Putting things in perspective - a baby is born!

wonderful thing for Wednesday, Jan. 14: hands down: the birth of our newest grandchild, to our youngest child Jesse and his wife Rachel - baby brother to our sweet Weston. Camden Jared Hyde, welcome to this crazy world! When I read the name, I cried. Jared is the name of another wonderful son, and also the name of a "surrogate" son and best friend. It touches my heart in ways only a mother can understand, that my child has named his child after his brother; it is also very fitting that it should be after the name of his friend, who has already given Jesse that honor by naming his first son after him. When we share with people here, the blessings of doing the "simple things" - daily personal and family prayer, personal and family scripture study, family home evening, attending church regularly as a family to take the Sacrament, observing the commandments as a family - we can share years of experience. We can share a knowledge that grows sharper as the generations expand, that keeping our covenants to God opens our lives to being "kept" by Him, in miraculous ways; left to ourselves, we would be fractured and disseminated, there is no doubt in my mind. No doubt. Instead, here we have this blessing, welcoming this child into a unified, loving, joyful family. I can say to my friends here, "I know whereof I speak." fun thing: some things you just have to label "fun" in order to keep perspective. I sat most of the day at the desk, after getting up late because of "sort of" sleeping the night before, with Blaine still not well and still in bed until 1:00 p.m. (if you know him, you know what a strange phenomenon that is!). Since we were not in a place to go about our normal doings, I decided it was a good time to take care of some of a growing list of banal things. I need to return a pair of boots to Amazon. I've already tried it once, but packed them in the wrong kind of box. I decided I needed the exercise, so I google-mapped how to get from our apartment to a pak mail kind of place. It was exhilarating to get out in the cold, drizzly late afternoon for a brisk walk, even though I was reminded a bit of C.S. Lewis' description of the "grey town" in The Great Divorce. From the box store, I planned on walking to the post office - then realized I'd have to retrace my steps back home, because I had left the document I needed to affix to the package. Back home I briskly walked - and I have to say, it is always a pleasure to cross the Bisenzio, the river that winds through Prato. Got the document, walked back over the Bisenzio for the third time, to the post office. There was a fair amount of discussion over who would pay for the mailing, but I finally made it clear that I expected Amazon to pay me back for the charges. I had clearly read on the site that they would pay up to 8 euros for expedition. Okay, got that straightened out. Fill out this form. Weigh the package...it will cost over 21 euros to send it back to Wales. Back to the drawing board on that one. I'll get in touch with the mission office, which is where I have things sent. Maybe they can send it with another carrier. Back over the Bisenzio, with the package still in hand. It was a grand day for a brisk walk.