Sunday, January 29, 2012
This morning while I was preparing for my Sunday meetings Dallin was in playing some beautiful music on the piano. It was a nice prelude to the Sabbath.
James was invited to attend Geoffrey Dowdle's priesthood ordination this morning. Geoffrey just turned 19 and was ordained an Elder by his father, Jared Dowdle.
Our Young Women's and Young Men's presidents, Jen Coffey, and Curtis Whalen were the speakers in sacrament meeting today. They spoke on the theme for this year taken from D&C 115:5 "Arise and Shine Forth". Mike Ellsworth taught Sunday School we talked about the Liahona and the Holy Ghost.

Since it is a 5th Sunday we had combined Priesthood and Relief Society. The theme was Strengthening Marriages and Families. Adrienne and Mike Ellsworth spoke on marriage and Sharon Ballard spoke on strengthening families.

James made it to Sacrament meeting and then he had to come home and rest.

Blogger is not letting me add the photos I have of Dallin playing the piano. Grrrr....

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Quote from President David O. McKay (the prophet I saw when I was a teenager)

"Man's chief concern in life should not be the acquiring of gold nor fame nor material possessions. It should not be the development of physical prowess nor of intellectual strength, but his aim, the highest in life, should be the development of a Christlike character."

This morning I started my walk at 6:15. When I got to the intersection of Willis and Arizona Avenue the light was red as it normally is. There wasn't any traffic except one car coming north on Arizona Ave. and I thought I had plenty of time so I began "running" across the street. I made it just in front of the car only to realize it was a police car. I thought for sure he was going to stop and talk to me, but he didn't. I brought back groceries including some prune juice for James which hopefully will alleviate the "tightness" in his stomach.

We got some "mail" from Evan today. He leaves mail for Joshua on our doorstep periodically. This time it was a poster from a school report Ben did with a large picture of Evan on it.

Brother Whalen and two of his little daughters, Eden and Ava stopped by to give James some gifts. They brought him grape juice and dark chocolates, two of his favorite things!!

Stacy applied for her dental hygiene license....a major milestone for her. We are very proud!

Sadness today as we learned that our friend Janny St. Onge's sister Kim passed away this morning. Kim just found out a couple of months ago she had cancer. Kim use to come to church with Janny when her kids were small to help. We are very sad for the Tolman family.

We had a baptism in our ward today, of a twelve year old young man named Andrew Alphus. Alex, Ben, Dallin and Michael all attended. James wanted to go but he wasn't feeling up to it.

I went to Angel Sweet's tonight with Sheri and brought James back a chocolate hazlenut gelato. It was yummy!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Quote: "Those who receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and cultivate the Spirit within their lives are entitled to have the things of God unfolded unto them, according to their own needs and circumstances as well as the mind and will of God." (D&C 88:68). Pondering unlocks the door to revelation.

I started my walk this morning at 6:30 while it was still dark outside. I felt like the little pig in the story of the Three Little Pigs who got up and beat the wolf by going to the fair early.

I had planned on going to the temple this morning but I didn't feel comfortable leaving James for that long. When he is sick he wants me close by. Right now I am reading to him from our latest Victoria Holt book "King of the Castle." It's one things that gives him a little comfort.

Darrel brought his kids over this afternoon so Trina could get some sleep as she is working tonight. Rowan and Addy rode their bikes and went down to Evan's to play. Ruby was content to sit out and play in the sand. She made a big pile of sand and called it her castle.

Thursday, January 26, 2012
Elder David Bednar of the quorum of the twelve apostles promised wonderful blessings to those who respond in faith to do their family history: "Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safegaurded throughout your lives.
I have the responsibility right now of helping Dallin, Michael, Alex, Ben and Joe get registered on new family search and find names to take to the temple.
Sheri called and asked me to take Ben and Max to school today because Kim is sick. Later Alex called and asked me to take him to school. As a result I didn't go for my walk. My resolve is to begin walking earlier starting tomorrrow.
Today I went through the toys I've had on the backporch since Stacy and Paul moved. I threw some away, gave some away, and saved some after giving them a nice bath.
Evan had so much fun today playing in the sandbox. He must have spent at least two hours out there. Josh wasn't as interested.
I am worried about James. He is in alot of pain and is quite miserable. According to Terry hernia surgery is more painful than heart bypass.
Read Tricia's blog today about her nightmare experience at cosmetology school in Texas. What a disappointment.
My favorite TV show continues to be "Little House on the Prairie." My favorite ones are when Laura is young. Whenver she has a problem she goes to her Pa and he gives her such good advice.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012
James's umbilical hernia surgery was scheduled today for 7 am. The instructions said we needed to be at the hospital by 5 am. We got there and checked in only to find out that the surgery had been postponed until 8:30. We complained and Dr. Flam did apologize and say his office should have called us. It was 9 am when they finally took James back. As they were rolling him down the hall I took one last look at him and feelings of love swept over me. I don't know what I would do if something happened to him. I depend on him so much.
I went downstairs to the cafeteria (Chandler Regional Medical Center), and got a breakfast burrito and a diet Dr. Pepper, and then headed back to the outpatient surgical waiting room. The big news of the day on the TV is that President Obama is going to be in Chandler today to give a speech at Intel.
James's surgery went well and we left the hospital a little after noon. We went straight home and after getting James settled I went to Walgreen's to drop off his prescription for pain meds and then I went home and took a nap with him. This afternoon when I went back to pick up the prescription I noticed they were blocking the entrances to the 202 so the Presidential motorcade could pass. Later I went to pick up hot and sour soup for dinner just before they blocked the freeway off again.
This evening I did Relief Society visits with Drea Boles. We visited 3 "new" sisters: Ina Sanchez, Nicole Chadwick, and Tippi Lawter. They were all good visits and I'm so glad we went! Adrienne is home resting and Diana is out of town. Adrienne has a bad cough.
While I was gone Darrel and Trina came by and brought James and I mango, pineapple smoothies from McDonald's. How thoughtful!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I found this definition of sanctification today:
"Sanctification is the process by which the Saints of God are cleansed from the effects of sin, spiritually renewed, and prepared to enter into the presence of God. The Atonement makes this process possible, and the Holy Ghost is the means by which it is fulfilled." Every time I partake of the sacrament I am going to think of this quote.
My major goal for the day was to work in the yard. I decided to tackle the grass and weeds in one of the front planters. It is a slow and tedious process pulling bermuda grass especially when the ground is covered with decorative rocks. This morning while I was busily working I got a call from James. He was over at Aunt June's. It seems that Beverly Mendoza, one of the sisters he home teaches, needed a ride to Tempe. I called Beverly and told her I would pick her up after I took a shower. She makes jewelery and the company she works for needed the jewelry before noon. I picked her up a little after 11. She had two children with her, Albert, the 11 month old son of her niece, and Jacob, a 5 year old son of her nephew. The reason she has Jacob is her nephew, Jacob's father is in court today trying to get custody of Jacob. We drove to Rio Salado Parkway and then down Price to get to the wearhouse where she needed to go. She said she would be about 10 minutes but it was more like 30. Jacob kept yelling and putting his hands in my face. I tried to be patient but I told him he shouldn't do that to people, because it was rude. He had a DS console but had no games for it. We talked about DS games and when i dropped Beverly off at home he wanted to come home with me. Sorry Jacob, but I needed to go home and take a nap. Beverly did thank me and gave me a necklace because I am always willing to help her. Thanks Beverly.
This afternoon James went down to Sheri's and put in a new garbage disposal for her. She was very grateful.
While I was outside working this afternoon around 5:15 I heard someone yell, "No,No" and then two gunshots. It came from behind Dave and Laura's which is unusual because most disturbances come from the trailer park. A few minutes later I heard police and firetruck sirens. Stacy insisted I needed to call 911 and tell them what I had heard. When I hesitated, she did it for me. Later we watched on the news that a 72 year old man was suicidal so his wife had called the police. When they got there he turned his gun on them and they shot him. Stacy says it's called suicide by cop. How sad.
We tried to talk to Jared and his kids on Skype this evening but the internet connection was bad. The kids did sing Happy Birthday to James.

Monday, January 23, 2012
HAPPY 64TH BIRTHDAY JAMES!
I started out this morning by making him an omlet for breakfast and giving him his birthday package and card. I got him a new shirt, a blanket, and a towel.
This afternoon we went to see the movie "We Bought a Zoo" starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansen. It was a great movie and was only rated PG. After the movie we used the gift card we got from Terry and Cathi for Christmas to Claim Jumper and had some dinner. My filet was good but James did not care for the tri tip that he got. After dinner we stopped by his Mom's house where he was showered with goodies and presents. Darrel and Trina came by with their kids and brought donuts from Krispy Kreme. We sang Happy Birthday and James opened his gifts. $25 from Dawn and a 30 dollar gift card to Walmart from his Mom. Now he can get his hunting license. He also got a belt, white shirt and tie, a wallet, and a spotlight, and an apricot pineapple pie from his Mom. Darrel and Trina gave him Nestle Treasures and a Porter Rockwell DVD. When we got home Stacy had chocolates for him and Kim had left a David Archuletta CD. Jared called and said their gift was in the mail and they are calling tomorrow on Skype. All in all it was a happy day.