Sunday, January 22, 2017

The Manti temple

1 Nephi 16:1-16

*Why do the "wicked take the truth to be hard?'

*When Heavenly Father has asked you to go into your own personal "wilderness" what gifts has He given you to help you succeed?

2 Nephi 15:13-18

DC 10:54-70

So many great verses in today's reading.  Which ones spoke to me?

GC: "The Blessings of Worship" by Bishop Dean M. Davies

'When we worship God, we approach Him with reverent love, humility, and adoration.  We acknowledge and accept Him as our

sovereign King, the Creator of the universe, our beloved and infinitely loving Father.  We respect and revere Him.

We submit ourselves to Him.  We lift our hearts in mighty 

prayer, cherish His word, rejoice in His grace, and commit to follow Him with dedicated loyalty.  Worshipping God

is such an essential element in the life of a disciple of 

Jesus Christ that if we fail to receive Him in our hearts,

we will seek for Him in vain in our councils, churches,

and temples.'

I got up at seven to do a little studying.  Molly was up too.  Jared texted and said the other kids need to be up by nine.  Church is at eleven.  

I had pizza for breakfast and some Dr. Pepper 10.  I am such a health nut.  James also made Molly and I some Starbucks hot chocolate.

The umbrella was from last nights Bahama Bucks.

Not sure why the sour face.

James got the older kids up while Molly and Emmy both got themselves ready to go.  Molly was an angel this morning!  It was a pleasure to be with her.  Even when Emmy got upset with her for taking the case off their phone, she didn't get upset.  She just tried to explain to Emmy that it was hard for her to push the buttons when the case was on.  Very impressed!

Someone posted this on Facebook regarding the women's protest marches this past week.

Yes!

I took a short little rest.  Kacey's bedroom is grand central when it is time to get ready to go somewhere.  

We had to make two trips to the church to get everyone there in our car.  Thank goodness the church is so close.  We could probably have walked but it was way too windy!

We met Kacey and Jared at church and as soon as Molly saw them, I was no longer her sidekick.  It's okay.  I understand.  I sat by Anna who sat next to Summer during sacrament meeting.  

James and I stayed until after Sunday School and then we said goodbye to Kacey and Jared.  The kids were in classes.  Jared gave James two books for his birthday.  

The "Boys in the Boat" will be the next book

James and I read together.

We packed, changed our clothes and had a little something to eat.  James also made us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the road so we would not have to stop for food on the way home.  Of course we will have to stop for gas.

Grandpa and Anna's birthday cake.

Jared had planned a little party for Anna and Grandpa this afternoon but we needed to get an early start.  We were sorry to have missed it.  I did steal a piece of cake before leaving.  (I asked Jared first!)

We are so grateful that our car is running so well after the scare we had Friday night.  We said a prayer and were on our way.  We made good time going 80 mph.  We gained an hour going back to El Paso and were there by 9 pm.  It feels like home again.  We had some stew and finished reading "Without a Word."  

I left James's birthday present in San Antonio.  Kacey said they would mail it for me tomorrow.  It's a photo stick to back up all of his photos that are on his computer.  I was surprised to see his is 128 GB while mine is only 64 GB.

Fun Photos

The Matterhorn.  Disney did a pretty good job of duplicating this!

Bighorn sheep

January 2016 Photos

Lola

Dawn, Carmen, and Rebecca

Evan hanging out on the couch.

All of his brothers are on a campout.

Such an awesome kid!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

 Happy Halloween everyone!

The low this morning was 21 degrees, but at least there isn't any wind.

I love this quote by President Hunter.

I have discovered the Mormon Channel app for my phone thanks to my friend Karen Schneider.  Today I listened to an interview and song by Brooke White.  I also heard a story about a little boy names Ryan who is helping to raise money to build wells in Africa.  He started the project when he was 6 years old. Wow!

James had an appointment in town at 10 am today with someone concerning the Horne job.  I didn't go because I felt like I had too many things to do to get ready for our Young Women's Book of Mormon breakfast on Saturday.  Also I set a goal at the beginning of October to index 200 names and as of this morning I still had 67 to go.  I did finish!  I worked on a Maine cemetery project which was fun because the names were type writeen and therefore very legible!

James and I continue to read the Book of Mormon, a conference talk everyday, and we are re-reading Victoria Holt's "The Mistress of Mellyn."  When I was a teenager my grandma Strickland, Nannie, let me read her copy of The Mistress of Mellyn.  She is the one that got me started on Victoria Holt's books.  What do I like about them?  There is always a mystery to solve, some romance, which isn't too racy, and usually an old English manor to explore.  The Mistress of Mellyn contains all of these elements!

Max is learning how to cook.  This week he helped his mom make baked ziti for dinner.

Master Chef Jr. here he comes!

Guess who learned to ride a two wheel bike?

It's Miss Ruby!!

Since it's Halloween I wanted to post some Halloween pictures.

James and I took the left over candy from last night's Mutual 

activity to the Vernon Park where the Vernon School

was having a carnival.  While there we saw this monster:

Colter Hunsaker

Some more Halloween characters:

Michael the Fat Man, can dance!

 Halloween in El Paso.

Trick or Treaters,

Joshua, Evan, and Max.

Joe and friends, Carter and Cash.

 Max and Addy at the ward Trunk or Treat.
Max is a businessman and Addy is an angel. (She really is!!)

Friday, January 18, 2013

We were late leaving this morning, 6 instead of 5, because I decided to order my Xoom tablet online and it took longer than I expected.  James was very patient with me. Texas here we come!

This is going to be a slow trip because we are pulling a trailer filled with pieces of a swingset.  Our first stop is at the Walmart in Silver City, New Mexico.  I needed to get some batteries and kleenex.  I must say it was one of the nicest Walmart's I have ever been to.  The shelves were full, it was clean, and it wasn't crowded.  There was a Subway inside so I got James and I a breakfast sandwich to share.

Our next stop was in Demming for a short visit with James's Dad.  He always wants to meet us at Denny's.  Since we had already eaten we met in the parking lot.

James and his Dad.

George is quite feeble.  He says that the "bushes" James gave him in December saved his life.  They are soldier berry bushes that grow around Vernon.  George uses them to make tea.  If you need any further details you will need to talk to George.

Next stop was for gas and then on to Jared & Tricia's.  The kids were all there to greet us when we arrived.

I brought Anna and Emmy each one of my porcelain dolls.  Anna has had her eye on Snow White for several years now.  Emmy chose Jill from the Jack & Jill set so she got Jack as an added bonus.  Molly did not feel left out because she says she already has a doll.

Molly with her gumballs.

We got Anna a few small gifts which she opened.  A light desk with patterns to trace, a manicure set, and a small notebook to write and draw in.  

Since Jared was at work James and Tricia helped James unload the trailer.  James and Tricia had to make a trip to Home Depot for replacement parts

This evening we all went to Golden Corral for Anna's birthday dinner.  The best story of the evening is about Anna and Molly.  Molly refused to eat so Anna took her through the line and let her pick whatever she wanted.  She picked some broccoli and other assorted veggies which Anna proceeded to feed her.  Molly was so happy because now she could get dessert.  Thank you Anna for making Molly so happy!

The Birthday Girl.

Molly reading a book with me.

In spite of the look on Anna's face she really did love

Golden Corral.

Anna feeding Molly her veggies.

 Dessert #1.

One bite.  She doesn't like the ice cream.

Vanilla ice cream cone.  

Much better than peach flavored.

Ice cream beard.

Cotton candy on the way out the door.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

I left for El Paso this morning at 6:50.  I arrived, after 3 stops, at 1:30.  I stopped at Allison Schobe's to pick up Molly.  Allison is from Arizona.  She lived in Holbrook and was born in Snowflake.  Molly was asleep but was excited to see me when we woke her up.  We went home and had hot dogs for lunch then we watched Toy Story 2.  Molly proceeds to climb on top of me and says: "Let's snuggle."  Love this girl!

Later she decides she wants to read one of her favorite books, Pie for Piglets.  While she is turning the pages she accidentally rips one of the pages and says: "It's ok it's just a library book."

Later after the kids get home from school Molly is doing a cheer for me and Emmy is singing the 50 states song.  It's confusing and Molly ends her cheer with "Utah Washing Away."  (Utah, Washington, Wyoming from the states song.)

James loves to play the piano.  While he plays "Carol of the Bells" Molly and I dance.  We are the dancing Christmas fairies.  Molly runs her fingers through my hair, pats it and says: "Your hair's pretty Grandma, but you're not."  Ouch!  We also watched Brave, and part of Kung Fu Panda 2.

Now Emmy is singing the president's song.  She had a list of the presidents and we discovered that Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and the 24th president.  Emmy says: "I'm going to tell my teacher that there are only 43 presidents instead of 44."

Later, after dinner which was brought by a member of their ward, we had an ice cream party.  Anna wasn't with us because she went to volleyball tryouts.  Here are some pictures.

I love the look on Molly's face.

James loves going shirtless at home.

Monday, May 14, 2012

James, Dave, Laura and I left at 5 am for Texas.  We drove to Demming and had lunch at Denny's with James and Dave's Dad, George.  I am sorry I didn't take a picture.  We drove through El Paso and thought about Jared and Tricia living here.  I told Jared they should live in Las Cruces, New Mexico because it was much prettier and only 40 miles away.  Our next stop was in Van Horn, Texas where we spent the night at the Motel 6.  All I can say is there was no wasted space in that room or the bathroom.  James has felt miserable the entire trip.  His shoulder is really bothering him.  Laura and I went shopping at one of the only two stores in town, The Dollar Store.  I got all of the things I needed including dark chocolate for James.  We had dinner at the Subway, went back to the hotel and went to bed.  This town has one main road and many of the businesses have closed down.  It's a dying town.