Ambiguous April

The reason I have entitled this month "Ambiguous," is that there has been so much turmoil in the world this month, what with tornados in the South, (one blew right down Esther's former street, ripping off roofs, and Emily is right in the middle of the target area), wars in the Middle East, Royal weddings and pre-presidential campaigning going on, not to mention cartel violence in Mexico that Thomas and Jenn have so far been able to avoid. At the same time, our family has been relatively peaceful and has enjoyed a beautiful and faith-filled April.
April is also the month of some pretty important birthdays: Dallin's 19th on the 8th, Erika on the 11th, Scott on the 12th, Kirtlyn's 7th on the 13th, and Tayte's 11th on the 19th.
Dallin
Erika
Scott
Kirtlyn
Tayte
Here are some pictures we have received from some of you about your activities this month

Shad and Harrison proudly displaying their 1st place Pinewood Derby trophy








Reygan and Daynen at the Titanic exhibit in Branson

Thomas and Jenn and their family at the zoo in Guadalajara.







One of the best things about April, of course, is General Conference. I loved all the talks and took notes on each one. I starred some of my favorites to use for lessons and talks, and to look up later. Every six months, I really feel the need for conference again. It's as if my spirit gas tank gets low and needs to be refilled about every six months. Esther and Shad and their family came to Safford to be with us. Yes, they did come for Conference, and even the kids actually watched it with us, but the pictures are from between-session fun. We swam, played and ate, and Shad and Tony, with some help from Harrison and Dad, made Harrison's pinewood derby car.



Shad and Tyson grilling hamburgers between Conference sessions.






Handsome guys going to Priesthood meeting





During the conference weekend, Parker got sick again. He was having severe pain, indicating infection and had to go back to the hospital. It was very serious and meant a possible surgery to undo everything he had done before. Daniel called on the family to pray for Parker, which we did. We united our faith and pleaded with the Lord to make him well. When the doctors checked again, later, they decided that they must have been wrong in their original diagnosis because there was no longer any evidence of infection and Parker could just go home and get well. I hope you know how blessed we are as a family to be each other's network of support, how blessed we are by the Lord.

Erika and her kids came to Safford to attend church with the Beals family. Brother Beals had been called to the bishopric of his ward. Then they stopped by here and visited with us. The little girl and the little boy you don't recognize are Sherry Beals' kids.







The nice, warm weather in April (before the high winds started) was perfect for having a snowcone party in our back yard.















We went to Dallin's to help him celebrate his 19th birthday on the 8th.


We went to Mesa on the 15th, to have a Tron party with Crew. He is a Tron expert...fanatic. They set up a huge screen outside and we all sat out on the porch and watched Tron. Actually, with help from Crew, I think I understood this one better than the first one. We had pizza and pop and at least one of us...Docker... had whipped cream on his pizza! Esther and Shad and their family came and then Jeremy & Erika's family came later. They had already made arrangements to have a movie night in their neighborhood.




Jeremy & Erika's movie: Tangled.
While we were down there for the Tron party, Joel and his boys came over to the condo and helped Dad put out the new mattress he bought for our condo bed. And we went to Esther's to pick up a picture that Soren made for us.















Brianna, Brynlie and Camille had a gymnastics recital this month. They are actually glad it's finally over!

We had a special experience this month of being able to go to the Taylor's for a patriotic flag ceremony involving their two sons, Mitch and Chris who have recently returned from Afghanistan and Iraq. Dad was their Bishop and so we were included in the small group invited to attend.
















Springtime is one of my favorite times of the year because I love spring flowers after the lull of winter. Dad has been busy in his garden and we have been enjoying the fruits of his labor. He also planted flowers and because of my knee I wasn't able to help him at all. So Brynlie pitched right in and stayed with him the whole time, with a little help from Camille too.
















In the spring, doesn't a young man's fancy turn to...baseball? Or to formal dances with beautiful girls? Or, in Hannah's case, beautiful boys?









On the 22nd, Stetson went through the Mesa Temple to receive his endowments. What a special day that was. Rebecca went with us to Mesa to attend the temple with him, and Esther and Shad and Jeremy were also there. His Layton grandparents also came, along with several of his Layton aunts and uncles and one cousin who just returned from his mission to...guess where...Argentina! I could tell he was so happy that so many had come and that he was filled with the joy that is found in the Temple...as well as the joy that is found at El Charro! We all went to eat together to celebrate.

On the Saturday before Easter, when we usually would have had our Easter egg hunt and desert picnic, we had Stake Conference. It was Tony's high council responsibility to feed the General Authority (Elder Jensen from the Presidency of the 70) and the Stake presidency, Temple presidency, mission presidency, etc...you remember the drill from St. Johns...but they did it at the stake center. Anyway, of course, the job fell to his ever-capable wife, Rachel. She did all the cooking herself and planning, with help from family members. I helped her cut and arrange roses, and Rebecca's whole family helped her set up and serve that night. Mary was sick, but she helped with phone calls and helped make arrangements. It was very successful and Rachel received many compliments. They even introduced the Evans family at the dinner.















We had stake conference on Easter Sunday, which made it really nice because Dad and I didn't have the 3-6 schedule and actually were finished at noon along with the rest of the Safford families. So we decided to have Easter dinner together. When
Dad and I drove up to the house we saw Rachel & Tony's family playing on the front lawn and in their colorful Easter clothes, they blended right in with the flowers. We made them stay out there until I could get pictures. Then the other families came and we colored Easter eggs, had an Easter egg hunt and ate our traditional ham dinner. Everyone pitched in with food and we had a wonderful time.















































The Mesa/Gilbert families all gathered at Joel & Steph's for Easter dinner




















Joel and Jeremy went to Indiana for their big show choir championship competition. Stephanie and Erika both went too. It was a huge event and they needed all the help they could get. Erika's mother, Kay, stayed with their kids, and Stetson was responsible for Joel and Steph's boys. We went by to check on them when we were in Mesa for a checkup with my doctor, and took them to Mi Amigos for dinner.


On the very last day of the month, Dad's former employee (I guess she's not a former employee, Dad's just a former boss), Dusti, was baptized with her whole family. Dad and Tyson and Mary all went to the baptism (I was sick that day, so had to miss it, but they said it was wonderful.)
May and June are going to be so busy that I just hope I'll even have time to post. We have graduations, farewells, last-of-school programs, trips, reunion, vacations, etc. etc. etc. It's going to be a lot of fun. Please send us pictures of things your family does in May and June. Just e-mail them to Dad or put them on your blog. I don't know how to get them off of facebook, so please don't just think that because you have it on facebook that's enough. We love seeing your families enjoying themselves together. We love you all so much.