Thursday, July 5, 2012

The day started out with steak, gravy and biscuits courtesy of James.  It's Alex's favorite breakfast.  James also went in to town to get the tire for the Ranger fixed.  Trina and I and her kids started out to go to Scott's Reservoir to take a hike.  Darrel took Rowan fishing there yesterday but it was too cold so they didn't stay long.  Trina and I didn't get too far when we had a flat tire.  James was already in town and we called him to come to our rescue.  While we were waiting for him two young guys stopped to help us.  Their names were Trinity and Aiden.  Aiden is from Alpine.  Right now he is on summer break from West Point military academy in New York.  Trinity is from Eager.  He is a taxidermist and buys antlers.  Thanks so much guys!

Doesn't Trina look skinny?  

The kids had fun doing one of their favorite thngs to do up here, looking for sticks.

After our "rescuers" left Trina drove into Show Low going 50 mph as Trinity and Aiden had recommended.  We met James at the Polaris place where he was getting a new tire.  The kids and I drove home with him while Trina went to get her tire fixed.  While we were there Addy, Rowan and I found the ATV of our dreams.  It is a Rhino and is not for sale because it belongs to a customer.  We absolutely fell in love with it and to top it off, it's Purple!

Can you tell that Rowan really wants this buggy.  He is thinking about how to ask Grandpa.

I am calling this "The Day of Rescues".  The boys took a drive down to Chocolate Lake and found a cow stuck in the mud.  Grandpa took his tractor down and pulled her out.  She is just lying there but at least she is alive.  The boys took her something to eat.

Kim and I took a drive to Christmas Tree Trail on the Ranger.  There were some times when it would only go 10 mph and others when we got up to 35.  The people at Polaris think it needs a new fuel pump but James is hesitant because it costs over $400 and he already spent $160 on the new tire.

Rowan was so excited because he caught a lizard today and was holding it up by the tail.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th of July everyone!  Today was an absolutely gorgeous day.  I don't think we ever saw the sun.  The clouds provided protection and shade.  I got the idea that it would be fun to go to the park and play kickball today.  I also wanted James to make steak and gravy either today or tomorrow so yes, you guessed it, I made another trip to Walmart.  I bought a soccer ball, steak, and biscuits and somehow ended up spending over $100.  I thought for sure everyone would want to join me in my game of kickball but Trina, Darrel, Addy, Rowan and Ruby were the only takers.  The big boys would rather play video games or just watch TV.  We went to the park and had alot of fun.  It was a little chilly but I loved it!  Addy was a little concerned that we were using a soccer ball to play kick ball so we had to play a little soccer too. 

The kids also had fun playing in the park.

Look at the sky.

 

Kim arrived in time this evening to have dinner with us.  We had hamburgers, Busch beans, corn, chicken and salad.  Darrel and Trina's kids were so excited to see Kim they gave her a royal welcome.  It rained pretty hard this evening so we opted to stay home instead of going out to see fireworks.  

I have Trina hooked on Downton Abbey and we watched another episode this evening while the kids watched The Wizard of Oz.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

James, Alex, and Joe left around 3:15am for the lower Black River.  Alex says he wants to catch more fish than he did last year but we all know he really wants to catch more fish than grandpa.  Joe is excited for a new adventure.  Joe's only problem was he had two ingrown toenails which made it hard to hike and have a good time.  He did catch 8 fish though.  Not bad for a first timer.  Alex caught 79 and Grandpa 101.  Of course they threw all of them back except for 5.

Trina took her kids to play at Show Low Park today.  Darrel met them there during his lunch hour.

I took Dallin and Michael into town with me.  We had lunch at Pizza Factory and then did some shopping at Walmart.  Grandpa was sad they didn't want to go with him to the Black River.  Mostly they want to play video games or watch TV.  Dallin did want to play basketball so I bought him a ball at the store. 

 

It was cool and overcast today but still we didn't get much rain.  

Monday, July 2, 2012

All the talk these days is about Obamacare and how it passed in the supreme court last week.  I felt some relief when I listened to a political prediction by Wayne Allen who says he is known for the correctness of his political predictions.  He says that Romney will win the election by a landslide.
  I am a little concerned by the attitude of one of my friends who says she can't vote for Romney and will only vote for Ron Paul.  Don't people realize that conservative have to unite in order to beat Obama?  If he is re-elected I am afraid it will be the beginning of the end.
James took the boys in to town this afternoon.  Thank goodness they took the many bags of garbage with them.  James thinks we need to get a trash compactor but I'm not sure anything could compact the amount of trash this family produces. 
Trina fixed a delicious pork roast for dinner. 
After dinner I had FHE with Darrel and Trina's family.  I told the pioneer story of the crickets and the seagulls.  Darrel talked about America gaining independence from England and Trina read from the Book of Mormon about Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty.
James had FHE with the older boys.  They talked about the importance of making and keeping covenants.
James and Alex spent some time getting ready for the Black River fishing trip tomorrow.

Here they are getting the fishing equipment out and making sure they have the right spinners.

Hey guys, go to bed.  You are getting up at 3am.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

James and I are fasting for help with our finances.  We told the boys we were staying for the entire block and that we had to leave early because we had a meeting before church with a member of the bishopric.  We met with Brother Wes Smith before fast and testimony meeting.  He called me to be the first counselor in the Young Women's organization.  I told him I wasn't young and he said that didn't matter.  A couple of weeks ago the YW's president came up to me and introduced herself (Natalie Soderquist) and said she had been waiting for me to get here, so I wasn't completely surprised by the calling.  I was sustained in sacrament meeting.  I attended YW's today and was surprised by the frankness of the Sister Soderquist in speaking with the girls about dressing modestly.  Wow! I hope I am able to be a good example and love the girls and teach them the things they need to know.  After the block James and I went in to the bishop's office and Brother Wes Smith set me apart.  It was a very nice setting apart. 
As we went to the car James told me that the boys, Joe, Alex, Michael, and Dallin had ditched priesthood.  I was very disappointed.  I told them that in YW the lesson was on the priesthood and how important it is for young men and young women to honor the priesthood.  I told the boys I didn't feel like they had honored their priesthood today. 
When we returned to the cabin James's Dad and his wife Alisha were sitting on our front porch.  They are returning home from the Lambson reunion and stopped by for a visit.  Ruby especially liked Alisha. 
After we broke our fast we had a nice roast dinner with biscuits, asparagus, corn, and salad.  Alex was especially hungry.  He at 10 biscuits and 20 asparagus spears.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

I woke up at 3:15 am and could not go back to sleep so I got up and took a shower and got ready for my trip to the valley for Colee Tolman's wedding which I thought was at 10 am.  I arrived at home before nine only to find out that the wedding isn't until noon.  James and I had breakfast at Wildflower.  I had an egg sandwich that was delicious!
We arrived at the temple at 11:30 and gathered in the chapel.  I was happy to have Drea and Adrienne come and sit with us.  We also sat with Bishop and Sherilyn Barney.  I love temple weddings because it always reminds me of the important covenants we make when we are sealed for time and all eternity.  Colee looked beautiful and Troy seemed so happy.  He is a Geiger from Snowflake.  I love that Colee's favorite color is purple.

This afternoon I took Max on his birthday date.  I gave him $50 to spend.  He wanted to go to Target.  This is what he bought.  

After shopping we had some pizza.  Max will be nine years old on Sunday. Doesn't he look awesome?

Joe and Alex drove back to the cabin with me this evening. James had Michael and Dallin with him.  My CD player doesn't work but it didn't matter because Joe and Alex love to sing.  They serenaded me and kept me awake.  It was a fun trip.  It was almost 10pm when we arrived.  James had arrived earlier. 

Friday, June 29, 2012

Rowan has been asking to go fishing since Monday when they got here.  James left for the valley early this morning and of course Darrel is at work so that means it's up to Trina and I to take the kids fishing.
I had a visiting teaching appointment at 10 am and we planned on leaving after I returned home.  I met Eileen Duggins at the church a little before 10 and we drove across the street to Lannie Gillespie's only to find that she wasn't home. How embarrassing for me because I am the one that made the appointment.  We left a card with our names and phone numbers on it.  So for visiting teaching this month I am one for three.  I'm not off to a very good start in my new ward.
Again Trina packed us a lunch and we drove to Springerville where she stopped at the Western Drug to get a fishing license because James told her she needed one if Rowan was going to fish. (Later we found out she didn't need a fishing license for the kids to fish!)  When we got to Greer the creek was closed and we didn't want to fish below the bridge because we figured it was private property.
We decided to drive to drive to Sheep's Crossing but a couple of miles in a road closed sign was posted.  By this time the kids were pretty sick of being in the car but we still had a long ways to go. We decided to go to Show Low Lake.  The spot we picked was next to the boat dock and was very rocky.  Let's just say the only thing that was hooked was my finger, but I wasn't hurt.  We used power bait without sinkers which is a boo boo according to one of the teenage boys who helped us.  The trip home the kids were pretty quiet and I must say they were good sports for as long as they were in the car.  Rowan says it wasn't a total loss because they saw a water snake.