Availing April

 Avail means serve, do, to suffice, help, benefit, make use of and resort to. Sounds pretty good to me in describing this month. 

Dale and I started out the month by helping the Cache Valley Humanitarian Center move into their new location in the Riverwoods area in Logan. It's got a big open space to do all that's needed to prepare the plastic bags so they can be made into chains and used to weave sleeping mats. We also have a lot of shelves that hold blankets, back to school bags, and hygiene kits.

The week before we were to open, we found out that the Hyrum Humanitarian Center was closing due to no funding and bed bugs being found in some blankets that were donated. Because of this they asked if we would take items that would help keep the quilting going on that they hae been doing. We went to the Center and took any fabric that had been in wrapping and clear plastic tubs, sewing machines, a couple of surging machines, quilting frames, sewing notions, and some long tables that we felt we could use. We disinfected and washed everything that we felt needed to be cleaned and got it all put up and set out for the big opening of the new Center the next day.

We welcomed back our wonderful volunteers and got back to business hoping that all goes well. The quilting will take on a new touch in ways we can help those in the area.

This is from an article in our local news Cache Valley Daily about the move--

After a month moving and getting things ready, Dwight Whitaker the head of the center, said they took their first groups on Tuesday morning, April 22, and another on Wednesday afternoon, April 23.

“We opened our doors to their regular volunteers, who were happy to be back serving Cache Valley again,” he said. “Tuesday evening a group of 28 youth and their leaders, from Hyde Park, came and they were the first youth group at our new location. They started making 56 sleeping mats for the homeless for the WAB Warming Center.”

They had another group Wednesday afternoon when the Green Canyon High School Ambassadors volunteered their service as well. 

“Each sleeping mat and pillow requires at least 600 recycled grocery bags and 30 hours of direct labor, provided by volunteers of all ages,” Whittaker said. ” Our regular volunteers were happy to be back serving Cache Valley again, after a month of moving and preparation time.”

He said they are seeking donations so they can buy or build a permanent place to house the center.

With the Hyrum Humanitarian Center closing, Whittaker hopes their volunteers will support what they are doing as they move further south. The Hyrum Humanitarian Center closed for various reasons. The funding was cut, and someone donated quilting material infested with bed bugs.

“The Hyrum Humanitarian Center gave us six sewing machines, quilting material and all the three different quilt frames,” Whittaker said. “We are looking for more material for quilting, but we will not accept bags of material from garages or not stored properly. We will accept material on the bolt or disinfected, not just pieces.”

Danica got Andrew and his kids, Amie & Matt and all but Jaxson and Dale and I to meet up with her at the American West Heritage Center for Baby Animal Days. It was a bit chilly and wet, but we all enjoyed seeing the baby calves, chickens, ducklings, goats, bear cubs (on loan from Bear World), and rabbits. 

We also got to see some snakes, and other reptiles that were special guests for the event. That topped it off for the day.

Then we went to Pizza Plus for dinner with the group and visited some more before Danica headed south over the mountain and the rest of us headed north. 

We listened to The Church of Jesus Christs General Conference where we heard some of the apostles, and other church leaders. In concluding the Sunday afternoon and final session of the April 2024 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced 15 new temples to be built around the world. 

He said, “Here is my promise. Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement or help you understand God’s magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing! The temple is the gateway to the greatest blessings God has for each of us.”

Here is a list of the 15 temple locations announced: Uturoa, French Polynesia - Chihuahua, Mexico, Florianopolis, Brazil - Rosario, Argentina - Edinburgh, Scotland - Brisbane, Australia south area - Victoria, British Columbia - Yuma, Arizona - Houston, Texas south area - DesMoines, Iowa - Cincinnati, Ohio - Honolulu, Hawaii - West Jordan, Utah - and Maracaibo, Venezuela.

                                                                             

While we're on the topic of temples.... the Smithfield Temple is coming along well. If everything goes well, it should be done next year.

Also, the Salt Lake temple got the gold angel Moroni placed on the top spire again. There's still quite a bit of work to do, but it's coming along and will be wonderful when it's all done.

We watched Andrew & Lindsay's kids for a couple of days while they spent some time in Heber, UT at the Zermatt Resort. They were able to have some down time and get in a soak in the Homestead crater.  While the kids were here, we made egg carton caterpillars, had some picnics at the park, played Pickleball, and some games.

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Hansen, Dale, myself, and Arwyn this month. For Dale and my birthday, we got together on his big day and met at The Rusty Spoon for a Birthday Brunch. All but Nate (who lives in Washington) were there. It was a nice outing. We have some pretty good kids. 

For his birthday gift I gave him a new key fob for the Tucson because ours has been missing for almost a year. I told him he had everything he needed but I had something that he didn't so I wanted give it to him. Then I said Happy travels on his card. The kids thought is was a car, wrong!

Later that evening we went to the movie "Escape from Germany". I let him choose what he wanted to do on his day and that was one of his choices. It was a great show.

Because Dale was turning the "official retirement age" of 65 I had a sign put in the yard and asked family and friends to text, email, call, send a card, or pay a short visit with him for his birthday. I wanted him to get at least 65 birthday wishes. All pulled through and he had a banner day. Happy Birthday Dale, love you!!

For my birthday Dale smoked some ribs and did up some Dutch oven potatoes. Then Amie's clan came with rolls, a salad, and vegetable and Lindsay came with cheesecake and key lime pie to finish off the meal. It was a nice day. Happy Birthday Me!

We went to Garrett and Zandra's and helped Garrett get his lawn leveled by adding sand in the low spots. Then we went on a double date and went to dinner at a tasty Thai Restaurant in Ogden and stayed the night. 

After a yummy breakfast, we went and watched Luke and Jorie play in their soccer games. 

It was fun to spend time with them, and we were glad we could help them out.

We got home and between rainstorms were able to get some things done in our own yard. We were also able to watch Jaxson play some of his tennis matches. He and his double partner, Henry went the season without a loss. Pretty good!

Nate and Diana got in some outdoor fun. They did a first for both of them. They summited Mt. St. Helens and then were able to ski all the way down! It was a nice day to be out on the snow too. Way to go guys!!

Amie & Matt's oldest and our oldest grandson, Jaxson got his mission call. Funny thing though he had three different times where he read his call. He did it first when the family got together after the Mallory's had gone skiing at Snow Basin with Garrett and Zandra's family. Then again when he was in Moab with his ward Young Men's group, and lastly at his house with a lot of his friends. He'll be serving in the Xalapa, Mexico mission. He'll enter home MTC training on July 15th and then fly to Mexico on July 24th and enter the Mexico MTC. He has a couple of friends that will be close to the area he'll be at an in the Mexico MTC at the same time he will. We wish him the best.

For preparations prior to him leaving on his mission, he needed to get his two top wisdom teeth out. Amie brought him over to our house after he was done because I said I'd do him up a smoothie and we wanted to see how he was doing. It was pretty funny seeing how he acted while coming out of being under the anesthesia. We all got a few good laughs. 

Jaxson got some certificates from the FBLA group he is in. He was in a competition and took 3rd place, and he also found out that he was awarded Merit Scholarships for Utah Valley University in Provo, Utah State University in Logan, and at Utah Tech University (formerly Dixie College) in St. George. He's deferred on them and will decide after he gets back from his mission where he'll be going to college. Way to go Jaxson!!

Amie got a new job that's right down her alley. She'll be a bookkeeper for the Cook, Poulsen, & Martin Accounting firm. She'll be working part time, starting May 1st. We wish her the best.

For Spring Break Andrew & Lindsay took the kids to Lava Hot Springs for some fun. That warm water in their hot spring pools felt pretty good I bet with the colder temperatures we've been having lately. Fun times!!

Andrew's been busy trying to get some of his projects done in his yard before he heads to Mississippi for the start of his work tour. He got some gravel on his access road that takes him to the back of his yard. Things are looking up for the Hansen's yard! His hard work is paying off. Looks nice.

They decided to try something new and got some ducklings. The ducks are the kind that stay close to their home. Hopefully that is what they do! I'm not sure how Toby their dog, or Lucky their cat is going to like having these new pets around. Time will tell.

They also added a new musical instrument to the household, a new (used) piano that they found on the classifieds. It's perfect for their family and Titan couldn't wait to try it out!! There's nothing better than beautiful music playing in your home to set the mood.

The Four Season's Theater group put on the performance of "Anastasia" and had a couple of extra tickets so we were able to go see it with them. The music teacher at their elementary school was in it which made it even more fun to watch. It was a very good production.

Dale and I took Arwyn on her birthday date. She chose to eat at Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner and then go bowling, but both bowling allies in the valley were closed to the public. One was reserved for a special event and the other one had league bowling going on. So, Arwyn decided that she wanted to go to our house and do some Wii bowling and other games with us! We had cookies and ice cream and had a fun time. For a seven-year-old, she's pretty good on the Wii!! Happy Birthday Arwyn, we love you!!

Garrett and Zandra and the kids took advantage of the Spring snowstorms and got in some spring skiing at Snow Basin.

Amie, Kennlyn, Danica and Zandra got together and got in a day on the slopes before Snow Basin closed down for their ski season. All had a good time. 

Garrett's getting in the groove of doing loans for his new company Diversified Loans. The guys in the office are making it happen!  

They added a few new additions to their family as well by getting some chickens. The chickens outgrew the tub they were in, so they put up a chicken coop for them. The kids are supposed to take care of them. Looks like Luke isn't afraid to dig right in and do the job. 

Garrett and Jorie went on a daddy daughter dance that their schools PTSO puts on fpr the whole school! It's a yearly event where they alternate the girls and boys every other year. . Looks like a tasty and fun time for all that attended. 

Jason's putting in the work to make things happen with Guild mortgage as well. He got another award to prove it. Way to go Jason! Danica posted this on Instagram --

They invited the family to their house for Brooks Jason Hassell's name/baby blessing. It was a nice day and Jason gave his son a beautiful blessing. They have a beautiful family and had great family support. 

She wrote this on Facebook: "Today we got to bless our sweet Brooksie boy. It was the most tender moment seeing our son wear the same outfit that his daddy wore when he was blessed We are so excited for all the amazing things you will do our little champion! We love you so much"!

If you know the Hassell's they don't let many Jazz sporting events go by, even if it means taking the whole family. They're starting them young, and I think the kids don't mind a bit. GO JAZZ!!

They also added a new addition to their home furnishings by buying a used upright piano. Now Danica can polish up on her two years of piano lessons as a child and teach June a few things. I can't wait for the recitals.

We had a solar eclipse happen in the some of the central and southern states, not so much in our area, but some were able to see a bit of it happen. We never got to really see it, but we saw how bright the sun was and then how it got a bit dimmer at times. I'm adding pictures and information from other sources about it.

In Salt Lake news.... Thousands of Utahns welcome new NHL team at the arena that will host them --

Hundreds of Utah kids, most of them part of youth hockey teams, ditched school on Wednesday morning and headed to the airport instead. They waited for the arrival of the former Arizona Coyotes, who are poised to become Utah’s future National Hockey League team.

Though the name of the team is yet to be determined, many of them chanted “Utah Yetis” repeatedly. Some waved hockey jerseys from different local teams — including the Aggies, the Ogden Mustangs, and the Utah Grizzlies. A lot of them had mullet haircuts and many waved hand-drawn posters with welcoming messages and references to their missed day of school, such as “will you sign my school release?” 

Utah's making their mark again by adding another professional sports team to the state.

For hometown news in sports concerning the USU Men's basketball team we got word that Great Osobor, Mason Falslev, Landon Brenchley, Ian Martinez, Javon Jackson, Joshua Uduje, and Jackson Grant entered the portal which gives them the opportunity to go onto another team if they get an offer and want to. Isaac Johnson already committed to stay at USU, but later Falslev, Martinez, and Uduje committed to play for USU for the 24-25 season. We'll see what we end up with next season. It could be interesting.

We ended the month by going to watch Mazin in a soccer game, but it got delayed due to rain, thunder and lightning. We had to wait around for a half hour to see if the weather would clear up. Well, the sun did come out and with the light rain and a stunning, vibrant, huge, double rainbow showed its colors. It was amazing. The picture, although pretty cool looking doesn't even do it justice. 

                                             

Remember what I wrote at the first of this post about the meaning of the word avail? 

Avail means serve, do, to suffice, help, benefit, make use of and resort to. I'd say it fit perfectly for this month.