Friday, October 2, 2015

Happy 88th Birthday Lois!

On her birthday with Teresa, her

oldest granddaughter and Teresa's son Jack.

Sheri's Daily Quote:

Boyd K. Packer said:

"Each of us must stay in condition to respond to inspiration and the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  The Lord has a way of pouring

pure intelligence into our minds to prompt us, to guide us,

to teach us, and to warn us.  Each son or daughter of God can know

the things they need to know instantly.  Learn to receive and

act on inspiration and revelation."

James comes home from Chandler in the truck, pulling a trailer.  He left my Lexus at the house in Chandler.  He brought green chili burros for lunch.  He was complaining about the wind and I said:
"I would rather have the wind than the heat."  He agreed.

We went on a Razr ride and tried to call up some elk but no luck this time.

 A man and his bugle.

Back at home James called his mom and talked to her for over an hour.  It seems she had a great birthday with lots of her family visiting and calling her. 
Dawn is in New Orleans right now on a retreat.

 Stacy and Paul took Joshua to Paradise Valley to see over 5,000 Mexican free tail bats at the bat cave canal.  They come out at sunset.  Joshua is a little bat expert.  Bats are his favorite animal.

Waiting for the bats.

James is experimenting with some beans from our years supply that are about 30 years old.  He is going to soak them overnight and then cook them in the crockpot to see if they are edible.  I am a little bit leary.  Not sure I want to eat 30 year old beans and I'm not sure that he can make them good enough to eat.

I saved the Mystery Woman, "In the Shadows" episode which I watched by myself, so I could watch it again tonight with James.  It was that good! 

   

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Sheri's daily quote:

Helaman 5:12

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation...whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Love this autumn picture.

I had asked Kilee to come over to watch "Cinderella" this afternoon but because I wasn't finished with the pantry I postponed until Tuesday and told her I would take her to lunch.

Ella and Kit

This morning I called the Social Security office at James's request to ask for my 1099's for 2012, 2013, and 2014.  I will be so glad when this whole  tax thing is completed.

Today is October 1st and it was 106 in Phoenix today.  We hit a high of 81 here in Vernon.

I finished the pantry!

I am please with the results!

Now that I have the pantry done I look around and see all the other things that need to be done, like washing the windows, vacuuming, dusting, organizing files, etc.

James says he's coming home tomorrow morning and bringing Joe and Alex with him.  He was going to have Joe drive my car while he brought the truck and the trailer.  

Joe cancelled and because Joe wasn't coming, Alex didn't want to come either.  Alex is coming up with his family on Saturday.

I watched "Mystery Woman, O Baby" this evening.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Happy 60th Birthday Dawn!

Dawn is the baby in this picture.  Sad to
say I don't have any recent pictures of her.

James left for the valley this morning a little after 6am.  He picked up Mike Malone, a member of the Vernon ward, and gave him a ride to Mesa.  

Sheri texted me this morning and said there was lots of water at our house in front of the fence.

 She thought maybe the people who are building in the orchard were using our water.

James checked this out, and the neighbors were not using our water. The water problem was due to a broken sprinkler which James fixed.

I was sitting out on the porch reading the Ensign when I looked up and two antelope were walking across the property.  I watched them until they disappeared in the trees.  

James says it was close to 110 degrees in the valley today.  It was in the low 80's here.  

James and I both finished reading the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time this year.  We will start again tomorrow and will finish by the end of December.  Here is the schedule we use.

I also finished the April 2015 General Conference talks for the 6th time.  

I watched two Mystery Woman movies tonight.  One was called "At First Sight", and the second was "The Wild West Mystery."

At 12:15 I got up to use the bathroom and heard a noise outside.  There was a bull elk near the porch railing and five more a little further out.  I wish James was here to see  them.

This picture was actually taken a couple of years ago.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

 Happy Anniversary
Kim and Brian!

20 years of wedded bliss!

I love these two!

Sheri's quote of the day:

"Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each

other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else,

when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain

quiet.  Charity is accepting someone's differences,

weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with

someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become

offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped.  Charity is refusing to take advantage

of another's weakness and being willing to forgive

someone who has hurt us.  Charity is expecting

the best of each other."

-Elder Marvin J. Ashton

Sweet little Lola!

 I started cleaning out the pantry at the cabin yesterday.  This is what my kitchen looks like:

It's going to get worse before it gets better.

James and I went to visit the Howard's today.  I am Jean Howard's visiting teacher and my partner is out of town. The Howard's have about 200 acres of land back in the pine trees south of town.  James visited with Tom while I visited with Jean.  Come to find out they have a house in Chandler just a few miles south of us.  

Sister Howard, Jean, has a bad back, has had heart surgery, and several other surgeries.  I really liked her though.  She is very soft spoken and seems quite spiritual. She says she lives very close to the Lord and often asks Him: "Lord, what do I need to learn from the experience."  It was a good visit.

Back home I made grilled tuna and cheese sandwiches with tomato soup for lunch.  We took a nap and then I worked on my blog while James worked on taxes.  I did a little work on my pantry project but I've come to realize it's a bigger project than I had thought.

Our Hallmark movie, "For the Love of Grace", had Mark Consuelo in it.  It was a good one.

Tricia got engaged today.

Vernon sunset

 

 

Monday, September 28, 2015

Quote by Sheri:

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often

come in multiple doses applied simultaneously.

When those trials are not consequences of your

disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels

you are prepared to grow more."

-Elder Richard G. Scott

My eye and the bump under my eye are more swollen and red than ever so I called Dr. Moffat's office.  The soonest he can see me is tomorrow at 5pm.  

James worked on taxes while I watched last week's "DWTS."

We also went to Stanford store to get a drink.  On the way back we stopped at the post office and parked next to Brooklyn and Arizona Carroll.  Arizona is 5 and yesterday in Primary she had lost her ticket.  The kids get a ticket at the beginning of sharing time and if they are reverent and still have it at the end of Primary they get a treat.  Arizona, or Zonie, had lost her ticket and I gave her a new one.  I sat behind her and knew she had been good the entire time.  Today when I saw her I reminded her that I had given her a ticket and she said: "Ok, now we are friends." 

Brooklyn, on the left is Zonie's sister, and

Sadie on the right is her aunt who just came home

from her mission in Mexico.

James and I went on an amazing Razr ride this afternoon.  James called up two different bull elk, one had several cows with him. He was so proud of himself!

Ready for action

I got a phone call from Vickie today.  She said she saw on Facebook on one of Stacy's posts that we had sold our house and she was calling to congratulate us.  I told her I had mixed emotions.  I was glad to be out from under the financial burden but emotionally it was hard for me to let go of.

We had squach from Kathy Crane's garden for dinner this evening.  James fixed it three different ways.  One batch was steamed, one mixed with V-8 juice , and the last was deep-fried.  It was all very good. 

We watched a Mystery Woman movie tonight starring Kellie Martin.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Sheri's quote:
"So many of us make a great fuss of matters
of small consequence.  We are so easily offended.
Happy is the man/woman who can brush aside the 
offending remarks of another and go on his way."
-President Gordon B. Hinckley

I love to see the temple

It was fast & testimony meeting today but we didn't know.  I don't remember hearing any announcements.  I also had heard that there would no longer be two fast meetings in one month.  Apparently I am confused with false information.

James was sustained today by Brother Thompson as a substitute Sunday School teacher.  Oops! Oh well.  He got the Sunday School teacher right.  

Braylin and Ashten from my class bore their testimonies and so did James. Virginia Chafin bore her testimony and was visibly limping.  When I ask Braylin why his grandma was limping he said she got her big toe cut off.  Hailey said she caught it on a step on a trailer and tore it and had to have surgery at the hospital.  She missed Primary today.

  Several people mentioned the Wallace's 50th wedding anniversary party last night.  Apparently I missed that announcement too.  James said he knew about it but he forgot to tell me.  

Our lesson in Primary today was on honesty.  We read the story from the scriptures of Barnabas, who was honest, and Ananias and Saphrias who were not honest and what happened to them.  Ashten, Jolee, Talena, Braylin, and Zemira attended class today.  This will be James's last time as my worthy assistant.  I am a little nervous about that.

There was no sharing time today, only song practice for the Primary program.  About three quarters of the way through Braylin leaned over and said to me: "This is the longest hour of my life.!"

James was set apart today after the block as a Sunday School teacher by John Wilhelm.  

I saw Shelly and Kelly outside after church.  They both saw a garter snake and ran to pick it up.  Shelly won.

 Shelly, the snake whisperer

I waited for James in the car while he and Rick Lauritzen visited with Virgil Cooper.  Virgil won't allow a home visit so they do their home teaching at the church.

Kathy Crane came over after church.  She had seen my pinion post on Facebook and wanted us to see her pinions.  She kept saying these are pine nuts, right.  They are so expensive in the stores and they are delicious on salads.

 James checking out another of

our pinion trees.  He says they are

better after the first freeze.

We had our Burger House burros for lunch and then took a nap.

After our nap we started a new book: "Sophia". 

Written by an LDS author

Our Hallmark movie for the day was "Book of Love" which we had seen before but since we liked it so much we watched again.

Tonight we watched a Blood Moon, which means the moon was about 9,000 miles closer to the earth than normal, and a Lunar Eclipse. James left our camera in Chandler so we couldn't get  a good picture.  This picture was taken by James's brother Dave using his spotting scope.

  Chandler, Arizona

 This is me

 Gilbert temple

 Eclipse: The earth's shadow on the moon

 Washington D.C.

 Mt. Timpanogos, Utah

 Arizona desert

 Over the ocean

 

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Sheri's quote:

I love the words of President Ezra Taft Benson

concerning prayer.  He said:

"All through my life the counsel to depend

on prayer has been prized above almost

any other advice I have received.

It has become an integral part of me ---

an anchor, a constant source of strength, 

and the basis of my knowledge of things divine. ...

Though reverses come, in prayer we can find

reassurance, for God will speak peace

to the soul.  That peace, that spirit of serenity, is life's

greatest blessing."

Payson, Utah temple

I went to bed with my right knee hurting, and it is still hurting this morning.  I was going to stay for the kids ballgames but decided it was just too hot and if I left this afternoon I might be too tired to drive, so I began packing up my car this morning.  Stacy was up and helped me pack the car.  Thanks Stacy.  

Just as I was leaving, James decides once again that he would rather come with me than drive the truck and trailer.  I help him finish sweeping leaves on the front sidewalks and then go to Sonic to get a drink while he puts in a GFI plug in Dallin's bathroom.  

We finally left around 11:30 am.  Goodbye Holly.

The princess is asleep.

Our first stop is Burger House.  We each got a burro to eat today and one for lunch tomorrow.  We sat outside on the patio of Burger House because of our new rule not to eat in my car.  It's a good thing we did because James's burro was extra messy.

Our next stop was the Walmart in Globe for Fix-a-Flat for the Razr, almond M&M's (James's idea), and a planning calendar for me. 

I read some more from "The Baron's Honourable Daughter", and then I took a nap - it's the best way to do Salt River Canyon.

Salt River

James says he was caught in the current under these 

falls when he was in high school and thought

he was going to drown.

It was a little warm when we arrived in Vernon but it cooled down rather quickly.  James discovered something exciting...we have pinions on our pinion trees.  They only produce about every 7 years and it's usually after a rainy year or two.

My tree

The pinions

I missed probably the best soccer game of the season.  They boys team won 14-2.  Rowan made five goals and Evan made one.  Joshua stopped some balls.  They all three had a great game!

 Go Revolution!

James fixed dinner while I watched and listened to the General Women's session of conference.

 A burger on a ciabatta bun

with a side of broccoli
Women's Session of General Conference.

1.  "Discovering the Divinity Within" - Rosemary M. Wixom

2.  "Worthy of Our Promised Blessings" - Linda S. Reeves

3.  "Here to Serve a Righteous Cause" - Carol F. McConkie

4.  "A Summer with Great-Aunt Rose" - Pres. Uchtdorf

Back in Chandler Stacy says she can't bear to tell these boys about us selling our house because they spend almost every waking moment together.

Two boys and a dog.