Tuesday, December 30, 2014

"Each of our temples is an expression of our testimony that life beyond the grave is as real and as certain as is our life here on earth."

-President Thomas S. Monson

I did get up and fix breakfast for Darrel this morning.  I caught up on my scripture reading.  I have to finish the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament by tomorrow night.  

I went to town today to pick up the steroid prescription Dr. Caldron's office called in for me.  While there I also went to the bank, and got gas.  It was windy and cold.

James came home from the valley today.  We watched one of our favorite shows, "The Mentalist", before Sheri and Ian's family arrived.  We are so happy to have them here for a few days.  

Evan had a very loose tooth and he was brave enough to allow grandpa to pull it for him.  Afterwards, they spent a little time playing together.

Trying out the squish sand.

 sand pie?

These two make a good team!

Darrel's last night here for awhile. James brought a burro from Burger House for him.  He was so hungry when he got home at 10:40 pm and was grateful to have something to eat.

 

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Sunrise

Goals:

1.  Get rid of unnecessary things in my life.

2.  Through fasting and prayer cultivate the gift of personal revelation.

 Quote:

"Do we see our weekly sacramental service as our passover, remembrance of our safety and deliverance and redemption?

"With so very much at stake, this ordinance commemorating our escape from the angel of darkness should be taken more seriously than it sometimes is."

-Jeffrey R. Holland

April 2014 Ensign, p. 75

We had a herd of 8-10 antelope in our backyard this morning.  Something spooked them and they started to run.  I hope that tiny one in the back can keep up.

James and I made a trip to town this morning to get tires at Discount Tire. They are honoring their guarantee that we got on the tires we bought last January.  While they were putting our new tires on James and I went across the street to KFC for their lunch time buffet.  It was pretty tasty.  I especially liked the coleslaw and their stuffing.  

On the way home I read to James from The Book Thief.  I had him drive over to Bonnie Holladay's to see the fence we painted last Saturday.  The name of her place is Prairie Rose.  I was excited to hear that Bonnie is ready to be baptized!

When we got home we took a nap and then I got up to wash windows.  Look how clean my Norwex cloths and a little water get them:

Amazing!

James came outside and found a huge trail of ants crawling up the side of the house.  He made short work of them.

Sheri posted a song by a band called Jared and the Mill.  They are friends of Jared Ammons.  I downloaded their song "Breathe Me In."

Adam called and said he and some of his friends may be interested in renting our house and would be willing to help fix it up.  I told him I would talk to grandpa.  The only problem is, where would we stay?

Stacy called to talk about Sam, Alex, Caleb, and Jena on American Idol.  I told her I liked Sam, who reminds me of Rick Nelson, and Jesse Meuse.  She also said that Paypal offered Paul a four month job to do some training in Malaysia.  Of the pay is good enough, he may go.

 Our nephew Nathan Tibbetts and

a friend in the MTC.

I did some visiting teaching by myself this afternoon.  I visited with Barbie Shumaker.  Barbie does not come to church but she is such a good person.  Not only has she rescued 46 dogs but she raised her sisters four children.  I admire and respect her and value her friendship.

James worked outside on the tractor this afternoon.  He loves this kind of work.  It is good for the his soul.

I made chili and stirfry veggies for dinner.  Afterwards we watched Castle and The Mentalist. 

Sunset

 

Monday, April 14, 2014

And it came to pass also, that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land, which was possessed by the Nephites; and thus Moroni planted the standard of liberty among the Nephites.

-Alma 46:36

It's nice to have James here on a Monday.  I downloaded the song "Happy" on my phone, and we did the "Happy" dance.  We made a trip to town.  One of the first thing we did was go to check on the flowers at my Mom's grave.  We watered them, but basically they are dead.  I plan on coming back on Easter Sunday at which time I will leave a live, blooming lily plant.

I tried to call the hospital to see if I could go see Denice Hall but when I called her room there way no answer.  Hopefully she got to go home today.  

I went shopping at Walmart for ingredients for the dinner I am taking the Wilhelm family this evening.  I made a double bath of Kempton goulash, green beans, rolls, wedge salad and poke cake was the complete menu.  When James and I went to deliver the dinner Curtis was playing outside with his brothers Andy and Johnny.  Zemira was lying on the couch watching TV.  Along with dinner I took a basket full of Disney babies, eggs with candy, and various other items.  The Wilhelm's are such an awesome family!

I came home and cleaned the kitchen and then James and I watched The Mentalist.  I watched part of DWTS.  This is Disney week and Donny Osmond is the guest judge.

We also read from our book, The Book Thief.  We are anxious to finish it and move on to another book.

The moon looked like this when it came up this evening:

We missed it when it turned red at around 11:30pm.

There was a lunar eclipse tonight.

 

Monday, January 13, 2014

Gospel Study

"Put Your Trust in the Lord"

by Elder Russell M. Ballard

"Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together...and labor in the Lord's vineyard to bring souls unto Him.  He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work." -Pres. Thomas S. Monson

 1 Nephi 12-13

Genesis 35-37

James was stressed out this morning about all he has to do and to top is all off he had problems with the computer and printer.  He is finally able to print a W-9 but it took him all morning with my help.

We made a trip into town to go to the bank and to get a box to mail Anna's birthday package.  We had lunch at KFC because James was craving their coleslaw.  On the way home I took these pictures of what they are now calling a "managed" burn.

  I do not like "managed" burns.

I came home and put Anna's gift in the box I got at Walmart which is about twice as big as it needs to be.  Next time I will just get one at the Vernon Post Office.  I went to the post office and got the box in the mail before the mail went out today.  Mission accomplished!  Debbie Holyoak, a member of the Clay Springs ward in our stake, is the post mistress in Vernon.  I read on Facebook this morning that it was 13 degrees when she left for work.  Her husband went out and started her car for her and fixed her some hot chocolate.

After my trip to the post office I came home and took a short nap.  I moved several #10 cans from the garage to the storage room downstairs.  I moved books and photo albums from the downstairs storage room to my office upstairs.  I also jumped 800 times on my mini-tramp so I got a little bit of a workout today. 

This evening James and I watched two episodes of The Mentalist.  We could smell smoke from the "managed" burn.

Facebook finds:

 Somewhere in Utah.

 

 

Monday, October 21, 2013

James fixed one of his wonderful egg, potato, onion, cheese and green chili concoctions for breakfast.  It was delicious!

I posted three days from early September on my blog and then indexed 25 names.  James went to the post office by himself.  He wanted to go into Show Low and do some measuring at Horne's but I talked him into waiting until tomorrow when LaCasita is open.  They are closed on Mondays. 

I watched Project Runway finale.  My girl Dom won!

I indexed another 25 names for family search while watching The Mentalist, that way I don't feel so guilty for watching it.  While doing this I get a call from the elders in our ward.  They were calling to remind me of our dinner appointment at 5pm.  This was at 3:30.  Oh dear, I had forgotten!  I jumped up, prepared some chili, put a cake and some cornbrean in the oven while James made a salad. 

It was a casual dinner but we so enjoyed the company of Elder Boyer and Elder Bon.  They left us with a challenge and gave each of us a card that says:  "Would you be willing to listen to a brief presentation about __________________(Jesus Christ, my religion, the Book of Mormon, etc.).  We are to give it to someone who fills out their personal information then gives it back to us and we give it to the missionaries. 

I am so sorry I didn't get a picture of the Elders!

Monday, April 29, 2013

There were three or four elk in the yard this morning when I got up to study.  Of course I had to tell James and he had to get up to see them. 
We have never had a final inspection on the cabin.  James scheduled one for today.  I hurried around to get the house clean and then took a shower and put on some makeup and did my hair so I would be presentable.  When they came I was in the bedroom working on the computer.  James said they would want to inspect the entire house, but that didn't prove to be true.  They came in and said how nice it was and then one of the guys asked James if he liked living here and James said yes.  The guy then said: "Good, then we will give you a certificate of occupancy."  Well that was easy.  To celebrate we went into town for lunch at Licanos.  I mixed things up a little today and had red sauce on my carne asada burro.  It was good but I like the green sauce better.  We also stopped at Ace Hardware and got some more potting soil. 
The weather was gorgeous today with the high around 75.  It is 100 in the valley. 
Watched The Mentalist with James this evening.  The season finale is next week.  Will we find out who Red John is?  I hope so.
Here is a picture of tonight's sunset.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

James left this morning early for the valley.  He is going down to finish painting his mom's house.  I am feeling a little better today.  I took all of the boxes that I brought back from Chandler downstairs and unloaded them in the storage room. 

I got a call from Linda Price this morning checking on me to see how I am doing.  Linda also gave me Alicia Hunsaker's roll recipe.  I learned that Alicia's nickname is "CC." 

I stayed inside all day.  I took a psych test online for Jeffrey Maxwell for one of his classes.  I am ashamed to say that I didn't finish.  Hope he can still use the data.

I worked in the kitchen and this evening I watched "Dancing with the Stars."  The finalists are: Kelly Monacco, Shawn Johnson, and Melissa Rycroft.  I am cheering for Melissa because she is partners with Tony Devalono who has been on the show 14 seasons and has never won.

I also watched "The Mentalist" and "Castle." 

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Started removing wallpaper this morning but stopped to take the boys to school and then Sheri to work at the mall.  I kept the car because I was going to do a couple of errands but then I ended up staying home instead and working on wallpaper.

The entryway came off in small pieces.

  James went to Quizno's after pouring concrete at the place where Christina's reception is being held on Saturday.  He got me my favorite turkey flatbread sandwich.  I went to the mall at 1pm to pick Sheri up and had to wait in the parking lot about 15 or 20 minutes.  She took me home and then she went on to work at Chandler Eyecare.  I am afraid that working two jobs is going to wear her out. 

This evening we went down to Sheri's.  James and I played Five Crowns with Max and Evan until Kim came over to make cake pops and then Evan was all about Kim.  We watched an episode of The Mentalist and then left.  The reports of the damage done by Hurricane Sandy are pretty damaging.  Many people are without power.  The shelves of the grocery stores are empty and FEMA doesn't seem to be helping much.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Since Adam is still recovering from surgery Laura took me down to the Chandler Municipal Court this morning to take care of Adam's parking ticket.  The attendant told me that my license had not been suspended.  They only do that for moving violations.  That was a relief.  It was nice of Laura to take me and Adam did pay me for the ticket when I got home.  Disaster averted.

Today is my friend Charlotte Mattice's birthday.  She is 74, 10 years and 2 months older than I am.  Karen Schneider picked me up and then we went to pick up Charlotte.  We went to Applebee's and had their soup and salad lunch.  I had french onion soup and spinach, shrimp salad.  We had shooter hot fudge sundaes for dessert.  Everything was delicious, but not too filling.  Charlotte shared with us that she told her children not to contact her for her birthday.  Her son Kelly came over last Monday and pretty much told her that none of her children liked her very well.  I know Charlotte had a little "bite" to her, but I don't think any mother deserves to be told her children don't like her.  She said Karen and I were the one bright spot in her life,  so I am glad we took her out for her birthday.

Kim went with Evan and the other kindergarteners on a field trip this week.  She took this picture:

"Look Mom, I got him."

Like mother, like son.

This afternoon I went with James to Bass Pro Shop to get a pair of shoes with the money the Braddock's gave him for helping Alex with his Eagle Project.  He got camo boots to work in and we had dinner at Islamadora's.  This evening we went to Sheri and Ian's and watched 3 episodes of The Mentalist.  

Denise texted me about the Show Low vs. Blue Ridge game.  Blue Ridge won 24-14.  I guess Colby threw a pass that Blue Ridge caught and scored on.  I bet he felt terrible.

Monday, October 15, 2012

James and Alex left early this morning for the valley, so that left me home alone.  During my gospel study I found this quote about patience by Elder Neal A. Maxwell:
"If our patience is being tried, we might expect that our faith is also being tried; if or capacity for patience is increasing, we might also expect that our faith is increasing.  In the eternal scheme of things, we cannot become as God without having developed the ability to demonstrate infinite patience with perfect faith.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that God would give us multiple opportunities to gain invaluable experience with patience and faith."  The law of the harvest is this: whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap.  Between sowing and reaping lies enduring with patience.
I watched an episode of "The Mentalist" from the new season.  I did some laundry and  started to clean the wood floor but realized I needed some more Swifer pads so I got ready to go in to town. My gauge showed I could go around 30 miles.  I knew it was going to be close but I thought I could make it when I first started out.  I got about three or four miles down the highway and I just had the feeling I needed to go back to the Vernon gas station and get a little gas.  When I got there the attendant told me they were still out of gas.  Well by this time I knew I would be cutting it way to close to get into town so I went back home.  I called James and asked him to bring home some gas.  Not only did he bring gas but he also brought me a green chili burro!  James said Alex went with him and worked all day at Yoshimine's with him.  The money he earned will go towards buying some new fishing flies.

Before James got home I watched Project Runway and Cupcake Wars because I know James does not like either one of these shows.
   

Friday, October 12, 2012

Colder today with the high around 55 degrees. I had to take a picture of the clouds because we haven't had any for so long.

  I guess everyone heard the rainstorm last night except me.  The boys went on a long Ranger ride.  They played ball games on the porch, rock band, Hearts, and 5 Crowns. 

Kim and I watched the best 3 episodes of The Mentalist EVER!!  I think she's hooked now.
We also fixed a spaghetti dinner for everyone.  Cody and Dallin ate with us before they left for home.  I don't think they wanted to leave but Cody had to work at Harkin's tomorrow. 
Brian got here around 9pm.  Kim mentioned that she would like a cookie so he brought her a dozen from Paradise Bakery.  He also brought her a bag of chocolate candy.  On Tuesday when I went to the store I bought $35 worth of Halloween candy but between the boys, Sheri, and I, and the young women, it's all gone.  

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

While James is working hard at the Yoshimine's I am playing up here with Sheri and her boys.
I made the boys some monkey bread for breakfast.

 This was yummy!

Max, Evan and I had a marshmallow shooting contest outside.

Max was the contest winner.

The boys went down to Chocolate Lake.  Sheri got a text from Ben that Alex got bit by a snake.  I panicked until we found out it was only a water snake. 

Evan wanted a hat so I gave him this one.  He liked it at first but then he decided he wanted a red and purple one.

You gotta love this kid.

  I needed to go to town to get supplies for tomorrow night's Mutual activity.  Sheri and the boys went with me.  We stopped at Little Caesar's for lunch then drove toward's Walmart and stopped by Show Low Creek and ate our pizza.  There is a 1.5 mile hike you can take beyond the creek up in the trees which we took.  The boys loved it, especially Evan.

I think Alex was checking out the creek when I took

this picture.

That's Sheri with the red shirt.

Alex and Max at Show Low Creek.

My hiking buddies.

After our hike we went on to Walmart to do a little shopping and then we headed back home to Vernon. 

Sheri and I watched The Mentalist.  Now she's addicted too.  

James came home after a hard days work and brought us a bag of green chili burros.  It was too late to eat them this evening.

 

Monday, October 8, 2012

James left for the valley this morning to finish the Yoshimine's job.  I had big plans for the day.  I was going to go in to town to do some shopping but it never happened.  Instead I stayed home and puttered around the house.  There have been four seasons of The Mentalist and they have recently been featuring several episodes everyday on TNT.  I have been taping them and James and I have been watching them and we have about 30 episodes taped that we haven't watched.  James said he would never watch that many and it would be okay if I watched some episodes without him.  I watched three of four episodes today.
I did go in to Vernon to get the mail and to get some refreshments at the Vernon Store.

Sheri and her boys arrived around 9:30 this evening.  I was very excited to see them!

Sheri watching The Mentalist with me and

playing Head Banz with Evan.

 I love the expression on Evan's face.

Tricia sent me this picture of James at his first band concert.  He plays the french horn because a former band teacher told him it was the hardest instrument to play.  

 You have to admire this boy for choosing the hardest instrument.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Everyday the swelling in my face goes down but it turns more purple.  I have a purple circle around my eye and then shades of purple all the way down to my chin.  I know it's my favorite color, but this is ridiculous.  

My only real accomplishments today were writing on my blog and doing some laundry.  No sense in doing my hair or makeup.  James and I read Alma 12 and then I did say our family prayer.  The highlight of my day was when Sheri called to see how I was.  She is so sweet and thoughtful.

James went in to town today to pick up his blood thinner meds and forgot his wallet.  Walgreen's has a policy they have to swipe your card.  We found that out when he asked if I could call in my debit card number.  I guess that means another trip to town tomorrow.  So much for our one trip to town a week policy.

Tonight James watched three episodes of The Mentalist with me. 

I am beginning to get cabin fever.