Sunday, September 15, 2013

Today is James Hayden's 13th birthday.  Happy Birthday to a very sweet boy!

This picture was taken in Frisco, Texas

May, 2012

I got up at 4:30 this morning to prepare for the lesson I am giving in Young Women's today.  We left for church at 8:30 so I could help Diana put up posters for our pancake breakfast.  

James and I now sit in the 2nd row up front so he has a place to put his walker.  The Applegate family has been kind enough to share their bench with us.  

Paul Wyatt and his wife Pandora were the speakers today in sacrament meeting.  Paul serves on the high council and he and his wife live in Linden.  The topic was family history and temple work.  

In Sunday School we discussed the faith of the Mormon pioneers as they made the trek to Utah.  The lesson was entitled "Faith in Every Footstep."  

I gave the lesson in Young Women's on being in the world but not of the world.  The girls who attended: Jordyn, Shelly, Trenda, Maddie, Arizona, Hailey, Mary, Kathryn, Kilee, LeeAnn, Hope, and Kelly.  We have never had that many girls on a Sunday and I barely had enough handouts.  

We have had no rain here since last Monday.  We do here thunder and see showers all around us.  Even though there was no rain I took some awesome pictures of the clouds and the sky.

I made Sheri's recipe for snickerdoodle cookies this afternoon.  They were delicious, but next time I need to add more flour because of our higher altitude.  

At 5:30 I met Diana Curtis at the Nicoll home to deliver dinner.  Chris was excited about the snickerdoodles.  He said they were his favorite.  I also took ice cream and toppings to go with the coookies.  I made a salad and also had croissants.  I am not sure what Diana made for the main dish.  It was fun to see Kaeli and the baby, Natalie Jo. 

I ordered the first two season of The Walton's from Amazon.  We watched the very first two episodes of season one tonight.  I love the episodes when the kids are young.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

James and I had breakfast at the Winmill Inn and then we checked out and headed to Discovery Park in Gilbert for Rowan and Evan's soccer game. 

Evan

Rowan

Max, Ben and Ruby cheered them on.

The victory tunnel.

Alex missed the soccer game because he was at a six hour choir practice with Michael and Joseph.

After the game James and I headed to Chili's for lunch to use the gift card Sheri and Ian gave me for my birthday.  We then met Kim and Sheri at the Harkin's Theater to see Austenland.  Dallin waited on us when we got out concessions.  The movie was a Jane Austen spoof and the girls and I enjoyed it.  James, not so much.

After the movie James and I headed home.  We stopped at the Sonic in Payson for chili dogs and cherry limeades.  I took a picture of these clouds as we climbed up the Rim.

There was a cloudburst and hail in Heber.  We stopped at Safeway to get the things I needed to fix dinner for Kaeli Nicoll tomorrow night.  I am in charge of the salad, bread, and dessert.  While there I got James a Philly cheesesteak sandwich.

When we got home we watched The Walton's and Cedar Cove.  

Friday, September 13, 2013

Today would have been my Mom's 83rd birthday.  Her best friend from high school, Veleda Penrod Willis called me today to talk about my mom and how much she loved her.  We talked for over an hour.  She said everyday in high school they would walk down to Kay's in Snowflake and get a chili dog, a Dr. Pepper, and cherry pie with ice cream, covered with Marmello topping.  She said it cost them fifty cents and neither one of them ever gained a pound.  Veleda said they were more like sisters than friends and they even had their own song called "Together"  It was so fun talking with her.

I had lunch with Cathi and Laura at Nando's Mexican food today  Cathi bought lunch for not only Laura and I, but James too.  Laura bought us a fried ice cream to share.  We had a good visit.  Afterwards James and I went to his Mom's to visit.  She had birthday presents for me; embroidered pillow cases, jewelry, perfume and a $30 Target gift card.  She showed me her latest projects, tote bags, 60 Barbie dresses, and pillow cases.  She is going to be 86 on October 2nd and she is amazing!

This evening James and I met Jared, Tricia, Kim, Brian, Darrel, Trina, Stacy and Adam at Oreganos in Chandler.  Sheri was going to come but she lost her wallet at Walmart and had to make some phone calls to cancel her cards. 

After Oregano's we all went back to Sheri's and had dessert with the kids.

Where is Jared?

We sang Happy Birthday to James Hayden

who will be 13 on the 15th.

It was great to have Adam join us.

We missed seeing Anna and Molly.

Anna wasn't feeling well.

Grandpa and Ruby.

In other news, Show Low lost to Queen Creek in football tonight.  Also, Sheri said she really liked my hair!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

James attempts to call some elk this morning.  A bull answers him but we can't see him.  We did see several cow elk.  James takes the Razr out for a ride on our property and sees two pine trees the elk have destroyed.

James and i left for the valley a little after 10 this morning to make it to my 2 o'clock dental appointment.  James went with me to my appointment and waited in the waiting room.  I told him it would only be about thirty minutes but I was wrong, it took over an hour.  The hygeniest, Jackie, took x-rays, plus she likes to talk.  James made himself an appointment in a couple of weeks for a cleaning and I re-scheduled my next cleaning for January.  Our next stop was Elmer's for a late lunch, early dinner.  We love their machaca tacos and burros!

We stop by our neighborhood to say hi.  Trina is on her way to work and is dropping her kids off at Sheri's so we get to see them for a few minutes.

Evan was student of the week this week.  It was stressful for him and Sheri both.  Read Sheri's blog post for further details.  Evan says he wants to be a vet and take care of animals when he grows up.  His favorite food is pizza and his favorite color is orange. 

After our visit we decided to check in to the Windmill Hotel on Chandler Blvd. just west of the Chandler mall.  We stayed in room 130.  We were tired from our trip and just relaxed in front of the two TV's this evening. We had a hard time getting used to watching the commercials.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Mr. Monster elk was back this morning. This time he brought his girlfriends with him.  James bugled and he bugled back but one of the cows saw James and they all left.

We went on a Razr ride and James did some calling but nothing, so we went back home.

I put some brownies in the oven for Young Women's tonight and then James decided it was time for us to go to town.  We had planned on going to get the oil change a little later.  While the brownies were cooking I got ready to go  When I took the brownies out I knew they weren't quite done but I set them out anyway. 

We went to Central Tire for an oil change, and to get the tires balanced and rotated.  While we were waiting we went next door to Persnikkity's and had some lunch.  James had the chicken, green chili sandwich and I had the strawberry walnut salad with poppyseed dressing. 

After our car was done we went to Walmart so I could return two tops I got, we also stopped to get gas.  It was 73 when we left Show Low and was 66 at our home in Vernon. 

As soon as we got home I loaded up the garbage and went back to the dump which is about 8-10 miles from our house.  While I am gone James fixes our back door which has been sticking. 

I made some taco soup for dinner before leaving for Young Women Class Presidency meeting at 6.  I also try to finish cooking the brownies, but they are still a little gooey. 

Our presidency meeting starts late while we wait for everyone to get there.    For Mutual we distributed fliers to advertise for our pancake breakfast on the 21st.  Trenda, Maddie, LeeAnn, Mary and Kathryn ride in my car.  Kelly, Shelly, and Jordyn got with Diana. 

When I get home James and I watch the 200th and last episode of The Walton's. 

Kaeli missed Mutual tonight.  She had her baby today.  Here is the picture of the happy family.

Natalie Jo Nicoll

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

I did my hair when I got up this morning.  It's not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. 

It rained for about an hour this morning.  I was up reading my scriptures when I heard a noise outside.  I looked out the dining room window and saw an elk.  I went in the bedroom and woke up James and then grabbed his binoculars.  He was huge!  James said he was a 6x6 and that he was a monster!  He was too far away to get a good picture and really didn't linger too long.  He was on his way somewhere. 

I talked to Stacy today for over an hour.  Jared Ammon is behind on his car payments and I can't seem to get in touch with him.  She said she would tell him.  She did, and he took care of it. 

I worked on my young women's lesson today, and also worked on stripping wax off the wood floor with Krud Kutter.

It was a beautiful sunny day with the high around 65 so we decided to take a Razr ride.  I put on two jackets, gloves, and a blanket.  We went to The Falls, they were still running but there were lots of people there, including Stephanie Hunsaker.  We didn't stay. 

I watched the finale for So You Think You Can Dance  They did it right this year, they crowned a girl and boy winner, something they should have done all along. 

Monday, September 9, 2013

A beautiful sunrise and the elk are bugling!

I was working on Personal Progress for Young Women's when James calls me in to wash his back while he soaks in the tub.  What a life!

We took a ride up to Buckelew Springs to see if they were running, and they were.  This time there was more water than ever!

The Falls

The creek bed.

So much water!

Wish it was always like this!

We made it home just before another drenching downpour!  We ate lunch, watched The Walton's, and took a nap.  

I had to mail checks to Zaki and I needed to get a Reeses Stick candy bar for one of our young women, Alex Jones.  It's her favorite candy bar and today is her birthday.  I made a trip into Walmart.  I also went through the car wash which only got the first layer of mud off my car.  On the way home from town I dropped Alex's gift off at her house.  Along with the candy bar she also got a young women's value bracelet.  Alex wasn't home so I left the bag on her front porch and texted her.  

Since it rained last night and the elk couldn't fee, James thought they would be out early this evening so we too off on the Razr to see what we could see.  Well, it wasn't my favorite ride.  I was cold and the new hoodie I bought has no strings to tie it on and we only saw four measly elk, one of which was a small bull.  

When we got home my hair was such a disaster I asked James to please cut it.  At first I hated it.  I thought he cut too much and I look like a dutch boy.  I went to bed quite upset and every time I got up during the night to go to the bathroom I would look in the mirror and almost cry!  I didn't think I would be able to go out in public for at least a month!