseret Book while cute pregnant Mariah did my hair. My Dad was serendipitously in Provo that morning, and we had a wonderful visit and lunch outside at Guru's. Then we headed back to the condo where the best birthday surprise ever was waiting: Eliza and Juliet who came out to join the fun! So ALL of my kids were there except Evan Crespo (Mac was even in Utah!) to have a Red Iguana birthday dinner and peanut butter cheesecake for Wyatt's 19th birthday. 

The next morning I had planned to spend with Paige, and possibly Jill, but Paige miraculously got to be with Joel, Lesley and Reef while I hiked to Gloria Falls with Jill and my two littles. It was a gift! And Paige and I even got to catch up later that night while we walked the avenues and enjoyed the view from the roof of our condo. After the hike, Evie and I headed to Provo for the baby shower at the blue house, where all the sisters and the moms had such a dreamy afternoon being excited for the arrival of Mariah and McCall's baby boy and wishing we could have had aunties and cousins and grandmas and friends there too.

The best parts of today were going to our fancy and fun ward and being together just one more time with all of my kids. Our ward is fancy and fun because a concert organist played the hymns and a musical number, and testimonies were given by both a general authority and a new convert who loves Marvel comics. We got to take Eliza and Juliet to the airport and Willa came up to church with us. Mariah and Mac came over and hung out with us again too, and it was so much fun to visit with them and be with them one more time. They are pretty much wonderful.

So I'm sorry to all the people I love in Utah who I didn't even tell I was there. And I'm praying for the ones who have COVID! And Happy Birthday to the ones who had birthdays while I was there too! I hope you are seeing God's love for you too!

Here are some pictures of some of the glorious love I got to be a part of:

We saw a bull moose just a few yards from the trail!