Best of April.

Welcome, May!

So long, April!

Here is the best of our happy days in APRIL:

* * * * * 

Lottie turns SEVEN, and we celebrate with

a fantastic family rollerskating celebration:

Taking a nice break from social media to focus on

what matters most:

We savor every second as a family watching General Conference 

and dinner with girlfriends:

The girls (Clane aka Claire and Jane)

respond to their Prom dates in Utah:

SPRING BREAK!:

We celebrate Christ's glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday:

We explore the abandoned houses in North Carolina,

admiring their glory, history, decline, and possible come-back?

* * * *

The best of January, February, and March:

Come back.

I'm out of town for a few days.

Mr. Nielson and the Little Nies miss me, 

but I think that Angus misses me most of all.

He longingly stares out the window and waits for me to come home.

(Sometimes his head gets caught up in the curtains).

Energy, Time, and Money

I have been so fascinated with 

  old abandoned homes here in North Carolina.

They are on hillsides, swallowed up in the vines and trees,

 on ordinary roadsides, and tucked deep in the woods.

Some are dilapidated and in terrible shape, while others 

are still standing hollow and sad.

They are gorgeous and mysterious and lonely.

Recently I heard of a home built in the early 1800's in Siler City

which is near our property.

After Mr. Nielson and I ran some errands, we decided 

 to drive by this home before we had to pick up Lottie at the bus stop.

We followed the directions to the house which 

 lead us to a little turnoff covered with trees and vines.  

The road took us up a small dirt path which opened

 up exposing a large white home.

It was a beautiful home with good bones, but in bad shape!

The paint was peeling, the foundation in shambles, and the wooden siding

 hanging on for dear life.

Questions raced through my mind like who lived here?  Who built this home? 

 How many babies were born here,

 how many children learned to walk the halls,

 how many songs were sung on these wide wrap-around porches, 

but my most pressing question was why had this house ended up like this?

Mr. Nielson and I walked around the home gazing in windows, 

admiring the beautiful stained glass, the wide open hallways, 

and gorgeous stone and wooden fireplaces.

Sometimes I think I would want to spend the energy, time, 

and money to fix up an old beautiful home, after all

I believe that they deserve a second chance too!

It's just that it always takes more energy, time, and money

that one plans on, and I'm not sure we have those luxuries.

But....maybe.

Spiritual Enlightenment:

Don't Leave for Tomorrow What You Can Do Today

"It is in the home that the family learns and applies gospel principles. 
Great love is necessary in order to teach and guide a family.
 Loving fathers and mothers will teach their
 children to worship God in their home."

Keys

Lottie gave a talk in her primary class at church.

She was magnificent!

She stood up with confidence and spoke to the 

40 plus kids in the audience.

The week leading up to her talk Lottie and I along with the family

 prepared, read scriptures, watched videos, 

and discussed together, about her topic:

Jesus Christ gives prophets and apostles priesthood keys to lead His Church.

Lottie wanted pictures to go along with her talk,

and she had very specific photos in mind:

Jesus

Keys

Peter

President Nelson (with his wife Wendy).

For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, giving a 

talk in front of the congregation is very common-

even at an early age.

It's good for us!

"Peter and the other Apostles were given priesthood keys from Jesus. 

These keys “unlock” blessings for us and open the way to heaven. 

Priesthood keys allow us to 

be baptized 

take the sacrament

Receive blessings

Today our prophet President Nelson has all the same keys that

 Peter and Jesus had.

I know this is true, in the name of Jesus Christ

Amen"

Safely gathered in

Months ago, Clane and I joined a Barre class.

It's tough, and I sweat more in the one hour

 session than I probably ever have in my life-

which is a really good thing since I don't sweat much since the

 the accident claimed my sweat glands.

Sometimes the girls and I have to split up because I start laughing when we 

look at each other in the mirror, and then my flow is

 ruined for a good 5 minutes until I can contain my composure.

We came home from our usual 5:45 Barre class and found Ollie 

in the garage tuning up his Honda without his shirt on.

I love him so much.

Tonight as I sit on my bed to type this little report today,

my windows are wide open, and I can hear the frogs croak 

outside near the pond.

 I feel content and ready to lay my tired legs down

next to my husband with everything

"safely gathered in."

The home stretch

Yesterday was the last day of our glorious Spring Break, and I

spent it taking the North Carolina DMV practice test on my phone. 

I think I took the 40-question test like five times (in a row),

and I haven't passed yet.

I am sooooo close though!

The girls and I are planning on taking the final exam together this week

so we can all get our drivers licenses together!

(Fingers crossed, fingers crossed, fingers crossed).

Around 5:30 we decided to grab dinner and finish our Spring break strong.

Plus I really didn't feel like cooking.

We came home and everyone was a little melancholy.

We've really had such a wonderful MEMORABLE Spring break,

and it's sad to see it end.

Now we are on the "home stretch"

 before school officially ends in June.

Easter 2019

Easter 2019 

The girls and I spent the Saturday before Easter Sunday 

creating our table decorations.

We made cute flowers with cupcake liners and colorful stamens.

They looked lovely on our Easter table.

We also spent the whole car drive to and from Florida

for our Spring break doing needlepoint.

(Which was like 17 hours round trip).

We created colorful chickens, baby chicks, and roosters.

(We decided that we would needlepoint napkins for every holiday).

We also dyed eggs, and turns out, blue was my favorite color to dye.

So I created at least a dozen all different shades of blue.

Easter Sunday was absolutely lovely.

Of course we went to church and wore our bonnets.

Followed by a lovely Easter feast.

I usually wear my pink hat on Easter

but it is unfortunately packed away,

so I got us gals new hats this year.

I love hats.

 Sadly Gigs was home sick with something gross.

He waved to me under the covers on his bed

 as we walked out for church.

2019-2013

Our first Easter here in North Carolina was beautiful

and memorable.

At the dinner table we talked about Jesus Christ and His triumphant

and beautiful Resurrection.

We read scriptures and bore testimony to each other of His 

divine life and mission on earth, because

Jesus Christ overcame death and was resurrected, 

and because He lives-- all of us will live again!!

 * * * * * * * *

“Easter is a reminder of all that I hope for myself. 

That someday I will be healed and someday I will be whole.

 Someday I won’t have any metal or plastic inside of me.

 Someday my heart will be free of fear and my mind free of anxieties. … 

I am so glad I truly believe in a beautiful afterlife”.

 -“And There Shall Be No More Death,” 

In the books!

Despite some sunburned bodies,

the beach has been very, VERY good to us.

Soft sand, nice weather, warm water, and loads of memories.

Our 2019 Spring break is in the books as a very successful trip.

Also, any trip with water and sun is a very GOOD trip if it

means I didn't get fever blisters on my lips.

SUCCESS!

Spiritual Enlightenment: Sunday Will Come

Happy Resurrection Sunday!