Monday, September 8, 2014

Six Things the Happiest Families 

all have in common:

1.)  They create a family mission statement

- What it means to be a part of the family

-What are our family values?

2.  They share their family history

-This is the #1 predictor of a child's emotional well-being

- Role models that show your family values in practice.

3. Hold weekly family meetings

- Ask 3 questions: What worked weel this week, what didn't, and what do we want to work on this week.

4.  Learn how to solve conflicts.

- Separate, Negotiate, Unite

5.  Have family dinner together, any time of day.

6.  Just try

 - "The Secrets of Happy Families"

Bruce Feiler

  This day will go down in history in the Valley of the Sun.  James cancelled concrete because of rain.  Just as we were leaving for our Razr ride, Stacy called to tell James not to come down.  It has been raining hard all night and the neighborhood is flooded.  Emergency vehicles are parked on Willis Rd. and they aren't letting anyone in.

This is what the neighborhood looked like:

In front of our house.

Lake front property

Chandler Eyecare's parking lot
The closed for the day as did
Chandler High and PayPal,
just to name a few places.

The I-10 west of downtown Phoenix

James was planning on leaving around 11am today but now he is staying home.  We got clouds here, but no rain.  I think the storm headed into Nevada and Utah after it left Phoenix.

We did get a rainbow

James and I had to run in to town to get some ink for the printer.  we stopped for lunch at Burger King because James was hungry for their mushroom burger.  I prefer Sonic burgers myself.

I read from our book "The Kiss of a Stranger" on the way into town and back home again.  We also took a nap and watched Sue Thomas F.B.Eye and had a very enjoyable day together.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

The Key to Spirituality:

"Arise early, pray intently, hungering and thirsting for the influence of the Spirit to fill you body,  until it does."

-Brother Ray Smith

This is what the sky looks like when you "arise early."

James went to our ward's bishopric meeting this morning at 6am.  He is now the high councilman over our ward. I was asked to attend the 7am ward council meeting with the priesthood and other auxiliary presidencies this morning and got to sit by James.  We were trained by Brother Applegate the Sunday School president on how to access church videos, etc. on lds.org.  He encouraged us to download them onto a thumb drive.

Bishop Miller talked about reaching the one and helping people to accept responsibility.  

James got some homemade cough drops from Stefani Hunsaker today that really helped his laringitis.  He smelled strongly of cloves for the rest of the day.

I missed Sunday School to setup for my Young Women's lesson.  The main topic of my lesson is to be "In the World but not of the World."  I am using a video of a talk by Sister Elaine Dalton for the main part of my lesson. 

This is Trenda Wilhelm, our Laurel class president.  She is one of the most outstanding young women I have ever met.  Sometimes she seems more like an adult than a young woman.

After the block I had an interview with Bishop Miller regarding my Personal Progress and Young Women's award.  I passed and he signed my book.  It feels pretty good for this old woman to be getting a young woman's award.

James had to break into the house again.  His keys are on his truck key chain and he's driving a rental car.  He added veggies to the roast I put on this morning.  We broke our fast and enjoyed a nice meal together.

We spent a quiet, peaceful Sunday afternoon together.  It is one of my favorite times of the week.  James is speaking in Cibeque next week so he worked on his talk a little.  Tyler Hunsaker, a 17 year old young man in our ward, is going to be his speaking companion.

 Can't wait for fall to hit the mountains here!

 

 

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Gilbert temple

"When we obey Satan we give him power.  When we obey God, 
He gives us power.  Real power to become like God is obtained
through obedience."
-Elder Paul V. Johnson

Elk were bugling in our yard this morning, so James went out and bugled back.  He got dressed and followed them for about two miles.  It's an exciting time of year for him!

The back end of a bull elk.

When James got back from his hike he cooked us ham and eggs for breakfast.  Afterwards I delivered the muffins and cookies to Collin Dewitt at the church where he was waiting for youth who needed rides to show up.  They are going to an animal rescue shelter to do service.  This 70 year old woman rescues all sorts of animals and she takes care of them.  She won't allow anyone to adopt because she really doesn't trust people.  I just wonder what's going to happen to the animals when she dies.

We made a trip to town around lunch time to mail bills and have lunch at Licano's.  I had a chicken chimi with green sauce and refried beans.  James had the prime rib carne asada special which was quite delicious.  

Back at home we started our fast and took a nap and then I gave James a haircut and settled down to prepare the Young Women's lesson for tomorrow.  I learned how to download church vides onto a thumb drive!

 Two cows and a bull in our backyard.

 

Friday, September 5, 2014

"Where there is no vision,

the people perish."

-Proverbs 29:18

Happy 36th Birthday Darrel!

Darrel & Lola

Darrel and his family bring us so much joy and happiness!

This morning before he left for work I made Darrel breakfast.  I also had a balloon, a piece of cake and a birthday card with a gift card to Cheesecake Factory inside.  He will be going home to Mesa when he gets off work tonight so I had to do his celebration this morning.  I am so proud of Darrel and what he has accomplished in his life.  He is a great dad, husband, and son and we love him very much!

I studied, worked on my blog and paid Lambson Construction bills that are due by the end of the month.  James came home this afternoon.  He loved my chili and said he was grateful to get a home cooked meal.  We started a new book today by the same author as the last one we read, Sarah M. Eden.

 We also watched an episode of Sue Thomas and then I made some muffins for the youth service activity tomorrow.  Diana has excused me from going.  I am so grateful.

Today was grandparents day at Hancock School where Max, Evan, and Joshua go.  Evan made us a card.

 His cards are awesome.

 An art lesson from Ian.

 

Thursday, September 4, 2014

"A good name is better than riches."

-Proverbs 22:1

I listened to an amazing BYU Devotional talk today by Tad R Callister entitled: "Our Identity and Our Destiny".  I am going to get a copy for my files.

We got rain today and I love it! 

Two people passed away today, one was great and one was famous.

Here is a picture of the great one,  a woman who was a wonderful example to me.  She had a large family and she always found time to serve others.  I was her visiting teacher for awhile and learned of her great love for family history work.  She convinced Cid Elmer and I to join the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, which we did.  I will always have fond memories to Florence Cluff.  She was 93 years old at her passing.

Florence and LaVor Cluff and their family taken a few years ago.

 Oh yes, the famous one was Joan Rivers who was quite the opposite of Florence Cluff.

Every Thursday they have a thing on Facebook called Throwback Thursday.  Here are some of the pictures that were posted today.

 

This picture was taken in January of 1977 on the day Jared

was blessed.  My favorite part of this picture is the happy

look on Kim's face and oh yes, James's bowtie.

Teresa posted this one.  I think it was Halloween

of 1980.  I love how Sandy is trying to keep Darrel from running off, and Teresa has a pompom in Stacy's face.

 

Aaron posted this one of him and Darrel on one

of their trips to San Diego.

I made a trip into town to get some things for Darrel's birthday tomorrow.  I got him a balloon, a large piece of cake from Walmart, and a Cheesecake Factory gift card.  I also picked up dinner for the both of us from LaCasita.  

Back at home I watched "Fixer Upper" starring Chip and Joanna Gaines.  It's the show Trina recommended and I really like it.

I got a call from the Arthritis center today.  My kidney function is down a little and I need to drink more water and cut down on caffeine.  

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

"Christlike love is the greatest need we have on this planet in part because righteousness was always supposed to accompany it.

Pure Christlike love flowing from true righteousness can change 

the world."

- Jeffrey R. Holland

When I opened the pantry this morning the mousetrap was turned over and I could see a tail sticking out.  We caught the mouse!  Thank goodness Darrel was here to stick in in a bag and throw him out.

 Darrel and I had ham and eggs for breakfast before he left for work.  He shared this picture with me before leaving.

She seems to like the bumbo seat.

Today on Facebook I was challenged by Sandra Wilhelm to share my favorite scripture.  Here is what I shared:

"I don't really have one favorite scripture because I have so many that I love.  One scripture that has meant a great deal to me lately is Moroni 10:32

'Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of 

all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is His grace sufficient for you, that by His grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.'

I have been pondering how I can feel the power of the Atonement in my life and what it means to be perfect in Christ.  This scripture helps to answer these questions.  I must repent of my sins and deny myself of all ungodliness and love God with all my might, mind, and strength.  If I will do these things along with partaking of the sacrament each week and keep the covenants I make there, I can feel the power of God, or the Atonement in my life.  Recently a dear friend gave me an article to read by Elder Gerrit W. Gong entitled: 'Becoming Perfect in Christ.'  Elder Gong says:

'Understanding the Savior's freely given atoning love can free us from self-imposed, incorrect, and unrealistic expectations of what perfection is.  Such understanding allows us to let go of fears that we are imperfect - fears that we make mistakes, fears that we are not good enough, fears that we are a failure compared to others, fears that we are not doing enough to merit His love.  The Savior's freely given atoning love helps us become more forgiving and less judgmental of others and of ourselves.  This love heals our relationships and gives us opportunities to love, understand, and serve as our Savior would.' "

Something else that was on Facebook today:

This is a picture of Roxy, Alex's chinchilla.

She lives in the Trezise basement so we don't get to see her to often.

I made cookies this afternoon to take to Mutual tonight.  Others brought cookies and we combined them to make up five plates to take to others.  We made plates for: The bishopric, Brother Mayfield, Alex Jones, Arizona Hill, and Denice Hall.

 Maddie, LeeAnn, Trenda, Kyah, and

Coty in the background.

Ruth Wilhelm and Jordyn.

Kyah, Shelly, Coty and Trenda.

Coty and Trenda

We had to sample the cookies to make sure they were okay.

When I got home from Mutual I made some chili for dinner and watched the finale of "So You Think You Can Dance."  Ricky and Valerie were the final two.  I wanted Valerie to win, but of course it was Ricky.

 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

"I know that the Book of Mormon is true!

I cannot explain the power of this great book.

I only know that, coupled with prayer,

the Book of Mormon carries the power to protect families,

strengthen relationships, and give personal confidence

before the Lord."

-Linda S. Reeves

James's morning pour.

Trina spent most of the morning upstairs cleaning and changing sheets on the bed.  She does a great job.  Darrel took the kids on a Razr ride and this time he let Rowan do a little driving.  I put Lola to sleep and enjoyed watching her as she laid on my chest.  

Darrel's family all went for a walk and the kids brought me back a bouquet of flowers.  

Yesterday Darrel had to go in to work to count pills.  Today he goes in as the head pharmacist.  He left around 2.  Trina and the kids left shortly after Darrel did.

Karen, clean your lense!

I am going to miss these faces.

Addy playing with the Ipod

she got for her birthday.

Rowan got one too.

Ruby "making cookies."

Lola just being cute.

I think I thought something was wrong with my camera

and didn't even bother to check for a dirty lense.

 

After everyone left I cleaned the family room, living room, dining room and kitchen while watching "Chopped" and "Flip or Flop."