Ups and Downs!

Hello Landon and Mason!!! 

How are you?  We hope your last week was a good one.   We are doing well at home.  The title of the post this week is "Ups and Downs".    So I wanted to share a few ups and downs of this week for us.  

On Friday, the kids had the day off, so we hit the slopes one last time before the snow is gone. 

Ups:  Riding up to the very top this time on the back mountain and enjoying a great view and awesome skiing weather.  

Downs:  Jacob laying down on the ground often, and all the tumbles we each took.  I think Dad gets the prize for the biggest tumble though.  It's just too bad he was behind us and no one saw it.  No worries, he was fine.  

 Driving past a place that Mason worked at the summer before his senior year.  
Ups: Being reminded of how hard it was for Mason some days out there in the heat, but that he kept at it.  And it just might have been the best type of mission prep. 
Downs:  We were driving out that way to attend a viewing (funeral) for the mother of Kirsta (Uncle Bill's wife) who was killed in an automobile accident last week.

We celebrated "Pi" Day

Up: Chicken Pot Pie for dinner

Down: No dessert pie for dessert!

Jacob worked the book fair for student council one night. 
Ups:  He had fun ringing customers "up", and surprised the librarian by how much he got silly with the other student council kids.  She told me she had never heard him speak before.
Downs: The rain and then snow that came down outside while he was working at the book fair.

Happy St. Patricks day on Saturday!  

Ups: Waking up to clovers all over the house and yummy doughnuts on the counter. 

Downs: Almost forgetting that it was St. Patrick day.  And a few pinches from Dad;)

Mom substituting in Nursery! 
Up: Being with 9 cute little kids at church and snack time!   Gracie enjoying herself thoroughly.
Downs:  A little bit of toy stealing and screaming from a few.  Gracie being kind of the nursery boss.  (She's one of the older ones and is probably the most talkative.  She has no problem telling all the little's what to do, she's a rule follower)

one more......

Lydia auditioned for Sound of Music at the Hale

Ups:  Good experience to audition again

Downs:  Didn't  get a call back or a part.  

Ups: She's handled it well, and now she can be more committed to participate in track at school.  

I have been thinking a lot about the ups and downs we experience in life.  They come around every day.  Sometimes our "ups" are really awesome and sometimes our "downs" are really hard and discouraging.  And sometimes they are just minor ups or minor downs.  Here is a quote I found that I wanted to share with you guys this week: 

There are cycles of good and bad times, ups and downs, periods of joy and sadness, and times of plenty as well as scarcity.

 One of the challenges of this mortal experience is to not allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us—to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic

Perhaps when difficulties and challenges strike, we should have these hopeful words of Robert Browning etched in our minds: “The best is yet to be” 

Elder L. Tom Perry

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕We Love You both so much!!💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕