Interview, Inspirations, Family

 Monday 9/23/24. Biked 9+ miles. Deep Cleaned the stove and oven and inside garbage cans.  Got a haircut at 2:00 at Tangles —not a great cut this time but I won’t need another one. 

Tuesday:  6:05 am preprep to be EWS, EWB 7 am session (endowment sister, endowment brother). At 9:45 we had our exit interview with President and Sister Church. Six months goes quickly.  Though I’ll have to say that we really miss our family. Biked 9.13 miles

Wednesday:  6:50 am temple. My first position was the celestial room. While I was there, Brother Larson came in and asked if I had the family I wanted sealed with me.  Yes, I did.  I had asked him a month ago if he would seal them. He had sealed the last family I had that was twin boys and three brothers. He doesn’t know when he will be scheduled as a sealer but he kept thinking of me. Rest of story, he got me and two young missionary sisters out of the celestial room, arranged for Jane, President church’s wife to take my place and we went into the sealing room.  He sealed Karen Reigstadt to her parents, then her husband Purvis as husband and wife then all the children were around the altar (4 daughters and 1 son) and sealed as a family:  so maternal grandparents, husband and wide and all the children sealed this morning for time and all eternity.  It was an amazing experience. All participants thanked me for letting them be a part of this sealing.  We all felt their presence and happiness at receiving these blessings.  So many miracles happened before this.  I had a thought in the morning as I came to the temple “to take my packet up to the sealing area but I got my schedule and no sealing opportunity was going to happen for me so I passed off the thought. (Your first thought is the Spirit.  The second is trying to doubt.). We’ll, I didn’t have time to get my packet but as I stepped out of the sealing room, Sister Larson was there and let me use her packet right there so in a way she was part of this experience also. I went back in and we were ready to go to work.  Miracle one:  last week in initiatory a patron came in with the name—Hazel Irene, grandma ROBINSONS name and I started crying and could feel her presence. All in the compartment could feel it. After I regain composure, I followed through with the endowment.   This family that the sealing was for this week was her family from Norway. I know she was helping get this all together. It was all an amazing experience!  

At 2 pm we were off shift and we stayed and ate in the break room and attended an endowment session.  When we arrived home, we rode the bike 8.89 miles. 

Thursday:  regular temple shift, then lunch in the break room, then a proxy endowment session, home at 4:00. Biked 8.97 miles

Friday:  biked 9.04 miles, pretty cool and crispy at 7:30 am. Went early to do a proxy endowment at 11:15 before our regular late shift, ate lunch after or before our shift. Finished at 7 pm. 

Saturday:  biked 9.89 miles. Listened to BYU football game BYU/Baylor until first quarter was over; it was time for our shift. After shift at 5:00 Brother Weed took Rays place in the celestial room so we could go to Keokuk and get chicken, bacon, ranch thin pizza at Angelina’s and then go to Weeds house as they had recorded the game.  We ate and watched the last half of the game. BYU won but it was a bad half played. 5wins!  We’ll take it. Side message— on our way back from Keokuk we were delayed 45 minutes—an accident, motorcycle. The helicopter picked up the body.  We don’t know how he was but the motorcycle was in pieces.  It was very sad.  No other vehicle seemed to be involved.

Sunday:  we watched BYUTV—music and the spoken word, devotional etc.  our church time was changed to 12:00-2:00 now. It was the 5th Sunday. The meetings were great, you know the kind you just want to sit there and enjoy the Spirit.  At 6 pm we went to the Visitors Center East Theater that was opened for us to listen to a presentation by Sister Kristi Peterson about Emma Smith. It was the temple missionaries that attended, good crowd. We didn’t learn anything new but it was tender.    We love you!  Mom Grandma (Ray). Carry on, carry on, carry on!

Wonderfully lifted by the Spirit in the temple this week

I hesitate to put this title but it has been a week of feeling so personally cared for by tender mercies 

Monday, September 16:  the bike rides are so enjoyable around Nauvoo, the weather is always perfect for me, the bike is quiet and just being with my eternal companion is comfortable. We rode 9.12 miles. After I packed one box for home; Ray wiped down the outside of the kitchen cupboards in preparation for check out. And I made my last 2024 fresh pico de gallo from those residents who have gardens, mostly Sister Carroll and Sister McLane. We went to Montgomery as Ray had been wanting to go there. It is the first night camp out for the early saints as they were exiting for the west—a direction, not a destination—not knowing where they were going. It was a lovely ride but not much in recognition there—a small road sign that said Mormon trail and there was before the sign an old wooden covered area.  At 5:00 we were invited to Sister Tau fu Lou’s round home by the river with some other couples, six couples and Sister Mills.  We met and drove in 3 cars so there was room to park. This was amazing.  She makes musical instruments—harps, banjos, guitars, ukuleles, lyres, mandolins, sitars, dulcimers, ….she married a Tongan man who has since passed on and she is actually a haoli but she laughs and is fun like the islanders.  Her husband taught at the Church College of Hawaii.  I wish I could remember everything she showed us, everything she said…she needs to be on BYUtv Artful. She had made homemade bread for us in cans.  She sews out of a dreamworld.  Her children went to Kahuuku so we connected on that.  I can’t say enough about the rewarding experience of this night.  She’s a convert to the church.

Tuesday:  our usual early morning arrival, 6 am, I was scheduled in clothing register and guess who shows up—Ryan Barton and a cute girl that looks like his sister, Sarah. It was so much fun, just not long enough but the girl did introduce herself as Ryan’s girlfriend.  For those who don’t know, Ryan and Andrew are a week apart in age and our families have been friends since Preston. 

We rode our bike after our shift 8.36 miles and purchased some turtle chocolate from the Fudge Factory.  One was enough to satisfy my sweet craving and also enough to make me wheeze;  I haven’t had much in the way of treats.  

Wednesday:  7 am temple, that one hour makes a big difference. In the celestial room where I was assigned a family of siblings and the mom came in from Preston. I don’t remember the last name but one of the daughters was married to a Peterborg and she had worked for Dr. Larry at one time.  That was a fun connection. After our shift, we ate a lunch I had prepared for us in the break room and then we did an endowment session. I have a family of siblings, parents, and grandparents that I have been working on from baptism all the way through so I’m getting excited to finish all the endowments so I can get them all sealed as a family; they are from England, third cousins twice removed.  After our session, we rode our bike 7 plus miles, we turned off the counter when we stopped to watch the performing missionaries perform “Sunset by the Mississippi”, a fast paced singing and dancing and instrumental show.  We met the Larsons from Lindon, fun couple, they wanted to know about serving a senior couple mission.  They were lucky it was getting dark and we were on our bike without lights so we couldn’t say all we wanted to say.

Thursday:  ray had to be at the temple at 6:45 am. Stayed for lunch in break room again so we could do endowments, as I am working on two families.  We were able to get the baptisms and confirmations done on the last two siblings and miraculously were able to get the anointing done and two more endowments, 4 more to go in this family, also 3rd cousins. Goal:  to seal both families next week.  

Friday:  we had afternoon shift so we rode the bike in the morning 8.76 miles. My knee has been pretty rough since last Tuesday, the 10th as I was assigned the baptistry for the entire shift with one other sister, who didn’t come because she was sick (everyone has been sick except us). So I was the only female in baptistry to do the clothing, go up and down the font steps 3 different times, squeegee the floors, pull the wet suits, towels, rugs into the laundry. So…yes, I requested not to be in the baptistry at all. So far so good.   It it has been a big set back.

  Ruth and Dave Thompson came to see us since they are going on a cruise and won’t be back until we are gone, such dear friends.  We had afternoon shift.   Ray was in the dressing room position and I was at clothing, so we got to see them right off and they completed two of our endowments because they left without their names and offered to do some of ours👍🥰. I had dinner ready to put in the oven so they went to our apartment and had dinner ready for us when we got home at 7:30 pm. 

Saturday:  bike ride 8.81 miles. Made a big breakfast for Thompson—10 scrambled eggs with cheese, a package of sausages, homemade crumpets with lemon curd and juice.  It was all ready and I called and Dave was sick.  So we have lunches ready for next week😭. Temple was wonderful again.  During our shift, I got to do a personal endowment session besides Ray and I were the endowment session leaders.  A brother asked me to help his wife during the session and we also had another sister with a walker.  It was a wonderful session, so much appreciation was felt. A sister came up to me behind the recommend desk and gave me the biggest hug and said, “I have never been in such a warm, loving place and so personal.  Please tell everyone what a wonderful experience I had!”  

We got home at 5:00 and found a sack of green apples hanging on our door. Ate    and waited for the BYU/Kansas St game at 8:30. I listened on my phone and you can imagine, I was too tired and fell asleep!  Woke up in third quarter and then Ray and I sat in the chairs and listened then watched highlights on BYU tv after.  Wow!  Four wins!  

Sunday:  first day of autumn, it rained in the night. Church was a delight. Made an apple crisp for coming back to eat.  Then we went to “Our Saviors Love” performance in the visitors center at 2:00.  We always come from that feeling so reverent and warm, loved and recharged to become more than we are.  I hope you are all feeling the Savior’s love and ours.  

September 9-15

Monday:  we so enjoyed the family call yesterday!  Biked 8.85 miles. Went on the wagon ride of Historic Nauvoo. Whittiers brought us butterscotch Rice Krispie treats. I made pan corn bread with honey butter as my assignment for the missionary temple couples and office workers and site missionaries and teamster missionaries bbq at Camp Nauvoo prior to President Nelson’s birthday broadcast at 5:00 pm, our time. One of the couples bought steak and salmon and also cooked it with some other couples who helped. It was a delicious meal; my steak was perfect.  So generous and thoughtful of the Evans missionary couple..

Tuesday:  8.79 miles biked, our temple assignment was the whole shift in the baptistry.  Two couples were assigned there but the other sister didn’t come as she was sick—Covid has really passed around including the temple presidency and their wives; the presidency have taken turns sitting all day in their office as per their assignment so they didn’t spread germs,but a member of the presidency has to be in the temple whenever ordinances are performed. Pretty miserable week for the presidency. And I was the only sister in baptistry so that meant going up and down font stairs 3x, squeegeeing the female dressing room floors every hour, rolling wet suits and towels and rugs every hour and handing out clean clothes and this was our extended day as all Tuesdays are. Needless to say I’ve been freezing my knee, heating my knee, and trying to recover all week.  It will probably take another week to fully recover.😩. Waawaa. When I was assigned again on Saturday for the whole day, I was traded with someone🤪. 

Wednesday:  we led the endowment session this morning and then other shift positions. After our shift, we ate in the break room and then went on a proxy endowment at 2:00. After we arrived at our apartment around 4:00 pm, we biked 8.81 miles. The weather is perfect and so enjoyable.

Thursday:  we served our shift assignments, ate lunch in the break room and served a 2:00 session for our ancestors again.  After we biked 8.9 miles

Friday:  morning we biked 9 miles, showered and went to an early endowment session for our ancestors, ate lunch again in the break room and went to our start meeting at 1:00 pm ;shift ends tonight around 8:30 or 9:00. We were worn out. 

Saturday:  biked  8.81 miles 46 minutes. Night shift but only until 7:00 tonight.  I was through at 5:00 but Ray wasn’t through until 7:30.  Came home and listened to the BYU/Wyoming football game W👏🏻

Sunday:  we taught our last class for newer adult members. Jodi came and Brother Phillips came plus Sister Squires.  Sacrament meeting was after.  Then we went home and ate homemade sourdough pizza. Watched Music and the spoken word, the Chosen and started checking for emails from the five missionaries out serving..  Talked with Charity, Andrew, and Sarah 🥰. 

Love being a missionary and joining the force with our grandchildren. “Carry on”

Breakup parties

Monday September 2:  biked 8.77 miles. Our baptistry group that we have served with most of our time here under Elder and Sister Cornish on Saturday afternoons is breaking up because of slow downs that occur this time of the year.  So we enjoyed a potluck dinner with meat purchased from the new bbq restaurant in Nauvoo.  I made cheesy garlic potatoes. And Cornishes set up the Arrival Center with tables and chairs. It was delightful and we shared our most memorable experiences in the baptistry this season.  A “feel good” time.

Tuesday:  early morning time as usual 6:00 am. After our temple session we rode the bike 10.24 miles in 51 minutes, ending at 4:50 in just beautiful weather.

Wednesday:  temple is a later start at 7:00. It’s amazing what a difference that hour later start makes to my body.  After our temple shift, we went to Keokuk and I had my nails done with the acrylics.  They look and feel much nicer.  When we returned home we rode the bike 8.77 miles—another beautiful day. 

Thursday:  after our temple shift, we ate a lunch I packed in the temple break room and then took a family name through an endowment session after I did 5 initiatories. We met our Thursday baptistry team with Brother and Sister Drosty as the coordinators at Angelina’s in Keokuk.  There were 8 couples. This was the team that we were not inside with but we served at the Arrival Center.  I had chicken/bacon/ranch thin crust pizza.  Highly recommend!  Home at 7:30

Friday:  bikes 8.92 miles in the morning, showered and went to an endowment session at 11:15 before our shift started at 1:00.  We arrived home after first quarter of BYU game start with SMU. We listened until BYU won!  

Saturday:  biked 8.56 miles in 45 minutes. Sent Venmo $13 for potatoes to Rachael. Thanks for splitting with me, Julie and thanks Rachael for getting them for us!  I love Idaho potatoes and it seems that the prices have dropped.

Worked, of course, our afternoon shift but it was not in the baptistry as it has been; it was regular positions in the temple.

Sunday:  we enjoyed church.  Our time here is going so fast now.  After church I made us smothered beef burritos with side de galo. Then we attended “Our Saviors Love” again.  We don’t get tired of it.  Then we walked 1/2 mile just to enjoy and test out my knee.  It went well👏🏻.  Thanks everyone for joining the family call.  It feels so good to look upon each of you.  We love you more than words can express!  And we pray for each one of you that your testimonies are growing and deepening and that your understanding of the “Family Proclamation” and Heavenly Fathers plan for each of us individually and as a family is deepening.  I’m so happy that Heavenly Father has shared His Love with us in our own family unit.  Love Mom, Grandma, etc and Ray❤️

54 years of eternity

Monday:  biked 8.95 ; grocery shopping and made an appointment for next week to have my nails done; laundry

Tuesday: pre prep meeting dressed in whites and in meeting by 6:05. After the temple three couples (Daes, Favero, us) went to Keokuk in Favero nice truck and Daes bought us all dinner at the Hawkeye Restaurant. I had hall rack of ribs, loaded baked potato and house salad—score!  (Can’t compare to Raymond’s, Nathan’s, Andrew’s, or Dads but I was so hungry for bbq ribs). Then we went to the Dam Museum (even in print it sounds like I’m swearing) and Favero paid for all of us.  We had a good time.  The museum was quite interesting and worth our time and the couples are great so…good company.  We biked 6.2 miles only.  The weather was threatening—thunder and lightening so we ended early.  It kept getting worse.  It was quite a show in the skies all night.

Wednesday:  got mixed up with temple coordinators texts and went early again 6:05 so I slowly prepared for the later meeting. We were endowment leaders in the 8:00 endowment session.  Thanks for joining us for a temple session.  We so enjoyed thinking about our children joining us this week in the temple.  Today was our actual anniversary and I feel like a Queen, so blessed to have been sealed to a man of God, a gentleman.  Ray wanted to take me to dinner again so after the temple, we drove to Keokuk, back to the Hawkeye restaurant.  We both ended up having soup and salad, Wisconsin cheddar cheese soup mmmm.  When we returned to Nauvoo, we went on our bike ride 8.3 miles. 

Thursday:  today was our last day as a baptistry group because we don’t have patrons coming so the group brought family names and Sister Hunter was baptized for 47 female ancestors of the group and Ray was baptized for 39 males, plus he did the baptizing for the females.  We ate lunch in the temple break room and then we’re patrons for an endowment session.  I went through for Constance Stokes.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Then we biked 8.59 miles 

Friday:  biked 8.94 miles, came home and showered and went as patrons to a 10:00 initiatory session for 7 sisters in our family line. Then an endowment session at 11:15 and another repentance opportunity.  There was a female who sat by me that has some weird problems. She was fidgeting and kept looking back at her mother and laughing.  It was very distracting.  I didn’t want to sit by her but she made an effort to sit by me, so I was actually flattered but each time we changed rooms, it was a different seating arrangement so the next room I had to walk between rows of chairs, which I try to avoid because of my knee.  We’ll, ordinarily I would have gone to the next row but (PRIDE!) came up and I thought others in the session would think I didn’t want to sit by her so I went between the rows and caught my foot which twisted my knee. Yes, I hurt it again but I’m hoping ice/heat/time will heal it. Pride can creep in so easily and almost catch us unaware. I’m grateful for these opportunities to become aware of my weaknesses so I can change. After the session, I went to the break room and Ate fresh cucumbers and tomatoes from Carrolls garden that they bring to share and then had preprep meeting at 1:05 so I could serve early, 1:15 pm at floor 1, chair 2😇. I enjoy this position because I get to talk to whomever comes in and tell them how to get where they want to go and find out where they are from😁. 

Saturday:  my knee is pretty stiff this morning but we still tried to bike.  I only made it 2 miles, then iced it, then heat in the shower. Last baptistry as a Saturday team. 

Sunday:  we taught our class “Jesus is my Foundation”. Great lesson for me to focus on doing the right things for the right reasons and to remind myself to build a foundation on the character traits of Christ.  Kevin attended plus some support for Sister Squires and the Maucotels.  It’s fast Sunday so we were assigned to host again and our people were the Olsens from Ephraim, Utah, a part of our baptistry teams and President and Sister Church.  It was a nice time and we heard some special stories of miracles.  I got to practice on my new found recipe from Thurstons, smothered beef burritos.  They all loved it and even had seconds!  Nice. 

We love you and so appreciate your support of our anniversary by joining us in the temple wherever you are. It was such a happy thought all week, knowing you were each joining us.   Teresa and Ray

August 12-19

Monday:  I guess bikes are like cars, they have to be maintained after so many miles. Ray and Elder Blocker changed the tire and took out a broken spoke and balanced the tire.  It took a lot of time. Elder Blocker was so nice to stop and assist. They finished what they were doing just in time to go to Keokuk for me a haircut at 11:30. She washed and cut and masssaged my head. And then straightened my hair. 😁. Wow!  It lasted that day, then the bangs first curled and then by the end of Tuesday, it was all crazy. Funny what humidity does.After we got home, we rode the bike 8.4 miles and while he was fixing the bike earlier, I had made baked beans and potato salad, peach lemonade with and we went to the park close by and had a picnic with Favero, Whittier, Whitney, Blocker, and Hartvigsen—all are temple missionary couples. 

Tuesday:  temple time 5:45 am  After 2:00 we ran errands, picked up garden tomatoes and potatoes and went to the missionary mail room for a package of hair curlers, water filters (we used our first ones out). And then our bike ride 9.32 miles. 

Wednesday:  temple at 6:45 am (much better time). We were the endowment leaders for the 8:15 session. After our scheduled time, we went on another endowment session as well as several other worker missionary couples and we all went up for the prayer circle.  That was pretty powerful.  At 5:00 pm we went for our bike ride 9 miles. We also picked up a package of miracle arthritis. Ordered for Rays hands. It was recommended to us by Sister Osterly, temple matron.

Thursday:  no more Arrival Center but we went to the baptistry. Not much happening there but we did our own proxy baptisms along with other workers in our group. Ray was baptized for 42 proxies!  After that, our coordinators released us to do an endowment session and I went through for Dorothy B Stokes from Middlesex England.  After the temple, biked 9.28.  At 6:30 I went to Relief Society simple personal history at the church.  At 7:30 we went to Whittiers place above us for game night. We played scum and some other group card game. Wilkersons, 

Temple Evans, our neighbor (Marianne’s brother in law) all came.

Friday:  biked 5.83 miles and ran out of power.  We walked 1/2 mile and went to Lions Drug. It was great. Outside we saw the arbor, the birch umbrella tree, and the buckeye bottle brush bush. The bottle brush looks more like it’s name earlier in the season.  We also went to Patty Sessions log cabin and Orion Hyde’s cram home with Miranda Johnson. At 7:30 we attended a music devotional.  This community really does a Terri’s job of including all ages of youth.  They had primary age children sing, grade school to adult in the orchestra, and older adults with young adults in the choir.  They put on a show on new hymns going in the hymn book.  They had refreshments out on tables through the whole thing to keep people busy, I guess😀. My grandchildren would have thought it was great!

Saturday:  biked 8.79 miles, walked .57 miles, served in the temple and had hoped to get to adult session of stake conference but missed that.  We’ll, we got there for the last half hour as we were next to the last persons to leave the temple at 7:30.  Conference was from 6:30-8:00.

Sunday:  we did get to stake conference 10-12:00. The theme was Jacob 5 dig, nourish, prune—as a stake, as a ward, as a family, personally.  When we’re young, we choose friends if they play our same sports or if they are “cool”. Popular.  The stake president joined the church when he was 19 and all of a sudden there were so many varieties in his ward and stake.  He grew up and chose friends who him to be good like our best Friend, Jesus Christ.  He said, in our associations, let the mix of variety simmer like a good stew until the flavor is just right.  “Let go” of offenses.  Be grateful for each other, “Each life that touches ours for good”.

At 2:00 we attended the new group of performing missionaries, “Our Saviors Love”.  It was still wonderful. There were a lot of our friends who had the same idea as us; we temple missionaries were probably 20 of us.  Elder Weed from Fallon Nevada fell face down as he tripped going down the stairs.  He was bleeding on his forehead, hopefully he doesn’t feel worse today..

We love you and are so grateful for our associations the Lord has blessed us with!  

We pray for you each daily.  Love Teresa, Mom (Dad). 

Bike troubles; a living church

I’m still enjoying the thought:  Heavenly Father is in relentless pursuit of us. (It must be a happy thought for me because my blood pressure has been down for a week without medication😇

August 12:  biked 8 miles; visited 3 homes—William and Caroline Weeks, Edward and Ann Hunter and.             It was interesting that their homes all face the temple; they assisted in drawing up the plans with Joseph Smith.

August 13:  the prophets, seers and revelatory in the Lords church continue to receive and reveal changes as we prepare to receive instruction. Looking forward to conference.

We went to Burlington to a bike shop for a new chain and ate at Culver’s.  No bike ride😩. Emma returned from Europe. Welcome home. 

August 14:  Ellie returns from a well served mission in Reno Nevada, Spanish speaking. So happy to have you home, Ellie!  7:05 was our prep rep meeting before the recommend desk assignment during the regular meeting.  After our assignments were finished for the day, I had prepared us lunch to eat at the temple so we could attend a proxy endowment at 2:00 without changing clothes twice. 

August 15:  we were at the Arrival Center for our assignment, gave lots of directions to single adults trying to find their buildings for their classes. Afterward we biked 7.96 miles—back in business!  After we returned to Burlington to have our bike chain replaced.  We had game night with Whittiers. 

August 16:  biked 10.5 miles. I’ve been reading all the talks requested of us for the upcoming stake conference in Bountiful—praise to the man, Ballard; put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, sister Dennis; covenants and responsibilities, oaks;  all will be well because of temple covenants, eyring, rejoice in the gift of priesthood keys, president Nelson. Brother and Sister Blocker came by with some wood he made into exercises for my knee.  He had the same surgery while they’ve been here and he’s been going to a physical therapist and he’s doing great.  So I’ve added some exercises and I think they are helping the area that was weak.

August 17:  biked 8.75 miles. Then listened to the memorial for Scot Henri Stokes.  It was a wonderful reminder and tribute. How much family support means.  We got home from the temple around 8 pm.  Saturdays are baptistry for us. We were exhausted as usual.  

August 18:  we taught our Sunday school class Alma 43-52. Jody and Kevin were there. We were so happy.  Ray gave an overview of the chapters and I talked about how these chapters relate to me personally— live it, show my joy, be grateful, do not criticize or find fault. Turn immediately from temptations, we get poisoned little by little, one pod cast, one criticism, one little bit at a time until we find ourselves out, deceived by degrees. I remember a conference talk about the bikers in England and how they were so terrible. Then in 2003 they hired a new coach that encouraged them to do 1 per cent better every day in one thing. (For me that meant reading the Book of Mormon every day even when we were studying the New Testament, consistent day in and day out repentance, an incremental small and steady change.  ). Britain is now number one in Tour de France.

After church we came home and listened to Ellie’s church😊. Ellie’s great reminder:  we need to feel loved first and those who desire to serve are called to the work.  Thanks, Ellie, for making yourself available to do His work—first helping others feel loved no matter how far or how close, even our parents, our siblings, our in laws….

To keep my spirits up knowing I was missing the celebration with family, I invited the Blockers over for dinner (Bonnie Pinegar style—waffles on Sunday) bacon, juice, fruit, whip cream on waffles.  It was filling.  

There is plenty to think about this week—healing relationships among family members, love and serve.  We love you all and appreciate all you do for each other, for being there.  Mom, Grandma ….