Hanging out with my kids!

It has been quite a while since I wrote--almost 2 weeks. It has been a crazy time, and I just haven't made the time to write in here...but I have a lot of news to tell. I am in California right now with my son, Brian, and his wife, Keri, and their TWO sons, Logan (who is 2) and Colton, who is 5 days old! He was born while I was in Utah with my two daughters, Emily and Kelsey...so, you can see, I am getting the bonus of seeing several of my kids...and all of my grandsons! Pretty lucky, huh? It was parents' weekend at BYU, so I was there with Kelsey for that. I am including a picture of her in her brand-new warm coat that we bought while we were there. It was great to be on BYU campus--I loved going to that school, and there is a great spirit there.

Before I went down there, I spent the evening with Emily and her 5-month old, SJ...so he'll be in the picture in the car seat. He looks so much like her, it's pretty unbelievable...and we had a fun evening with him, while he was trying with all his might to crawl--SOOO cute!

I got to be with my dear friend, Sharie Johnson, and all her kids and her parents on Sunday night...and that was a big treat too. I grew up with her, so her kids are like my family, and her parents like my second parents. It was wonderful to be with them all.

Then Monday (yesterday) I flew to Sacramento via Portland, and then took a shuttle to Redding, where Brian lives. This baby is so cute, so the newborn would be our brand-new Colton. He looks so much like his brother, Logan, and so far is as good a baby as Logan was--quite amazing. :) I am enjoying being with all of them, and hopefully getting to do some things to help them. Holding the baby is just a bonus if you ask me!! :) what a treat! Spence and Brady will come up on Friday, and we will have him blessed on Sunday--so it is a happy time for our family.

Oh, and one more thing. Since I wrote, Brady did his Eagle project, so I will put up a picture of him with his fellow Scouts. They are good boys, and were a great help. Brady did an awesome job of organizing the whole thing--if you can believe it, we had 41 people from our ward (our local Church congregation) come. We had so much help, and we got that house looking spotless! Great work from a lot of very nice and supportive people.

So, that's it from here. So far my health has held up. Climbing stairs in the altitude at BYU was pretty tiring...but I made it ok. I loved seeing all the fall leaves, and enjoying that cool, crisp fall air. :)If I don't get back to writing in time, a happy Halloween to all of you!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today is our 37th anniversary--we are OLD married folks!! But I am thankful for all those years, and what they mean to us. Tonight we went to the temple, and then out to dinner. Spence asked me to tell what some of our favorite trips have been. We have really been blessed to go to a lot of places and to have many fun memories. It was fun to reminisce. I just feel very fortunate to have been married to such a good man. He has been a constant through the ups and downs of life. He has been there to support me, to make me laugh, to love our children, and to be just an awfully good guy. With Spence, he has always been "genuine," ( a word that his Granddad JR Price used to call him), and what you see is what you get. There is nothing phony about him, and he is dedicated to good things-to his family, to being a good provider, to being committed in his Church responsibilities, and in his love for his Father in Heaven. He is not perfect, as he will quickly tell you, and he is a huge tease, and has lots of fun along the way. I have always admired his ability to balance the different areas of his life...and to never take himself or anyone else too seriously. He has been a fabulous example for our kids, and they all love and admire him. I am glad he is my friend--he has been a listening ear to me over the years. I am thankful that he continues to choose good things in life-- he really has his priorities straight. Being married to him is probably the best decision I ever made (besides joining the Church--the two big decisions which have made all the difference in my life!) So I am feeling thankful tonight, and wanted to let you all know that I did well in the choice of an eternal mate. He is the greatest!

Good News

Spence reminded me in my excitement about General Conference that I forgot to share my latest health news. Since we went to Utah, I've had trouble swallowing again...not constantly, but at times. We went back and forth whether to do anything about it. We DID go to the GI doctor, and he was pretty reassuring about it--that my body is just getting used to the "new plumbing,"etc. However, he said that if we would feel better having an endoscopy just to check it out, that he would be happy to do that for us. We vascillated about it for a couple of weeks, and then decided to have one last Friday. I really wasn't nervous about it--figured we just needed to check it out, in case there was anything wrong. Well, it came out perfectly fine--no problems. The doctor didn't even need to do any dilating of my throat--which was a possibility. There is no scar tissue. The swallowing problem may happen just because where my old esophagus and new esophagus meet, there could be a pocket there...which might make it more difficult at times to swallow. Anyway, it was another thing to be grateful for...and we are. Every "little" thing is a victory. Have a good day!

General Conference--a Blessing from the Lord

I just have to write today--it is GEneral Conference weekend, and we have one more session before it is over...and it has been truly inspiring and touching, and I have loved it. General Conference happens twice each year, in April and in October. It takes place in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. We feel like our leaders are inspired of the Lord, and that they are giving us messages that He would want us to hear right now...just like the prophets in the Old Testament did. I have been particularly touched by the things they have said this weekend, and so I wanted to encourage any or all of you to take the time to read or listen to what they have said. They truly testify of Jesus Christ as our Savior, and of keeping the commandments and living like He did. They share experiences and very tender feelings, and I have been brought to tears many times this weekend. I am so grateful for their counsel. Their talks (both written and audio) can be listened to and read on lds.org--you go to General Conference. This is one of the reasons I am so grateful to be a member of the LDS Church--because of latter-day revelation and the peace and strength and guidance it gives me. I just wanted to share that with all of you today. May the Lord bless you in all that you do. Those talks are available probably Thursday of this week.