Sunday, August 26, 2012

Tyler Hunsaker, Tina Allen, and Jimmy McNeil were the speakers in sacrament meeting.  Tyler is 15 years old and he spoke on the 5th Article of Faith.  Tina and Jimmy spoke on overcoming adversity.  Tina is the Young Women's secretary and I have become friends with her.  She has two boys, Jackson who is a deacon and Rusty who is a priest.  Rusty plays ball with Colby.  She also has 5 grown daughters.  They all visited her this weekend for her birthday and they had a family picture taken, (there are 22 of them), in the field of sunflowers here in Vernon.

During sacrament meeting I saw Natalie and Hans Soderquist leave.  Their children stayed by the Hunsaker's.  After sacrament meeting Hans ask me if I would teach young women's because Natalie was sick.  Thank goodness I studied the lesson this morning and brought it with me to Church.  We had two visitors today, Ashley and Savannah from Lakeside.  Our lesson was on goal setting.  Afterwards I met with the class presidents and did some planning for the month of September.  James home taught Sister Lorraine Vaught at the church and I sat in.
I had two Mom's come up to me at Church and say how much their girls loved me and enjoyed our Wednesday night activity.  Trenda's mom, Sandra Wilhelm gave me a big hug.  When James went home teaching to the Hunsaker's he said Brother Hunsaker said I was an awesome young women's leader.  I am grateful for the praise but most of all I am grateful for the young women in this ward.\
We got more rain today and my car got covered with mud on the way home from church.  At the end of Sunday School there was a loud clash of thunder.  Someone said: "Time to end class."  During young women's the lights flickered and thunder crashed again.  I like rain but I don't like thunder and lightning.
We had grilled honey lime chicken again.  Not as good as last week's because it didn't marinate as long.

It was a good sabbath day.  I worked on Personal Progress this evening.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Kevin and his wife Alena had a baby girl this morning.  They named her Lillian Marie.  Kevin lives in Europe so who knows when we will get to see the baby.  Laura, do you know?
In an attempt to get ready for Sunday I washed my car today.  It was covered in mud from the last rain.  I also washed off the driveway, knowing that it won't last very long. 
James finished putting up the blinds in the entryway.  He works hard even when he hurts.

There was no rain today and for the first time in a long time James and I went on a Ranger ride. 

Usually when we see cows they run from us.  But not this one.  She had horns and I thought she was going to charge.

Pictures taken around Vernon.

The Crane's garden and wildflowers.

Our flower garden.

Some of our wildflowers.

Field of sunflowers on Apache county road 3144.

Friday, August 24, 2012

The alarm went off at 4:40am and we hit the ground running.  James did the driving while I slept until Payson.  We stopped for gas and a drink at the Giant station.  $1.63 for a drink....at Circle K they are only 86 cents. 
When we got to the valley we turned on to Shea Blvd. and traveled down Shea until Tatum.  We turned right onto Tatum and then got a little bit lost looking for 4435 E. Paradise Village Parkway.  There was some construction and Paradise Village Parkway is one of those windy streets.  Finally after much wandering I looked at the address again: 4435 E. Paradise Village Parkway South.  The South made all the difference.  We went north on Tatum, turned left onto Cactus and south again on 44th.  Stone Creek is right next to the Embassy Suites Hotel.  Duh!  The Embassy Suites is my home away from home.  While James was in his meeting I needed to use the little girls room.  Luckily I found a Target right across from Paradise Valley Mall.
Did I ever mention that Target is my favorite store?  I bought myself a new purse that I love! 

It is made of soft leather and I love the color.  

It looks better in person.

I couldn't resist taking this picture.

You don't see many of these in Vernon.

I picked up James after his meeting and we were on our way to Darrel's house.  When we first arrived Darrel was home alone.  Addy and Rowan were at school and Trina and Ruby were are the gym.  Darrel showed us his latest home improvement project.  Tile backsplash in the kitchen.  You did a nice job Darrel. 

Soon Ruby was home.  Darrel had to run an errand, Trina went in the bedroom to change her clothes, James was snoring on the coach and Ruby and I played ball.  She showed me what she made in preschool.

It's a marshmallow M.  Ruby says you can't eat the marshmallows because they have glue on them.  

Then she whispers to me:"I ate some of the others though."

Darrel and Trina took James and I to Chili's for lunch for my birthday.  Sheri got off of work on her lunch hour and met us there.  I had my favorite Chili's menu item, Caribbean salad with grilled shrimp.  

Some of my favorite people in the world.

After lunch we said our goodbyes and went to Stacy and Paul's so James could fix the leak in the pool pump.  I visited with Stacy and Adam and we watched part of the Rock Center special on Mormon's.  Adam had to leave because he had a date with a girl named Alicia.  Stacy had to pick up the boys from school.  I got hugs from Joshua, Michael, and Dallin before we left for home.  

Again I sleep until Payson.  We got in quite a rainstorm going up the rim.  James talked to Terry who was in Long Valley at the Del Rio 2nd ward outing and he said it was just starting to rain on them.

I missed Show Low High School's first football game in St. John's tonight.  Show Low won and Colby who is the starting quarterback was player of the game according to the radio.  I will be at the game next week.

It's good to be home.  We watched Train on the Today show sing 3 songs.  I taped them for Trina because I know she likes them.

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.