Christmas 2020

BROUGH FAMILY UPDATE 2020

What a crazy year!  We hope this all finds you safe and healthy!  We just want to document how this pandemic year played out for us.  Here goes:

THE MESA (on PLATA) HERD

Blair (1) is walking now, loves her big sisters and is the sweetest little thing.  She is great at entertaining herself and walks around talking in her own language.  She loves Papa! Jade (4) is in preschool and recently had her tonsils out.  She is in Pre-school.   Lindy (6) is in first grade and is very social.  Lindy and Jade both love doing crafts and are involved with dance. We recently got to see them perform at a socially distanced recital.  They also got to go to a Descendents (those of you with young daughters and granddaughters will know what that is) show with their other grandma, Grammy, recently. Jordan is still working for Go Daddy, though remotely from home since March.  He also ventured into real estate this year and now has his real estate license and has already experienced some success in this.  In the fall he continued with coaching a high school swim team.  He is a school teacher for the 15 and 16 year olds in his ward but with Covid hasn’t had to teach since March.  Casey, an adorable mom to three precious girls, has done some amazing home decorating this year.  She continues to cut hair in her home salon, all while having to do remote schooling with Lindy from March through the end of the school year in May.  Fortunately, Lindy’s school has been back in person (with masks and all the other precautions we are all too familiar with now) since the school year began in August but now with the high Covid numbers in AZ they recently went to a hybrid schedule until the holiday break.  Bless all these young moms that have had to deal with schooling during the pandemic! She is a counselor in their ward’s Primary presidency. 

THE SEATTLE HERD

Brady (1) is walking and keeps busy climbing in and on anything he can, including their new adorable and rambunctious golden doodle, Butterscotch (Scottie), our first grandpuppy!  Beau (3) is a funny kid that entertains us all. Piper (6) is in first grade. She loves to draw, crafting with Tara and singing.  She sang with the Millennial Choir and Orchestra (MCO) remotely this year and a quick video of her was included in their Christmas concert on youTube.  Porter (8) got baptized this year and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He also sang remotely with MCO as well.  He also started taking piano lessons.  He is into Legos, Nintendo Switch and sports to some extent.  He is a helpful big brother, especially with Brady. He is also a great dog caregiver and helps Zach with yardwork.   Both Porter and Piper love to play board and card games.  They taught us how to play a few!  Zach is still with Amazon, albeit remotely. He is a senior product manager and works on developing private label products under the Amazon Basics brand.  He was scheduled to go on a business trip in late January/early February to Germany and Luxemburg which was cancelled when it was discovered that one of the main participants to be in attendance was from Wuhan, China and it was when the virus was going crazy in China but before it hit the USA.  In January he did a 25K trail run in the Orcas Islands.  He recently completed a 60 mile bike ride around Lake Washington on Halloween morning He serves as a counselor in their ward’s bishopric.  Tara is a darling mom to their four children and also keeps busy with home schooling (as a result of the pandemic) and crafting.  She put up an amazing Halloween display in the courtyard of their house this fall, including darling little fairy houses, made out of cardboard, egg cartons and empty bottles.   She also continues to enjoy vlogging on her youTube channel, Broughington and also does editing for other youTube vloggers.  She teaches once a month in Relief Society and their ward has had zoom meetings for all their organizations throughout the pandemic but they have not started having in person sacrament meetings in Washington yet.

THE PULLMAN HERD

Charlie (9 months) was born on March 1st and is the grinniest, sweetest little guy and loves watching the shenanigans of his big sister and brother and is a delight to all of us!  Theodore – AKA Theo, Teddy, Bubba (3) started pre-school and it is actually in person.  He is a busy boy that loves doing whatever Dora does and he loves their pets and wearing his cowboy boots.  Dora (5) is in Kindergarten remotely.  She also enjoys crafts, doing fashion shows with her many dresses and strikes a pose whenever you take a picture of her.  Landon is finishing up his 4th and last year of vet school at Washington State University. Unfortunately, the clinical rotations he originally scheduled for this year had to be cancelled due to Covid and his actual commencement for next May will not be as planned.  But he has been able to do his rotations in Pullman, Lewiston and Boise.  He has completed his senior paper, secured a job offer back in AZ and now just needs to complete his boards on December 20th.  He also planted a garden this year with some success considering the short growing season in Pullman.  He enjoys cooking and makes a lot of their meals.  He is in between callings right now when their ward recently split during the pandemic.  Ashlin is the cutest mom to three busy kids while also working on her degree in Graphic Information Technologies through ASU online.  She is also very crafty and continues to be Nancy’s go to tech guru!  She is the secretary in their Young Women’s organization in their ward.  Two sweet bunnies, Maggie and Rosie joined their menagerie.  And Ruben and Maple are the still the sweetest and most tolerant kitties ever!

THE LEHI HERD

Dalton is still enjoying working at Jolt and was recently promoted to Team Lead of Acquisition.  He has picked up golfing this year.  He is the ward executive secretary in their ward.  Sarah graduated in May from Utah Valley University majoring in Deaf Studies with an Interpreting Emphasis.  Actual commencement ceremonies were cancelled due to Covid but she and Dalton were actually visiting us on what would have been her graduation day so we had a little ceremony for her!  And then her family celebrated with her later.  She works for the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind as an American Sign Language Interpreter.  She also has a side hustle working for June Rings, an online ring company.  She is a counselor in the Primary presidency in their ward.  When the pandemic hit, our church sent home most of their senior missionaries and since they were staying in a couple’s home while they were serving their mission and the couple came home earlier than planned, Dalton and Sarah had to find somewhere else to live in a hurry.  They stayed at Sarah’s parents’ home for a while until they purchased their first home, a cute condo in Lehi.  Dalton’s birthday present to Sarah this year was a darling kitty, Jimmy, our 4th grandkitty!  We all love him and he has made Dalton a cat person now!  Together they enjoy playing pickleball and skiing.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough snow in Utah to go skiing until just recently.  They have dealt with the pandemic by binge watching The Amazing Race and Survivor!  They got Don and Nancy into The Amazing Race as well!  In addition to some family trips with us this year they also had a fun trip with friends to Island Park, Idaho. 

THE MESA (on BAYWOOD) HERD

Benny (1) is a delightful little boy. He has the sweetest disposition and is starting to say some words.  He is a good eater but unfortunately he calls food, “nana” so it might be awhile until he calls Nancy “Nana”. (Nana does love food, though!).  Caleb continued with his job at Voya Financial until October when he started working as a sales/project manager for his in laws’ company, Builders Flooring and Design.  He is continuing to take some online classes through BYU-Idaho each semester as well.  He loves doing home improvement projects and he and Mollie have done a lot to upgrade their cute home.  He mountain bikes with a group of friends whenever he can.  He is the Priest quorum advisor in their ward.  Mollie is a speech pathologist at Ridge Zeller Therapy and Highland High School.  She also recently got braces and one day she had to go by the office at the high school for something and the receptionist asked her if she was late for 2nd hour!  Haha! She is a primary teacher in their ward so due to Covid hasn’t had to teach for a while.  Caleb and Mollie tried having chickens this year but it was just too hot, especially this summer when we had record heat in AZ, so after they lost a few, they decided it wasn’t for them.  They did get several dozen eggs, though, while it lasted.  They still have our pretty grandkitty, Peia.

THE GILBERT HERD

Don and Nancy are grateful that up to this point they have not contracted THE virus.  Knock on wood!  If they do get it, it won’t be from a lack of trying to avoid it, that’s for sure!  Fortunately, Nancy was already OCD enough prior to the pandemic that using Clorox wipes on everything is nothing new to her!  And, fortunately, we had a pretty good stash and have been able to find them as needed to keep her stash sufficient. Prior to the pandemic, Don and Nancy were able to see three of the plays at Gammage with another couple that Nancy calls our “theatah” friends.  They saw Fiddler on the Roof, Beautiful and Once on This Island.  They were excited to see others like Come From Away, Mean Girls and Hamilton, again, with their season tickets package but that, of course, didn’t happen.  Don is counting down the months until he can retire from Wells Fargo Bank.  He is now working full time at home rather than just one day a week pre-Covid.  He has been such a patient, long suffering husband to Nancy while this has all brought her OCD ways to a new level!  He is still the Stake Executive Secretary and attends almost all of his meetings via Zoom.  Nancy was released as an adult Sunday school teacher recently and now serves as a counselor in the Relief Society presidency.   Our ward has actual church for one hour (with all the Covid precautions) but we also have the option of watching it via Zoom from home and are still authorized to have at home sacrament, which is what we do.  We attended a couple of times but as long as we can Zoom we feel safer doing that at this point.  Hopefully now that the vaccinations are starting to be available we will eventually feel more comfortable going in person.  Nancy was fortunate to be able to have her right hip replaced in April, right before they put a halt on all elective surgeries for a while.  Everything went great, and after six weeks of physical therapy she is so happy to be able to walk without her ridiculous limp and is able to walk and do the elliptical for exercise without any pain.  We ended up purchasing an elliptical machine when all the gyms shut down.  Nancy’s sewing room turned into a mask making factory for a while back at the beginning of the pandemic when it was hard to find any masks.  She made over 150 for friends, family and those we minister to in our ward.   She has also finished Brady’s and Charlie’s quilts this year.  After sewing on a 61 year old Singer that her mom got for Christmas the same year that Nancy was born, she finally got a nice new Bernina that she is still in the process of bonding with.  Nancy also got into the pandemic craze of making sourdough bread!  Her whole childhood her dad had a sourdough starter in their fridge and she grew up on sourdough pancakes every Saturday morning and sourdough bread often.  She’d give anything to have gotten a starter from his starter but at some point in some move he must have let it go.  She made several attempts at getting a starter going to no avail but finally one worked!  Her dad was the first “foodie” she knew before that was even a word!  He used to say that if he opened a restaurant he would call it “Cuz’n Rafe’s”.  Apparently you are supposed to name your sourdough starter so ours is called “Cuz’n Rafe”!  And it’s still going strong.  Don and Nancy have settled into the staying at home thing and are grateful that we have the option to do that when so many still have to go out into the world for their jobs.  Our thoughts and prayers are always with the medical professionals and essential workers that serve our communities daily.  We are grateful that we are somewhat home bodies (when we aren’t traveling) so this aspect of the pandemic hasn’t been that hard for us.  We have been binge watching The Amazing Race since April.  We never watched it back when it was original so it has been a nice distraction.  We are on Season 22 out of 32 seasons.  Thanks Dalton and Sarah for getting us into it!  We are sad that we can’t have family gatherings like we would like to.  We do get together about once a month and we try to watch the grandkids on some Friday nights so their parents can go on a date.  But whenever we are around them then we try to stay away for at least a week before we get around them again.   We have done a little traveling, some before the pandemic and actually some during it (with precautions).  Here is a month at a glance of where we roamed this year and other events:

WHERE WE’VE ROAMED  (Like we said in last year’s update – if you haven’t already stopped reading by now, this is probably where you will want to stop for sure!)

January – As I look back on January I’m thinking of how none of us had any idea of what was to come in 2020.  I mean, we all heard about Coronavirus in China but never could have imagined what it turned into worldwide.  We went to St. George to visit Don’s folks and celebrate Don’s dad’s birthday.

February – We went to Seattle for Porter’s baptism and to celebrate his 8th birthday.  Dalton and Sarah joined us there.  Don and Nancy stayed in a cute little Airbnb super close to Zach and Tara’s house.  It was a pretty quick trip but we love going to Seattle anytime we can.

March – WOW!  What a month!  We had been planning a big family vacation for years to go stay at a beach house on the Isle of Palms, SC for a week.  Nancy lived in Mt. Pleasant, SC (a bedroom community of Charleston) for four years of her childhood.  Her dad is from SC and her grandparents lived in Columbia her whole childhood so even when her family lived other places they always went to SC for vacations.  Nancy had a dream of taking all the boys and their families to SC to see her childhood roots.  Well, things were starting to heat up as far as the pandemic goes just prior to this long planned trip.  Nothing had shut down YET but it was looking a little scary.  But we were able to squeeze this trip in by the hair of our chinny chin chin!  We brought a couple suitcases of just toilet paper, Clorox wipes and food because just a few days before we left was when we started seeing grocery store shelves empty!  Fortunately, we were all able to get there safely from Spokane, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Phoenix.  We were able to do almost everything we had planned before things started shutting down.  Right after our tour of Ft. Sumter they stopped the tours!  And the day we were leaving they shut down the beaches.  We got to take half of the adults to one of our favorite restaurants but by the time we were going to take the other half it had closed.  But other than that we got to do everything we had planned including showing them around Columbia (Nancy’s grandparents’ home, their gravesites, their Baptist church, the state capitol and the Latter-day Saint temple), Charlestion and Mt. Pleasant (Fort Sumter, Boon Hall Plantation, Nancy’s childhood home and elementary school, the Citadel, where Nancy’s dad attended college and later taught at for 4 years, and of course hanging out at the beach house).  Don and Nancy celebrated their 36th anniversary while there and we got to finally get some professional family photos, the first time since any of the boys had gotten married. The photos on our card are from that photo shoot. And the best thing was that Charlie and Ashlin ended up getting to come.  At one point since Ashlin was due so close to the trip  we had decided that Landon and the other kids would just come.  But she ended up getting to have Charlie a few weeks early and everything was going so well that we booked them flights at the last minute so we all got to be there!  Nancy’s cousin and her kids were able to be at the Isle of Palms that week as well so we got to spend some time with them.  Each family was in charge of a dinner and we ate very well.  On Don and Nancy’s night they did a Low Country Shrimp Boil.  It was a fabulous trip and we are just so grateful we were able to pull it off in the nick of time!

April through June – No roaming!  Just hunkering down and laying low like the rest of the world.  Nancy had her surgery in April and was able to go to a wonderful physical therapist for six weeks, thank goodness, without incident.  However, she heard months later that her physical therapist got Covid from a patient!  She was grateful she escaped that!  Dalton and Sarah drove down for a visit a few weeks after Nancy’s surgery and just worked remotely during the day and we hung out at night.  That was when they got us hooked on The Amazing Race!  

July through the first week in September –  Long before the pandemic we had planned a huge summer trip to see our Washington and Utah families.  Once we were knee deep in the pandemic we were trying to decide if we should cancel the trip but decided that we could still take the same precautions in Washington and Utah as we would at home.  Prior to the pandemic Don had cleared it with his boss to work remotely for this trip but then once everyone at his work was working remotely anyway it definitely wasn’t an issue so off we went.  We drove and were just super careful at gas stations, etc.  We stopped one night at a hotel in Twin Falls on the way to Seattle (where Nancy just did what she’s always done even pre-Covid, wiping down the whole room with Clorox wipes).  Actually, on the way to Twin Falls we were planning on stopping at dinner time in Centerville, UT and meet up with Dalton and Sarah for dinner.  Just prior to getting there our car started doing weird things so we got it checked out when we arrived in Centerville and it was our alternator and fortunately we were able to get a new one in a timely manner so we could be on our way after getting take out and eating with Dalton and Sarah outside at a park.  When we got up the next morning in Twin Falls we found that someone had stolen our vanity license plate, THE HERD!  So, we had to make a police report where we found out that two other people in hotel parking lots had their vanity plates stolen as well that same night!  Victims of a pandemic prank for sure! It took several weeks for us to get a temporary plate so we drove around Idaho and Washington without any plate for a while.  Fortunately, we had a case number we could have shown a cop if we got pulled over but we never did.   We had a nice Airbnb in Seattle, in the Magnolia neighborhood, right by the sound, and close to Zach and Tara’s. The weather was gorgeous the whole time we were there and we had a clear shot of Mt. Rainier from Seattle almost every day we were there.  We had never seen it from Seattle on any other previous visit.  Nancy practically brought her whole kitchen because the places we stayed at had full kitchens so she was able to continue with her pandemic baking everywhere we stayed!  She also brought her new sewing machine and even took a Zoom class to help her learn how to use it.  During the days while Don worked, Nancy sewed or baked and sometimes went on hikes or berry picking with the Seattle herd.  Then Don would join us on some nights and other nights Don and Nancy would just stay at the Airbnb and watch The Amazing Race!  While there, Don got a crabbing license and twice he, Zach and Porter went crabbing and both times got some beautiful Dungeness and Red Rock crabs and we had a couple of yummy crab boils.  On Friday nights we watched the kids (and Scottie- she was the only one that gave us trouble) so Zach and Tara could have some date nights.  We did fly home and back (taking every precaution) one weekend in July for Benny’s first birthday party.  Our friends from AZ, Eric and Diana Hakes, bought a mini-yacht that they moor on Lake Union and they live on it during parts of the year.  Before the pandemic they had invited us and Zach’s family to hang out with them on their dock on the fourth of July to watch the fireworks display at Lake Union, which of course, didn’t happen.  They had also invited Don and Nancy to go out on the boat for a weekend which also didn’t happen.  Stupid Covid!  But we did go one night and brought take out and they took us for a ride to Lake Washington and back.  We all wore masks!  One day, Nancy and Diana, went to Crystal Mountain and rode the gondola (again, wearing masks the whole time). Don and Nancy tried to knock some things off of our long list of Seattle things but as soon as we checked one off there were several new things we added to it!  We walked the hills and steps of Seattle every day for exercise and Nancy’s new hip in her old body got quite the workout.  One Saturday, we went to Olympia to the state capitol and Mima Mounds. Another Saturday we went with Zach and Tara and kids to the Olympic peninsula.  Don took our last few days there off so we could do some other things.  We went to Snoqualmie Falls, Crystal Mountain again because I loved it when I went with Diana, we picked blueberries in Enumclaw, spent a few hours in Alki Beach, Gasworks Park, Bainbridge Island, Port Gamble, Poulsbo and other random things on our list.  The first time we came to Seattle with our friends, the Stangers, about three years ago, when Zach was doing his internship, we went up in the Space Needle but since then they totally renovated it and for most of the time we were there it was closed due to Covid but it re-opened right before we left so we got to check it out and it was awesome!  We love Seattle so much and were sad to leave it and our wonderful Seattle kids!  But we were excited to head to Pullman!  We ended up staying at the Residence Inn just across the street from Landon and Ashlin’s apartment.  We loved being in the Palouse and this time we got to see it during harvest time.  Nancy is obsessed by the Palouse in any season.  We haven’t seen it in the winter when the hills are all white and it looks like we won’t get to since this is the last year they will be there and we don’t have any plans to go this winter.  The first week we were there, Landon, was in Boise on a rotation but the last week we got to spend time with him on the weekend and evenings.  We took the kids mini golfing, went on a few picnics, went to the Farmer’s Market in Moscow, ID and got to check out other things on our Pullman list of things to do!  We are always adding to that list as well.  We have sure loved having this lovely place as a travel destination and will miss it when Landon is done with vet school.  We went on some fun walks through campus.  We love the WSU campus!  On one of our morning walks we ran into Landon as he was walking to his rotation on campus.  We also walked one morning through the U of I campus in Moscow.  We had some yummy meals with Landon and Ashlin and some fun entertainment by the kids and their pets.  We also got to watch the kids one night so Landon and Ashlin could go out on a date and Dora was Ashlin’s stylist as she got ready for the date!  Dora was so excited about it!  We were sad to leave them as we headed off to Lehi to spend ten days with Dalton and Sarah.  We got to stay in Dalton and Sarah’s guest room in their beautiful new condo.  On our first morning walk there, we ran into our friend, Sylvia, who had moved from our ward to Lehi and lives in the same huge complex that Dalton and Sarah live in (although they are in different wards).  While there Nancy and Sylvia went into SLC so Nancy could show Sylvia Orson Gygi, one of her favorite stores and they went to lunch.  Don and Nancy also met up with one of Nancy’s BFFs, Debbie and her new husband, Dave, for dinner one night in SLC (we ate outside).  We also had a belated birthday gathering for Sarah, with her family,  at the late Steven R. Covey’s home (Sarah’s sister is married to one of his grandsons and they are living there right now) and also went to dinner at a yummy restaurant called Traditions in SLC with Sarah’s parents to celebrate her graduation.  It’s the only time we’ve eaten inside a restaurant during Covid but we were the only ones in the restaurant.  We went on a hike at Tibble Fork Reservoir.  Don and Nancy went on quite a few walks along the Jordan River Trail.  Don helped Dalton do a few projects in their home.  Sarah and Nancy went to a book signing at a darling gift boutique in SLC called Jolley’s for a new cookbook by The Food Nanny (someone Nancy follows on Instagram) and to The Food Nanny warehouse, then on to “kitty shop” for Sarah’s new kitty at the humane society.   Dalton had given Sarah the go ahead to get a kitty for her birthday but didn’t want to be responsible for actually picking out the cat.  They went together after I went with her and found Jimmy and we got to be there when they brought him home. He’s a sweetie!  Most nights we just watched The Amazing Race with Dalton and Sarah!  Again, we were sad to leave but at this point we were actually looking forward to getting home although not looking forward to going back to the heat.  This was the hottest summer ever in AZ so we definitely picked the best summer to be away.  Almost every day on this trip Don would look up how many degrees cooler it was where we were!  It was usually 30 to 40 degrees cooler while in WA!  We were very grateful for the opportunity to beat the heat but also happy to be back home even though we drove into our driveway to see that one of our two new trees had died as well as a bunch of succulents.  Also, our queen palm in our backyard was toast!  Welcome home to AZ!

September – Nancy and Don’s sister Sheri both went to visit Don’s other sister, Joye, in West Jordan to help her out with a few things.  While she was gone, Don decided to go see his parents in St. George and celebrate his mom’s birthday.  

October – Don was grateful he visited his parents in September because in the middle of the month Don’s dad fell and injured both hips resulting in him having to have partial hip replacements in both hips.  Meanwhile, his mom was riding her bike in their senior community and a kid on a scooter ran into her resulting in her ankle breaking and her having to have surgery for that.  Those incidents in addition to their dementia issues and Don’s mom being a diabetic, necessitated 24 hour care for his mom while his dad was in the hospital for over three weeks and 24 hour care for both of them once he came home.  Most of the care was provided by Don’s youngest brother and his family as they are local.  But Don and his other three siblings have all taken a turn helping when they could. There have been multiple Zoom meetings with Don and his siblings and sometimes there has also been a wonderful social worker to help guide them through this heartbreaking process.    

November – At the beginning of the month Don and Nancy drove to St. George to take care of his mom for five days and then on to West Jordan to help with Don’s sister in West Jordan.  We got to stop by Dalton and Sarah’s as we were leaving West Jordan and heading to St. George one night on our way home.  They had takeout dinner waiting for us at their place and we got to have a quick dinner and see how Jimmy was doing!  We typically have our Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday before Thanksgiving but Landon and Ashlin’s flight didn’t get them in until late that night so we planned our gathering for the Monday before Thanksgiving so they could be with us.  On Monday afternoon, Jordan called to tell us that he had possibly been exposed a few days before so he and his family were uninvited (he drove by that evening and we safely handed him a big Thanksgiving takeout bag).  The rest of us ate outside spaced a good distance apart from each other and Don and Nancy took their orders, loaded their plates and served them.  We typically do our gatherings buffet style but not this year.  The plan was for Landon and Ashlin’s family to stay with us for a few days and then they were going to go to Ashlin’s family for Thanksgiving and the following weekend and then come back and stay with us for another week (which Nancy was really stressing about – them going to a possible “superspreader’ event and then coming back) BUT the next day Landon found out that he had possibly been exposed when picking up Ashlin’s siblings from the airport SO they packed up all their stuff and went to Ashlin’s parents’ home.  In hind sight we should have just told all the kids that we were not going to have any Brough gatherings for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year!  

December – Don and Nancy flew up to Las Vegas and drove to St. George at the beginning of the month for a few days to help move Don’s parents to an assisted living facility.  Of course, his parents are not happy about this but their children just cannot keep doing this rotation schedule and they will now have medical professionals 24/7 to take care of all their needs.  This has taken a toll on all of the kids and they all agree it is time to take this step.  It has been heartbreaking to watch his parents and his siblings go through this.   The only time that all of our kids and grandkids will all be in town at Christmastime is the night after Christmas at 6:00 PM so our plan is to cram ALL our Christmas traditions that we can into that evening.  Again, Nancy kind of wishes she would have just said no to any holiday gatherings because once again she is stressed out about families coming from other family gatherings and who knows who is exposed to what.  But as it stands those are the plans for now, albeit subject to change!  This month brought knowledge of a new extended family member that we are so excited to welcome into our clan.  The blessings that can come from DNA testing!  

OUR HOLIDAY GREETING

This year has been a doozy!  But we are so grateful for our testimony of a loving Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ who is the reason we celebrate this time of year.   We are also grateful for the knowledge that we have a living prophet on the earth, especially at troubling times like this.  We were blessed to have a very special message from him in November on our church’s youTube channel.  If you haven’t seen it just go to: youTube and search Church of Jesus Christ and then search Message of Hope and Healing President Russell M. Nelson.  He is a remarkable man of science AND faith and encourages us to find things to be grateful for even during these hard times.  He also offers a beautiful prayer in behalf of ALL of us, God’s children. We have been so grateful through this pandemic that even though we haven’t been able to meet for Sunday School or other church organization meetings that there was a new home based/church supported curriculum called “Come Follow Me” that had been in place for 18 months before the pandemic so we were prepared to continue studying the gospel on our own and it has been such a blessing throughout this year.   Our hearts have ached for those who have lost loved ones this year or have lost jobs and have had real challenges.  We pray for you each and every day.  We are grateful for all of you and pray that you can all remain safe as we go into the new year and that we can all remain hopeful that this pandemic will be over soon. 

Instagram:  @herdofbroughalo