Highlight of the Month

This has been a rough month for me, but Easter weekend was wonderful and definitely the high point of April.

Several months ago, our dear friends, the Marsdens, suggested we attend the Carl Bloch exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art.  It opened the middle of November and closes May 17.  We agreed that we would love to see the exhibition so Marjie got online to find a Saturday we could obtain tickets.  She had to juggle both families' schedules, but was able to reserve tickets for 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, April 23.  Since the Ogden Temple closed on April 2 for the next three years, we decided we would also take in a temple session prior to our exhibit time.  We had our choice of Bountiful, Salt Lake, Oquirrh Hills, Draper, Timpanogos and Provo Temples on our drive down the freeway.  Since Rob and I had the previous week celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary, we thought it fitting that we should return to the Provo Temple where it all started.

In addition to these plans for the day before Easter, we also had the pleasure of having Kevin and Lindsey come and spend the weekend.  They came on Friday evening after meeting Lindsey's grandparents at Maddox for dinner.  Saturday morning they chose the menu for their wedding breakfast at the Copper Mill Restaurant in Logan and in the afternoon they were able to register at Target.  Afterwards,  they took a nap and colored eggs.

Meanwhile, Tim, Margie, Rob and I had a marvelous time in Provo.  The Carl Bloch Exhibit was amazing! He was an incredibly talented artist.  His work has such a profound spirit about it. We appreciate the reverence we felt as we walked through and viewed the paintings gathered from around the world for this exhibit.  I found it especially interesting how many of his paintings have been used in Church publications over the years and how familiar so many were to me.  The three photos I've posted are ones I had never seen before, but check out this article to view some of the other paintings: http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/60812/The-Masters-Hand-has-attracted-more-than-230000-visitors-to-BYU-exhibit.html

"Christ in Gethsemane," a painting on loan from
Sankt Hans Kirke, Odense, Denmark.

"Christus Consolator" is a painting in the exhibit on loan from
Sofia Albertina Kyrka, Landskrona, Sweden.

We decided this was our favorite Carl Bloch.  It is entitled:
"The Raising of Jarius' Daughter".
The angle isn't good for appreciating the real beauty of the painting.

Sunday was special with most of our family gathered together (we missed your Dani and Kelly!), we had a big dinner and basked in the final moments together before Kevin and Lindsey had to dash back to Logan to fulfill their calling as Ward Prayer Leaders.  Mostly we appreciated the reality of our Savior's power to overcome death and rise from the tomb.  How grateful I am for the conviction and assurance this brings into a life of uncertainty and challenge.