Friday, May 2, 2014

Mosiah 5:2

"And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually."

We got up and packed the car this morning for our trip home.  We took a few pictures before we left.

E

Even though Emmy is a bit of a tomboy she can be a

sweet young lady too.

 Look at this brown eyed beauty!

 One last hug from Molly before we leave.

Our trip home was pretty uneventful.  We stopped in Deming and got something to eat at Burger King.  James did all of the driving this time.  We gained an hour going home and arrived in Vernon around 1pm Arizona time.  

James took a nap and then went on a Razr ride. The weather was gorgeous!

 I watched Dancing with the Stars and finished my gospel study, and did some laundry.  We both did most of our packing for tomorrow since we are leaving at 5am.  

It was nice to sleep in our own bed even if it was for only one night.  

I texted Jared to tell him we got home safely.  He thanked me again and said he was at Emmy's school carnival with the girls.  Tricia and James will be home on Sunday.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

3 Nephi 17:9-10

And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.

And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears.

For family scripture study Jared read from 3 Nephi 17 with his girls.  These are some of the most wonderful recorded scriptures we have.

Jared went in early to work so James took Emmy and Anna to school while I got Molly ready for preschool.  She has pictures today with a cap and gown so they said no ponytails.  Molly really wouldn't let me do much with her hair so I hope it looks ok in the pictures.  

 James and I had the house to ourselves except for Florie who comes in and cleans on Thursdays.  The dogs stayed outside.  We left around 11am to go pick up Jared for lunch.

4722 E. Montana St.

We went to Kiki's to get mexican food.  It was delicious!

 Authentic Mexican food 2 miles

north of the border.

I had Aaron Sanchez's favorite dish, the machaca.  Yummy!

 Comes with egg, chili con queso,

and the most tender shredded beef.

Taking Jared to lunch was a small way for us to say thanks for the eye exams and new glasses.

We got back in time for James to take a nap and for me to mix up the dough for sugar cookies.  When Molly got home from school she said she was going to drink her slurpy that was in the frig.  I said that was okay.  Later when Anna got home she asked where her slurpy was.  I guess it was really Anna's slurpy that Molly drank.  I felt bad so I scrounged up some money for Anna so she could go to Circle K and get another drink. Another problem: someone ate James's Lemonheads but no one will admit to it.  

When Emmy got home from school she read the Scholastic News to me.  She read about seals who were caught in an oil slick wearing sweaters and elephants being hunted for their ivory.  Also: should we ban plastic grocery bags?

When Jared got home he made beef stroganoff for dinner.  It was very tasty.  Molly did ask if we could go back to that place where "they put sugar on stuff."  I think she was referring to the cinnamon breadsticks at Pizza Hut.  After dinner the girls decorated cookies.

 Anna joined in the fun too.

 Anna is so excited that she's almost as tall 

as Grandpa!

We tried to play Five Crowns but it was pretty much a disaster because of Molly.  Soon she will be old enough to play according to the real rules and not according to Molly's rules!

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Mosiah 3:7

 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

Ben had surgery on his hand this morning. 

He had to have a torn ligament in his hand re-attached.  He also has to wear a cast to help the break.  He broke the top part of the growth plate.  I guess he was pretty loopy after the surgery and was talking about how oxygen smells like cinnamon.  He also asked what ice is made of.  In spite of it all, Sheri says he was positive and didn't feel too sorry for himself.

I watched TV with Molly this morning.  We watched Lego Friends and Horseland.

Penny tries to chew up a scarf.

 

  For lunch we went to Pizza Hut.  Molly had some change and wanted to use it in the little candy vendors.  She thought the jaw breakers were bouncy balls and she was going to get one for her sisters too.  At first she said she didn't like this place very well but when she had some of the cinnamon sticks from the buffet she said: "I do like this place."  

After lunch we went to White Spur Park.

  

After the park we went home and took naps.  I woke up a little before Molly and went to pick up Emmy from school to take her to volleyball practice.  

 Emmy and two of her teammates who are actually twins.

 Emmy's team.

One the way home we stopped at Circle K for drinks and candy.

Jared fixed us ham and cheese sandwiches on pretzel rolls for dinner.  We also had Lay's Dill Pickle chips.  They were yummy although Jared says the Limon ones are better.  We ate outside.

 Bruce and Penny are part of the family.

Emmy and James played a game of tetherball and so did Molly and I.  Emmy and Anna practice their volleyball by throwing the ball against the house.  It's great to see these two girls with something in common.  

We watched American Idol and Castle this evening.  Anna went to Mutual.  When she came home Sister Pasow had to come in and tell us how wonderful her lesson was and that they had three non-members girls attend.  She was so proud of Anna, and so are we.

Jared read a story to Molly this evening.

Emmy had to show grandpa some of her artwork.

 

Molly working on some of her art work.

Back in Arizona Joshua had a date at McDonald's with his grandma panchita.

 

 

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Omni 1:26

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.

Molly left at 8:30 for her preschool.  Sister Jensen came and picked her up.  She said she was going to the zoo and would be riding goats and horses.  We shall see.

James and I left around 10 for Jared's office which is clear across town, about 20 miles away.  We filled out paperwork and met everyone in the office: Robert and Dr. Jeff Ekery, Rosie (LDS), Audra, Tony, Jamelle (who is Cosette in Les Mis), Terry, Carol, Espy, Shay and Rosette.  

 Jared, the new owner of

El Paso Optical

After our exams and picking out glasses, I picked purple frames and purple frames for my sunglasses, Jared, James and I headed for Costco to do a little shopping and to get some lunch.  Jared and James both got the pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw and I got a hotdog.  James also got a chicken bake because I guess he was extra hungry.  We took Jared back to the office and then James and I headed for home.  James drove home with his eyes dialated and a pair of paper framed sunglasses on.

Back at home I had time for a short nap before Molly got home from preschool.  The first thing she said when she came in was: "Our fieldtrip was cancelled.  We don't think she really had one but because Emmy has been talking about her fieldtrip Molly wanted to have one too.

When Emmy got home the first thing she did was do her homework and then read from her book.  Molly had to read from her book too.  She finished Harry Potter, The Prisoner of Azkaban, in about five minutes.

I offered a dollar to whomever could find the remote to the TV but they finally gave up and watched a show on the computer.  Later when Jared got home he found the remote.

 What you do when you can't watch TV.

Anna didn't come home from school today.  She went to the Ainsworth's to help babysit while Sister Ainsworth ran errands.  She sent me some pictures she took on her phone but this is the only one I received.  It is actually one she sent me in January, but I'm going to post it again.

 Molly and Anna

Jared came home with some dinner.  Freshly made flour tortillas that were still warm, delicious pico de gallo and guacamole, carne asada and shredded beef, and refried beans and cheese.  Everyone got to make their own burros.  It was yummy.  

 After dinner, Jared, Anna, Emmy, Molly and I walked to Circle K.  It's about half a block away.  James had some work to do so he stayed home with the dogs.  

This evening I watched Psyche with Anna and then James and I watched The Mentalist.  We remembered Ben in our family prayer.  He is having surgery on his hand tomorrow.  

This picture of Bruce was taken at 4am.

during my morning devotional.

Ruth 1:16-17

"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LOrd do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."

This morning for scripture study Emmy shared a scripture she learned about in her primary class yesterday.  It was Genesis 39:18-23: 

18 -And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.

19- And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

20-And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

21-But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

22-And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

23-The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper."

We talked about how when bad thing happened to Joseph even when he was trying to do good, eventually because of his goodness and obedience, he was blessed.

I went with Jared to take Emmy and Anna to school so I would know the route. Bruce and Penny went with us.

 I am picking up Emmy this afternoon.  She goes to Mitzy Bond Elementary School.  Anna goes to Abraham Lincolm Junior High.  Emmy is in the third grade and Anna is in the sixth.

We hung out with Molly and the dogs while the other girls were gone to school and Jared was at work.

 Penny and Molly

Molly trying to get Bruce to shake hands with her,

but I think he's just too tired.

Penny found the most comfortable spot in the house.

Molly singing her preschool songs for us.

Molly, James and I went shopping at Walmart.  The guy behind us in line was trying to be friendly with Molly.  She told him he had sharp teeth.  Thank goodness he was a good sport about it.  

After shopping we went to lunch at Rudy's.  Molly loved their potato salad and dill pickles.  She also ate a tiny bit of smoked turkey.

Back at home we all laid down to take a nap.  Molly told me I smelled good, just like an old grandma.  I guess I should consider that a compliment.  While she was still sleeping I left to pick up Emmy from school and take her to volleyball practice.  I stayed and watched her practice. 

 Emmy loves sports and she is very athletic.

There were lots of girls all shapes, sizes, and ages practicing volleyball at Stars Haven today.  I guess Anna has practice on Fridays.

On the way home Emmy and I stopped at the local Circle K for some refreshments.  Jared made burgers for dinner.  They were delicious. Anna was very helpful.  She asked everyone what they wanted to drink and then she delivered our drinks to us.

 I played with Molly outside.  I watched her jump on the trampoline and then we played tetherball.

Anna gave a really good lesson for FHE.  She had questions for us to answer and when we were finished she gave what she thought would be a good answer.  I guess she is doing this for Mutual on Wednesday night too.  Anna also made some delicious snickerdoodle cookies for us. Emmy got to chose the game.  We played Apples to Apples.  Molly did the song.

 Maybe we should be glad we lost the remote to the TV.  We spent a nice evening together.   

 

 

Sunday, April 27, 2014

My weekly interview with Heavenly Father:

As I listen to the Sacrament prayers, I can feel like I am having a

  PPI with my Father in Heaven.  President Henry B. Eyring suggests that I think of questions in 3 areas:

1.  What have I done that has pleased God?

2. What do I need to repent of or ask forgiveness for? 

3. What/who would God like me to serve?

"Heavenly Father, I wasn't perfect again this week, but I repent of my sins and reaffirm my commitment to keep all the commandments. I promise to go back and try again with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.  I still want and need the cleansing that comes through faith, repentance and baptism.  Please extend my contract, my covenant of baptism, and grant me the continued blessings of the Atonement and the companionship of the Holy Ghost."

I couldn't sleep so I got up a little after 3am.  I had an idea for the May family letter and I had to write it down.  I am going to share teachings from the Book of Mormon with Adam, Jared Ammon, Dallin, Michael, Joe, Alex, Ben, James, Anna, Max, Addy and Emmy.  Also, I am going to encourage the Primary kids to learn the Articles of Faith.

Today I studied the Book of Mormon, Preach My Gospel, Everyday Missionaries and read from For the Strength of Youth for Personal Progress, Integrity, value experience #1.

James had stake council meeting, and then a couple, the Mills' reported on their mission to Peru, so he didn't get back until after 8:30.  

Talon Wilhelm was the youth speaker in sacrament meeting.  He spoke on repentance from For the Strength of Youth.  Pam Wood and Gary Thompson spoke on being disciples of Christ.  After sacrament meeting James and I went home so we could pack the car to get ready to go to El Paso.  I made some lunch: leftover ham, potatoes, green beans and stir fry.  I pretty much cleaned out the frig, which was my plan.  We were all ready to go except James wanted to turn off the water and the dishwasher wasn't finished.  I went back to the church to visit teach Lannie Gillespie with my partner, Rosie Lauritzen.  

I went back home and picked up James.  We had a prayer before we left with James driving even though he said he didn't get any sleep last night.  He drove to Silver City while I took naps and then in Silver City I took over the driving.  I got the easy part of the trip with most of my driving on the freeway.  Emmy and Molly called us several times asking why it was taking so long. When we got within a block of their house Emmy and Molly were waiting on the corner.  We picked them up and Jared and Anna were waiting in their driveway.  Anna was all dressed up to go to a fireside.  James is gone with his grandpa Mark.  They are on an adventure.  They went to Silver City and then on to Tombstone.

 

The first thing Molly wanted me to do was paint her nails.  I got grandpa to do it.

Grandpa the manicurist.

Jared fixed us a nice dinner and then we watched some Mormon Messages on the T.V.

 

 

Saturday, April 26, 2014

 A paragraph from my Patriarchal Blessing:

1.  Live near to the Lord

2. Pray daily to be shielded from temptation greater than we are able to withstand thus the righteous desires of my heart can be realized as I live under His divine influence.

 Marissa Ellsworth and Courtney Pannel after doing baptisms for the dead at the Salt Lake Temple.

I made buttermilk syrup this morning for our ward's pancake breakfast.  It was delicious.  James said it tasted like caramel, probably because I used brown sugar.  After the breakfast I came home and made another batch using white sugar and it was just as good, if not better.  
The weather was very fickle today.  It was windy, then it rained, and even snowed for awhile and then I saw the sun shine. Hopefull the rain will lessen the extreme fire danger in the area.

 James and I made a trip to the dump and to the Stanford store to get some gas for our trip to El Paso tomorrow.  After leaving the dump we heard a weird scraping noise, and then it stopped.  We turned around and by the side of the road we saw something that had dropped off from the undercarriage of our car.  James said it was some kind of mud guard.  Luckily it's not that important.  For a few minutes we thought we had another flat tire, but thank goodness we didn't.

This afternoon I paid bills and worked on my blog all while listening to BYU Devotionals.  James took his work in and sat by the fireplace.

   Soon I joined him and we read from The Book Thief.

I have to share a post that Sheri did about Max.  She got some twine and hemp for Ian to make the boys some bracelets.  Ian said: "Hey guys look what mom got so I can make you some bracelets."  Max's response was: "What?  Are we teenage girls?  Do you want us to sit in a circle and braid each others' hair?"

This evening James and I watched a really good Hallmark movie we had seen before called: "Will You Dance at My Wedding?"  RomA Downey and John Schneider were in it.  I should have saved it for Kim and Sheri to watch when they come up.  

 One of my young women, Arizona Hill,

and the results of her turkey hunt.

Prom Night

Joe and his friends in Chandler

 Colby and his date in Show Low