OUR FAMILY

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Friday, December 29, 2023: 2024 goals in my prayer journal, Ev & Ro go to play basketball, Sunny day, Michael recruits boys to help James, DG, baked ziti, Trezise's arrive

Winnipeg, Manitoba

169th operating temple

Dedicated: 31 Oct 2021

By: Gerrit W. Gong

Book of Mormon

Moroni 9:1-19

Come Follow Me

Revelation 15-17 and "Opening the Seven Seals"

October General Conference

"Love is Spoken Here" by Elder Gerrit W. Gong

I wrote down my personal goals for 2024 in my prayer journal. Just for record keeping sake I will also write them here:

1. Lose weight and maintain a more healthy lifestyle.

2. Organize my home.

3. Work on family history research and attend the temple at least 2x a month.

4. Be more frugal and stay on my budget.

5. Prepare our will and organize "death" papers.

6. Prepare for a mission.

7. No contention, only joy with James.

8. Bear testimony of the Book of Mormon to my family.

9. Prepare for the unexpected by storing food and supplies.

10. Go to Disneyland with Lola, Ruby and Charlie.

11. Decide with Addy if we are going to go to Europe.

12. Go with James to the temple once a month.

I have a lot of work to do!

Evan and Rowan took Rowan's truck to the park to play basketball. When they returned Evan wasn't feeling well so he laid down for a nap.

Things about Evan: He's a good basketball 3-point shooter, he is an artist, he is quiet and obedient, he loves hot Doritos and lemonade, he is sensitive and sweet. I love him!

Things about Rowan: He is kind and thoughtful, he is a hard-worker and adventurous, he asks thoughtful questions.

It was another sunny day. Michael asked Rowan, Evan, and Joe if they would help grandpa outside and they did. I think Michael has a lot of influence. His name, Michael, means "like God." He and Joe helped with the stable and James said he got more done in a couple of hours today than he did the last two days working by himself.

Rowan and Evan stacked wood on the porch for the fireplace.

One of the things Rowan asked me to get him was some Lucky Charms. I forgot yesterday when I went to Walmart. I knew it was a long shot but I went to Dollar General to see if I could find some there. I hit the jackpot! Not only did they have them but the box was the perfect size, small and compact. I was so pleased. As a bonus for having to wait I also bought some Sour Patch candy for Rowan. I'm know he loves them.

I spent 3 hours in the kitchen this afternoon and evening making baked ziti, eating baked ziti, and cleaning up after baked ziti. Thank goodness James helped me do the dishes.

Michael asked if it would be all right for he and Joe to eat with us. I said it would be as my baked ziti recipe makes a big batch. He said something about not liking Prego sauce and I told him that was what I was using. He was embarrassed. He ate it anyway. I looked up a comparison of marinara sauces and Prego has the most sugar so I won't be buying it anymore.

This evening just as we were finishing up cleaning the kitchen Ben and Cayli arrived in Ben's car. He has a Nissan Altima. He brought his TV with him. It probably takes up the entire backseat!

Soon Sheri, Ian, Max, Ollie and Ziggie drove up and unloaded. We are full here with 11 people.

James used some of the apples we got from the Wilhelm's and made an apple crisp using my recipe. It was a huge hit. Everyone loved it and it disappeared before it had a chance to cool.

One of my ward members and friends on Facebook, Lorraine Vaught was telling a story about someone complaining at the post office this morning about the church next door cutting down their trees. Lorraine described this person as a Karen. I hate that the name Karen has a negative connotation and I told her so in a non-combative way. She apologized and said we should choose another name. I agreed and suggested, "Harpy." She liked it.

Ziggie and Ollie are excited to be here and were sniffing the place down. Dogs are so funny.

Johnny got 3rd

How my kitchen looks when we have company

Friday, January 5, 2024

Thursday, December 28, 2023: Kerri comes by gift & card meets Stacy, Inklings - Humility, Goodby S,P, J, A, & dogs, Hello Michael & Joe, Razr ride Evan & Rowan, Trip to town mail KIm's card, Walmart broken marinara sauce, Circle K, Wendy's, games, walk, movies

Durban, South Africa

168th operating temple

Dedicated: 16 Feb 2020

By: Ronald A. Rasband

Book of Mormon

Moroni 8:1-30

Come Follow Me

Revelation 22:18-19 Do these verses mean that there cannot be any additional scripture besides the Bible? No!

October General Conference

"The Savior's Healing Power upon the Isles of the Sea" Elder J. Kimo Esplin

Another clear, cold day. My friend Kerri Halcomb came by this morning to bring me a Christmas gift and card.

That's my crystal paperweight behind the

ornament.

Kerri and I visited a few minutes. When she left I opened the gift and read my card. I love the ornament and the card was sweet, expressing gratitude for our friendship. I sat down and wrote her a card.

Stacy got to meet Kerri.

This morning in Inklings Emily and Rio talked about humility. The talk we are studying is "Humble to Accept and Follow" by Joni L. Koch. We also studied 2 Chronicles 2 and Hezekiah's Tunnel in the Bible Dictionary. Here are some notes that I took:

Phrase: "Leave this in God's hands and everything will turn out fine."

Affirmation: "I am humble in spirit. I depend on my Heavenly Father's benevolence and the Atonement of my Savior. I trust that having the humility to follow Them and to make and keep covenants will help me become perfected in Christ."

2 Chronicles 31:20 - And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.

Hezekiah petitions the Lord and the answer comes through the Prophet.

Hezekiah goes to the Lord with everything!

He went to the Lord in building the underground tunnel too.

Humility is dependence upon God.

I have heard thy prayers, thus saith the Lord.

There is a strength that comes with humility.

Submission, surrender, humility, modesty, reverence, yield, giving way to God.

Yield signs in Fiji say "Give way."

Why does receiving revelation have to be so hard? Emily asks God this question.

Personal revelation time for Emily is 4-6 a.m.

The Spirit to Emily: "You are not praying hard enough."

Emily: "The Spirit is the boss of me."

I also listened to "Unshaken Saints" and Richard Draper on "Follow Him." I am reading Dr. Draper's book, "Opening the Seven Seals."

We said goodbye to Stacy, Paul, Joshua, Alayna, Sophie, Shipley, and Vader.

Goodbye to the Gonzo's

Evan and Rowan went on a Razr ride this afternoon just a little before Michael and Joe arrived. We were on our way in to town so we told Michael to watch out for them.

The first thing we did in town was mail Kim's birthday card. She is turning 50 on the 31st.

One of the reasons we are coming into town is to get some food for Rowan. Darrel sent me $50.

Rowan said he really likes baked ziti so I decided I would make it tomorrow night. As I was shopping for marinara sauce I dropped a bottle on the floor. The glass did not shatter but the lid came off and sauce went all over the floor and on my shoe, sock, and the bottom of my left pant leg. A woman in the aisle told me to just leave it alone. She also gave me a tissue to clean the sauce off of me. I told a worker what I had done and he called the cleaning crew. I fully intended to pay for the broken bottle but forgot when I got to the register. I will pay next time.

Before going home James and I texted Rowan and Evan and asked them what they wanted from Wendy's. Actually I gave them a choice and they chose Wendy's. Evan asked for ten chicken nuggets and an order of fries. Rowan wanted a baconator and fries. I ordered a Biggie Bag. When we paid for the food we should have checked our order. They got it wrong. Evan got his ten chicken nuggets and fries, and I got my Biggie Bag, but instead of getting a Baconator burger Rowan got Baconator fries (fries with bacon & cheese) and fries. I apologized and gave him my Baconator, Jr. burger. James and I ate the nuggets and the small order of fries. I had three nuggest and James had two.

Joe and Michael brought several guitars with them. Michael just got a new green guitar. They jammed in front of the fireplace.

They are such good musicians. Joe writes

music and words to songs.

The kids played games this evening while James and I walked and watched a movie, "A Fairytale Christmas."

Tom is getting lots of attention from the boys, especially Evan.

Joshua and Alayna

Poor Charlie

I bet Barbara loves it. She was so

cold last winter.

After

Wednesday, December 27, 2023: Another cloudless, cold day, I miss my clouds, Ham & eggs for Alayna & Joshua, Rowan arrives at 3 pm, Hitchcock movies, Stew & cornbread, Sue H. moves, Tamara meets Stacy

Arequipa, Peru

167th operating temple

Dedicated: 15 Dec 2019

By: Ulisses Soares

Book of Mormon

Moroni 7:35-48

Come Follow Me

Revelation 20:12-15; 21:1-4 All of God's children will be judged out of the book of life.

October General Conference

"Divine Parenting Lessons" by Elder Valeri V. Cordon

Another cloudless, cold day. I miss the clouds!

James fixed ham and eggs for Alayna and Joshua with Paul's leftover ham.

Alayna, Joshua and Evan were waiting for Rowan to get here before they went on their Razr ride. They thought he was coming up this morning. When I told them he wouldn't be here until this afternoon they decided to go without him.

Snow in the high country!

Yesterday they went on a ride and they were gone so long Stacy and Paul got worried and were going to go look for them it James's truck. About the time they got ready to leave the kids returned. I was at the store and told her I was sure they were okay.

The kids were not gone nearly as long today as they were yesterday on the Razr. After Rowan got here the three of them played some games together. Rowan did go on a Razr ride up into the snow while he was here.

Notice the size of these

Uno cards. They are

ginormous!

While the kids were playing games Paul was on his computer or fixing dinner and Stacy was watching old Hitchcock movies, such as, Charade, and Girl Friday. Cary Grant is in both of these movies. I wonder if she likes him. I love Audrey Hepburn and Stacy likes Grace Kelly.

Stacy & Ziggie. Where is her bodyguard,

Sophie? She says she doesn't care for

Hallmark movies.

James went over to Sue Hubble's with several others from our ward to help her move. She is my good friend and I am sad to see her go, although I am glad she is only going to Snowflake instead of the valley. We are still going to go to the temple together.

Stacy started a puzzle while she was here. It was a 500 one with Easter Eggs, one that had never been done. She said she wouldn't be here long enough to do a 1,000 piece one. I helped her with it. She has a more "challenging" way of doing puzzles. Frankly, I think it just takes longer. After putting together the edge pieces she does the puzzle row by row. Once when she wasn't looking I filled in some other pieces. When she discovered what I had done she said, "No, No, No, challenge yourself." She took the pieces out. Here is the finished puzzle:

A fun puzzle to do.

Tamara Applegate dropped a set of house plans off to James early this evening. I had her come in and meet Stacy as they are both doing the intermitten fasting diet. Stacy has lost 70 lbs. over the last couple of years and she looks so much more healthy. Tamara has been very successful too, but hasn't been doing it as long.

Paul made dinner again tonight. He has a new stew recipe he got from a Foodnetwork chef, Tyler Florence. It uses red wine and corn and peas. He also made cornbread. The entire meal was delicious.

Thank you Paul. They guys in our family seem to like to cook. We as their wives and family are so lucky!

This evening James and I walked in our room and watched "A Rocky Mountain Christmas" and "Christmas in the Pines", both good movies.

I remember their reception at Trey & LeAnn Bashas'

and how cold it was!

Beautiful sunrise

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Tuesday, December 26, 2023:14 degrees, Drippy ceiling from Alayna's shower, James's sauna blanket, cut same board wrong 2x, Town, no Bookshelf app, shop for Evan, Pizza Factory Gonzo's and Evan, Grapp's card

Lisbon, Portugal

166th operating temple

Dedicated: 15 Sep 2019

By: Neil L. Andersen

Book of Mormon

Moroni 7:20-34

Come Follow Me

Revelation 16-18; 21-22 The Lord invites me to flee Babylon and inherit "the holy city."

October General Conference

"Eternal Truth" by Elder John C. Pingree, Jr.

It was 14 degrees when we got up this morning.

We had a drippy ceiling this morning. James went upstairs to see who was taking a shower in Darrel and Trina's room and had left the shower curtain out of the shower. When Alayna answered the door she had a turbine on her head. James told her the problem and she apologized. This afternoon after going on a Razr ride she took another shower and did it again but that was the last time.

James had a miserable day. He was so cold that he got into his sauna blanket. He also said he cut the same board wrong two times and that his thumbs really hurt.

Sheri sent me $100 for food for Evan so James and I went into town to buy food. We have no book to listen to because my Deseret Bookshelf app is still down.

James and I went to Walmart. James was looking for batteries for our key fobs and for the garage door openers while I was shopping for Evan's food. I bought turkey and ham lunchmeat, provolone cheese, two loaves of bread, 4 frozen pizzas, fruit snacks, Flamas Doritos, a case of water and two packs of lemonade. I spent $90.88 I told Sheri I would send the rest back via Venmo and she told me to keep it.

James and I had Firehouse for lunch.

Later this afternoon the Gonzales's took Evan to Pizza Factory for dinner. The dogs were distraught when they left, especially Sophie who howled for awhile. He follows Stacy everywhere and when she is gone, she doesn't know what to do with herself. Finally they all settled down.

So much for the doggie blankets I got

out for them. They prefer the newer, softer ones.

Sophie, Shipley, and Vader.

We stopped and picked up the mail this afternoon as we came back to town. We got a gift from Jared and Kacey and several Christmas cards, including one from the Grapp's along with a picture of the family and a summary of each of the kids for the year. I was excited to get this and immediately wrote a card back to them. We also got a card from the Johnston's, Carmen & Steve, and the Lemmerman's.