Wednesday, February 25, 2015

 

These two boys get to play together almost everyday.  They love Legos and they love creating things with the blocks.  Here is one of their latest creations.  The only thing that would make it better is if Rowan lived a little closer and could play with them.

 

 

James and I picked up our check from the sale of the land at Title 365 this morning.  We immediately took it to the bank and deposited it.  Afterwards we went to Sonic and used our two for one cheeseburger coupon. 

 

James worked on Joshua's bed today. 

Hmmm, I wonder if that tool is at the cabin.

Almost finished!

 

After the bed project it was time to relax a little and enjoy one of his favorite treats:

A Healthy Choice fudgsicle

Today I paid bills, painted, worked on my blog, took a nap, and dropped some items off at Goodwill and then went shopping at Walmart. 

 

Stacy, Paul, and Joshua went to the Blue & Gold Banquet this evenng.  Here is the invitation Joshua made:

A three-eyed minion

 

Evan didn't go to the banquet because Sheri had to take Max to football practice and he didn't want to go without her. 

Hanging out at football practice

 

James and I had roasted chicken and broccoli for dinner.  I buy a roasted chicken and a bag of broccoli on the day I go grocery shopping and it makes for a quick and easy meal.  When Joshua returned from the Blue & Gold Banquet he asked for some broccoli.  The kid loves broccoli. 

 

Michael took my car to Mutual tonight and gave Alex and Ben a ride. 

 

The basement floor got wet today when Alex hosed down the carport.  James had to pull up the carpet and put fans on it. 

 

Here is a picture of Joshua in his new bed. 

 

He loves it!





 









Tuesday, February 24, 2015

It's snowing in Vernon!

One of my friends posted this picture on Facebook.  I wish I was there!

"There is no other joy like that of feeling free from sin through the power of the Atonement."

-Neil L. Andersen

 

James opened an email on my computer this morning because his computer is not working.  A prompt came up to call a number saying I may have a virus.  I can't get this prompt to go away, so I call the number.  The woman on the phone starts telling me I have a virus and all the horrible things that will happen as a result of it.  She told me the Microsoft people are talked to a week or so ago were scam artists and I asked her: "How do I know you aren't one?"  I asked her how much it would cost for her company to fix my computer and she said $99.99.  I said I had my own technician and I wouldn't be needing her companies services.  It's hard to know who to trust anymore, but I know I can trust our neighbor, Joe Johnston.  He fixed my computer for $20 and told me to cancel Office 365 because I didn't need it. 

 

Today is Taco Tuesday and my turn to choose where we go for lunch.  This is what I chose:

I had the sweet pork salad and James had two tacos.

 

After lunch we did a little shopping at Costco.  While I got some groceries James shopped for a new computer.  He ended up getting an HP like mine only his is smaller.  He got a $100 discount because it was the floor model.  I found these yummy snacks:





I am really beginning to like dark chocolate.

 

Alex came in just I was starting to paint the shelves for Joshua's room.  Dad asked him if he would like to paint and he said yes so I gladly relinquished my paintbrush.  Later Seth came to help and then dad sent them downstairs to take apart the bunk bed so he could make a bed frame for Joshua. 

 

I missed taking my nap today and I am miserable.  I can tell it is towards the end of my Remicade cycle because both my knees hurt and my right knee is swollen.  I missed going to our ward's "Harvest Night" for Bishop Lewis but James, Paul, and Michael all went.  The bishop gives everyone a list of people that are inactive to visit and then everyone comes back and reports to him.  I think it is a great idea and Bishop Lewis does it about once a month.  I had planned on going and am sorry I missed the opportunity but James got to be paired with his good friend Dave Miner.

 

 

When James got home from Harvest Night he went to Walgreen's to get me some Icebreakers and a diet cherry Pepsi.  He is so good to me!  As a way of saying thank you I read a chapter from "Trouble in Store."  It's getting good.  There are a couple of murders to solve.  

 





Monday, February 23, 2015

Our friends Jerry & Nygra Lamb holding their great-granddaughter Winnie.  They are some of the originals from the Chandler 2nd ward that we met when we moved to Chandler 1971.  They lost their cabin in Pinedale the same time we did.  It was right next door to ours.  There aren't much better people in the world than Nygra and Jerry.  We love them and don't see them often since they moved to Queen Creek.  We did see Jerry at Bob Bogle's funeral and spoke with him a few minutes.

 

It was cloudy this morning with a few drops of rain.  James and I left before 9am to sign papers in Mesa at Title 365 for the sale of our commercial lot.  We should have our money by Wednesday.

On our way back to Chandler we were headed for Cheesecake Factory when Diana Dowdle called and said they just dropped off some homemade bread at our house.  We didn't want anything to happen to the bread so we went home before going to lunch.  The Dowdle's are very kind to think of us.

 

We had the French Country salad and the Bellagio chicken again.  They go so well together. 

 

We came home and took a nap and I blogged while James cleaned the floor in Joshua's room.  Now we need to paint the shelves we are using from downstairs and make his bed frame. 

 

For FHE we watched The Nativity from the Church's Bible Videos. 

 

Trina flew home from Colorado today.  She took this picture of her plane before take off.

Glad she and Lola made it home safely!



 

 



Sunday, February 22, 2015

Trina's mother Suzy posted this on Facebook.  They had to bless the baby at home because church was cancelled because of snow.

I love how Trina and Tristan are barefooted.  Tristan's husband, Darrel LeSeuer is being deployed on Wednesday so Tristan is coming back to stay with her parents in Arizona. 

Back at home we picked up Addy, Rowan, and Ruby this morning around 9am before Darrel had to leave for work.  They are already ready for church, except I had to borrow some socks for Rowan from Evan.  I gave each of them a small notebook which Rowan called a "journal" before church. 

 

Addy and Max both read their scriptures during sacrament meeting.  Max finished 1st Nephi and Addy finished through Mosiah 1.  Max loves competition and he is determined to catchup with Addy.  They both ended up reading about 20 chapters today. 

James and I were sustained today in sacrament meeting at Primary workers.  We have been assigned to teach the four year olds and will start next week. 

 

Steve and Karin Westerman were the speakers in sacrament meeting today.  It was one of the most amazing meetings I have ever been to.  Steve had terminal brain cancer and shared some very sacred stories with us.  I was crying throughout the entire meeting. 

 

We saw Cid and Mike Elmer in the hall after sacrament meeting.  They were going to Hunter Jensen's ordination.  He is being ordained an elder in preparation for his mission.

 

This kids all went to their Primary classes with no problem.  Addy went with Max and of course Rowan went with Joshua and Evan with Sheri and Ian as his teachers.

 

The lesson in Sunday School today was "The Sermon on the Mount", the greatest sermon ever taught.

Cammie Soderquist gave the lesson in Relief Society on President Monson's conference address: "Ponder the Path of Thy Feet."

 

After church Evan came down to play and had lunch with us.  Max came down later.

Macaroni and cheese and hotdogs.

Addy continues to read her scriptures but takes a break for a game of Five Crowns with me.  The boys are pretty noisy and I keep having to tell them to be quiet because Stacy and Paul are napping.

Ruby loves Michael, but then, doesn't everyone?

For dinner I made spaghetti and garlic knots for the kids.  James grilled pork chops for Darrel, Paul, Michael, and himself.  We visited with Darrel for awhile.  After our visit and cleaning the kitchen, I was ready for bed!

 









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.

 

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