Friday, September 25, 2015

Sheri's quote:

In Doctrine & Covenants 58:3-4, the Lord tells us:
"Ye cannot behold with you natural eyes, for the present time,
the design of your God concerning those things which shall come 
hereafter and the glory which shall follow after much
tribulation.  For after much tribulation come the blessings.
Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory."

James went to Mesa this morning to get an electric hot water heater for the new owners.  On the way back he picked up Adam so he could go get a bed that his bishop ordered for him at D.I.  When Adam returned I ask if he got his bed and he said no that they only had the frame and springs but no mattress.  He has to check back next week.  I took Adam home so James wouldn't have to.  Afterwards I went to get gas and to pick up my prescription for Tramadol at Walmart.  I forgot to deposit a check so I used my phone to deposit it when I got home.

I bought some wings for James for lunch while I went to lunch with Kim.  James picked up Alex at school for me so Kim and I could leave earlier.  We went to Zupas.

Kim and I both had the chicken tortilla soup 

and the pineapple macadamian salad with chicken.

I loved the salad!  I loved the soup too but I've had it before.

Trina, Rowan and Lola came over this evening so I could give Lola her minion hat.  Addy and Ruby were cheering at the Mountain View-Chandler football game.  

  Chandler won 47-14.  

She even has on overalls, just like the real minions.

I love this little girl!

Love the shoes!

A good picture of Trina

Lola loves to try to do Stacy's puzzles

I ordered some pizza for everyone.  Lola didn't eat hers but Rowan, Evan, Joshua, and Michael all had some.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Sheri's quote:

"We may not know when or how

the Lord's answers will be given,

but in His time and His way,

I testify His answers will come."

-Elder Robert D. Hales

 I am obsessed with tiny houses. I want James

to build one on our property so we can use it

for a guest house for the kids.

James makes an early morning run to Home Depot.  While he is gone Joel rings the doorbell before 7am and I don't know who it is so I don't answer.  Luckily James came home shortly after.

Some good news for Stacy's family.  All of her three older boys have jobs right now.  Adam is working at Go Daddy, an internet company, Jared Ammon just got a job with Progressive Insurance, and Dallin is working at the new Kneader's on Alma School and Queen Creek. 

James put in GFI plugs in the kitchen and bathrooms and had Joel do one outside.  He and Joel put a railing for the top part of the stairs going to the basement.  He also got another estimate for the roof and for the termite treatment.  

He picked up lunch for us at Jersey Mike's.

 James had a turkey bacon and of course I had 

Mike's Special.

This afternoon we read from "The Baron's Honourable Daughter" and took a nap.  I paid bills and worked on my blog.  I was once 25 days behind and I am gradually catching up by doing two blog posts everyday.  James worked on taxes.  I am glad he hired Joel to come and help with the house, because getting the tax information done and in to our accountant, Rick Oliver, is critical.

Joshua had homework tonight.  He had to write an essay explaining to his dad why he didn't get his bedroom cleaned.  He said Michael made him do all of his chores, including alphabetizing the cereal.

While Joshua was writing his essay Evan wrote a four page

story based on Jurassic World.  He handwriting is so neat and although he was using unlined paper his lines were completely straight.

Amazing!

We went through the drive-thru at Del Taco for dinner.  I had two of the double stuffed tacos.  I think I like them better than Taco Bell's but I definitely like Taco Bell's sauce better.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

We left for Chandler at 6:37am.  Before we leave James fixes both of us toast and oatmeal for breakfast.  There is lots of mud on the road from all the rain we have had the last couple of days.  We always hate to leave Vernon.  

Sheri's quote:

President Joseph Fielding Smith said, "If we fully appreciated the many blessings which are ours through the redemption made for us, there is nothing that the Lord could ask of us that we would not anxiously and willingly do."

Weston Hall and his parents, Ron and Denice.

Weston checked in to the MTC in Provo today.

The journey has begun.  I know he will be a great missionary because he has a great attitude!

James and I stopped at Burger House in Miami.  He got a green chili mixed burro and I got a Tony's Special green breakfast burro.  Since we don't eat in the car we saved our burros to eat at the roadside stop in Superior.  It was a nice day for a picnic.

Since we had two breakfasts we skipped lunch and went to dinner at Oreganos.  James got a thin crust pizza with basil, onions and mushrooms, and I got my Vino Bambino salad.

Thin crust pizza is the best!

This is the small salad and I always have to take

half of it at home.  

I picked up Ben and a new boy in the ward, Daxton, from Hamilton High today.  Sheri had to work late because Nancy is off watching grandkids.  He son and his wife have a new baby.  Congratulations!

James and I also took Alex to Mutual.  Alex is on the right track and says he is going on a mission.  I am so proud of him and the choices he is making right now.

Stacy is pretty fragile right now.  She is struggling in several areas of her life and now she has to tell Paul she was "let go" at her job.  We talked for awhile, so she knows I do care.  We watched "SYTYCD" for awhile together.  Gabby is my favorite and she ends up winning the competition. 

In other news, Alex helps Joe move out and Seth says he doesn't believe in God.  Satan is running rampant right now.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Apostle Richard G. Scott passed away today.

He was 86 years old.

"Recognize the good in others,
not their stains."
-Richard G. Scott

James calls elk out on the porch every morning and every evening.

I think this group is onto him because they aren't responding.

James went with me today to visit two of the sisters on my visiting teaching beat.  These were the handouts I gave for the lesson on the divine attributes of Jesus Christ, power and glory.

The quote says:

"The Savior uses His Power to Redeem

and Empower us.  Our Faith in Him will increase as

we Remember that He is full of Power an Grace."

This quote is attached to a small Book of Mormon.  I told the sisters that I feel like I get power from reading about the Savior in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon.

We left the house around 9am.  Our first visit was with Elida Pope.  The Pope's live further away from the ward building than any other family in the ward.  We met Elida at the second well on Stanford Rd.  It is 14 miles from the Stanford store to Elida's house, mostly all on dirt roads.  Her house is actually closer to Taylor than it is to Vernon, but there are no roads going into Taylor from where she lives.

 On the road to the Pope's

The Pope's home.  They have solar energy

and a generator and their own well.

I told Elida she was truly a pioneer.  She also home

schools her little boy Ethan.  She has three boys but

Eli and Edmund aren't in school yet.

I had a nice visit with Elida.  I was impressed with how soft-spoken she was with her kids.  She is a convert and she says her husband Eric introduced her to the gospel.  They served in the military together.  She just returned from a trip to her home state, Florida, for her great grandmother's funeral.  She said she was glad to get home and loves the peace and quiet which surrounds her at home.

After our visit with Elida we headed back to the well where we met her and turned to go to visit Hailey Chafin at the Chafin ranch.  

The Chafin's have no electricity.  They have solar power

and a generator and their own well.

Hailey had her baby Huntley Nicole with her.  Her baby has more hair than any baby I've ever seen and it is black and sticks straight up in the air.  Sorry I didn't get a picture.  

We figured we traveled about 60 miles round trip to visit with these two sisters.  I just hope I can make it when it snows.

After our visit with Hailey we headed into Show Low.  We wanted to have lunch at LaCasita but there was no place to park, so we went on down the road to Grumpy Jake's BBQ.  I had the pulled pork sandwich with a side of cowboy beans.  It was all very tasty!  Kyle Thomas, a member of our ward when James was the bishop in Chandler, was in the booth right behind us.  He is a dentist and lives up here now.  

We drove on to the Lakeside Cemetery to check on the mums on my Mom's grave.

They are blooming because of all the rain.

James checking to see if the soil is wet.

On the way home we stopped at Walmart for a little shopping.  When we got home we took a nap and watched a Hallmark movie.

I also worked on my blog and did some cleaning.  James worked on income taxes.  When we went to bed, it started to rain.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Vernon friends: Lynda Tanner, Sean Hunsaker
and Lorraine Vaught

"Your beliefs don't make

you a better person,

your behavior does."

I wanted to go on a Razr ride this morning but when we went out to the garage I noticed that one of the back tires was flat.  We went out on the porch instead.  While I read, James clipped and painted my toenails.  He's a keeper!

Bishop Miller's wife Ann gave birth to a baby boy this morning:

 They named him Uriah Ellis Miller

Bishop's mother Debbie holding Uriah

while big sister Andyn looks on.

Andyn and Uriah

Katherine and Uriah

Hyrum and Uriah

Congratulations to the Miller family!

It rained most all afternoon and into the night.  James got a text and a picture from Paul of Oregon.  His wife Janelle got her elk.

 Janelle and her elk

Here is the elk she originally wanted but missed.  Someone else got him.

He's a big one!

I think both of these elk were shot near Nutrioso.

Paul asked James if he wanted some salmon that they caught in Oregon.  Of course he does!  We met Paul on the highway between here and Springerville.  James stood out in the rain and talked to him for several minutes.  I hope he doesn't get sick.  Thanks for the salmon Paul.

James worked on income taxes most of the afternoon.  He has to have four years of taxes done before October 15th.  I worked on my blog and paid some bills and then we watched two Hallmark movies.  One was about two people who get heart transplants from a couple who were killed in a car crash and left behind a little girl.  Of course they fall in love and are drawn to the little girl.  They get married and become like parents to the little girl.  It never says they adopt her, but I am hoping they did.  I am not sure if this was based on a true story or not.  

The other movie was a Garage Sale Mystery: All That Glitters, starring Lori Laughlin.  

 This is a picture of Sister McAfee, the Primary 

chorister in the Galveston 3rd ward.  They just

realigned ward boundaries in the Chandler West stake 

and now, just before the Primary program, she

was put in the Pleasant 1st ward.  The Galveston 3rd ward lost 

several of their children and their Primary chorister.

So very sad.

The kids loved her!

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Weston and Trenda

Today was Weston Hall's missionary farewell.  He will be serving in the same mission his dad served in, the Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission.  He brother Kendall is in Argentina right now serving in another mission.  

Weston said there were two things that helped him prepare for his mission.  One was scuba diving into the Book of Mormon instead of just swimming.  He said Jacob 1:18-19 was especially meaningful to him.  The other thing that helped him was attending missionary prep.  

Weston is a very friendly guy and I think he will be an outstanding missionary.

Weston said that one of the things in his life that he was the most grateful for was his mom.  He said that without her he probably wouldn't be going on a mission.  It was a nice tribute.

Shelly Applegate was the youth speaker and she spoke on self-esteem and did a great job.  Shelly is one of my favorite young women.
Elder White, one of our missionaries, spoke on service, and Bishop Miller finished up the meeting.  I am excited for Weston and his family.  He will be missed here in Vernon though.
Today in our Primary class we talked about the apostle Peter and his testimony.  I gave the kids this handout on the five points of a testimony:

I had to make it bigger because it was so blurry.

I encouraged the children to include these five elements when they bore their testimonies and I asked Braylin if he would come prepared to bear his testimony next week in class.

These were the children who attended class today: Zemira, Braylin, Jolee, Kasey, and Ashten.  

After the block John Wilhelm invited James and I into the bishops office.  His father, Mel Wilhelm, who is the ward Sunday School president, was in the bishop's office waiting for us.  John issued the call for James to be a Sunday School teacher and at this time be assigned to the Gospel Doctrine class.  James said he would be glad to accept the call as long as he had a voice.  He did say he was a little intimidated because he had never taught adults before.  I am just sad that I won't be able to attend his lessons because I will be in Primary.

James came home and made us this for lunch:

 A chili dog with onions and a salad.

Jared had a date with Camie Burgi last night in Gilbert.  They went to watch her son perform at a coffee house.  He is the lead singer in a rock band. Today he is flying home to El Paso.  Camie invited him to her house for lunch.  Camie sent me this picture and message:

"Jared came over for dinner.  We wish you and James were here."

I sent this message back:

"You two look like you belong together.  We wish we were there too!"

This afternoon we had a visit from our new home teachers, Dave Westbrook, and Austin Carroll.  It was a nice visit.  Dave is our age, and Austin is Maddie's older brother.  He is probably in his early 20's.  

When our home teacher's left we read our scriptures and from our book, "The Baron's Honourable Daughter."  Afterwards we went on a Razr ride.  Of course James blew his elk call but we didn't see any bulls, only a cow and a calf. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures.

We came home from our ride and watched a Hallmark movie.

The Galveston 3rd ward in Chandler has a new bishopric.  The bishop is Eric Wanlass and his counselors are Brother Allen who was in the old bishopric, and Mike Ellsworth.  There was also a boundary change and the ward lost several families to the Pleasant 1st ward, including: The McCook's, Max was sad because his best friend is one of the McCook boys, Brennan and Laurie Ray, Bishop Lewis, and Sister McAfee.

Church friends, Lynda Tanner, Sean Hunsaker, and Lorraine Vaught.

Sister McAfee and her fans

Sister McAfee was the Primary chorister in the Galveston 3rd ward.

She is now in the Pleasant 1st ward and the Galveston 3rd ward has no chorister for their upcoming Primary Program.

These girls made it back to the south rim today.  It wasn't easy, but they did it!  Trystin hurt her knee and had to take the shuttle.

It looks like Sheri is smiling, 

but she's really just gritting her teeth.

 

Saturday, September 19, 2015

I love the Prince, Mr. Kit!

I didn't get a quote from Sheri this morning.  I guess she's too busy hiking the Grand Canyon.

 I got up at 4:30 this morning so I could take Alex and Ben to the Allen's house.  They are going to do baptisms for the dead with the other young men in their ward.  The streets were dark and quiet until we turned onto Brother Allen's street and it was filled with young men in white shirt and ties.  It was a sight to behold on an early Saturday morning!

Joshua, Evan, and Rowan were awake before 7am.  Stacy told them if they woke up before 8 to try and go back to sleep.  I could see it wasn't going to happen, so at 7:40 I left with them to go to breakfast at IHOP.  

Evan and Rowan checking out Joshua's artwork.

Rowan ordered a chocolate pancake with chocolate chips

and a whipped cream smiley face.

Oh yes, that side of bacon belongs to Rowan too.

Stacy said Joshua would be tired if he got up before 8 

and I think she was right.

 Evan ordered two pancakes, a side of hashbrowns,

and he drank two glasses of orange juice.  He is the only

one that qualifies for the "clean plate club."

I think Rowan is caught in a "sugar fog."

Joshua ate his bacon and silver dollar pancakes and just a

couple bites of his eggs.

At 9:30 we had a meeting with our realtor, Jen MacLay to go over the inspection report. It was a looong list of things that needed to be done.

James seems a little overwhelmed.

Seth and Adam were carrying heavy things up from downstairs and loading them in James's trailer.  They finished and then waited around for James to finish his meeting so Adam could get paid.

Adam carrying my old suitcase from my college days and

pulling an empty dolley.

Seth carrying a drink.

Stacy took the boys to team pictures while we finished our meeting with Jen.  She took my car since Michael had left to go to a cross country meet in the Montero. 

James and I had a few minutes after the meeting with Jen so we went in our bedroom to read scriptures.  Someone knocked on the door.  When I opened it I was surprised to see Jared standing there! I squealed and gave him a big hug.  We got to visit with him for just a few minutes before leaving for the boys soccer game.  

We stopped by Sonic for a diet cherry coke and James also got a New York dog which has saurkraut and onions.  I told him Stacy was going to be upset  that she made her car smell funky.  When we got to Discovery Park he aired out the car and got rid of the trash.  He said: "She will never know."  "Wrong!" As soon as she got in the car she called me and said: "Did dad go to Whataburger?"  I had to tell her it was worse than that.  Both her and Kim are just  like me, they have blood hound noses.

Our team is the green team.  Sad that none of

my grandsons are in this picture,

 or this one.

Our boys lost 0-5.

The Three Musketeers:
Rowan, Evan, and Joshua

After the game we took the three boys to get something to eat.  Rowan wanted Chikfila and the other boys wanted In-N-Out Burgers.  They were getting a little fidgety waiting in two drive-thrus, so I started asking them questions.  My first question was: What is your favorite animal: Evan said either a fox or an Artic fox, Rowan's was a long finned Maco shark ( or a hammerhead), and Joshua's favorite animals are bats.  I asked where they would like to live if they could live anywhere.  Joshua said Oregon, and both Rowan and Evan said Australia.  Where would they like to serve their mission: Joshua said England because that's where his aunt Tara lives.  Of course Evan and Rowan both said Australia.  There were more questions but I can't remember them right now.  Every time I would stop for a minute Rowan would say:  "Ask us some more questions."  It was a fun way to get to know more about my grandsons and it stopped them from pinching and fidgeting in the backseat.

When we get back to the house the boys gather up their stuff and they all go do to Evan's to play for awhile.  It was time for me to get ready to go back to Vernon.  I went to Sam's Club to get gas and some candy for my Primary class.  Regular gas is $1.99.  That is the cheapest that I've seen it for awhile.  

The plan was for me to drive my car and for James to drive the truck, pulling the trailer.  When I got back from Sam's Club James said he had decided he wanted to go with me.  I was excited!  He drove and I read to him.  

When we get to Vernon it's raining very hard.  After we get settled in we watch the Garage Sale Mystery, The Wedding Dress.  I had already seen it but I wanted James to see it too.  Time for bed.

This just in from the Grand Canyon:

Tristyn, Lexi, Trina, and Sheri

Sheri posted on Facebook:  "I can do hard things, and I have to do it again tomorrow.  I'm so thankful for such strong, inspiring women who encourage me to try hard things.  This was the hardest thing I have done in my life, but also the best." #canyongirlsforlife