One amazing weekend.

I feel this great need to record the major events that happened this last weekend.  As of today (Monday), Casey and I are still shaking our heads, wondering if everything that occurred over the last 2 days was real, or just a dream.  I needed a place to record my thoughts and this blog seems the best place.

It all started with  my parents' arrival on Thursday night.  They took Allison out to dinner on Friday...to celebrate her baptism.  She (of course) went to Hometown Buffet...which perhaps is one of our least favorite places to eat in town but she loves it!

On Saturday, we scrambled to get everyone ready for the baptism which was at 11.  Our nerves were on high alert however, for a different reason.  Casey had been asked to attend a 5 minute face to face interview with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland 20 minutes before the baptism started.  Elder Holland was in town to re-organize our Stake presidency and the interviews were the first phase of the process of finding the next President.

Because he knew he would be scrambling to get from that interview, into his whites, and then to the baptism, we got Casey and Allison dressed early for some pictures in our front yard.  Allison has been so excited for this day!

Can you see the nerves on Casey's face?

This beautiful baptismal dress has been worn by all of the Westover girls...Allison's aunts (Charlotte, Maria, and Andie) as well as every single female cousin on the Westover side (of which there are many).  We have had this dress in our possession for a while because we were the last ones to have girls.  Lydia will get to wear it in 3 years...and then...I guess we start passing it along to another generation?

After pictures, we gave Allison a few gifts...including a set of her own scriptures and a necklace and baptism book from her grandparents.  Grandma Walburger gave her a new CTR ring.  She felt so loved!

Finally, we nervously made our way to the Stake center.  Casey immediately went to his interview while Allison got re-dressed in her gown.  We took a few pictures before the baptism.

We were Soooo blessed to have my parents here this weekend!  It's almost like the Lord planned it that way!

Casey finally re-emerged...looking very relieved and relaxed.  The baptism was great!  There were 5 kids getting baptized so it was crowded but there was a lot of love in the room.  Afterwards, we gathered at our house for a little family luncheon (soup, sandwiches, and brownie sundaes).

Here is were things started to get crazy.  After cleaning up and saying goodbye to everyone, we sent the kids out to the hot tub and we were lounging in the family room with my parents, talking about how relieved Casey was that the phone had not rung.  It was already 2:00 and we figured that by now, if someone from the stake was going to call, they would have done it.  Not 5 minutes later, the phone rang.  Casey turned white as a sheet.  As he read the caller ID, he turned even whiter.  President Lewis was on the phone, requesting our presence at the Stake offices to meet with Elder Holland.  I almost burst into tears and declared that I had no desire to meet Elder Holland and would just stay home.  Of course, we knew I couldn't bail out now, so sick to our stomachs, we took the VERY LONG drive to the Stake Center.  (Casey insisted on giving a homeless guy on the side of the road some money...in the hopes that it would bring him good karma.)  When we got to the Stake Center, no one was there.  The waiting area was empty so we were left to sit until some one came out to get us.  After a few minutes, we heard a booming voice from inside the Stake President's office saying, "send the Westover's in!"  Yep, it was Elder Holland.  I just about died.

Thankfully, sitting at the Stake president's desk was Bishop Ennis...the current Bishop of the Springfield 2nd ward.  Casey gave him a hearty handshake and declared that he was so very glad to see him sitting there in that seat.  Elder Holland sat us down, gave him a worthiness interview and then asked Casey to serve as a counselor in the new Stake presidency.  Being so very relieved it was not the Stake President calling, Casey enthusiastically said "yes."

I had to say goodbye to Casey and I went home to tell the family.  There were tears on the part of my mom (of course) and confusion on the part of my little ones.  Didn't they just get their daddy home a few months ago from being Bishop for five years?  Would this mean he would be gone as much as he was then?  We talked a little bit about sacrifice and what we have to sometimes give up when we serve the Lord.  I think they are okay with it...and we are so very grateful that we got nine glorious months of "normal" with a husband and father to sit with at church and to be home almost every night.  Now, the "game face" comes back on and we get right back into the same kind of schedule that our family had for five years.

The next day was amazing and crazy and glorious, and exhausting.  First, we got to meet with Elder Holland for over an hour.  (just the three men and their wives) He talked to us about tending to our marriages and putting our relationship first, above all else.  He told us a few heartfelt stories from the early days of his marriage and some of the things he wished he would have done differently.

After the meeting, we went out to a VERY crowded chapel and gym to find our family.  When the time finally came for Casey to take his place up on the stand, I was so proud of him.  He didn't seem nervous at all when he bore his testimony...even though an apostle was sitting right behind him.

Following the meeting (and after a final hour of enduring restless children rolling all over the ground, pinching each other and complaining about being hungry) we went to the Relief Society room for the setting apart.  There, the kids got to meet Elder Holland and shake his hand.  He talked to the families (mostly the children) about sacrifice and supporting their fathers and grandfathers.  Despite having been pretty ornery during the last hour of the conference, the kids did pretty well in this intimate setting.  (perhaps it was because an apostle was sitting just a few feet from them).  Elder Holland personally set Casey apart in this new calling.  It was perhaps one of the greatest moments in either of our lives!

We are home now, and pondering all of the events of the weekend.  We feel overwhelmed to say the least but we are still basking in the sweet spirit that we felt over the last 2 days.  I hope that that sweet spirit can stay with me as we get back to the hectic schedule that we have come to know so well.  (This Sunday he has 13 hours worth of meetings.)