Spring Break Recap

Calder!!! How was your week? We got home on Saturday from our spring break trip with Gma, Gpa and Greg's family. Here are some highlights: Sunday: YOUR CALL!!! Monday: YOUR CALL!!! Seriously! Those were the best! It was so good to talk to you! The trip was great. I really enjoyed being with everyone but I'm super glad to be home. It was a slightly stressful trip to be honest. I love being with everyone but Grandma is grumpy, Grandpa is lost, they don't really like each other and it's just a little depressing to be with them when they aren't happy. I also think I hit a little grumpy patch myself. I think I know where you get your inability to stay inside or your inside boredom...we were just such a huge group with so many different desires. At times I just needed to get out and do something! Anyway, enough of the Debbie downer...there were lots of highlights...but I missed you! A lot! And I missed just being with our little family. We had two really fun excursions on our trip. One that was a dolphin tour on a pontoon boat. Our driver's name was "Dirty" - he said it was a nickname because he walked around with a spoon in his back pocket as a little boy and ate dirt. It's an official syndrome called "Pica," which is a compulsive eating disorder when people eat nonfood items. Isn't that crazy? He was hilarious and we saw lots of dolphins on our trip. (The picture with Jane on some random's lap driving the boat is Dirty). The other fun excursion was a fan boat tour to see alligators. Our driver's name was "Mike" and when Dad asked him if he had a Venmo account so he could tip him, Mike about fell over and died laughing. He was about as backwoods as they come. However, he was really knowledgeable and fun to listen to. He kept doing donuts in the fan boat. It was terrifying at first and the more we got used to it, it was super fun just cruising around with a crazy man in a fan boat. Another fun outing was a sunset bonfire on the beach. It was absolutely beautiful but pretty windy and cold. In fact, the weather was not really that warm. We had pretty good weather in the beginning of the week but lots of rain on Friday and some on Thursday. I was a little surprised when we got home to Utah and it felt so much warmer. The dry heat is so different from the humidity. Gwen's hair was totally reminding me of yours. It just kept getting bigger and curlier with the moisture in the air. I wondered today as I was taming it back down with the straightener for church if she will get curlier hair like yours. I wouldn't be surprised. McKay was in heaven with his road bike. He went on a super long ride on Monday and Tuesday. He was also a great sport to be with so many little kids. His bike was his friend. Henry was also a champ. He's so good with younger kids. Both McKay and Henry stayed above the garage in the "carriage house" which was nice for them to have a get-away place. Not to mention that Greg and Tara's kids wake up at the crack of dawn!! So being in a separate building was a good thing for those teenagers. Gwen LOVED being with Reese. She's such a sweetheart. Charlotte was Charlotte. She was charming at times and a little bossy at other times. Jane had fun with Harrison (who is about 3 months younger than her) and Grant. Grant was by far the favorite of the trip. He's the same age as Stuart (almost 3) and he's absolutely adorable! He talks like a 16 year old and says the funniest stuff. He's also super chubby. We wanted to take him home with us. I had a great time with Tara. She's a great person. We exercised every morning together and that was probably my favorite thing. We also went on lots of cruiser bike rides, which I really enjoyed. Everybody and their dog decided to go to Florida for Spring Break, so it was really crowded. Overall, I'm glad we went but I'm not dying to go back...unless it's to universal studios or Disney World. I had a really great call on Wednesday with my sisters. In January Kimberly made a New Year's Resolution to talk as sisters more often. So every Wednesday morning we have a 6:30am call while we exercise. It was really fun to catch up with them. Christine gave us a lot of detail into their call. She said they received a phone call on New Years Eve to schedule a meeting with them and Elders Bednar and Holland in the first week of January. She said the meeting was really interesting with lots of soul searching questions. After about 45 minutes Elder Bednar simply said "Well that was really nice to get to know you. We have this opportunity with wonderful couples like you. Thank you for coming in." and that was goodbye. They left and it had been a very emotional and spiritually draining experience and they didn't know what it was for. A few weeks later they had a meeting with President Nelson who extended the calling to be a general authority. She said it has been so hard not to tell us as sisters about what's been going on. She had been in meetings after conference learning about their responsibilities. They are going to do great things. They are a powerhouse couple and everything they touch turns to gold. We have a Calder family phone call on Monday night to hear more about it. We will have to tell you more. It will be a blessing to our family to have that kind of insight and front row seat to all the great things happening in the church. I thought so much about Clark when I studied the CFM this week. Each one of the men who were called on missions all felt so weak and unqualified to preach the gospel. I know I felt that way when I left on my mission. He really takes the ordinary and makes them extraordinary! Just what he's doing with each one of us! It's such an amazing plan. Another testimony of this work! Keep up the extraordinary work! You are definitely threshing (or thrashing) the nations with the good word! I'm excited for a report on Danniel, Lauren, Jeffery, Nkem, Freeman, Ebony and all the other friends. Question - did Elder Key's make it to Lithuania? Or was it Latvia? I love you so much and I'm so grateful for all you are doing! Keep up the great work! You're changing lives! Keep it up! Love you TONS! Mom :)