Sunday, June 24, 2012

Jackson Allen was the youth speaker in church today.  He spoke for quite a long time so when it was my turn I had to hurry so James would have plenty of time of time for his talk.  I just couldn't think how to leave anything out of my talk.  When I sat down James said you spoke for over 20 minutes.  Wrong!  It was just 16 minutes.  James did a nice job on his talk on the sacrament  He related quite a few personal stories and he only had to take one drink.  Heavenly Father always blesses us when we do our part.

I was so glad I put a roast on before leaving for church this morning.  It was nice to come home and have something good to eat.  James had a meeting after church.  Brother Wallace brought him home. 
I laid down to take a nap but couldn't sleep.  I was excited that Darrel and Trina are coming this evening. 
They arrived around 6pm.  We had dinner: roast, asparagus, corn, and salad.  We are so happy to see everyone.  Addy, Rowan, and Ruby are so excited to be here.  They were all three talking to me all at once.  So fun!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Family Temple day.  Tricia went to the temple.  Thanks you Tricia.  We are planning another one the end of July.  It will be on Saturday, July 28th.
James has a goal to read through his talk at least 10 times before he gives it.  He is still a little concerned about his voice.  It seems he always gets laringitis before giving a talk.
We took a break today and went in to town.  Our first stop was for lunch at La Casita Mexican Food Restaurant.  I had a green chili burro and James had a crab enchilada.  My burro was very similar to those at The Burger House in Miami and I left with a smile on my face.  James was pretty crazy about his crab enchilada too.
James went to Home Depot to spend the two gift cards he got for Father's Day from Kim and Darrel.  I went to Walmart to get a roast and some other things for dinner tomorrow.  I can't get out of this store without spending $100.
Back home to work on our talks and to enjoy the weather and do some reading while sitting outside on the deck. 

Friday, June 22, 2012

Happy Birthday to brother Gail. 
It sure seems lonely here with all the Besties gone home to Chandler.  Thank goodness Darrel, Trina and their kids will be here on Sunday. 
Today I finished writing my talk for Church on and I typed James's talk for him.  His is longer than mine but I told him I had the last say because I speak first.  He is speaking on the sacrament and I am speaking on faith in Jesus Christ.
We had clouds and some rain today but we didn't get rained on when we went on our Ranger ride up on the mountain....thank goodness!
We took breaks throughout the day to read from our latest Victoria Holt book "Pride of the Peacock."

Thursday, June 21, 2012

I got a call this morning from my visiting teachers at 9:05 right after I got out of the shower this morning.  They wanted to come by for a visit at 9:30.  My visiting teachers are Alicia Hunsaker and Linda Price.  I love both of them.  Sheri, Adrienne, and Christy were working out upstairs to Jillian Michael during our visit.  Afterwards while the other girls went to take a shower I introduced Linda and Alicia to Christy and Robyn.
Most of the day we watched Downton Abbey, ate, and took catnaps.  Adrienne's carmel corn was a BIG hit.  This bowl was totally empty by the time the morning was over.

At least she didn't drool!

 James had a doctor's appointment in Show Low today.  He brought home some Pappa John's pizza, a BBQ chicken and a supreme.  It was delicious.  After lunch we had to finish  Downton Abbey season two.  James took Adrienne and Christy on a Ranger ride down Christmas Tree Trail.  I took Robyn and Drea yesterday but we didn't have enough gas to go very far.  It was sad when everyone left.

Goodbye to the Del Rio 2nd Besties, until next time!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

We slept in after our late night gab fest, but not too late.  I made my famous buttermilk pancakes for breakfast along with fresh fruit and turkey bacon.  I also made a whole wheat version of the pancakes for James.

After breakfast we may have watched an episode or two of Downton Abbey.  In the early afternoon we decided to go to Greer via the Springerville way.  When we got to Springerville we were hungry so I looked up what was supposed to be a four star restaurtant called Booga Red's.   Like Sheri said, the company was better than the food although the food was pretty good.  I had a green chili burro but it didn't compare to the Burger House in Miami.

How did I miss getting a picture of Robin?  After lunch we were ready for Greer.

Thanks to Christy for taking some awesome pictures.  We parked in the parking lot of The Greer Peaks Lodge owned by our friends Brian and Amy Lemmerman.

After Greer we come back to the cabin and had a delicious dinner.  James cooked steaks and we also had sweet potato fries, corn. grilled asparagus and sour dough bread.  Now it's time for more Downton Abbey!!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Another early morning trip to the grocery store in north Scottsdale while the boys sleep in.  James was gone early again, this time to help Alex Braddock with his Eagle Project.  I washed towels and sheets before leaving the resort because Stacy and Paul and coming over to stay the rest of the week.  The boys (Joe, Max, Alex, and Michael) got up and ate some breakfast and we left the resort a little after ten.  I took everyone home and then headed for Sears to get my car lubed.  I have never experienced such poor customer service in all my life. I know I am used to Lexus where they treat me like a queen but this was ridiculous.  There were three guys in the place and I was the only customer and no one could seem to wait on me.  A cute girl came in and one of the guys immediately waited on her.  She came in way after I did and I complained and the guy waiting on her said: "Oh Phil (to the old guy who can't hear) could you wait on her, pointng to me."  They wanted me to take a survey but I told them I was in a hurry and it wouldn't be favorable anyway so that was the end of that.  I will only go there again because they are cheap.

While waiting for my car to be lubed I met Sheri, Ben, Evan, and James at the mall for lunch.  I had the grilled shrimp tacos from Rubios and they were delicious!  After the lube and lunch I went to Costco and picked up some steaks and I was on my way to Vernon.  James called me before I got to Payson and said he had just left.  He was pulling a trailer with his tractor on it.  A few minutes later he called and said he had a blowout just outside of Apache Junction and he needed me to look up a nearby Discount Tire, which I did. (Thank goodness for my iphone).

Because I was falling asleep while driving I stopped at a Circle K and got a diet Dr. Pepper, Good and Plenty candies and some popcorn and I ate and drank my way up the mountain.  The smoke from the fire near Young was so bad I had to stop on the Rim and take some pictures.  I was so happy to finally arrive at Vernon around 5:30.  James called again and said he got stopped in Show Low for not having lights on the trailer.  He finally made it around 8:30.  Sheri and the gang called and said they were finally leaving around 9pm.  They arrived around 12:30.  I waited up for them and didn't go to bed until 2 am.  The gang: Sheri, Drea Boles, Adrienne Ellsworth, Robyn Rogers, and Christy Wanlass.  They call themselves the Del Rio 2nd Besties.  What a fun group! 

Monday, June 18, 2012

James left early for a meeting with someone about some work at a golf course.  I went out while the boys were still asleep to find a birthday cake for Ruby.  I went to the Fry's Marketplace on north Hayden Rd., a very nice store I might add.  James's sister Carmen sent the cutest Hello Kitty fondant cutouts for a 9" round cake.  The cake I got was a little small but the finished product looked something like this:

Thanks so much Carmen for sharing your talents and making a little girl very happy.

The boys and I went to IHOP for lunch at Alex's request.  I had a veggie omlet which was very tasty.  The boys got a kick out of a group of older women next to us who were playing some kind of board game.  They thought it was funny for them to be in a restaurant playing a game.  Alex had biscuits, gravy, bacon and eggs and Michael had the grand slam breakfast with pancakes.  

Ruby's party started a 3.  Here is a picture of her staring at her cake, which she did for about 30 minutes.

More random pictures of Ruby's party.  The most fun was had out in the pool.  The following people attended: James and I, Stacy, Joshua, Michael, Kim, and Joe, Sheri, Alex, Ben, Max, and Evan, Darrel, Trina, Ruby, Addy, and Rowan, Trina's Mom Suzy, Lacy and baby Emma, Bryce, Alexus, Kylie, Kayla, and Kreed.  

Ruby was very shy when everyone started singing to her.

After the party was over Michael, Alex, Joe, and Max spent the night with us.