Saturday, January 4th, 2025: Kim & Brian leave, Kim's cake for brkfst, Uzzle w/ Charlie, Picture w/ Charlie, Donut puzzle, Goodbye to J,K, Ch, Sheri babysits & Mesa Temple, we go to dump and town, water heater still not fixed

 

Cedar City, Utah

159th operating temple

Dedicated: 10 Dec 2017

By: Henry B. Eyring

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 3:9-31

Come Follow Me

"The Promised Restoration Goes Forward"

October General Conference

'This Is My Gospel - This Is My Church'

Elder Dale G. Renlund

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enables access to God's power because it is authorized by Him both to teach the doctrine of Christ and to offer  the gospel's saving and exalting ordinances. The Savior yearns to forgive our sins, help us access His power, and transform us. He suffered for our sins and longs to pardon us from the punishment that we otherwise would deserve. He wants us to become holy and be perfected in Him. Jesus Christ has the power to do this. He didn't simply sympathize with our imperfections and lament our eternal condemnation in consequence of sin. No, He went beyond that, infinitely beyond that, and restored His Church to enable access to His power."

Kim and Brian left around 8 o'clock this morning. James had lit the pilot light on the hot water heater so I asked Kim is she took a shower. Her comment was: "No, I will just wait until I get home." She wasn't chancing the water would be cold. One cold shower in a week is enough.

Love these two so much!

 Some of us had Kim's cake for breakfast. It is still delicious!

Kacey and Charlie slept in James's office last night because Kacey liked the bed better than the one in my office where they had been sleeping. Early this morning sawdust fell down from one of the logs right on Kacey and Charlie who was still sleeping. How embarrassing. Another indication that we need to dust our logs. We are also going to put a fogger in that room in case there are any ants.

Jared finished his 500 piece donut puzzle only to find out that one of the pieces was missing. So frustrating. I'm not going to throw the puzzle away though.

I finally got to play Uzzle with Charlie, making up our own rules. We had a good time. Jared played with her too.

Uzzle 

Before leaving for the valley Kacey asked if she could take a picture of us with Charlie. Luckily I had cleaned up and done my hair.

We love this little girl!

We are excited that Jared & Kacey are going to the valley and will go to a session in the Mesa temple. It will be Kacey's first time. Sheri is going to watch Charlie. Stacy & Paul were going to go with Jared & Kacey to the temple but they are both very sick. Something Jared Ammon passed on to his family.

Thank you for coming, we loved having you here!

Come again soon!

 After saying goodbye to Jared and his family, James and I decided to do our errands right now, while we were both ready. Chuck has had pneumonia for awhile and is in bed today. We asked Kathy if we could go to the dump for her and she said yes, give me about 30 minutes to get everything ready. While we were waiting for Kathy James and I read our Book of Mormon and part of the Come Follow Me lesson. Kathy gave us $5 which helped with the $8 dump charge. After the dump we went to look for 40 N8172 as James got specific directions from the person who owns the property and wants James to pour him a floor.  We followed the directions exactly and we found the secluded lot. We would have never found it on our own because the numbers Apache county assigns these roads does not make any sense. Someone named Matt Davis had a piece of equipment and was working there. When James told him the difficulty we had finding the place he said don't use Google of MapQuest. He said to go to the Apache County Assessor's website. Good to know.

On to Walmart. James picks up his Tramadol prescription along with $35 worth of over the counter drugs. I bought everything on my list except lightbulbs. We will either have to get them at Home Depot or order them from Amazon. 

On the way home we stopped at the post office to pick up our mail. I looked for my antelope but they were hiding somewhere. 

Tom and I had a rest time. I did finish washing the sheets for upstairs, now I need to do the towels. I worked on my blog and then texted a little with Sheri. Charlie wanted to go in the quiet booth at the visitors center to read scriptures.

We came to the visitor's center to meet up with Jared & Kacey. 

We went to the Chandler mall and visited Sees Candy, Barnes and Noble and Scheels, then we walked the dogs, then we came to the visitor center. I got her some dark chocolate and chapter books for the flight home. 

Scheels

The park by Sheri's house

Mesa temple

Mesa visitor's center

Salt River, on the way back to the valley

from Vernon

No trip to Arizona is complete without

a stop at Burger House!

Charlie and Aunt Sheri

Friday, January 3rd, 2025: Thrift shopping w/ Jared, Kacey, Charlie & James, Lunch @ The House, Willow Tree, Smore in the firepit, Lite Brite, "The Way Home" episode one season three

 

Meridian, Idaho

158th operating temple

Dedicated: 19 Nov 2017

By: Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 2:16-3:8

Come Follow Me

The Promised Restoration goes forward.

October General Conference

'God's Favorite'

Elder Karl D. Hirst

" So if someone we care about seems distant from a sense of divine love, we can follow this pattern - by doing things that bring us closer to God ourselves and then doing things that bring us closer to them - an unspoken beckoning to come to Christ."

Happy 76th birthday to Cathi Lambson. We love you!

I took a fairly hot shower, Brian took a warm shower and Kim took a cold shower. The pilot light on the water heater is out again. 

Today James and I went thrift shopping with Jared, Kacey, and Charlie while Kim and Brian stayed at the cabin and took down all the Christmas decorations. I am so grateful to them!

Our first stop on the thrift store trail that Janna Grombach mapped out for us was at Sweet Potatoes. Janna says they aren't really a thrift store but they have some neat stuff. She was right. They have mostly home furnishings and we found some things we really liked but of course we didn't buy anything. Next door was the Safe House Thrift Shop where all all proceeds go to a woman's shelter. We looked again, but didn't buy.

Next we stopped at Cottage and Cabin in Wagon Wheel. It was small but had some cute things. The only thing we walked out the door with was a free candy cane for Charlie. She is saving it for her hot chocolate when she gets back to the cabin.

We drove on into Lakeside to the Veteran's Village Thrift Shop. Everything was 50% off because it sounds like they are going out of business. There was nothing in this store that attracted my eye and I honestly was happy to leave. I just kept remembering that this was where Janna got her beautiful couch.

Back to Show Low for something to eat because Charlie was hungry. We were going to go to Darbi's in Pinetop but it was after 2:00 and they close at 2:30. We went to The House in Show Low instead.

The House is right behind KFC in Show Low on Hall St., across the street from the old Willis residence. It's kind of a specialty burger joint. Kacey, Jared, and Charlie and I all like burgers so it was a good place to eat. They have chicken and that's what James got. We were going to pay, but Jared ended up paying for us. Thank you Jared.

Our order went something like this:

Jared - House Burger - 8 oz beef patty with roasted poblano chili, pepper jack cheese, and friend onion strings with chipotle aioli. Also came with green chili slaw. (I think)

Kacey - The Meltdown - Pepper Jack, cheddar, and Havarti cheese, with bacon, tomato, baby greens with a burger patty on sourdough bread.

Charlie - Kids cheeseburger and homemade potato chips - Charlie likes her burgers with cheese, tomato, and mustard and that's it!

James - Pickled Chicken with two dipping sauces.

Me - Pigs N Fritz - Sweet corn fritters, pulled pork on a bed of green chili slaw with bacon crumbles and diced tomato with green chili aioli. 

I've got to remember that they serve their meals in a box, everything piled on top of each other and sort of mushed together. I ate my corn fritters and part of the pulled pork, which needed BBQ sauce, and saved the rest for later. 

James's chicken was good. You could really taste the dill pickle juice.

Next time I am going to get what Kacey got, The Meltdown. She said it was delicious. Jared liked his burger too. We ate outside in the yard. It was a little chilly and Charlie kept going over to sit by the fire.

After we finished eating, we crossed the street and went to The Willow Tree Store which is in Terry Whipple's old house. Kacey and I both loved it. This was our favorite stop, even though it is not a thrift store but more like a boutique. I bought a pair of red heart shaped earrings. They still had their Christmas stuff out and Kacey bought a wooden nativity. Charlie loved looking at the books. So cute! Definitely going to come back.

I talked to Janna later and she said we missed some of her favorite stops: The Red Door, Hopeful Treasures, and Dog House Thrift. Next time or maybe when Trina comes up.

Back at home I asked if I should fix some chicken tacos, something I've been going to do since Kacey and Jared got here, but everyone said they weren't hungry. I came in and took a nap and I guess while I was sleeping Jared, Kacey, and Charlie played Five Crowns. Charlie says she loves it.  Oh, I forgot to mention that Charlie gives the sweetest prayers. She blessed the food last night and it warmed my heart.

Kim and Brian were inside when I got up from my nap and Kacey, Jared, Charlie, and James were all outside around the firepit keeping cozy by the fire. Charlie had some hot chocolate and was sticking her candy cane in it. She also asked if we could do 'smores, which we did. She said her mom and dad don't really like them, but she does. We talked by the fire for quite a while. It was very relaxing. I almost caught my new house slippers on fire. Kacey pointed out to me that smoke was coming from one of them. 

Kim played Lite Brite with Charlie again. They did all the six pictures that came with the set. Kim is very patient with Charlie and Charlie was giggling most of the time. I came over to the family room while everyone else was by the fireplace and watched the first episode of season 3 of "The Way Home." Jacob is finally back in the 21st century.

Charlie petting Luna

Forgot this one at the temple.

Kacey's post

Charlie and her kitty, Mae

Thursday, January 2nd, 2025: No hot water on our side of the house, J&K's shower works, J,K,Ch's ride to Greens Peak, Kim finished Stacy's puzzle, Kim's Banana Chai Pecan cake is super delicious! Giving Machines & Snowflake Temple, Kim's Lite Brite

 

Tucson, Arizona

157th operating temple

Dedicated: 13 Aug 2017

By: Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 1:16-2:15

Come Follow Me

Jesus Christ has Restored His Church

October General Conference

'Live Up to Your Privileges'

President Emily Belle Freeman

"If we read D&C section 25 carefully, we discover an important progression taking place. Emma would go from being a daughter in the kingdom to 'elect lady' to queen. Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood ordinances, combined with the keeping of her covenant promises, would increase her companionship with the Spirit and with angels, empowering her to navigate her life with divine guidance."

Still no hot water on our side of the house. We have one working shower and it's the one by the rooms where Jared and Kacey are staying. James made another trip to town in an attempt to fix the hot water heater. Jared, Kacey, and Charlie went on a ride to Greens Peak. They found a little snow for Charlie to stand in so they could take a picture. Kim finished Stacy's puzzle so we could take a picture and put it away. She then began making her own birthday cake. It is Banana Chai Pecan. The recipe calls for walnuts but Kim likes pecans better.

I knew Jared & Kacey wanted to go to the Giving Machines. There are two of them in Snowflake and I wasn't sure if they were still open. Online it said they would be open through December 31st. In a letter written to members of our stake by our stake president, Joshua Beeler, the last day is January 2nd. I called my friend Ruth Gale, who lives in Snowflake to ask her. She said when her company left she would walk over and see if they were still there. She texted me later and said they were still there although the barriers had been taken down. I told Jared & Kacey. When they got home from Greens Peak we had some lunch before heading to Snowflake. Brian made pasta e fagioli soup and Kacey and I had some. Very tasty. Thanks Brian.

Around 4:00 Jared, Kacey, Charlie and I jumped in their rental car and headed for Snowflake. When we arrived at the Freeman house in Snowflake we parked and walked over to the machines. The machines are still here, but there is nothing in them so we were not able to buy anything to give to anyone. It felt like a wasted trip until we decided to go to the Snowflake temple grounds. It was a beautiful day, the high around 60 and no wind. We walked around the outside of the temple and took pictures. I felt the Spirit even though we were only on the temple grounds.

I had planned on making chicken tacos today but it was dinner time when we got home and it was too late to start making them. Kacey had leftover potatoes and ham, Jared had a ham sandwich, and Charlie and I had hamburgers with a side of strawberries and applesauce. We had Kim's cake for dessert. It was delicious! I especially loved the roasted pecans.

Kim got a Lite Brite for Christmas from Brian. She and Charlie made Lite Brite pictures most of the evening. They had a great time and it was fun watching them. 

We still have to play the Uzzle game. Hopefully we can do that tomorrow.

Ian and Evan's "Snow" family

I want another piece!

Charlie has the greatest smile!

Green's Peak adventure

Where is Charlie?

"We found a patch of crusty ole snow"

Snowflake

Lite Brite fun with Kim

Wednesday, January 1st, 2025: Happy New Year! A few things from 2024, waffles & strawberries, Peach Bowl: ASU vs. Texas, D's family goes home, Kim & Brian arrive, Tyler Finnegan's mission call

 

Paris, France

156th operating temple

Dedicated: 21 May 2017

By: Henry B. Eyring

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 1:1-15

Come Follow Me

The Restoration began with an answer to a question.

October General Conference

'The Triumph of Hope'

Elder Neil L. Andersen

" To fortify our hope in a time of increasing wickedness, the Lord has directed His prophet to dot the earth with His temples. As we enter the Lord's house, we feel the Spirit of God, verifying our hope. The temple testifies of the empty tomb and that life beyond the veil continues for all. For those who do not have an eternal companion, the ordinances powerfully confirm that every righteous person will receive every promised blessing."

Happy New Year! 2024 was a series of ups and downs. We are grateful for the hand of the Lord in our lives to get us through the hard times. Our God is a god of miracles. Here are a few things that happened in 2024:

* We have two new members of our family, Mason Templeton - Tanner's little boy and Kacey's grandson who was born on May 24th, and Ben's wife Cayli whose birthday is May 23rd. Welcome Mason and Cayli!

* Laura, our sister-in-law, had a lung transplant and now, almost a year later, is doing very well. 

* I lost my aunt Gene this year. She was 96 years old, just a few months younger than James's mom.

* We celebrated our 76th birthdays this year and our 56th wedding anniversary. Our oldest grandchild is 34 and our youngest is 6. We have two great grandchildren,(we claim Kacey's), one is 7 months old and the other, Scarlett, turned 7 in October.

* Sheri, Ian, the boys, and Ian's mom all went on a three week vacation to Europe, Scotland and other beautiful places. Betty, Ian's mom, wanted everyone to see the town where she grew up, Dundee Scotland.

* On Christmas Scarlett held up a sonogram. She is going to get a baby brother or sister sometime near the end of July. Congratulations Autumn, Palmer, and Scarlett!

* James's life was saved because of a blessing given him by Chuck Crane and the skilled hands of a neurosurgeon, David Wilson. He had a subdural hematoma and life saving surgery was required. We are so grateful for all of those who prayed for him and came to visit him. 

I made waffles and strawberries with Cool Whip for breakfast, except for Ben. I made scrambled eggs and toast for him. James was gone to the store to get a new thermal coupler as the other one didn't work. When he returned, he found a harvest nut and grain pancake in the freezer and heated it up. We were well fed before the Peach Bowl game started. Darrel took Ruby out to practice her driving before the game started. Ben and Cayli left for home after breakfast.

Ben & Cayli

Come again soon!

The Peach Bowl started at 11:00. We were ready. Jared used his tablet to make the "sling" connection so Darrel didn't have to give up his phone. We were ready. Jared had on his ASU sweatshirt, I had on an ASU hat which I ended up giving to Darrel, and Kacey and Charlie had on their Texas shirts. 

The first half of the game was pretty boring. The game got really exciting in the second half when Cam Skattebo of ASU began making some amazing plays. My favorite play of the game was when he, as a running back, got the ball and threw a long pass to a receiver who ran for the touchdown. It was so fun to watch. The game was tied at the end of regulation play and went into the first overtime. Each teams gets a chance to score and both teams did, making the score 31-31. The game went in to second overtime with Texas having the ball first. They scored a touchdown and in second overtime you have to go for the two points, which they did, and got them. The score is now 39-31 and ASU has the ball. ASU comes very close, but fails to score. The game is over, Texas wins. You see Skattebo kneeling with his head in his hands.

The one saving factor of the game is that for the first time in 26 years the MVP of the game is on the losing team. Cam Skattebo is the MVP, a well-deserved honor. Sad that ASU didn't win but glad one of the members of their team got recognized for his valiant efforts.

After the game, Darrel and his family packed up and left. Trina washed all of the towels and sheets and put the sheets back on the beds. She cleaned up the kitchen and then while we were watching the game she went for a walk. I gave Darrel my ASU hat. Ruby was wearing it, she is a fan too and watched part of the game with us. Charlie and Lola played games and had a great time. When they played the game of Life, Ruby joined in.

So glad you came!

Kim and Brian arrived this evening. One of the fun parts of the game was that Brian and Paul kept texting Jared about the game. They were a few minutes ahead and so it made it interesting. Stacy said that all of the boys came over to watch the game with Paul and everybody wound up getting sick because Jared Ammon was sick. 

We invited Kim and Brian to eat with us but they had stopped at Sonic. I guess Sonic is the favorite place to stop.

Kacey helped me make the ham and scalloped potatoes. Charlie chose the veggie. I told her we could have green beans, broccoli, or peas. She chose green beans. After the dinner was over I helped a little to clean the kitchen but Jared and James did most of it.

Jared had wanted to watch "Wicked" but Brian laughed, so we never put it on, today, that is. I gave Charlie her little penguin. He is kind of homely and small so I ordered her another cuter girl one. She named this one Fluffy. The Uzzle game is here and I want to play it was Charlie before she leaves.

Tyler Finnegan, a young man from our ward, got his mission call today. He is going to the Seattle Washington mission and reports February 24th. Congratulations Tyler! Right now we have two 

missionaries out in the field, Zemira Wilhelm is in Newport Beach, California and his girlfriend, Jessica Pronger is in Independence, Missouri. Another sister, Abigail Jameson, has her call. She will be going to Sydney, Australia.

Kim and Jared both worked on

Stacy's puzzle. Kim was actually 

the one who finished it.

Stacy's puzzle is finished!

I got the Disney action figures out

and Charlie and I played with them.

Not shown in any of these pictures is the fact that instead of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, I actually have 18 dwarfs.

I love Charlie's eyes in this picture

Charlie loved organizing all of the characters

and lining them up.

Tuesday, December 31st, 2024: Happy 51st Kim, trip to town w/ James, Thermal coupler, Ruby is driving! Trina's cookies, J, K, Ch in Arizona! D's "sling" worked, Bought "Wicked" & watched w/Trina, Horses, Dinner, J,K,Ch here dinner, Lola & Charlie, Fireworks

 

Hartford, Connecticut

155th operating temple

Dedicated: 20 Nov 2016

By: Henry B. Eyring

Book of Mormon

Joseph Smith's Testimony - part 2

Come Follow Me

God loves His children in every nation of the world.

October General Conference

'The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again'

President Russell M. Nelson

Happy 51st Birthday Kim!! I can't wait until you get here.

I offered to make Kim a cake but I think she is going to make her own.

James and I went in town today I needed some groceries and James needed some more cement for the fence posts and a thermal coupler for the hot water heater. When James was finished, at least he thought he was, at Home Depot he came over and helped me finish my shopping. As we were leaving Walmart I asked James if he got the thermal coupler? No, he forgot. As we left the Walmart parking lot he turned left and went passed Home Depot. He was going down the road a ways to the plumbing supply store, only they were closed, se we turned around and went to Lowe's. He bought a thermal coupler  but he isn't sure it will work for our water heater, but he's going to give it a try.

As we turned on to the road that goes past the Hunsaker's we noticed a dark gray Suburban that looked a lot like Trina's Starla, coming towards us. It was Starla and Ruby was driving! Lola texted me to tell me. She was with Ruby and Darrel. Vernon is a good place for Ruby to practice her driving, if you can stand the bumpy roads.

Back at home Trina was making chocolate chip cookies. They smelled and tasted delicious!

Jared, Kacey, and Charlie are in Arizona. They had lunch at Cafe Rio and then went to visit with grandmother and Dawn. Jared texted me when they left the valley around 4:30 so we expect them here around 8. I texted and told them we would have dinner ready for them. Later Kacey said she was grateful for that text because she didn't want to make one more stop. They have been up and traveling since about 3:30 am. 

Darrel & Trina brought chicken thighs to cook and James and I got them the ingredients for the marinade. They were delicious. We also had Busch baked beans, rolls, green beans, and rice pilaf.

Darrel & I tried the whole "slinging" his phone to get the picture on the TV and it worked nicely, so we feel like we are set for the game tomorrow.

I noticed I could buy or ret "Wicked" on Dish on Demand. I decided to buy it because it was only $8 more dollars to buy it. Trina was excited to watch it and Lola and Ruby started out watching it with us until grampa said he was going to go saddle the horses. Away they went outside with grampa and Darrel. A little while later Lola comes in and says, "Apollo tried to buck my dad off and then he tried to bump grampa off." Should I be worried?

After they rode the horses, Ruby and Lola came back in and watched the movie with Trina and me. When it was over I asked them what they thought of the movie. They said they liked it except they didn't think Elphaba should steal Fiero away from Glinda. If you can believe it, they felt sorry for Glinda.

Jared, Kacey, and Charlie arrived a little after 8. Once Charlie warmed up to everyone, she and Lola had a great time playing together. Sometimes Ruby would play with them.

Darrel put on an East coast fireworks show, as it was 9 or so, instead of midnight. It was a lot of fun. Ben & Cayli joined us for dinner and the show.

It's not a birthday cake, but hey,

it's Kim!

Would you two like sparklers?

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Good friends who almost look like sisters