First, if you haven’t read yesterday’s post about our daughter Naomi’s ordination as an elder then please take a look now – Some Stories Just Keep Getting Better! –  It’s probably the most important piece I will write all week.

Cold Day Warm Hearts:

For today I’ll share some photographs of our time with the children. I’m sure I will continue to say this every year, but (for now) 5 and 7 are the exact perfect ages for grandchildren. David and Beks are so full to overflowing with curiosity and passion and love and energy.

Unfortunately, with the temperature never getting much above 20, we had to stay home all day. The season passes we have for the Botanical Gardens don’t quite work when it’s too cold to breathe!

All that energy is quite a challenge in a small apartment but we played games – “Pictionary” and “Exploding Kittens” – and we did crafts, and we sang songs, and we read books, we played cars, we built towers with “Marble-Works” and we played with the new kitty.

The cat – Bristow – is a hoot. Tiny, adorable, inquisitive, wired. I’d submit “funny cat videos” to YouTube but he actually moves too fast to film. However, I believe that footage of him facing off against the other family pet (a rogue robot vacuum cleaner) could easily result in the $100,000 jackpot!

As a grandmother, Rebekah is absolutely the best example imaginable. She makes up amazing stories on the fly (one day I will prevail on her to publish a collection), she is phenomenal at crafts, she is a natural teacher, she completely invests herself in the moment, and the children adore her.

Enjoy the photographs, and I’ll likely slip back into devotional or commentary mode with tomorrow’s post.

Peace, blessings, and more – DEREK