OUR FAMILY: Monday, December 5, 2022: 7 am leave for valley, Infusion, J washes car inside & out, Costco, shop & lunch, Lois & Dawn, D&T's, Mesa Temple LIghts, Nativities, Dairy Queen

Kyiv, Ukraine

134th operating temple

Dedicated: 29 Aug 2010

By: Thomas S. Monson

Jesus Christ, Son of man

John 3:13

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Book of Mormon

Ether 3:17-28

"Come Follow Me"

Intro "Holiness to the Lord" and Haggai 1-2

OctGenCon

Let Doing Good Be Our Normal

Elder Rafael E. Pino

Of the Seventy

President Russell M. Nelson has said: "Today we often hear about a 'new normal.' If you really want to embrace a new normal, I invite you to turn your heart, mind, and soul increasingly to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Let that be your new normal" (A New Normal," Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020 118).

The Eternal Principle Of Love

Elder Hugo Montoya

Of the Seventy

When ministering was announced, President Russell M. Nelson said, "We will implement a newer, holier approach to caring for and ministering to others." To me, holier means more personal, deeper, more like the Savior's way: "Have love one to another," one by one.

It is not enough to avoid being a stumbling block for others; it is not enough to notice the needy on the road and pass by. Let us take advantage of every opportunity to help our neighbor, even if it is the first and only time we meet him or her in this life.

Today is my Nannie's birthday. She would be 117 years old. Happy Birthday Nannie.

At 7:00 this morning we left for the valley. We said our prayers and then had our scriptures, including a conference talk in the car while we were traveling. When we lost a connection we listened to David Archuletta Christmas songs.

We arrived at AARA a little after 10. I went in and I am so grateful I don't have to wear a mask. Frances took me right in. Nicole was the girl who drew my blood and Ang brought over the bag of Actemra. Around 11:15 someone came back to take me to a room to see Rona, one of my doctor's P.A.'s. I told her about all of my swellings in October and that I had been sick. I ask if the swelling was because of missing my infusion and she said: "It could be that or it could have been because of your infection. It is really hard to tell." Well so much for getting any answers.

While I was in Arizona Arthritis, James went to Cobblestone carwash and got the car cleaned inside and out. It looked so great! I haven't seen it this clean since it was new!

We drove across Country Club to Costco to spend our $153.70 rewards check. I thought we might have some left over for lunch but I should have known better. Here are some of the things we bought:

Two blankets, laundry detergent, toilet paper, supplements for James and peanut M&M's for me, and last of all, a set of Harry Potter books. I am reading a book called "Unlocking Harry Potter" and I want to read the books again. We went about $28 over the rewards check. We also went to the snack bar and we each got a piece of cheese pizza and a drink. The total was under $6.

While we were eating our pizza James called and talked to Dawn telling her we would like to come over for a visit, which we did.

Here are some pictures I took. I am sorry about the quality of some of the pictures. Dawn has three birds and I wanted to get a picture of all three of them on James but I didn't wait for the yellow focus square to disappear before I took the picture.

We had a nice visit with Lois and Dawn. We heard about how Gail's family came here for a family reunion at Thanksgiving. They were all supposed to come to dinner at Lois's but half of them got sick and didn't come. Also, Becca, Tim's wife, is expecting twins. She has to be at least 38 years old. Ryan had back surgery.

Stacy was going to come with us but since Joshua is sick and she is feeling a little sick she decided she better not come.

Lois is making candy this year for Christmas. We got to sample the nougats, peanut brittle and dipped chocolates. They were all delicious. She was a little upset with Rebecca who helped her dip the chocolates because she insisted on using dark chocolate instead of milk.

Paul, Lois's brother, is coming for Christmas. He will stay with Faye who is now living in an apartment in an assisted living home. She sold her house. June is in a home and she doesn't remember or recognize anyone, even Faye whom she was very close to.

Here are some more pictures I took:

A gladiola among the roses

We said our goodbyes and they sent us away with a container of peanut brittle. We dropped my temple dress and shoes off at Stacy's. She was on a Zoom call so Paul talked to us a few minutes before we left for Darrel and Trina's.

Trina and Rowan were just leaving. Rowan was going to get a haircut. Lola and Ruby were on the couch watching T.V. Ruby is sick and didn't go to school. Lola was eating a bag of chips as she was watching her show. Ruby got up and gave me a hug but I had to walk over to Lola and bend down to get a hug from her. She is going with us tonight to see the temple lights and so is Rowan.

James and I were exhausted so we went upstairs to Rowan's room to take a much needed nap. After our naps we got ready to go and we left around six for the temple, Lola and Rowan in the back seat. We were the first to arrive. I realized I left my phone in the car so James ran back to get it for me. He's my hero. Soon everyone else arrived. Here is what our group looked like.

That's Fernie by Michael and Kylee, Sheri's friend took the picture.

I was excited to meet Kylee and Fernie as I have heard so much about them. Kylee lives with Cathi and Terry and she loves them. She seems so fun. Sheri says she is a great cook and makes homemade chicken pot pie. I would love to try it. I wanted Kylee to be in the picture.

Fernie met Michael at work. She no longer works where he does. She works at a place that helps immigrant children who come over from Mexico without family. Her mother works there too. They help the children learn to integrate into society and find places for them to live. They look for relatives that could take them in. I was so impressed with her and what she does to help these children. Michael says she is extremely patient.

I wanted to take Rowan and Lola to the creamery to get some ice cream. No one else wanted to go so we said our goodbyes.

As we walked toward the creamery we passed the new visitors center. There was a display of international nativities and we went in to look at them. I am glad we did because it was so interesting and fun for both James and I and the kids. I texted Kim and Sheri and they were sad they missed it.

Lola's favorite

My favorite

Second picture of one of my favorites

By the time we got to the BYU Creamery, which is adjacent to the new Deseret Bookstore, it was so busy we didn't want to get in line and have to wait so we left. We went to a Dairy Queen close to Darrel & Trina's house. Rowan ordered for himself and Lola and Ruby. I had a mini cherry chocolate ice cream and James had some roasted chicken chunks. Ruby's ice cream was quite melted when we gave it to her. It has M&M's and chocolate fudge in the middle. We got to see Darrel a few minutes before we went to bed. We talked to him and Trina about coming back on the 22nd and also spending Christmas morning with them and going to church with them that morning. Trina is working so it will be Darrel and the kids. Addy will be home then too.

I went for a walk this evening while James was at Safeway getting some food for his breakfast. Darrel & Trina's neighborhood is really decorated. One of my favorite things is the tunnel of lights. I didn't get really good pictures but maybe you can get the idea.