Saturday, February 21, 2015

 

"There are very few big and spectacular miracles in most of our lives.  But it is a quiet multitude of little miracles that makes life sweet and adds to our testimonies."

Majorie P. Hinckley

 

James and I left at 7:15 to pick up Addy, Rowan, and Ruby at Bryce and Lexy's.  Trina is gone to Colorado with her mom, dad, Bryce, and Westley to see Tristan's baby blessed.  Darrel is at work.  We picked them up and went immediately to the soccer game.  

 

The Three Musketeers: Evan, Joshua, and Rowan.

Paul and Sheri are already there.  Stacy had a dental hygiene job with her friend Janice today.  Taylor's dad was the substitute coach for Trina.  Rowan stopped several goals as goalie.  Sheri and I thought he should be the MVP.  Evan worked hard and Joshua is learning the game. 

These two really do love each other.

A random picture of Addy since I didn't get one of her at the game.

I think there is a story behind this picture.  Addy spent the night with Kayla last night and instead of going to sleep they took "selfies."

 

Trina took a picture of Lola and Tristan's baby Ria.  I guess Lola "dirtied" all of her clothes and this was the result.



She is cute with or without clothes!

We came home after the game and I made bacon and waffles.  Addy and Ruby don't like bacon but Rowan does.  They all loved the waffes.  Grandpa enjoyed both the bacon and waffles.

 

For lunch I took Rowan, Addy, Ruby, Joshua, and Evan to Peter Piper Pizza.  Sheri, Alex, Ben, Max, and Seth joined us later.

The boys got Ruby a princess crown with some of their tickets.

James was reading from his Jon Huntsman book when I got home from Peter Piper.  I asked him if he would watch the kids while I went to find a movie.  He only lasted about an hour and he was ready to go back to work fixing his tractor.

 

I got the movie "The Box Trolls."  It actually turned out to be a pretty good movie. 

 

Ruby and Addy loved snacking on my Honey Crisp apples before Darrel got here to pick them up.  Rowan, Evan, and Joshua loved playing together.  I didn't fix dinner the kids dinner because Darrel promised he would take them out to eat.  Addy wants to go to Cheesecake Factory.

 

This evening Ian took Sheri out to eat at the Thirsty Lion.  As a surprise some of her friends were there.  Kim and Brian didn't get to go because Brian was very sick.  Kim bought Sheri "the" Costco chocolate cake and we all went down, along with Chelsea Elmer to sing to her.  Sheri got three cakes for her birthday.

Can you see the disco ball in the background?

For dinner at our house James made steak and gravy and I made biscuits.  Stacy, Paul, and Alex enjoyed it with us.













Friday, Februar 20,2015

Happy 40th Birthday Sheri!

I hear the view from the top of Camelback is awesome!

 

I invited Sheri to lunch.  She chose Liberty Market in Gilbert.  Kim and Stacy went ahead to surprise her but Sheri saw Kim's car in the

parking lot and ruined the surprise.  Oh well, we had a great time!

 

During our lunch Sheri mentioned how much she enjoyed the ice cream cake I got her last year from Baskin Robbins, so after lunch I surprised her with another one. 

 

Since I am going to be watching Addy, Rowan, and Ruby this weekend I went to Walmart to get some kid friendly food.  Waffles, Pizza Pockets, macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, and spaghetti just to name a few.  I also got ice cream and then Rowan told me he doesn't like ice cream.  What kid doesn't like ice cream? Luckily I have a brownie mix because he said he loves brownies.

 

James is building a new fence down between Sheri's house and the new house going in next door.

Alex and Seth helped pour the footings.  It's Alex's first time working with concrete. 

 

Stacy and Paul had the missionaries over for dinner.  Paul picked up baked ziti and a salad from Floridino's.  I guess we weren't invited.  We had sandwiches and went in our bedroom and read from "Trouble in Store."







 

James is also really enjoying the book I got him for Christmas:







Thursday, February 19, 2015

Michael had a debate in his English class today. 

Should college athletes get paid?  He was on the

con side and his side won and gets lots of bonus points.

This English class teacher teaches this same class to her college students.  Michael spends hours preparing for English.

Did I mention that he is a straight A student.  I see a bright future

for this young man.  He also has read the Doctrine and Covenants this year for seminary and is now finishing up reading the Book of Mormon.  I love Michael!

 

I had cookies for breakfast and then James brought me a sandwich from Jersey Mike's.  I shared half of it with Dallin who looks like he needs it more than I do.

 

We are just about finished with Joshua's room.  All we have left is to clean the fan, the floor, and to paint one closet door and then we can start moving furniture in.  Hooray!

 

For dinner we had leftover taco soup which is still very tasty.  After dinner we watched The Mentalist on my computer.  It was the finale and Jane and Lisbon get married.  My favorite part was when Cho went with Lisbon to pick out her wedding dress.  I missed going to Relief Society because I couldn't get anyone to go with me.  I asked Cathi, Sheri and Stacy.  Laura is out of town.  I guess I could have gone by myself.  Stacy said she was too tired  because she spent the afternoon taking care of Dorothy, Sheri needed to stay home with her kids, and Cathi had a prior commitment.  Stacy said she would go next time.

 

Facebook finds:

 



 



 

 



 



Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Today I had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants with one of

my favorite people, Karen Schneider.  We are celebrating her birthday.  She will be 68th next Tuesday.  We both got the coconut shrimp and a hot fudge sundae for dessert.  We also love their sourdough bread.

I gave Karen a book by Eric Huntsman called

"The Miracles of Jesus."

 

After my nap this afternoon I picked up kids from school, first Ben at the Hamilton seminary building and then on to the park by Hancock Elementary for Max, Evan, and Joshua so they wouldn't have to ride the school bus.

 

I worked in Joshua's room by myself.  Stacy had to take Dorothy to the doctor.

 

Joshua and Evan had Scouts tonight.  Evan looked so cute in his Cub Scout shirt.  I wanted to get a picture of him but my camera was in the other room and they were running late.  

 

James and I started to watch "The Mentalist" finale but it got interrupted so we will have to finish at another time.  

Facebook finds:

  Max and Lola at soccer practice.

Everyone loves Lola!

 

 

 

 





Tuesday, February 17, 2015

These are our friends from Vernon,

Wendy and Collin DeWitt.

They just received their mission call to the Carribbean and

will be leaving in May.  Collin was our home teacher.  He and I lived on the same street in Phoenix when we were in grade school.

He was the fire chief in Gilbert until he retired in 2013.  She is an expert in food storage and has spoken with Glenn Beck and been on BYU TV.  We are very excited for them!

 

 

I started my new gospel study journal today.  I think I am going to love it!

 

I had an appointment at Dr. Douglas's this morning to get my teeth cleaned by the hygienist, Jackie.  What a relief, I don't have any cavities and don't need to come back until August if I promise to floss everyday.  Because the new insurance we have isn't very good I had to pay $136 for a cleaning and x-rays.

 

After my appointment James and I took the giftcard he got me for Valentine's Day and went to The Cheesecake Factory.  We tried two new things on the menu: The French Country salad and the Bellagio chicken.  James also got come crab cakes.  

One of our new favorite meals! 

 

 

Stacy and I worked on Joshua's room together this afternoon.  Stacy is feeling sad that none of her boys so far have served a mission and she wonders why.  I am not sure why but part of it is that the pull of the world is so strong. Also I told her that they must love the Savior and really appreciate why we need Him and what He has done for us. 

 

This evening James had to check something out at the Chandler Airport for Greg Hatch, so I went with him.  I walked around while he "checked things out."  We came home and read from "Trouble in Store." 

 

Facebook finds:

 

Lola Coca Cola!

 

This girl is going places!



 

 

 

 

 



Monday, February 16, 2015

While we are enjoying spring-like weather here in Chandler, this sister missionary from our ward, Sister Dahlia Dowdle is shoveling snow.  It seems that she has a good attitude about it though.  Sheis one of my heroes!

Today is president's day and there was no school.  I celebrated by going shopping.  I went to Sam's Club, Deseret Book, and Walmart.  When I returned James had bought me a Whataburger which was in the frig.  Stacy and Michael helped me unload my car.  We had a roomful of guests: Joe, Amanda, Connor, Alex, and Seth. 

After putting away my groceries I updated both checkbooks and paid some bills.  James replaced a piece of baseboard in Joshua's room that had warped and textured the window sill.  I did some blue touchup paint and painted the inside door casing of the closet. 

For FHE we did some studying from the JST of the New Testament.

This evening we read from our new book, "Trouble in Store."

  Sunset

Sunday, February 15, 2015

A beautiful day in Arizona!

 

"Sometimes in the harbors of our homes, we can't see that by the simple, consistent acts - including family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening - great things are brought to pass.  But I testify that these very acts carry eternal significance.  Great joy comes when those little boats - our children - grow into mighty seafaring vessels filled with gospel light and ready to embark in the service of God."

-Sister Neill F. Marriott

 

I studied and rested this morning before my meetings.  I messed up on my blog and had to re-do a post which is not fun when you are already behind. 

My study desk.

 

The theme for sacrament meeting today was Scouting.  I guess February is the Friend's of Scouting month.  Chris Braddock was the youth speaker and did a wonderful job.  He is so grownup from when we had him in Primary about five years ago.  Ryan Yardley, the Young Men's President was the next speaker.  He took up most of the time and then he and his wife sang "I am a Child of God."  It was beautiful.  Jon Hirt was the last speaker.  He spoke about eternal families and although his talk was short, he did a great job. 

 

James and I missed attending Sunday School today.  The lesson was on the miracles of Jesus.  We had an appointment with Bishop Lewis.  He issued a calling to us.  He called us to team teach the four year old Primary class  We are grateful for the opportunity to serve. 

 

During Relief Society I sat by Stacy, who leaves early to do singing time in the nursery, and Cathi.  It was so good to visit with Cathi. 

 

After church we had leftovers for lunch and took a nap.  James started reading from his Jon Huntsman book and is sharing things he reads with me.  What an amazing man Jon Huntsman is!

 

I spent most of the afternoon getting ready for FHE and making a notebook like this one for all of our kids and their families.

 

Boyd K. Packer told seminary teachers they should always start with a lesson on the Plan of Salvation; when they are teaching the Book of Mormon.  This next page is a partial index of the Book of Mormon.  I want each family to share something they learned from each book, a favorite scripture or their testimony, and draw some illustrations to go along with it.  I have given them some ideas but if they don't like mine they can choose their own. 

Darrel did a wonderful job of sharing stories from his mission and he told how the Book of Mormon was what really converted people.  Thank you Darrel!

 As you can see, Lola is a big attraction.

Listening to Darrel tell about his mission to Honduras.

Ben, Sheri, Stacy, Michael, and Joshua all got $20 for

reading through Mosiah 13 which is about 1/3 of the

Book of Mormon.  The goal is to finish by Easter, April 5th.

This girl steals the show!

Joshua wanted to hold her, but she was a little too wiggily.

I sure do love this family!