Conner's day and other stuff

 Hey William,

Hope your week has gone well.  I'm excited to talk to you tomorrow.  I hope that you and Elder Larkin liked your Elf socks.  Once I actually put them on I was disappointed in how uncomfortable they were, but they were still a fun way to feel connected on Conner's day.  I know in the past we have had you guys stay home from school and dad takes the day off, but we decided because the kids have missed a bunch of school from being sick and you are across the country that this year we wouldn't do that.  I decided awhile back to get the heart rocks because I knew we wouldn't all be together, but I didn't know everyone would get sick and miss school too.  I was actually recovering from a stomach bug that day, so dad went to the temple and did initiatories without me, and I cancelled my appointment.  

So if you saw the pictures, you saw that we still did Christmas in color.  They've added a ton more singing guys.  It's pretty fun as always, but we missed you.  We also decided that since they had Elf at Hale Center Theater that we would go there to watch Elf this year instead of watching it at home.  So we got to do that, and they did an amazing job.  It was super fun to watch the kids' faces and see how much they enjoyed it.  I'm sorry they didn't have Elf last year, or we would have done it with you too.  

I do hope that the socks and the heart rock helped you feel connected to us that day even though we weren't together.  I gave Dad and the other kids heart rocks that morning too so they could take them to school and feel like we were connected even if we weren't physically together.  

I also sent you a couple of the Keel kids' awkward sibling photos.  It was pretty fun but also a ton of editing that took forever.  I thought that would make you smile.  

I've been pretty busy with lots of picture stuff.  I took wedding photos for my cousin, Sariah, and Grandma made the cake, and it was beautiful.  Daniel came and helped serve cake, so I got to hang out with him for a bit. 

 I am always so dang impressed with my Aunt Melonie and uncle Ryan at how well they've raised those kids.  I think there are 10 or 11 of them, but they all worked so hard to do all the things for the wedding, there was no caterer or decorator or anything, but it was one of the most beautiful receptions I've been to, and it's because that family is just such a hard working family, and even the spouses of my cousins who are already married flew in from texas and idaho, and their parents drove from Washington, and they were all there cutting veggies and hanging lights and it was just fun to watch them work so well together.  All the ones that were old enough were in the temple for the sealing, and the younger ones were outside watching nieces and nephews.  The sealing was so beautiful. I could definitely feel angels from our family there while they got sealed.  Then after all the prep work was done and it was just the party, every single one of them was out on that dance floor dancing.  It was fun to see that.  I need to be better at just getting out on that dance floor and dancing.  And then they all stayed and cleaned up till 11 before getting ready to head back to Washington, Idaho and Texas.  Just such a great family.  I hope we've raised you kids well enough that you'll be there for each other like that.  

This week, I have been studying Elder Daines' talk from conference.  One of the things that Sister Freeman talked about in her podcast was she talked about Mary Magdalene and how she knew Jesus probably better than most people.  She spent pretty much every day with him for a few years, learning from him.  When she went to the garden tomb and found his body missing, and then when he appeared to her, she didn't recognize Him.  I hadn't really thought about that fact too much before about why she didn't recognize him.  I kind of thought, well, maybe he looked a little different after he was resurrected, or something.  But Sister Freeman brought up the point that Mary knew him so well as a teacher and a miracle worker and all the things he did before his death and resurrection, but she didn't know him as our resurrected Savior yet.  This was new for her.  Sister Freeman then talked about how sometimes we have times in our lives where we feel really close to the Savior and we have learned a lot from him because of a specific situation we've gone through, or we've been really good at scripture study, or going to seminary or any of those reasons, but then we go through something we've never been through before.  Something new, something hard, and sometimes it can feel like we can't see the Savior during those times.  She pointed this back to Mary Magdalene and how she didn't recognize him yet because she had never experienced this sorrow of losing him, and feeling lost and confused, and she hadn't gotten to know him yet as our resurrected Savior.  And each time we have something new happen, or there is a situation, or someone says something that makes it feel like we can't see our Savior anymore, it isn't because he isn't there.  It's just because we haven't learned what he looks like to us in that situation in our lives yet, but he is there ready to call us by name,  just like he did with Mary when he called her by name, and then those feelings of recognition came back to her, just like they can for us during those times.  I just thought that was such a beautiful connection to a story that I know so well, but didn't see that side of it before.  

Anyway, got to get to bed.  I love you lots.  I hope your week has been good.  Talk to you soon!

Love,

Mom