Thursday, January 29, 2015



 

I read about a British man on Facebook this morning named Sir Nicholas Winton.  He rescued 669 children destined for death camps in Nazis Germany.  He arranged for them to have homes and smuggled them to Great Britain.  He recently celebrated his 105th birthday.  What a legacy.  What kind of legacy am I leaving?

 

I was just saying that we hadn't seen any wildlife for awhile when I opened the blinds and there were four deer in our yard, one buck and 3 does!  James said the back was a 3x3 with really high antlers. I am not sure about all that technical stuff, but he was beautiful.

 

There has been a bit of a measles in the valley recently because some people are not getting their children vaccinated.  A little three year old girl from Gilbert went to Phoenix Children's Hospital for leukemia treatment and came down with the measles.  I am not sure the pros and cons of each side, but I do think we need to be more tolerant of each other.  No one in the past 10 years has died from the measles.

 

We left for Chandler this afternoon and on our way out of twn we stopped for lunch at LaCasita.  I had one of my favorite lunches, a chicken enchilada with green sauce and a side order of refried beans. 

 

As I was helping unload the car I saw Laura out walking.  She says she is feeling a little better every day. 

 

We took my computer to Joe and he says he can retrieve the files but he can't fix the computer so off to Costco we went to get a new one.   It was raining as we approached Costco but we stopped for a minute under the front entrance to speak with Curtis Whalen, a friend from Del Rio 2nd ward.  He was buying pizzas for his daughter's 2nd birthday.  He excitedly told us that in a few weeks he would be the father of a boy.  This after having four girls.  James can understand a little bit of how he feels.

 

 

Not only did I get a new computer, but we also got a new rug for the dining area, and a salad for dinner.

Such an improvement!

 

We also picked up Lexy at Erik's.  It cost us $420 total for a set of new struts.  It rides so much smoother now!

 





Wednesday, January 28, 2015

 

 

 

James left for his stress test after we had scriptures and prayer, around 7:30.  I had a frustrating time while he was gone.  I set up my computer to work on my blog and the screen remained black.  I tried several times to get it to come on, but to no avail.

One of the things I wanted to do while I was here was put some boxes in the closet in my office.  The door was locked and the key Brian & Kim had hidden in the bathroom was gone.  No one seems to know where it is.  I went to my next project: I cutout and covered with contact plastic my 90-day Book of Mormon reading schedule bookmarks.

 

James was home early from his stress test and no, he didn't have to jog on a treadmill for six hours like he was afraid he would.  They did a cats scan and an Ekg and injected dyes.  He will go back to the doctor on February 10th for the results. 

He brought home a Pappa John's pizza.  Yum.  We watched one of the best Mentalists ever! DEA agent Peterson is behind bars because of the cleverness of Patrick Jane!  We also watched a good Hallmark movie called "Caitlin and Cupid."

 



Tuesday, January 27, 2015

 

"The average American watches more than four hours of television per day.  What would happen if we spent more time developing our talents than watching others develop theirs?"

-John Bytheway

 

The Church held a news conference today calling for a "fairness for all" approach that balances religious freedom protections with reasonable safeguards for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) people - specifically in areas of housing, employment and public transportation, which are not available in many parts of the country.  Those speaking were: D. Todd Christofferson, Jeffrey R. Holland, Dallin H. Oaks, and Neill F. Marriott.  Sister Marriott is a counselor in the Young Women's presidency.

 

I did my gospel study and worked on my blog this morning before getting ready to go to Vernon. 

James is going to have Erik put new struts on Lexy while we are gone.  He also asks me to go with him to see Reed and Janis Willis, which I did.  He was nice to see dear friends we have known for over 40 years.  Next we have to stop by Greg Hatch's office for a few minutes on our way to see Lois and Dawn.  By this time I am a little grouchy because I haven't eaten.  Lois had an apricot pineapple pie for James for his birthday.  Laura and Dave were at her house to so we ask them to take it back to our house and have Stacy put it in the frig until we get home.  While there we pick up our Christmas gifts from Carmen and Rebecca.  Rebecca made me a temple bracelet with a clip on it to put my name slip on.  Very handy.  Laura liked hers too.  Laura looks a little pale to me but she says she is feeling a little better everyday. 

 

On our way out of town we stop at Arby's in Mesa for lunch.  It's 1:30 when we finally leave town.  I went to sleep until after Salt River Canyon.  We arrived at the cabin around 5pm.  This evening I watched Downton Abbey and we read two chapters from "Reluctant Courtship" while sitting in front of the fire.

  



Monday, January 26, 2015

Bern, Switzerland

 

"Learning for ourselves that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true can beone of the greatest and most joyful experiences in life.  We must be able to declare, as Alma, 'I know these things of myself.  Behold, ...they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God.  I have fasted and prayed many days that might know....And now I do know of myself that they are true.'"

Elder Craig C. Christensen

 

 

Went with James today to sign papers for the sale of our commercial lot in Bogle Business Park.  We met the realtor, Melody Baumer at the Starbucks on Alma School & Elliot.  Afterwards we wet to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory using our last gift card.  I had the Chinese chicken salad and James had fish tacos.  No cheesecake this time. 

 

This evening Stacy fixed James dinner for his birthday.  We had chicken, rice pilaf, salad and rolls.  It was very good and we enjoyed eating with the family.  Tara was here too.  I wished I would have taken a picture.

 

Kim came over this afternoon and gave James Dove dark chocolate almonds, an Olive Garden gift card, and a Whataburger gift card for his birthday.  We had a nice visit.

 



This is an exciting week in the valley.  Not only is the SuperBowl being played here but the Phoenix Open is going on and Tiger Woods is in town along with the Patriots and the Seahawks.

 

Stacy's "puzzle of the week."



Sunday, January 25, 2015

I love the size of this tree!

 

"When we rationalize wrong choices, big or small, which are

inconsistent with the restored gospel, we lose the blessings and

protections we need and often become ensnared in sin or simply

lose our way."

-Elder Quentin L. Cook

 

Jared made bacon and pancakes for breakfast this morning.  Emmy and Molly played in the snow some more.  There was no television or music and the house was nice and quiet.  Emmy wrote a talk about Jesus loving the little children which she gave in Primary today.  Since I wasn't going to be at Primary to hear it, I listened to her give it this morning before we left for church.  Their meetings don't start until 12:30. 

 

Jared got a call from the realtor around 10:30 saying she wanted to show the house in a couple of hours.  We cleaned up our mess and packed our stuff in the car while Jared and the kids cleaned up the rest of the house.  Jared and the girls were late for church.  We took James with us because he needed to be there early to help prepare the sacrament. 

James H. helped pass the sacrament.  I noticed all of the boys passing had on suits 

 

Since today was the Franklin 5th ward conference both the bishop and the stake president spoke.  The theme was taken from Mosiah 5:1-2 where the people are changed through the power of the Holy Ghost after the preaching of King Benjamin regarding Jesus Christ and His Atonement.  "They have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually."  The whole focus of the meeting was about "Change."

We gave everyone a hug and left after sacrament meeting so we could get home at a decent hour.  We had to stop in Deming for gas and we also got something to eat at Sonic.  This is why I hate to travel on Sunday.  We got home around 8pm.  It was a fun trip except for the fact that Gerardo Rico totally ditched us and that was the original reason for the trip in the first place.  I am really glad we went because we had a great time with Jared and his kids.

 

Trina sent me this picture of Lola today and her mom Susy posted the other one of Kreed and Ruby.

I love this picture and her dimple!

I love the look on Ruby's face as she looks with

adoration at her cousin and best friend, Kreed.

 

 





Saturday, January 24, 2015

 

'From the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi we read:

"For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way,

and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:5)

We must never let the noise of the world overpower and overwhelm that still, small voice.'

-Elder L. Tom Perry

 

In conjunction with their ward conference Jared's ward had a service project today.  There is a site called BillionGraves.com where you can download an app for your mobile device.  James and I downloaded this site on our phones and when we got to the Memory Gardens of the Valley Cemetery we were ready to take pictures of headstones, transcribe the information, and download it to the BillionGraves site.  Jared for some reason could not download the information onto his phone and James and Anna's minipads don't have a data plan so all the work our family did was with our two phones.  I downloaded 68 names and James did 47.  I was a great service project and involved the youth as well as the adults. 

I am not sure what is wrong with Molly. 

She spent most of the time we were here playing with her friends from the ward.

I believe the ward did over 2,100 transcriptions.

 

James left the cemetery service project a little early because of award basketball game.  When we were finished, we went and watched him play.

James played in his jeans until Jared got there

with his shorts.

James's team, Franklin 5th ward, won 23-17!

 

After the basketball game we were all starving so we headed for Kiki's for some authentic mexican food.  We are still celebrating Anna and grandpa James's birthdays.  This treat was on Jared.  Thanks!

Waiting to be seated.

Looking at the menu

Emmy and Molly shared their meal.

James Hayden, Jared and I all got the machaca.

Might tasty!

 

Back at Jared's Molly and Emmy working on building snow people.

 It's so funny to see snow in the desert!

Molly's snow family

These two can be the best of

friends when they want to be.

Anna dropped her phone in the toilet awhile ago and now it randomly calls people.  Emmy practiced her spelling words again today.  Here were some of the words she practiced:

trattoria, capricious, archipelago, pizzicato, just to name a few. Pretty had words for a 4th grader, but Emmy is super smart!  Of course Molly wants to do whatever Emmy does so she would practice spelling them too. 

 

James spent a lot of time trying to get papers the realtor sent him for selling our commercial lot.  I think we might have to take care of this business when we get back to Chandler. 

James Hayden was going to go to the stake dance but on the way there he decided not to because he "just didn't feel liketalking to people."  The kids watched the movie "The Pacifier."

 

 

Back at home in Arizona:  Evan scored the only goal his team made at the soccer game this morning.  Sheri took this picture at the game:

 

Joshua didn't go to the soccer game.  He went to the Pinewood Derby instead.  He got first place in our ward and third place in the stake.  Congratulations!

 

 

















Friday, January 23, 2015

Happy Birthday to this guy

who turned 67 today.

For his birthday we made a trip to Deming and to El Paso.  He was supposed to meet Gerardo Rico at the court house and take care of some tax business and then Rico was going to pay him for this month's rent but he was a no show. 

I had read on Glenn Beck's Facebook page that the Adobe Deli in Deming was a good place to eat so we MapQuested it.  It was out of town off the beaten path, but we found it.  This is what we found on the outside and James swore up and down it couldn't be a restaurant.  I asked him where his sense of adventure was and we headed inside.

 

When I saw this sign I knew we were at the right place!

From the outside it did look like someone's barn or shop.

Lots of antiques and animal heads on the walls

finished up the décor inside.  James just corrected me,

and said it wasn't heads, but full body mounts.

I sat next to this guy.

James ordered the Reuben sandwich and I ordered a BBQ beef.  We both got a side of coleslaw. 

James taking a dainty bite of coleslaw.

How do you take a dainty bite of this?

MY BBQ beef sandwich.  I could only eat half but took the

other half with me.

Snow on the mountain leaving Deming.

James almost ran out of gas because I was reading to him.  We could not have gone another ten miles.

 

Molly and her snowman that she built

on Jared's back patio.  He lives up against the mountain and

there was still snow around his place. 

The road into Jared's place.

View off Jared's patio

We picked up a cake at Baskin Robbins at Jared's request and

sang Happy Birthday to Anna and grandpa James.  Anna would not let me take her picture.

That's Anna getting ready to blow out the candles.

Grandpa and Emmy

James and his namesake, James.

Molly with her ice cream and cake

Jared was so nice to give us his bedroom and bath while he slept

with Molly on the air mattress we brought. 

 

After cake and ice cream I helped Emmy with her Italian spelling words.  Some of them were really hard but she wants to learn them because there is a spelling bee this coming Thursday.