Tuesday, June 11th, 2019

Portland, Oregon

42nd operating temple

Dedicated: 19 Aug 1989

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Exemplar

Mark 8:34
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Book of Mormon

Alma 14:6-22

New Testament "Not as I Will, but As Thou Wilt"

Mark 26:20-25 Mark 14:17-21 Luke 22:21-30

General Conference

Hearing His Voice

David P. Homer

"Mountain climbers commonly refer to altitudes above 8,000 meters as the 'death zone' because at those heights there is not enough oxygen to sustain life. There is a spiritual equivalent to the death zone. If we spend too much time in faithless places, seemingly well-intended voices deprive us of the spiritual oxygen we need."

Shipped the book "Room" which we sold merchant fulfilled and James picked up 12 books at the post office. We also sold a Prentice Hall Chemistry book for $27.00. 

We had breakfast and a "Come Follow Me" lesson with the kids. 

We showed a picture of and talked about "The Last Supper" and the sacrament.

We talked about always remembering the Savior and what he has done for us. 

It was all about the tea party this morning although Rowan kept checking the animal traps to see if they caught any bunnies or rats.

We got out the nice tablecloth, a beautiful table runner that Lois made on her machine which was covered with flowers and set the table with my nice china. I made pink baby cupcakes and Ruby helped me make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crust cut off. We had cherries and strawberries, granola bars and trail mix to put in the beautiful stacked food servers. 

We decorated our hats and wore our boas to the party. Grandpa and Rowan were the servers.

The servers joined in tasting the delicious food.

They did not want to have their picture taken though.

The pink cupcakes were a big favorite.

Ruby chose beautiful yellow flowers for her hat to match her yellow "scarf" as Lola calls them.

Grandpa took the kids on a Razr ride both this afternoon and this evening. This evening they saw 7 elk and Ruby spotted a porcupine.

The kids watched the movie "Zootopia" while gramma worked on her blog. 

After two Razr rides the kids were ready for showers and then we ate fried spaghetti for dinner. Instead of a movie this evening the kids played a game of Uno.

 Monument Valley

 Scarlett and her dad looking for airplanes

Charlie and her tongue

Ben's letter:

Thursday, February 14th, 2019

Fukuoka, Japan

88th operating temple

Dedicated: 11 June 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship

Matthew 16:16

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Book of Mormon

2 Nephi 6:8-7:11

*How do the people of the Lord wait for Him?

- We wait for the Lord patiently. We quietly and obediently do what is asked of us by becoming strong in our testimonies of Jesus Christ. We listen to His teachings and develop an individual plan that will carry us through life. The plan will see us through trials, tribulations and also the best of times.

New Testament "Come Follow Me"

John 2:1-11 The power of Jesus Christ can change me

"Spiritual Eclipse" by Elder Gary E. Stevens, October 2017

General Conference

"For Him"

Sister Joy D. Jones

" The first of the Ten Commandments reiterates this divine wisdom: 'I am the Lord thy God. ...Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' The placement of this commandment helps us understand that if we place Him as our main priority, everything else will ultimately fall into place - even our service to others. When He takes the preeminent position in our lives by our deliberate choice, the He is able to bless our actions to our good and to the good of others."

Things Newlyweds Can Teach Oldie Weds

" Surprises show you are thinking of each other even when you aren't together and keep the sparks flying even when you're on a tight budget or have a busy schedule."

"Spontaneity and surprises seek to communicate about and fill each others needs, express gratitude and love daily, establish habits that connect. Gospel habits are vital but so are other traditions that create a couple culture. We go on a date once a week, time together away from other responsibilities. Each night we list 3-5 things together we are grateful for from the day. We also have a 3 year journal with a question for everyday and a spot for each of us to answer. After we turn the lights out, we talk about our highs and lows from the day. Accept imperfection."

- by Michaela Proctor Hutchins

Happy Valentine's Day, Honey

 Behind this card there is a bag of almond M&M's,

a jar of Trail mix with cranberries, almonds, and pecan,

and Hershey dark chocolate with almonds.

James ordered me a necklace and wrote me a letter.

The necklace had to be engraved and did not

come yet. Here is a photo.

James made me breakfast and do sweet things for me throughout the day. He also drove with me when I delivered my Valentine's to the Halcomb's and the Grapp's. We also brought birthday gifts to Benson, today is his birthday, and Tildy, who had a birthday in January. I got James a Rubik's cube and gave Tildy one of my collectible dolls, "Little Miss Muffet", along with her tuffet and a bowl of curds and whey.

Here are the Valentine's I made for the kids along with sugar cookies and suckers.

Pretty basic but fun for me to make

Boxes of cookies and birthday presents

This evening we delivered these cookies

to the Wilhelm's. They were at the temple

with their kids so we took them to 

Mel and Ruth's.

This evening after delivering the cookies to the Wilhelm's we watched the newest Hallmark Movies & Mysteries movie, "Emma Fielding: More Bitter Than Death." I guess who the killer and bad guy was about half way through the movie. I still liked this movie though and so did James. We prefer the romantic movies but this one was pretty good.

 Happy 107th birthday Arizona

 Palmer & Autumn

Sweet Scarlett

 The best Valentine ever!

 Kacey's cute dates

Wednesday, December 19th, 2018

Taipei, Taiwan

31st operating temple

Dedicated: 17-18 Nov 1984

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Death of

2 Nephi 26:3

And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of his birth, and also of his death and resurrection; and great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked, for they shall perish; and they perish because they cast out the prophets, and the saints, and stone them, and slay them; wherefore the cry of the blood of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them.

Book of Mormon #1

Ether 3:1-18

Book of Mormon #2

Mormon 1-3

General Conference

Becoming a Shepherd

Sister Bonnie H. Cordon

"As we strive to follow the Savior's example, we must first know and number His sheep. We have been assigned specific individuals and families to tend so we are certain that all of the Lord's flock are accounted for and no one is forgotten. Numbering, however, is not really about numbers; it is about making certain each person feels the love of the Savior through someone who serves for Him. In that way, all can recognize that they are known by a loving Father in Heaven."

Happy Birthday Michael!

Everybody loves Mikey!

2013

We mailed Christmas cards and a book shipment today. We also went to CVS to get James some more oxycodone and then we had to go to Subway so he didn't take it on an empty stomach. Next it was the UPS store and then Walmart to get more bananas and nuts for banana nut bread. 

We missed giving bread to our neighbors the Cranes. They are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in California. Their kids got them a room at the Del Coronado on Coronado island.

They look great for 50 years of marriage!

James feels great this evening after taking his pain pills. I am starting to feel a little tired. I built a fire and watched/listened to Christmas movies while working.

Today's movies: "Christmas in Vermont," and "Entertaining Christmas."

I made ministering appointments for Friday with Cammy, Jean, and Catherine. My partner Marie can't go because she is doing something with her dogs. She did say she would go by and see Catherine and take her a pair of cozy socks. Tomorrow I will be making banana nut bread all day long.

Idaho Falls Temple

 An early Christmas because Palmer works

next week.

Cutest bunny I've ever seen.

 I wonder if Addy would like these

Friday, October 12th, 2018

Sacramento, California

123rd operating temple

Dedicated: 3 September 2006

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Crucifixion

DC 6:37

Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 4:1-14

*How can I prepare to meet my challenges and adversities with the "Strength of the Lord"?

- Through faith, repentance, prayer and gospel study and hard work. Being gathered together in righteousness with others. Being prepared to fight against Satan.

Old Testament

Jeremiah 13-15

General Conference

Believe, Love, Do

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"We achieve the abundant life by becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ - by following in His ways and engaging in His work."

James forgot his meds and I forgot my bra on this trip. I brought my ah-bra but I don't usually wear that in public except when I am traveling. James called CVS and Dr. Moffat and made arrangements to pick up his blood pressure meds. 

Just down the street from CVS was a Walmart where I went shopping. I got what I needed and almost bought a $12 dot journal but I abstained. I don't need another one. 

Snyder is a town of about 11,000 people and is still in the desolate part of Texas. The password for the internet at our hotel was "gocowboys." The Texas accent is alive and well here as demonstrated by my cashier, Ramona, at Walmart. 

As we left Snyder and it's windmills on the hill, it was overcast and cool. We get on the I-20 and pass the exit for Stink Creek. We see signs for Abilene which is "the storybook capital of Texas." As we pass the Taylor county line the scenery is changing from brown to green. There are fields of cotton and maize but there are no mountains. We head for Ft. Worth instead of Abilene. There are rolling hills and big walnut? trees. There seems to be a college in every one of these small towns. The speed limit is 75 most of the time on the freeways. It begins raining and we see a sign: Pecans for sale. Maybe those were pecan trees, not walnut.

Going through the rush hour traffic of Ft. Worth and Dallas really slowed us down. Once we get east of Dallas we take the 49 toll road to Tyler and Whitehouse, 2 1/2 hours away. 

We are finally at Kacey and Jared's! I see a car from Arkansas parked in front and I think it is Autumn's and Palmer's. I am right. We are happy to meet them and Scarlett. 

Beautiful scenery in east Texas

Soon Summer was home. She was wearing scrubs because she works at Jared's office. She is a senior this year and looking forward to graduating on June 1st, the same day that James graduates in San Antonio.

Autumn, Palmer, and Scarlett left to stay at Autumn's dad's in Longview/Hallsville. He has a big house and once Trina and Darrel get here, Kacey and Jared's will be pretty full. We said goodbye and look forward to seeing them tomorrow at Scarlett's 1st birthday party.

Soon Jared was home and we all sat down to a nice meal, Kacey's delicious meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and Sister Schubert's rolls. I think Charlie stayed asleep until it was time for Kacey to eat. Charlie is so much cuter in person if that is possible!

We enjoyed visiting this evening and going for a walk with Kacey around the block several times while Jared and Charlie watched TV. 

We slept in Tanner's room and the bed was very comfortable. 

We look forward to seeing Darrel and Trina tomorrow. Trina texted me to see if it was cold. They are flying tonight and will arrive in Dallas at 5 am, where they will rent a car and drive to Whitehouse.