August 19, 2016

Happy 68th Birthday to me!

Sheri, Ian, Alex, and Ben arrived home last night around midnight.  We stayed until they arrived and then we went to Cathi and Terry's 

to sleep.  As I was reading to James he was lying on the bed.  Lady came in for a visit and of course she had to be on the bed too.

This is the scripture that kept me from going into

a deep depression when I first came down with

rheumatoid arthritis and was bedridden.

I love all things purple:

This would make a nice gift

I love my grandchildren!

Here are just a couple.

Hammock at the cabin

Rowan looks a little more secure than Ruby

I love good food!

James took me to Olive Garden for lunch

and this is my favorite dish at the OG,

chicken scampi.

I love my family!

Here are some more pictures from Havasupai:

Trina taking the plunge

Great picture of Ian

Ben

Ian with his Indiana Jones hat

Today was a great day.  I got lots of birthday wishes on Facebook, around 85.  Sheri,  and Kim gave me cards and so did Lois and Dawn.  I got a call from Jared and birthday wishes from Darrel and Trina.  James really made my day special.  He left his truck so he could ride home to Vernon with me.  When we arrived we watched a Hallmark movie, "Summer in the City."  It was a great day even if I did turn 68.  Addy texted me and wished me a Happy Birthday and so did Alex and Adam.  Max and Evan gave me birthday hugs.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

I love Elder Scott

Alma 52:1-18

1 - The Lamanites discover Amalickiah is dead. Teancum killed him.

2 - They retreated to Mulek and sought protection in their fortifications.

3 - Amalickiah's brother Ammoron is appointed to be king.

4 - Ammoron comandeed that they maintain those cities which they had taken through the shedding of blood.

6 - Teancum prepares for another battle.

7 - He continues to prepare until Moroni sends a large number of men to strengthen his army.

8 - Moroni tells Teancum to retain all the prisoners he has taken as a ransom for those the Lamanites have taken.

9 - He also tells him to fortify the land Bountiful, and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward

10 - Moroni asks Teancum to be faithful in maintaining that quarter of the land.

12 - Ammoron arches forth against the Nephites on the borders by the west sea.

13 - He commands another army to harass the Nephites by the east sea.

14 - The Nephites are in dangerous circumstances at the end of the 26th year.

16 - Teancum received orders to make an attack upon the city of Mulek, and retake it if it were possible.

17 - Teancum waits for Moroni so he might receive strength to his army.

18 - Moroni arrives with his army at the latter end of the 27th years of the reign of the judges.

We had a busy day today.  We went to help Charlotte and I did an upgrade on her Ipad and now we can't open it because she doesn't remember the Apple ID or password.  I took it home with me and worked on it and tried to contact Apple but I had no luck.  I am taking it back to Charlotte's tomorrow and we are going to call Apple Support.

We took my car to Sears to get it lubed.  Tomorrow James has an appointment in Mesa for his truck.

For dinner tonight Sheri suggested I make breakfast, blueberry muffins, eggs, and bacon.  Instead I made the muffins for an after school snack and then we took the boys to IHOP.

Delicious food and great company!

The moon as we came out of IHOP.

This picture doesn't do it justice.

Max played grandpa again in chess and came very close to beating him, again.  Keep trying Max!  You can do it!

Just a random picture I took.

Evan happened to see me and waved.

Here are some pictures from Havasupai:

Alex took this picture.

I am not sure who the people are.

Another one of Alex's pictures.

He takes some good ones!

Alex, Ben, and Ian.

Sheri and Rachel.

Sorry I didn't get a picture of Rachel's 

husband Dillon.

Darrel and Trina.  We were all a little worried

about Darrel because of his arthritis.

I will post more pictures tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

51

Havasupai, the adventure begins.

I can hardly wait for more pictures!

Alma 51:22-37

How do I access the power of the Atonement to help me with my heavy concerns today, or any day, with any concern, regardless?

I can call upon and rely on the Atonement of my Savior to help me fight my battles I am facing today.

How did the personal preparedness of each of Teancum's soldiers turn the tides of Amalickiah's success?

Every soldier matters.  Every soldier contributes to the overall success of the unit.

I love Max.  Today I ask for a fan and he brought me the one that he and Evan use upstairs when they are making their videos.  

After taking the boys to school I realize I have six hours to do what I need to do.  It sounds like alot of time but it goes by fast.  

I watched a television interview with Evan McMullin.  

He is LDS and I liked most of what he said, including the

fact that he would try to overturn Roe vs. Wade.  I just think he

entered the race a little too late.

I pick up Evan at 3:10 and then Max at 4.  James takes them to Xtreme Air.  There is one here in Chandler but Max says the one in Tempe is better, so away they went.  I guess they had a good time.

Part of it is an obstacle course

James took some videos but I don't know

how to post videos on my blog.

Go Evan!

Did Max have more fun than Evan?

No smiles here.

I went out to East Mesa and picked up Addy for her birthday date.  She wanted to go to Barnes and Noble so we drove back to the Chandler mall because I thought we might meet the boys there.

A "Pop" of Hagrid from Harry Potter.

Three books from the latest 

Rick Riordan series.

Silly Addy!

The boys did meet us at the food court.  Evan looked very pale and went to the bath room where he got sick.  Afterwards he came back and said he was hungry and he ordered his usual meal from Subway.  Max said he wanted a pizza from Pizza Hut so I ordered it and they picked it up on the way home.  Addy and I both ate at Paradise Bakery.  Of course Max had to get a sugar cookie.

Trina's mom is babysitting for Darrel and Trina while they are gone to Havasupai.  She was running Rowan to Scouts when I left and when Addy and I returned they were at the park where Rowan had basketball practice.  I had to take a picture of the sunset:

I love taking my grandkids on birthday date.  I had so much fun with Addy!

Back at home Evan read to me from the book he is reading:

Notice who the author is.

Max and grandpa played a game of chess.  Max almost won!

Grandpa, the thinker.

We had no problem getting the boys to bed tonight.  They were exhausted!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Another Brick'em Young temple,

this time it's the San Diego, 

my personal favorite!

Alma 51:13-21

How can we refrain from pride and be humbled? 

Sacrament meeting is the most important meeting where I can take care of pride and humble myself.  

"Prepare and prevent rather than repair and repent."

I left for the valley this morning at 6 a.m.   James didn't come with me.  He did some chores and left about 3 hours after I did.  I had an appointment at Aquila Dental with Dr. Higgs to see about getting my tooth pulled at 10 am.  The doctor talked me in to getting a root canal and crown instead.  He said he could do it in two hours and it would only cost me $2,100.  He said if I got my tooth pulled I would have to go to an oral surgeon because there was some complications.  I scheduled an appointment to come back on September 7th.  Things sure do change.  I had planned on spending $250 to get my tooth pulled.  

After my appointment I drove to Sheri's to receive instructions.   I am watching Max and Evan while she, Ian, Alex, and Ben go to Havasupai.  The main thing I am worried about is where to drop off and pick up for school.  Sheri drove the route with me and wrote the times down.  I am good to go.

James was starving so we went to get some lunch at Jersey Mike's.  Sheri, Alex, and Ian put in their orders and Sheri sent her debit card.

Darrel, Trina, and Sheri's friend Rachel from work and her husband Dillon are also going.  They had a quick meeting before taking off.

 Not sure where Rachel, Dillon, Alex

and Ben are.  Darrel offered a prayer

before everyone left.

Sheri forgot her shoes and James jumped in Ian's car and drove to Tempe to take them to her.  He told everyone they better not give her a bad time because they have all forgot things before too.

For dinner Sheri said to cook burgers and hot dogs on the George Foreman grill, which we did.  The only problem was we couldn't get it open and by the time we did, the burgers were overdone.  Evan ate his anyway and Max had hotdogs.  James and I made Evan some homemade fries because he said that's what his mom always does.  I know he loves them.

When Evan gets home from school the first thing he does is go in to the computer room to watch Youtube videos.  He and Max also go upstairs and make their own Lego Youtube videos.  Evan went to bed at 9:15 and Max stayed up until ten.  I was exhausted and went to bed after family prayer.  James says Max is in charge of family prayer because he is the oldest priesthood holder in the home.  He said he and I were only visitors.  Max is 13 and Evan is almost 10.

They unloaded the dishwasher for me because I said I didn't know where anything went.  

Here are some pictures from Facebook today since I didn't take any of the boys:

This is Ian as a baby, his dad, his grandma,

and his great grandmother.

Some pictures from Havasupai

The water is so blue!

It looks like a huge goldfish.

I tried this and it works!

I love this picture.