Saturday, September 12, 2015

Sheri posted this for grandparents day.

Sheri's quote of the day:

"A person cannot give a crust to the Lord without

receiving a loaf in return."

-Melvin J. Ballard

James left to be at the church by 5am.  He takes the missionaries in his car to the temple.  They travel about 45 minutes to the Snowflake temple with other leaders and the youth of the Vernon ward.  

 Holly

 Alice

Heaven

 LeeAnn

Shelly also went to the temple but she left before James could get her picture.  Lane Hall and Ty Applegate were the boys who attended.  I guess James would rather take pictures of girls than boys.

After returned from the temple James loaded up his CAT SkidSteer and left to help gather wood for the single sisters in our ward.  The youth were supposed to help, but only the young women and Ty and Jace showed up.  

Elder White  and Holly in the background.

 Kyah and Ty. James says they spent the whole time together.

Some of the wood was black from the burn and the kids,

and adults got it on their faces.

Jace and Heaven

These kids are not afraid to get dirty.

Shelly and Kip Hunsaker.

Brother Blain Curtis

Unknown helper and Ty

Unknown helper and Ty

LeeAnn and Shelly

The group cut, loaded, hauled, and unloaded 14 cords of wood for the widows of Vernon, not just the LDS sisters but others in our community as well.

James arrived home this afternoon just before our daughter Kim arrived here from Chandler.  She needed a break from the remodeling project they are doing in their house.  This is the first time she has ever come up by herself. 

Kim and I went on a Razr ride together.  It's one of the things she loves to do when she comes up.  We got into a little rain, a little dust, and got hit by a few bugs.  We made the Christmas tree trail circle so we were gone about an hour.  

I bought Kim a stress relieving coloring book just like mine.  When we got back from our Razr ride we colored in our coloring books.  

I made spaghetti for dinner.  Kim had some but she also had her mixed green chili burro from Burger House.  James likes the spaghetti sauce, but he doesn't care for the noodles.  

Kim helped me clean the kitchen and then because all three of us were tired, we went to bed early.

I got a text before going to bed from Jen, our realtor.  We got an offer on the house in Chandler.  She said we will talk on Monday.

  
Stacy posted this picture of Michael and Alexis:

 

Friday, September 11, 2015

Today is the 13th anniversary of 9.11.01

 We will never forget.

I found this quote by Glenn Beck quite an eye-opener:

The world is moving further and further away from the 

gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today was grandparents day at Hancock School.  Sheri asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would go for Evan.  He has never had a grandparent come.  Marvin and Mary have come for Joshua the last couple of years, but said they probably couldn't come this year.  Joshua was very sad and I felt bad too.  Stacy called the school to see if I could do both classes and they said yes, so that's what I was planning on doing when I left for the school.  I went to Evan's class first.

 The teacher had the students divide into groups with about 3 students to one grandparent in a group.  I was with Evan, Landon and Zeke.  They all had a paper with 20 questions on it and they took turn asking me the questions.  It was fun.

I told Mrs. Kim, Evan's teacher that I needed to visit Joshua's class too so she called his class.  She came back and said that Joshua's grandpa was with him.  

Thanks Marvin for saving  the day and making Joshua so happy!

Joshua also came over to visit us for a few minutes.

I love these boys!

James finished the wood floor and it looks so much better!  He is taking his truck with the long flatbed trailer because he is taking his Cat do the wood cutting service project in Vernon tomorrow.  I was going to stay here until tomorrow to make sure the house and yard work got done for tomorrow's open house.  Stacy said she could handle it and that I should go home tonight.  She talked me in to it and I left around 5pm.  

I got gas at Sam's Club and stopped at Burger House for some burros.  I got two for James, one for me, and one for Kim who is coming up tomorrow.

I arrived at the cabin somewhere between 8:30 and 9.  Because James is getting up early to go to the temple with the youth we didn't have time to watch a movie so we read a chapter from "The Dancing Master" instead.  

Thursday, September 10, 2015

James had a meeting with Trina today.  She wants to help him with his business and they went over a game plan.  I believe Darrel was there too.  He will help her do bids, etc.  Trina is very ambitious and can accomplish anything she puts her mind to.

James asked Trina what her goals were regarding the business and this is what she said: 1) To earn money to save for a house, 2) To help James retire, and 3) To help care for Karen.  I love this girl!

James asked her what she thought her title should be and Darrel commented: "Vice-President of Operations.  And so it is.

We were on our way to pick up Adam this morning when he called and said Seth was picking him up.  Wish we would have known before we left.  Oh well, we brought our book so it wasn't a total loss.

Kim too me to lunch at Oregano's, but first we took Adam home.  Kim and I both have a tender spot in our hearts for Adam.  

Of course I got my favorite salad, the Vino Bambino.  Kim got her favorite salad, the Pablo Picasso.  I love visiting with Kim and I am so grateful that she is my daughter.  Thank you for lunch sweetie!

James took me to Sonic two times today to get drinks.  He also went into the bank and ordered new checks for me and then he took my car to Sears to get it lubed.  He told me he wishes he could retire so he could spend all of his time doing things for me.  I love this man!

Now James is playing Mr. Fixit, replacing the wood floor under the water cooler.

No, he didn't cut off his finger in spite of how this picture looks.

Someone in Phoenix is taking "pot shots" on the freeway.  So far there have been no deaths.

 

 

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Happy 91st Birthday President Nelson!

 Today at 10:45 I had an infusion at Arizona Arthritis and Rheumatology Center in Mesa.  After I was finished I hurried home and went to Jersey Mike's with James for lunch.  We came home to eat and I got to eat half my sub before leaving for my dental appointment at Dr. Douglas's.

My appointment was with the dental hygienist, Jackie, to get my teeth cleaned.  She knew about Stacy getting a job because Paul was in a couple of weeks ago.  I made appointments for both James and I in January.  He hasn't been in for over a year now.

After my afternoon nap I sorted through the very large pile of mail.  Afterwards James and I went shopping at Walmart.  We needed toilet paper and doggie treats.  I also got the most awesome coloring book.  Coloring is supposed to relieve stress.  I hope it works!

James is giving it a try.  He couldn't resist the owl.

James put new baseboard in the downstairs closet.  Now he has a new project to work on: The wood under the water cooler is wet and coming up off the floor.  It seems like it is always something.

 Our friend, Wendy DeWitt, who is on a mission in the Carribean with her husband Collin posted this picture today.  I told if that was what her mission was like that I was coming for a visit!

We are a little disappointed in Jared Ammon.  James advance him some money and we haven't seen him since.  Such a disappointment.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Getting excited for this movie to come out on blu-ray!

I was moving slow this morning.  I had a toasted, buttered chiabata roll before leaving for Chandler.  James said 8am, I was ready by 8:30.  James gets gas and a carwash and then we stop at Circle K for a drink.

It is too late for breakfast burritos when we get to Burger House so we each get a chicken taco and a mixed burro.  I don't care for the chicken taco, it is a little too dry.  

While we are driving we listen to our scriptures and then I read from "The Dancing Master."  

When we arrive in Chandler we take naps and then James takes the rental car back and picks up "Lexy" at Chandler Auto Body.  James also checks on his job at McClintock and Chandler Blvd and decides to install the curtains at the medical office at Augusta Ranch tomorrow morning.

For dinner this evening we had 1/2 price cheeseburgers at Sonic.  Mary Johnson always posts about specials at Sonic.  Thanks Mary!

 Although I love teaching the 8 & 9 year olds in Vernon I sure do miss this little sweetie, Brooklyn Leib, who was in our class while we were in the Galveston 3rd ward in Chandler. 

I am not sure where this was taken, but I thought it was an awesome picture!

 

Monday, September 7, 2015

This week this family celebrated their family birthday!

The smallest one in the picture is Paul.

It was overcast this morning as we sat on the porch with Jared and Camie before they went on their Razr ride to Green's Peak.

A little windblown but they made it to the top!

 There were tons of people out in the woods today according to Jared and Camie.  When they returned to the cabin Camie put clean sheets on all of the beds upstairs.  She would have done the downstairs bed too but I wasn't through washing the sheets.  

After lunch of leftover ribs and corn-on-the cob we said our goodbyes to both Jared and Camie.  I felt a little sad because I wasn't sure we would see Camie again.  

 Front Porch Goodbyes

About 30 minutes after Jared and Camie left it started to rain so it's a good thing they went to Greens Peak early.  The rain matched my melancholy mood.

We read our scriptures from the New Testament and the Book of Mormon and then we read a chapter or two from "The Dancing Master".  I spent a couple of hours looking up tithing checks for 2011 and 2012 to help James prepare for income taxes while he worked upstairs.

This evening we watched two Hallmark movies, one starring Candace Cameron Bure as Aurora Teagarden novice sleuth, and one starring Erin Krakow.  

I love rainy days at the cabin with my sweetie!

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Ruby and Addy rode with us to church this morning.  Since this is a holiday weekend, the Vernon ward was packed.  We finally found seats in the first overflow with Jared and Camie.  Darrel, Trina, Rowan and Lola come late and sit in front of us.  When Trina had to take Lola out, James went out and took over for Trina so she could back in to fast and testimony meeting.  

We saw our friends Dave & Tammy Montgomery.  Tammy is Florence Cluff's daughter and Dave worked for James years ago.  

We also spoke with the Skinner's a couple from Tempe who have been attending the Vernon ward this summer.  They know the Montgomery's and serve with them in the Gilbert temple.  The Skinner's are building a home in Gilbert.

Today in Primary I taught a lesson on The Mission of Jesus Christ.  Addy and Rowan attended my class as did Ashten, Carson - a visitor, Talena, Zemira and Joelee.  I love my class!

During sharing time Addy and I saw two dogs outside.  At first Addy thought one of them was a little bear because he was so shaggy.

When we get home everyone is eating so we break our fast a little early.  Fasting is one of the hardest commandments for me to live and I really must do better. I had some macaroni and cheese as did the kids.  It really was quite delicious.  Jared has ribs in the oven and we will be eating dinner in a few hours before Darrel and Trina's family leaves.  

 The ribs were delicious.  Thank you Jared!

Ruby and grandpa have a moment together.  That is Darrel's

Heman laying on the table.

These two really love each other.

Some of the things we did before Darrel & Trina left: Addy, Jared, and Trina played the Train game that Jared brought.  Addy won.

Jared and Grandpa played Rowan in chess.  Rowan lost both games but I told him that the way to get better is to play someone who is better than you are so you can learn from them.  

Ruby beat Camie in the Match game.  Ruby is an expert at the Match game.  

Darrel took Lola for a ride in the car and put her to sleep.

Darrel's family left for home.

Jared and Camie went outside and built a fire.  They read from the Book of Mormon and roasted marshmallows.  

Back at home Ben had a spiritual experience when he got a patriarchal blessing from Patriarch D. Lynn Jones.

Seth called James and said he is coming back to Chandler and was wondering if he could borrow some equipment to do some work for Spencer Wilson to help pay for his wisdom teeth which Dr. Wilson extracted.

It was a great Sabbath day!