Weekend with BlaBlams

My parents (Ethan says blablam for grandma as well as grandpa now) came down yesterday evening to help us some more on the house. Today, Dad finished installing and trimming the garage door, and he and Terral poured cement so that our sun room no longer has a risk of termites. Mom fixed some loose stones in the entryway, and helped me to take care of the old windows we still had sitting out. We threw away the glass and saved the aluminum for recycling. She also did some dishes and weeding and various other little projects. I'm so happy her health is improving! We all spent some time scraping and brushing paint off the house too, and we even got started painting on one side! That was very exciting for me. Now that the cement is done, all we need to do on the required repairs list is finish painting the exterior, find out if our temporary railing will fit the bill, and install outlet covers. We're so close! And so far it has cost much less than we estimated, and that includes some extras! We're feeling very blessed. :)

We listened to Conference while we worked, which is not my favorite way of doing it, but we were very grateful that Mom and Dad could come help. In spite of the distractions, tears came to my eyes a number of times. We missed President Monson's talk because the time got away from us, so we were wondering what the announcement was that the other speakers kept referring to. Finally, Elder Nelson recapped the announcement, and Mom and I just looked at each other sharing the moment. It was one of those electrifying times. Young men will now be able to serve a mission at the tender age of 18, and young women at 19. I couldn't help but wonder a bit how differently my life would have played out if I had been able to serve at 19 instead of 21. But I know that Heavenly Father has guided my life and that things happened when they were supposed to for me.

Being able to turn to Him and rely on the Holy Ghost is one of the biggest blessings in my life.