Sunday, March 1, 2015



The Agony in the Garden

by Frans Schwartz

The priest who spoke at Frans Schwartz's funeral said "his art was divinely endowed and seemed worthier than many a sermon."

 

Instead of going to our church, Emmy and Jared went to Darrel ad Trina's ward so Emmy could go to class with Addy.  Before they left for church and then Texas, they read scriptures together:



 

James and I spent the morning preparing for our Primary lesson on the Priesthood.  How do you teach four year olds about the priesthood? 

 

I bore my testimony in fast and testimony meeting and so did Sheri.

We had ten kids in our Primary class, five girls and five boys: Taylor, Ivy, Brielle, Brooklyn, Callie, Liam, Ryder, Malachi, Isaiah, and Shade.  Sheri came in to help us.  At one point James had four little boys in the bathroom all at once. 

It was hard, but we did it!  We were exhausted afterwards and came home and took a two hour nap. 

I guess Stacy hurt her back yesterday or last night and didn't come to church.  Ian and Alex weren't there either. 

 

Evan started reading the illustrated Book of Mormon's and read three today.  Sheri said he had lots of questions.  The 4th book was at Darrel and Trina's so James and I drove over to get it.  As soon as we returned Sheri texted me that Evan needed book 4.  This kid is on fire!

 

James and I broke our fast around 5pm.  I lasted about 22 hours and James 28. 

 

We had some fun news today.  Adam tried out for a community play last week with his friend Kaitlyn Booth and ended up getting the male lead.  The name of the play is Pirates and he has to grow a beard.  Congratulations Adam! 

 

Michael tried to give his friend Alexis a Book of Mormon and a picture of the Gilbert temple today.  He told her, when he handed her the temple picture: "Here, take this, it's where we are going to get married someday."  Way to go Michael!



 

 



Saturday, February 28, 2015

One of the most fun places to be on a Saturday morning is at a soccer game with family.

Lola makes a cute bundle.

 

Addy is older, but Emmy is taller.

Ruby did a face plant and hurt her lip the other night at practice.

I love this picture of Trina!

Darrel, Jared, Sheri, and Stacy were all at the game, as well as Paul, Trina and I.  It was overcast and cool.  Addy let me snuggle in the purple blanket we got her for Christmas.

 

The team played well, they seem to be getting a little better every week.  Sheri kept stealing Lola from me.  After the game Jared and Emmy went to Darrel & Trina's and so did Evan.  Sheri had breakfast at Kneader's with Drea and Adrienne.  She invited me but I had already eaten a bagel before the game. 

 

Jared and Darrel took the kids to Extreme Air.  Emmy said it was fun but she liked Amazing Jakes better. 

 

James didn't come to the soccer game because he had a little job to do for Greg Hatch at the airport.  He took Alex and Seth with him and they spread some granite.  Afterwards he took them to lunch at Jersey Mike's. 

 

I came home and made a big pot of chili using Wendy's Restaurant recipe.  It turned out pretty good.  James and Jared both like it. 

 

This evening Jared, Emmy and I played a game of Clue.  Emmy won and then they went to visit grandma and grandpa Wallen.  I was in bed when they got home. 

 

This afternoon Stacy and Joshua went to the Legos Expo at Cardinal stadium with Josh's friend Bryce and his mom Elska.  Joshua had a blast!

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, February 27, 2015

Snow and fog at the Grand Canyon.

 

"If an error has been made in our parenting, the best course is to recognize it, correct it, and move forward, grateful that repentance is available and aware that perfect parents do not exist."

-Susan Noyes Anderson

 

Today would have been my dad's 84th birthday.

Happy Birthday Dad.

 

I have had two bad falls in the past two weeks.  One when I was standing on a chair in our bedroom turning the fan on.  I leaned to far and the chair tipped over.  I landed on the soft carpet so I wasn't hurt too badly.  Today around 5am I had just come out of the bathroom and tripped over a basket I had set in the hallway.  I landed hard on the hardwood floor and immediately a huge purple grapefruit sized bruise formed on my left hip.  No pictures please!

This one is going to be around for awhile.  At least I can still walk.

It's a little difficult to sit though so during scripture time I laid down on the bed and James read to me.

 

Jared and Emmy got here around noon today.  Jared is spending the weekend with her doing whatever she wants.  Her cousins Addy and Brianna are still in school so they had a little time to kill.  The three of us played a game of Five Crowns and Jared won.  After the game they went shopping to get Emmy some new shows before picking up Addy and Brianna and going to Amazing Jakes.

  Emmy and her cousins Brianna and Addy

at Amazing Jakes.  Emmy's favorite things was the laser tag.

 

Well, we did it.  Joshua's room is finished and he's all moved in and the living room is ready for Jared and Emmy.  I was beginning to wonder if we would ever finish but we did and both rooms look pretty good.  Jared is sleeping on the comfy couch in the living room and Addy and Emmy are sleeping on the air mattress.  Brianna couldn't spend the night because she has a dance competition in the morning.

 

The girls and Joshua watched Big Hero Six until about 10pm and then they went to bed because we are all going to a soccer game that starts at 8 in the morning.

 







Thursday, February 26, 2015

Happy Birthday to Adam & Joe

Adam turned 25

He wants a conure bird but there aren't any available right now.

We gave him some money and a Disney bag:

Adam loves Disney and Jack Skellington

 

Joe turned 18 today

Joe loves Scooby Doo and vans, so along with his cash I

got him a remote control Scooby Doo van.

 

James and I used our last Christmas gift card today.  This one was for Rudy's BBQ. 



I had the pulled pork sandwich and James had the dry brisket.  We had coleslaw, beans, and a three bean salad for our sides.

 

This afternoon I went shopping at Target and Walmart and to the bank to get money for Joe and Adam. 

 

I was so excited to get Joshua moved into his room that I tried moving his Lego Hobbit set and it fell apart just as I walked into his room.  Joshua was very sweet about it when he got home from school, but later I found him in his room crying.  It took me over an hour but I got it put back together again.

You almost need a college degree to put these sets together.

The rolling cart we got for Joshua to put his Legos in.

Stacy put this together.  It wasn't nearly as hard as the Lego set.

 

 

Trina brought me cookies and a card for watching her kids this past weekend.  Not necessary, but very thoughtful.



Thank you Trina!

 

Stacy and Paul took Adam out for his birthday.  I made macaroni and cheese for Michael and Joshua.

 











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!