Blessings

I've heard stories all my life about blessings that come to families of missionaries, specifically those who help support missionaries. When Ethan left last August, we decided that we wanted to pay a small part of his mission. Neither one of us paid for ours, and we've felt indebted to those who made it possible for us to serve the Lord. We wanted to pay it forward. And while we haven't expected blessings, there were still times that we both wondered about our finances--and if they were like this with a missionary out, we were afraid for him to ever come home! (Not that it is that bad, but we're certainly not rich). 

And then, out of the blue, we sort of inherited a piano. Brian's great aunt passed away, leaving a beautiful player piano that no one wanted to claim. No one, that is, except Mom and Dad Saville, who thought of us and had it sent to our house for Brian's graduation present. 

I'm still in shock over it. That was the last big purchase we wanted to get for our home, and it wasn't looking like we were going to be able to get it for a LONG time. And then, all of a sudden, it showed up on our doorstep (almost literally, though we knew it was coming for a couple of weeks and had a spot ready to receive it). I know this is one of those mysterious blessings that comes as the result of helping our missionary. Here's Heather "playing" the piano using the player pedals:

 This is a blessing that keeps on blessing. I had forgotten how much I depended on playing the piano as an outlet for my frustrations, sadness, joys, and anger. Back in high school, I would play all of that out through my fingers running up and down the keys. It is so therapeutic. The timing has been perfect. The Lord knew that I needed this again, and I'm so grateful!

 Michael calls this his "Pi-nano."

And it's fun that Brian can play a little too. 

It is a little scratched, but surprisingly only a little, so I made a seat cover for the bench and a runner to protect the top. Again, Michael is my model. 

And then, as if that wasn't good enough, our Saville parents surprised us with yet another blessing just last week. At dinner on Mothers' Day, Mom informed us that she wanted to buy a new car, and since she couldn't sell her old one for much, she asked if we wanted it. It has almost half the miles as our Camry, so we said, "Yes!" The next day, we drove home our new "White Car". This blessing will buy us a few more years before we need to get another one. 

As soon as I heard about this car, I immediately thought of my brother, Cal, and his wife who are in serious need of another car due to jobs/school issues. So, last Wednesday, Michael and I took our "Green Car" on a farewell drive to Ogden to pass it off to Cal. We rode the UTA system back home--well, sort of. After a short visit with Chelsea and Cal, Michael and I boarded the Frontrunner train and headed to Salt Lake. Michael was SO excited. I thought he would get bored of the trip, but he didn't.  Here he is holding our ticket:

 He thought the train was noisy though, and constantly kept his hands over his ears:

 After the train, we went to hop on a bus to take us South, but we missed all of the buses on our itinerary. That's when things got a little rough. Michael started screaming that he wanted to get on a bus, and since this was my first time riding UTA buses, I was kind of clueless, lost, and a little frustrated. Finally, we just jumped on a bus that looked like it would get us part of the way home.  I had called Brian before then to let him know that he needed to come find us since we were late and wouldn't make be able to make it to Utah County before our ticket expired. I tried to make it as far south as we could go and then have Brian get us there.

Michael loved the bus. He didn't get bored at all. We hopped off that bus, and then hopped on another that took us to the Trax Station at 4500 South in Murray. We were about to get on the Trax to take it one station down when Brian let me know that he was almost there and to just wait. Michael was furious that he didn't get to go on another train.

I finally got him off the platform, we found Brian, and then we all headed home. Michael immediately fell asleep. When he woke up at our house, he went right into a tired fit of screaming, shouting, "I WANT TO GO ON THE TRAIN!!" We decided that someday soon, we're just going to have to take a day, get a ticket, and go for a ride on the UTA Systems again.

We're so grateful for our blessings. Life The Lord has been really good to us.

Pretending to Be Grown-up

I always feel like I'm only pretending to be a grown-up, pretending to be a mom, wife, homeowner. Here are my latest "pretending" episodes. 

Towards the end of April, I bought 8 lbs of strawberries, and with them, I made my first batch of freezer jam. I made Brian take pictures of the monumental occasion--my first canning experience for MY family!

 It was super easy, and look how beautiful:

I wanted to have a garden, but since our yard is pretty small, I decided that I wanted to make planter boxes to go in our cement patio just off our basement. I came up with an idea to use cedar pickets and cedar studs--fencing materials--to make these big, deep boxes. The 6' x 5.5" pickets were less than $2, and the studs were about $5.50 each for an 8'x4'x2'. Brian took the idea in my head and helped me make a real plan. Then, he basically did most of the work. We made a 3'x2' box and this 6'x2' box. They're both around 1.5 ' deep. Here's Michael modeling the mostly finished box: 

 Here's the box down in our patio area after I planted it. We're using other pots to try and grow even more. We're so proud of our little boxes! There's nothing quite like building something to bring that warm feeling in your heart! And make you feel a little bit grown-up.

What Really Matters

There are times in our lives when we get strong, painful reminders about what really matters and what does not.

Last week, we received news that our friend from Wymount, Alice, was in the hospital fighting off a severe infection following the birth of her third child and first daughter. A few days later, we received the official word that she had passed away, leaving behind two sons--the oldest of which is just a year older than Michael--and one week-old daughter. Just like that--within a week of giving birth--she was gone! She was 33 years old.

Tomorrow marks a week since her passing; yesterday was her funeral. Even though we weren't close friends, and I hadn't seen her for a year, her death has hit me really hard, and tears have been a near constant companion since hearing of her death. I can't wrap my head around the fact that the Lord took her home. At one time, I was called to watch after her as her Relief Society president, and I realized yesterday that the love I gained for her never went away after I was released. I keep seeing her in the Wymount quad, reading a book or a magazine while watching her little boy playing on the playground. I remember hearing her play the piano in her apartment and thinking how beautiful her music was. And now she's gone.

Death isn't new for us, and unfortunately, neither are "untimely" deaths. I've had several thoughts this last week, too many to really record here,  but the one I wanted to write about today was this: the things of eternity are what really matter. Being a good, kind person, a good husband or wife, a good father or mother, a good sister or brother, and a good daughter or son. Forgiving others of grudges. Giving a smile to a stranger. Loving your spouse more than you love yourself. Refraining from saying something unkind. Accepting other people's shortcomings. And the biggest one for me--treasuring and teaching your children. It is so easy to get caught up in the petty things of life. It's so easy to get distracted by the views and opinions of the loudest voice in the media, but what really matters is how we love our God, and how we love those around us.

Alice's funeral was beautiful, just as she was. She knew what really mattered; there was never any doubt about that. I'm grateful that I knew her, grateful for her example. And I'm especially grateful that I still have my wonderful Brian, and I'll have him by my side forever, even after death eventually separates us. Families are forever. Alice will live again. And someday, I will meet my maker, and I sure hope that by then I will not need these tough reminders about what really matters.

Alice's family has set up a fund to help her husband Kurt and the children. If you are interested, you may find it here. 

A Few Good Kids

On Friday, April 20, we made it home from graduation to find Chelsea and her kids waiting for us. Thomas had drill at Camp Williams, so they spent the weekend with us. We decided to set up our dome tent in the basement for Heather and Matthew to sleep in. Sarah and Michael thought they were invited too, and when we were getting beds ready, they came down with their blankets and pillows too. We thought we'd give it a try:

   

 Unfortunately, they didn't do so well down there and subsequently were moved back upstairs. It was just TOO much excitement.


While Chelsea was here, I helped her make some neck pillows for her kids for their trip to Disneyland. She also made these really cute snap wallets for them as well as Michael.

They stayed until Sunday and went to church with us. Then, we had an amazing dinner after church with Thomas, who had finished drill by then. It was a great weekend with lots of sunshine. 

Side note, it is amazing how much more dirt and crumbs get tracked in when you have four extra people staying with you!

And since they had so much fun, they all came back this past Saturday! Okay, that's not really why they came back; they stayed overnight so they were that much closer to Disneyland when they started their trip early Sunday morning. My parents also stayed overnight on Saturday for the same reason. It was a shorter visit, but we take what we can get. 

Somehow, someone brought over a book to Grandma, and our loveseat quickly got filled up with willing listeners. There may have been room for a few more. 

We hope you all have fun in Disneyland, and we're excited to see you on your way back through. Bring us a fun souvenir!

BYU 2012 Commencement and Convocation

Since most all of you couldn't come, I thought I'd post some highlights from BYU's Commencement and the School of Technology's Convocation exercises. Somehow, the diploma wasn't enough to make it feel real, but the robes sure did!

Thursday Afternoon: BYU Commencement

 At the Gazebo outside the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni Association and Visitors' Center

 In front of the ASB where we parted ways with Brian before Commencement. 

 The keynote Commencement speaker, Elder Dallin H. Oaks. (Awesome picture of him on the big screen at the Marriott Center.)

 After Commencement below the Carillon Bell Tower with Dad & Mom Saville. (Dad Saville is a BYU music professor, for those of you who forgot, hence his robes). 

 Our future masters graduate. 

Friday Morning before Convocation:

Sign just South of Helaman Halls

 At the Stadium by the Cougar

Brian waiting for his turn to walk across the stage at his convocation in the WILK Ballroom. 

And so you could see his grand walk, here's a video.  

 Yay!

 A shout out to Brian's awesome thesis committee: Dr. Helps and Dr. Rowe

 and his mentor/coach/faculty adviser, Dr. Lunt.

The Y and Crabtree Technology Building in the background. Our final farewell to student things at BYU. 

Don't you feel like you were there with us now? 

Today and Tomorrow

Easter!

On Saturday, April 7, the Easter Bunny came to our house! He brought too much yummy candy, although it was thankfully much less than last year. He brought Michael more bath bubbles, an awesome firetruck floor puzzle, and New Testament Stories. 

 He also brought Brian and I baskets. After finding our baskets and eating breakfast, we headed to Ogden for an egg hunt with Chelsea and Thomas's crew. After arriving, we colored eggs:

 And then had an egg hunt. The kids hung out inside while Thomas, Brian, Chelsea, and I hid the eggs. There must have been at least 400. I think we went a little nuts. Sarah and Michael got to head out first. It was so funny to watch them walk right past 15 eggs to get to the one they spotted. Talk about looking beyond the mark!

 Matthew and Heather were waiting on the back porch for their time. Someone did a countdown and yelled, "Go!" This is them just after "Go". Notice how Heather's hair is flying? They were just a LITTLE excited!

  

 After all the eggs were collected (at least we think they got all of them), we headed inside to open them and divide them up equally. It was a fun afternoon. Thanks for hosting it, Chelsea and Thomas!!

All too soon, we needed to head to Provo to meet up with the Hoyos family for dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe. The Hoyos's lived across the street from Brian's family back in Kansas. Brian wanted to see Meghan since it had been a few years since we'd seen her, and Brenton was getting ready to move to Kentucky.

 (Left to right) Jason, Baby Benjamin, Meghan, Brian, Michael, Devri, Ryan, Katie, and Brenton. 

On Easter Sunday, we went to church with Lea and Shayne. It was SO nice to go to Sunday School and Relief Society again! I also got to take Skyler, and it was a lot of fun to have a baby around again, even if he did get super mad during Sunday School and I wondered if I had lost all my mad baby-nurturing skills. But he was just starving, so that made me feel better. Thanks for letting me borrow your baby, Lea!

After church, we headed home and found Mom and Dad Saville sitting on our porch, enjoying the beautiful day. While we waited for Lea and Shayne to come, Papa helped Michael put his new puzzle together: 

 After Lea and Shayne and the boys arrived, we hid eggs, and then the hunt was on:

 First inside, and then outside:

 Cole was pretty proud of all the eggs he picked up.

After finding all the eggs, it was time for the traditional Saville Egg-Rolling!

 We tried on the grass first, and then decided to move to the concrete:

 And after all the eggs were sufficiently cracked, we went in and peeled them, and Mom made her amazing "Egg Stuff":

We enjoyed the meal too much to take any pictures, laughing about how many people were probably eating really fancy dinners of ham and fixings, and we were having our simple, traditional eggs-in-white-sauce-over-toast meal.

I love Easter; it is my favorite holiday. Every year, I ask myself again, "Is this REALLY your favorite holiday? Even over Christmas? Why?" Again, the answer is, "Yes, it is really my favorite holiday, even over Christmas, even though it is pretty close. And the why, at least this year is because Easter means hope."

Everything about Easter is hopeful, because Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection of the Savior, the most marvelous and happy event of all time.  It occurs in the Spring when the world is starting to wake up, shooting out new green leaves, blossoms, and flowers. After a long, hard, cold, dark winter, suddenly birds are singing out that better things are on their way. Nature itself is rejuvenated. It's as if all nature wants to remind us of the hope that we all have through the Savior's atonement and resurrection.

Because of the Savior, we can have hope in good things to come in this life, and better things in the life to come. Even in trials, we have the hope that He will be there to help us through them, and rejoice with us when we come off conqueror. We can overcome our sins, shortcomings, pains, sicknesses, and struggles to become the people we want to be, and the people He would have us be. The sting of death is swallowed up in His resurrection, and we have the hope that we will see all our loved ones again.

For me this year, Easter brought the hope that we will be able to have more children. As I sat in Relief Society, listening as the final week of the Savior's earthly ministry was recounted, I couldn't help but think about all that pain the Savior was willing to put himself through for us. I thought, "If He could do that for me, I can set myself up for the possibility of more pain for me and the risk of another miscarriage in the hopes that we could bring one of Heavenly Father's children to earth." This isn't an announcement, but it is a HUGE step for me, because I haven't been willing to consider more kids until now. I KNOW that our Savior lives, and because He lives, I can do all things with His help, even face my fears about getting pregnant again, because I know He'll be there for me, come what may. And it is all because of Easter. How could it not be my favorite holiday?