Saoirse

 It was a welcome respite Friday afternoon when the phone rang to interrupt my hopeless battle with the weeds.  I saw it was Sariah and thought perhaps we would talk about our Disney Alaska cruise in September.  Wrong!  Acadia was in labor!  I thought the baby wasn’t due until late February.  No panic though, everything looking good.   Sariah said she and Ryan were leaving early Sunday morning - he had a business trip already scheduled in Idaho.  They would drive together to Boise, I think, and then Sariah would go on to Rexburg.  But what about Aurora?  She had just missed a week of school for their Marvel Adventure cruise and could not afford to miss 2 more weeks.  It was going to be too long to leave her alone and she needed transportation.  The 2 people that they would most likely have asked to have her stay are dealing with their own issues.  One family just recovering from Covid and the other having suffered the tragic death of husband/father. So, I flew in to stay with Aurora.  Andrew and Joseph will take care of everything at home.  The siblings, especially Teresa will help them as needed.  David and Teresa will take Andrew to church. 

     Our pattern of church meetings is our worship service, Sacrament Meeting, for the 1st hour and  for 2nd hour  on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, we have Sunday School, on the 2nd and 4th Sundays, we have Relief Society and Elders Quorum, and the 5th Sunday is under the direction of the bishop.  Today is a 5th Sunday.   They had us sit in rows, the men on one side of the room, the women on the other.  Then they had rows 1 and 3 turn their chairs to face the row behind them.  They gave us pencils and papers with spaces for  get-to-know-you information- name, how many in the family, where are you from, what do you like to do, etc.  We each interviewed the person in front of us for a few minutes.  Then rows 2 and 4 swapped places.  After a few more minutes they had rows 1 and 3 shift to their right a couple of chairs.   People had a great time getting to know each other a little and were reluctant to move when the interview time was over.  After our third interview, we all went into the chapel and sat willy-nilly where we chose.   Some conversations continued until the leaders took control again and talked to us about unity and being one.  It was a good exercise.

In case you were wondering, of course you were! Acadia had her little girl while I was on the plane Saturday flying to Arizona..

Saoirse Rose O'Bannon

4:58 pm January 29, 2022

6lb 6oz 20"

Mother, baby, and father all doing well.