Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sunrise:

The sunrise is a little earlier each day.

Well I definitely have a sore throat and a cough. I wonder if its from breathing the fumes of that Krud Kutter I use to take off the wallpaper. 

In other exciting new Joe got his drivers license today:

Way to go Joe.

James is having a hard time trying to run two jobs.  It's times like this that he really misses Owen.  Good help is hard to find and half the time the help he does have doesn't show up.  He is trying to finish Troy Andersen's before the end of the month and is getting ready for a big concrete pour at Zaki's.  

You may ask what I did of value today.  I did some gospel study, took a nap instead of going for a walk, brought up some books and put them on the bookshelves, wrote on my blog, and prepared Kristy Thomas's grandparents names to be sealed.  That's about it.  Oh yes, I watched some old movies: "Smooch", "The Picnic" with Kim Novak and William Holden.  Wow! When James's dad was young he looked alot like William Holden.  I called James to tell him and he said, "I know."  I also watched Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart in "The Bell, Book, and Candle."  It must be Kim Novak week on TCM.

James got some money today so I can pay this weeks bills.  That's always a good thing.

Monday, March 12, 2013

Thought for the day: "If we properly prepare for the sacrament we can transform our lives." - Elder Don R. Clarke of the Seventy.  Some more thoughts on the sacrament from Elder Clarke's latest General Conference address: 1.Have a feeling of gratitude for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  2. Remember that you are renewing your baptismal covenants.  3. During the sacrament we can feel forgiven of our sins.  "The sacrament renews the process of forgiveness." - Boyd K. Packer.  4. We can receive inspiration for solutions to our problems.  5. Partaking of the sacrament worthily will help us be filled with the Holy Ghost.

 Today's sunrise picture.

The guys, James, Joshua, and Evan left early this morning around 5.  I thought the boys would sleep on the way home but James said they didn't.  He stopped for breakfast at McDonald's and Evan loved the pancakes!
This is what the boys did when they got home.  Remember, yesterday they were in the snow.

Fun in the Sun.

It has been determined by 20/20 that "I Love Lucy" is the most popular TV show of all time.  For some reason that doesn't surprise me too much.

I think I am getting sick.  I have a sore throat and a slight cough.  I pretty much took it was this afternoon.  I did get some housework done this morning and I paid a few bills.  I watched a Hallmark move, "The Wishing Well" and watched the finale of the Bachelor with Sean Lowe.  He picked Katherine instead of Lindsay.

James called and said he got heat rub in his eye.  I called Stacy and had her check on him.  I guess he's ok.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Happy Daylight Savings time.  James got up at 3:15 instead of 4:15 because his phone changed to daylight savings time.  Luckily mine didn't.  I think daylight savings time is silly.

James had a high council meeting this morning so he left a little after five.  I got up and decided to wash all the mud off my car with a bottle of watered down Windex and a whole roll of paper towels.  It was clean when I left for church but was twice as dirty when I got back home.  Maybe I should do what Brother Applegate says he does.  He waits until spring to wash his truck.
I made blueberry muffins for breakfast because Evan says he loves them.  Between the two of them, Josh and Evan they ate 10 muffins with Josh, who didn't really want them, eating the most.
LeeAnn Hunsaker gave a talk in church on the 13th Article of Faith and she did an awesome job!  The other talks were on FHE and were given by Ruth Wallace and Jerry Scott.  It was a good sacrament meeting.  The boys were a little whinny and wanted to go home instead of going to Primary.  I reminded them of their promise that they would go and when that was convincing them I gave this little speech.  "Evan, how many hours are in a day.  Evan: 24.  We are only at church for 3 hours so how many hours does that give us to play and do what we want?  21.  Wow!  That's alot!"  They went to Primary without complaining any more.
Two elk crossed the road in front of us on the way to church and there were about 30 or so more by the side of the road.  James only saw the two.  Also, I saw backyard bunny this morning and had to take a picture:

Close up.

Far away.

Kaeli Nicoll gave the lesson in Young Women's on forgiveness.  It was really good.  There was a video of a man who lost his wife and two of his kids in a car accident caused by a teenage drunk driver.  Because of his faith in the Savior and the Atonement the man was able to forgive the teenager and help him turn his life around.  

James insisted that I drive his truck home and he would drive my car.  The mud was so bad I almost got sturck.  I drove as close as I could to the front door and carried the boys to the porch.  I got mud on my Sunday shoes.  The boys were so happy to be home.  They play so well together.  James is doing an audit at our ward so he wasn't home for another two hours.

When he got home we had roast, carrots, peas, biscuits, and salad for lunch. I tried to convince Evan that roast was just like steak.  He ate a little with some ketchup.  Later for a treat we had ice cream and Sprite.  

While the boys were playing James and I watched one of my favorite Hallmark movies, "Straight From the Heart."  Joshua borrowed my camera and took some pictures.  I had to edit them.  They took one picture of a naked Barbie.

Grandpa built a fire and the boys had a great time. After the boys went outside for awhile to play in the snow.  Here are some random pictures.  When it came time to go to bed they wanted to watch Chip and Dale.  I showed them how to turn it off when they were finisihed.  James and I went to bed.  I woke up an hour or so later and they were both fast asleep in bed.

 Lighting the fire.

The snow is melting quickly.

After a bath.

Horsing around.

A race for the bed?

Ready to watch a movie.

Gotta have some popcorn.

Fast asleep.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

It's snowing in the mountains so when it came time for us to leave I followed James going the Globe way.  He had Evan and Joshua with him.  They are spending the weekend with us at the cabin.  I had my car full of boxes.  There was snow all over even before we got to Superior.  I wished I would have stopped and taken a picture but I wanted to keep up with James.  We stopped at Irene's Mexican Food in Globe for lunch.  Evan said he didn't want to go in because he didn't speak spanish but we told him they would speak english too.  He and Josh ate alot of chips and Evan had salsa with us.  Josh ordered a taco and Evan ordered a cheese crisp but neither one of them ate much.  James and I both had enchiladas with green chili sauce.  They were delicious.  Oh did I mention that James got stopped for going to fast.  Luckily the officer only gave him a warning.

Our weekend guests.

I stopped at the Safeway in Show Low to get a roast for dinner tomorrow.  I am afraid I was not dressed for how cold and snowy it was.  James called and warned me that he got stuck going in to our place and he was sure I was going to get stuck.  Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, I did not get stuck, although it was touch and go there for awhile.  What a mess!  Snow and mud.  

Lexy is becoming a country car.

The boys having dinner with grandpa.

Friday, March 8, 2013

We woke up this morning to rain.  James had to cancel his concrete at Zaki's. 
I went shopping again this morning.  I need ink for our computer printer and Walmart was out.  I went to another Walmart and they were out too so I ended up getting it at Staples.  I also went to the bank and deposited a check from Zaki.  I stopped for lunch at In n Out Burger. 

I stripped wallpaper until 10pm and only got half of the room done.  I guess I will finish next week.
James finally got his gun reloader.  He doesn't have all the components he needs to reload though.  Cabellas says they run out as soon as they get them in.  I guess everyone has the same idea about reloading and buying ammo.  James says George Saros owns most of the ammo manufacturing plants and he will only sell to the government. 

Dallin and Kevin were rehearsing to play at the Ostrich Festival this evening when they got a call that their show was cancelled because of rain.  How sad.

Random post.  My friend Jani Huso from my days growing up in Show Low posted a picture of the old McNary General Store.  We use to do most of our shopping at this store which is no longer there.  It's sad going to McNary now because everything I remember is gone since the lumber mill closed down. 

My brother Harold was born in McNary.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

I got a wake up call from James at 6:30.  I guess I stayed up too late last night watching my movie.
I got up in time to see this sunrise:

I showered, packed, winterized and was ready to leave for the valley by 9am.  I stopped at the bank and the gas station in Show Low.  I also stopped at Horne Auto Dealers to take a picture of a truck for James. 

In Payson I had lunch at Taco Bell.  I enjoyed seeing the wildflowers on the desert just outside Fountain Hills:

The first thing I did when I got to Chandler was visit Dave.  He is helping me learn how to download videos onto my tablet.  I guess part of the problem is that I don't have a wifi at home and downloading using my data card takes way too much space and costs too much.  Thanks Dave for the continued computer training.

I am amazed at how many weeds have grown in the yard.  It's pretty overwhelming.  I think I may have to hire some help to do a major cleanup in our yard.

I made a trip to Walmart to get a few groceries and some Krud Kutter.  I did some wallpaper stripping and watered the front lawn at the same time.  

When James got home we went to see a movie with Kim and Brian.  They actually paid our way.  Kim said she has lots of free movie tickets.  Thanks guys.  We saw Safe Haven and we all really liked it.  Josh Dummael and Julieanne Hough were the stars.  

Stacy worked on an art project for Joshua today.  It was a green alligator kite.  Why didn't I get a picture?  It turned out really cute.

I saw this picture of a restaurant in Georgia on Facebook and thought it was cool.

I wonder what it looks like inside.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

"If strong and securely attached to the rock of our Redeemer, faith will help us to safely climb the gospel path, overcome every challenge of mortality and return to the majestic presence of our Heavenly Father.  All things are fulfilled by faith." Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy

My morning sunrise pictures.

I went on a walk today for the first time in a long time.  I walked 25 minutes, went one miles, and burned 107 calories.  Hey, it's a start!

I cleaned and listened to the Book of Mormon on my phone.  I also studied about faith this morning.  

Several months ago Kristy Thomas asked me to prepare her grandparents names so they can be sealed.  I told her she needed to get permission from her dad and his brothers before I could move forward.  She assured me they would be fine with it so by next week I should have them ready.  I also decided I needed to do some of my own family history.  I remember Karen Schneider saying to put one name on a post-it card and put it by your computer.  I chose my grandpa Strickland's mother, Mary Eliza Lewis.  I need to find her parents.  I am taking baby steps today in two areas of my life, exercising, and family history.

Natalie, Kaeli, Brother Smith and I had a young women's presidency meeting this evening before Mutual.  After opening exercises Natalie went home and asked me to take her girls.  We were suppose to have a song practice with the choir director Stephanie Hunsaker but she cancelled at the last minute.  The only other things we had planned was to visit Alex Jones and take her a sock cupcake.  All the Mia Maids and Laurels and I walked to Alex's house.  We knocked several times but it was evident that she wasn't home.  We walked back to the Church.  Now what do we do for the next 30 minutes.  The girls wanted to play a game so we played Truth or Dare off Trenda's phone.  I didn't like it and will not go unprepared for Mutual again!

I came home and watched a Hallmark movie, "Personally Yours" which was filmed in Alaska.  Beautiful scenery and a cute story.