Tuesday, September 16, 2014

"Write down in a secure place the important things you

learn from the Spirit.  You will find that as you record a

precious impression, often others will come that you

would not have otherwise received.  Also, the spiritual

knowledge you gain will be available throughout your life.

Always, day or night, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, seek to recognize and respond to the direction of the Spirit.

Have available a piece of paper or a card to 

record such guidance."

-Elder Richard G. Scott

 If you haven't had some of Ruth & Kathy's homemade Jalapeno

Jelly you are really missing out.  It is delicious and we have looked forward to it every year since our move to Vernon.  Kathy is our neighbor and both she and Ruth have beautiful gardens where they grow their own peppers.

James left for the valley this morning but he was back again tonight.  He says if it's going to rain in the valley he may as well do his paperwork up here.  He brought home Burger House burros for Darrel and I.

I made a trip to town to do grocery shopping, stopping at Sonic for a cheeseburger.  It started raining around noon and rained all day into the night  It felt like a good evening to sit down and watch some TV and listen to it rain.  Courtney, to my dismay, won Master Chef.  Also tonight was the results show for last night's premier of Dancing with the Stars.  Last night Witney Carson and Alfonso Ribiero stole the show.  Alfonso played Carlton on "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air."  Jared used to do the Carlton dance.  He is also famous, Jared that is, for doing the "Lucy" dance to the "I Love Lucy" them song.

Cozy home in North Carolina,

the state my Strickland ancestors are from.

Monday, September 15, 2014

"Throughout the remainder of my life, I will seek to learn by what I hear, see, and feel.  I will write down the important things

I learn, and I will do them."

-Elder Richard G. Scott

 Happy 14th Birthday James!

James Hayden is smart, kind, fun, spiritual

and very loving.

I love him so much and I am so grateful to be his grandma!

We got to talk to him on the phone and wish him a Happy Birthday.

Grandpa James got up this morning and went elk calling.  Someone answered him.

 James's bugling partner.

We made a trip into town today to get my tire fixed.  It's nice how we can drop if off at Discount and come back an hour later and pick it up and no money is exchanged.  They have a great guarantee on their tires.  We went to lunch at the new restaurant that used to be The Maxwell House and then Bob's.  Now it's called The Rim.  It was pretty mediocre.  

Back at home James put the tire back on my car.

 It's so nice to have a man around the house.

We waited for it to rain all day, but it never did.  Adam called and said a hurricane was heading towards Phoenix.  I guess it pretty much destroyed Cabo San Lucas.  It's suppose to hit Phoenix either Wednesday or Thursday.  This time people are getting prepared.

Here is a picture our bishop, Bishop Miller and his sweet family:

Bishop Wes Miller, Ann,

Hyrum, Andyn, and Catherine.

 

 

Sunday, September 14, 2014

"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

-Matthew 5:44

Wouldn't it be nice if we all could do this.  Most of us have a 

hard time getting along with those we love.

James and Tyler Hunsaker spoke in the Cibeque branch today.  I think Tyler is his youngest speaking companion yet.  He's 17.  James said there were about 90 people there, which is some kind of a record for Cibeque.

When I left for church this morning there were no clouds in the sky.  When I came out the sky was filled.  By 3pm there was a downpour.

You can't really tell how hard it's raining from this picture.

James got home around 1:30, just in time to get something to eat and then he met Curt Gillespie down at the church to do a financial audit of our ward for the stake.  While they were in the building James said it sounded like lightening hit the steeple.  Curt works on the Carlock cattle ranch and is afraid it's going to flood.  He said last time it rained hard a three foot wall of water came down through the ranch.  This is because so much of the ground cover was burned off in the fire.

This evening for FHE James and I watched a CES fireside given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson.  He talked about developing Christlike attributes in our lives.  It is something I really needed to hear.

James gave me permission to post this.

 

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Happy Birthday Mom!

 Today would have been my mom's 84th birthday.

She died On March 31, 1999, and

I still miss her everyday and I always will,

until I see her again.

It was Florence Cluff's funeral and I am afraid I missed it.  She was a dear friend and a great influence in my life.

I went to lunch with James at Chili's and then did some shopping at Bath & Body Works.  That place is amazing.  I was on sensory overload while I was there.

At 3pm this afternoon we attended Rowan's baptism at the Val Vista Lakes stake center in Gilbert.  What a special day for Rowan's baptism.  Not only was it my mother's birthday but it was the day Darrel was baptized 28 years ago.  Life really does come full circle.

 

Rowan and his friend Nate.

Love these faces!

Rowan was baptized and confirmed by his dad Darrel Kay Lambson.  One of the most special parts of the program was Addy and Ruby singing "I Like to Look for Rainbows."  Addy has a beautiful voice, and Ruby certainly is not shy.  The neat things is that on the way home this evening I saw the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen.  It reminded me again about how special this day was.  The only way it would have been better is if Jared and his family were here.

Sheri & Evan entertaining Lola

I love her hair!

Trina and Darrel had a get together at their house after the baptism.  I only had time to grab a brownie and a few bites of watermelon, change my clothes and head for home.  James was in such a big hurry and although we weren't traveling together he was helping me put air in my tire before leaving.  Here are some pictures I took at the party before I was whisked away. 

Kylie and Kayla, Rowan's cousins, made him a

replica of the Gilbert temple out of Legos.

What a great idea and didn't they do a good job!

Welcome to the Gilbert Temple

Someone was just too tired to party.

Kim got Rowan a Harry Potter

scarf, robe, and glasses to go

with the wizard's wand I got him

for his birthday.  He loves Harry Potter!

It was late when I got home around 10pm.  I love my family so much but it's always good to be home, especially when James is here too.

Friday, September 12, 2014

"Education is the difference between wishing you could help other people and being able to help them."

-Elder Russell M. Nelson

 I forgot to mention that yesterday when I was shopping at Target I saw the newest flavor of Oreos.

 Just in time for Halloween

Kim is still working as an aide at Bright Beginning's but now she only works half days.  She gets off at 11:45.  She picked me up and we went to lunch at Kneader's.  I had the turkey cranberry croissant sandwich and she had the french dip.  For dessert I bought a small loaf of pumpkin bread, and two of each of their brownies: cheesecake, double fudge, mint, and german chocolate.  Kim and I tried the cheesecake and loved it.  It's always fun to spend time with one of your daughter's doing something enjoyable!

I saw this one Facebook today.  What a great way to repurpose an old rake.

After school this afternoon I had a date with Rowan at Deseret Book to get his scriptures and journal.  I am so frustrated that I didn't get a picture!  I took brownies and pumpkin bread to Trina and the kids.  The kids loved the pumpkin bread!

I made another run to Target this evening and got a card and cash for James Hayden.  His birthday is on Monday.  He will turn 14 and be advanced in the priesthood to the office of a teacher.

At home James and I spent some time together watching an episode of Sue Thomas on the computer.  Erik brought my car to the house.  Such service!

 

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Twin Towers before 911

I made an egg casserole for breakfast this morning.  It had eggs, of course, corn, green chili, onions, sausage and cheese.  It was quite tasty.

As I was getting ready to go to the valley I got a call from Dr. Douglas's office.  Dr. Douglas is our dentist and James and I both had appointments scheduled at 2pm to get our teeth cleaned.  Chris, from Dr. Douglas's office said she called our dental insurance and found that it had been cancelled.  As it turns out we had Cobra and it expired the end of July.  The cancellation notice was lost in the mail, having been sent to Chandler.  I was a little relieved because now I didn't have to rush to get to the valley.  I couldn't leave until my blood pressure meds were ready at Walmart.  I finally got the text that they were ready to pick up around 10am.  

I had time for a nap and a relaxing bath before leaving.  I picked up my prescriptions and stopped for a cheeseburger and diet coke at Sonic.  I made it all the way to the valley without stopping for candy.  

Today is throwback Thursday on Facebook and Sheri posted this picture taken sometime in the early months of 1979.

 Aren't family portraits fun!

The first place I went when I got to Chandler was to Target to spend the gift card Lois and Dawn gave me for my birthday.  I bought a new toaster.  The one we have is one that cost $12 that I got to put in the travel trailer we used to have.  Here is the new one!

 My new birthday toaster!

James and I made it to Tempe Toyota just before it closed at 7.  We rented a silver late model Corolla and drove to Erik's to drop my car off.  He is putting in a new timing belt and doing some general maintenance tomorrow.  

We had dinner at Pei Wei because I was craving their lettuce wraps and spicy chicken salad.  I was not disappointed!

Joshua gave me such a big hug when I got to the house!

Jared posted these pictures of Molly on Facebook today:

 She matches!

 Go Molly!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

"The whole duty of man is to fear God 

and keep His commandments."

-Ecclesiastes 12:13

Lola, one of my greatest blessings!

I am grateful that I am getting to spend some time with Lola's daddy, Darrel.  We get to have breakfast together every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before he goes to work at the CVS in Show Low.

I listened to one of the best BYU devotionals I have ever heard this morning.  It is my habit to listen to the days readings in the Old Testament and two conference talks on my phone while I am working on my blog.  Next I try to listen to two BYU devotionals.

 This particular address was given by Richard Draper a professor at BYU.  The title: "Light, Truth, and Grace: Three Interrelated Necessities for Exaltation."  Let me share some quotes, although some are fragmented.  I am going to have to go to byu.org and download the talk:

"It is God's glory that allows Him to be all seeing."  

"Light is power."

"Light expands to receive truth."

"Obedience-Light-Truth."

"Truth is the basis for glorification."

-D&C 93:30

I picked up Kilee before our board meeting and class presidency meeting this afternoon at 5:30.  I noticed during the meeting she was looking at her phone and wasn't really paying attention.  Later during Mutual while we were working on Personal Progress she left the room several times and was again looking at her phone.  She forgot to bring her Personal Progress book.  I was so frustrated, especially after my talk with her last night.  She was given several assignments and hopefully she will follow up on them.

We talked about Integrity value experiences 1 & 2.  We talked about Job, and moral values such as language, media, etc. I talked about Moroni 10:32.  I have to ask myself this question:

"Do my actions represent the integrity of my intent?"

We got into some good discussions with the girls.  There seems to be a real problem at the high school with bad language and couples making out in the hallways.  This kids have so much to deal with!

I had to call Dr. Moffat on his cell phone today to tell him I was still waiting for his approval on some prescription refills I placed at Walmart on Monday.  His response: "Oh, yeah I have about a hundred of those and I'm way behind.  I will call that in tomorrow morning."  Someone died in the CVS drive-thru last Monday.  I hope he wasn't one of Dr. Moffat's patients waiting for a refill that was very late.  Can I use the term: 'Country Doctor.'

This little girl turned one today.

Happy Birthday

Natalie Nicoll.

Natalie's mom is my good friend Kaeli Nicoll.  We worked in Young Women's together and now she is the Relief Society president.  Kaeli  just turned 26 and she's only been a member three years but she has an awesome testimony!