Saturday, March 12, 2016

I finally got to watch Rowan and Evan play soccer
this season.

Although they didn't win, Rowan scored the two 
goals they did make.

 Ruby loves to photo bomb!

I am not crazy about this picture of me, but I 
couldn't pass posting this picture.

Some of the other perks of going to the soccer game.
Her eyes look so blue, and look at those lips!

 These two love snacks!

After cleaning our room and bathroom and washing sheets, etc. at Cathi's I left for the soccer game, following Sheri.  I am so glad I went.  James came too, but he came late and left right after the game was over.  I guess he was anxious to get home.  He made the mistake of going the Globe way and got in the traffic going to the Renaissance Festival so it took him a little longer than usual.

Of course I went through Payson and made one stop at the McDonald's.  I got home about ten minutes after James did.  It is good to be home and get things in order before Sunday.  We worked on our lessons for awhile and then watched a movie.  It was a little racy for a Hallmark movie and I was disappointed.  It was on the Hallmark Mystery movie channel.  It was made in 2003 and starred Kristen Bell as a teenager who spends the summer in Lake Havasu, Arizona with her dad whom she hasn't seen since she was 6.  It could have been good but their was sex, drinking and bad language.  Definitely not what I want from my Hallmark movies.

Jared posted this picture of James and Molly today.  I am always grateful to get pictures of my Texas grandkids!

 James really is a sweet boy!

Friday, March 11, 2016

I think it's great Sheri takes her boys for hikes!

While Sheri was taking her boys on a hike I was having my infusion at the arthritis center and then a birthday lunch with Karen Schneider at Firebirds.

 Karen looks good for being a little older than I am.

Back at home at Cathi's Indy and Lady are a little depressed with their mom and dad gone all day, five days a week.  Mostly they just lay around and sleep.  Indy came in for me to scratch his belly.

 Lady on her purple "burrito" bed.

 Indy giving me "the look."

Waiting for me to scratch his belly.

 

This evening we had a "girls night in" at Kim's house.  Trina couldn't make it because she had other plans.  We ate Oregano's and watched a Hallmark movie and mostly just talked and laughed.

This picture was taken last year

at Sheri's birthday lunch at

Liberty Market.

 Thanks Brian and Kim for letting us invade your space!

 

 Trenda W. took this picture of the sunset

in Vernon.

 

 

 

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Dollar Tree mirror for my visiting teaching handout.

James and I went this morning and picked up Lexy from Erik.  He still is not sure he doesn't need to replace the head gasket, but he said it passed all the tests and the check engine light went off.  If the check engine light comes back on, which it did, we will bring it in to have the head gasket replaced when we come back down for Easter. Update 3/18/16 The check engine light is off!

I went to five different Dollar Tree Stores this morning to look for the above mentioned mirror before I actually found three of them to use with a quote from the visiting teaching message to give to the sisters I visit.  I was so relieved and excited to finally find them!

After my shopping trip I went back to Cathi's and James and I went to lunch at Jersey Mike's.  We both had the chipotle cheesesteak sandwich.  Delicious!

Max, Alex, and Ben

This afternoon James and I went with Sheri, Alex, Ben, and Max to the Gilbert temple to do JD's baptism and confirmation.  JD is Ian's youngest brother.  Max was baptized for him, and Ben was confirmed.  James performed both ordinances.  It was all worth it to me as I sat across from Max during the confirmation.  Afterwards Max raised his head and there was a big smile on his face!
  Each boy actually did baptisms and confirmations for five individuals.  James and I saw and visited with an old high school friend Loren Hatch who was working in the temple.  I should have ask him if he was going to our 50th high school reunion this summer.

Ephraim Daniel Pope

Elida Pope had her baby today.  Boy #4 named Ephraim will join his brothers Ethan, Eli and Edmund, and his parents Erik and Elida. Congratulations! I was Elida's visiting teacher until they moved from our ward to Wagon Wheel. (Between Show Low and Lakeside).

This afternoon after dropping James's truck off at Cactus Radiator to have him put in a new muffler we went shopping at Deseret Book to get some new garments and to buy a book for Karen Schneider's birthday.  We also visited James's mom and sister Dawn.

James's truck waiting to be fixed.

James standing in front of a yellow rose bush in

his mom's back yard. 

On the way home to Cathi and Terry's we stopped at Elmer's to take home some dinner.  We called and ordered for Cathi and Terry too.  Cathi and I had the #7 plate with two beef enchiladas.  Terry and James both had machaca burros and tacos.  When we arrived home Wendy and Colton were visiting.  I felt bad that we hadn't brought them food, but soon found out that Wendy had been doing a Isogenix cleanse and wouldn't have eaten it anyway and Colton had already eaten.  Wendy told me all about Isogenix and her diet and even sent me the link so I could read about it.  She stayed and visited for quite awhile.  She shared with us when she experienced a tornado in Tennessee and then when she moved to Colorado and experienced another tornado there.  It was fun to visit with her and Cathi.  Colton seemed a little bored.

Michael had a track meet today at Brophy High School in Phoenix.

He did well in the 800.

Awesome!

This last picture is the wedding picture of Dave and Rosa Westbrook, two of our Vernon friends.  Dave is our home teacher and sometimes Rosa comes with him.  I was also Rosa's visiting teacher and loved to visit her.  This was posted on Facebook by their daughter Sadie.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

James brought this tree home one year for our Christmas tree.

No one liked it, so he planted it in the corner of our orchard.  This is what it looks like today.

James said he would take me to IHop for breakfast.  While I was getting ready to go he went out to try and pick the lock on the truck.  This is what I saw when I went outside.

We finally went to Home Depot and got something similar to a slim jim and he was able to get it unlocked.  In the meantime, we took Terry's truck to IHop.

I got my most favorite breakfast at IHop.  

Scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, and a side of buttermilk pancakes.

Something funny happened while we were enjoying our breakfast.  I heard a song on the radio that I haven't heard in over 50 years and frankly a song that I never thought I would hear again because it wasn't even popular 50 years ago.  The song is, "Pineapple Princess" by Annette Funicello.  Annette was not a very good singer but because I liked her I owned all of her records.  I played Pineapple Princess over and over again in my bedroom but I don't ever remember hearing it on the radio even back in the 60's.

 This is the cover of the album that I had.

Talk about a step back in time.  This took me back to my bedroom in Show Low as a teenager when I would play records by the hour.

This afternoon I used Terry's truck again to go to Walmart to pick up my prescription.  We also took James's truck to Cactus Radiator to get his muffler fixed.  We went by Sam's Club on the way home and filled Terry's truck with gas.  It is so very kind of him to let us use it.

When we picked James's truck up from the muffler shop it was as loud as ever.  The guy only replaced the pipe and not the muffler.  I guess we will have to take it back in again tomorrow.  No wonder it only cost $100.  It will cost another $100 to replace the muffler but that is still cheaper than the $320 they quoted us in Show Low.

This evening we went to dinner at BJ's in Mesa with Darrel and his family.  Ruby got an Awesome Achiever award at school and she earned a free dinner.  She kept saying, "Dinner is on me."

Way to go Ruby!

We had to wait a few minutes outside for a table.  Lola was having fun visiting with the other people waiting for tables and playing peek-a-boo with the sign.

Peek-a-boo

Darrel had some important business to attend to on his phone. Rowan and Addy waiting for their food.  Trina was probably taking care of Lola.

It was a fun evening.  For dessert I ordered the three kids, Addy, Rowan, and Ruby a pazookie to share.

We went back to Darrel and Trina's and looked at some of the things Trina built with the two saws she got for Christmas.  She had a coffee table, and several nice wooden frames.  She is getting quite good!

Oh, by the way, Happy Birthday Patrick!

 

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

In honor of International Women's Day

James left for the valley around 9:30 this morning, which leaves me to winterize the place.  Since the temperatures aren't going to dip below freezing at least I don't have to drain all the pipes.  All I have to do is go to the well house and turn off the pump and water valve.

I was finally ready to go a little after 2 p.m.  I went out to the well house and flipped the pump switch to off.  When I went over to turn the water valve off there was a paper with a green, what I thought to be liquid, substance on it.  I tried to kick it away with my foot but it ended up sticking to the bottom of my shoe.  I had a terrible time trying to get it off and got this powerful stick goo all over my hands.  I guess James was using it to trap a rat.  No rats were harmed by this substance but a wife was terribly agitated.

I had to abandon my shoes and leave them at the back door.  I washed my hands about five times with hand soap and then rubbed them with hand sanitzer, but there was still a sticky residue.  For some reason, don't ask me why, I had some baby oil in our bathroom medicine cabinet. I rubbed it one my hands and the stickiness disappeared.  It worked as good as WD-40 and smelled alot better.  

I stopped in Show Low to wash my car and get a drink and a corndog at Sonic and then I was on my way.  James went the Salt River way and had to wait 35 minutes for blasting on the highway where they are working near Superior.  If he had read the sign leaving Show Low he would have gone the Payson way like I did.  

My trip was pretty uneventful.  I made my usual stop at the Circle K in Star Valley for a potty break and a Big Hunk.  

The desert looks beautiful right now.  There are little yellow flowers blooming everywhere. I should have stopped and taken a picture.

I drove into Cathi and Terry's driveway where James was waiting to carry in my things for me around 6:30.   We dropped off my load of castoffs at Goodwill and then went to the Golden Coin Chinese place for dinner.  We both ordered entrees when we should have shared one.  They were huge!  Oh well, now we will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  

James forgot his phone so we went back to the house to get it and then we were going to take my car to Erik's.  In his frustration of looking for his phone he locked his keys in his truck, and still no phone.  The only think he could think of was that it must have fallen into one of the boxes we dropped off at Goodwill.  We went back and sure enough he and one of the attendants heard the phone ringing when James used my phone  to call his number.  It took them awhile to find it, but they finally did, in the garbage.  I would say we got lucky!

We had to borrow Terry's truck to drop my car off at Erik's.  He said we needed to drop it off tonight so the engine would be cool when he looked at it in the morning.

Back at Cathi and Terry's I asked them to explain what they do at the Records Operations Center where they are serving their mission.  They explained that there are five things they do and all of them are to prepare online information in newspapers and other information sources for online indexing.  Terry said there are 15 billion names to be indexed in the granite vaults in Utah.  It is exciting to see this work move forward in preparation for the Millenium.

Cathi and Terry are in charge of 65 other service missionaries called to work at the center. Here is their "crew".  Can you find Cathi & Terry? (Hint: They are in the back row).  Each missionary is holding up an activities tracker sheet on things they accomplished in preparing for a zone conference.

 They are so perfect for this job.  They both are patient and kind,  good with people, and have amazing computer skills.  I am so proud of them and so grateful for their example to James and me.

Bridget, relaxing in her basket on the counter.

We also got to see Patrick and his two little boys Hunter and Cameron.  Tomorrow Patrick will be 34 years old.  I remember the day he was brought home from the hospital.  Jonathan got out a pair of shoes for him and told his mom he wanted Patrick to go outside and play.

 Patrick and Heather with their children,

Cameron, Raelynn Rose, and Hunter.

This next picture is of a couple I have known all of my life.  Peggy Butler was our very best customer when I worked in my mom and dad's store, Double M Market.  Her two boys, Gary and Greg worked for us and were my mom's favorites.  It is hard for me to imagine that they are celebrating their 71st wedding anniversary!

Monday, March 7, 2016

The best part of the morning.

I studied the Sunday School lesson covering chapters 31-33 in 2nd Nephi.  The purpose of the lesson is to help class members understand "the doctrine of Christ."  I love reading these chapters because it outlines in a nutshell what we need to do to return to Heavenly Father.  I especially love 2 Nephi 31:20:

"Wherefore ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all en  Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

I moved five boxes from the garage and labeled them. James moved them upstairs for them where they will be in storage until I have a chance to unload them.  The goal right now is to get them out of the garage.  I still have lots of pictures to hang too.

James and I made a trip to town today.  On the way home we finished our book, "Refuge at Highland Hall."  What to read next? Jared recommends "The Chronicles of Narnia".  Maybe I will order them off of Amazon this week.  

We had lunch at Grumpy Jake's.  I had my usual green chili cheeseburger and fries and James had a chicken pot pie.  I can never finish my meal, but James is always there to help.

I did some shopping at Walmart while James went to Home Depot, the gas station, and to Sonic to get me a drink.  I got some new pants and shoes.  Walmart definitely is a one stop shopping experience, at least for me. 

Show Low Walmart sign.

This afternoon James cleaned up the branches he cut on Friday.  Now my view off my bedroom deck is restored.

Hello little bird.

I watched "Chopped Junior" while I was working on my Primary lesson this evening.  These kids can really cook!

James and I watched a show we had seen before, although James says he has never seen it, called, "Loving Leah".  It's about a Jewish rabbi who dies and his brother, who is not a practicing Jew, is obligated to marry his widow or deny his brother's existence.  It is a heart-warming story and now it is one of our favorites.

 

 

Sunday, March 6, 2016

How true.

We had a very spiritual fast and testimony meeting today.  I don't necessarily think my testimony added to that, but I did feel prompted to bear it.  I talked about how Enos prayed for his enemies the Lamanites and his example made me stop and think if I had anyone I would consider an enemy, or anyone whose relationship with me was not quite right.  I thought of someone, and reached out via messenger on Facebook.  We corresponded back and forth, and now I feel like we are in a good place.  I am grateful for Enos's example and the Savior's Atonement.

Some of the other testimonies that I especially enjoyed: Sean Hunsaker's, Chuck and Kathy Crane's, Dave Westbrook's, Blain Curtis's, and Trenda Wilhelm's.  

This is Trenda's last week in the Vernon ward.  She is moving to the valley to live with her grandpa's x-girlfriend and go to school.  She will be going to Grand Canyon University and her classes starts in August.  She will be going down this week to get settled in and to find a job.  She wants to be a physician's assistant.
Trenda came in to Primary Sharing Time to help her little sister Ruthie give a talk.  It was so cute when Trenda left, Ruthie 'hearted' her with her hands.  I love these two!

I will bet that is the sucker Ruthie got after Primary today.

Our lesson in Primary today was on King Benjamin.  We talked about taking the name of Christ upon us and the importance of a good name and honoring our family name.

We broke our fast when we got home from church.  I actually fasted 24 hours.  We had a very important reason for our fast.

Around 3:30 today we took Rick and Pam Giles up to see the falls at Buckelew Springs. We learned that Rick is from Flint, Michigan and Pam is from Chicago, but both have lived in Arizona for over 20 years.

We didn't stay long at the falls but I took several pictures.

 

Why do we get so excited about these falls and the running water?  Because most of the time it is so just a dry wash.
It doesn't seem like much when you compare them to these falls:

Oh well, we will take what we can get and be grateful.

We really enjoyed spending time with Rick and Pam and hope we can have them over for a bbq sometime.

This evening we watched this week's episode of "When Calls the Heart."  We both love this series. 

Nancy Reagan passed away today.  She was 94 years old and died of congestive heart failure.