Thursday, August 23, 2012

No walk this morning because of rain.  I had to rescue our rocking chairs off the front porch.

I got a text from my friend Paula Casto this morning.  She and her daughter Tanae were coming on Friday evening for a visit.  In the text she said they would not be coming because they had things they needed to get done on Saturday.  I was quite disappointed and I think James was too.  We were looking forward to their visit.  To get over my disappointment I watched "SYTYCD."  It was all-stars week.
For lunch I made some chili out of the left over baked beans from last night. 
It was a little bit of a lazy day for me.  I guess I was tired from yesterday and last night.  I did make a decision that I would go with James to the valley tomorrow.  He has to go to Stone Creek Golf Course in Paradise Valley and look at some work that they want him to do.  He was happy I had decided to go with him.  When I told Darrel & Trina they invited us to go to lunch with them for my birthday.  Woohoo!
This afternoon James and I had to go in to town to fill a prescription for him.  We also had to buy more naprosen.  Since James is taking it too we run out very quickly.  I must say since he went off the hydrocodone he has seemed more like his old self.  We did get the news today that Dr. Memon will absolutely not let James go off his blood thinners for at least 6 month or possibly a year.
This evening we watched  The Rock Center with Brian Williams which featured "Mormons in America."  I felt like they did a good job, got most of the facts correct, portrayed things for the most part how they are.  I was offended that they showed temple garments.  They gave Abbie Huntsman way too much air time and for what reason I have no idea since there are around 5,999,999 other Mormons in America they could have interviewed. She is no longer a practicing Mormon.  They did a segment on welfare square and how the Church takes care of its own which was wonderful.  They also did another segment on an interracial family who is a wonderful example of a family that lives the gospel.
They showed a gay man who holds a leadership position in his ward.  They brough out the fact that because he remains celibate he is in good standing with the Church.  
  One aspect I thought they got fundamentally wrong, which is unfortunate, is they talked about  how men and women are unequal as members of the Church.  I think if you asked the vast majority of members of the Church they would agree that men and women are equal in importance but they each have different roles to fill.  To assume because the Church has a male priesthood hierarchy that somehow by default that makes men more important and women less important is missing the entire essence of the teachings of salvation.  In this Church we believe  that neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I listened to the song "VivaLaVida" by Coldplay today and it reminded me of Marie Antionette and her husband King Louis XVI of France.  James and I are reading their story right now and it is so sad how the people treated her.  She really was not a bad person and neither was Louis.  The French Revolution was started mostly by agitators hired to stir up the people against the King and more specifically his wife.

I love going on my morning walk and listening to conference talks.  I gain such insights and inspiration.  (Did I say that before?  Well, it's true).

I worked on preparing for our Young Women's activity, which will be held here tonight, most of the morning.  I dusted and vacuumed, waxed the floor and cleaned the kitchen.  I also finished preparing for my little talk on Personal Progress.  I started getting worried about everyone getting in here tonight because it rained most of the morning.  For the first time that I can remember I prayed that it would stop raining.  It did.  Thank you Heavenly Father.

Around 2pm James and I went in to town to get supplies for tonight and gas for the Ranger.  I wanted to get some bananas for my shakes and this is what the banana display at Walmart looked like:

Did some monkey come through and eat all of the bananas?

By the time we got home it was almost 5 o'clock and our activity starts in an hour. Yikes!

I could never have done this without James's help.  He is such a sweetie.  He cleaned the grill, put the water bottles in the ice chest, and kept busy the entire evening.  I put groceries away and started making cookies.  I had intended on making the cookies earlier in the day but got busy cleaning and just didn't do it.

At 5:50 Wes and Teresa Smith and the nonmember girl I invited yesterday, China Wadlington, arrived.  What a delight it was to meet China.  She is such a cute, friendly, mature 17 year old who is a senior at Show Low High School and wants to attend college next year and eventually become an attorney.  Her Dad is a member in our ward who is inactive.  China and her dad are friends with the Swansey's.  Sherry Swansey was just baptized and asked us to fellowship China.  It will be our pleasure.

China and Teresa helped me in the kitchen and Wes helped James with the grill.  Soon the others began arriving:  MaKenzi, Leann, and Kilee Hunsaker, Jordyn and Shelly Applegate, Mary Swift, Trenda Wilhelm, and Sister Natalie Soderquist, the Young Women's President.  Natalie brought tater tots for us to cook.  We are having a "Ketchup" on Personal Progress night.  

During dinner part of the conversation centered around creatures we don't like: moths, scorpions, crickets, cockroaches, and vinagerettes.  Vinagerettes?  Isn't that a salad dressing.  Kilee looked confused.  She said her Dad didn't like them.  I was confused too so I ask James if there was a bug with a name similar to vinagerette.  He said:  "Oh, you mean vinagerones?  Yes.  Mystery solved.  

After dinner the men worked in the kitchen while we gathered the girls around the dining room table and talked about Personal Progress.  We found out what each girl was working on, and then bore testimony and challenged them to set a goal as to when they would work on their experiences and projects and figure out a plan as to how long it would take them to finish.  I felt like things went well.  China joined in and even made the comment that she thought she would be baptized and that she would start coming to Church!

I took Trenda and Mary back to the Church and Jordyn and Shelly home.  The conversation in the car went something like this: Trenda: "Shelly and Jordyn I want you to start coming to the stake dances.  There is one next Saturday at the Linden chapel."  Shelly:  "I don't want any boys touching me!"  By the time we got back to the Church I think she was considering going to the dance and maybe allowing a boy to touch her hand.

The girls loved our home and I told them we would have more activities here. Shelly ran from room to room and came back and reported that we had 11 closets. 

I forgot to mention that when Trenda saw James doing the dishes she said:  "That is so cool.  My Dad always makes us do the dishes."

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Here are some sights from my morning walk.

Can you find the bunny in this picture?

I love the wildflowers.

Birds on a wire.  Lots of them.  Sorry you can't seen them very well.

They usually fly when I walk under them.

An indication that James feels better.  

Hurry Honey, the clouds are coming.

Evan, Sheri's 5 year old, he will be six in November, is obsessed with cowboys right now.  He drew this picture of some of his obsessions: apple trees, cowboys, and Batman.

I love this picture!

Ruby's First Day of Preschool

Her Dad (Darrel) helped her get ready to go.

Jeanna Griffin Dilts's baby girl Amelia

Born August 20, 2012.

James and I watched the movie The Hunger Games for the first time this evening.  We read all of the books.  I was a little apprehensive about watching it.  Kim said she had to leave the theater because she got dizzy because the filming was so bad.  I didn't get sick or dizzy.  I really liked the girl who played Katniss Everdeen.(By the way I rather like this name).   James really liked the movie.

 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Somewhere in the last 3 months I read  about a father who did interviews with his children before they turn 8 and are baptized.  I went through every book I have been reading more than once and could not find it.  I prayed to Heavenly Father that I could find it so I could email it to Darrel because I thought it might be something he would like to do with Addy.  When I left for my walk I was feeling frustrated yet hopeful that Heavenly Father would hear my prayer and help me..  I put in my earplugs and began listening to Sister Cheryl A. Esplin's talk from the last General Conference entitled "Teaching Our Children to Understand."  Here was my simple little story.  I almost cried.  I came home and sent the idea to Trina and Darrel.  Trina said she loved the idea and thanked me for it. Here is the idea:

"About two months before his children turned eight years old, one father would set aside time each week to prepare them for baptism.  His daughter said that when it was her turn, he gave hear a journal and they sat together, just the two of them, and discussed and shared feelings about gospel principles.  He had her draw a visual aid as they went along .  It showed the premortal existence, this earth, life, and each step she needed to take to return to live with Heavenly Father.  He bore his testimony about each step of the plan of salvation as he taught it to her.
When he daughter recalled this experience after she was grown, she said: 'I will never forget the love I felt from my dad as he spent that time with me....I believe that this experience was a major reason I had a testimony of the gospel when I was baptized."  My prayers were answered.

My friend Paula Casto and her daughter Tanae are coming to visit this weekend.  I am excited to have them come and they are excited to come.  There is only one drawback.  Tanae has a new calling in the singles ward so they have to either go back Saturday evening or early Monday morning.  Tanae is the assistant to the Sunday social meals in the singles ward and talks her calling very seriously.

While James and I were outside on the deck reading this morning four Apache helicopters flew overhead.  Darn!  I was hoping they didn't know where we were.  We thought we were well hidden.

James and I have a goal to plant grass around our home.  Before we can even begin to think about planting we have so many rocks to remove.  I didn't realize how many until this morning when I actually began the removal process.  There are large ones and small ones and every size in between. It will be a long time before we are ready to plant.  Hopefully sometime next year.

James and I went on a short Ranger ride this morning.  Short because there was no gas.  I am grateful James is feeling a little better and beginning to act like himself.  Still waiting to here from Dr. Memon.

For FHE I made an apple pie shake and James and I watched President Monson's 85th birthday party.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Happy Birthday to me!  My birthday gift to myself is the losing of 5 lbs.  I am very excited!  But the next time I go to the valley I am getting this treat:

I got up at 4am to finish my handouts for today's Young Women's lesson.  (See Saturday for pictures of handouts).  Around 5:30 I noticed a herd of cows in our backyard.  I decided to chase them away on the Ranger.  Goodbye cows, get your breakfast somewhere else.

We sat by the Crane's during sacrament meeting.  I told James his birthday gift to me was to stay for all of the block, and he did.  Afterwards he was glad he did because he said priesthood meeting was very spiritual.  

After our meetings James gave me another birthday present.  This wonderfully delicious addictive grilled honey lime chicken.

James and I ate this entire plate of chicken. 

It was better than birthday cake.

I got several phone calls, Facebook messages and Vox's today.  I talked to Dennis, Harold, Vickie, Lois, Darrel, and Stacy on the phone.  Kim and Brian, Laura,Darrel & Trina and several friends Facebooked me.  Jared and his family Skyped me.  I went to a fireside this afternoon and the young men and young women sang happy birthday to me.  It was a great birthday.  Jared told me that his kids fasted for Grandpa James last week.  They told Emmy because she wasn't 8 yet she didn't need to fast, but she did anyone.  We are so grateful for our dear sweet children and grandchildren!  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

James's last gift to me was to take me on a Sunday drive.  

It was a great birthday.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

James and I read the book of Omni in the Book of Mormon or our scripture study this morning.  One of my favorite Book of Mormon scriptures is found in Omni 1:26 where it says:
 "And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.  Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved."
Our Marie Antionette story is getting quite sad.  Marie has four children that she loves dearly and two of them die.  Also, the people of France are turning against her and troubled times are ahead.
I saw a funny thing on the way in to Show Low today,  There was a wedding at the fire station.  Yes you heard me right.  Just after seeing the wedding, I looked on the left side of the road and said to James: "On look at that paint horse."  His reply was: "That's not a paint horse, it's an apaloosa mule."  The sights you see in a small town.
We had lunch at LaCasita.  I love their green chili burros but the sopapillas are not as good as El Rancho's.
I got some supplies at Walmart and the Book Barn and came home and spent the rest of the evening preparing for Young Women's.  Here's what I made:

The front of the scripture journal says: 

"Be Enthusiastic About Reading Scriptures"

The bookmark says: 

"The scriptures are the KEYS to our salvation & happiness."

The little candy scriptures are from 2 Nephi 4:15:

"For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them."

This was inside the front cover of the scripture journal:

 

This was inside the back cover:

 Different scenarios where you can find answers in the scriptures

to life's problems.

 

Friday, August 17, 2012

I am trying desperately to get back on my old schedule where I get up at 4am and study a couple of hours or so and then go for a walk.  I hate using an alarm and can normally just rely on my instincts to get up.  Today I got up, studied until what I thought was 6:00 and then got ready and went out for my walk.  When I returned I checked my phone for the time and it said 5:59.  What?  It's suppose to be 7am.  That means I got up at 3am instead of 4.  Oh well, I took a shower and laid back down for another 30 minutes. 
While I was spraying the mud off our driveway James went in to the post office and to get a burn permit from the fire department.  He is finally burning the big pile of brush in our back yard.  It looked like this:

The Burning Bush.

Fire in the Rain.

I worked on the Young Women lesson which is on Scripture Study. I found lots of fun ideas on Sugardoodle.net for handouts that I want to use.  

Kim got the results of her biopsy back.  No cancer.  Thank goodness.  

James and I watched The Finder finale, The Mentalist, and Chopped on TV this evening.