Albuquerque Hobbs: Late January 26-February 3, 2019: Utah & Idaho trips and Mario's Baptism!

January 26th-28th: We drove up to Salt Lake City Utah to see Jared and his family before Milo's baptism. We got there on Saturday, January 26th and stayed just overnight so we could drive up to Idaho that week to visit Mike's side of the family before returning to SLC to attend Milo's baptism.

Our first evening at Jared and Jenny's house, we enjoyed a wonderful gourmet meal prepared by Jenny that included grilled beef and roasted potatoes--yum! We played games and had a fun visit.

The following day was Sunday, and we went to church with Jared's family in their historic Garden Park ward building. After church, their bishopric came over to the house to ordain Mario to the Aaronic Priesthood! He was so excited, and his Grandpa Mike was happy to be a part of that wonderful experience.

After a brief stay with Jared's family, we drove up to Pocatello Idaho to visit Mike's oldest brother Dan and his wife Tammy and stayed overnight with them. They had returned from their Phillipines mission earlier in the year, and we were anxious to see them again. We went to see the new Pocatello Idaho Temple sight with them, ate at Freddy's together, played games in their kitchen, and enjoyed breakfast in their home before heading to Idaho Falls to stay with Mike's mom, Joy Hobbs, for a few days. We love Dan and Tam and their family!

In Idaho Falls, we spent most of our time with Joy, and we also had a nice visit with Mike's brother Steve and his wife Linda. It was fun to meet their granddaughter Neveah too, who is their daughter Kelsey's baby. I'm disappointed that we didn't take any pictures of Joy. We took her out for lunch at Chile's, played games with her, took her shopping, and made a nice dinner for her and her girlfriends. She is slowing down, but she still keeps up her gorgeous flower gardens, attends her line dancing class, and stays socially active.

When we returned to SLC from our Idaho trip, Mike and Jared's family went to Brighton Ski Resort on Friday, February 1st. I stayed in the ski lodge and watched out the windows and hung out with Mario and Milo when they got tired. I love those darling boys! We went out for Asian food after everyone had enough skiing for the day.

Very early Saturday morning, Mario was excited to go to the temple for the first time to perform proxy baptisms, and we were all happy that Grandpa Mike could go with him!

Later that morning we were thrilled to attend Milo's baptism. I gave the talk on "Baptism," and Jenny gave the talk on "The Holy Ghost." Then the boys sang a song with other Primary boys from their ward. Milo had a lot of family that came to his baptism from Idaho and Utah, including Dan and Tammy Hobbs from Pocatello ID; their daughter Angie Hoffman and her two sons from SLC; Jennifer Loch and her two daughters from Eagle Mountain UT; and me and Mike from NM.

We all went out to Crown Burgers for lunch following the baptism. It was fun to see everyone and to feel their love and support for Milo's decision to be baptized. We are so proud of Milo (and Mario) for choosing to follow their Savior Jesus Christ and become his disciples and members of His church. I know that the Gospel in their home and in their personal lives will bring great peace and happiness to each of them and to their parents.