I LOVE SPRING!!! - Revisited

I love April. There are so many things that happen during the Month of April.

General Conference is in April. I love the talks; and like many of you; I look forward to the messages and then try to follow the direction of the First Presidency and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve. I am often inspired and will make changes accordingly.

I also love April because - Easter generally falls in April (except for last year and I think the year before)... :)

In the past, our Ward has had a choir that has performed amazing pieces and it helps add to the Spirit of the Season. Our Choir Director moved to Orem, UT and the two choir directors that followed were short lived. The Bishop approached me at the beginning of the year and expressed his concern due to the lack of music during our Sacrament Meetings and asked that I be a part of adding music (besides a rest hymn) to our services. He did not give me direction on what he was looking for - just left it up to my "good judgment"

Since January the following special musical numbers have been a part of our Sacrament Meetings:

Activity Girls sung: "Choose The Right" - I arranged the music to make it slightly different from the traditional hymn. This was in February

Activity Girls sung: "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" - a beautiful arrangement by Sally DeFord. Megan Lovstedt (graduating Laurel) accompanied us on the Flute and Courtney Neff played the Violin (Second counselor's wife). The girls did a fantastic Job. They sang this song Easter Sunday.

I have performed several piano solos:

As I Have Loved You - amazing arrangement; a little difficult
Love At Home - arrangment by Sally DeFord
O Divine Redeemer - very difficult arrangement. I have performed this twice before - once in the Young Adult Ward in Simi Valley for a Ward Conference. This one I played for Easter Sunday.

Yes, there were two musical numbers for Easter Sunday.

I have sung once (and played the piano - since I am the only accomplished pianist in the ward) - This was for the Relief Society Birthday last month. The Stake Relief Society President was very complimentary. I sang: A Window to his Love

I have about 6 other pieces that I have been practicing. Some will be numbers with the violin and flute others are piano solos. Singing again makes me too nervous - I am practicing two songs... :)

The last reason I love SPRING:

I love all the new life. There are so many plants and animals that seem to spontaneously appear when Spring arrives. My trees and rose bushes are covered with blossoms. My little flower beds are blooming. The vegetable garden is being amended for new plants. The animals have been making babies. It seems that the humming bird population more than doubles each year and there are hundreds of doves... :)

Our chickens have been laying and we have 3 new additions. Two little yellow chicks; both with red stripes and one little black chick with a snow ball patch on his head.

Our newest addition is an abandoned kitten. She is about 4 weeks old and is absolutely adorable. The kids and I have been learning French and the kitten has been name: "Je Suis"
I know I probably spelled that incorrectly... :)

It means "I am"... we just like the sound of it and the name stuck. "Je Suis" already has a purple tent with a very soft pillow and has attached herself to the whole family. Aislyn is the resident Vet and has taken to feeding the kitten with a dropper and is litter training it.

"Je Suis" sleeps in our room. Victor was the lucky one to wake up at 3 a.m. with the kitten and feed her.

Since Fleur had died last summer, Victor has been searching for a new companion for Moya. Since we had already decided that we would not bread Moya until she was at least 2; he is looking for a red and white male husky puppy. He had made several inquiries and we will probably have a new little puppy in the next couple months.

I guess we love more than just SPRING; We love LIFE!!!!! :)