Friday, August 28, 2015

Happy 11th Birthday Addy!

 Addy's candy cake.

 She loved it!

James and I picked up Alex at school today at 11:45.  We all went to lunch together to Jersey Mike's.  

 We also took my car into Chandler Auto Body to have some work done and rented a Chevy Cruz at Enterprise just down the street.  Our insurance is paying for the rental car.

I like this little car, to drive in the city that is. 

James had an appointment with his heart doctor, Dr. Memon this afternoon.  Dr. Memon wants him to build an 18,000 square foot building for him and then do all of the tenant improvements.  I told James he needed to go see Dr. Memon more often.

I left to go pick up Addy by myself this afternoon because James is finishing the light fixtures and mirror in the master bath.  I give Addy her cake, and we go back and pick up James and go to Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

Two of my favorite people!

 The reason to come to Cheesecake Factory

After dinner we took James home and then Addy and I went shopping at Super Target in Gilbert.  

Earrings, a Barbie and Barbie clothes, and

a squealing pig.

Addy and I had so much fun together.  She told me stories about her life and I thoroughly enjoyed being with her.  She is a kind, thoughtful, and loving girl.

Addy sharing her birthday present from her parents

with Lola.

Michael's friend Alexis has a birthday this weekend too.  To celebrate she and Michael went to the D-Back's game.

Happy Birthday Alexis!

Thursday, August 27, 2015

 This is Greg and Florence Hatch and two of their children,

Alyssa and Ian. They hiked the alps from Chamonix, France to Zermatt, Switzerland in 11 days.  118 miles, and an entire

bottle of Ibuprofen, and they made it to the end.  That is the

Matterhorn in the background.

James and I left for Chandler before 6am this morning.  We stopped in Claypool at a Circle K for gas and a drink for me.  We also had a short stop for roadwork.  When we arrived in Chandler we went straight to the job on Chandler Blvd and McClintock.  We were there just a few minutes before going home.

After a shower and a change of clothes James and I took Jared Ammon to lunch at Oreganos.  Of course I had the Vino Bambino salad.  I also tried their margarita pizza but it was nothing compared to Nello's.  

I love this salad so much!

James had his Oregano's Favorite salad and J.A. had wings.  While we were waiting for our food I realized I hadn't paid SRP for last month so I paid it on my phone.  Sometimes I love modern technology.  

It was overcast today and we got some rain.  I got a call from Kilee Hunsaker this evening.  Her parents are gone and I think she was hoping I was in Vernon and could come and get her.  I told her I was in Chandler getting ready to go shopping and I wished she were here to go with me.  I guess her grandma on her mother's side is dying of cancer and Stefani, Sean, and Tyler, Alicia, and Kip went to see her.

I went shopping at Hobby Lobby and Walgreen's for Addy's candy cake.  I got a couple of puzzles for Stacy at Hobby Lobby.  One is a 1,000 piece donut puzzle which she has been looking for, and the other a puzzle with several different gingerbread houses.  I liked both of them and so did she.

Speaking of donuts, I found this donut chart on Facebook.

 

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

This is a before and after picture depicting the horrible 

forest fires in Washington state.

James and I read scriptures and from our book outside on the porch so we could enjoy the cool weather, (I had to get a blanket), and watch the hummingbirds.

 James keeps the hummingbird feeder full.  We have seen up to 15 hummingbirds hovering around it at one time.  It is cool, overcast, and smells delicious outside!

Lorraine Tieman and I had visiting teaching appointments today with Hailey Chafin and Elida Pope.  Elida called this morning and asked to reschedule because she has sick boys.  

Lorraine drove her pickup to the Chafin's ranch which is a good 25 or 30 miles from Vernon on dirt roads filled with mud puddles and rocks.  It was quite an adventure!

Hailey came out to rescue us and we followed her in.

They have over 20,000 acres and run 175 head of cattle.  They have solar power and their own well so they are completely off the grid.

Hailey's kids go to school in Show Low so she makes two round trips a day which takes her about 3 hours.  She said she loves living there though.

James spent five hours today working on income taxes.  My back hurts from polishing floors yesterday, so my plans to finish cleaning our bedroom are delayed.  

For dinner we have enchiladas and salad.  We read from our book and watched the Hallmark movie, "Good on Paper."

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Alex's senior picture. Such a handsome guy!

James said I sat up in bed around 1 a.m. and said:

"There's a big dog in here."  Another one of my hallucinations.  

James left for Demming this morning to meet with a family from Connecticut that his dad sold some property too.  The father's name is Louis Chandler.  The entire family was there waiting for James when he got there.  The wife is from Mexico and there were two children, a boy and a girl.  He said they were some of the nicest people he has ever met and he was wishing he had brought a Book of Mormon to give them.  Eventually they want him to build them a house on the property they bought.

A Chandler friend, Sherry Scatena posted a candy cake she made on Facebook today.  Now I want to make one for Addy.

Speaking of cakes, this is my friend Dianne Heyman.  She is famous for her chocolate, raspberry, almond cake.  I guess she

made one for herself.  Happy Birthday Dianne.

I listened to President Monson's talk on the temple again today.  We have a couple in our ward who attend the temple every week.  They are Jimmy and Tamara Applegate.  Jimmy works for the city of Show Low and Tamara is the Vernon librarian at the public library.

 Tamara and Jimmy

They also have four of the nicest kids you will ever meet!

It is storming all around me today.  I love the thunder, but not the lightening. Finally we get some rain and the electricity goes off for about an hour.  I was polishing the wood floor but had to quit when there was no power.  I took a short nap instead until the electricity came back on.  I finished polishing the wood floor when James got home.  I always feel a sense of relief when he arrives home safely!

This evening Becky Skousen came visiting teaching.  After she left James and I read from "Lady of Milkborn Manor" and watched a Hallmark movie starring Kellie Martin, "So You Said Yes."  

It was still raining when we went to bed.

 

Monday, August 24, 2015

First Day of School in El Paso, Texas

James

Anna

 Emmy

 Molly

A funny story about Molly.  She lost a tooth while eating lunch and swallowed it.  She had to write a note to the tooth fairy and explain.

I know this sounds crazy but I had enchiladas and apple pie for breakfast while listening to President Uchtdorf and President Eyring speak during the priesthood session of General Conference.

After scriptures and prayer James left on the Razr to pick up his wildlife cameras.  I guess he is helping his friends from Oregon, who are coming down in September to hunt, scout for elk.

When James returned from his ride we started reading "The Lady of Milkweed Manor."  I also worked on my blog, washed sheets, and began dusting furniture and cleaning the wood floor.  

 We also made a trip to Walmart and Home Depot.  There were lots of clouds in the sky, but no rain.  I love the cool temperatures though.

We had chicken tacos for dinner.  James had to let off another ant bomb upstairs to stop the invasion.  

In the way of world news, the stock market was lower than it's been in a long time today.  Glen Beck warns that we need to prepare.  He suggests having cash at home in case the banks close, even for a short time.

For FHE we listened to a conference talk about temples by President Monson.  Afterwards we watched a Hallmark movie where Jaclyn Smith played an evil mother-in-law to be.  

On another note, during nap time today I woke up and thought I saw an orange and black caterpillar crawling on James.  It wasn't real but it sure seemed real to me.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Tyler Tedder

Today it was announced in the Vernon ward sacrament meeting that a young man in our ward, 13 year old Tyler Tedder, had passed away.  No one knows what happened and an autopsy has been ordered.  He spent alot of time at the Wilhelm's and 12 year old Andy Wilhelm wrote this letter to put in Tyler's casket.

 I didn't know Tyler but I had met his grandmother, Patsy Tedder, whom he lived with.  We sat by each other in church and she told me she used to babysit for Rita and Gary, my cousins.  When I would come to Show Low in the summer time as a child Rita and I would play with Patsy's younger brother, Pete Whipple.  My heart goes out to the Tedder family.

Tyler with his grandma, Patsy.

I gave a lesson in Primary today on the resurrection.  It is knowledge of the resurrection and life after death that brings peace and comfort to those who have lost loved ones.

I taught two classes today as Denice Hall wasn't here to teach the 10 and 11 year olds.  My class: Braylin, Isabelle, Joelee, Talena, Zemira, and Karsyn.  Karsyn is a visitor. The 10 and 11 year old class: Macy, Andy, Holly, and Hailey. I gave Kitkats to those who looked up scriptures and answered questions, which included everyone. 

Kilee Hunsaker, Paula Johnson, and Virgil Cooper were the speakers in sacrament meeting today.

After lunch and a nap James went home teaching to the Wallace's with Rick Lauritzen.  I started fixing dinner since we are having the missionaries over around 5pm.  I made enchiladas, beans, corn, salad, and apple pie and ice cream for dessert.  

James made punch with grape juice and limeade, one of his favorites.  

It was nice to meet and visit with Elder's Carraway and White.  Elder Carraway is from Virginia and just has a few more weeks to finish his mission.  Elder White is brand new and is from Utah.  When I asked what they had been doing in the way of missionary work Elder Carraway said:  "We worked 25 hours last week building a horse arena for the Howard's.  They are going to use it to teach handicapped children how to ride horses.  He also said they were going to the Westbrook's ranch in New Mexico to brand cattle for the coming week.  I noticed they both had cowboy boots on.  

Elder Carraway is going back home to help his mother run the 74 Dominoes franchises they have.  The missionaries always bring a wonderful spirit with them.  

After we said our goodbyes James and I cleaned the kitchen together and then we watched a Hallmark movie starring Wes Brown, "Under the Stars."

  

 

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Garden post from Instagram

Today I listened to two General Conference addresses.  The first was Elder Quentin L. Cook's entitled "The Lord Is My Light", and the second was Elder Ballard's "The Greatest Generation of Young People."

I had a date with Kim and Sheri this morning to go to breakfast.  We started out at a new place in Gilbert called "Snooze" but it was so crowded and after waiting 45 minutes we decided to leave.  We went down the street to "Lolo's Chicken and Waffles."  I had a piece of chicken and a waffle.  It was quite tasty.  Most  of all I enjoyed being with two of my daughters!  I could kick myself for not taking any pictures.

We were going to go get pedicures but we had to reschedule because I had to get back to the house before our Open House to get my luggage so James and I could leave for the cabin.

Stacy said she was going to leave Holly on Dallin's bed because she can't get down.  I told her if she did that she needed to call Jen and tell her, which she did.  Jen is deathly afraid of dogs but once she met Holly she was okay with her staying.  She said afterwards that she was an angel.  

In three hours six couples looked at the house.  One lady was pretty excited because she said her husband was in a band and she could just send them downstairs, close the door, and let them practice.

Ready for the Open House:

 Family Room

Living Room

Dining Room

 Kitchen

 Basement

We went shopping at Walmart when we arrived in Show Low because we are feeding the missionaries tomorrow.  

When we arrived in Vernon we watched a Hallmark movie and read from "The Silent Governess."