Sunday, May 6, 2012

Today as part of my gospel study I read the Sunday School lesson for the Book of Mormon gospel doctrine class.  Today's lesson covered Mosiah chapters 7-11 and the title was" A Seer...Becometh a Great Benefit to His Fellow Beings."  Of course the seer referred to here is King Mosiah the 2nd.  Jen Coffey was our teacher today and I love her style of teaching.  One of the main purposes of the lesson was to encourage us to follow the counsel of Church leaders, particularly those whom the Lord has called as prophets, seers, and revelators.  It was a good lesson.

James and I fasted today for three family members in particular that we fell are in need of spiritual help.  Dallin bore his testimony today in sacrament meeting.  He has a good testimony and the ability to express himself very well.

During Relief Society and Priesthood Sheri and I went in to the Teacher's Quorum where James set Alex apart as a Teacher.  Michael was there too.  The blessing James gave was very special and powerful and the spirit was strong.  He told him to be a leader and a peacemaker in his home.  And he said that the reason we are here on earth is so that we can serve others.  James and Alex have a very close bond.

Tonight we had FHE with our children and grandchildren.  It went something like this:  We listened to "I Know That My Savior Loves Me" and then Max gave the opening prayer.  James did a demonstration on how to get from birth to eternal life.  He blindfolded Addy and asked her to go towards the eternal life sign.  He twirled her around which was very confusing and of course she couldn't find her way.  Next her gave her a rope to hang on to and she had no difficulty in finding her way.  He related this to the iron rod and how if we hold to it we can find our way back to Heavenly Father and Jesus.  We discussed the Tree of Life symbols and their meaning and then I expressed my love for the Book of Mormon.  Rowan was especially interested tonight and answered many of the questions.

After the lesson we went outside and roasted marshmallows and made smores.

Those attending: James, myself, Stacy, Adam, Dallin, Michael, Joshua, Kim, Joe, Sheri, Alex, Ben, Max, Evan, Darrel, Trina, Addy, Rowan and Ruby.  

 

Saturday, May 5, 2012

We left for Chandler around 10am and said goodbye and "have fun" to Brian and Joe.  Of course we were hungry for green chili burros so we stopped at Burger House for lunch.  When we got home we began our fast.  This is our home in Chandler.

This evening I attended the Chandler Relief Society Centennial Celebration at the Chandler Center for the Arts with my sisters-in-law Cathi and Laura.  There was a reception in the lobby before the program where displays were set up.  My favorite display was a 50's kitchen done by a sister in our ward, Hillary Whalen.  The two refreshment tables were the most beautiful I've ever seen with all kinds of goodies including cake pops, mini cupcakes and sugar cookies.  Also there was a special punch receipe from Ada Jones's receipe file.  Ada has been gone for several years now but she is one of the great Relief Society sisters from Chandler.  The punch was called Ada Jones's Grapefruit Punch.  Ada was one of my first visiting teachers when we moved to Chandler.  As a former member of the General Relief Society board we always looked to her for counsel and advice.  A very wise woman indeed.  I suppose because I have served in Relief Society in Chandler for over 40 years they gave me a flower corsage and a Relief Society apron.  I was there with some of the great ones, Kathryn Ethington, Betty Bogle, Beverly Parris, Lora Willis, June Bueler, and Carolyn Schnepf just to name a few.  The program was written by my dear friend Karen Bland and it was wonderful with lots of singing and dancing and cute skits.  Sherri Holtey made a power point presentation with old pictures and they had one of me from the 80's with my "owl" glasses.  It was a wonderful evening and brought back lots of great memories.  I have made so many wonderful friends here in Chandler!!

This is the 50's kitchen display and a funny picture of Hillary and her family taken on Cinco de Mayo.

Friday, May 4, 2012

May the 4th be with you.

Can you believe I am reading the book to James.  The picture is deceiving.  It's really quite harmless.

Worked on preparing FHE for our kids and grandkids this morning.  I am giving a lesson on "The Tree of Life."  I also read from my Michael Wilcox book "Walking on Water."   I love reading and studying the gospel.

James and I went into town today to shop at our favorite stores.  He went to Home Depot and I went to Walmart.  Afterwards we picked up pizzas at Papa John's.  I read to him from the Hunters Moon on the way home.

 James put knobs on the cabinet doors in the kitchen today.  They look so nice.  I finished emptying all the boxes I brought up this week.  We also watched several episodes of "Downton Abbey".  We are becoming addicted.  Once we are finished with season two we will have to wait until January to see season 3 which will be televised on PBS television.

Brian and Joe got here a little before 10pm.   

Thursday, May 3, 2012

I love being at the cabin.  It is so quiet and peaceful here. I accomplished quite a bit today.  I put away 7 boxes of stuff.  James and I started watching the series "Downton Abbey" and we are becoming addicted.  This series takes place in England at a family estate in Yorkshire.  Very compelling and fun to watch.

I never even went outside today except to put our rocking chairs on the front porch.  I never saw one other human being except James.  You would think I would be bored out of my mind but I wasn't. 
I spent several hours studying and sometime texting with Lynn Ritz.  It really doesn't take too much to keep me entertained.  Also I read to James from Hunter's Moon.  For our scripture study we are just about to finish the book of Alma.  I am ready to be out of the war chapters.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Cleaned off the patio this morning.  It looks really nice.  I just need to get more cushions for our patio chairs.

I went shopping at JC Penney's today for a new outfit to wear to the RS Celebration Saturday night.  I came away with two tops, a skirt and a new purse for under $100.  On the way home I went through the McDonald's drive thru and got a cherry berry blast.  It was delicious!

James and I left for the cabin around 1:30.  We put all the boxes I had packed into the back of the truck and put out suitcases on top so the lids wouldn't fly off.  We only lost one lid.  I told James I would agree to go the Salt River way if we could stop at The Burger House in Miami.  I ordered two green chili burros, one to eat today and one for tomorrow.  They were divine!

After unloading our stuff at the cabin we read from our book "The Time of the Hunter's Moon" and then watched American Idol.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Happy May Day!
Sheri got the morning off because they had an extra person a work.  I had a coupon for one free breakfast at Mimi's so around 10:30 I picked Sheri and Evan up and we headed for Mimi's.  I had scrambled eggs, bacon and cinnamon blueberry french toast topped with a lovely cream cheese concotion.  It was delicious.  Oh yes, we had to buy two drinks.  Sheri had orange juice and I had diet coke.  Sheri had the lowfat omlet with wheat toast.  She had the low cal meal and I had the no-cal drink.  Makes sense.

Today James was talking on the phone and Josh was playing Angry Birds on my phone.  Josh got excited and was a little loud and grandpa told him to be quiet because he was on the phone.  Later grandpa was on the phone again and Josh got excited again.  This time Evan said: "Josh, you know grandpa is on the phone and you need to be quiet."  Later when Max came home from school he came down to play.  Max was the Dad,(a professional football player), Evan the oldest boy and Josh the baby.  They were the Saker's, James, Rico, and Kai.  I loved listening to the dialogue as they were playing.  It was hilarious!  At one point Evan said: "You have been sitting in front of that TV all morning!"

I listened to two conference talks today: Elder Holland's and Elder Hale's.  I love the fact that I can listen to them on my phone.  I put my earphones in while I am doing yardwork and I feel like I am multi-tasking.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Had my gospel study and then worked in the yard a couple of hours.  I mowed the backyard.  It is starting to get hot here and I am anxious to get back to Vernon.  James is trying to finish up his job at Dobson Ranch and he still has to pick up his truck from Chandler Auto Body.

Darrel, Trina and there kids came over for a visit this afternoon.  It is always a fund time when Ruby is in the house.  Joshua had some sidewalk chalk so Ruby and I went out on the front porch and tried it out.  Addy played Barbies and Rowan played with Josh, Evan and Max.  After they left James and I went to pick up his truck.  When we got home he found some things they didn't do and Rick made him promise to bring it back in the morning.  His truck is cleaner both inside and out than I have seen it since it was new. 

We had dinner at the new place across Arizona Ave. and Willis called Porkopolis.  It was there grand opening.  We had cornmeal rock tacos for an appetizer and I had a pulled pork sandwich and James had a pork/beef mix sandwich.  The food was tasty but it was pricey. 

Watched classical night on Dancing with the Stars and then Castle