Busy Last Couple of Weeks

Dear Family,

It has been extremely busy here in North Carolina, but nothing really exciting to report for the last couple of months (isn't that always how it is?), so I am just going to ignore the last couple of months, and talk about the last couple of weeks. :o)

Taran was baptized last Saturday, which was an absolutely wonderful experience. We had taught the 13 Articles of Faith during Family Home Evening for the past 6 months or so to prepare Taran for the covenants that she was going to make, and talked a lot about how the baptismal covenants were contained in the Sacrament prayers, so I feel like we had prepared her pretty well for the whole thing. I am embarrassed to admit that I did not realize exactly what the baptismal covenant was, and where it was found, until I was in the MTC. I am sure that my parents and church leaders taught me, I just didn't totally figure it out until I was a missionary. Oh well, better late than never. :o)

Taran was absolutely beautiful in her white clothes, and I was so proud of her good choices and wonderful spirit. It was a extra special for me because I was able to go help her get dressed after she was baptized, and spend a little time with her, just her and me. When Jarom got baptized Jeff took care of all that, and I didn't really get to participate in the actual event very much. It was such a moving experience to see Jeff use the priesthood to baptize our daughter, and then watch as Jeff, my dad, and Jeff's dad, joined with other priesthood holders to confirm her a member of the church, and give her the Holy Ghost.

I had made an invitation to Taran's baptism that we sent to our old neighbors in Raleigh, and gave to some of our new neighbors here in Wake Forest. Apparently, the wording of the invitation (Taran Christensen has chosen to be baptized) caused a little bit of a doctrinal issue for our next door neighbors, who are Episcopalian, when their daughter, who is about Taran's age, asked her mom why she didn't get to chose to be baptized. I guess they had to go to the rector and everything. But they are good people, and they came to the baptism, which was great.

We actually had quite a few neighbors come, and one of our old friends from Jeff's Grad school program came with her husband too. That was really cool, because our friend's husband was really interested in the church building, so Jeff offered to give them a tour of the building afterwards, which then generated a TON of questions, and they were still talking when they came over to our house afterwards. For our ward's baptisms, we have been asked not to do refreshments at the church, so I decided to have everyone over to our house after the baptism for soup, salad, and other treats. The food was good, most of the people from the baptism came over, and they stayed for quite a while, so I think it was a success, especially considering the neat missionary experience that we were able to participate in.

My mom and dad were able to come for the weekend, which was absolutely fantastic, except that it was too short. :o) But I guess that is the best complaint to have, isn't it? It had been about a year since the last time that they had been able to come out and visit us, so we were thrilled for all the time that we got. I so appreciated all of their help, because with the baptism, the luncheon afterwards, as well as hosting Jeff's dad, I could never have gotten it all done. They are such wonderful examples to me of how to give truly willing service. My mom started doing dishes at 12:30 am the night that they flew in, and I don't think that she or my dad ever stopped the whole time they were here. :o)

Jeff's dad was also able to come out for the weekend, and between his expertise, and my own father's, I was able to purchase the rock and dirt we needed to finish our walled garden. My mom helped me get the seeds, and on Monday I put everyone (except Jeff, because he had to go to work and miss all the fun, poor man) to work filling up the garden with drainage rock, and then top soil. The "dads" were truly fantastic, both in their physical, "getting it done" ability, and their, "let's plan it and do it right" ability. It was so awesome to look out the window and see the finished garden, ready to plant. Again, they helped us so much, we couldn't have done it without them. How much I love my family, and how grateful I am for all that they do for me!!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!

We didn't have time to plant that day, but we planted it yesterday morning, and it looks fantastic! The kids were actually really great at it, and once we showed them how many holes should be in each square (I am doing my own version of square foot gardening) they pretty much took care of their sections all by themselves. Taran planted her carrots with such care, that I just know we're going to get a bumper crop. Ben was even able to help Jeff plant two kinds of lettuce, and Jarom and Kelcey took care of peas, and beans. I helped with the onions, and now we are set!! It feels so good to have done something really well, and have it look like it did in our minds when we were planning last Summer. Plus we're teaching our children how to work, and following the prophet. Does it get much better than this?

Unfortunately, things haven't all been sparkling grape juice and roses. :o) They day before my folks came Ben had thrown up all night with some sort of 24 hour stomach bug that has been going around. Fortunately, we were totally and completely blessed that no one got sick over the weekend, and my parents left in (I hope) relatively good health. Although my mom seems to always catch a cold when she comes, poor woman! Anyway, I thought that we had dodged a bullet, but Tuesday night Taran didn't want any dinner and complained about her tummy hurting. She started throwing up that night, and didn't stop until the next day. Jeff started about 4:30 in the morning, and I joined the party on Wednesday evening. Jeff was out of commission for two days, Taran as well, but I was lucky enough to get over it a little quicker than the others.

I really thought that we were done (silly me!), but on the way to church this morning Jarom threw up all over his suit and tie (I sure hope dry cleaning can work miracles), so it's back on the wacky merry-go-round we go. Luckily I was able to leave Ben and the girls with friends for Sacrament Meeting while I drove Jarom home and cleaned him--and the car--up. After I got that under control, I was able to make it back to teach my lesson before leaving early to be home with Jarom again. It has been such a fun day! Poor Jarom just can't keep anything down, so we'll see how it goes. So far, Kelcey is the only one that hasn't been sick, but since it seems to be making its way through every member of the family, I'm not holding my breath.

Other than the normal bumps and bruises that come from just, life, things are good, and we are so, so, so blessed.

Love, Katie, Jeff, Jarom, Taran, Kelcey, and Ben

P.S. It's obviously been forever since I wrote, because I haven't really announced this yet, but we're expecting #5!!! I'm due on Pioneer Day, July 24th, and we just found out that it's a girl. As far as names go, we're thinking about Alyssa Rose. Further bulletins, as events warrant. :o)