August 2023 BGAC

This is the first installment of "The BGAC Family Monthly Newsletter". I will add more ACRONYMS as the family grows! Budge,Goodwin,Albright,Crystal! HAHAHA! I absolutely love our growing family! August 2023 has been a busy month, as usual, and as the summer comes to a close, I am so very grateful and thankful for family! Lauren is keeping busy with her job working for Morgan and Morgan (law firm) and I love how she keeps us in the loop about trending dangers(example: be careful cuz the floors at Walmart are very slick and you might fall and have to sue). She was nominated as agent of the month in June and we are SO proud of her and know she makes a difference in the lives of the less fortunate!

She went to a concert by the group GHOST in SLC and her videos reminded me a little bit about the movie EUROVISION with Will Farrell!!! This European style of music still relies heavily upon accoustic techno and I believe this plucks my "80's" roots and makes me want to dance! The EUROVISION contest in 2024 is in Sweden! Maybe we should go!!!May 2024!!! Hyatt is keeping busy with his new job in security. He also gives us pertinent information. Like, I am not going to the Walgreen's on the Las Vegas strip anytime soon(too many weirdos). There might also be a problem with the Home Depot close by there. Hyatt was almost run over by an angry customer. We pray for his safety daily and are glad he has a BPV(bullet-proof vest). Behind his tough exterior, though, we know Hyatt has a gentle heart. I am so grateful to have a son-in-law who outbests me as a "dog-magnet". Creatures seem to know he has a kind soul!

Syd had been busy caring for the lizards and Fluffy who has turned into a "grandma-baby". Makes me want to watch the show "Benjamin-Button" as there really is something to the fact people and creatures revert back to infantile conditions(pooping,eating and sleeping ALOT)as they age. This whole thing reminds me of an experience I had when I attended a triple farewell at our old ward. The hero of that ward, Annie Reynolds, was not able to attend as her brother had recently passed away. I took a minute to write her about the farewell and it does tie into this whole "aging" thing. "Dave and I went to the triple farewell Sunday at our old ward and I missed our old gang. Even with some of the weirdy stuff in that ward, there were some great times! It was fun kinda seeing wrinkles on everyone's faces even as they were probably noticing mine. A fear of aging and earthly mortality in general has always been in my quiver of phobias. When Bishop Freeman spoke, however, his aging face was luminous. The HG whispered to me in that moment that the aging process is part of being sanctified. Interesting, I never thought of it that way! Well, I hope your hens are luminous too! And as they age or lose feathers or lay less 🥚, maybe it's part of their sanctification process too! " Anyhow, I know you are all shocked by me getting off on a tangent...this one about aging(best part of ADD) but after Syd finishes caring for Grandma Fluffy she says she would like to revisit the working world. We recently read her patriarchal blessing and I forgot it talks about how she will be helpful to the disabled. She might be looking at a job where she can help others who have disabilities like herself! What a fantastic role model she will be!"

Alyssa is SO busy caring for her new cute celeb crush, Austin! He has many nicknames already, my favorite is "Austin-Pie". He is also learning to use his "lad hands". She is contemplating becoming a working mother, but might wait a few months as babies change SO quickly the first year and it's hard to miss any of the milestones!

Connor heads back to work at Amazon today. What a blessing it has been for him to have Paternity leave! I am serious when I say I have not seen many new fathers "outbest" Connor Albright. His problem-solving abilities fit naturally into his new role as a "dad"! Plus I am a sucker for any new dad that gets emotional in the delivery room. Austin's birth was an incredible moment!

Dani is SO busy!!! Her classes keep her hopping as does her RS calling in the ward. I love to see her cogs turning as she is studying the human body. Our bodies truly are a marvel of engineering! Her ward recently spent the day at Newport beach. They got up at 3 am and were back the same day! Red and toasty, but souls renewed by the ocean breeze! Dani landed on her 23 birthday platform nicely and celebrated with Val's 50 th celbration at grandma DeAnn's.

Jess is busy in the San Antonio mission and we love talking to her on Mondays! Even Austin seems to relish his face-time with aunt Jess! Jess and her companion have been helping Honduran sisters try to eke out a living by helping gather supplies for their small businesses in Honduras. A member of her stake spear-heads this activity. This and many other voluntary things the LDS church does remeinds me of the individual acts of service that might not be added to bank of charitable givings by the LDS church. Jess and her companion Sister McDonald are also teaching a mom (Diana Rodriguez) who has a special needs baby who recently had brain surgery. Jess says his tiny baby soul is so pure it sometimes moves her to tears. I love her letters and am sharing her spirtual thought.

 "Today I want to speak about the Savior and his atonement. I feel when people hear about the atonement they think it's a shameful thing to use it or that it's only for "major sins". However truth be told the atonement is not limited to major sins or just sin. When the savior fulfilled the atonement he didn't just suffer for our sins he suffered/ felt all our pains and afflictions. I know this to be true because I have seen it in my life and continue you to see it. Before, my mission I delt with some really heavy things it got to the point where I felt to weak to carry on, but in that moment I plead to my Savior and not long after I felt him succor me. He put someone in my life who helped me realize that I do deserve to be loved and to receive help from the savior. From then on I have seen the atonement help me become stronger and begin to heal. Even now on my mission I have had moments where I have felt weight and inadequacy, but through professional help, the guidance of the spirit, and the atonement of Jesus Christ I have began to overcome things I never imagined I could. Though it's still a bit hard I am growing to see myself more as the savior does and I am trying to view my hardships more of an opportunity to learn and grow. I am definitely not perfect at it but I know through the Savior ALL things are possible. I know this is true because I have already grown so much like if you compared me to who I am today to who I was two years ago you would notice a change. It is all thanks to the loving power of his atonement. I am not perfect and I never will be in this life but thanks to the atonement we have a chance to start new and continue to grow and progress. Thanks to Jesus Christ we can overcome sin and death."

Dad moved over to the "Ann" clinic and ,no surprise, that clinic has become busier. He says he is a dark cloud, but I think it is more than that! People will go where they are not a number. People will seek out Urgent care where the provider actually listens and performs a thorough physical assessment on a patient. It is a loss to the Centennial Hills clinic that they moved dad away. When people that frequent the Centennial Hills urgent care, that is close to CHIKFILA, realize they are just a number like combo #13, they will shake their chicken feathers away from sub-par care. I am grateful dad did not "cave" to the pressure to treat patients more like a number than as a human. Shame on his bosses, who I hope never to meet. Unless it is at Walmart,...where they might slip, or the Walgreens and Home Depot on the Las Vegas strip where they might be injured. Then, and only then, when they are a patient themselves, might they learn the lesson of "patient over profits". Bitter, yes I am! But proud of dad, I am most! Dad had his colonoscopy yesterday and they removed five polyps. We are crossing our fingers they come back benign just like mine did! In the meanwhile, we will see if his BUM is up for riding a bike today(break out the preparation H"!!!

I have been busy working and even picked up a shift at S. Hills! I have had a bad taste in my mouth against S. Hills since the pandemic and needed some time away. Last week, however, I felt like I should pick up a shift on Friday. It turned out to be a very busy shift and it was SO good to see people I had worked with for several years. I am trying to get better at letting things go(not easy for a person with OCD), but my life seems a lot more peaceful everytime I am able to let things from my past go. Covid is on the rise, though, so found I had to wear the N-95's again and wondered how in the heck I did that for 2 years!!!

Other big news of the month was a visit to Idaho for cousin Anna's wedding and the Las Vegas hurricane that wasn't !!!! Syd and I fly out to Reno this weekend for a disability conference and we are excited about that! Have a great rest of August! Love you all SO much!!!