Dinner with Condi

We just had the most delightful evening last night! We went, with our good friends Pete and Kim, to the 28th Annual Gala Dinner for the Washington D.C. Chapter of the BYU Management Society. We started the evening by enjoying a delicious dinner of Filet Mignon and Parmesan-crusted Swordfish. Fabulous!

And then we were entertained with a violin performance by Jenny Oaks Baker. I grew up going to violin performances and I have to say that I think this was the best live violin performance I have ever seen. She did a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace. And it most certainly was AMAZING!

Following the performance, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, Former Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense, was awarded the 2012 Distinguised Public Service Award. Presenting her the award was former U.S. (Oregon) Senator, Gordon Smith and former U.S. (Utah) Senator Bob Bennett.

And then the highlight of the night..... listening to Condi speak. I love, love, love her! She is an amazing woman, incredible speaker, brilliant, faith-filled, and totally inspiring. Did I mention I love her? She just gave the most amazing speech about freedom, democracy and humanity. I am so grateful that we were able to go to this event, eat dinner just 3 tables away from her and then hear the speech she gave. The bummer of the night, is that (obviously) I was DYING to meet her, but she left the dinner as soon as her speech was over because she had to catch a flight back to California, where she lives. So, that was disappointing, BUT, my friend Kim really wanted to meet Dick and JW Marriott (the two brothers that started and run the entire Marriott Corporation), so.....

We did have success with that! Here is Kim with Dick Marriott...

And here she and Pete are with JW Marriott. Very fun night!

Easter in an "Eggshell"

We've had a busy couple of weeks! We started our Easter festivities the weekend before Easter at the Annual Easter Egg Hunt for Adults only. Dave and I did this last year and had a BLAST! It starts at 8pm after it gets dark. They have a count down and then a bunch of adults run all over this huge park and look for eggs with the help of a flash light. It's very fun! There are 1000 eggs and each egg contains a number and a piece of candy. About 400 of the numbers are matched to a prize. Some of the prizes are a bit lame (like the plastic water bottle I won) and some are not (like an overnight stay at the posh Marriott Hotel on the water in Annapolis, which I did NOT win), but regardless of what you come away with, it's a great time! Unfortunately, this year, it fell on the night of the General Conference for the guys, so I went with my good friend Kim and my sister-in-law, Heidi. This picture was before the hunt...

And this is after with all our loot! I got 7 eggs this year, which was much better than last year (when I only got two), but it was nothing compared to Heidi (13) or Kim (21)!

The week leading up to Easter was Spring Break, so a friend of mine organized an Easter Egg Hunt during the week.

Since Riley was only a few months old last Easter, this was her first "hunt." She had fun, but she didn't really get it. She would find an egg, but instead of putting it in her basket and continuing the search, she would simply sit down and throw a fit until I opened it for her and she got the candy. Stinker!

Lacey and her good buddy, Emma, with all their loot!

I really wanted to get a good picture on Sunday of the kids in their Easter garb, but alas, stinky afternoon church meant the youngest was fast asleep in the car, so I only got the older two.

This picture makes me laugh. Tanner wasn't looking at the camera, so I said, "Tanner, look up!" and this is what I got :)

My sister-in-law, Heidi hosted Easter dinner (bless her since my house is completely taken apart and boxes are everywhere). She also had a little hunt in her backyard, so here are all the cousins ready to go!

Uncle Jack is Tanner's idol. He has a go-cart track in his back yard. So, Tanner spent the rest of the night with his cousin and/or his uncle going around the go-cart track. He was in Heaven!

Happy Easter! btw.... we settled on our house yesterday. Yeah!!!! The sellers asked to rent back for 10 days, so it was a little anti-climactic because we can't move in until the 21st, but still very exciting! I went and registered Lacey for Kindergarten today at the school in our new neighborhood. I can't believe my baby is starting school.....

Chaya

This is a picture of our sweet Chaya. She is the teenage daughter of my cousin, Tracy. She was born with Cerebral Palsy when I was a student at BYU. Tracy's mom and my mom are sisters and best friends, so my mom's side of the family is extremely close. I've known Chaya since she was born and we all love her. Despite her many challenges and disabilities, she was somehow able to smile her way through life and that is why I love this picture.

Chaya passed away unexpectedly on Monday night. We all know she is in a much better place with a perfect body and are so grateful she is free of her mortal body that provided her with so many challenges. But she is truly missed. She was very loved. I wrote this poem for her:

Her little Spirit was just too good for this Earth

And yet, she still needed to experience birth

Born too early, born too small

She never learned to walk or even to crawl

In fact, she spent most of her life confined to a chair

And we all knew, when it came to challenges, she had more than her share

Even so, there was much that she knew

And despite her limitations, there was much she could do

Most importantly, she could smile and she could love

And now she's with Grandpa Dan, smiling from Above

She was named Chaya after her birth

But this Angel spirit was just too good for this Earth