Thursday, October 5th, 2017

St. Paul, Minnesota

69th operating temple

Dedicated: 9 Jan. 2000

By: Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus Christ, Appearances, Antemortal

2 Nephi 11:2

And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him.

Helaman 15:7-16:18

*How can faith and repentance bring about a change of heart?

-President Ezra Taft Benson on following the words of the prophets:

"When the prophet points out the sins of the world, the worldly, rather than repent of their sins, either want to close the mouth of the prophet of else act as if the prophet didn't exist. Popularity is never a test of truth. Many a prophet has been killed or cast out. As we come closer to the Lord's second coming, you can expect that as the people of the world become more wicked, the prophet will be less popular with them" ("The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 133).

*What messages from General Conference stood out to you?

- I liked Brother Stephen Owen's talk on "Repentance Is Always Positive." Another good one was Elder Cook's talk on humility.

DC 18:10

Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

General Conference

A Yearning for Home

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Turn your soul toward the light. Begin your own wonderful journey home. As you do so, your life will be better, happier, and more purposeful."

I am using the house as my racetrack to get my steps in. I love it because I can walk in my socks and no preparation is required.

Third day in a row

I made baked burrito casserole for lunch. Yummy! It tastes like a Taco Bell burrito supreme. I got the recipe from my friend Hailey.

James finished writing his talk for Sunday and now he's waiting for me to type it. It's 25 minutes long. He says that means I have 12 minutes. His talk is on parenting and mine is on my impressions of General Conference. 

There is a full moon tonight so of course James went outside and bugled for elk. To his disappointment, there was no answer.

No time for TV or reading because of our talks.

James did have some time to work on the patio.

It is going to have a fire pit in it.

Stacy posted this on Facebook

October 5, 2016

October 5, 2015

Case grandkids: Four of them are ours too!

We love that Sheri and Ian's family visit us every

fall break.

Puzzles are a favorite activity

So are smores

I guess he ate too many smores

Back at home Evan tries out his

Halloween costume.

We took Evan and Joshua to Rowan's 

wards Halloween party. This costume was no fun

when everyone else was jumping in the

bounce house.

This photo came up under October 5, 2015 but

I think it was taken a few years before.

I like these clouds

Thursday, August 18, 2016

I love Elder Scott

Alma 52:1-18

1 - The Lamanites discover Amalickiah is dead. Teancum killed him.

2 - They retreated to Mulek and sought protection in their fortifications.

3 - Amalickiah's brother Ammoron is appointed to be king.

4 - Ammoron comandeed that they maintain those cities which they had taken through the shedding of blood.

6 - Teancum prepares for another battle.

7 - He continues to prepare until Moroni sends a large number of men to strengthen his army.

8 - Moroni tells Teancum to retain all the prisoners he has taken as a ransom for those the Lamanites have taken.

9 - He also tells him to fortify the land Bountiful, and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward

10 - Moroni asks Teancum to be faithful in maintaining that quarter of the land.

12 - Ammoron arches forth against the Nephites on the borders by the west sea.

13 - He commands another army to harass the Nephites by the east sea.

14 - The Nephites are in dangerous circumstances at the end of the 26th year.

16 - Teancum received orders to make an attack upon the city of Mulek, and retake it if it were possible.

17 - Teancum waits for Moroni so he might receive strength to his army.

18 - Moroni arrives with his army at the latter end of the 27th years of the reign of the judges.

We had a busy day today.  We went to help Charlotte and I did an upgrade on her Ipad and now we can't open it because she doesn't remember the Apple ID or password.  I took it home with me and worked on it and tried to contact Apple but I had no luck.  I am taking it back to Charlotte's tomorrow and we are going to call Apple Support.

We took my car to Sears to get it lubed.  Tomorrow James has an appointment in Mesa for his truck.

For dinner tonight Sheri suggested I make breakfast, blueberry muffins, eggs, and bacon.  Instead I made the muffins for an after school snack and then we took the boys to IHOP.

Delicious food and great company!

The moon as we came out of IHOP.

This picture doesn't do it justice.

Max played grandpa again in chess and came very close to beating him, again.  Keep trying Max!  You can do it!

Just a random picture I took.

Evan happened to see me and waved.

Here are some pictures from Havasupai:

Alex took this picture.

I am not sure who the people are.

Another one of Alex's pictures.

He takes some good ones!

Alex, Ben, and Ian.

Sheri and Rachel.

Sorry I didn't get a picture of Rachel's 

husband Dillon.

Darrel and Trina.  We were all a little worried

about Darrel because of his arthritis.

I will post more pictures tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

"It is the Lord's plan and His will that we have the principal decision-making role in our own life's drama."

-Elder D. Todd Christofferson

 The low was around 10 degrees this morning.  

Mitt Romney spoke at BYU today and President Henry B. Eyring spoke at the Vatican at a marriage conference put on by Pope Francis and the catholic church.

I took James into town and he rented a car at Hatch Toyota.  He is paying twice as much for a car rented here as he does when he rents one in the valley.  We say goodbye and I go shopping at Walmart.  It is cold!  On the way home I got a breakfast burrito with potatoes at Aliberto's.

James and I hate being separated from each other.  Starting in January we will be together again, working to get our house ready to sell.  We will be staying in Chandler until we sell our house.  We will have our memberships moved to the Galveston 3rd ward.  We are sad to leave our Vernon family but will look forward to spending time with family and friends in the valley.

Crista Moreno posted this picture on Facebook today.  The two sisters on the left are Sheri Day and Susan Barker.  The sister on the left is a dear friend, Edonna Wells.  James was Edonna's home teacher and did lots of work on her house.  I "liked" the picture and Crista messaged me and told me that Edonna was going to the temple for the first time in many years and she expressed a desire that James and I be there.  The date was set, Friday, November 21 at 4pm and we committed to be there.

Christmas movie: "Naughty or Nice".

I fixed dinner for Darrel but he was a no-show.  I never know what his schedule is anymore.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

I guess you had to have been there.

This sunrise was much better than it looks in this picture.

I jumped on the mini tramp 1500 times today.  That is some kind of a record for me.

I did some indexing today and came across these names: William Holden, Richard Burton, Eddie Cantor, and James Buchanan. 

James is still working on bidding the big apartment complex in Scottsdale but he took time to put the Christmas tree and wreath away. He also indexed 15 names.

I went visiting teaching this afternoon to Linda Diewald and Rosie Lauritzen.  I missed Linda's birthday last week.  I will have to bring her gift to her on Sunday.  Rosie had some news for me.  She is my new visiting teaching companion starting in February.  That is exciting news!  Also I got to meet their mastif, Conan the Barkbarian.  The biggest dog I've ever seen but he had the warmest brown eyes.  Brother Lauritzen is so proud of him.

After visiting teaching I went into town to get gas and a Whopper junior at Burger King.  It was 7pm before I got home after leaving the house around 4.

This evening James and I watched Downton Abbey and The Walton's Easter.  I did not like this episode of Downton Abbey.

I tried to capture the grandeur of the full moon but my camera never does it justice.

Lauri Myers, who is living in China right now posted this picture on Facebook and I thought it was worth sharing as you would never see this in the U.S. Lauri is a friend from Chandler.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

We had to go to town again today.  James had to make a deposit for Francisco to pay the guys who worked last week.  We went to LaCasita for lunch.  Our favorite waitress, Charlotte was back!  Afterwards I went to Walmart to pick up a few items: walnuts, and buttermilk for James and milk, lemons and pudding for me.  As I was checking out I saw Ruth Gale in the line behind me.  I knew she lived in Snowflake but I didn't have her phone number.  I got her number and told her that the next time we go to the temple in Snowflake we will give her a call.  She had a little boy about 12-18 months old with her.  She said David and his wife were married for eleven years and hadn't had any children so they adopted this little boy.  Ruth watches him during the day time.  What a treat to see such a dear friend from our years in Chandler!

For Mutual tonight the young women practiced a song they are learning for our ward conference on January 26th.  It's called "Come Unto Christ."  It is beautiful!  Tamara Applegate is teaching them and Analee played the piano.  Afterwards we had donuts and Capri Suns.  Trenda's cousin Johnnie was visiting this evening.

I am on a pudding kick.

Breakfast: Jimmy Dean ham and cheese croissant

and freshly squeezed orange juice.

Dinner: Butternut squash

What Evan would put in his pyramid

I love this!!

A blowfish all blown up

James bidding a huge apartment complex 

to be built in Scottsdale

A picture James took of the full moon tonight.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

I got up this morning and watered the back yard again.  I just hate the fact that I fertilized it and no one has been watering.  Around 9:30 Sheri picked me up and we went to the new Phoenix Outlet Malls on the other side of interstate 10 near Wild Horse Pass.  Very close if you live in Chandler or Ahwatukee.

Fashionista and superb shopper Sheri.

I bought a new black purse at Nine West that cost me about the same as if I had bought it at Target.  I also bought some luxury Egyptian cotton sheets with 1500 thread count for half the price of the ones I like at Sams Club.  It was a good shopping day.  I want to come back though because all of the stores weren't open yet.

 The Nine West plate is on the other side.

We were tired and hungry after our shopping adventure so we went to Firebirds for lunch.  I got my usual: the coconut shrimp appetizer with mango coleslaw.  We ordered chocolate sundaes for dessert and thoroughly enjoyed their delicious sour dough bread.  I am so glad I got to spend some time with Sheri!

The rest of the afternoon I did a few chores around the house and waited for James to finish taking care of the plumbing problem at Andersen's.  He offered his services for free today just because that's the nice kind of guy he is.  We didn't leave for home until after 7pm.  We tried to order from Burger House but we missed their closing time (8pm) by 15 minutes.  What restaurant closes at 8pm?  I guess one in a small town.

We had to settle for Taco Bell.  I didn't enjoy my crunch wrap as much as I thought I would.  I guess I was thinking about green chili burros from Burger House.

We got home around 10:30, unloaded the truck and went to bed.  Here is a picture of the full moon I tried to take as we were leaving Mesa.

The real thing was very grandiose.

Monday, October 29, 2012

James left for the valley around 6:15 this morning.  He called me and told me to look out the front window.  This is what I saw: 

Full moon in the morning.

Since I am taking my car down for Sheri to drive while hers is being fixed I didn't have to hurry and get ready to leave by 6:15.  I left around 8:40.  I met Sheri at Chandler Auto Body at noon.  She dropped her car off  and then we drove to Elmer's for lunch.  James and I love their machaca tacos and machaca burros.  Thanks Sheri for lunch!

I spent the afternoon stripping wallpaper in the entry of our home in Chandler.  James worked at the home where Christina's reception is being held on Saturday getting ready for a concrete pour tomorrow.  

This evening we picked up a key at the Boles' so he could start work on their house tomorrow.  They have water damage from their dishwasher overflowing. We had dinner at Arby's and then went down to Sheri and Ian's to watch Castle.

Today Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast doing damage from Boston to North Carolina.  Some cities in New Jersey are totally covered in water.  Much of New York and other areas are without electricity.  They are calling this the worst disaster to ever hit the United States.  We are praying for the safety and well-being of those affected.

Whenever we come and stay with Stacy and Paul we take over Dallin's bedroom.  Thanks Dallin for making the sacrifice for your dear old grandma and grandpa.  We appreciate it.

 

 

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Happy 17th Anniversary to Kim and Brian.  Brian is always so thoughtful.  Here are the flowers he got for Kim.  They also went out to The Keg for a steak dinner.

Bob, the cat, thinks they are for him.

Alex got to go fishing at Power Ranch today and boy did he make a haul.  He said he caught 35 fish.  Many of them were albino talapia.  Here is a picture of his biggest fish.

The Big One.

The Albino.

I told Sheri that he should start a fishing blog.  He could probably even get people to advertise on it and make some money.  Alex wrote an essay for English about going fishing on the Black River with his grandpa (James).  The teacher never gives 100% on essays because she says there is always room for improvement, but she gave Alex 100%.  Sheri is going to copy it and send us a copy.  One of the things he said in the essay is that he knows that his grandpa loves him even though he has never told him.  Sheri and Ian were both teary-eyed when they read it.

James and I started our fast today a little after noon.  We are fasting for Mitt Romney.  We are fasting that he will do well in the debates and that he will be elected president.  Nobama!

James took this picture from our backporch this evening.