Saturday, April 11, 2015

We got to watch Max play football today.

He was awesome!

 

Darrel and Trina and their kids are at the cabin this weekend.

Addy took this picture.  I love it!

A twig sitting bluebird!

 





After Max's game James and I headed for Elmer's.  We each got a machaca taco and I got a bean and cheese burro and he got a machaca burro.  Tomorrow is fast Sunday.  I want to start my fast at 2pm today so when we get out of church tomorrow at 2pm we can come home and eat.  I ate my taco around 10 and then had my burro at 2 this afternoon.

 

James and I went to Adam's play this afternoon with Kim and Brian.  Alex and Sheri were also there.  I really liked it.  I think everyone else did too, except maybe Brian.

Adam had the male lead and did an excellent job.  He had three solo's and got to sword fight, and kiss two girls.

Kaitlin had two parts and was my favorite female.

The girl pirates were pretty tough.

James told Kaitlin she looked like she could be in

Lion King.

 

After the play Kim, Brian, Sheri, and Ian hurried off to dinner club.  Tonight they are eating at St. Francis's in Phoenix.

I came home and worked on our Primary lesson before going to bed.







Friday, April 10, 2015

Happy Sibling Day!

Can you guess which one is James?

Too bad Rebecca wasn't in this one

My guess would be about 1982.

I think this was taken when I was in college.

 

I did errands today and had a hard time finding the National Bank in Gilbert.  I was in the Costco parking lot looking for it but ended up having to Google it.  It was less than a quarter mile away. I also went to Walmart in Gilbert while I was there. 

 

James and I had planned on going to the temple but I was just too tired.  I really need to go early in the day.  I promised I would go with him next Tuesday.

 

This afternoon I took Stacy to Sam's Club to pick up a pizza.  She doesn't have a Sam's Club card and her boys love their pizza.  A large pepperoni pizza is $9, which is a really good deal.  Afterwards she, Paul, and Joshua went to see Adam's play: "Pirates, in Love" at the Tuscany theater on Higley and Guadalupe in Gilbert.  They had two free tickets.

 

I got a call from a member of the Chandler West Stake Presidency, Randall Jones, who is also a former bishop of ours.  He asked me if I would be willing to speak in stake conference.  I told him I would be happy too. ( Was I stretching the truth?)  The topic is: "The Family is Ordained of God."  I spoke last April in the Show Low stake conference on basically the same topic.  Interesting how I can go 65 years and not be asked to speak in stake conference and then be ask two years in a row!

 

This evening Dave and Laura invited us over to play Five Crowns with them and Terry and Cathi.  It was a lot of fun.  Cathi ended up winning and Laura was the loser.  Afterwards we had strawberry shortcake.  Yummy!

 



Thursday, April 9, 2015

I went to visit my friend Karen Schneider today.  She moved out to south Gilbert, and had a beautiful view of the San Tan Mountain.

She moved from a beautiful T.W. Lewis home here in Chandler to another T.W. Lewis home in Gilbert.  This one is smaller, but Karen wanted to downsize.

Honestly, I felt like I was in a model home, except for this little bit of family history.

A picture of Karen and her china, along with her

mother and grandmother and their china.

The kitchen is huge and I am afraid the pictures I have

don't let you see how beautiful it is.

 

A huge island in the middle of the kitchen.

Family room which a huge window looking

outside onto the backyard.

My friend Karen. 

From the gazebo they have a nice view of the

Santan Mountain.

Firepit

 

A beautifully landscaped backyard that pretty

much takes care of itself.

For lunch we went to this local favorite of Karen and Lance's:





 We both had the chicken apple

walnut salad.  For my side I had the soup of the day, which was

white chicken chili.  The real hit of the day for us was Karen's side:

The  three cheese veggie flatbread with basil pesto, and mozzarella cheese topped with sautéed asparagus, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, spinach, roasted tomatoes and Havarti dill cheese, finished with Parmesan cheese.  Karen shared some with me and it was so delicious!

After lunch Karen showed me around one of the local home accessory boutiques before I took her back home.  I had such a great time!

 

This afternoon and evening it was back to paying bills and helping James with taxes.  



 

 



Wednesday, April 8, 2015



I'm feeling a little squirrelly today.

 

Today I had a doctor's appointment at Allen's Family Medicine with Dr. Allen.  We went over the results of my blood tests.   My progesterone levels should be between 10-20 and they were at 5.  And Estrogen should be between 50-100 and I was at 20.  I have a was to go!  In other news my blood pressure was 114/64 and I lost 3 lbs. since I was in about 3 weeks ago.

 

I have some Evan news to share.  He was sad that his mom and dad didn't get Easter baskets so he made one for them.

What a sweet boy!

 

Also, he finished reading the Book of Mormon and was so happy to get his money.  His favorite scripture was Moroni 10:4-5.

 Way to go Evan!

 

Tonight Michael was inducted into the National Honor Society.  We are very proud of Michael.  He is a well-rounded young man.  He does track, sings with Joe, and does well in school and seminary.

 

 

We are proud of you Michael!

After taking his shower at night, Joshua likes to comb his own hair.  This is the result:

So serious!

 





Tuesday, April 7, 2015



James says these are Eastern bluebirds.

They are "twig" sitters just like the birds in Vernon.

 

Jen, the realtor, wasn't scheduled to come until 1 o'clock this afternoon, which means James and I had all morning to get ready for her.  James finished up outside and did some chores for me around the inside of the house.  My main focus was cleaning and polishing the wood floors.  Funny that both our vacuum and our lawnmower are broke down.  Not funny in a good way though, but we did make do.  Here are some of the results:



I love how the floors look when

they are polished!

One of my favorite views.

Even the "degreased" kitchen looked good.

I love the new dining room rug.

The living room is pretty bare, but I love

how comfortable this furniture is.

We got it from Karen Schneider when she moved.

Jen was right on time.  She had been here before and Stacy showed her the house.  She was amazed at all we had done.  She said it looked ten times better.  She stayed for over an hour and we both really liked her approach.  Now we have narrowed it down to two: Kent Van Vleet or Jen MacClay.  We are going to need to pray about this.

 

Jared Ammon went with James this afternoon to do some final work at Jerod Bowen's.  He told his grandpa that he's going to go back to school because he can't really do much with his degree otherwise.  Good idea Jared.

 

I took my vacuum in to Oreck to be serviced and got my car washed at Neat Freak's and then went to Winco to get four cases of water to take to the church for one of the scouts in our ward for his Eagle project. 

 

Oh!  I almost forgot that today was Taco Tuesday.  Because we were so busy James and Dallin went to Senor Taco's and brought back lunch.  I had a shredded beef taco and a carnita taco.  Delicious!

 



Monday, April 6, 2015

Today is Jesus's birthday.

James's cousin Hayden Lambson

drew this portrait of the Savior.

Happy Birthday Jesus.

 

I started to "stress out" this morning when I looked around and saw all the things we need to do before the realtor comes tomorrow.  One of my main concerns was getting the southside of the house cleaned up.  I should have taken before and after pictures.  I solicited James's help and we went to work.  We got "rid" of all the junk, putting in the storage rooms.  James did some weed and grass eating and I did some sweeping.  I also swept and knocked down cobwebs off the front porch area.  We were tired and dirty by noon but had accomplished a great deal.  This afternoon James and Alex took a load of trash to the dump and James had a few more items to put away to be complete.







You really can't appreciate how good this looks if

you didn't see it before we started.



 As soon as Michael is finished sanding this door,

this will be my next project, re-staining it.

 

James took Alex over to Jerod Bowen's to do some work this afternoon.  Jared Ammon was here this afternoon looking a little forlorn.  I think he is struggling financially right now.  I feel sorry for him.

 



African daisies James planted by the mailbox.

 

Ben, Max, Evan and Joshua swimming in our pool.

I don't think Evan got in the picture.

 

When James got home this evening we went for a bite to eat at our favorite sub place, Jersey Mike's. 

Tonight is the college basketball championship game against Wisconsin and Duke with Duke coming out on top, 68-63.

 

For FHE we listened to President Eyring's conference talk:

"Is Not This the Fast That I Have Chosen?"

 

To bed early.  We still have lots to do tomorrow to get ready for Jen MacClay, the realtor.



 



 



Sunday, April 5, 2015

I got a call from Anna and Emmy this morning.  They both told me they had finished reading the Book of Mormon, which made me very happy.  When I asked them to share their favorite scripture,

Emmy shared the one that goes with this picture:

"Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."

-3 Nephi 11:14

Thank you Emmy for sharing this scripture with me on Easter morning.

 

Entire 185th Annual General Conference

General Women's Session

Cheryl A. Esplin

Carole M. Stephens

Bonnie L. Oscarson

President Henry B. Eyring

Saturday Morning Session

President Henry B. Eyring

President Boyd K. Packer

Linda K. Burton

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Elder Whitney Clayton

Elder L. Tom Perry

Saturday Afternoon Session

The Sustaining of Church Officers

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Church Auditing Department Report, 2014

Kevin R. Jergensen

Statistical Report, 2014

Brook P. Hales

Elder David A. Bednar

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Elder Wilford W. Andersen

Elder Dale G. Renlund

Elder Michael T. Ringwood

Elder Quentin L. Cook

General Priesthood Session

Elder M. Russell Ballard

Elder Ulisses Soares

Larry M. Gibson

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

President Henry B. Eyring

President Thomas S. Monson

Sunday Morning Session

President Thomas S. Monson

Rosemary M. Wixom

Elder Jose A. Teixeira

Bishop Gerald Causse

Elder Brent H. Nielson

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Sunday Afternoon Session

Elderk Robert D. Hales

Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Elder Rafael E. Pino

Elder Neil L. Andersen

Elder Jorge F. Zeballos

Elder Joseph W. Sitati

Elder Russell M. Nelson

 

Elder Richard G. Scott did not attend or speak at any sessions.  He was sick and watched the conference from home.

 



Three new temples were announced: One on the Ivory Coast, one in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and one in Thailand. 

 Joshua and Paul listening to conference.

 

Today was a wonderful Easter for me. In January I invited James, our children and their spouses, and all my grandchildren that can read to finish the Book of Mormon by Easter  The response was greater than I anticipated.  Each of them also shared on of their favorite scriptures: James-Alma 34:32, Michael-Alma 32:32, Joshua-Helaman 5:12, Kim-Ether 12:27, Sheri-Alma 32:27, Alex-Mosiah 4:16-26, Ben-Alma 7:14, Max-2 Nephi 31:20, Evan-Moroni 10:4-5, Jared-Omni 126 & Helaman 3:35, Anna-3 Nephi 27:9, Emmy-3 Nephi 11:14, Addy-Mosiah 2:17, Stacy-3rd Nephi 13:28-32, and myself-Moroni 10:32.

The best Easter I have ever had.  Thank you everyone who participated!!

 

After conference we spent some time cleaning since Darrel and Trina are coming up this weekend.  We left for home around 7 and arrived at 10.

It was a good weekend and I realize how much I have to be grateful for.  I am grateful for the Savior, and His Atonement and His Resurrection.