Presser/Christiansen Family

2011-05-29T17:43:00.002-06:00

Well the rain is really coming down today! It wasn't to bad in Gunnison but iit started when we went to put the flowers out in Mayfield. We are by Nephi now and it is pouring. It is already almost 6:00 p,m, and we have a ways to go. Everything is quiet in the car. BJ is playing Angry Birds on his Ipad. Holly is asleep. Larry is driving and says he doesn't need anything to listen to, so I decided to blog..

I often wish when we make this trip we had more time to stop and see more people. Kimo lives in Mona but, it is always so late when we are passing through. We did get to see most of the people in Karalyn and Redges family. I had a good talk with Marcia Christiansen. Paul has sure changed. He is gaining weight from his medication but he is losing height also. He looks like someone has been trying to pound him together from both ends.

Cutler gave a good talk on the importance of service, based on President Eyring's talk from last conference. It talks about teaching our children to give service. I wonder if I taught my chiildren enough about serving others. Their Bishop taught them to think of keeping the Sabbath day as what life will be like in the Celestial kingdom. He emphasized that we need to like reading the scriptures and attending our meetings if we are going to be happy there. It was a good wake up call to ask the ward members to examne their priorities.

Larry is driving too fast on these wet roads. We just passed a car that ran off the road. I hope that will not be us but at the speed we are going it may.

2011-05-29T11:59:00.002-06:00

I just found out I can update my blog on my phone! We are traveling to Mayfield and Gunnison today. It is Cutler Frandsen's farewell today in Gunnison. We are going down with BJ and Holly. After the farewell we are going to put flowers on John's grave. We will also put flowers on Aleda and Reed's graves, John's parents.

2010-11-14T18:19:00.002-07:00

It has been a busy week. Monday night I got some type of virus that caused diaharea so I stayed home from school. I was feeling somewhat better on Wednesday so I went to school so I wouldn't have to plan for a sub. I didn't feel like eating though so I just drank apple juice until evening. The next day Larry had the same thing and so did Ellie. Maren said that she did not feel good the day I got sick so it was there for all of us.

Maren left early Thursday morning to go Great Lakes to be with Landon. She flew into Milwaukee because it was cheaper. The kids went with Shirley and Evan to California so it has been a quiet week for Larry and I. But we still have Koda with us so we can't get bored. Maren is looking for a place to rent back there so they can be with Landon.

Taylor and Kyle came over on Friday while Kirsten and Jon went to a movie. We ended up watching a couple of movies and when Tayor went to sleep I worked on some school papers that needed recording.

Saturday morning I went to get Michelle's kids to take to their piano lessons while she was at Leadership meeting. Kallise came over and we watched Scooby-do. She sat on my lap and hugged me for a while. It was a fun time to be with her.

After she left I watched movies and worked on school work all day. When Larry came home we made a simple dinner and did some dishes. Then we spent about an hour reading some of the scriptures from Jeremiah for the Sunday School lesson. Larry and I have read the scriptures from the lessons each evening and each morning and the Old Testament is really coming alive for me. I can't believe that I have read it so many times before and not understood what I am understanding now. Isaiah is comming alive for me. I did not realize that the Book of Mormon gave so much clarification to Isaiah and the Doctrine and Covenants as well.

2010-10-24T22:39:00.002-06:00

Today was the children's Sacrament meeting presentation. Brinlie had a part, I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus love me because I have a special Grandma." She did a good job. We were late for Sacrament meeting because we were too tired to get up when we should have.

I am concerned about Larry because he has slept most of the day. We got home from church, he took a nap. He went with me to get a recommend, when we got home he took a nap for about 4 hours. Then he went to bed at 8:00 a.m.

Erick and Heather came over tonight. Ryker has really grown. He did not like it here at first because the kids were so wild and excited to see him but he eventually got used to it.

Maren's dog Koda has spent alot of time indoors today because it was raining. He is so huge that it is hard to control him if he has a different idea of what he wants to do.

2009-08-30T18:57:00.002-06:00

Well, I made it through the first week of school. I have a motorized scooter that I can drive around school so I can stay off my feet and it helped a lot. I seem to have really good classes so far but time will tell.

Larry and I are delegates to the county convention and the senator from Davis County was just put in as the new lieutenent governor so we have had a lot of phone calls this week from delegates wanting our vote at the county convention on Sept. 12th. Even a few free meals. There are a lot of good candidates so I am having a hard time trying to decide who I want for sure.

Larry is not feeling very well today. He overdid working on the yard yesterday and he forgot to go buy his blood pressure medication last night and he is out. He slept for 12 hours last night and he is in bed sleeping now. He was feeling better earlier today. We went to church and taught our primary class and he did not seem to be feeling bad until about 5:00 p.m.

Maren was up all night with Gauge throwing up. She has had a lot of hard nights lately. I wish I could help her more. She was able to go to sacrament in another ward today and then Shirley tended Guage while she and Landon went and taught their lesson.

Well I was going to try to upload pictures but I think that I will not worry about it tonight.

2009-08-23T15:48:00.000-06:00

Today is my birthday. I am 60 years young today. I never thought I would be this age, and it is weird because except for all the physical aches I have I feel the same as I did when I was younger about a lot of things.

Today was the dedication of the Oquirrah Mountain Temple. What a birthday present. I was thrilled that it could be today. They said that the one we attended at 9:00 a.m. was the seventh dedication service. I did not know that they had some previously. We attended at the Stake Center but it was telecast by satilite from the Temple. They had pictures of the temple to view and prelude music playing but when I was doing my hair I lost my glasses on the floor and we could not find them so I decided that I better go without them or we would be late for the 8:30a.m. time they wanted us in our seats. Not being able to read it gave me time to contemplate the music and my relationship with Heavenly Father.

The first speaker was Margaret Liffereth. She looked like an angel to me in the white dress and the light background of the temple, especially with me having no glasses. She started out by talking about her three year old grandson Charlie. She mentioned that her daughter was often telling him that he needed to listen. To this he would ask why. She said that often her daughter would explain why but sometimes when the reason was above his comprhension she would simply say, "Because I am the Mom". She noted that this answer denoted that she loved him and wanted the best for him and his happiness and that she was doing everything she could to help him know how to be happy. Sometimes just like this Mom our parents direct us in ways that we wonder about but if we listen we usually realize it is because they care about us and want us to be happy. The same thing applies with Heavenly Father. Often in the scriptures he tells us to do something but he does not tell us that it is because he loves us and wants our happiness that he is directing us to do the thing he asks. Many time we just have to trust that because we are his children and he wants the best for us he is directing us to do the things that we do. This thought really stuck in my mind. I felt like I needed to share it.

Paul Johnson talked about the road to the temple. He told about how in the early days in Utah the people often had to travel for days or weeks to be married in the temple. He told of how Heber J. Grant traveled to St. George to be married in the temple and how hard it was because the train did not go into southern Utah and they had to travel by carriage over dirt roads to get there. Many people told him to stay home and get married in Salt Lake and then they could be sealed in the Salt Lake Temple when it was finished. Be he had the faith to go to St. George and testified that their were many blessing that came from being married in the temple. And Elder Johnson said his wife died before the Salt Lake temple was finished.

He counseled with the youth to think about the things they are doing that will get them to the temple. We have 13 temples in Utah now and we can get to most of them in a matter of hours or minutes but they still need to think about what they are doing to make it possible to enter the temple when they are twelve for baptisms and later for endowments and prepare their lives for that time. I found myself hoping that my grandchildren are being prepared to want to attend the temple. He talked about the example we as parents can set in making the temple important in our lives and I contemplated whether I had made a sufficient example of temple attendance to give my children the desire they need to keep going.

I honestly can't remember who spoke third. All the talks were good but it has faded already. Maybe they were the one who talked about example because I remember the emphasis of the meeting shifted on the third speaker to focus on adults more. Someone talked about how we cannot make choices to be saved for someone else. God can encourage us to do what is right but he will not take away our agency and Satan cannot take away our agency he can only tempt us. So we are the ones that make the decision that will decide which direction that we go.

Elder Bednar talked about the differences of the temple and the world outside. He gave several contrasts like the peace inside the temple contrasting with the increasing noise in the outside world. He also mentioned several blessings that we will receive if we are faithful in our temple attendence. Unfortuanately I cannot write them now.

President Uchtdorf told of a Samuel Bingham who settled with his wife Martha in the area where the temple district for the Oquirrah Mountain Temple is now. He was a rancher with his brother. They found ore in Bingham canyon and showed it to Brigham Young. BY advised them not to go into mining but to continue to farm the land. They followed his counsel and left the mine for later development. Even thought the canyon was named after them they did not become wealthy financially but reaped spiritual blessings of followning the prophet. President U gave this example talking about the fact that we can all claim the heritage of the pioneers who came to Utah even though we have no pioneer ancestors of our own. Also he pointed out that many ordinary people like me have contributed much to the building up of the kingdom of God on earth.

President Monsongave a beautiful prayer promising many blessings to those who will take the responsiblity to work in the temple and help in the work. I left with a renewed commitment to attend the temple.

President Bednar led the Hosannah shout and gave some good scripture references to document that the Hosannah shout is not unique to this dispensation. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to attend the dedication. One of the speakers challenged us to go home and write in our journals our feelings and thoughts about the dedication so I am trying to fulfull that commitment.

This week I started back to school on the 19th, with the beginning days of set up,. Where I just had surgery a week and a half ago and I am not supposed to be on my feet a lot I rented a scooter for the first month of school to use. It was fun learning how to use it but I am still apprehensive about how much problems it might cause in my classes. But I made it the three days and I am prepared for tomorrow.

Larry's birthday was on Friday and everyone at his work decorated his workstation so he brought some of it home and decorated the house for me, he said, even though it was his birthday. He is so thoughtful. We went to dinner at the Asian Buffet that he likes and then attended another session of the Churches addication Recovery program. Larry and I are excited to maybe do a full time mission in that area. He told the Bishop today that we wanted to apply. We went to bed fairly early after talking to a candidate for Greg Bell's senate seat that was seeking our vote because we are county delegates.

Friday night Erick replaced my faucet in the kitchen that has been leaking for far too long. That was nice to have done and then on Saturday he replaced a lot of door knobs so we can lock the doors to various rooms if we don't want people in them. That was the present we got from he and Heather along with the fact that they are preparing a birthday dinner for the August birthdays and not letting us help. It is nice to have them here. They also organized the party which was a big help with school starting.

Heather was called to Young Women today as a Mia Maid instructor so the Lord has not taught her all that she needed to know there. She just thought she was being released because she moved.

Well, I will write more later.

2009-08-16T15:57:00.000-06:00

This has been a very frustrating summer for me. I had two surgeries. The first one was having the bunnions on my feet removed July 29th. I thought that would be a breeze because of the way the Dr. talked about it but it was very painful and I had so many things planned that I felt like a zombie all through July. My feet are finally starting to recover, then last Wednesday I had a bladdar repair and I was anticipating feeling very bad again and I feel relatively normal but I am not supposed to lift anything over 5 lbs. and I need to stay off of my feet. Feeling as good as I do I know that I am going to have a hard time keeping to that restriction. But I am glad that I feel good because school starts for teachers on Wednesday August 19th and so I need to bounce back quickly. No more zombie days for me.

I have been trying to get myself to write a little every night on this blog but generally I remember after I have gone to bed and I am tired. I need to figure something out. There are so many things I would like to record on a daily basis.

Erick and Heather moved in with us last week. They are living in the basement while she does her student teaching. It has been good to have them but I also feel frustrated because she is doing a lot right now with my surgery and I feel like a lazy daisy doing hardly anything.

BJ came down on Friday night and is staying because of Reserve training this weekend. I forgot to tell Erick and Heather he was coming so when they woke up to all the lights on downstairs they freaked out for a minute until they discovered that it was B.J. When he came the house was dark and he just went downstairs then I could not sleep so I got up and was reading in the recliner. He came up later and said that everyone seemed to be waking up. It was a crazy night. He went home tonight but then he and Holly will be down to go to Lagoon for military day tomorrow. They almost have their house in Providence, Utah built and are living with Holly's parents until they can move in there.

Maren and Landon went to California this week to work. Maren being so pregnant has not had a good time sleeping and Guage is not sleeping well either so it has not been the best trip that they have had from reports back. They will be home tomorrow evening.

Michelle and her kids went to Tacoma to visit Jeff and Misty and thier family. Daniel had to stay home and work. She said that it was a great visit but it is a long drive.

Kirsten and Jon had all the kids for two weeks when Kyle came home but now they are back to winter schedule of having the girls on Thursday's and every other weekend. She was excited to find out that her baby was a girl. Everything seems to be going okay but she is swelling a lot. Kyle has been mowing our lawn for us lately and that really helps out.

Jake is working nights right now in Moab so he doesn't have to leave on Sunday like he did before. Lexie starts school tomorrow so they have been busy getting her ready for school. They are thinking about getting a dog lately so we will see.

Jeff and Misty are enjoying cooler weather lately. Misty is having fun taking care of the kids and staying at home. Leah starts school the day after labor day so she has a while yet. Jeff has to wait until January before he gets more personal time off so they are not traveling a lot. The boys are being boys.

Nathan and Sara made it home okay and they are settling in. David decided that he wanted to go to public school so they are going to let him try it. Nathan is looking for something part time and dreaming of moving back to Utah so maybe we could all pray for them that it would work out.

Yesterday was the John Thacker reunion in Kaysville but I could not go because of my surgery. Kathy and Mom gave me a report and said it was fun. They said that Uncle Ralph looked better than he has for a while. They had to move it indoors because of the rain the night before so it was at a church rather than the park.

Erick and Heather went to Seth Jenkins's mission farewell and said it was good. Seth both talked and sang. They had a good time visiting with family after the meeting and came back with a good report.

Grandma Jenkins is feeling better with physical therapy. She said she is feeling more like cooking again. I think that she is trying to please Grandpa too because she said that he did not like some of the food they had on meals on wheels like enchiladas (crazy Grandpa)

We had Aunt Judy here for three weeks in July and had a good visit with her. We went to the Family History Conference at BYU the last week in July and learned some things about how to overcome "brick walls" in family history. Judy went to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and was able to find some information on a "brick wall" they had with a John Wall from Ireland. She was also great to help me with the grandkids that came over. She is really good with kids.

Nathan and Sara and the kids were also here in July and we had a pretty wild house while they were here because the other brothers and sister were here also to visit. We also went to the Michaelson reunion during that time and had a good visit there.

We had bouts of being without water for three days (right after my first surgery)and being without power this summer which made us appreciate the many conveniences that we have but Larry wants to run for Kaysville city council to get something done about the power. Ha,Ha.

Actually, Larry is enjoying not having to go to school and being finished with his MBA. We are contemplating a part time mission but have nothing definite yet. We went to Disneyland the first part of July with Maren and Landon and their kids and it was fun but because I was in a wheelchair definately a pressure on Larry to push me all the time, so we are taking it slow.

Hopefully I will keep my commitment to write more often. If not then you will have what you have.

2009-07-05T20:27:00.000-06:00

Well it looks like I am averaging about one post per month. Not a great average but I am hoping to improve. I decided that I would post on my blog before I checked email or facebook.

We had a good 4th of July. Because of my Bunnion surgery on Tuesday we did not go to any parades or stuff in the morning. I tried to keep the ice on my foot until evening when we had a barbecue and several people over including, Maren and Landon and family, Jimmy and Shelley and family, Evan and Shirley; Maren's in-laws; and their son Jared, Michelle and Daniel and their kids and Kirsten and Jon with no family because their kids were all with their ex's. There was tons of food but just as everyone showed up the power went out so we were glad that we were grilling. The power stayed off all evening and came on about 2:30a.m. We joked that the city probaby took the backup generator for the fireworks music. About 9:30 p.m. just before the city fireworks we all went in to get dessert and use bathrooms. At that point we found out that we had very little water pressure and it has not come back. No other neighbors have a problem so we have a plumber coming tomorrow. It was an intereseting 4th but we had a good time and the grandkids had fun with thier fireworks.

I iced my feet only once this morning and then went to church. I iced them when I got back but they are still purple in several places tonight. They actually looked good this morning so I don't know if that is normal or if I overdid. They looked really good this morning.

Michelle and Daniel and the kids, and Maren and Landon and the kids came over tonight and helped us to eat some of the food that was left over from last night. It was good to have them here and talk with them and the kids. Maren and Landon were both realy tired and Landon had a headache. Larry was worried about how it would work out with the water low but we had water stored in the food room so we made punch and washed with that and it worked out.

Larry had his last test on Thursday and it looks like the stomach problem he had was an ulcer. He is takeing stuff for that and seems to be doing okay but he is so self-sacrificing he would not tell me until he was dying. He has been good help with my feet. I felt really stupid because I did not understand from the doctor how painful the first three days would be and I literally had to get other people to help Larry with his test. Michelle took him in and brought him home. Then Maren had to take me and him to the doctor about my foot because he couldn't drive. Erick and Heather helped out with my surgery but Larry ended up coming because he was able to get off work early.

My Mom fell and is slowly recovering. She has an MRI tomorrow to see about a crushed disk. She is still hoping it is something like internal bruising.
She said that my cousin Nancy had a heart attack so I need to call Aunt Marva about that.

Nathan is coming around the 15th of July and Judy, Larry's sister is coming on the 21st. We are going to Disneyland with Maren and Landon and thier kids on Thursday so it will be a busy July.

2009-05-30T21:54:00.000-06:00

When I was reading Nikki's blog she mentioned a funny thing Ashton had said and it reminded me of something Brinlie said this week that I thought was cute. She was pulling baby's breath off of a bouquet in my living room. She came and said, "look Grandma roses." I told her that they were not roses they were Baby's Breath and she looked at me and said, "Gauge breath?" Her baby brother is name Gauge for anyone who does not know.

We went to Hailee's dance recital tonight at the Val Browning Center at Weber State. It is always a nice show and Hailee did a good job. She looked very pretty. I took a picture but I am too tired to upload it.

Michelle is very sick with some virus that has settled into her joints and is very painful. If you could remember her in your prayers I am sure she would appreciate it.

2009-05-30T15:36:00.001-06:00

I am tired but it feels good. I don't get enought physical exercise and I just worked in the yard for about 4 hours. BJ came and helped with some of the yard and got me started. He also did an oil change on the mower. Kyle came to mow the lawn so I stayed outside with him and it is starting to look better. Erick and Heather have come the last two Thursday's and helped to get things weeded and the sprinklers fixed. And before that Maren and Landon came and helped with the trampoline and the back patio. We may be able to stay in the neighborhood after all. It feels good to have the time and the energy to work in my yard.

Thursday I got my diploma from the University of Utah so I am now offically graduated with my Master's in Educational Psychology!!!!!

2009-05-03T20:51:00.000-06:00

This week has been a busy week. I had my final presentation in HCI(Human Computer Interacttion) on Wednesday. Then on Thursday we had our final Capstone Presentation for our Project. It is on www.junepresser.com for a while if you are interested. It is a revision of the Utah Center for Reading and Literacy website. If you want to compare the original with the revision it is still up at www.ucrl.utah.edu. I still have one more paper to finish this week. My graduation is on Friday the 8th of May. Larry graduated yesterday. We had a fun day with the graduation and then we met with some family members to eat at Settebellos. I am really proud of Larry and his accomplishments. In the afternoon we went to Abbie's first birthday party. We were late for the food but got in on the presents and Abbie eating her birthday cake.
Larry and I enjoyed sleeping in today because we have 1:00 p.m. church. We had a great fast and testimony meeting. We have just been by ourselves studying and working on projects this afternoon. Erick and Heather came over for a blessing for Erick for school just a few minutes ago. It was good to see them. I talked to Maren for a few minutes and found out they made it back from Las Vegas last night late so the was a relief. They were sad because they could not make it home yesterday.

2008-12-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

Well, the Wasatch Front in Utah got a major snow storm today. We had six inches when we woke up. We had to go find our boots because we didn't know where they were. It has been so nice up until last week. A real Indian Summer in the 40's and 50's. But that is now past. Erick and Heather are praying that the storm dumps everything before Friday so that we can travel to Manti in relative safety. And Erick wants it not snowing for pictures.

BJ is here right now and he says that he made several 360 degree turns on his way to Reserve from Logan today with the snow coming down. He feels like he was protected somehow. Holly had to work tonight so he is alone. They had a Christmas party yesterday with Holly's family and BJ took 5 finals this week but is finally finished with this semester at USU.

I finished up my class on Thursday with a final presentation that we had to give to the class. It felt good to get it finished. I now have to finish putting in grades and get the final things finished for Erick's wedding on Saturday. It was midterm this week also and I had to have midterm grades in at the same time I was working on my final project so I felt like all I did was work on something. Plus we are sewing this term and I have to trade classes for the first 4 periods and it is just stressful.

Larry is moning because he always has class. As soon as he finishes one class another one starts. That is how U of Phoenix gets everyone through so fast.

Erick and Heather have everything ready for the wedding. They just came buy to visit with BJ and us.

Yesterday Larry and I went shopping for a few minutes and ended up taking several hours. We found out that you cannot buy black paper portfolios that he needed to get for choir for the Christmas program. Larry went to about 12 stores and they did not have them and one store told us they do not make them any more. I don't know why. I had to get some things for school and that went pretty fast. Then we went to Mervyn's for their going out of business sale. I got a cute purse for $10.00.

Well I just remembered that we forgot Matthews birthday this week with all our stress. So I better go and get something ready to send.

2008-11-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

Sara's mom, Gail Roberts, passed away today. Nathan called about 2:30 p.m. our time and said that Sara had just called. I am so relieved for Sara and for Gail but I know that Sara will have a big hole in her life for a while because they have been so close. Gail was one of the best people I know. She had a zest for life and was always fun to be around. I will miss her. We had some good talks and I appreciated her strong testimony of the gospel that will sustain her family now.

I didn't realize that it has been so long since my last post. Larry is feeling better now. He thinks that maybe he had a reaction to the flu shot he got the day before. I know I felt kind of a low grade congestion for about two weeks after mine.

I guess I did not post on the first week in November because we had a family birthday party for the November birthday's which was Kirsten's. We had a good time eating cheesecake and dinner. Everyone was able to come except Jake and Nikki's family. Jake had guard that weekend.

Yesterday we went to a shower hosted by Heather's family for Erick and Heather. The got a lot of groceries and we were able to meet some of Heather's friends and family. I also was able to see their apartment. They finally found one in East Layton. Erick has moved into the apartment until the wedding so they are a little closer. He still needs someone to take his old apartment if you know someone who needs and apartment in Bountiful that is a guy.

Friday I tended Brinlie and Gauge while Maren and Landon went Christmas shopping. Brinlie was not happy when I had to hold Gauge. She kept saying. I love you Grandma, which is her way of saying I need your attention Grandma. Maren and Landon got stuck in traffic along the way home and did not make it until about 11:30 p.m. Erick and Heather came by and I was glad to see them. They helped me with the kids until they came. Larry had gone to bed early not feeling well because he forgot to take his medicines.

School has been hectic the past two weeks. I am teaching the clothing section of CTE Introduction and for that I have to trade to the sewing classroom for the first 4 periods. It is hard for me to stay organized when I am constantly switching back and forth. I don't have a TA this semester but I have a girl that is doing service hours for her church program that comes each day and that has helped some.

Larry switched to a new position in Customer Service at Discover so he is moving up but it really changed our schedule. He now has to be to work at 6:00a.m. every morning so he cannot take me to work. I tried carpooling for a couple of weeks and we were hoping to get the Infinity fixed but it is still not driveable so Landon's dad let me borrow their old Taurus for a few weeks until we can work something out. It is getting me where I need to go but the speedometer, the gas gauge, and the seat belts do not work so it is an adventure everytime I go somewhere in it. It has really helped Larry to be able to go home when he gets off work and not have to wait for me. But we don't see each other as much as we would like now.

Nathan got me to sign up for Facebook a long time ago but I have not done anything with it until the last two weeks. One of the guys in my University Class had everyone send me a friend request in class and several of my friends found me so I am now addicted to Facebook. It is a fun way to know what is going on with people and only have to go to one site.

Last Saturday my family gave Heather a shower and they were able to get some appliances and towels and other things on their registrations so they were excited about that. Also Kathy made the traditional quilt for them that we quilted at the shower. It was a fun time and I appreciate the fact that Kathy is the glue that holds our family together.

We are doing a project for Huntsman Cancer Center for our class project at the University of Utah. We have to design a class for families to help them understand how to deal with chemotherapy. It has been an interesting project.

Jacob is contemplating accepting a new job in two places. Plus he has some military job opportunities. He would like everyone to pray for him that he can have a clear mind and recognize the opportunities that would be best for his family.

Grandpa Jenkins is not feeling very good. He had a problems with his chest and has not been able to get feeling better. He probably could use your prayers also. But he would never tell you that.

Well Erick and Heather just came so we are going to eat cheesecake.

2008-10-26T17:23:00.000-06:00

It has been a busy week. Yesterday I went to Relief Society Super Saturday with Maren and we make a vinyl lettering tile with the saying, "Christ is the center of our home, A guest at every meal, A silent listener to every conversation." (I have always liked Michelle's.) Maren made a flower bow for Brinlie's hair and I made a watch with a beaded band. It was fun. Brinlie enjoyed the nursery so much she did not want to go home.

Before that I went to a garage sale that I heard about on the FACS listserve from the state. They were selling fabric that a lady had collected that has now passed away. I bought three boxes full of fabric for my students projects for $115.00. I could not believe that one women had collected so much fabric. Their were two garages full of boxes.

When I got home Larry was not feeling well. He was nauseated and had a headache and said he felt like his eyeballs were going to pop out. I was concerned because of his diabetes and after listening to him I decided to call the doctor and take him in. They did not have lab facilities on Saturday so after checking him out the doctor suggested that I take him to the ER. After 5 hours of tests and two bags of fluids because he was dehydrated, they decided that he had a virus and sent him home. He had a really rough night last night with diarrhea but after being on a liquid diet for 24 hours he is starting to eat the BRAT(Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast) diet and feels a little better.

Needless to say I went to church alone today. It was Tyler Wall's welcome home speech. He just returned from a mission in Bulguria. He said that people are really suspious of the missionaries there and often not really kind so they are trying to show charity to them by serving them so that they can see that we have good intentions. The theme of the meeting today was Charity. He talked about some of the challenges he had and pointed out that he had learned as it says in D&C 82:10,the Lord is bound to help you if you do what he says. One of the things he learned was that he could love his companion no matter what with the Lord's help. He talked about a rainy day that they decided to go out and track even though it meant that they would get soaked. About half way up in the building they were in they found someone who would listen to the message and got excited about it. He felt like it was a blessing for doing what they were supposed to do. He mentioned that he was in a singing group that toured the mission for a while introducing new hymns that had been translated into Bulgarian and what a powerful influence for good music can be in helping others to feel the spirit.

The have a primary song this year in the presentation that really is inspirational, I think. It is called, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" by Sally DeFord.

Rod Page talked for a few minutes and introduced the way he likes to think of Charity. Moroni defines charity as the pure love of Christ. Rod suggested that we think of it as, "Charity is loving like Christ." I thought that was a good idea for implementing Charity in our lives. He also quoted Pres. Hinckley, "Security lies in the virtue of our lives." and "Try a little harder to be a little better."

Last Monday after school, I worked on homework I had for my class. I was working on a document on Google Docs with Jennie Hogle. We had to give a presentation on a chapter in our book about developing Problem Solving lessons. I also had to read an article and then comment online on some questions about the article. Larry was at his class.

Tuesday I worked on some of the homework again but before we got home Larry and I went to get some of his prescriptions and decided to try and vote early. We went to the Layton Library and the line was completely around the inside of the library. They said it was a 35 minute wait and we decided it was not worth the wait that night. I think it was Tuesday that I was reading my email and got an invitation from Nikki to be her friend on Facebook. I went in to confirm that I would be her friend and ended up spending about a half hour there doing things and chatting with Nathan who was also on line.

Wednesday I had students staying after school until 4:00 p.m. work off their U's for citzenship. Then I had an insurance meeting to attend at the district. Maren and I had talked about going to the YMYW Halloween Carnival that they were sponsoring for the Primary kids but I almost forgot and when I called Maren she was in Salt Lake so we didn't go. I had also talked to Kirsten about going but I could not get hold of her on the phone so I guess that means they decided not to go.

Thursday was my class. Larry went with me. He did not want to drive home even though the traffic has been wonderful ever since Legacy opened. The presentation went okay but I was not feeling estatic about it. Larry got bored and went somewhere else after about two presentations.

Friday I was hoping to work on recording papers but Larry and I were so tired we went to bed at about 8:15 p.m. after eating at Taco Time. I thought I might get something done on Saturday but we already know that did not happen so I am going to have to work harder this week because it is the end of the term.

Nathan just called and said that they have some cute pumpkins on Sara's blog so I guess I will go look at those.

2008-10-19T16:04:00.000-06:00

It has been a beautiful weekend in Utah. They call it Indian Summer. It was in the 60's and 70's all weekend and at the end of the week. Today is really a beautiful day.

We had ward conference at church today. They changed one of the counselors in our bishopric and put him in a Stake position so we got a new counselor, Steve Savage. It is interesting because on Fast Sunday his wife told of how they had gone back to Missouri and interviewed for his dream job but he did not feel that he should accept it after praying about it, even though he did not presently like his job. They came back to Kaysville and within a week he was called by a company in Farmington about moving there. It was a job he liked and he was able to switch. I thought it was an amazing story in and of itself but now that he has been called to the bishopric it shows even more that the Lord will support you if you put your trust in him.

The Bishop talked today about being prepared for every NEEDFUL thing. He pointed out several statements by the prophets that have pointed towards what we need to do. He empasized the talk by President Hinckley where he talked about the dream that Joseph interpreted for the Pharoah about the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine. He point out that the Prophet admonishing us to get our houses in order at that time has proved once again that it pays to listen to the Prophet and follow his counsel. He also talked about Providentliving.org and admonished us with the Stake President to go to the website and find one thing that we can work on to get further prepared. I wrote down three quotes from others that he mentioned but I did not get who said them all. Elder Scott asked,"Do you fill your life with good things at the expense of essential things." Choose carefully and try not to choose it all. If we live wisely and providently we will be as safe as in the palm of his hand.

The theme of the conference was D&C 38:30, "I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear." President Heard said that he had read all of the scriptures in the Topical Guide on wisdom and he felt that they basically fell into Three categories. 1. The great and limitless wisdom of our father. 2. The need for us to develop wisdom. 3. How to develop that wisdom. He mentioned that the way to develop wisdom from the scriptures was to Read the Scriptures daily, Pray often daily, ask for wisom in our prayers, and do what we can to draw nearer to the Savior. He will bear us up through all things. I know this is true. I have tried for nearly 20 years now to constantly apply these things in my life and I am not perfect but I have developed wisdom and understanding beyond what I could do on my own. Heavenly Father has helped me to do the things he has asked me to do beyond my capacity and I know he lives and guides the Prophet today.

Obviously it was a good meeting.

Yesterday was a fun day. I had to work at the Family History Center from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Jake and Nikki has asked me to tend Abby while they went to Lagoon. Holly was here while BJ went to reserve so she tended her while I was at the FHC. When I got home she was asleep so I was able to get some homework done for about 2 hours. Holly was taking a test. Erick came over in the afternoon and worked on cleaning out the pond for winter. It was such a nice day that I mentioned that I would have to mow the lawn when Abby left. Holly said she would tend Abby so I went out and mowed while Larry edged and pruned and a few other things. It looks so much better. Maren and the kids came over just as Jake and Nikki were picking up Abby. BJ came home from reserve about the same time. It was a fun half hour when everyone was here.

BJ gave Ashton a Ninja headband from when he was in Asia. Ashton came in saying,"I can't wear this I'm not a guy" We all laughed be cause he is a boy but I think he meant that he wasn't an adult.

Brinlie was sad because we took down the trampoline for the winter. When it was starting to come apart she came over and said, "What you doing?"in a very confused voice. Then she said, "I need to jump" Later she brought me some yellow chrysanthmums she had picked and said,"Look Grandma, sunshine flowers!"

Erick and Heather came over a little later and visited before they went to Kirsten and Jon's for dinner and then they came back after. They were having a ball teasing and playing with Brinlie.

Friday I had off of school because of UEA or Fall break as they call it in Davis District. Larry worked until about 4:00 p.m. I worked most of the day on Homework. I had promised to have Kirsten and their family over for dinner for Brooke's birthday but I ended up taking it to their house because they were working on getting a new roof on the house. Friday they took the old shingles off and then they were working on it yesterday. Jake came up to help for a while so we were able to see him that night also. I was excited because I fixed a roast and it turned out perfectly. Something that would not have happened without my new stove.

BJ and Holly came down on Friday evening and spent some time at Maren and Landon's and then we stayed up late putting on patches on his uniform. He had a new work uniform and he had to put a different rank on his dress blues because he had a rank advancement. It was fun to talk to them but I did not get up early enough on Saturday for what I needed to do.

Thursday I spent part of the day working on my school website. Larry had to work again also. Maren came and got me in the afternoon and I rode with her to the beauty supply in Bountiful so I could stay in the car with the kids, after they fell asleep from riding, while she went in. When we got back I went to Maren's and she painted my fingernails. I tried to call Larry about three times to come and get me on his way home. Finally I decided to let Maren take me home because I did not know when he would come. When I got home he was already home and mopping the kitchen floor. He had his phone on vibrate and couldn't feel it.

Tuesday and Wednesday I stayed home from school with a bad sore throat and aches and chills. When I felt like it I worked on my scope and sequence for Foods and Teenliving. We watched the debate between the presidental candidates Wednesday night also. Larry came down with the same thing on Wednesday so we just rested together. It seemed to pass fairly quickly. Maren said she felt like she had it on Saturday when she came over.

Monday was a good day at school. I felt like a lot got accomplished. I went home earlier than usual after school with Dan McClure because Larry had school. I worked on school and the blog. I think I also worked on reconcilling the check book and trying to figure out where we were there, but I may have worked on that another day this week.

I think I reported what happened on Sunday last week in the last posting but if not it is lost to humanity. I know that some of the kids were over but that is all I remember.

Michelle and Daniel and Jeff and Misty are both taking their families to California this weekend. They are visiting with Marie and vacationing. Maren was going to go but they have decided to go the 28th through the 30th with Landon's family. BJ and Holly had planned to go but they went to Park City to celebrate their 1st Anniversary instead. Erick had thought about going but he is now busy trying to go to school and prepare to get married. He and Heather had their pictures taken on Friday afternoon. Amanda said that they should be posted after Monday and they are not locked so you all can see them sometime this week on her website. Just Google Amanda Hadlock.

2008-10-13T19:49:00.000-06:00

I feel very rushed tonight. I have been working on a test for UTIPS, the online testing service that Utah has and I finally have that finished for my class tomorrow. But I started about 4:30p.m. so it took longer than I wanted it to. I had to go in and make a post on the class I took on webpages for the district and now I am here. I wanted to post here because I had some things I wanted to say but I also was hoping to get more of my Scope and Sequence up on my school website for Teenliving and Foods. If you want to see my school website it is at www.davis.k12.ut.us/staff/dpresser/

Brooke had a birthday party at Classic Skating last Saturday so Larry and I went to that. Jake and Nikki were there with their family and a lot of Jon's family. They had rented the Karoke room and the kids enjoyed the singing and laser tag before we left. Larry enjoyed the BYU Football game on big screen the most. They had Pizza and drinks and cake and ice cream complete with Halloween spiders and dracula teeth. My cousin Kimo was there with his family as we got there so it was fun to see him. He has several children who live around here even though he is still in Mona.

Saturday morning we went to part of Ethan and Jaron's soccer games. It was really raining at Ethan's but it wasn't too bad at Jaron's. It started raining and then snowing after that. Sunday morning we woke up to a couple of inches of snow. It has dramatically cooled off, too. Today it was really cool at the school because the district does not want to turn the boilers on because it might get hot again (which is what the weatherman was predicting tonight for next weekend.)

Friday Night we went with Maren and Landon to their stake's production of "Savior of the World". It was wonderful. I have never been to a stake production that had so much talent. Everyone who sang had such a wonderful voice. Shelly Coray was the music director for the production so that is one reason that Kimo was up this way. They were at the production also. Jimmy was also in the production. They both did a fabulous job. Maren said that Shelley was also involved in the hair design, she is a beautician like Maren. Maren and Landon had to leave a little early because Brinlie had had enough but they got to see most of it.

My class this semester is on Thursday's so I was busy there. Larry came home to work on homework and I went home on the Trax and Frontrunner. It worked out well so I was happy. We are working on a project for the Huntsman Cancer Center to help patients understand their chemotherapy in my class this time so I am getting some experience in the real world of IDET.

Wednesday I had Parent Teacher Conferences. Larry had homework to work on so he came and picked me up after. I should have had them on also on Thursday but I was able to take off for my class and leave notes for the parents on how to contact me. The conferences went well but it was a long day.

Tuesday Larry worked on Homework and I worked on grades for Parent Teacher Conferences so everything would be up to date. I was up quite late getting it all done but felt good that I could face parents with everything caught up.

I have decided that while I am alone on Monday evenings I will do something that will help me keep in contact with my children and grandchildren on Monday evenings. Sometimes lately Maren and Landon have invited me to be with them on Monday's but last Monday I spent the evening finally getting everything ready for Misty's birthday (which was August 28th so there is nothing slow about me.) I also prepared some things for Leah's birthday which was that night, Oct. 6th, but then I didn't get it to the post office until Saturday. I tried to call Leah but no one was answering so they were probably out having fun.

Last Saturday and Sunday was General Conference for the LDS Church. It was really a good conference to listen to and I told you last week that some of the kids came for dinner that evening.

Yesterday was a good day at church. Rigo Gutierrez was one of the speakers. He told how his Mom was converted to the church when she was a young lady in Mexico. She came from a family of about 15, I think he said, and they were very poor. She was the only member of the church in her family and she wanted to go on a mission. The missionaries contacted church headquarters (this was in the 1950's)and a man named John Vernald agreed to support her on her mission. He lived in Garland,Utah. He did not know Rigo's mom and he was not a wealthy man. He worked as a postal worker. After her mission she was able to come to Utah to meet the family and she stayed with them for 2 or 3 years. Finally she went back to Mexico and they lost contact for a few years. Several years later the Vernald's went to Mexico to find her and found her with her husband and young child and pregnant with her second which was Brother Gutierrez. They were not in the best of circumstances so he helped them move into an apartment in a better part of town and paid for them to live there for a year. He also bought the husband the tools he needed to be a mechanic. Many years later they heard that he was dying of cancer so Rigo's mom went up to see him. She also died shortly after that of cancer. I am not sure if Rigo met him then or if there was one more tripp before that. Mr. Vernald showed him a little about how to play the organ. He wrote the words for the Hymn "For Homes of Saints Glad Songs Arise". Rigo sang the song in tribute to this wonderful man whom he described as an "Angel" to their family. It made me realize that we can do more to help others go on missions and to reach their potential.

Brother David Whittaker told about his great-grandfather who was born as the illegitimate son of a upper middle class lady in England. The father was off to war and did not know he had a son until 7 years later. The mother taught him many things but kept him at home in the back yard. She taught him two languages and many more things. He was talented at art and seemed very well educated but he eventually ran away and stowed away on a ship because he felt like he was not wanted because of the stigma of being born illegitimate at that time. He went around the world for several years and then settled in Tahiti for several years and married his first wife there. He eventually ended up in San Francisco and then joined the church and came to Utah. He settled in Centerville and became a farmer with several polygamist wifes. Anyway his son and Dave's dad were farmers. Dave's dad, Olene, owned much of the land that our ward is situated on. He bought the land with his brother and when his brother died he raised not only his own nine children but his brothers 6 as well. He pointed out that through service to others you learn to love others and draw closer to the Lord as well.

The meeting ended with the song "A PoorWayfarring Man of Grief" I noticed as I sang it that each time the person had to sacrifice something for someone else of substantial consequence before the blessing he sought came back to him. I have made a commitment to be of better service to others after listening to this meeting. I love the Lord and want to do all that I can to help others find the happiness of the restored Gospel.

Last night Maren and Landon and kids, and Erick and Heather came came for dinner. Maren had given us a winter squash and so we cooked it and shared it. Larry wanted meatballs so I fixed those with baked potatoes. I made a cherry cobbler with the cherries off our tree. We had a good time visiting and talking and playing "Apples to apples" Heather has her official ring now and it is very pretty.

Well I hope everyone is having a great week. I know this will be a better week for me. There are only three days of school this week. I love school but it is always nice to have some time off.

2008-09-28T16:52:00.000-06:00

It has been an eventful month since I last wrote. Larry started not feeling well the first part of September. When he finally went to the doctor it was his Gall Bladder. After several tests, he had it removed on September 18th. Despite what the doctor told us, that he was not to eat meat or spicy foods for several days, we went to a barbecue that we had signed up for before this started. It was wonderful food but Larry paid for it all night long after. He thought he could convince the doctor to let him go back to work on the 23rd but the Doctor would not release him until Oct. 1 so he is starting to feel better. I think the fact that it is now an outpatient surgery gives him the feeling that he should feel fine like he did after some of his tests. He is feeling pretty good the last few days and has a hard time staying down so there are lots of areas of the house that he is cleaning.

We went to Vernal on Friday for Weston Hadlock's wedding to Deanna Schroeder. It was very nice. The wedding was in the Vernal temple and then they had a wedding luncheon at the Glines Stake center after. Annette and Rex had worked hard and their yard was wonderful. They had the reception in their back yard that evening from 5-7:00 p.m. so we were able to drive back home that evening. It was fun to see family and friends in Vernal. I was also excited to find out that they had several things in common like fishing and basketball.

My seventh grade students did the restaurant simulation this week and the 9th grade foods class did the two day lab where they roast vegetable and I make a roast to talk about proper methods of meat defrosting. It is kind of like Thanksgiving dinner. So I had several nights when I was up late trying to get everything done. Then on Thursday I had to get ready for a sub for Friday and Monday because of Weston's wedding and I had signed up for a website class with the district.

Sara has some cute pictures of the boys on her blog. Nathan said that she is not feeling well lately. She has back problems and is tired a lot. Nathan was really tired too.

Michelle is the Primary President in her ward and we went there to see the Children's sacrament meeting presentation. The ward did a nice job and Hailee and Ethan and Jaron knew there parts well. A week ago Saturday both Jake and Nikki and Michelle and Daniel and their families came to visit and pick peaches. We has a good time talking and laughing.

Nikki has a new blog but I forgot the name so I will have to ask her when it is not so late. Abby is really growing. Jake is back working days.

Misty has some great stories on her blog and pictures about their trip to Kansas and a trip to a beautiful waterfall. Leah has started Kindergarten and is going all day.

We went last night and met Heather's mom and dad, Dan and Wendy Farley. We had a good talk and they seem to be really nice people. Heather is going to be a good addition to our family. We do not see Erick anymore. He is busy with work and school and Heather.

BJ is busy with school. He has been frustrated lately but that is all part of school. They were out to Vernal to the wedding so we had some time to be with them. They want us to come to the BYU vs USU game on Friday and of course BJ is cheering for BYU.

Maren and Landon and the kids came over tonight for family home evening. We started tying a quilt that they have been trying to get done for about two years now, so she is related to her mom. Brinlie always wants to see the little seal story on Dad's website so we read that for her. Gauge was in a better mood today over yesterday.

Well, I have stayed up much to late for when I am teaching school but at least I have written something on the Blog.

Mom and Dad celebrated their 60th wedding anniversay by inviting all who could go to go through a temple session with them and then they had a dinner at Kathy church that everyone brought something to but was mostly catered by Kathy. The picture is of those who were there at the temple with them.

2008-08-25T21:33:00.000-06:00

We had a good weekend. It was my birthday Saturday and we went to a shower for Weston Hadlock's fiancee Deanna Schroeder. They had a birthday cake for me also and sang happy birthday. Dad and I took time out and went to a open house to see Ray Davidson, a friend of his from when I was little. He used to read a story with so much expression that I still have a soft spot in my heart for him.

Mom and Dad gave Larry and I some money for our birthdays so we went to the Melting Pot Restaurant in Salt Lake City. We spent way too much money for one meal but it was so fun for the two of us to have an intimate dinner of Fondue.

When we got home Maren and Landon came over and gave me a blouse and skirt that they had picked out and Larry a classic movie. It was fun to have them over.

Then Erick and Heather came home and announced that they were planning on getting married on December 20, 2008 in the Manti Temple. We were all so excited because we approve of the match. Erick was lined up with Heather by his step-sister Michelle.

2008-08-11T00:17:00.000-06:00

The first picture is a picture of Abby taken on Friday. The second picture is Maren and Guage on his blessing day. The third picture is of Ashton on the trampoline.

2008-08-10T19:34:00.000-06:00

We just arrived home after Gauge Even Gentile's baby blessing. He was blessed by his father Landon. There was a lot of family on either side there for the event. Landon and Maren had a luncheon at Landon's parents for all those that attended. The grilled hamburgers and polish sausage and hot dogs. There was lots of fruit and salads and cake's and treats. It was a fun day for everyone to be together. It was a good day and did not rain but it has been hot. Evan and Shirley's house was air-conditioned so that helped. They had set up several shade maker's outside on the patio so that was nice also.

All of the brothers and sisters that are close here in Utah were there except Jake. Jake had an emergency appendectomy a week ago last Friday and was recovering from that when he became ill this morning and started throwing up. He has been going to his Annual Training at Camp Williams this week and doing light duty but he got sick this morning at Camp Williams and had to come home. Nikki said they thought it was food poisoning. She came up with the kids for the blessing and then went immediately home. She said that Jake is feeling somewhat better and was able to eat something this evening and keep it down.

Holly was not able to come down because she had to work. BJ came down and was having fun with the kids. BJ called this week and was able to get a discount set up for Larry and I on our Verizon account through the school district. I appreciated his willingness to help us with that.

My phone has been a problem this week anyway. A week ago I dropped it in the dish water when I was talking to Kirsten. I got it out immediately and tried to get it dried out and we took the battery out. The next day it worked for a half a day and then it quit for good. Luckily it had insurance on it and I was able to order a new one but they were not able to retrieve any of my data from the phone so I am having to start over on everything. I am hoping that my pictures were saved from my card but I have not looked yet. They do not show on the phone so I am thinking that maybe they were not saved on there. I am learning the hard way that I need to back up data.

I finished up my Master's classes for the summer at the U of U. I was taking website design and Adobe Photoshop and Flash and Fireworks. I still have a lot to learn but I was able to start a website about Grandpa Jenkins's stories that he wrote and told to us as children. It is at www.larsejenkins.com. Grandpa seemed to be please with the beginnings of the website. Brinli and Ashton liked the Flash illustration of "The Little Seal". Brinli came in and asked me to read her the story yesterday and then after I read it she said,"I want to see Grandpa" so she has liked it.

Larry's sister Judy Trolinger was here for a week to visit last week. We went to the Genealogy Conference at BYU for four days. It was fun to have her here and get to know her better. I felt bad because both Larry and I had homework to do somedays to finish up our classes and so Judy studied the things from the conference while we did that. We were able to go to Temple Square one night and out to dinner with Michelle's family and we had most of the family over for dinner on Sunday the 3rd of August and had August birthday's while Judy was here. She got to go with me to Tooele to see Jake in the hospital so she got the tour of part of Utah and the Great Salt Lake.

Nathan and Sara are going to St. Louis, Missouri this week. Sara's brother Matthew is getting married this week and they are going for the wedding. David started school last Thursday so he will miss a week of school.

I went to Herriman and got Ashton on Friday and we went to a primary activity here in Kaysville that I had to go to and then he came home with me and jumped on the tramp and played with the kitty's and fed the fish. We had lunch and then Kyle came over about the time that we were leaving to take him back. He rode with us to pick up Larry from work and then we went to the park in Herriman that Ashton likes. We were able to visit with Jake and Nikki for a while and spend some time with them. Then we met Maren and Landon for dinner in Salt Lake City because the traffic was so bad going into Davis county because of construction.

Michelle and Daniel are home schooling their kids this year. They started school last week. The kids seem to like it and there is a lot of curriculum that is available to work with. They also went to Daniel's Uncle's cabin this weekend on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. They are going to Yellowstone Park next weekend so they are getting in a lot of travel.

Jeff and Misty are busy with life. Jeff works everyday while the kids and Misty have explored some of the new parks. They have found a few that they really like. Leah starts kindergarten this fall around September 2nd or 3rd. They are growing up fast.

Kirsten and Jon are still fighting the custody battle with Jon's ex. Kirsten is working two jobs right now so is often stressed. She had a headache for three days last week. She ended up being sick for Stephen and Ashton's wedding. Kyle starts school in two weeks. School starts here on the 25th of August. He was excited Friday because he got the teacher he wanted.

Erick spends all of his time at Heather's or has Heather over here. He said the other night that she was a keeper because she liked onion rings but that is about as serious as he has got with us. He did go to Flaming Gorge with his ward on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. He said that he had a good time learning to water ski while he was there but he came home early on Saturday.

I start preparing to teach school next week on the 18th and then like I said school starts on the 25th. The University of Utah starts that week also so I will have class on Thursday of that week. Erick will start then also. Landon has been accepted to Utah Valley University in an online aviation program but I don't know if he has started yet. Larry starts one class as soon as the next one is over. They have homework that they have to complete for the first day of class. A lot of it is online. He is taking a statistics class this time and is not enjoying it but he will survive.

2008-07-21T21:15:00.000-06:00

They talked about the blessings of Family Home Evening in church yesterday. I decided that if Larry is gone on Monday's with class and Erick is usually at his ward family home evening that I could spend the time writing in the blog and keeping in contact with other family members.

Erick is actually downstairs watching a movie with a girl that Michelle lined him up with and he has now gone out with three times. He has been busy drawing deck plans in his spare time this week for Kirsten and Jon. They need to rebuild their deck on the back of their house that collapsed this spring. Erick also found a house to rent that is located in Bountiful. He will have two roommates from his ward. He is planning to move out around the 1st of September.

BJ is on his Annual Training somewhere on an island in the Indian ocean right now. He has been gone since the 5th of July. BJ is supposed to be home this Thursday but they are worrying about a tsunami near Singapore that may delay things. Holly is adjusting to a new nursing job.

Maren and Landon just got back from a trip to St. George and Las Vegas for work. She had the kids pictures taken in St. George and will be sending out announcements about Gauge Evan Gentile shortly. I thought she was really together (or crazy) taking a two week old baby on a trip. They let me use Maren's car while they were gone and I was able to get a few more places than usual. I was also able to get my homework done at their house because our computer was in the shop being repaired. They are talking this week about going to Idaho Falls for work. Maren says they stay in nice hotels and Brinlie can swim and play but I am getting old and tired and it sounds like a lot of work to me.

Kirsten and Jon are trying to get their deck rebuilt. They are still fighting a custody battle with Jon's ex-wife over the girls so they are spending a lot of time working on that. They could use your prayers for them. Kirsten is working a second transcription job so I don't know how she finds time for anything but they do like to go to the drive-in in Riverdale with Maren and Landon. They all went to see "Batman" this last weekend and liked it.

Jeff's birthday was last week on Friday. Larry talked to him and he sounded like he was doing well on his job. He took a lot of time off to help Grammy after her surgery so he doesn't have any leave until October he said. They just got back a couple of weeks ago from Kansas where Misty's brother was married around the 4th of July.

Jake and Nikki's new baby Abby is really growing. She has really filled out in the last two month's. They were all sick about a week an a half ago. We had a cousins slumber party at my house for all the cousins over seven years old and Lexie was not able to come because she got sick the morning of the party. They had high fevers. Jake is going on Annual training soon or has already gone. I forgot the dates they told me.

Michelle's family went to Bear Lake last week and had a good time. Michelle and Daniel went to Cayman Islands to celebrate their anniversary this year and left the kids with Daniel's brother and his wife. We had everyone over for June and July birthday's at the beginning of the month and Michelle's was one of them. Last week when they had the shower for Stephen's fiancee they took their kids to the This is the place state park and then Michelle and Hailee came down for the shower for a while.

Nathan called last night and was really tired. He had pulled a 24 hour shift during the week and was still dragging. He and Sara celebrated their wedding anniversary last week by going to "Batman" this weekend also.

Grandma's sister Hilda fell on a family outing and I think they said she ruptured a disk in her back. She will be down for about six weeks. I'm sure she could use our prayers. They said that after she fell she walked down a path from the picnic area they were in. That surprized me.

Weston Hadlock is engaged to a Deanna Schroder or Schrader. If I go back to the email from Annette then I will lose this so I will send you the email. They are getting married on the 26th of September. They are getting married in the Vernal Temple so put that on your calendars now and start planning for it.

Larry's sister Judy is coming up next week and we are going to attend the BYU Genealogy conference the 29th through August 1. We are excited to have her here and will probably have a family dinner so everyone can meet her.

I have been spending a lot of my time on a website I am building for Grandpa Jenkins's stories. Erick and I went down last night and got some pictures from Grandpa and then we got a video from Craig of Grandpa telling the little seal at the family Christmas party last November.

Larry has been really busy with his classes this summer. He stayed home last night so that he could work on his paper for his class tonight. He has a cold but seems to be weathering it pretty well.

We got central air conditioning for the house this summer and it has been a real blessing. Sometimes I get almost too cold.

2008-06-01T18:01:00.000-06:00

We have had a busy weekend. Yesterday we went to Herriman to see our granddaughter, Lexie, baptized. Erick and I went and Larry had to work. It was a great service. Their were three girls from the ward that were baptized yesterday. BJ was asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. Jacob baptized Lexie and confirmed her. The three girls sang the song, "If the Savior stood beside me". Lexie is normally kind of shy but she sang out beautifully and not shyly. I love that primary song. Today we went down and Jacob blessed Abigail Dawn their new daughter. Nikki's sister's baby Natalie was also blessed at the same meeting. I felt like I should bear my testimony at the meeting even though it was not my ward. I started to say what I thought I should say but ended up saying some things that were dictated by the spirit about the blessings of having a son who is righteous. I sincerely meant it but it came from the spirit and I knew it was what I was supposed to say.

Both days we went to Nikki's Mom and Dad's house for something to eat after. Yesterday they had a barbecue and today they had meat trays with croissants with lots of yummy desserts. They have a lovely house with lots of luxuries. It is really a nice home. They have a good attitude though. I told Brent he had certainly been blessed and he replied, "Yes, I have lots of children and grandchildren."

Last night we went to see Hailee's dance recital. She had two yesterday but we were only able to go to the one in the evening. She did a jazz dance last night. It as a well produced recital with a theme that made it enjoyable to watch.

Maren and Landon were involved in the wedding of one of Landon's friends yesterday. They went to the wedding in the morning at the Salt Lake Temple and then to the wedding luncheon and then Maren was a bridesmaid and Brinlie a flower girl for the reception. Landon was stressed because he had to be dressed up all day. Brinlie ripped her dress so Maren was exhausted by the time the wedding was over.

Holly and BJ have been down staying with us. They went to Nate Cragun's wedding reception last night and had a good time seeing ward members. Then they went to see the new Narnia movie with Kirsten and Jon and Kyle. They were out until about 1:00 a.m. Even though they were able to sleep in today they were tired going to Herriman.

BJ got me a new phone last week. I have been trying to figure out what it will do. I got the VZ navigator that Verizon has for their phones and have had fun playing with it all week. I was suprised to find out yesterday that when you ask for directions to somewhere it functions like a GPS. So I have had great fun programming in where we need to go and watching it work.

Friday was the last day of school for our school. I was there until about 5:00 p.m. trying to finish up grades and fines they had to be in by Saturday so they could print and send out report cards. I still need to go back and finish checking out tomorrow but school is out. They are remodeling our school the next two years so it is going to be interesting how things work out.

Larry has been busy working on a paper that he needs to complete for his class tomorrow. He has to work with a team and each one does part of the report and then someone has to compile it all together. I laugh at him though. When I stay home to work on homework that is all I can focus on. He stayed home on Wednesday to work on his paper and when I got home he had done all the laundry and cleaned the kitchen. I teased him about it once and he said that he has to do something else to help him think. So I always like the days he has to work hard on school.

Erick hauled me around last Saturday and this Saturday too. He is also good to work on the yard and do other things around the house. He went on a date on Friday with a girl from his ward named Amber. They went on a hike up on the Ogden Canyon trails. He is trying to get in more dating with school out.

Kyle left to go to his dad's today for a month. He is getting so grown up for his eleven years. He came over this last week and had a trophy that he got for soccer and he had been to a team party at Jake's over the top.

I have been learning Dreamweaver 8 in my one class and Adobe Photoshop in my other class for school at the U of U this summer. I have classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Normally Larry comes and picks me up and then takes me to my class then I ride home with a classmate. On Tuesday he called me at 4:00 p.m. and said that he was stuck in traffic. I called Erick and Maren but they were committed to doing something with Erick's old friend Lynette. So I went out and got on the bus and rode down to Salt Lake. At that point I was picked up by Larry and got to class only 10 minutes late. On Wednesday I had an appointment at the U of U with a professor and because Larry had stayed home to work on his paper I tried riding the bus to Salt Lake and picking up the TRAX flex train to the U. I was about 50 minutes late for my appointment but I learned alot about TRAX. I then rode the TRAX back to downtown and took the new Frontrunner train to Davis county home. I could do all that for free because I am a student and can get a UTA pass at the U. It was a real adventure. The next day I took the bus and TRAX to the U of U for my class and got there early because I had learned what I needed to know to catch the right busses and trains so I didn't have to wait so long.

It was cold and rainy last weekend but it has gradually warmed up all week and today it was in the 90's part of the day on the car thermometer.

Well I have after lunch coma so I will finish for now.

2008-05-25T21:49:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day.

Nathan called today and said that they were having warm weather and that they had banana peppers, tomatoes, jalapenos, corn, artichokes, and other things growing in pots at their house. The peppers and Tomatoes are getting ripe! I guess that is an advantage of living in the south. David was excited about the plants and that they had rearranged their house and he had a new room. Isaac told me about a "scary movie" they had gone to see. It turned out to be the new Indiana Jones movie that just came out. They had gone to a drive in. Sammie was not feeling very good today.

Maren and Landon, Kirsten and John and Kyle, and BJ and Holly went to the drive in here last night to watch Indiana Jones also so that must have been the thing to do in our family this week. We tended Brinlie and she was showing me the actions to "Popcorn popping on the Apricot tree." She also had a good time with Uncle Erick on the trampoline. She loves to do "Ring around the rosies" on the tramp.

BJ helped me get a new phone called the Flip phone through his work that I can take pictures with that are 3 megapixel. I spent the day yesterday trying to get that going and working on homework and talking to a sales person for air-conditioning. Erick was nice enough to take me around while Larry was at work.

I was really excited because 11 of 28 of my students passed the state foods test. That is the most I have had pass before in about 8 years of teaching. The average for the test is about 37% that pass with 80% or above so I am within the averages for the state.

Larry and Erick worked really hard in the yard and cleaned off the patic yesterday. It looks better but we have so much to do in the yard still. I am excited though because we are further along on our yard this year than we have ever been. It has been a cold rainy week so that has not helped.

Maren and Landon went to Roosevelt today to be with Landon's family and they passed the old house. They said there are 4 or 5 houses built in the field next to the house. She said that they are right over onto the property line so they look like they are almost on the house.

Jake and Nikki have a lot coming up. Lexie gets baptized at 10:00 a.m. on the 31st of May and then the next day they are going to be blessing Abby at 1:00 p.m.. They will have a dinner at Nikki's parents house because Nikki's sister Heather had a baby two weeks before her that is also going to be blessed.

Michelle and Daniel are going to a family party for his family tomorrow. They needed us to babysit Friday, I think to go to the temple, but we had already made plans to go see Paul so I did not get to talk to her kids this week. Hailee has a dance recital or competition coming up on Saturday I know.

Uncle Paul Christiansen got in a car wreck last week and broke his hip and femur. He has been in intensive care. Pauline said that they are also worried about some blood clots on his brain. I'm sure he could use all of our prayers. Larry and I went down on Friday to try to see him but he did not want to see us. Marcia had already left to go home so we talked to her on the phone. The trip was not wasted though because we had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins and had a good talk with them.

Tomorrow is Grandpa Jenkins's family reunion at Jay Neiderhausers in Heber. We are going there and Maren and Landon are meeting us. BJ and Holly are coming down to go with us and Erick is going. I don't know about the others.

They had some great talks today in Sacrament meeting on repentance. The pointed out that unless you have faith in Christ and turn to him you have not truly repented even thought you may have stopped what you are doing. I have found that turning to him for anything always turns out for the best. He is truly there and will answer your prayers if you will just ask.

Well it is past my bedtime. Have a good Memorial Day

2008-05-11T20:54:00.000-06:00

This week I was able to catch up on alot of work at school. But last week was a really busy week. Thursday Jacob and Nikki's baby came a month early. She weighed 7 lbs. and 8 oz. and was 19 inches long. They are naming her Abigail Dawn. She is a cute thing. Nikki has some pictures on snapfish.

Last Friday Holly graduated with her associates from Weber in Nursing which apparently is what is an RN now. We went to her graduation on Friday and then went to Salt Lake to see the new baby.

Last Saturday Larry graduated with his Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix culminating 6 years of hard work. A picture of those who where there is attached. That evening Jeff and Misty took us to the Roof restaurant in Salt Lake City to celebrate.

This weekend was Mother's Day. Erick and Maren had organized all the kids to help them get Larry and I a new stove for the kitchen. The one that was there was the stove that was in the house and I have never liked it. The new one has ceramic top and electric clean so I am much happier with it. I really appreciated getting it. It is also the Father's Day present for Larry because he does a lot of cooking also. I attached a picture so those who contributed that are far away could see what they paid for.

Well it is past my bedtime. Maren and Landon just came from their trip to Disneyland this week so I had to stop and now it is too late to write much more.

2008-03-30T20:14:00.000-06:00

Today I have tried to do something but have not felt like doing anything. It snowed most of the day today but it was a light snow that melted on impact. I think the weather probably was activating my arthritis. Larry and I went to choir and to church. After eating a good breakfast we realized that it was Fast sunday because of General Conference next week so that was frustrating but Larry has to eat anyway because of his diabetes. I felt the spirit at Sacrament meeting despite the fact that I was struggling physically.

Yesterday was an exciting day for two reasons. Maren and Landon and Brinlie were sealed in the Bountiful Temple yesterday. It was a beautiful ceremony and went well. Some people had told Maren that sometimes the children cry but Brinlie was an angel and enjoyed the whole thing. The person who sealed them said that she was amazing! The other reason that the day was exciting was because Larry went into extreme pain after the ceremony and I had to take him to the hospital emergency room. We had visions of a hernia or appendicitis but it turned out to be Kidney stones and after they got some pain medicine in him he has been okay. He even went to church and choir today but he slept some this afternoon. He is supposed to go to a urologist tomorrow to see if they can so more as the stone has not passed to his bladder.

Larry is graduating from the University of Phoenix on May 3 at 10:00 a.m. I am really proud of him. He has earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. He is now working on a Master's in Business Administration he is supposed to be finished with that next year.

Jeff called today and they are coming for Larry's graduation on the 3rd of May. They wanted us to go out to dinner that night with them. Grammy is coming also. I thought that was nice of her. Jeff said it snowed there today so the kids were thrilled. They really like it in Seattle.

Nathan is busy just trying to learn to fly. He was able to get an extension so he can retake his test he was worrying about. David had a school program this week. Isaac is getting potty trained and he spent about 15 minutes last Monday talking to me on the phone so he is really getting to be a talker. Sammy is trying to walk. Sara is trying to hold it all together.

BJ has been complaining that he didn't have a job in the ward they are in so the Lord listened and today he was called to be the Finance Secretary to the Bishop. He was feeling a little overwhelmed but he will do okay. Holly is busy preparing to graduate this spring. She will graduate on the 2nd or 3rd of May at Weber. We are praying for the 2nd so it is not the same day as Larry's graduation. but whatever comes we will work something out.

Kirsten has been busy trying to do extra work at night. I think she is really pushing it. Jon works from 3 to midnight so she is alone with Kyle and feels like she has the time. Kyle has a ballroom dance competition on April 18th at 7:00 p.m. if any one would like to come. The did really well in the fall and took first place.

We had Michelle and Dan and the kids over for dinner last Sunday. They we all played phase 10 for a while. We had a good time. Maren and Landon ended up coming also so Brinlie was able to play with Kallise and we all had a good visit. Nathan also called and we were able to talk to him.

Friday night we tended Michelle's kids while they went to an adult ward activity. The kids are fun. Ethan always wants to play something on the super nintendo that we have or the computer. Hailee usually visits more. She was really hyper but it felt good because she hasn't felt good for a while and it was the first time in a long time she seemed like herself. Jaron and Kallise went for the cookies but I didn't have any. So I fed them all some of our Easter candy. Jaron and Hailee also ate a TV dinner so they must be growing.

Erick has been working and going to school a lot so he is seldom home. He did go to several ward activities this weekend, so he wasn't working all weekend. His friend Lynnette got engaged to someone else so he was suffering withdrawal for awhile but he is finding some other girls to date.

Aunt Marva Neiderhauser fell flat on her face on Friday and broke her nose and really banged up her face so she called and was not able to come to Maren's sealing. We need to pray for her.

Kathy and Kelly Frandsen came for the sealing so I told Maren that must be a sign that her dad was pleased. Kathy is John's niece.

Well it is past my bedtime when I get up so early. Hope to be writing more again before next month but who knows?

2008-02-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

Larry is watching the Super Bowl and working on a paper for his class. I laughed because he decided he did not want to go to choir because he thinks he does not sing well enough. Well today they called him to be the Choir president for our ward. He accused me of having something to do with it but it was just the Lord saying "Uhhem".

I have felt better this week. I am somewhat approaching normal. My knees are doing very well but I am just tired. I panic yesterday because I realized that I was supposed to be reading six chapters for my Master's class and I thought I only had one to read the last three weeks so we are in fast forward trying to catch up.

We bought a snow blower this week so Erick won't be so overwhelmed with school and work and the snowstorms everyother day. Larry and I felt like we were helped by providence to find one because he went to three places and everyone said there are no more even in the warehouses. The Larry found one on the floor at Home Depot that they did not think they had and was able to purchase that. He actually came home and did the eight inches we got on Friday morning. It was beautiful yesterday but it is snowing a lot again today so it probably will not be a waste of money.

Last Sunday we celebrated Brinlie's birthday at our house. It was a week late because they were all in Hawaii on her birthday. Maren worked really hard and decorated a birthday cake and got all the food and it was just here because we have a basement for the grandkids to go to. Jimmy and Shelley Coray and their kids, were here along with all our family except the ones out of state. Brinlie had a good time and we all had a good visit. At the end when everyone was getting ready to go Holly got a text from a friend telling her that President Hinckley had died so we all got online and turned on the TV to see if it was true, which it was.

Last night they celebrated Kyle's birthday at Classic Skating. We had Pizza and Brownies with pop at Kirsten and Jon's and then everyone helped take the kids to Classic Fun Center. They spent their time Bouncing on the air blow-ups and playing lazer tag. Larry and I watched all the coats and purses for about 3 hours while everyone else dealt with their kids. I was too tired to do anything else. Kyle's birthday is actually this Wednesday the 6th of February.

Larry had to work all day yesterday and so did Erick but Erick was able to watch President Hinckley's funeral while he worked on the computer. I was at home and spent time exercising and watching the funeral. We also had our basement furnace switch break so I was waiting for the repair man for part of the time. It was a wonderful funeral. Lots of good stories and lessons for everyone and a time of rejoicing in all that President Hinckley has done. I was glad they had it on the television because I was too tired to go anywhere. It was a beautiful day also for the funeral procession and graveside service. Larry said I paid too much for the switch (to the furnace) but that is what he gets for leaving me to take care of it.

Erick and Maren and Landon have been painting her old room downstairs for me. It was Erick's Christmas present to me. They finished it and showed it to me last Monday. It was a surprize. The painted it a sunny orange so it is very bright. They said that when Brinlie saw them putting the color on the undercoat that she said, "You're coloring!" They are planning on putting my sewing supplies in there and maybe the exercise equipment.

I called Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins and Grandma said they had taken her to the emergency room with what they thought was a heart attack but it wasn't. She wouldn't let them do any tests on her heart but she was worried because her cholestoral was a little high when they went to a health fair in Lehi.

Sara met her mom and went to Nashville this weekend for the funeral of a high school friend and to see family. David got to go to a Pizza place to make pizza for a field trip this week. Nathan said that he was pretty excited when he came home. Isaac has had an ear infection. Nathan is still learning to fly.

Daniel painted the entry way to their house while Michelle was at Kyle's party. He is leaving soon for 8-10 days of working in California to train another person. He gets to come home for Valentines but may have to go back after that. Michelle was taking him to the airport tonight. Kallise did not like the jumping at the party but the rest of the kids did. Michelle had to take her to another activity called the pirates. Michelle just called and had a flat tire by Sam's Club so Larry had to go help her.

Jake was busy trying to program a GPS system he got for his phone at the party last night. Nikki had to work. He said that she is feeling pretty good most of the time but not all the time with the pregnancy. Lexie and Ashton both had fun jumping at the party. Lexie missed the lazer tag because the had to wait so late to go through.
The had 12 inches of snow this morning and the snow plows had not been out so their Stake President canceled their Stake Conference, so he said they had a church snow day.

I haven't talk to Jeff and Misty for a while. They do not answer tonight so I assume they are having a good time somewhere. We got pictures from them of the family for Christmas that are really cute in frames from Seattle.

Kirsten and Jon had worked hard for Kyle to have a good party. They had some of Jon's family and some of ours there. They are working hard to implement the Total Money Makeover concepts and making some good head way.

Erick is trying to work his forty hours a week plus go to school and help us out with snow and painting. He did take time to go to a dance activity with some people from his ward last night and enjoyed part of it but a lot of the weekends he is working Friday night and Saturday trying to get his hours in. He was grateful to get the snowblower even though he told me he thought we needed other things more.

BJ was the top sales person at his station this last month so he is feeling good about that. He and Holly have been busy with school and work. They have no TV so they have plenty of time for homework. He was telling me that they do not plow the streets very good in Logan and they have had a lot of snow. He said that the streets were all unplowed on Monday morning when he had to go to class.

Maren and Landon went to see BJ and Holly on Friday and got Maren a new phone and took them a table that Maren and Landon did not need anymore. She said they had a good time. They went to dinner

Brinlie was really good the night they came to paint. She sat on the bed and colored and watched Beauty and the Beast. I was really tired but maybe she knew that because she usually is a lot more active. She is starting to talk in sentences. She was a real nightmare last night at the party. Maren was tired because she had worked all day and had a lot of clients and she wanted to bounce and climb but she could not climb herself. Landon was good to go in with her but she really had a fit when he went into Lazer tag and didn't take her. She was probably tired because it was about 9:30 p.m.

Adrienne and Drayton and their kids came to the party as well which was pretty good considering it was Adrienne's birthday. She had celebrated it the night before. Adrienne is my niece. It was fun to see and spend time with them.

Well Larry was thouroughly disgusted about the Patriots letting the Giants win before he left so he was not happy with the ending but it was exciting to watch.

I am going to bed.

2008-01-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

This week has been one of the hardest of my life. I went back to school and I did okay but I really don't have the stamina for all day yet so I came home ready to go to bed every night. It was a busy week and coming back from a substitute is always hard and this time was no different. We were finishing up sewing in the other teacher's room and students were supposed to be finished by Tuesday but they were about three days behind so we had to push hard to get out of the sewing room. It is also the end of the term so I have to finish up grades and everyone wanted to know what they were missing and I did not know somethings. Friday I was really hurting when I came home. I still have grades to finish before Tuesday so I am glad for the holiday.

Larry and Erick were sick all week too. Larry has not been that sick since I have known him. He told Michelle today he has not been that sick ever. He went to bed when we got home Monday and did not get out except to go to the Doctor and the bathroom until today. He went to church today and teased me this morning so I think he is on the mend but he is still not talking good. He has had a bad cough and other complications. The doctor thought he had pertussus but when the antibiotic did not help he decided that it was probably viral. Erick stayed home all day on Friday and seems to be doing okay now but he was not feeling well during the week. He seemed to have the same thing, a bad cough etc.

Nathan has called a few times. He sent me a picture of David's favorite shirt that I will try to post. It looks like maybe they got it when they went to Georgia to see Amber and Nate Robison. I have posted a link to Sara's blog that will help you to see what she is up to. She has an exciting blog. I don't know where she finds all these things. David talked to me tonight. He was all excited about a game they can play online with a virtual pet.

Michelle and Daniel were just over and Daniel helped me to figure out how to post the links. It is easier than it used to be. There is a link to Daniel's blog. Michelle is all caught up in controversies at the charter school the kids are in. She has spent a lot of time talking to Larry about the situation. She is president of the parent council and is really getting her introduction to the politics of school. They are taking their kids for an overnight retreat tomorrow to one of the condos they have.

Jake and Nikki are having a girl it looks like from her blog. She has posted the ultrasound pictures if you are interested. She is due in May so she says that she is past the half way mark. Ashton has been sick with this stuff also Jake said. Lexie is back in school this month.

Jeff and Misty sent pictures of the family this week. The kids are growing so big. Leah is going to have her tonisls and adenoids out on the 24th of January. Misty has a blog now also so she has posted more about that. Her's is the one about "under the table and dreaming." They are going to California soon to see Grammy and they are planning to come for Larry's graduation in May.

Kirsten and Jon are working opposite hours lately. Jon got a promotion to Journeyman but it means he has to work from 3:00 p.m. until midnight. Kirsten is still working from 8:00 to 5:00 p.m. Kyle has a pinewood derby this week that they are building a car for. They had the girls this weekend so they have been busy.

Erick is really busy with school and work this semester. He came home a little overwhelmed the first day of school but he is doing better now, he had Larry give him a blessing. He has had to work late on some days and Saturdays to make his hours lately but he is lucky to have a job that will let him do that. He had a good time last week at a ward family home evening bowling night he went to so he does get out some. Lynette is up tonight, but they are just friends.

BJ and Holly have been busy with work and school also the last three weeks. BJ was down last weekend for his Naval Reserve so we got to see him for a few minutes. He had to get a camaflauge uniform ready to wear last weekend so he stopped in to sew on the name tags. He said that they were able to get a laptop computer with some of the school loan money they had so they have that for school.

Maren and Landon and Brinlie have been in Hawaii for the last week with Landon's family. That is the present they got from Evan and Shirley for Christmas. She has called a couple of times and they picked a good time to go. It is in the 70's over there and it has been in the 20's and 30's here. It is supposed to snow again this weekend sometime. They have had a big house to live in that the family rented. She said that Brinlie has been good but she has had her moments when she wanted to be down and they had to hold her and she was not happy, like on a boat out sightseeing for whales.

Well I will post David's picture and call it a night.

2008-01-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

I just pulled my TED hose on for the night. I swear they make your wear those after surgery because they want you to get your arobic exercise trying to put them on. I have been grateful they have not bothered me as much as last surgery. They seem to make my leg feel better. I have been trying to not take my extra percocet today and for the most part I was successful except for once this afternoon. It has been good to see that I may be able to get off the pain medications without having to go cold turkey and get sick. I feel like the spirit is helping me to know what to do and to have the strength. But I called Nathan to wish him a happy birthday and started crying telling him about the day so I am still on the edge.

Nathan is 34 today. It is hard to believe that. I don't feel old except for the arthritis.

We had the family Christmas party last night. It was great. Everyone except Nikki was able to come. We missed her. We had lots of food and good conversation. Larry and I were able to give the kids their presents and I was able to enjoy it better than I think I would have at Christmas. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Larry and I didn't fix anything except a turkey but we have plenty of food for the week that was left here.

Erick had an Italian dinner for some girls in his ward on Saturday evening. He always fixes enough for 15 even though there are six coming so we also have plenty of that to eat this week.

Larry was home all day today working on a presentation for his final class for his bachelor degree. He will have it offically once this class is finished. He will not be able to walk for his graduation until the first weekend in May but I am really proud of his accomplishment and hope that many of you can plan to be at his graduation in May.

Maren came over with Brinlie in the afternoon and we had a good talk. She never seems to get upset when I tell her the same stories over and over. They gave me a spoon display so she helped me get up the display this afternoon with all the spoons that my kids have brought me over the years. I was surprized at how many I had but now I need you all to bring me spoons from where you go around the world to fill up the case.

I have been thinking lately how lucky I am to have such a good family. I appreciate all they do for me and help me to learn. I am grateful that many of you are getting blogs that help us to know what is going on in your lives. Thank you for being good human beings. I appreciate all that you do to help me and love me.

2008-01-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

I was able to sleep last night from 9:30 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. I considered that a miracle and felt like I had been blessed by the Lord for taking time to say my prayers even though I was hurting a lot. Larry got up at about the time I went to bed and put ice in the cooler wrap for my leg. He had been asleep but he got up and did that and it helped to keep the swelling down. I have felt like I am getting more control over the pain but I am still on the pain pills. There was a freedom in my spirit today and I didn't feel the pain as much as yesterday. I wrapped presents for the family Christmas party this Sunday, and read my email and worked on the budget. It is amazing what I can accomplish while laying on the bed with my leg in a machine.

2007-12-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

Well, It says that the last time I published anything on the blog was October so I guess I have been rather deliquent. We had problems with only one computer working online but we have solved that problem so today I can work online from my bed where I am recouperating from another knee replacement, this time on my left knee.

I had the surgery on December 17th. So it has been about 13 days. I have done very well. I have been walking on it well from almost the start. I have a better pain medication for me that does not give me anxiety attacks so that has been helpful.

Larry as usual has been very helpful. He works hard to make sure everything I need is in place before he leaves to go to work. He is really patient with me and does laundry and dishes so that we can have what we need clean.

Erick has been good to help also. He fixed dinner for Christmas with Larry's help and he has kept the walks shoveled with all the storms we have been having for the season in Utah.

Erick made his famous Italian lasagna for Christmas dinner. BJ and Holly were here and Maren and Landon came also. Maren made Baklava for dessert so it was a great dinner. Jake was able to come up earlier in the afternoon with the kids while Nikki worked but they left to have dinner with her in the evening.

Kirsten and her family and Maren and her family came on Christmas Eve long enough to read the Christmas story from the scriptures and unwrap "the" Christmas Eve present and then they went home to prepare for Santa coming.

We all pitched in and bought Larry a laptop computer that he can use for school for his Christmas present. We gave it to him early on the 16th when it came so he could use it for his classes. He has needed a computer ever since the last laptop whe had died. Larry bought me a better watch for Christmas and we also got the wireless internet for at home so we can use the laptop at home.

We are not haveing the family "Christmas" Party until next Sunday because of the conflict in the family on times we could get together. Jeff and Nathan and their famiies will not be able to come anyway because of the distance they live away. I told Kirsten she was in charge this year because of my needing to recover from surgery so that is when she decided that we could all get together.

Michelle and Daniel went to California for Christmas to spend the time with "Grammy" Marie. While they were there they got to see "Wicked" and they went to Disneyland. They got together with Marie's family on Christmas Eve and opened presents.

Nathan and Sara had Christmas with her Mom in Alabama and then they left at the end of the week to go to Tenneesse to have Christmas with Sara's dad and all the family. Nathan was excited because he passed the first third of his flight lessons before the break for Christmas. The boys are all growing and learning to talk better everyday. They spent alot of time telling me about their Christmas. Isaac (or Ike-Ike) took the phone and took me on a tour of the apartment, showing me all they had for Christmas. It was not a camera phone however.

Jake helped me get the computer for Larry through the Military exchange. We were able to get a backpack too go with it with the Air Force Logo on it. He ordered it and brought it up on the 16th and wrapped it for us and then we were able to get together at Kirstens house and give it to him. Nikki has to work a lot of night lately so we do not get to see her as much as we would like. Ashton spent more time talking to me on Christmas than he has for quite a while. Lexie likes to chase Uncle Erick and Uncle BJ and Aunt Holly.

Matthew had his third birthday on the 6th of December. They went to Chuck-e-Cheeses for his birthday and then got together latter for a Family party at Misty's mom's I think. Jeff called on Christmas and had the kids sing Merry Christmas to Larry. We had a long talk with him.

Kirsten made quilts for all of her kid's beds and for the bed she and Jon have for Christmas. She had all of us help her on the 16th with Kyle's quilt. She almost had bitten off more than she could chew......but she got them done. They had the kids for Christmas and the first part of the holiday but they have been at their other parent for the last part of the vacation and so that is part of the reason our party is so late. Jon's brother Allen has been living with them for a while but he is leaving this week to go to Iraq with the Air Force.

Erick put up the Christmas decorations for us this year. We have been kind of scrooges because of all we had to do with work and school. It looks nice and I was grateful that he would take the time to do it for us. He is looking for things to do on the house lately now that school is out and he has time to worry about it before he gets the next set of classes. I guess we will leave the Christmas decorations up until next week so we can have them for the party.

BJ took Holly to Las Vegas for her birthday and they went to the Bowl game there that BYU played against UCLA. He was thrilled with the game. Especially the ending where they were able to block the kick by UCLA to win the game 17-16. He called us at the end of the game about as excited as a person can get. He said that he almost got killed though because their tickets were in the UCLA section. They came home through the storm on Christmas Eve and were only an hour and a half late for Holly's famiy Christmas party because of the snow.

Maren is just getting over a cold that she had for Christmas. They had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas. She really had fun buying the presents that she gave this year. But she was really proud of the fact they did not overspend. Brinlie is really growing. She is getting taller and talking all the time. She repeats everything that people say to her. Landon is really excited about the snow so he can go snowboarding but Maren is sad because she cannot go while she is pregnant. They are expecting in July.

2007-10-21T18:40:00.000-06:00

Well the wedding is over and BJ and Holly are officially married. It went well yesterday. It rained as predicted and snowed at times but not so much that we could not do what needed to be done. We went to the temple at 9:30 a.m. The sealer that they had, John Kunz, was very funny but had some great messages behind his humor. There was a great spirit in the room and I think Holly is the first bride I have seen cry (I hope for joy) as they were being sealed. She looked beautiful and BJ was radient. It was really raining when we got out of the temple so we took a lot of the pictures downstairs by the atrium that the Bountiful temple has. It cleared up during the wedding luncheon so BJ and Holly were able to go back to get a few pictures outside.

We had the wedding luncheon at the Eldredge Manor. It was really nice and a comfortable atmosphere. They had a great video player over the fireplace so everyone could see the video that Amanda had made of their growing up and growing together days. The fireplace was lit to match the weather. The food was good and we had almost every place setting covered so that relieved a lot of worries.

We drove to Logan for the reception about 4:30 p.m. It was really hailing around North Ogden and it was snowing in Sardine Canyon. I thought maybe it would continue to storm all night as had been predicted but people coming through the line later said it was not bad and that it had dried out. We drove home on mostly dry roads. I apparently snowed three inches in Kaysville during the time of the reception so there was only one brave couple from the ward that made it. Several famiy members like Kimo Coray and Craig and Corinne came and said it was not bad after you got past Kaysville/Layton area.

The Alumni House in Logan is a great place for a reception. We had a good time. Amanda took more pictures of the family. Hopefully the pictures will be on her website soon so you can all see them. Erick took some pictures she didn't get like of BJ and Holly trying to get into their car after the wedding whem all of their brothers and sisters and friends had decorated and stuffed it with ballons and wrapped it in cellophane. Maybe I can get him to help me post some of those this week. I think that everyone we knew from Logan area came to the reception and there were alot of people from Holly's hometown of Cove there.

We went to dinner with Kirsten and Jon and Maren and Landon and their children after the wedding reception at a place called the Coppermill on Main Street in Logan. We had a good talk and it was good food. Larry and I ordered a 12 oz. Prime Rib to share. When we got it, it was about 2 inches thick and looked more like 22 oz. I was sure glad we were sharing. Even Larry could not finish his piece.

I was worried that the drive home would be bad. But it was mostly dry all the way. The three inches of snow in Kaysville had even melted and the streets were just wet. I was worried about whether BJ and Holly had made it to Park City where they were going okay so I called and they were already in Park City when we got home. (They did not stop to eat.) I felt like we had been really blessed because the weather men had been predicting snow all night and Sunday morning. We need the water but I was grateful that it did not snow as much as expected.

We had all our family to the wedding except Nathan and his family and Jeff and his family. Some of the highlights for me were watching Hailee, Lexie, Kallise and Brinlie twirl in their dresses in front of the line. Brinlie layed on the floor and put her legs in the air and kicked to her hearts content with her dress up above her face and her diaper waving in the air. Kyle looked so handsome and he was able to wear one of the regular pink ties that all the guys had. Ashton talked to me like he liked me and told me about a car he has at his other grandma's that he has to have a helmet for. Hailee kept sitting by me at the luncheon and wanting a hug. Uncle Erick was the offical babysitter at the luncheon and was playing with the kids tossing them in the air especially Jaron. Erick introduce Lynnette as his "mutual friend" at the luncheon so his siblings teased him all day because they think they are in love and just do not want to admit it to each other. Michelle kept telling Ethan to sit on his knees for one of the pictures and he would do that. Finally she communicated that he needed to kneel and not sit to be seen.

It was good to see Ray and Sally Hunsaker, they were some of our best friends from when John and I first got married. I was glad that Aunt Marva and Uncle Charles finally had to just drive across town to be at the wedding. They have been so good to travel long distances to other weddings we have had. Steve and Christy Kropp and Ben were there. All of my brothers and sisters or part of their family made it to either the luncheon or the reception so that was nice. Nathan called BJ at 5:45 a.m. to talk so BJ got an early start.

Well Maren and Landon are here to play games with us so see you soon.

2007-10-14T15:48:00.000-06:00

Well I have not posted for a long time. We only have one computer that I can get to work on the internet and I can't make myself move the other one so I can get to a computer on Sundays. Larry was using it a lot but then they changed his class to Monday and he doesn't have one until the 22 of October so he doesn't need it so much right now for homework. He got all of his homework done for the first class of a new series and rushed down there for his class on the Tuesday following his last class and when he got there he found out he did not have class for three weeks and this next class is on Monday so he is set when that day comes.

We had a great party when BJ came home. Larry barbequed several things and we had the trimmings to go with it. We sang Happy Birthday to Daniel and had a good time eating cake and lemon squares with ice cream. Holly stayed the weekend and we have some good pictures of her and BJ together if I can get them from BJ.

So now it is October and we have October birthdays to celebrate today. Kirsten decided to have it at her house because Brooke and Jon both have October birthdays and she is also inviting Jon's family. We are going up there at 5:00 p.m. It is also Jake and Leah's birthday in October. Jake with be here after he gets off his weekend guard and we had to mail Leah her birthday now that they are in Washington. We talked to her around her birthday and she said it rains alot in Washington but she likes it there.

We got all the dresses for the wedding but now Nathan and Sara and Jeff and Misty cannot come to the wedding. We were disappointed but it is fairly expensive and Jeff and Nathan could not get off of work.

The family had a shower for Holly last weekend and they got a lot of groceries for their kitchen. She has had a couple of other showers also and the wedding presents are starting to trickle in from people who do not want to go to Logan for the wedding reception. And Holly's extended family does not want to come to Bountiful for the wedding dinner!

Scott Hermansen my nephew is in the LDS Hospital in a drug induced coma and has been for the last 10 days. He has some rare syndrome that they have just discovered in the last few years that turns the tissues in the body paper thin and makes it so it is very hard to breath. Because it starts out like a cold it is hard to diagnois and he has been going to doctors for about 10 months trying to find out what he has. A doctor in St George finally diagnoised it correctly and sent him to LDS for a treatment but when they did the treatment they tore his trachea so they had to put him in the coma to heal after the surgery they did to repair it. I saw Mallory, his wife, yesterday and she said that they were hopeful that he was healing and coming out of the coma, although the disease has a two to five year life expectancy after they find it, so the prospects are not good. The family fasted for him today and could use your prayers and contact at this time.

BJ and Holly are eagerly anticipating their wedding. They are getting married at 10:00 a.m. on the 20th of October and then we are having a wedding dinner at Eldrege Manor in Bountiful at noon. The reception is that night at the Alumni House in Logan from 6:30-8:30 p.m. We just got the invitations and got them out this week so you should have received an invitation by now.

Erick has had Fall break from school this week so he has had a little more time. He mowed the lawn and cleaned the downstairs. He brought in the Herbs that he planted in planters and made a nice grouping of them downstairs by the window. So maybe we can have fresh herbs to cook with all winter.

Maren and Landon had a good time in Montana and Yellowstone. Now they are planning to go to Disneyland and then to Las Vegas for Halloween. Landon's business always has a convention in Las Vegas at that time. Brinlie is going to be a pirate and she carries the costume around saying "Pirate, on; Pirate, cute." She is really getting good at talking and singing so you understand her.

Kirsten has been going shopping with me helping me pick out clothes for Kennedy for the wedding and clothes for me for the wedding. She had some good ideas for helping me to look "with it." Jon is finishing up an internship that will make it easier for him to get a promotion. Kyle is just finishing up soccer. We went to watch him play in the rain about two weeks ago .

I went down to Lexie's soccer game yesterday. It rained but not as bad as the last two weekends. We went to the Artic Cirle and got treats after. Ashton and Lexie had fun playing on the playground there and Lexie let the cat out of the bag that Jake and Nikki are expecting in May. There are some fun pictures of Ashton on Nikki's blog.

Michelle has been busy as usual. The kids are still working on their choir and instrument lessons. Kalisse can say "I love you" now. She is really getting more grown up. Ethan has his last soccer game next week and I didn't make it to one of his games yet so I guess I will have to go in the spring. Daniel says he is still working and mowing the lawn for fun.

Jeff hurt his leg working out so he is hurting. Leah is riding a bike without training wheels now. Matthew is terrorizing Owen by taking away his toys to make him scream. And, Owen is running around and talking more and more. Misty works from 8:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. and Jeff works during the days.

Sara's mom is really sick again. Sara mentioned on her blog that she went in the hospital again. Nathan and Sara were fasting for her today. We probably ought to mention her in our prayers also. Nathan is flying helicopters now and trying not to crash them. He has been trying to talk Landon into joining and coming down there to stay. They got an older used car so they would have something else to get around in so Sara is not always stranded. Nathan drives the older car. Sara has some cute pictures of the kids on her blog.

Well it is bedtime for me and Larry. Hope you have a good week.

2007-09-23T16:33:00.000-06:00

Today we went to Kirsten and Jon's ward to watch their kids in the Primary presentation. They all did a good job singing and doing their parts. They had parts that were a lot longer than the parts our primary did but then our primary is about twice as big.

Larry is taking a nap right now. He has been tired again lately. We bought the book "Total Money Makeover" and have been reading that together to learn some tips for getting out of debt. We read it yesterday as we went to Logan. We went to Logan to get Larry measured for a Tux for BJ and Holly's wedding. We got that taken care of and then he saw a suit on sale there for $99. It was a good deal because it was normally a $300.00 suit so we got it for him. Then we met Holly at the mall to look for dresses for the granddaughters for the wedding and while Holly and I were looking for dresses Larry traded in his phone for free for a new one on Verison's new every two program so he now has a new phone.

I went back to school full time this week. I did okay during the day but I was surprised at how tired I was in the evening. I wanted to go to bed everyday about 7:30 p.m. or earlier. My neice, Amy, got married on Thursday and I took the day off so that I would not be too tired to enjoy the experience. But I made it through the rest of the days okay and even relatively organized.

My knee is doing really well and it is great to be able to do things that I could not do before. It still has days it hurts or bugs me but I have found that on the days I exercise it feels better so that encourages me to exersize.

BJ will be home on Friday from his naval A school. We aren't sure what time yet. We are having a birthday party for Daniel and Ashton on Sunday the 30th. Everyone who can come should be able to see BJ and I know he is looking forward to seeing each of you. And of course I know that some of you already had other plans.

Jeff called on Grandparents day and had the kids wish us a happy grandparents day. It was cute to hear them even though he said that Leah was not very happy about life at the time. They were getting too close to bed time.

Maren and Landon have been busy lately. They left today to celebrate their 2nd anniversary. Shirley got to tend Brinlie because they are staying overnight. Brinlie would be happy with that because she is not very happy being with me right now. We went to Amy's wedding reception on Friday and Maren and Landon were just leaving, I went to give Brinlie a hug and she pushed me away and said "NO!" She is a real parent's baby lately. She is starting to sing the words to songs she learns from TV. and say a quite a few words. Maren and Landon are going to Montana next weekend for Landon's cousins wedding so they probably will not be here for the family party.

Jake and Nikki had Ashton's birthday on the ninth at their house. We had a fun time with all our family and Nikki's there. Ashton got a lot of really nice toys but he was really excited about a raceway that Maren and Landon gave him. He really likes cars, like his dad. Jake and Nikki and family are going to Las Vegas this weekend with Nikki's parents so they will not be here for the family party but Ashton had his family celebration anyway and he is sure a cute 2 year old.

Lexie, Ethan, and Kyle have all started soccer again this fall and seem to be having a good time playing. I am hoping to get to at least one of their games this fall.

Michelle went for a stomach scope last Monday. They found polyps. They gave her some medication for it. They haven't told her anything else. But, Daniel says the medication they gave her is known to cause polyps!! Daniel is working everyday and for extra curricular activity he mows the lawn. Hailee is in piano lessons and two dance classes. Michelle is the leader of the Christmas program at school this year again (As well as being President of the parent organization). Jaron is in pre-school and joy school and in choir. Kallise is singing and talking but they don't know yet what the words are.

Nathan is busy a lot with his school. Sara says that he is gone for about 12 hours each day with classes and studying. Sara is stuck at home when he has to take the car because they only have one car. Sammy has two teeth and is starting to sit up. Issac is talking in sentences but only his mother can understand him. David is enjoying school. He rides the bus. He got the things we sent to his class.

Erick is busy with school and work. He works alot on Friday and Saturday. He did go to a party on Saturday night with some people in his ward. They put him in as Elders Quorum Secretary so he is busy with responsiblities related to that. He went with us to Amy's wedding at the temple and to Ashton's birthday so we get to spend sometime with him. He does not go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays so sometimes he lets me use his truck. The person who was mowing our lawn quit so he is now mowing our lawn when Larry or I can't.

It has been pouring down rain several times today and we are supposed to get snow in the mountains tonight so I guess Fall is more than officially here.

2007-09-02T21:15:00.000-06:00

I have had a few days this week that have approached feeling normal. Thursday I was worried about how long the day was. I went to physical therapy in the morning, which takes about 2 hours. Then I went to school for the afternoon. I was actually able to teach a class that I was somewhat enthusiastic and fun about my teaching. I finished my homework for the U on my prep period and then felt good going to class. I was much more alert this week. It really surprised me. It was a good day except for the fact that I ruined the keyboard on the new computer at home by spilling a pop on it.

There was one benefit to not being able to eat much this last two weeks. I had to go buy some new clothes because my clothes do not fit. I was excited that I am finally down to a 16 Women's size. I haven't been that small since the first year I moved to Kaysville. Kirsten took me to the mall with her yesterday and helped me find some things. It was fun to spend the time with her. It was funny too because while I was there I saw my cousin Susan who lives in Lyman,Wyoming shopping at the same store. We had a great short visit. I couln't believe that she had come so far to go shopping. But there is not much in Lyman.

I think it has been good for me to start school even for a half day. I think it has picked me up to have to do something, but it has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I felt like I was in a fog on Wednesday, but Thursday and Friday went better.

Larry made the switch to balance transfers on Saturday so he had to be to work at 7:00 a.m. It has been really nice while I have been recovering that he has had a flexible schedule so some days he was able to stay home longer and help me stay sane. But, all that is in the past and he now has to be to work at 7:00 a.m. But if he goes early he can come home earlier so that is great. It is so nice to have a patient loving husband that thinks you are wonderful.

Larry's sister Judy said they were able to escape the floods where they were. They did a lot of preparation but the floods did not make it to them.

Nathan said it was a really stressful week for them in Alabama. He had a stressful class and Sammy has been crying alot because of seperation anxiety, so both he and Sara are frustrated.

Michelle went to the hospital last week because stomach pains that she had been having for about a month intensified. The decided that she has an ulcer but that she had a virus also on top of it. She says that she is feeling better with the medicine that they gave her. I teased her because she didn't call and tell us. We found out when a lady that is in her ward ask Kirsten at work how she was doing. So we finally found out on Thursday.

Ashton's Birthday party is going to be on Sunday the 9th of Sept. at 6:00 p.m. at Jake and Nikki's. Everyone is invited. Nikki is trying to get you an invite out but she has been working a lot lately. She has been working weekends about twice a month as well as during the week. They bought Jake a new car this week because they have had so much trouble with the one he bought about 8 months ago. They have had to have two transmissions put into it in that time and they would not take it back as a lemon because with the new transmission they said it was fixed. Lexie is playing soccer again starting next week and Jake also has to be to Governor's day so they are going to be busy Saturday.

Jeff and Misty moved into a house in Tacoma, Washington last week. He said they felt very fortunate to find it because many people are having to live in 2 bedroom apartments. If you need the address call me. They seem to like where they are. They were having a birthday dinner for Misty's birthday with her family tonight.

Kirsten was busy dealing with BJ's car registration this week. He had her get the navy plates to put on it. They had the girls this weekend and took them shopping for shoes. I was glad that Kirsten could take me shopping with her because I had no car because Larry was at work and Erick went to the Mountain Man Rendezvous at Fort Bridger with Lynnette. The kids thought that it was real novel that I had lost so much weight that my clothes did not fit.

Erick had fun at the rendezvous. I was surprized it did not take them longer. He left here at noon and had to pick Lynnette up in Sandy and he was back again at 11:00 p.m. after taking her home. He decided to go to this activity because he is taking a dance and cultural diversity class at the U and has to go to several cultural festivals like this.

Holly went back to see BJ on Saturday morning. She said that her plane would either leave at midnight or 6:00 a.m. She ended up having to change her flight because of a class change at USU that made it so she had to stay for Friday. When I talked to Nathan he said that he had talked to BJ in the morning and she was not getting in until 2:00 p.m. so I assume that she didn't leave until 6:00 a.m. BJ said he was going to take her to the Cheesecake Factory restaurant there because she loves cheesecake. He hasn't called so I assume they are having a good time.

Maren and Landon came by tonight and we played Uno. They went to Fayette earlier in the day for Landon's Brother's baby blessing. They stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's and Grandpa had the rocker that I had had for my kids fixed for them. Grandpa did a really nice job. Brinlie is really beginning to talk. Maren asked her about the animals on my FHE board and she could tell us that the cat said, mew mew and the birdie said, cheep, cheep. She was sure a Moma and Daddy's girl tonight. she didn't want to talk to us until she could say good bye.

My sister Kathy's daughter, Amy, is getting married on the 20th of Sept. They have been thinking about it all summer but didn't set the date until this week. They are getting married in the Salt Lake Temple at 4:30 p.m. I know his name is David but I don't remember the last name. Annette has motivated us to have a shower for her at Mom and Dad's this weekend on Saturday at noon. It is the least we can do after Kathy has had so many showers for our children.

It is also Mom's 80th birthday this Friday so she was hoping that most of you could come by and see her and come to the shower also. My brothers went down yesterday and painted the garage with the cement paint they have now that makes the finish better. That was their present to mom because she was talking about how it would make things nicer.

Well have a good Labor Day.

2007-08-26T18:38:00.000-06:00

It was good to go to church today. There was a good spirit there that helped me to feel more nourished than I have spiritually. Larry always says that it only takes three weeks of not going to start falling away. I don't know if that is true but I know it felt good to be back at church and feel the spirit. I have felt the spirit many times this week but it was not as nourishing as it was today.

I went off of my narcotic pain medications cold turkey last Saturday after a huge anxiety attack. I found out that I can develop anxiety with Lor-tab and I just went off of it. I also had only been off the oxycodone for only two days and was just taking lor-tab. I have survived but I would not recommend it. I went on aceteminiphen for Saturday but then I had to add ibuprofen every three hours on Sunday just to manage the pain. The doctor said on Sunday that I was half way through so I might as well finish it out but I couldn't eat anything except soda crackers and water for two days. Larry got me some caffeine free Dr. Pepper and I drank that for several days and then on Tuesday I did eat a piece of toast for lunch and Maren and Landon invited me for dinner and I ate a half of French dip sandwich. The next night Kirsten and Jon invited me for dinner and I was able to eat more than a cup of Pasta with chicken. But on my birthday, Thursday, was the first day that I actually had a hunger pain. I have been eating since then but only certain things look good to me still. I can't tell if this is still the effects of the narcotics or if it is just the effect of surgery still on my body.

I looked on line and they said that you should be able to walk with a cane by six weeks. I have been walking with no cane for almost two weeks now and my knee doesn't hurt except when I have to push it in Physical Therapy. So despite the set back with the pain medications I am doing very well. I have been trying to go to school at least half day, some days I have spent longer. My Master's classes at the U of U started on Thursday evening so it was a long day. My bed sure felt good that night. I also am sleeping better. Erick and Larry gave me a blessing promising that I will have the strength to do what I need to do so I am just trying to hang on and work on building up my strength until I feel less vulnerable.

Larry has been a jewel of a nurse. He takes such good care of me and listens to me complain daily. He keeps telling me I am okay and that he loves me so that has been helpful. He also is great on laundry, dishes, getting soda crackers and ice, and pain massage. The washing machine broke down on Thursday and he spent most of the morning trying to fix it but we finally had to call a repair man so we both got a working washing machine for our birthdays. I was really surprized that I found someone who could come on Saturday afternoon.

Larry is interviewing for a new job at Discover. If he wanted to keep the job he has had lately he would have had to move to Phoenix. We are wondering what will come from that but do not know for sure. Larry has also been busy with his classes at the University of Phoenix. He had to go to class on his birthday also this week on Tuesday night because of a final presentation so we ended up going to dinner on Friday for our birthdays.

Nathan called and said that Sara has been sick this week with something diarrehal. He has been learning how to load the helicopter for Medical evacuations so they were in class all week. David is enjoying school. Apparently they have full day kindergarten on the base so he goes all day. They are still calling Isaac, Ike-Ike and he is growing well. Samuel turned over onto his back this week and scared himself to screaming.

Michelle is busy being President of the Parent Organization for the school. The other night Daniel called and had the kids sing, Happy Birthday to me on my phone message and then they each said,"Happy Birthday" It was really cute.

Jake and Nikki have been busy working. Lexie is in school. Jake was up with the kids when we had the August birthday party. Maren said that Nikki came up to get her hair done but she had Landon tend Ashton because I had just had surgery. I was disappointed I didn't get to see them but it was probably for the best.

Jeff came by on Friday of last week and got somethings to take to Misty. He was able to talk to us for a few minutes and then he left to drive all night to try to get to Seattle that next day. I assume he made it. He said that they need to look for a house and get organized and then they will let us know on addresses.

Kirsten and Jon have been busy trying to find places for the kids while they work. I had Kyle and the girls over here with me three or four days. They actually were good help some days. The girls went back to their mother on Sunday of last week so things are a little less hectic. Kyle came over on Monday about noon and I took him and Jake swimming at the neighbor's pool. We have a neighbor that invites the whole neighborhood over on Monday afternoon all summer long to swim and then she doesn't have to take requests for people to come swimming. It was a good activity for me because I got out of the house and could talk to some people in the neighborhood and I just had to sit there while Kyle and Jake had fun swimming.

Erick started at the U of U this week also. He only has to go to the U on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for his classes this semester so he is excited about that. He let me use his truck on Tuesday to go to Physical Therapy and on Thursday he let me use it all day because I had to go to my class at the U and Larry could not help me get there. I figured that was a pretty good birthday present.

BJ has had an up and down week. He called on Wednesday saying it had been an awful day. He had failed two tests that he needed to pass, and had been dealing with some harrassment by another sailor. I tried to encourage him and listen. I finally told him to go to bed and hopefully tomorrow would be a better day. When he called the next day it was. He passed his gun test with 40 pts higher than the day before. He had been stressed about it because if he did not pass he would not be able to come home for two weeks later than planned. He is really putting alot of stress on himself trying to get home for the wedding.

Holly is going out to meet BJ next weekend so he has been working hard to plan that also. Hopefully it will work out to be a fun weekend for them. Holly has been really busy with School starting and she has a new job, plus she is planning a wedding with a groom 2000 miles away. She said that she has the envelopes for the invitations that she is bringing down this week so it is getting closer.

Maren is going to be working all this week because two girls in Super Cuts quit this week and it is the week before school so she will probably have to work on Monday and the other days this week. School starts on Wednesday. She came down on Wednesday and helped me put some numbers on my kitchen unit. She has really been helpful with the surgery also sometimes she has been here three days a week trying to help me. Especially in the beginning. Landon has been attending his flight school again and is working on getting more hours. He went on Saturday but came home sick. I had Brinlie for about 4 hours on Saturday and all I could do is watch Brinlie. Larry and Erick took her for about a hour when she first came.

Grandma Jenkins canceled her party for the 8th of September at the Chuck-a-Rama. She just wants people to come and visit her or write. She doesn't want presents. She would like some service help at the house if you are able.

My old roommate, Vicki Bishop,and her husband Dan came visit today. It was nice to visit with them. They are living in Northern California right now but had come up to visit with their kids. It was interesting talking to them. Vicki is doing better emotionally now she has some medications for Bi-polar disorder.

2007-08-14T15:46:00.000-06:00

I am so excited. The physical therapist came today and we went through all the exercises that I have to do. He had me do the stairs without crutches. He thought I would not be able to do them leg over leg but I was able to. He said I was doing really good. I climbed the stairs and I was so excited because because climbing the stairs before my surgery meant that I would have to pull myself up. I also had a pain that went from my buttocks clear down my leg that pulled and hurt as I tried to go up the stairs. That pain is all gone. It was so exciting because I finally am seeing that this will eventually be better than it was before.

Maren was over today with Brinlie and helped me with some things. Kirsten's kids have been here. We watched a couple of movies, "Failure to launch" and "Two weeks notice". They were fun. We also watched President Faust's funeral on TV. I was excited because I did not need any pain pills for about 12 hours this morning.

2007-08-13T19:59:00.000-06:00

Well it is Monday night and Larry will be at work until about 9:00 p.m., he said, and Erick went to his University Ward family home evening so I decided that the best thing I could do for Family Home Evening is to update the blog.

I am gradually feeling better. I can do exercises with ease that were really hard two weeks ago. The home health nurse came today and said that I could take the bandage off and get the wound wet now. It felt really good to get in the shower and wash all over. Especially since today was really hot. I also have a lot of episodes of being over heated that may have to do with the medication but it felt really good to take a shower this afternoon.

Larry is having to work late because he stays home each day and makes sure that everything is in order for me and set up so I can do the things I need to do to get well. Today he went to get some medications for me before he left so it was almost noon before he left. He has been working really hard to keep the house in order also. This would have been a much harder experience without his help. He spent alot of time last weekend also making sure the lawn was edged and the sprinklers were fixed. And he does all this despite the fact that he still has homework from his school. But he is often uptight because of all he has to do.

We had a party for the August birthdays last night. Jaron, Misty, Larry and myself have August birthdays. It also was going to be a goodbye party for Jeff but he couldn't make it so we had the birthdays. Larry cooked a ham and all the kids each brought a dish to go with it. We had a really nice dinner. Everyone seemed to enjoy the time they had together and I learned that I am not indispensible.

Jaron's birthday was on Tuesday and Michelle and Daniel had a party for him with his friends on that day. They had a pinata Jaron really liked. We bought Jaron a game and did not know that he liked it or anything but Michelle said when he opened it, that he always wanted to play that game and they had lost some of the pieces for it. Just before the party he had wanted Michelle to buy the game for him but she didn't want to because she was sure they would find the parts. Anyway we bought him the game and I felt like it was maybe inspiration on our part that got him the game he wanted to play.

Nathan called yesterday and said he was back from his three week training. He had just got in. Sara and the boys had to miss church to pick him up. He seemed tired but was excited to talk. He also called Landon and Jake to talk yesterday. He was trying to talk them into going into flying so they would have someone there with them in Alabama. He said that David had started school already and seemed to be liking it.

Nikki had to work last night so she could not come. Ashton took a while to warm up to us but then he seemed to have a good time. I had found a picture of Jake when he was about Ashton's age and showed it to him and ask him if he thought it looked like Ashton. He said yes. Landon thought that it looked like Brinlie so that was interesting. Lexie has also started school already so she is busy.

Jeff ended up working one more week here to satisfy is boss in Utah. He leaves this Thursday I think to go to Seattle and then he starts on Monday in Seattle. He will come by to get some things to pick up on his way and then he will head to Washington. We bought all the bridesmaids outfits so he has to take Misty's up to see if it fits. We were passing those out to others at the party.

Kirsten got BJ's car fixed from when we were in the accident. It looks good. She and Jon have been working hard to get caught up on their finances. Jon will finish up his journeyman internship by the first of the year and then he will be making the highest salary possible with UTA for a journeyman. I had their kids over here today to help me and to tend them while they both work. They brought lots of movies for us to watch. Maren was also here and they were good help with Brinlie.

Erick had Lynnette up on Friday for dinner and he made homemade Macaroni and cheese. We ended up also having Maren and Landon and Brinlie for dinner. Then Erick and Lynnette went shopping for me for Jaron's birthday present so they were the ones that were inspired. Erick spent a lot of time helping me with my exercises on Friday and Saturday and went for walks with me outdoors now they are requiring that for Physical Therapy.

BJ called a lot this week now he is at A school and can call more often. He has had a lot of things that he needed me to do for him to work towards the wedding plans and get some of his financial things worked out. We also spent Friday evening going over the ward list deciding who he wanted me to invite. He seems to have a lot more free time than he did in Basic training.

Holly came down on Thursday evening and we worked out some things for the wedding. Kirsten and Maren and Michelle worked out things for the final Brides maides outfit with her and they went shopping for those. She was showing me the announcement that they are going to use maybe. We went through old pictures of BJ for a wedding video and she got those in order so she could get them to Amanda. She brought her sister Lauren with her so we got to meet her.

Maren has spent everyday that she did not have to work over here helping me with things. She came again today and worked on things with Kirsten's kids. It has been fun to have her. She worked on revamping the photo wall in the kitchen and it looks better. She and Erick have been working at coming up with colors we could paint the various rooms in the house and She and Erick spent some time washing walls so they can begin painting.

Well I am getting tired. I go in and out of feeling weird with the medicines I am on for my knee. Right now I feel okay, just tired. Mom and Dad came up yesterday to visit and to bring a skirt they had bought for Misty for BJ's wedding reception. We got talking about the miner's that they are looking for in Emery county by Huntington and I mentioned that I thought they were probably dead because they had not heard any thing from them. Dad told us about a Miner that had survived a cave in for 9 days that he knew and the claustropobia that I got just thinking about that made me feel really ill. But I guess this will pass.

I went to sacrament meeting yesterday for the first time since I had the surgery. I did okay but I felt weird because of the pain medicine and I came home and slept for three hours after going which was unusual for me to sleep that long in the afternoon. But things will get better. They have already.

2007-07-30T16:00:00.000-06:00

July has been busy and I have not posted much. I had surgery to obtain a new knee last Monday and I am starting to understand what I need to do to control the pain until I am more completely healed. I have been doing very well and can walk on my leg with a walker or crutches for support. Of course I have been doing very well because I have my husband, my children that are here, my parents and the Relief Society for support. Everyone has been great help in getting me back on my feet.

Larry took off two days last week so he would have time to help me when I came home. He is a wonderful nurse. He anticipates my every want and helps to fulfill it. I just hope he does not get overwhelmed by it all. It is wonderful for him to be there and help me with other things besides cooking. He keeps the ice in the ice pack I need. He keeps soda crackers by my bed. He is doing the laundry and dishes and working on the house. He has helped me dress and undress and get ready for whatevery situation I have to face.

Erick has also been good help. He stayed with me last Friday and Saturday and part of the time on Sunday. He went out and weeded the flower beds and he and Larry worked on fixing the sprinklers that were broken on Saturday so that we would not have the lawn continue to die in the hot weather we are having. His friend Lynnette is back from Phoenix so he is grateful to be able to see her often.

Maren is here today helping me with things as I am not supposed to be alone with the pain pills in my body. Brinlie is here also. She is so cute. Larry says she should go as the energizer bunny for Halloween because she just keeps going and going and going. Maren gave me a manicure and did my hair yesterday so by evening I did not look so naturalle.

BJ called on Friday and Sunday. He graduated from his boot camp on Friday and they left for his A school on Friday afternoon. He was supposed to get to Virginia that evening but there was some problem that made them have to spend the night at the airport and they did not get to Virginia until the next day at 4:00 p.m. BJ was sick on Sunday when I talked to him. He had a sore throat and swollen sinuses so he was not able to go to church. He says the church is off base and a distance from there anyway so he will have to find a ride to church. We put the address into Google Earth and he is right on the Virginia beach.

Holly has been busy getting the plans ready for the wedding. She has her dress and they have set up where they want to have the reception and the wedding luncheon. They have decided to move the wedding to October 20th which is a Saturday. I hope that everyone can get that day off. The boys are going to wear khaki pants and white shirts. Let me know if you do not have that and need some help getting it. As the grooms parents we are in charge of that. I am trying to get the skirts for all the girls and we will probably do dresses for the little girls. I hope you can all come and then we could have a family picture taken at the wedding with Holly and Samuel in it.

I am really loopy from the pain pills so if something doesn't make sense that will be the reason why.

Kirsten is bringing dinner tonight. The kids got back from the other parents and so she has a full house again. They came over the other day to see me but I was pretty out of it. Jon was able to fix Erick's and BJ's air-conditioning for their cars to that makes them more comfortable.

The day that I was supposed to go in for my Pre-Operation appointment Kirsten and I got in a minor accident with BJ's car driving up the road to her house. A small truck turned in front of us and we could not stop. It dented the fender on the passentger's side and raised the bumper and the hood. It comes to about $3200.00 in damages. No one was hurt but the car. We drove it home thinking it could be driven but when Jon got there and looked at it he said that it was scraping on the tire so they had to take me down for my pre-op appointment in Bountiful. Luckily Kirsten and Jon's work would let them off for the afternoon to deal with it.

Jeff was able to get a job in Seattle with Comcast so he will be moving up there around the 10th. He starts his new job on the 13th. Larry was able to go to dinner with him on Friday the 27th and get all the news and spend some time with him. Michelle's family and Larry and I got together with him the weekend before that and went to dinner to celebrate his birthday on the 18th of July. We had the family dinners for June and July together this year.

Michelle and I took an electronic portfolio class together on the 18th of July at UEN. It was fun to have someone who wanted to go to a class with me and we both learned alot. It was fun to have the time to talk together without all the grandkids interrupting. We decided to do it again some time.

Michelle and Daniel took the kids to the museum that is close to UEN that week. Then they came over to visit for a few minutes. This week they went to a Gibby Reunion in Heber city on Saturday and then they came to visit. Kallise liked the Saltine Crackers that Grandma had by her bed so she had some. The kids thought that I had a funny looking contraption on my leg when they saw the machine that works my knee.

Nathan is out on a survival training for two more weeks. He cannnot contact Sara so she is on her own for a while. She says that they really like Alabama. It is really nice there. We looked that up on Google Earth the other night also. It is alot more inland than Virginia Beach.

Jacob and Nikki are looking at a job in Idaho. If they got it they would sell their home and move to close to Idaho Falls. I haven't heard how seriously they are persuing the idea.

We made Lexie's quilt on the 12th, 13th and 14th of July. It turned out nice but it was hard to do. I never would have finished it without Erick's help tending Brinlie and playing with Lexie.

2007-07-08T14:44:00.001-06:00

Pictures of the last night before Jeff and Misty moved

2007-07-08T12:32:00.000-06:00

Well, I just noticed it has been a month since I put anything on the blog. I keep trying to make myself write just a little everyday but so far I haven't been successful. I am starting to feel much better. I went to another orthopedic surgeon and he set up surgery on my knee for the 23rd of July but then I saw a job listing to teach at the Educational Technology center in the district. I would like to do that if I can and I have applied for the job so if I get it I will have to wait on the surgery because the job starts on July 23rd. I think I have a good chance to get it with my Technology Endorsement about finished. I spent most of my free time this week working on the application that was due on Friday.

Maren and Landon and Brinlie; and Kirsten and Jon came over for the Fourth of July. Landon's parents also came and Erick was here. We had a barbecue and then watched the fireworks together. Landon and Erick had fun setting off a few of their own. With the new houses and the road going through to Highway 89 this year we had a lot more traffic for the fireworks. Michelle and Daniel brought the kids over in the afternoon and we took them to a kids fair that was at Davis High where they had blowup toys the kids liked but they had another barbecue in the evening. We got up late in the morning, and thought we had missed the parade but we went to the end and saw it with Maren and Landon and Brinlie.

Larry has been working hard on school as usual. He has been working on an actual proposal for Overstock.com to go to India as their assignment in class. He will have his Business degree in December and his Marketing degree finished in June of next year.

We all had a stomach flu a week and a half ago with the diahrea and vomiting. I don't think it was food poisoning because the three of us got it each one day apart and we hadn't eaten the same thing. Grandpa Jenkins apparently was really sick with the same type thing on the Fourth of July. I hope we didn't give it to him. I have been going down more to visit. He said that I cursed him because I invited them up for the fourth to our barbecue and he said(just joking) he was too sick to come.

I have been tending Brinlie some for Maren when she works because Evan and Shirley have been out of town a lot. She is a smart thing. She is 17 months old but already in the "Terrible Twos" If she doesn't like what you are doing she doesn't hesitate to hit you in the face and pull your hair and scream at you. We are working with her to let her know that is not appropriate but right now she is a handful. I am glad I am the grandma.

Larry and I went to dinner with Jeff and Michelle and Daniel and their kids last night. Jeff is by himself now that he has moved Misty and the kids to Seattle. We are trying to spend some more time with him while they are gone. He thinks he has a fifty fify chance of being transferred to Seattle. He has been going to a lot of movies and working out at the gym twice a day. He said that they are meeting in California next weekend. Misty and the kids went to an airshow he said for the Fourth of July.

Michelle and Daniel had his brothers two kids this week while his brother and his wife went to Russia for a visit to his old mission in the Ukraine. So Michelle found out what it is like to have six kids all under 8. She was breathing a sigh of relief last night.

Nathan called and said that they were leaving Thursday night about 8:30p.m. (Texas time)for Alabama. They were going to travel for about two hours and then stop on the 11 hour drive somewhere and get a motel. The military moved them so that helped but they had a small trailer full of things they wanted to have immediately. Nathan is going to be going to helicopter school there. They will be living on base and David will be attending the school on base. Sara's mom stayed in Houston with another single lady she met through the church to continue her cancer treatments.

Nikki's brother has been up from Texas visiting for a couple of weeks. Lexie is out of school for a short time right now but will go back at the end of the month because she is on year round school. She is coming up this week and we are going to make her quilt together now that she is 7. Jake was battling a cold or allergies the last time I talked to him.

Erick's friend who is a girl that is in Arizona is coming back possibly this week so he is looking forward to that. He has been helping a lot around the house and in the yard. He likes to play with Brinlie when she is here also. He spends most days working, doing activities with his ward and watching TV. He loves Mythbusters and History Channel.

BJ is doing well at his boot camp in Great Lakes Illinois. He scored a perfect score on at least one test and has worked hard to pay attention to what he needs to learn. It looks like his prayers were answered because he is supposed to graduate from boot camp on the 27th of July and then ship out later that day to his A school which they are saying right now is in Virginia. So hopefully that is what will happen. They made him the Religious petty officer over his unit so he has enjoyed some good experiences talking about faith with some of the members of his Unit as he conducts prayer each evening.

Holly is busy studying for her Nursing boards and working. She has probably decided not to spend the money to go to BJ's graduation because of the expense and she will only get to see him for about 2 hours. That way they will have the money later. She is coming down on the 16th so we can look for skirts for some of the bridesmaids. It has been good to get to know her better as BJ has been gone.

Larry and I have decided to send BJ a care package for graduation also. They want about $400.00 per person to fly to Illinois and that is a lot of money for us for a two hours visit. BJ said to save the money for other things.

Kirsten and I have been sharing BJ's car this summer. That means that if I want the car I have to get up early and take Kirsten to work because Jon goes to work super early. But it has been good, it makes me get up and get going. Also Jon fixed the air conditioning in it so it is not so sweltering in this summer that is hotter than usual in the West.

Kyle and Kennedy and Brooke are all with their other parents right now so it is pretty quiet at Kirsten and Jon's. Kyle's dad lives in Neola where that big fire has been burning. We were worried for a while but they called and said that everything was okay. The fire was only two miles from their house and the FEMA firefighters had their headquarters just across the street.

Grandma Jenkins said that Uncle Reed and Aunt Kathleen are going on a mission this fall. I think she said Bolivia but I am not sure.

Nathan said that the area where Weston is on his mission is where Nathan used to teach school in Houston. We had a couple talk in our ward today about their mission to the inner city in Salt Lake City. They told of the churches efforts to help the people there to help themselves. She quoted from President Hinckley's talk in 2005 conference where he talks about the importance of preparing for things to come. She pointed out that the most important thing we need to do to prepare is to be obediant to the Lord and prepare ourselves spiritually and then all the temporal will come with the spiritual. I hope that you will all do what you need to prepare spiritually to meet the Lord and do his will. If you haven't read the Book of Mormon we gave you then read the Book of Mormon. It will help you to draw nearer to Christ and understand how he can help you. He is certainly helping us to see what we need to do to help others and progress.

2007-06-10T17:45:00.000-06:00

BJ and Holly on the day they got engaged!!

2007-06-10T16:19:00.000-06:00

Today is the first day I have felt good for about 2 weeks. I am glad to have school out and have some time to catch up on my rest. I was able to tend Kyle this week and we went to "Pirates of the Carribean 3" last Saturday, then on Tuesday we went to get Lexie and went to Cherry Hill with Maren and Brinlie. The rest of this week I spent alot of time sleeping and tending Brinlie and Ashton on Thursday and Friday. On Friday Brinlie acted like she felt like I did so I hope it was just something going around.

Larry has been busy with school and work. But, he and Erick took time off to go to Pirates with us. We have been trying to find time to watch Shrek 2 because Larry got to watch Shrek 3 at work for a reward and he was a little confused about what was going on. We have had a little more time to do fun things lately.

We had a party on Saturday June 9th for June birthdays and Father's day. We had Father's day early because Michelle and Jeff were leaving town for Father's day. It is Michelle, Kennedy and Landon's birthdays in June. Kirsten and Jon were camping at Flamming Gorge this weekend so we will have to do something for Kennedy when they get back. Erick made his Italian lasanga and everyone brought something to go with it and we had a great dinner. We bought pies rather than cake and sent them home with the birthday people so Larry and I would not eat them.

Jeff and Misty announced last night that they are trying to move to Seattle with her family. Jeff does not have a job there yet so Misty is going to move with her Mother and sister and then Jeff will move when he has a job there or in Portland. Everyone was sad that they are leaving but they seem to want to go so they have to do what they want.

Michelle and Daniel are leaving for California this week for a vacation for about 10 days. Ethan and Hailee had a concert with their choir a couple of weeks ago and did a nice job. Ethan had a Piano recital the same week. He has really progressed. This week Hailee had her dance recital on Friday night at the Ed Kenely Ampitheater. She has been taking Ballet and she looked really cute but Michelle says that she wants to do something more exciting.

Kirsten and Jon went to Flaming Gorge with Jon's family this weekend. It snowed in the mountains this week so they were in cool temperatures. The morning high at Flaming Gorge on Saturday was 58 so I am sure it was an interesting experience. Jon's parents went looking for a good campsite during the week and their car broke down so Jon had to make two trips to Flaming Gorge this week to get them and bring them back in addition to going up camping.

BJ sent a form letter from boot camp with all the rules and regulations and things we need to plan for. He told Holly that if he passes everything on time he will graduated from boot camp on July 29th. He is finding out that everything they promise at recruitting is not necessarily so because if he doesn't get into his A-school right after his boot camp he will not be home by October 5th when he and Holly were planning their wedding. He wants everyone to pray for him that he can get into his school immediately after boot camp.

I am not sure if I told you that BJ is engaged. He ask Holly Milligan to marry him and gave her a ring the Monday before he left although they have been planning the wedding for a month. We went to Logan on the 26th to meet her parents and begin the planning. She is actually from Cove, Utah.

We had a going away party for BJ on the Sunday before he left and most of the family was there. We had a dinner and everyone had a chance to talk to BJ before they left. Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins even came up with Jake and we had a good time with them.

Erick has been helping alot on the yard. We got some weeding done on Friday in the garden area and he planted some plants yesterday. When I wasn't feeling good and he was gone to Italy we really got behind on the yard work. We had weeds that were about as tall as us in the garden area. We also decided that one problem this year is that we do not have Frescas to dig up everything so it had a chance to grow. I planted Evening primrose by the garden and every year there has not been much but this year it was really full.

Maren and Landon went to Disneyland over Memorial Weekend with Landon's Mom's family for a reunion. They spent 5 days there so they got to ride everything several times. Apparently it was not that busy during the week. The brought me a T-shirt that has Goofy on it and says "Partly confused (All of the time)" Which sometimes describes me. They also bought a Pirates of the Carribean Life game that we had fun playing last Sunday. Brinlie has had a runny nose since they got back and alot of this week she has been pretty grouchy. Maren thinks that it is teeth but she may have a cold also.

Jake had guard this weekend so they were not able to come up last night. Erick and I got to see them several times this last two weeks. A week ago Saturday we went to Lexie's last Soccer game. She has improved alot over the winter. Then we went to get Lexie this week to go to Cherry Hill before she had to go back to school She is on year round school so she went back to school on Thursday. Thursday Nikki came up to have Maren do her hair and so I got to tend Ashton for about a half a day. He and Brinlie had fun together. Nikki cut her hair alot shorter than usual but it is cute.

Nathan and Sara are working towards moving. Sara met him half way so he could give her some of his stuff from Kingsville. Sara had on her blog this week that Samuel has two inflamed heart valves. So we need to pray for him. I haven't gone to the website to read more so check Sara's blog for more information. Sara was down in Kingsville for about a week and a half after they were home for the birthday's. There are some fun pictures of the birthday party and the kids on the blog. http://www.4boysandme.blogspot.com/

Grandma called yesterday and said that Cory and Rebecca Shaw had a new baby girl on July 7, 2007 and Erica and Craig Swenson had a new baby boy (I think that is five fore them) on July 8, 2007 so they were pretty close together. When I talked to mom they were all doing fine.

It has been really cold and raining this week but it is a gorgeous day today. Yesterdaty wasn't bad either. We spent alot of time outside at the party because it was cooler outside than in the house but it was not cold.

2007-05-24T19:34:00.000-06:00

Well, I am at the Family History Center again and I decided to preserve some history on the Blog. I am so excited for school to end for the summer. I am just beginning to feel well after a month of congestion in my throat and chest. I have felt like I was dragging myself through the rigors of school and I am sure it has showed in my teaching. I am looking forward to a couple of days of sleeping in to begin the summer.

Larry has begun school classes again and has been busy with those. He has been feeling really good lately and doesn't seem to need as much sleep. He is really on top of things and always doing things for me to keep me going. The house has looked great lately because he is constantly picking up and straightening.

We celebrated our 6th anniversary on the 17th of May by going out to dinner. We always have a good time but there was a little damper on the occasion because my principal had informed me that day that there was a possiblity that I might be cut back again on my hours at school for next year. I have decided not to worry about it for now because it is just a possiblity but we really don't need the cut in pay.

Maren did my hair on Thursday and dyed it a darker color. I have had a lot of compliments on it but I hate it when people can tell that you have dyed your hair. I prefer to have them think it is my natural color. But, maybe I have only been fooling myself.

Brinlie has been sick this week. Maren thinks it is partly teeth but she seems to have what I have had. They are planning to go Disneyland with Landon's family on the 28th for a family reunion, so they are hoping that Brinlie can get feeling better before they go.

Erick and BJ got home from Italy yesterday. They were supposed to get home on Tuesday night about 10:30 p.m. but they were having a airline strike in Italy when they left and so the plane left 4 hours late. When they got to New York they missed their plane by about 7 minutes and so they ended up having to spend the night in the airport and leave at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. BJ says he will never fly Delta again.

Erick showed us all their pictures on his camera last night. They got to Italy during some culture festival so they were able to go into alot of places for free because of the festival. They figured that this saved them at least a hundred dollars. They have some beautiful pictures of places they were able to visit and photograph.

Holly is staying with us this week. She picked up the boys and they are getting some things done before BJ has to leave again next Wednesday for Navy boot camp. It was nice to have them here today because I ran out of guest checks for the restaurant simulation today at school and they brought me some because I did not have a car. Of course I couldn't have left even if I did have a car because I can't leave my classes.

We are going to Logan to meet Holly's parents this weekend. BJ and Holly are trying to get as many things done as possible before he leaves. BJ was really stressed about getting it all done when they missed the plane in New York but he seems to have mellowed now he is home and can be with Holly.

Michelle and Daniel's kids have had two performances this week. Hailee and Ethan had their spring concert with the Choral Connection on Monday and we were able to see that. It had a country music theme and costumes. The kids did a great job. Ethan had a duet he had to sing with another boy. Wednesday night Ethan had a piano recital. He is really progressing. The pieces he played sounded much more sophisticated than what he played a year ago.

With Larry at school and no one home on Tuesday night I went to dinner with Jon and Kirsten and the kids a week ago. We had a good time stuffing ourselves and talking at the Golden Corral. Kyle is going to Vernal with his dad on the 17th of June until the 22nd of July so they will not have any kids for that time period. There are some benefits of divorce! Until then I will be tending Kyle some days this summer because both of them are working. So we will do something fun. Jon is trying to get their truck going so they can go camping in June.

Nathan and Sara are progressing towards their move to Alabama. They are trying to get housing on base so David can attend the base school. If that is not possible then they are trying to find out if the schools in Alabama are where they want to send him. Sara has been thinking about home school. It will be interesting to see what comes of that. Gail will be staying in Houston with a girl friend that she has there.

Misty's Mom and sister are moving to Seattle. So Jeff and Misty are having to make some changes in their life style. Jeff has been publishing to a blog lately and sharing his ideas with us.

Nikki is working her swing shift at the hospital now. She works three nights a week normally but she has to work this weekend. Ashton let me hold him again when they came up for Mother's day. Lexie turned seven this year so we are going to make her quilt this summer. Jake is adjusting back after being in Germany on an AT assignment.

Most of the kids in Utah came up for the Saturday before Mother's day and helped me to get the grass and weeds out of the front flower beds. I was really feeling overwhelmed by it all especially with Erick going to Italy. It looks much better. You can see the flowers now. Dan was a real weed pulling machine. The lawn was getting long again though so BJ mowed that this afternoon.

I bought myself the book "Debt Free on Any income" and Larry and I have been reading it occasionally and trying to implement the recommendations. It has a good program that I would recommend to anyone and it has a CD that has the paperwork all set up in Excel for you that you can install on your computer.

Well it is good to have time to write. Hope some of you have time to read it.

2007-05-10T18:22:00.000-06:00

Well, it seems that the Family History Center is the only time I have to work on the blog lately. I am hoping to get some pictures up but they are on the home computer.

Last night Craig came home from Iraq. It was a great reunion. He looked good and seemed to enjoy having everyone there to greet him. He came in about 6:20 p.m. Corrine had a photographer there to capture every moment but I don't think she caught the moment when Dad almost cried when Craig hugged him and was home. Dad took everyone who came to Chuck-a-rama for dinner and we had a chance to talk a little more. We mostly updated Craig about what we had been doing though. He didn't say much to me or those around me about his feelings or plans.

Jacob and Lexie and Ashton came up. I was excited because Ashton went to me and did not cry and put his head on my shoulder and cuddled like he liked me. I thought he was going to go to sleep but he perked up when the food came and enjoyed eating all the fruit on my plate and his. Maren cut his hair this week when she went to visit Nikki and he looks really grown up but I miss his curls. Lexie ate with Craig's boy's Cameron and Landon. Lexie and Cam are the same age. It seemed weird to me that my brother's son was the same age as my granddaughter. But I know there are weird combinations all the time like that. After all Craig is 15 years younger than I am.

I have had a cough and congested throat for about 2 weeks now. I finally realized last Saturday that I was getting worse. I was able to get some antibiotic for the congestion and I am feeling much better. I am still feeling overwhelmed with all I have to do at school. I work really hard but I am always behind. The new computer systems that allow parents to go online to check on their students grades is good for them but if I don't have grades posted the minutes their child turns it in they are emailing me and calling about, "where is my child's assignment" and it takes time just to answer all of those email. I also have two very tough classes as far as students that do not behave and I am constantly working to keep them in check.

Larry went back to school this week so he was stressed all last week about a paper that he had to write. He finally got it written, and I am sure it is fine but he really stresses over papers. He had a gout attack this weekend because he went to the doctor on Friday and they gave him an antibiotic that they said would react with Indomethicin that he takes when he has an attack. So he didn't dare take it when the Gout started. I finally called the doctor and found out that he can take it because he felt the reaction was minor to what a gout attack is like, so Larry took it and is better but it has lingered and not gone completely away so we are wondering if that is part of the reaction.

Erick and BJ left home for Italy on Tuesday morning at about 5:45 a.m. Holly was down with BJ so she took them to the airport. Their plane left at about 8:30 a.m. I haven't heard anything from them so I hope everything is going okay and they are having a good time.

BJ moved all his stuff home on Saturday. He said that it snowed in Logan that morning. He and Holly had spent all of Friday cleaning and getting ready and he was supposed to work for Holly's dad one last time on Saturday and then with the snow he could not work. He came down in the afternoon and they had dinner with us. Then he and Holly went out to do something for a while. They have decided to get married on October 5, 2007 so they spent some time looking online and in Bountiful for places to hold a wedding dinner after the ceremony. Holly stayed all weekend and on Monday so they could be together for some time before he left. BJ has joined the Navy and will go to basic training a week after he gets back from Italy so he and Holly will not see each other much until September.

Sunday, Larry and I did not go to church because we were feeling sick. We slept for most of the day and got some medicine so in the evening we were feeling better. Maren had invited all of us over for soup and rolls and to play games the week before so we went to that. Maren had worked hard and had hot rolls and a commerical chicken noodle soup that my kids like that is like homemade. She had also made baklava for everyone. BJ had made lemon squares for lunch so we had an abundance of good deserts. We had a good time and really enjoyed the food. I thought I had won the game but Landon beat me by one card.

Jake got home last Saturday evening from Germany. He said that he had really missed his family this time. I guess that Ashton didn't want to go to sleep that night because he was afraid Jake would not be there in the morning. He is learning a lot more words and Jake said he talked to him often on the phone. Nikki said he got to the point that he wanted to talk to everyone on the phone because he thought it was Daddy.

Nathan called last week and said that they will be moving to Alabama the first week in July. He has to be to Helicopter school on the 8th of July. He will be learning to fly the Black Hawk Helicopter. Sara and the boys can go with him so that will be good. Sara drove down this week to see him and then he was going to go back with them to celebrate birthdays in Houston, I think.

Hailee's birthday was last Saturday. It rained and was cold so they had to cancel their plans to go to Lagoon and they took Hailee's friends to Chuck-E-Cheese. Michelle said they had a good time. It was really cold last weekend but it is back up to the eighties today.

Jeff is interviewing for a promotion this week. Hopefully he will do well. Leah came up as one of the friends for Hailee's party on Saturday. They were looking for Leah's levi jacket this week, I don't know if they found it. If you know where it is let them know. We couldn't find it at the house.

David and Sara have May birthday's also. David's is on the 8th and Sara's on the 10th. We are celebrating May birthday's and Mother's day this Saturday at our house. I have ask that those who want to do something for me for Mother's day come on Saturday and help us work on the yard. Our flower beds are awful. Then we will have a dinner at 5:00 p.m. for the Birthdays. I would like to make this a tradition in our family for Mother's Day because it is so hard for me to get to yard work before school gets out each year and Larry isn't really into yard work. Luckily Erick has been mowing the lawn. But he is gone for two weeks.

Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins got new windows for their house that are supposed to be really easy to clean and energy efficient. I haven't seen them yet but Dad said that Mom really liked them.

Kathy says that Amy is getting married the last week of July or the first week of August.

Well if there is something important that I missed add a comment.

2007-04-28T10:13:00.000-06:00

I have had a hard time finding time to write in the blog the last two weeks. Last week Maren and Landon came over to play games with us and it was too late when we finished and the Sunday before that it was the April family birthday party. I am at the family history center and have decided that this is family history that needs recorded.

We had a great birthday party on the 15th of April. It was good weather so we had it outside and Larry barbecued again. As ususal he out did himself on the meat. Chichen, Hamburgers and Hot Dogs. It was great but he had to work so hard that we are going to try to have the parties on a Saturday or a Weekday from now on. It was BJ, Lexie, Ethan, and Kalisse's birthdays this month. We had a great time together. Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins even came and stayed for a while. Owen is walking now and had a great time showing off how he could walk across the living room.

I have been really busy at school lately. Most nights I stay until at least 6:00 p.m. part of the reason is because I am riding with Larry and he is not getting off until about 5:00 p.m. at his work but, I also have had a lot to do. TLC has been in the sewing room and I always have alot of extra work when they are sewing. Aprons to fix when they cut holes in them with the sergers and machines to take care of, supplies to buy and on top of that I had one Foods class that I had scheduled a lot of demonstrations and labs for so I was moving back and forth from the sewing room to the foods room for one period. I also am teaching FACS Exploration sewing for the first time so I am having to do new lessons for that class. I have felt really stressed for about three weeks now. TLC finally is back in my classroom so I am only switching for one period and it is better.

While I have been stressing about school Larry has been doing a lot of things around the house and even at school to help me out. He took a leave of absences from his school until May 8th so he has had a little more time. He has done alot of the laundry and dishes lately at home. He even got ambitious last Saturday and started cleaning out the mess in the garage. It looks so much better. Last night he cleaned up the kithen at school while I was finishing up some paper work. He is really great at cleaning and organizing but I have to close my eyes because sometimes he throws away things that I would keep.

Larry is feeling much better lately. He doesn't require as much sleep and he has more energy. I don't know if it is the change to the short term insulin or as he says he likes his job much better now that he has a promotion.

Nathan has called each weekend to talk. I think he needs things to do on Sunday. He is going to flight school to learn about Helicopters in July. He should be able to take Sara and the boys with him as it is a permanent change of assignment. They will be in Alabama at I think he said Fort Brag. He has been moved in his present assignment to another town further North on the border, Kingston. He said that Sara and the boys had been sick a week ago.

Jacob has been in Germany since the 14th of April on his yearly Advance Training. Nikki started her new job at the Hospital and said she is liking it. She had to do alot of juggling though with Jake leaving and she had to work days for a while to be trained in their procedures. When she is trained she will be working nights and Jake babysitting when he gets home.

Jeff and Michelle had their "Grammy", Marie, up for Ethan's baptism and party and then she stayed the week after. She stayed at Michelle's house the first part of the week and then went to Jeff's to stay. She came to the birthday party with Jeff and Misty and seemed to have a good time. She went home the Tuesday after on the 17th.

Michelle and Daniel had an early morning temple trip with their stake last Saturday so I got to go over and tend their kids while they went to the Temple. Larry dropped me off at about 6:00 a.m. Ethan had bought himself a Nintendo game cube with his birthday money so he played that a lot. We just sat around and played games and tried to keep Kalisse from playing with the buttons on the stereo and the TV. Kalisse is walking now and very proud of herself.

Ethan and Lexie are both playing soccer but we have not had a chance to get to a game yet to watch them.

Kirsten has been using the Infinity for a while because she and Jon have conflicting schedules and only one car. They looked at an old car yesterday that they could maybe get but they are not sure if they will get it. Kirsten works at Tanner Clinic on the weekdays and at "Undertees" on Saturdays so she is pretty busy. Jon has been working the 3-12 shift on his internship lately so he goes to work before Kirsten gets home. Kyle went with Aaron and Jessica last weekend for a while because Kirsten could not find a babysitter on Friday and they were coming to the Wasatch Front.

Erick is almost finished with school. He has two tests next week and then he will be finished. He and BJ are leaving for Italy about the 7th of May. They will be gone for two or three weeks. He has been spending time planning that. He is also saving all his money right now for that.

BJ has decided to get married the third week in October the last I talked to him. He is marrying Holly Milligan. He is coming down this afternoon and I am supposed to help him go look for rings so he can surprise her with a ring. He has also joined the Navy and will be going for Basic Training on May 27th so Holly is not very happy that he will not be around for the summer. I assume that they get out of school this week also. BJ has been working for Holly's dad on his tree farm lately instead of for Alert Cellular so he says he is learning a lot about the family by talking to Holly's sisters.

Maren has been working the weekends. I got to tend Brinlie last Saturday because Shirley (Landon's mom) was sick and Landon was laying a new floor in their bathroom with his Uncle. Maren has been ambitious lately and made curtains for her kitchen that are really cute. She also spent some tip money and bought some things to make her bedroom more attractive. I think she has some of her dad's decorating genes. They moved their computer out of Brinlie's room also so that they can work on it when she is asleep. Landon is working on trying to get into school still.

I had a party for my primary class last Saturday for the birthday's and they had a great time playing with Brinlie and jumping on the tramp. They are only six so they had a great time mothering Brinlie and telling me all the things she could do as they discovered them, like walk, run, clap and jump.

I have also been working on my application for Graduate school the last few weeks. I think I have a better chance of getting in now that I have taken the classes and proved that I can do the work. I would appreciate prayers in my behalf. It was midterm this week also so I was at school until about 9:30 p.m. finishing up grades. I am looking forward to summer.

I have a few pictures I will try to post. I found out now that I have my new computer that the reason some of the pictures did not post before was because they took forever to upload and I was not allowing them long enough. Live and learn.

2007-04-15T14:47:00.000-06:00

It has been a busy week. We have had something everynight this week, and Larry and I have had to work late also.

Monday night Larry and I went shopping for Ethan's birthday for Family Home Evening and listened to a conference talk.

Tuesday night was Ethan's baptism. He had it with his cousin Sabrina on Daniel's side of the family because their birthdays are one day apart. It was a nice program and a great service before the baptism. We had to pick up Kirsten and her kids because Jon had to work and so we were just barely there on time. Hailee sang a great solo. She did an outstanding job.

After the baptism everyone went to Classic Skating for a party. They had rented the kareoke room and had pizza and drinks and fruit and vegetable trays for everyone. We rented inline skates and scooters for some of the kids that wanted them and then I tried to help Hailee skate around the rink. She did pretty good but wanted to skate backwards so she had a hard time staying up. I got my exercise trying to hold her up.

Wednesday night we went to the temple to do sealings. Then we had to go to Ben Franklin and get some sewing supplies for my classes. That day Maren had to bring me 75 more dishtowels that we use for aprons for my classes because I was out of the dishtowels by third period. I was so grateful that she did not have to work so she could help me out. So I had to go in and get the tax removed and get some seam rippers and rotary cutter blades.

Thursday Larry and I worked at the Family History Center from 6-9:00 p.m. Larry came to pick me up and I had just finished the grades for one of my classes. I had to print some things out and then we left in a hurry so we would not be late. As we were driving along I realized I did not have my phone. I had left it at school. I ask Larry for his so I could make a call. He said it was in the back seat in his jacket. When I looked back I said, "what jacket?" At that point we decided that He would go to the Family History Center and I would go back and get our phones and get him something to eat. It took me about an hour round trip from Kaysville to Bountiful to do that. So, I guess that I only worked at the FHC from 7:00-9:00 p.m.

After I went there I had to go shopping for school. That took another hour and a half but I was prepared for my demo the next day.

Friday we stayed at my school until about 9:30 p.m. Larry was helping me with various clean up projects as I worked on my grades. I finished all except one class. Larry got so tired he went down to the Faculty room and laid on the sofa for a while. I really appreciate the sacrifices he makes for me all the time.

Saturday Larry had to work. I went to Maren's work to get my hair done. It is free for family so you cannot beat that. I then went shopping for birthday gifts for the Monthly birthday party we are having today. After that I went home and Larry was home and we went shopping for food for the party. I had had a headache all day and Larry didn't get much sleep so we laid done down for a minute and the next thing we knew it was 2 hours later. I got up and went to a wedding reception for a boy in the ward but Larry said he didn't feel good.

Well everyone is coming for the party so I will write more later.

2007-04-08T17:02:00.000-06:00

Well, I just learned that I cannot look at the blog without saving my post. I had about three paragraphs written and decided to look at where I ended when I was in Texas and lost it all.

We have had a good Easter Sunday. I had an Easter lesson to teach to my Primary class that reminded me of the importance of Christ in my life and helped me to remember the blessings I have being a member of his church. I truly believe that Christ suffered and died for all of us so that we would not have to suffer if we would repent and turn to him. He is alive today and helps each of us if we will let him. Becasue of him we can live forever.

We went to Mom and Dad's (Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins's)for a while this afternoon and just visited them before they went to Keith's for dinner. They are so fun to talk to. It was cloudy when we left there but it is beautiful in Kaysville and sunny.

We returned home from Texas on Friday evening about 8:30 p.m. It was much easier to find our way out of the Salt Lake airport than it had been at Houston a week earlier. Erick met us and then we went to dinner with him in Centerville at Bajio's. After that we went to Kirsten's to get Erick's truck and visited for a few minutes. The kids were coloring Easter eggs and Brinlie was there. Kirsten's friend Kara was helping Brinlie color eggs. Maren and Landon came a few minutes later so we were able to see them also.

Saturday we slept in. We were tired. Larry forgot the cord to his C-pap machine so he did not have that all night. He looked for a cord and found one and I went to Super cuts to have Maren comb out my hair. It was a beautiful day in Kaysville and we probably should have worked in the yard but we watched the movie "The pursuit of happyness" instead and prolonged our vacation. In the evening we went to a wedding reception in Tremonton for a Niece's son, Jason Allen. We saw some family for a few minutes then went to dinner at a restaurant outside of town that had Larry's favorite, Prime Rib, advertised.

Last Tuesday in Texas after we had lunch Nathan had to leave to go back to McAllen. We saw him off and then I watched movies with David while the others rested. We watched "Harry Potter II" After that we decided to go to dinner with the boys (David, Isaac, and Samuel) We went to a Steak house. We had a good time and the food was good until the waiter lost my credit card. They kept saying it was just lost around the cash register but I was really worried. Gail got the manager and he assured us it was just lost but after having watched the Dateline program on identity theft the week before I was not so sure. They eventually found it and we left but I called Larry immediately to look on line and see if something was suspicious but after he looked and I looked when we got home we decided that the numbers had not been used.

Wednesday, Sara had an egg hunt for the boys with the play group they have formed in their ward. We went to Mercer park. Every mother had brought at least twelve plastic eggs filled with candy and they combined them and then they each got a few of each kind. They had a great time looking for them and playing on the playground.

In the afternoon Sara and Gail went looking for a new washer for Sara after hers had died. I stayed home and listened for Isaac while he was sleeping and David and I watched "Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2" Sara found a washer at Sears but they couldn't install it until Friday after we left. They put it in for her and hauled off the old washer.

Larry came back from his sister's on Wednesday evening. He said that they had had a good visit and talked a lot about genealogy. He went with John to collect rent on some rentals they had and spent some time visiting with David and Jane. He said the rush hour traffic in Housten was bumper to bumper coming back.

Wednesday night we had pizza and just hung out at home. Nathan has the computers that they can talk back and forth on so they had time doing that. David was having a great time everynight taking pictures of himself on Photo Booth. We got lots of crazy pictures. I uploaded a few to Snapfish and will email those to everyone.

Thursday, Larry and I went with Sara and the boys to a Children's museum that they have in the Woodlands Mall. We spent most of the day there. The kids had fun digging for dinosaurs, dressing up, drawing pictures, sitting in a tooth, reading books, and many other things. Grandma almost lost Isaac's hat twice by putting it down. We also rode the carousel. It was a fun time for all of us. The Woodlands area is really nice.

Thursday afternoon David and I watched "Harry Potter I" I had seen the beginning another time with Lexie but never finished it so it was good to see the ending. Thursday evening David played a checker game with Nathan over the internet. It was interesting to watch. Sara fixed a great meal of Chicken Cordon Blue and Asparagus with other things that were equally great. Gail went to the play Wicked that was in town.

Friday we went to get my glasses fixed because I sat on them and went shopping with Sara to get a stroller that she could use with the baby. We talked her into getting a dual stroller for Isaac and Samuel. Isaac liked it so much he was mad when we had to put the display model back and get the boxed one. Sara said he played in it for an hour after we left. We also went to "Sweet Tomatoes" to eat with everyone before we left.

Ethan's baptism is this Tuesday. We are trying to work out a time for April Birthday party next weekend. It looks like it will probably be on Sunday about 6:00 p.m. I will write more about that later. It is already late for me.

2007-04-03T10:45:00.000-06:00

We made it to Texas. We have had a good time playing with our grandchildren and trying to help Sara. We flew in about 9:00 p.m. but it was about 11:00 p.m. before we made it to Nathan and Sara's house.

Sunday we watched conference on the computer. It was fine in the morning but in the afternoon it would cut out at certain places so we have half of President Eyring's talk memorized and the other half is still to be heard.

Nathan and Sara had made arrangements to bless Samuel on Sunday night at the house so after Conference we got ready for that. I was nice. They had several friends from the ward come over and a member of the Bishopric was here with their wives and some children. Larry was able to participate and then they served cookies to all. We took some pictures of the people and afterwards social that I will post later.

Larry left on Monday morning to visit his sister Judy in Ingram, Texas. He called last night and said he was staying today and coming back tomorrow morning. It is a six hour drive there so he didn't get much time to spend with them last night.

We colored Easter eggs in the morniing with the kids. They had a great time doing it. Then we went for Family Home Evening and found a place by the Freeway that had a hill and was reletively secluded and we introduced Nathan's family to the tradition of rolling Easter Eggs. It was the first time Sara had been able to participate and she had planned that we would do this so she could learn what it was all about. It was really fun to watch the boys. They enjoyed it so much that they want to do it again when Grandpa Larry comes back.

Nathan and Sara have a new IMac computer with a photo program that the kids can take silly pictures of themselves so David has had a ball taking silly pictures. I will try to upload some of the pictures that they have taken. The pictures on this post are of when Samuel was born. They also have one of the two way camera program so they can see each other when Nathan is away. Nathan has to go back today so that is a blessing for the boys.

Well lunch is ready and Sara makes great food so I will see if this will post.

2007-03-29T20:55:00.000-06:00

I just talked to Jeff and he reminded me that they went to Las Vegas this last weekend to celebrate their anniversary. He said that they went to see the Dave Matthews band while they were there. I can't remember what he said about where they stayed. He said they had a lot of fun and lost a little money. Misty's mom tended the kids for them while they were gone.

BJ said that his orders will change that the July thing was temporary and so I guess we will wait for further updates on that.

Have a good night.

2007-03-26T18:57:00.000-06:00

I decided that I would finish the blog tonight for family home evening because Larry is working on Homework so I can't talk to him anyway. I am still at school because I need to use a computer and Larry has to have the computer for his homework. I just finished doing some things for school.

Last week became pretty hectic when I got the flu on Tuesday evening. I had been at school until about 7:00 p.m. getting ready for a sub and then I had to get home to go visiting teaching. When I got home my partner told me she was sick and could I go alone. I ran in the bathroom and got the Ensign and then I could not find my keys. I looked everywhere and when I opened the car door the alarm when off. I did this twice and found out that it would eventually stop but finally walked to my appointment that was only two blocks away because I could not find my keys. I did a phone visit for the next sister and gradually became aware that I was aching all over. The next day I found my keys on the bathroom floor where they had fallen out of my pocket.

I was supposed to go to a workshop to work on my school web site but when I woke up the next morning I was still aching all over. Because this was something I had chosen to do and was not required to do for school, I decided to make it a sick day and changed my absence to sick leave. I went to the doctor and he told me that I should have gotten a flu shot because I live in a Third world country-School. He gave me some medicine that make me feel human again and in the afternoon I went back to school and participated in the NAL vs. Teachers competition and took the things that I had promised to take for that. I felt wonderful, until the Darvocet wore off and I was getting ready for a sub for Thursday. I stayed home and slept on Thursday and in the afternoon I was finally able to not take the medicine and feel human.

Larry and I had to work at the Family History Center on Thursday so I went to do that and felt okay. I am trying to find out about a Mable McFarland that was married to Mary Pollock's first husband before Mary was and I can't seem to find her after her two year old died of Encephylitis in Billings Montana. Then six years later Hazen Hatfield is married to Mary Winterholler. But, I did find a relative of Hazen's that is doing genealogy so maybe I will solve this mystery.

Friday morning I went to Kyle's "Breakfast with Grandparents" morning before I went to school. It was hectic getting back to school after being gone for two days but luckily I have the counselors teaching for me three days this week in TLC, which is 5 of my 7 classes, so I might get caught up by the end of the week.

Friday night Larry and I went with Dennis and Carol Harris to Davis High School's Moonlight Serenade to celebrate the anniversary of our first date 6 years ago that day. It was wonderful. We had a great prime rib dinner and I loved the music. Of course it is 40's to 70's music. They really have some talented singers and dancers and musicians that perform. They played Blue Moon for us twice and announced that we were there celebrating meeting at Moon Light Serenade. It was just a fun night.

Erick had a girl call him and ask him out for Thursday night to watch a movie. He went because it was his spring break this week and he did not have to work friday. She is a girl that he likes in his Chemistry class so maybe the feeling is mutual. He went to help another girl look for a new car on Friday and ended up being out later than Larry and I and we didn't get home until 11:30 p.m.

Saturday he worked on the yard. He pruned trees and tried to get a trailer hitch so he could haul all the things in the trailer to the dump. He also took BJ's car in to get the snow tires changed. He also watched Myth busters for about 3 hours in the evening.

Larry had to work on Saturday. I went to the Family History Center for our Saturday shift. It was really busy. I actually had to help someone with Temple Ready twice. When I got home I went around the neighborhood and got signatures on a petition asking the Governor to let the people vote on the voucher issue that was just passed in the legislature. Then I came home and pulled some tops off of the Chrysanthemums from last year and then went to the local Grocery store to ask for signatures for two more hours.

When I got home I got to tend Brinlie for the night. She is like tending a barrell of monkeys. She was really active until about 9:30 p.m. and then she fell asleep and someone loved me because she slept all night long. Getting ready for church in the morning was a joke though. We were about 20 minutes late and about half put together because we have 9:00 a.m. church and we didn't get up early enough, but we survived and Brinlie even fell asleep during Sacrament meeting.

Maren and Landon went to spend the night at a hotel for her birthday. That was why I got to tend Brinlie. Maren got a job at Super Cuts and started her training this week. She says they are teaching her a whole new way to cut hair and she feels like she is back in school. Landon is tending Brinlie while she has to go this week from 8:00-5:00 but then she will only work on Thursday's, Friday's and Saturday's after this week and Shirley told her she would watch Brinlie most of the time.

We celebrated the March birthdays on the 17th at our house about 5:00 p.m. Larry barbecued pork ribs, chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs. We had all the trimmings to go with it and everyone seemed to have a good time, except for Leah. BJ put up the trampoline because it was so nice and Misty had let Leah wear a new white dress and she didn't want her to get it black so Leah was sad. Erick, Maren, Nikki, and Nathan and Sara's new baby Samuel have a birthday in March.

BJ has joined the Navy something and will be going to training in July. He came down on Thursday night to an orientation for Friday morning. I didn't get to see him because he had to stay at a hotel. He left his car at Maren's and then Erick got the snow tires taken off for him on Saturday while he was in meetings. He picked it up while I was gone and had to be back at work in Logan at 4:00 that afternoon on Saturday.

Kirsten got a job doing medical transcription at Tanner Clinic which is the clinic we have all been going to. She has some benefits and gets paid by the hour instead of the line and also has some free medical with the job. She is trying to finish up her two weeks with her other jobs around this job though so she is pretty busy right now.

Nikki got a job working at the St. Mark's hospital in the pharmacy three nights a week so she will be leaving the teaching job she had. She doesn't start until this week end however. Jake is getting the stucco on his garage he built finished this week so he was excited about that. Lexie says that she has just been doing "stuff"

Nathan and Sara had their third boy. They named him Samuel Frederick Lars Wolfgang Christiansen. He was 8 lbs. 20 inches long and Was born on March 12, 2007 in the evening. Nathan had time off from his military assignment for about two weeks and had to go back this week. Larry and I are flying down on the 31st to spend a week with them and try to help out a little bit and see the baby. We will be there until the 6th of April. We come home that evening.

Aunt Chris Jenkins has Multiple Sclerosis. They just found out so they are still learning to deal with it. The have a treatment that is supposed to help but she and Uncle Keith could use your prayers. She is doing pretty well but she lost her job because she could not go back to work without restrictions, and her work wouldn't take her back with those restrictions. She does have the possiblitity of a new job however.

Uncle John Trolinger still needs our prayers as he recovers from his cancer. He is still really weak. Larry is hoping to go visit them while he is down in Texas. He didn't get to go for Christmas so he has not seen them for five years.

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Gary found their van but is was trashed in a police chase.

I am finishing this up on Thursday now because I thought that I could go home and use the computer to finish on Monday night. Larry and I are at the Family History Center again because we had to work the fifth Thursday this month.

Jordan and Megan Hadlock blessed their baby this last weekend but we did not make it. There are some really cute pictures on line at Amanda's photography website To access them go to
http://www.riversedgefamilyphotography.com/
Choose Galleries
Choose View Your Photos
Choose Carston's Blessing

There is also a gallery with the pictures from the Jenkins Family Christmas Party in December that we held here in Kaysville. They are under Jenkins.

Michelle and Daniel are busy with the kids. They took all the kids out to dinner for Family Home Evening on Monday because the kids had such good report cards. Ethan will be turning eight on April 9th. The are having a special baptism for him and his cousin on the 10th of April. Then they are going to have a skating party after at the classic skating for their birthday's.

Well I guess I better sign off. Hope you are all having a good day.

2007-03-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well, Sunday is here again. We had a great testimony meeting today. Lots of testimonies of Christ and his importance in our lives and how he can help us to do the things that are hard in life. We got a new Relief Society Presidency today and our former Relief Society President Koy Helgesen bore a stong testimony of the help she received and the association with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that had deepened because of her service. I felt like it was an answer to prayer because I have felt numb for a while.

Friday was Erick's birthday but we all celebrated it by getting some 24 hour throw-up bug. I don't think it was food poisioning because we had not eaten the same thing for several days. Michelle and her family had it the week before and several persons at all of our work had had a similar thing. I was nauseated most of the afternoon at school but decided I could stay the last two classes after lunch. I was leaving the school when I decided that I needed to visit the restroom before I left. About that time Kirsten called me to talk to me and as I entered the bathroom I knew I was going to throw up. Kirsten kept talking to me as I was throwing up and I finally told her that maybe I should call her back. I probably would make a good humorous movie scene. Then I went out to the car and found out the battery was dead from leaving my lights on in the morning. I had the older car. When I got someone to help me jump it we could not get the grill open so I called Larry and found out that he was home because as he got ready for work he had become sick. One the way home Erick called to tell me he was home sick also. Erick actually went on a date that night to see David Copperfield.

Yesterday we were feeling better so we went to Owen's birthday party. The party that was planned for the week before was quickly cancelled when Misty and the boys got Strep. The party was at 12:30 p.m. I don't remember Owen being in such a playful mood at our house. He really seemed to be enjoying himself. He was having a good time eating the frosting off of his small cake but others wanted him to have his hands in it so they stuck them in. He was okay with one but when they stuck two in he was through. He did not want to stick those diry hands on the cake! It was funny to watch. We had a good time with those that could be there.

Thursday I worked until about 8:00 p.m. at school trying to get grades ready for the weekend and helping students sew again. Then I came home and went shopping for a card for Erick's birthday. Larry did homework most of the evening and laundry. Erick got home about the same time as I did from school.

Wednesday I went to the Orthopedic Surgeon and he told me that I was too young to have my knees replaced after two years ago telling me that the right knee needed to be done. I was not happy but I have some options.

Monday and Tuesday I spent the evening finishing up ESL assignments and going to my last class. I got the last assignment in on the due date Wednesday the 28th of February and so now I should have my ESL Endorsement when all the paperwork is completed by the district and the state. That is a relief.

Last Friday and Saturday Larry and I went to St. George to the Utah Association of Career and Technical Educators Conference. It was snowing in places on the way down but it was clear and snow free and in the 50's in St. George. We stayed with my cousin Diane Beacham and her husband Rand and had an enjoyable visit with them. Larry went to the conference with me and helped me with projects I had signed up for but his favorite part of the trip was getting to eat breakfast and dinner at Jack-in-the-Box!

On the 22 of February I had Parent-Teacher Conferences all evening so Larry went to the Family History center to work without me.

Maren and Landon have been in Las Vegas and Los Angeles for about a week. They left last Monday to go to with Landon's family to work there. Landon's brother got beat up there on Friday so they were staying over until tomorrow to finish up the work. Maren said that Landon was accepted to a flight school in Cedar City so it looks like they will be moving there so he can get his schooling. She is hoping to get a job there to help support them while he is in school.

BJ said that he and Holly broke up on Friday so he was sad about that. But it is still in transition because she keeps calling He has prospects for a better job this week so he is hoping to get that. He could use your prayers. He is coming down next week for a friends wedding at the Mount Timpanogos temple.

Erick finally got courage to ask the girl in his Chemistry class to go out with him. That is who he took to David Copperfield. He said that he told her that he was sick and she still wanted to go. He ended up throwing up just before the show in the bathroom but then he said he felt good for the entire show and was amazed at some of the illusions he performed.

Kirsten and Jon had to work last week so Kyle brought his Apples to Apples Jr. and we ended up going to Maren and Landon's and playing it while Maren did Holly's hair. Landon beat everyone. He was really on a role. I think Kyle was next. Kirsten and Jon got passes to the Clearfield Aquatic Center so they can take the kids and do some of the programs there. Kyle got his Bear award in cub scouts

Jeff and Misty have a routine down that works right now. She works from 2-8:30 p.m. He goes to work at 10:00 p.m., I thought she said, and works all night and then she takes care of the kids while he sleeps in the morning and he takes care of them in the afternoon while she is at work. They have to do that four days a week and then they have the weekends to be together with the kids.

Michelle and Daniel and family were sick most of the week before last with something like what we have had this weekend. Ethan and Hailee performed a solo last night at their choir program. Michelle said that they did it perfect in rehearsal. We were planning to go and then didn't make it. So we where hoping to see the video's of the show this week.

Jacob has been sick all week with a cold. He is getting better now and Ashton and Nikki have it. He is hoping to hear on a job but has not heard since his interview. He would like to get in a better position to go to school than he has right now. Nikki is still teaching nights so he is spending more time with the kids at night. He says Lexie likes the show about can you beat a fifth grader that they just introduced on TV.

Nathan has received his slot for helicopter school. He is supposed to go in September in Alabama. He is looking forward to that but still trying to find time to be with his family. He is in a play right now in McAllen. It is a performance of "Once Upon a Mattress." I don't know how long it is running. Sara is scheduled to have the baby on March 12th. Nathan said he thought she was over her cold. Larry and I are flying down to Texas on March 31 to spend the week with them and help Sara after the baby.

Kathy and Gary had their van stolen this week after someone stole her purse from the church kitchen where they were holding the Blue and Gold Banquet that she was in charge of. They had already tried to use the credit cards by the time they got home and the keys to the van that was stolen were in her purse that was stolen during the banquet. The van disappeared on Friday night when they awoke on Saturday it was gone.

Aunt Chris is having some major medical issues and needs our prayers. She is still healing from her back surgery and has a lot of issues on her plate right now.

On a happier note, Aunt Marcia called and said that Mike and Karen's son Jason is getting married. Kirsten talked to her so I don't have the details but I will try to learn more.

Hope all is well this week with everyone.

2007-02-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Brinlie's Birthday party.

2007-02-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

We have had a relatively quiet Sunday today. We went to church and Larry has been doing homework and Erick and I have been reading. Larry bought me a book I have been wanting to read and I read it last night and this afternoon.

We bought a new computer from my brother Keith and finally took our old ones down to him yesterday to get the information transferred to the hard drive and then Larry realized that he needed his test for school off the hard drive so Keith did a rush job and we went down last night at 10:00 p.m. to pick up our computer. It is so nice to have a computer that actually works with the high speed internet.

Yesterday I went down to clean house for Mom (Grandma Jenkins) and I had a good visit with them. I found out that Kyle not only had the same Birthday as Jordan's new baby but, he also had the same birth weight and length as their new baby. Grandma and Grandpa gave their old love seat in the family room to Amy for her new townhouse and bought a new couch so that it would be long enough for Mom to lay on. My brother Larry has also had a lot of head aches and Cameron, Craig's son has been in the hospital again this week. He is still not completely well. I was not sure what the problem is. Mom said that they thought at first that he might have crones disease.

Larry and I went out for dinner last night for Valentine's because on Valentines what time we had for dinner was spent taking a cheesecake and flowers to the Happy Sumo for BJ to present to his date. We went to Tepanyaki. It was wonderful. We had a good time. The steak must have been prime it was so tender. We also had a lovely romantic evening going to the church dry pack cannery for Valentines.

Erick had some friends over for Lasagna again last night and then they went to the Conference Center for a concert by the Orchestra at Temple Square. He said that they had a good time. He stayed home for Valentines however, and he gets home about 12:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and 9:45 p. m. on Thursdays from school.

Maren and Landon and Brinlie are all sick with a sore throat and cough. Landon has had it most of the week but Maren came down with it on Friday and Brinlie is starting to get it today.

BJ had a great time for Valentines planning things for Holly. He took her to "Build a Bear" and they each built bears of each other. Then he took her to the Happy Sumo for dinner and had them present her with a couple of roses at the table before dinner. They went to Happy Sumo because she likes sushi (so she would get along with Nathan) and then he ordered a cheesecake from the Cheese cake factory and had them present that to her at the table after dinner. It all went well except that the cheesecake was shipped on dry ice and I didn't take it out of the box when it came and the restaurant didn't take it out of the box when I delivered it so it was frozen solid when it was served!

Kirsten and Jon spent alot of time going to doctors last week because they thought he had type I Diabetes but now they have decided that it is type II. They spent about three days going to doctors. Kyle went to his dad's for the weekend and they did not have Jon's girls this weekend so they have had the weekend to themselves. Kirsten has a new cell phone that is supposed to forward the calls but I have not had good luck with the forward so call me if you want her temporary number.

Misty has a new job working for the post office as a data processer part time. It works good with Jeff's job right now. Jeff is still working nights. The kids are really growing up. They are having a party for Owen's birthday at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday at their house.

Michelle and Daniel went to Bear Lake for the weekend while it is the President's day holiday. Daniel's brother has a cabin up there. We tended their kids last Saturday while they had a Valentine's date. The went to dinner and their Stake had a sweetheart dance.

Isaac had a good birthday with Sara and Granny Gail and David. Nathan had to call because he could not get time off now and when the baby is born, also. I called and talked to them for a few minutes. Sara is getting a cold so pray for her that she will get better before the baby is born. She is also having water leakage problems so Nathan is looking at options for different housing for his family.

We had a family party for Kyle's and Isaac and Owen's birthday last week at the house and had everyone here. We had a good time and enjoyed all the grandkids being here. I have some pictures that Erick uploaded that I will try to post.

Saturday night we had Michelle's kids and Kirsten's kids here to tend. They all had a good time playing together. Kallise is really getting around with her crawling and we had a hard time keeping her out of the toilet. Later that night we had to go shopping for the birthday party and I had to shop for the restaurant simulation that we do at school. Erick went to Krispy Kreem for me to get hats for the simulation and came home with two dozen donuts that everyone enjoyed at the party.

Tuesday and Wednesday I had to go to a work shop on Advanced Strategies for ESL Students at the district so Monday night after ESL class I was planning for a sub for two hours. Tuesday I got feeling a lot of pain in my back shoulder blade and did not feel well most of the night but I had Maren come and wax my legs went visiting teaching and then went to Kirstens to see if she could massage it out as Larry was at class. I kept feeling like I would just like to lay down and die.

Wednesday I started feeling better after a shower. I had NAL game after the class at the district which we lost in the last two minutes and then we went to Happy sumo and to the cannery.

Thursday and Friday I stayed at school and worked on grades and helped students with sewing while Larry was at home working on his homework. He spent all of one day trying to get the computer to work and that is when he made the decision that I had done the right thing to call Keith about a new computer.

The restored gospel is the only true church. Please do the things to keep your testimony alive, pray and read the scriptures. Christ is there to help you in the things you think you cannot do.

2007-02-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

Maren called on Monday and said that she had passed her state test with a 93. She was pretty excited about passing. Now she can get her license and begin working some. She and Landon have gone to St. George this week with his business. I suppose with the way things have warmed up lately it is really nice in St. George this week.

Monday I had ESL class until 6:30 p.m. after school. The Larry and I went shopping for a few things at the grocery store and to get prescriptions we both needed. We got home about 8:30 p.m. and Erick was just getting home from his ward family home evening.

Tuesday I stayed after school to help some students sew and finished a few projects for TLC and threaded a serger that needed threaded. Larry brought me the infiniti so he could take the malibu to class then I stayed longer at school and worked on getting set up for the lab the next day and put some scores in the computer. I got to bed about 9:30 p.m. I woke up at what I thought was the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and the power was out. Larry was in bed with me and I thought he was asleep. I went back to sleep worried about how the alarm would go off. The next morning the alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. I was amazed. When I told Larry about my amazement he said that he had reset the alarm after the power came back on. When I ask him when he did this he said about 12:30 a.m. about the time that Erick got home. I had been so sound asleep I did not realize that Larry had got up to sleep in the recliner because he could not sleep without power to his C-Pap machine. Erick had stayed at school until late working on a project for his class and got home just as the power came on and I didnt even wake up for that. It was weird. We ended up going back to sleep for an hour and I was almost late for school so I was glad I had everything set up for the class that morning.

Yesterday I had another NAL match after school. We played Centerville Jr. High. We lost by a few points which was disappointing. Then Larry picked me up and he had bought some Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner for me because I invited some of my Hispanic Mexican neighbors over to talk about Mexican culture for a paper I have to do for my ESL class. We both enjoyed talking to Rigo and Alma Guitierrez and Margarita Tovar. There were a lot of things that were interesting but they said that in Mexico there are very few jobs available for women over 30 because there is a prejudice towards having someone who looks good working for you especially as secretaries and receptionists. They said that women my age are not hired and if they want to work they have to start their own companies.

Today Larry picked me up about 3:30 p.m. I had a meeting after school and then we went home. I had planned a primary party to celebrate the birthday of one of our children and so Margarita Tovar (who I teach with) came and most of the students and they had ice cream and cupcakes and looked at the fish. The cupcakes really made a big mess because they had lots of frosting. I am teaching 6 year olds this year and Margarita brought two of her grandsons and they really smeared the icing. Larry went and paid several bills while I was doing this. I took the kids home and when I got back he had the mess cleaned up but thought that was the messiest party I had given in a long time. Now we are at the Family History Center working our shift.

2007-02-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

We had a great spirit at testimony meeting today. I felt my testimony so strong. I want to do a better job of living the gospel and doing my callings. I have the cutest primary class that I am teaching with Sister Tovar. They are six going on seven and really enthusiastic about the church. Larry bore his tesimony and I was surprized at the depth of his feelings for our Bishop and his calling, but not surprized by the strength of his testimony. He is truly a blessing from God in my life.

I wrote about Frescas this week but last week Larry needed the computer on Sunday so I didn't get a chance to update what was happening to us and everyone.

Maren took her State practical test a week ago Saturday on the 27th. Erick went as her model. She picked him up at about 5:45 a.m. that morning because they had to be there at 6:30 p.m. About 7:00 a.m. Erick called Larry and woke him up. Maren had forgotten her license and they would not let her take the test without it. She could not get Landon to answer the phone so they needed us to go wake him up. I was already dressed in sweats so I put on my shoes and volunteered to go. I decided that because he had the baby at home with him that I would just get the license from him and take it up to Maren. Everything was going good until I got to Ogden and it was foggy with the inversion from last week. I could hardly see where to get off the freeway. Erick had told me to turn at Wall avenue and I could hardly see the street signs. All of a sudden I noticed that the street sign I was at was Wall avenue. Then I realized that I had come to a stop on a green light. I looked over and could not see any cars in the turn lane and it was a red arrow so I moved over. Almost immediatedly there was a car behind me with flashing red lights. To make a long story short I got a ticket for driving irradically and not having my license. She asked me for my license and I said that that I didn't have it because I had forgotten to get it when I left in a hurry. She looked and my hand with Maren's license in it and said, "What is that in your hand?" she also was not sympathetic to the fact that it was foggy and I could not see any thing. She said that I pulled in front of another car in the turn lane but I honestly did not see another car. Larry said it was probably the policeman that I pulled in front of because I have been trying to figure out how she got behind me if I pulled in front of another car.

Larry has had a headache all week. He did not go to class on Tuesday because it was so bad. He still had it yesterday but it has gone today. He has been helping me sort out paperwork so we can get our bills paid now that we are not having Terry and Sandy do it for us. We went to the temple on Friday night and had a good time together. We got home about the time Erick got home from work.

I got a cold on Monday and felt bad most of the week. I couldn't stay home at all because my classes had so many labs and demo's in the schedule so I just took medicine to make me feel better. I tried to use all the sanitation techniques that I know but I will probably have some students sick because of it. When we had to take Frescas to the vet on Thursday I was aching so bad I was wondering if I would be able to get my homework done for ESL which was due on Friday. I couldn't stay home because I had to be observed for part of my homework and because of the labs one observer was coming in on Friday. I finally decided to get a half day sub and work on my homework in the morning and then go in for the afternoon classes. I didn't feel good when I went to bed, but I said a prayer that Heavenly Father asking for help to get the work done. The next morning it was like a miracle. I did not take medicine for the cold and I felt fine. I was able to get the work done and turned in on time.

Nikki has a new job. She is teaching pharmacy tech classes at a college in Salt Lake area from 6-10 p.m. in the evening. Jake has been tending the kids for her and so far Ashton has been good for him. But he is really clinging to her during the day. She and Lexie have been working on scrapbooking on Sundays after church. Lexie has lost about 7 teeth now she was really excited to tell me.

BJ was down last weekend. We had a good time talking to him. And we all got together with Maren and Landon and played Apples to Apples. He seemed to be getting pretty serious with Holly but he called yesterday and said that things were not going well so maybe she needs her space or maybe it just isn't going to work. He is very busy trying to work and go to school full time. He has added classes to his schedule so he will be prepared to go to UCLA , therefore he has a extra full schedule. He went to church with Aunt Marva and Uncle Charles today because he had to work.

Erick has been busy with school also but he always has time to play a game on Sunday with us. He is really getting into his student ward. He goes there for Family Home Evening and Scripture study on Sundays besides the regular church meetings and he said today that he has a date for the CES fireside to listen to Elder Bednar. He was the only one that could get Frescas inside on Thursday when he was so sick. I was glad he was here.

Maren got sick this week too, but hers was more like the flu or strep. She had aches and a sore throat but no runny nose. She was really feeling terrible for a few days. We went and bought the stuff so she can to waxing and hopefully I can get her to wax my legs now. Anyway if you need waxings she can do them at home now. Brinlie is as cute as ever. She will have to learn to say fish or cat now that we no longer have a dog.

Kirsten and Jon are coming over today to play games and have dinner. Kirsten had a lot of computer and printer problems a week ago so she spent two days trying to resolve those so they didn't have time to come last week. Kyle's birthday is this Tuesday. He will be ten. He is leaving to be with Aaron on the third weekend so we were thinking that we could have the Feburary birthday party next weekend. Michelle and Daniel are going out on Saturday so we probably will need to meet on Sunday. It is also Isaac's birthday on the 16th but I don't think they will make it up and Owen's birthday is on the 23rd and Larry and I are going to St. George that weekend for the UCTE conference.

Sara went down to McAllen to see Nathan this weekend and stay with him. She was able to leave the boys with her mother for the weekend so they are having a weekend alone. Nathan said it would probably be the last time she could travel before the baby. She is going to the doctor on Thursday. I talked to Jeff at the last birthday party and he said that Larry remembered wrong that he wasn't in McAllen on his mission.

Michelle and Daniel are going out for Valentines this weekend on Saturday and we are tending the kids for them. They had a marriage enrichment fireside that they went to last Sunday. We are looking forward to spending some time with the grandkids.

Mom and Dad sent us a sympathy card with $20.00 in it for Frescas. I think knowing my dad that there was a hint of sarcasm in the gesture be we appreciated it.

2007-02-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

I just got home from the vet. We made the decision to have our dog Frescas put to sleep tonight. He has been having a hard time walking and lately he has not wanted to climb the back stairs when he has been outside to go to the bathroom. Last night he woke me up about 1:30 a.m. to go out and I let him out but he would not come back in. He acted like he wanted to be in but he did not want to climb the stairs. I tried three times between one and four-thirty to get him to let me help him and he would just run away. Larry tried a couple of times. Erick was able to get him in about 6:00 a.m. but he started gagging like he was going to throw up and wanted out again. Erick got him back in but when we got home tonight he was walking like a drunken sailor. He almost didn't make it in the car. He refused to sit in the car as we went to the vet and he sat and was shaking the whole time we were waiting for the vet. The vet felt like it was the most humane thing we could do to put him to sleep. He was almost 14 so that is about 98 in human years. I have a picture of him somewhere but I can't find it

2007-01-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

I am at the family history center. There is no one who needs my help. Our laptop is broken and so I cannot get to the information on my family or Mary and Theo's so I decided that the best thing I could do is to update the blog. Sunday, despite what the blog says it was 9:00 p.m. when I decided to sign off. I get up at 4:30 a.m. during the week and I need to be in bed that early if I want to function. I only got to Monday on my description of the week so I guess that I will continue on from there.

Tuesday was a quality teaching day at school. That means that I have to be there but the students are not. Generally they come at the end of each term so that we have time to work on grades and prepare for the new term or semester. I spent the day working on grades and organizing the kitchens to make sure they each have what they need. Larry has classes on Tuesdays so Erick picked me up from school.

Wednesday the new Semester started at our school. It was also the day of an NAL game which I am a mentor for. When we have away games we have to leave early so the school busses can go on their normal run so we have to leave school early therefore, I had to get a sub for my two new classes on the first day! Not a good situation. But we survived and we won the game with Millcreek by 1 point.

Maren gave me a flat iron for my hair for Christmas. She spent alot of time on Monday doing my hair and then helped me try to use it. A lot of the girls at school mentioned my hair the first day back so I guess it would be worth it to try but I am presently back to curlly because it is easier.

I was glad that we only had a three day school week last week because we ended up not getting to bed early and we were tired by Thursday. Erick is staying late on Tuesdays and Thursdays now at school but last week he did not have to so he was home a little earlier.

Friday night we had Kirsten's kids while they went to the Bar J Wranglers with Jon's family. The kids enjoyed playing clue with me and then we watched several shows on Disney channel. I was so tired I just sat there and watched. Then I sent the kids to bed at 10:00 p.m. Larry had gone to bed earlier because he had to work early on Saturday.

Saturday we watched Kyle's movie, "Ant bully" while we ate breakfast. Then Kirsten came to get the kids and Erick and I had to start working because we still had the Christmas tree up and all the Christmas decorations and Maren had planned Brinlie's birthday party for the evening at 6:00 p.m. Erick and I worked on the Living room until about 12:30 p.m. and Maren came and started to help us. She ended up cleaning most of the kitchen while we finished the living room. She also Vacuumed the stairs for me while I mopped the floor. Then we got some of the food ready and It felt good to have a clean house. Larry said, "it would be worth having a party for every week" when he came home.

The party was a lot of fun. We had all of the family here except Nathan and Sara. With Landon's family all there, I realized that I have a very small house for giving a big family party. Brinlie seemed to have a good time. She also got lots of presents and there was alot of good food for everyone. BJ even brought his girl friend Holly Milligan to the party so everyone was giving Erick a bad time about being single. Erick got some good pictures but I haven't had time to get him to upload them. I could have taken some pictures if I had thought to go get my mail in. Sara had sent the recharger for the camera but we didn't get the mail in until Sunday but then I was able to upload the pictures from Christmas for Sunday.

Sunday Larry slept all afternoon so I was somewhat concerned but I guess he was just tired because he has been alright this week. We had a post trek fireside that was a great spiritual boost for me. The had a great DVD but of course as cooks and crew non of us were in it. I was thinking the theme song for the Trek, called "Carry Me" would make a great family song for this year.

Monday I had ESL class again so it was a late night. Larry came to pick me up at 6:30 p.m. and he had bought some King crab legs for a good price so we went home and ate them with Erick and enjoyed each others company and went to bed. Maren called and was excited because she passed the written part of her test for her Cosmotology license. She has the practical part on Saturday.

Tuesday Larry had the day off and he worked on school and some financial things we needed to take care of. I made chocolate chip cookies most of the day teaching about measuring and then helped some girls after school on clothing projects until about 5:00 p.m. Then I had to get the car home to Larry so he could go to school. I was really tired and thought I would go to bed early but it was about 9:30 p.m. befoe I made it but after eating I really revived and even exercised while I watched the State of the Union Address.

Wednesday I had NAL again after school so Larry brought me some clothes to change into and we went to the Bountiful temple to do sealings with our ward. We ate at Burger King on the way home and then right after Erick called and said he had dinner ready for us, homemade macaroni and cheese, I was thrilled but surprized because he had said he would be late after a service project in his ward so I wasn't expecting him to be home. He even fixed a vegetable and a fruit to go with it! We also went shopping for a lab I had today so we went to bed late again. I really had a hard time getting up this morning.

Today I showed a video so I could get grades caught up in the morning but I had labs in the afternoon. I stayed after school to help some students get caught up on their clothing projects and then we came to the family history center to work.

Larry and I bought our tickets to go to Houston during spring break to help Sara with the baby. We will be going on March 31st in the evening and coming back April 6th in the evening. Hopefully we can help out. Sara told Nikki that she is set to be induced on March 12th so that Nathan can be home.

Well we need to go home so I will mention other children later.

2007-01-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

It has been an interesting week. I had the 15th off of work which was Martin Luther King Day. I went to the doctor because I did not feel good on Saturday again. I learned that I did have Strep all through Christmas. The throat swab they cultured came back positive. So it is a good thing that I insisted on getting some antibiotic on New Year's eve. He told me I was on Dr. orders not to do anything extra so I have been having fun joking about that all week. It felt good to have some confirmation that I understood my body and what it was going through. Those of you that were around me make sure you get aches and chills or sore throats checked.

Larry had Monday off too so it was fun to sleep in together and then he went to the doctor with me. We went grocery shopping and then when we got home Maren came over and worked on my hair coloring and cutting and styling it for about 5 hours. I look much better now. Maren is trying to teach me how to use the Flat Iron that she gave me for Christmas and it is just not as easy as Diffusing my hair, but I realized that about 5 years ago I was trying to learn how to diffuse my hair and it was just as frustrating. Eventually I will learn how to do it but it is hard right now.

Sara sent my camera recharger and Erick finally brought in yesterday's mail today so I uploaded a couple of pictures from Christmas. The first is in Ingram, Texas. It is Larry's sister Judy and her son Mike. The second is Nathan playing a pool game with the kids, Isaac and David, on Christmas day.

I will write more tomorrow hopefully but is is past my bedtime.

2007-01-14T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I am finally back after a month of crazy Christmas trips and not feeling good. The week after my last post I started aching and did not feel good. I made it through the end of school frenzy before Christmas but only by taking Excedrin most days to stop the aching. I started to feel better and it was time to go to Texas. Larry couldn't go because his work banned all emergency leave from December 20th until January 2 and that was all he had left for the year. So Erick, BJ, and I took off with our map from Mapquest and started across country to see Nathan and Sara and the crew. Things went pretty well the first day but I had to stop so much for the bathroom that I decided to stop taking the Excedrin and then I really got feeling bad. Sore throat, aches and chills, all the way to Kerrville where John and Judy live. Luckily they would still take us in even though it was possible I could be bringing them more than a Christmas present. After sleeping and taking some medicine I felt much better and had a good visit with Judy, John, Jane, David, Mike, Sandra and their children. Hillary had grown alot from our last visit four years ago and seemed to enjoy talking to Erick and BJ. The baby that we saw the last time was now almost 5 and seeing him really put it in perspective how long it had been. We had a great brunch with the family and exchanged gifts and moved on to Houston.

We had a good trip to Houston and I kept thinking that I would be able to go to an urgent care when I finally got to Houston but by the time I got there and had dinner with the family the urgent cares were closed. So I made Nathan take me to the nearest Target and we bought a big bottle of Excedrin and went back to the drugs for comfort. We had a great night when we got there watching Nacho Libre and eating taco's and other Mexican food. We were able to stay with Nathan and Sara in their duplex on air mattresses. They have a spacious place and it was fun to be there full time, but Sara had to put up with a bed on the Living Room and Office floor for three days. Sara's mom Gail was also there. She is staying with Sara while Nathan is gone and we had a good visit with her also. We had a good time playing games and watching movies and eating good food for three days. Sara made some really good food and by Christmas night I was feeling better.

We went to Nathan and Sara's ward on Christmas Eve and then some couple missionaries there helped us contact Weston's mission president to see if we could see Weston when we took the package Annette had sent with us. He said, "no!" so we gave the package to the missionaries to take to him and called him to tell him the situation. It was good to talk to him on the phone for a few minutes.

We got up early the day after Christmas and left Houston hoping to make it back for Maren's graduation from Fran Brown at 2:00p.m. on the 27th. We drove straight through and I enjoyed reading some genealogy magazines that Judy had given us for Christmas all across Texas. I felt pretty good all the way home. We made it home by noon on the 27th just before the Snow started to fall. We had dry roads down and back. Nathan called us about 6:00 a.m. when we were in Moab eating breakfast because he had heard about the big storm coming in and he was worried but it had not arrived and we made it safely. After the storm arrived I was glad that we had needed to get home so fast because we would not have had dry roads a day later.

I tried to go without my medicine on the Thursday I got back and found out I was not better. I went to the doctor and had a strep test and it was negative so I went home and took my drugs and began finishing up the plans for the Jenkins, Presser, Christiansen party that we had planned for Saturday morning at our church.

The party seemed to go well, despite some minor gliches like the Primary also scheduled the cultural hall for their breakfast activity that morning so we had to move the Humanitarian projects into the Multipurpose room. But it went well and then we had a good dinner with Ham and Turkey and rolls and numerous salads and desserts. We had a video of Steven and his companions entertaining in Ukraine and some entertainment by Ethan and Hailee and Ashley and Uncle Gary. Craig and Corrinne's little boys had strep the last minute so they could not come but eventually most of the family showed up. Then we cleaned up and our family went to our house and opened our presents. Larry worked the whole day, then went to a team meeting for school. I was frustrated but we still love each other.

Sunday I got so sick with aches and chills at church again that I had Larry call the doctor. I talked him into giving me an antibiotic and went to bed for New Years Eve. I slept most of the day on New Years and got feeling much better in the evening and was able to go to work on the 2nd and feel good the rest of the week. So at least by then I had something that was bacterial. BJ took a date to first night in Salt Lake for New Year's Eve. Erick invited some friends over to the house and I shut my door and ignored them. I think the rest of the kids stayed home with their families.

I was really grateful to get feeling better for school. We just had two more weeks until the end of the term and I needed to be able to do my job. Larry received a promotion the first day back that entailed that he be at work at seven a.m. At the same time his car started acting up again on him and we had to carpool. I was able to complete several projects that I had to do in the hour and a half that I had to get to school early so I felt like things were going good.

Larry's promotion is a good one. He is making $3.00 an hour more and working more hours. We feel like we have been really blessed. I am really proud of him. He didn't think he would make it to coach until maybe another year and he is there now. We have really felt the help of the Lord as we have worked through our finances. It really pays to pay your tithing and counsel with the Lord.

I was aching and chilling again this weekend but I think it is a combination of not enough sleep and the cold. We have really seen the temperatures drop this past week. I am feeling okay tonight so I guess this is my new trial for the year.

I am still teaching primary with a sister in our ward. Larry decided that he wanted to go to Priesthood and get to know some of the men in our ward better so they released him but I am sure they will find a job for him. We are on the early schedule from 9:00-12:00 in the morning. Larry is going to school still but I am only finishing up ESL Endorsement and other projects for my Technology Endorsement. We also have curriculum maps to do at school for each subject.

Michelle is the Relief Society book club leader which must be something unique to their ward, she is also the choirster for young women, and the achievement day leader for the 8-10 year olds. Dan is ward mission leader and rotating organist. Hailee and Ethan are learning the song "On the road again" to sing as a duet for their choir in March. Michelle is struggling because she is trying to lose 20 lbs. and Daniel is trying to gain 20 lbs. so she is having to fix him all the things that she cannot eat.

Jake is trying to figure out how to go back to school. He has been exploring on line universities and trying to figure out if their accrediatation is going to be what he wants. The kids have colds. Lexie is back in school after being off track during and before Christmas. Jake bought a new car when his work car broke down and it would cost more than it was worth to fix it. He was really upset when a week later a Christmas tree that was on the curb rolled into the road and hit his car and did body damage so his new car is going in the shop tomorrow.

BJ is alive but has lots of girl friends. He has one that is more than a friend named Holly Milligan. He just started the new semester and hates his schedule. He is still working for Alert Cellular but looking for a new job. He says he might start running again. I think he needs to start going to bed earlier. He is a real night owl at school. He agrees.

Erick finally got the courage to ask a girl out on the same day he was going to take her out after all his dates fell through yesterday. He has staunchly defended his position that it is rude to ask a girl out on the same day up until yesterday. He had a good time too. He likes his schedule for school. He was happy to find out that his Chemistry class was using the same text that BJ used last semester and BJ didn't make him pay for the use of his book. He is getting really busy in his University of Utah ward.

Maren takes her state test on the 27th of January. She has a job working nights at Hair Play here in Kaysville when she passes. She has enjoyed being home with Brinlie and spending more time with her. She is planning on having a family party for Brinlie's birthday this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. You should be getting an invitation. Landon is still working for his dad in the family business but is working towards starting school now Maren is finished. They took Binlie sleigh riding on Saturday with all the snow.

Kirsten and Jon took the kids sleigh riding on Saturday also. They have all the kids for the weekend. Kyle has been sick with a cold so Kirsten was glad we have the four day weekend from school so he can rest. She and Jon have been working hard to keep up financially. Jon has two jobs so I hope that he does not overload himself. Larry and Dad tell me that is just standard operating for Dad's sometimes. I know John Christiansen also had two jobs for a while.

Sara has been in Missouri for a while. Her brother came home from his mission on the 4th of January. He spoke today in his ward. She was going to go home to Houston today but there has been an ice storm so they decided to wait until tomorrow. Sara went down to McAllen, Texas to stay with Nathan for a week before she went to Missouri so they have been on the road alot this month.

Nathan gave me his address last week and I finally got it in my head that he is in McAllen instead of Brownsville. Larry said that Jeff spent some of his time on his mission in McAllen, Texas. Nathan tried out for a part in a play called "Once Upon a Mattress" and he got a part as an understudy to one of the leads and he is in the chorus there in McAllen. He has had several people from the ward there invite him over for dinner. Someone even invited him for his birthday.

Well I was going to upload some pictures but the battery on my camera is dead and I left the charger in Texas so as soon as Sara is back in Texas then maybe I can show you some pictures of our trip and other things.

2006-12-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

The pictures did not post so I am trying again.

2006-12-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

Larry and I have been home sick today. I woke up with chills and aches and Larry had nausea and stomach pains all night. We slept all day and got someone else to do the primary class and we are feeling better tonight. Erick has been busy with his ward all day so it has been pretty quiet.

I called Sara and she said that they had all been sick lately too. Some of the boys had to have antibiotic. She is busy getting ready for an enrichment night party this Thursday. She said that her mother and her and the boys went out and cut their own Chistmas tree. That is a real woman woman for you, add to that she is pregnant and her mother is fighting cancer.

We have had a somewhat stressful week this week. It has been the end of the semester at the University of Utah. Erick spent three days this week mostly at school finishing up projects but it paid off for him. His team tied for 1st in the Frisbee throwing competition that they had to build a Frisbee thrower for. So he was feeling pretty good Thursday night. He drew up the contraption in 3-d on CAD so that impressed a few people too.

Monday night I had ESL class as usual and things to finish up for school. I got home about 8:30 p.m. Larry had done the laundry and gone shopping for me again. Plus he was working on homework for his class on Tuesday night.

Tuesday Larry took the day off to work on homework and get things finalized for his class. He got home about 10:30 p.m. from class. I stayed at school and did National Academic League practice and then stayed working on my school project waiting to see if parents would come to visit for parent teacher conference. I had sent home a letter that I would be there for them because I could not be there on Wednesday because of my class. I left at 6:00 p.m. because my visiting teachers were supposed to come at 6:30 p.m. I had a good visit with them and then put some finishing touches on what I had to do on the final presentation for Wednesday and went to bed.

Wednesday went well. My classes went good and I stayed after helping a girl with her pattern layout for Clothing. I ate the Parent Teacher conference luncheon and then went to my class. Our presentation went really well and the teacher gave us alot of conpliments on it. I came home feeling good because he said that if I finish up my schooling in IDET that there are a lot of things that I could do and encouraged me to continue.

Thursday I did not feel well all day but I made myself keep working and I stayed after school again for a couple of hours for parents again. I actually had one parent come in and I spent the time calling and emailing parents who had left their name and number the night before for the conferences. I left at 5:00 p.m. and went to a class at the University of Utah about the electronic portfolio's we have to develop for the Technology endorsement. I stopped on the way home to get some laminating I had dropped off at Kinko's for a game I wanted to play in Foods the next day. They had done the order wrong so I ended up going to look for some dice for a few minutes and then waiting for the order for an hour. I ended up getting home about 9:30 p.m. But I got the order for free because they had messed up.

Friday I forgot to hand out a sheet asking for volunteers that I had gone early to type and run off. Then the game did not go over good and I had high hopes for it. We had faculty meeting and then I read my email and by then it was 5:00 p.m. and Larry and I were going to the temple. I actually made it home in time and we made it back in time for the 6:30 p.m. session with the ward. Larry and I got dinner after the session and came home to go to bed.

Larry had stayed home Friday and gone to the doctor. He is working with the doctor on an insulin pen that makes it so he can eat more of what he wants and then give himself some insulin. He also went to the foot doctor and got fitted for some orthotics and had a check for neuropothy in his feet. I was shocked that he actually went to the doctor without having to be urged to go.

Larry worked on Saturday morning. I went up to Fran Brown and Maren gave me a manicure and pedicure and we had a good talk. I like to go in just to have the chance to talk with her. Landon called while we were there and said that Brinlie had thrown-up after taking a bottle. But she seemed to feel okay later. Maren and I went to lunch and then she had to take the car home to Landon. She tried to get Brinlie to walk for me but she wanted nothing to do with walking then.

While I was getting the manicure I called the last of my brothers and sisters and everyone said that they could come to a party on the 30th of December. Because we are going to Texas and I am in charge of the party I decided to have the Presser/Christiansen party with the Jenkins party in the after noon and then our family can open presents before or after the big party.

While talking to Kathy I found out that Amy may be getting married in June. She has a boy friend who wants to marry her but it is still up in the air for some reason. Amy also bought a town home in Provo now because she works there 4 days a week.

Aunt Chris is doing well but they expect that it will be 2 to 3 months before she can go back to work. It takes about six months to completely recover. Apparently they found out the problem was worse than they thought when they got into the surgery. She said it was the most painful thing she has been through. They have moved her bed into the family room so she can be with everyone.

I took the car in to get it serviced and got gas and a car wash. By the time I got home it was 1:40 p.m. I worked on some things on the computer and then Larry decided we had better get things ready for Matthew's birthday party. Kirsten had called and wanted a ride to the party because Jon was working, but Maren had also called and asked us to take Brinlie because Landon had got tickets to a concert before they got the invitation to the party. So we took the malibu to Kirsten and then went shopping for a present for Matthew. Kirsten had gone with her mother-in-law, Ann, to a shower for someone in Jon's family earlier in the day and was not home.

We left for the birthday party at 5:15 p.m. after Maren and Landon brought Brinlie. Brinlie walked for us then because she wanted to get to Frescas. They had the party at Chuck-e-cheese most of the family was there. Jake doesn't get home until about 7:00 p.m. so he was not there and I already mentioned that Jon and Maren and Landon couldn't make it. Kristen got there after us because Kyle got a migraine on the way down and they had to stop for him to throw up. Michelle was also late because Jaron threw up on the way down and they had to go back and clean him up. So it was a good day for throwing up.

They had everything ready. Plenty of Pizza and soda for everyone. The kids were having a ball and I was having a hard time hearing everything. Lexie was excited because she had lost her first tooth so we took a picture of her that I will add. I will also add some pictures of the party. Matther seemed to be having a good time. Jeff and Michelle's grandmother Marie was there also. She has been up this week from California visiting with them.

Grandma and Grandpa have been calling us this week trying to get us to fly but I think that we are still going to drive. Nathan and Sara would also like us to fly but Larry wants to drive.

Well, hope you are all ready for Christmas we aren't but we are getting there.

2006-12-03T20:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week. All of us at home have had projects and team projects to get done for school. Usually we are home on Saturday's some but we all left by 9:00 a.m. and no one was home until about 5:30 p.m. yesterday. Then we all went to the ward Christmas party. Maren and Brinlie even came for a few minutes.

We had a great Thanksgiving at our house. Everyone was here except Jeff and Misty and their family and Nathan and Sara and their family. Michelle came about 12:30 p.m. with her family and they had a good time playing Phase 10 with Erick. Larry worked Thanksgiving morning to follow an old Presser Tradition. But he was home in time to eat and be tired the rest of the day. We ate about 3:00 p.m. and had all the good things for Thanksgiving. Turkey, Rolls, Dressing, Cranberries, Mashed potatoes and gravy,Yams, Peas, Jello Salad, Fruit salad and several pies and cheese cakes. Michelle make cranberries. Nikkie made mashed potatoes. Kirsten make pumpkin pie, Maren made three kinds of cheesecake, and I made a lemon, apple, and banana cream pie and the rest of the dinner. Most of the family had left by 7:30 p.m. to go to the spouses family but we had a good time together while they were here.

Nathan called in the morning and talked for a while. Sara and the boys had gone to the border to be with him for Thanksgiving. They were cooking dinner in his apartment and having a good time.

Jeff called in the afternoon and they had a good time with Misty's family.

Ethan and I made his seven year old quilt the day after Thanksgiving and we were acturally able to complete it in one day. We had Kirsten's kids here while she and Jon went shopping and they all helped tie it along with Larry and Erick so we were able to complete it that day. Ethan also had fun playing a computer game with his cousins that day.

Saturday morning I went to have Maren do my hair and then I went to the Kaysville Nativity display to watch Ethan and Hailee's choir perform. I had to go pick Larry up from Salt Lake because the car stalled on him and would not start after work. After a dinner with him he helped me record graded papers for school so I could get the progress reports out on Monday. It was midterm this week so getting that done last week was a big help.

Monday the 27th I got new students in TLC so I had to be at school. Tuesday I took off to work on a project that is due for school next week. It took me all day until about 11:00 p.m. that evening to get everything ready. Larry had class that night and a presentation to do. He said it went well but he was gone until about 10:30 p.m. BJ sent me a text with a picture of his Christmas tree that night about 11:00 p.m. and I was able to have a good talk with him for a few minutes. He and his roommate went out and bought a christmas tree and ornaments so they could have a tree.

Erick came home on Tuesday ready to go to bed at 4:30 p.m. so I knew he was sick. He has had a cold or flu all week with a runny nose, congestion and a cough so he was home several days right after school going to bed but he still got his 30 hours in at work so he was surprized. He is counting the days until school ends. He is working on a frisbee thrower for his class, he calls it an alternative dish washer because you can load the plates into it and launch them off and shoot them with a shotgun.

Wednesday I had school and class. Larry did some wash while he did his home work. He was able to help Michelle take the kids to a concert they had to perform and see the kids perform at a local elementary school. Daniel has been out of town all this week so she was grateful to have help with the younger kids. Larry held Jaron until he fell asleep. Erick was sick but he still went to school and work.

Thursday I stayed at school helping students finish their sewing projects for TLC until 5:30 p.m and then picked up dinner at McDonalds and met Larry at the Family History Center were we worked until 9:00 p.m Erick was just fixing his dinner when we got home after sleeping the afternoon.

Friday I had midterms due. BJ stopped in at school to see me after a meeting for work in Salt Lake. It was good to see him. He also saw Maren when he went to get his hair cut. I stayed at school until 10:00 p.m to finish my grades so they would be finished for Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. when they are due. Larry worked on homework. He was in bed when I got home. Erick said this was the first day he started feeling better. He got home about the same time I did from work and school.

Saturday as I said we were all busy. Larry went to work in the morning at 7:00 a.m. and then had a meeting with a school team to work on a project after work until about 5:30 p.m. I met my team about 10:00 at the U of U and we worked until 3:00 p.m. then I went home and ran a few errands. I called Kirsten and she sounded like Erick has so she has been sick all weekend. Erick went to work then to be a model for Maren's second practice test and get a hair cut. After that he went to the U of U to meet his team to work on the Frisbee thrower. Then he came home and rushed to the temple to meet his ward. Then we all went to the Christmas party which was a good relaxation after a long day, and dinner was already fixed.

Ethan and Hailee performed Saturday night at the Festival of the Trees in Salt Lake City. Michelle said it was the first time they had been to Festival of the Trees.

Today was fast Sunday. The choister in Primary asked the children to think of a gift they could give to Jesus. She said that it is a tradition in their home to do this for the first Family Home Evening of December and then the children work on their gift the month before Christmas. The gifts are changes they can make or commandments they try to keep better. I thought it was a good idea. I hope we can focus on the spirit of Christ for Christmas.

Larry and I and Erick and possibly BJ are going to Texas for Christmas to be with Nathan and Sara and their family. We are leaving on the 21st of December and will drive. We are hoping to visit Larry's sister Judy on the 22nd and 23rd and then go to where Nathan will be. He is hoping to get some time off and be in Houston but we do not know where he will be yet. We have to come home on the 26th so Larry and Erick can go back to work. Hopefully we will be home on the 27th.

Aunt Chris had back surgery on Thursday and was having a fever yesterday so it would be good if we could all remember her in our prayers.

I talked to Aunt Annette tonight and Amber and Nate were out for Three weeks and just went back today. Adrienne and Drayton have moved into their new house so Annette and Rex are finally empty nesters until Weston gets home.

Larry talked to Aunt Judy tonight and Mike is taking a two year course on Helpicopters with the police department that will make it possible for him to be an instructor when he gets finished.

Well I need to go to bed. If I forgot something about you then make a comment on the blog. Love to you all.

2006-11-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well, what do I say tonight? It has been a fairly calm Sunday. Choir, Church and dinner after. We made brownies for our primary class and then gave the rest away because Larry and I do not need the extra sugar and Erick has decided that brownies are not his favorite.

Michelle is feeling better this week but still tired. They went up to Midway this weekend to stay in a time share that they have. They swam in the crater and had a good time as a family for Friday through Sunday. Ethan's choir group is singing at the Kaysville tabernacle at 3:00 p.m. this Saturday. They are coming at 11:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day so if anyone wants to see them they will need to come earlier.

Misty's Grandfather is recovering well and has feelings on both sides of his body and is off of the respirator so they are feeling good about his chances for recovery.

Maren and Landon both have a membership at Gold's Gym so they have been going together and taking turns watching Brinlie. Maren only has 250 more hours to get before graduation so she said that if you want something done before she leaves school you will have to come in soon. Brinlie just got her sixth tooth and has been fairly grumpy through the whole thing.

BJ has been frustrated because the car insurance is charging him double what Erick has to pay so we have been trying to find out why this week but have no answers. His roommate moved out of the apartment because because he has involved with marajuana and alcohol and didn't like everyone checking on him. Erika had two roommates move out because of the fire so it is alot quieter when I talk to him on the phone.

Erick's ward had a service auction this last Friday to raise money for "The Road home" He donated an authentic Italian dinner and had six girls buy that so he is going to have a party with him and six girls. He paid $35.00 for a cheesecake and $20.00 dollars for a dinner with two girls, so he said to tell you he paid more for a cheesecake than a dinner. I think he is looking forward to giving and receiving the services he bought and they raised $3000.00 for their charity. He is looking forward to the end of the semester for school.

Kirsten bought a Christmas Cactus yesterday because of her fond memories of my Christmas Cactus's. It is even blooming. They are both working two jobs and trying to stay sane. They raked up their leaves this weekend. Jon started his internship and is tired because they are moving something. They have the girls for Thanksgiving this year so we will get to see them.

Jake and Nikki have had all the family sick this past week. Everyone has colds. Jake worked 6 days last week so he is feeling like taking a day off to help him get rested. Lexie had her Primary Sacrament meeting today. They had the Father's sing the adult part with Lexie's class so Jake was able to sing with Lexie in the program today. He talked like he enjoyed it. Nikki had her Relief Society craft night that she has been preparing for this week so she was busy with that. Jake was helping Nikki's parents lay some tile yesterday in one of their bathrooms.

Larry did a lot of cleaning on the house this week. The office is cleaner than it has been for a year. He also did the laundry which was nice to have an automatic clothes washer, dryer and folder. He said he was going to patent the process. He bought him some new temple clothes this week and quite a few things at the church distribution center. He doesn't seem to be as stressed with school lately so I guess he is studying things that are easier for him to understand.

We went to the temple on Thursday and were able to do some names in Theo Pollock's family. Yesterday we went to see "Pirates of the Carribean 2" at the Kaysville Theatre. It was fun to have the time together.

I have been teaching sewing in TLC which is always stressful because we have to get done in two weeks and I have to trade rooms with Karen Taylor. We have a big project that is due for the Instructional Technology Class on the 6th of December and I have had to do a lot of reading to keep up with what I am doing. I have also had a lesson plan to write for the ESL class I am taking. I too am looking forward to the 6th of December.

Yesterday all my brothers and sisters and the spouses that could met at the Chuck-o-Rama in Draper for Dad's birthday. All the siblings were present except Craig who is in Iraq, but several spouses could not make it. Larry had to work so he could not go. It was fun to talk with everyone. Kathy said that Cory and Rebecca are expecting and Keith and Chris said that Erika and Craig are expecting. Aunt Annette has braces so she looks 30 years younger. Oh, and Dad predicted that BYU would lose yesterday so we know what he knows about BYU Football. Actually he was just disagreeing to be disagreeable.

Thanksgiving is at our house at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Have a good week.

2006-11-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

Larry is as a Priesthood preview for our 11 year old primary boys right now. He had to give a talk. Erick went home teaching and then to Provo to see some Italian missionary friends so I am home by myself tonight for a while. It is actually good to start on the blog before 8:30 p.m.

This week was an exciting week for Michelle and Daniel. Michelle had her appendix out on Wednesday after a night of stomach pains. She came home on Thursday and was feeling good but woke up with a bruise on her stomach on Friday. Ethan had a piano recital on Friday and when Daniel got there with all the kids he said they had put her back in the hospital because they were worried about internal bleeding. We thought she might get out on Saturday but when they checked her blood it was down so they kept her in the hospital. That was when I ask everyone to pray for her and fast today if possible. She was able to come home this evening and they think that everything is going to be okay. But I hope you will keep her in your prayers.

Maren took her first test for completion of cosmetology school and passed with a 97% so she was feeling pretty good about that. She cut Landon's hair because he was the only person that needed a half inch off and they told her she would have an easier time finishing in the 30 minutes if she chose someone with straight hair next time so she has already informed Erick he has to grow is hair. She did a great job on Landon's hair though and finished in the 30 minutes. I got a free facial and manicure in the deal plus an acrylic nail that Maren was able to take off (because it was just on one finger.) It was interesting to see how they do the acrylic nail. Maren said that Brinlie is grouchy today.

BJ has mostly been busy with school and work. He helped Ericka paint her apartment yesterday. Right now they think that they may have to pay $1400.00 dollars for the fire damages to the apartment, but they don't know for sure.

Erick spent a lot of time on school this week but he spent most of the weekend working to make up for it and he took two days of vacation so he would have some money. He went shopping with me last night after Brooke's baptism and confirmation so we had a good time talking then. He went down to visit with some friends from his mission tonight in Provo.

Speaking of Provo, I am so excited about how the BYU Football team is doing this year. It seems they cannot be beat.

Kirsten and Jon had Brooke this weekend for the baptism and confirmation so they had a get together with everyone at their house after. Brooke was baptised and confirmed at her mother's ward and then we all went to Kirsten and Jon's for punch and cookies. It was fun to get together. If I can get the pictures uploaded then I will add a picture of their family after the baptism.

Misty has been in Montana with her brother and sister and the kids, visiting with her Grandfather before he had brain surgery for a tumor. He was diagnosed with a tumor about two weeks ago and so they went up to talk with him before the surgery. It is still undecided about how he will do but he could die if the surgery is not successful. They wanted to talk with him before the surgery because there was the possiblity that he would not be the same after the surgery. Jeff said that he is enjoying working graveyards because it is not quite so stressful. The kids had flu shots this week and Owen was grouchy tonight.

Jake and Nikki came up for the baptism and confirmation yesterday. Ashton would let me hold him without crying so I was excited about that. Jake said that Ashton is getting more teeth so he was grouchy today also. Ashton is learning a few words like "I don't know". Nikki has been busy with the Relief Society Enrichment board working on a craft night that is coming up. Lexie is learning to read better and having fun in school.

Hailee was excited last week because she had lost three teeth and now this week she is excited because she is getting her "grown-up teeth". She showed them to me at Ethan's piano recital.

Sara has her ultra sound tomorrow but she said that they still do not want to know what it is. David is enjoying his coop preschool that he is in on Fridays. There are 7 children so Sara only has to teach once every seven weeks. Isaac is saying some words like "I love you" and "bye, bye". He talked to me on the phone tonight while David played twister. Gail is living with Sara again while Nathan is gone and they have the room. They had some family pictures taken when Nathan was home Halloween weekend and the sent them to me to view. They were really nice. Nathan said that they had a number of activities for Veterans Day there that were fun to attend this week.

Larry went to a class this week and learned a lot about nutrition for diabeties. He has been reading some of it to me. It sounds a lot like what I have been trying to tell him for the last 5 years but what do I know. He has been frustrated that the laptop died. He took it into where we bought it and they said that it was fixed so he brought it home and it did the same thing so he took it back and got a new hard drive and brought it home and it is still doing the same thing. He needs the laptop for his school work so he was not a happy person last night when it did not work again.

I made it through another week of school work and going to school and got most of it done on time. My class at the U of U ends on December 6th and I am already counting the days.

Larry and I worked at the Family History Library on Thursday. It was Dad's birthday so I called him. We are celebrating his birthday this week sometime. We went to see Michelle in the hospital on Friday night besides the other things I have mentioned. We are busy but we are happy and relatively healthy. Have a good week.

2006-11-08T06:46:00.000-07:00

We can't forget Owen the bumble bee!

2006-11-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

Some Pictures of our Halloween Grandchildren

2006-11-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

I am hoping to add the pictures of the fire BJ experienced.

2006-11-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it is Sunday night again and we just finished playing Uno Attack with Maren and Landon and Erick and Kristen Taylor and BJ, while Brinlie chased the dog and tried to eat the cat food everytime we put her down.

We had a historic stake conference today. It was broadcast from the conference center to all of Davis and Morgan county Stake Centers. The Stake Presidency spoke at the Saturday night meetings but this morning they had talks from Merrill J. Bateman, Boyd K. Packer, and Thomas S. Monson. They reminded us of several things but the importance of prayer was one that I wanted to stress. I also Thought about the Book of Mormons that I gave my kids last year and wondered if they had read them yet. I would like to challenge them to read them again if they have.

BJ was down for the day. He had an exciting experience on Friday night. He was with a girl who lives next door and she was fixing him and another couple dinner. She put some oil on to heat and went to the other room for a minute and when she got back the oil was on fire. They didn't know what to do except look for the fire extinguisher. They couldn't find the one in her apartment and so they went to BJ's apartment. That fire extinguisher would not fire so by then they called 911 and got the fire department but they finally found a fire extinguisher in another apartment that they were able to put things out mostly before the fire engine arrived. I have a couple of pictures I will try to attach that BJ sent me from his phone.

Maren and Landon were in Las Vegas all last week for Halloween and for a convention that Landon's dad's business goes to every year. They seemed to have a good time. The bought a cute outfit for Brinlie that she had on tonight. Maren is starting her state exams on Saturday. I got to tend Brinlie last night while they went out alone.

Erick has been mostly working and going to school this week. He did take off on Tuesday early to do his home teaching. He went to the movie "Prestige" on Friday and really liked that. He was raving about it.

Kirsten's birthday was tonight. She celebrated it with her family tonight. We are celebrating her birthday and Jake's on Thanksgiving with the family. Kirsten has a job with Mervyn's for the holidays as well as her job doing medical transcription. Jon has got a second job with the Standard Examiner on weekends also so I hope they do not burn out. They went to dinner last night with Jon's parents for Kirsten and Ann's birthday's so Kyle and I went to see "Pirates of the Carribean 2" We really enjoyed that and are looking forward to movie 3. Kyle was one of the good guys from the Mummy for Halloween.

Ethan has a piano concert on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Piano Gallery again. Michelle and Daniel had their family pictures taken yesterday. Inkley's has a great special she said. Michelle also reminded us to vote this Tuesday if you did not vote already during early voting. Michelle brought the kids over for Halloween so we could see their costumes. Kalisse was an elephant, Hailee was a princess, Ethan was Darth Vadar and Jaron was Winne-the-pooh. I thought it was funny that Jaron took two handfuls of candy just like you would expect Winne-the-Pooh to do with honey.

Jeff and Misty brought the kids up for Halloween. Leah was Snow White, Matthew was Captain Jack Sparrow, and Owen was a bumble bee. Alana, Misty's mom always does such a professional job on their costumes. She really has a knack for sewing.

Nathan was able to go home to Houston for Halloween. They had a trunk or treat at the church on Saturday night then he went back to Brownsville on Tuesday night about 9:00 p.m. He is concerned about his spot for the Helicopter school and so he called asking everyone to fast for him that things might work out if they are supposed to so they could move on. He has a new phone number in his new apartment if anyone wants it they can call me.

I talked to Lexie on the phone today and she said that she was sick with a cold so they were not able to go to church. Jake wasn't home so I wondered if it was a Guard weekend.

Larry went to a sleep clinic on Wednesday where they tested him to see if his sleep apnea machine needed to be adjusted. He has not slept well lately. He went to a diabetes clinic on Monday where they taught him more about what he needs to do to control his diabetes. He has been been able to go into work later lately and that is a better schedule for him. He seems to be feeling better. He is busy with his business classes but seems to be enjoying them and doesn't stress as much as when it was Math.

I had end of term grades to finish last week and a big project for my class at the U of U. I am the mentor for the National Academic League and we are having to start practices for that. We have another teacher to help this year so hopfully that will ease some of the stress there. I didn't have ESL class this week because Monday was a Quality teaching day where the students don't come to school but we have to be there to figure grades and attend inservice. We attended the Olympic Caulron Park near the U of U stadium for part of our U of U class. We had to determine what Goals and Objectives they had when designing the park. It is an interesting experience that would be good to visit for a boost to your spirits.

Larry and I went to the temple on Thursday's for Ward temple night. We were supposed to work at the family history center together on Saturday but Larry had to work so he got a substitute. Larry went to pick up Maren and Landon at the airport while I took Kyle to the movie.

Well hopefully the pictures upload. A few times I couldn't get them to show even though it says they are uploaded.

2006-10-22T21:48:00.000-06:00

I should be in bed so this is going to be a short post.
We have had a busy week. Last weekend we had a birthday party for Leah at Jeff and Misty's on Saturday that many of the family attended. Then Kirsten had a party for Jon and Brooke at her house on Sunday evening. Most of the family was to that party and it was fun to see the kids two days in a row, but we got home late so I did not post anything and after Sunday it seems that I do not have any time.

Monday I went to school and found a note in my box that I was scheduled to attend a workshop that is required for my ESL class on Tuesday and Wednesday. This was the first I knew about it and so I had to find a sub and rearrange my classes because I had labs scheduled for those days and I do not like to have most subs do labs with the students. That night I also had my ESL class so it was a late night.

Tuedsay and Wednesday I had my REACH training class all day so I was not at school so I had alot to catch up on when I got back. But, It went okay and the lesson I had planned went well. I also had my University of Utah class on Wednesday so that was another late night.

I had a second draft of a research paper that I had to write on Thursday and Friday evening. Larry was also working on a paper for his class so we studied together.

Saturday Larry had to work. I went to Herriman to watch Lexie play a soccer game. then Jake and I and the kids went to lunch at Artic Circle. I was able to go home with them for a few minutes and see the garage that Jake is working on in the back. He was able to get the shingles on the roof Friday night and he only had to put in a window and a couple of doors and he will be able to lock it up. He needs to get it stuccoed but doesn't know who to contact yet. Nikki had Relief Society Super Saturday that she was partly in charge of so I didn't get to see her.

Maren flat ironed my hair yesterday to see what it looked like. I liked it but I don't have the equipment to do it myself. Landon has gone back to working with his dad so he is going to be out of town most of this week. Maren was all excited about a witch costume that they had bought for Brinlie to wear for Halloween. Maren is working at school on Tuesday and Wednesday nights from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. so if you can go in on those nights that is available also. Maren needs 15 more scalp treatments before she graduates.

Erick went out with Kristen Taylor again this weekend and she seems to quite like him but I am not sure how he feels about her. He spends alot of time at the computer lab at school lately trying to get the programs he is writing to work. He is having a party next weekend with some of his mission companions and dates or spouses so I guess I will have to clean my house.

BJ came down from Logan last night because his phone had gone out on him and they told him he would have to come to the company headquarters in the Layton Hills Mall. He has a girl named Erika that he seems to like and she is indicating that she likes him so he was wanting to tell us about that. He is having a good time at USU. He seems to have a good relationship with the apartment of girls next door and have a lot of fun with them. I hope he is studying also.

Kirsten and Jon took the kids to a corn maze for Brooke's birthday and they also got to go on a hayride. They were able to get free pumpkins while they were there so they all have a pumpkin. All of Jon's family were at the party on Sunday as well as our family. Kirsten had Chili and cornbread. Ann her mother-in-law had made a good raspberry and blueberry ice cream dessert. Kyle came over and spent the night on Saturday so Kirsten and Jon could go out.

Jeff started his first night tonight working midnight to 7:00 p.m. Misty has quit her job so someone is home with the kids at night. Owen has started crawling just this week. Last Sunday he looked like he might take off but he wasn't moving anywhere so he has really taken off this week. Leah is in pre-school now and likes that.

Michelle is upset because it looks like they will change them into the Clearfield High boundaries with the new high school boundary changes the district is supposed to make. Yesterday was Ethan's last soccer game. Michelle and Daniel took the kids to a Sunflower Maze in Farmington this week. They also got to go on a pony ride. They had pumpkins you could buy but they had raised their own pumpkins so they didn't worry about them.

Nathan is moved into his apartment. He is happy because he has a kitchen now that he can fix his own food and save some money. He has been accepted to the flight program but he now has to wait for a slot before he can go to school. The Texas National Guard has only one slot right now and he is number 3 on the list. So he was happy that things are progressing. He is feeling busy because they have 8 Officers to work with 430 men. He said that he gets to go home for this next weekend to see Sara and the boys. He will be home for Saturday through Tuesday night. Then Sara might drive down to see him.

Larry went to the doctor this week at my insistance and they are going to do some sleep tests to see why he is not sleeping well later this month. He is also making some changes to his medications for diabetes and going to a class to help him with his diet. He spent alot of time this week shopping for food and other necessities. He was frustrated because Saturday he had to get new tires for the Infinity because they were bald on the inside.

We are going to have Thanksgiving at our house this year. It will be at 2:00p.m. If you can bring something let me know what you can bring. Maren is bringing Cheesecake and Kirsten is bringing pumpkin pie or banana cream pie. Let me know if you cannot come.

Well, have a good week. I's try to get some more pictures up soon.

2006-10-08T20:58:00.000-06:00

Maren and Landon and Brinlie just visited and brought some pictures of Brinlie for us. Brinlie is getting another tooth. She is also crawling everywhere. Frescas was having to move every few minutes because she wants him and the cats decided they wanted to be outside while she was here. Maren is getting ready for some of her state exams and Landon is enjoying his job but thinks he needs something that is indoors for the winter. He is looking at laying tile.

Jeff and Misty went to San Francisco a week or more ago. Misty told me but I promptly forgot and so when Michelle called me to see if I knew where Jeff was I told her no, so we had a panic for a night wondering if something had happened to them because they were not answering their phones for two weeks. Anyway they finally figured out that everyone wondered where they were and called. They had a good time visiting with a brother of Misty's and they took the kids to Pier 39, went riding on the trolley and on BART. They drove down so they were brave to do that with three kids.

Daniel has been working on a project for a year that his work is releasing tomorrow. They will be sending out emails about the new project. Larry didn't find out what type of project it is but maybe if you call Daniel he can explain it. Michelle is teaching joy school this week for the first time so she will be busy.

Nathan is busy at work but he was a little down tonight because he is in Brownsville and Sara is in Houston and his computer in his room doesn't work anymore and Sara's dryer doesn't work anymore so they have to figure out solutions for those problems. Nathan is moving to an apartment next week so he will no longer be in the motel. Sounds kind of permanent.

Jake is working on his garage during his off hours. He is also investigating the possiblity of getting his degree online. He can get about 30 credits for his military experience and he has the financial help from the government too. Ashton is getting more teeth and Lexie had a soccer game and she was excited because they won.

Erick went to a dinner for his ward tonight that a girl passed out at so he said it was different. Apparently she was okay. He had fall break on Thursday and Friday this week so he had a little bit more time to work. He spent Saturday doing homework and going to the temple. He got home late from the temple so he missed his friend Brian Harris's wedding so he was frustrated. He had a barbecue that he helped work on for the Latter-Day Saint Student Engineer's Association that he says went well except that he had to haul some grills that kept wanting to tip over.

BJ was excited that Utah State finally won a football game and it was Homecoming. He had two dates this week that he enjoyed and "didn't cost him a dime" to quote BJ. He went with a friend to date his girlfriend's friend and they played board games. Then when he went to the football game a girl phoned him to find out where he was sitting and came and found him and then they went to the Homecoming celebration and to her apartment to watch a movie. He is having a lean period at work so he says you can all send money if you would like.

Kirsten had been making Halloween tablecloths to carry on a Christiansen tradition. But my machine had the handwheel so tight that she had to come twice to work on it. She is also trying to get Brinlie's quilt she started before Brinlie was born done. (Sounds like she is related to her mother) She tended Brinlie a couple of days this week for Maren because Shirley went to Hawaii. She is also tending for her tomorrow.

Larry has been busy shopping for food and running errands for himself this week. He had is class on Tuesday and had a paper to write for it that he was stressing about today. He came by school on Thursday and helped me record some papers so I could get caught up. We went to Brian Harris's wedding on Saturday. It was out on 6700 West and 7500 South in West Jordan so that is why Erick could not make it when he got out of the temple at 6:45 and the reception ended at 7:00 p.m. Then we went to the Kaysville Theatre and saw "The Devil wears Prada." It was a good movie but I didn't think it was very funny.

I had ESL on Monday and on Tuesday I went down to Orem to see my brother, Craig, who was home on R&R for a few days from Iraq. His 2nd daughter Mollie was in the school production of "Into the Woods", so some of my family met there and saw the play and were able to see Craig for a few minutes. I don't know when I have seen a better Jr. High school play and I felt like I was teaching in the ghetto after seeing their auditorium. Molly did a great job on her role as the Baker's wife. And it was good to talk to Craig and Corrinne and see my other family. There is a link to Craig's website on my blog.

Yesterday I had to meet with my team for my class at the U and we finished up a project that is due this Wednesday. It was a good experience working with them.

Well till next time have a good week.

2006-10-01T17:03:00.000-06:00

Well General Conference this weekend was truly a feast. I learned a lot but Elder Bednar's talk on taking offense was truly for me. Not that anyone in the church has offended me but I need to apply the principles at my work with the people who purposely try to make me look bad.

Maren and Landon came over during the Sunday sessions and had dinner with us. It was good to see them and Brinlie again as we don't get to see them much during the week. Brinlie is really moving around and climbing up to things. She seems to be a very bright little girl. Maren was really proud of some things she had found at kid to kid for not much that looked so good on Brinlie.

Kirsten went to be a model for Maren yesterday and had Acrylic nails put on her toes. Larry and I tended Kyle and the girls while she went. On Friday Kirsten took me in to have a pedicure with her for my birthday and we both had a chance to talk to Maren while she worked on us. Jon is busing working a lot of overtime and trying to get his truck working so he has been busy. He has been accepted to the internship he was trying for in Ogden so he will be learning a new job with UTA.

BJ was down for the weekend. He got tickets to the priesthood session of conference and asked Landon to go with him. He didn't realize that they are serious about you have to be there a half hour early and they got there about 6:00 p.m. and the conference center was closed and they had to go into the little theatre. Apparently the T.V. was not working very good there so it was a miserable experience.

Erick had his mission reunion Friday evening so he went to Provo for that. Apparently his mission president wanted to know why he was not married. Saturday he went hiking with a girl from his ward and listened to conference that way. He has been putting in a lot of 12 hour days lately with work and school so he often comes home very late. Thursday night he got home about 9:00 p.m. from school and then went to work until about 12:30 a.m. He has fall break coming up at school so he will have a little more time starting this Thursday and Friday.

Larry has been stressing over a 1200 page paper he has to write for his Economics class on Tuesday but not like he stresses over math. He also had a final exam for his statistics class that stressed him. He is able to go into work a little later so he is liking that part of the new postion. And he did all the laundry this week.

We went to Uncle Thorpe Waddingham's funeral on Monday. Kirsten went with us and we had a good visit with her. It took most of the day because the funeral was in Delta, Utah. It was good to learn more about Uncle Thorpe. We also stopped at Mom and Dad's on the way back for a short visit.

Friday night we went to see Seth and Maryn Jenkins in the stage play of Aladdin at the Roger's Memorial Theatre in Centerville. They both did a good job on their parts. Maryn was a narrator and dancer, and Seth was the genie.

I spent most of the week playing catch up at school because I missed Monday. I also missed my class on Monday night so I will have to make that up later. Tuesday I had a book club meeting I joined for school and went visiting teaching. Wednesday was my class at the U. I also had parent teacher conferences on Wednesday and Thursday but I left a paper for them to sign on Wednesday and then I participated on Thursday. I have felt frustrated because I have a lot of homework to do and school work to do but I read a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants on Friday morning that gave me hope that I can get this all done with the Lord's help.

Sara is feeling better and they have her some medicine for her morning sickness. She had Strep on top of the morning sickness and she had and allergic reaction to the amoxicillin they gave her. She said that she had enrichment night this last Thursday that she was in charge of but it was an easy one. She is taking David and Isaac to a play group once a week and David to a preshool group once a week.
David was having fun coloring a picture of his dad on the computer. He was coloring his face red he said.

Nathan is working 10-12 hour days on the border. He is in a motel room with a Microwave, mini refrigerator, a george foreman grill and rice cooker to fix his meals on. He is getting sick of top ramen and T.V. so he is reading a book tonight. He will probably not get to go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas but he is going to be able to go to Houston for Halloween.

Jake is back working at Envirocare this last week. He is putting in long days too. With the driving it is about a 14 hour day. Lexie had the day off from soccer this week which was nice to watch conference but it was the first week to have good weather to play soccer. They painted the kids bedrooms. Ashton's is green and Lexie's is pink with pink strips. Nikki said that Lexie said she feels like a princess now. Ashton recognizes when the door opens that it might be Jake and runs to greet him when he gets home from work.

Ethan and Hailee are starting a choir in school for Christmas. Hailee is in ballet. She is in an 8 year old class but is doing well. Daniel and Michelle tended her friend Jena's younger children while they went to conference. So they had 4 kids under two during afternoon conference.

Jeff and Misty were busy tonight doing something. I don't know if she was trying to sleep and Jeff was downstairs with the kids but we could not get through to find out what is going on in their lives.

Craig is coming home from Iraq tonight. He is surprizing his kids. Molly is in a play this week so we are going to the play and then we will get to visit with him a little on Tuesday.

2006-09-24T21:14:00.000-06:00

I wanted to add a few more pictures of the party.

2006-09-24T20:26:00.000-06:00

We have had a busy week. Last Sunday we had a birthday party for the September birthdays. It is Daniel's birthday today. So, Happy Birthday Daniel. Hopefully I can get some pictures to upload of the party.

We had something about everynight. I had ESL class on Monday, Larry had class on Tuesday, I have IDET class on Wednesday and we went to the temple on Thursday. Friday after I got my midterm grades in we went to see the movie "Cars"

I forgot to go get one of my medicines for my fibromyalgia on Wednesday and by the time I got home it was too late to get it from the pharmacy so I went without it on Thursday also. By Thursday afternoon I was aware that it was helping me to feel better so I went and got it before we went to the temple and by the time we got out I was feeling much better.

John's Uncle Thorpe Waddingham died this week and they are having the funeral tomorrow so I spent most of Saturday afternoon at school getting ready for a sub so we can go to the funeral tomorrow. Kirsten is going with us. She is Uncle Thorpe's daughter Dana's visiting teacher so she wanted to go for her. There was an article in the newspaper about Uncle Thorpe where he was a state senator and there was the obituary. http://www.desnews.com/cgi-bin/cqcgi_dialin/@dialin.env?CQ_SESSION_KEY=UWUDUNAHNCKE&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=2&CQ_TEXT_MAIN=YES

We went to Michelle and Daniel's ward this morning and saw Ethan and Hailee in the children's sacrament presentation. They both did a good job on their part. Yesterday I was able to go to Ethan's soccer game and watch him play and hold Kalisse. She is wanting to stand up a lot lately.

Maren and Landon came over tonight for awhile. Brinlie was tired and flushed so I hope she is okay. They celebrated their anniversary last night and went to the Hampton Inn in Salt Lake and spent the night. They said it was really weird not to have Brinlie with them. Landon's mom and dad tended Brinlie for them. Landon bought Maren an Anniversary ring and Maren made him a scrapbook.

Kirsten has had strep this week. I suppose she got it from Jon who had it last week and also Brooke and Kennedy. She got some antibiotic but her tongue was swollen today. She had Larry and BJ come and give her a blessing. I hope she feels good enough to go tomorrow. She is hoping that Kyle doesn't get it.

Erick has been busy with work and school. He often is not home until after 10:00 p.m. trying to juggle both. He had a date Friday that he brought to the house and made real Italian lasagna for.

BJ came down for the weekend and went to the BYU/USU game with Whitney Rose. He cheered for BYU. It was fun to have him here for a few hours and talk and see him. He decided to just be friends with his friend Julie that he likes so much but he wasn't lonely for girls. He had three girls texting him all evening at different times.

Nathan emailed and said he wanted us to come for Thanksgiving or Christmas but he didn't say if he would be in Brownsville or Houston.

Jeff and Misty are busy working nights and days at something.

I talked to Grandma Jenkins and she said that there is a possiblity that Uncle Craig will be coming home for some R&R and that we can see him on the 3rd of October if we wanted to go to Molly's play that hse is in at her school in Orem. The kids don't know though so don't call the house about it. It is still iffy but hopfully.

Grandma also said that Jenny and Wade are moving to Virginia. Wade has accepted a job at a school back there. She also said that Amber and Nate have decided to stay in Georgia for at least 4 more years instead of moving to Vernal.

2006-09-21T20:44:00.000-06:00

Larry and I just got home from the temple and I sat down to the computer and it started to downpour outside. I couldn't believe it. It was perfectly dry when we walked in the house and now it is really storming.

I just wanted to mention that Erick could have walked with the Davis Applied Technology College Graduation today because he has earned his Associates of Applied Computer Aided Drafting. He chose not to make a big deal out of it and did not walk mainly because he had a class at the University of Utah at the same time as the Graduation. We are proud of Erick and his accomplishment.

2006-09-17T20:56:00.000-06:00

We just finished a birthday party with the family for the September birthdays. Everyone was here except the Texas bunch and we all had a good time comparing babies and having dinner and brownies with ice cream. It was Ashton's birthday on the 7th of September and Daniel's birthday will be on the 24th. It was fun to have everyone here and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Landon has a new job framing houses and seems to like it really well. They are doubly excited because it has benefits coming soon. Maren has been learning more about doing acrylic nails at school and Kirsten was her model yesterday for learning how to do forms, I think she said. Brinlie has been getting teeth and not sleeping very well. She has been congested in her throat. I tried to tend her on Friday but after about an hour I had to call Maren because she just didn't quit crying.

Ethan and Hailee had several perfromances for the Layton commemeration of 9-11 with their choir. They performed Monday night at the Kenley Ampitheatre and Saturday night at a program at Layton High. Larry and I were able to go see them on Monday. Hailee has started dance. Michelle and Daniel were not to excited about the rain we got on Thursday and Friday because their basement flooded again. They have a leak in the window well, but hopefully it is fixed now.

Jon has been sick for about a week. He has also be working on a lot of different cars for people plus working a lot of overtime. He thought he had their truck fixed and then something else had to be done that is costing more money so they were disappointed with that. Kirsten got her shoe boot off this week so she is walking normally again. Kyle and Kennedy and Brooke came over yesterday and played at our house while Kirsten had her nails done.

We all went to Jake and Nikki's house last weekend for a birthday party for Ashton. He is one year old. Nikki says that sometimes he holds up his finger and says a sound like one. He went in for his year checkup and got his shots this week. He has a bruise from the shots to prove it. He is in the 75-100 percentile for height. His hair is really growing lately and it is curly brown locks. So cute. Lexie played soccer yesterday in the cold. It really cooled off this weekend in Utah it was down in the 40's in the morning. Nikki may start babysitting for a girls that works with Jake. She is going to try it and see how it works.

Jeff and Misty have mostly been working this week with their hectic schedule. Leah started pre-school and says that they have a playground like at McDonald's. Misty said that she is learning her letters.

Erick found new respect for Daniel this week when he had to write a computer program for one of his classes and it took him seven hours. He was a frustrated man that day. He went out with one of the single teachers at my school last week and seemed to have a good time but he has been swamped with work this week. His best friend from the mission, Jason Merrell got married this last Saturday.

BJ is finding out that life can be hectic at school when you are working full time and going to school full time. His starter cylinder gave him a lot of grief two weeks ago but he was finally able to get a locksmith to look at it and he just lubricated it and it has run ever since. He didn't even charge him for the service call. He has also had a couple of girls competing for his attention. He has had them both put their pictures on his phone and he went out with one girl and the other one showed up at 2:00 a.m. and woke him up that night to tease him about the date.

Nikki said that Sara emailed her and she is out of the hospital and feeling somewhat better. She got dehydrated from throwing up too much from her pregancy. I wasn't able to get them tonight on the phone I will try again tomorrow.

Larry has been feeling better lately. His brother Tony called for his birthday last week. He has started a new postion at Discover that should pay him a little more so he is feeling good about that. He has found a lot of genealogy on one line lately when he works at the family history center. He spent all of Friday evening a week ago recording papers for me so I could get things organized for the Clothing class I am teaching this year. He is really good to help me. I know he is the reason I am more sane lately.

I started my ESL class last Monday. It wasn't too bad. I am also taking Introduction to Instructional Design at the U. They tell me by the end of the semester I should be able to explain to my family and friends what Instructional Design and Educational Technology is. I am teaching a Clothing class this year which is diffent for me. Usually I just have the TLC and Food and Nutrition that I teach. It requires that I trade rooms seventh period which is not making the girl I teach with happy.

Friday we wanted to go to the State Fair but it rained so much that day that we decided that we didn't care if we went. It snowed a skiff in our yard on Saturday morning and snowed in the mountains also so fall is on it's way.

Last night we went to a High Priest's party at the church. It was supposed to be an outside barbecue but was moved indoors due to inclement weather.

Today in church Brad Caldwell gave a very dynamic talk on the importance of prayer in combating the temptations of Satan. He pointed out that when Joseph Smith was confronted by Satan in the grove while he has praying he continued to pray to overcome the power and was helped by God the father and Jesus Christ to overcome the power that bound him. He related that to our lives and reminded us that the best way to overcome the power of Satan is to continue praying. I have found lately that what he says is true.

I got some good pictures of Ashton's party and the party tonight but I will post them later as it is getting late. I am editing this post and adding the pictures

2006-09-03T16:40:00.000-06:00

Well for Labor Day weekend Larry and I slept in yesterday. It was nice but you don't get as much done in the day if you sleep late. Jeff and Misty and the kids stopped by in the morning on the way to see his friend Clay. After we went shopping for food and then worked on cleaning the house and homework.

Kirsten got to put her crutches away this week but she is still in the big boot. She says that her foot feels good most of the time when she walks on it. Jon is looking like he will get an apprenticeship in Ogden but they haven't heard yet. This would be a promotion with more benefits. Kyle got a 100% on his first spelling test this week so he didn't have to retake it. All the kids are doing good in school and liking their teachers.

Erick dropped his Physics class this quarter to save his sanity. He was trying to work full time and go to school full time and was getting very stressed out and very little sleep. He is enjoying the other classes but stressing over the debt he is creating with his loans for school. He is still talking to all his girlfriends but dating them is another thing he says. He agreed to participate in a Psychology department study of dating so he is going to get paid for dating, he says. He also applied for a committe for ASUU and he has joined the Latter-Day Saints Student Engineers Association.

BJ is down for the labor day weekend. He was stressing last night because he was talking to a girl on the way down about what they could do for the weekend and then two girls texted him asking him what he was doing for the weekend. I told him to enjoy it. It never lasts until you get married. He also signed up for institute with a girl that he likes in his dorm and found out that a girl that he likes from Kaysville is in the same class. He had a confusing week getting his schedule lined up at USU because he didn't understand that he had to have his tuition paid before class began and they dropped him from all his classes. He did have a good week at work though and made several bonuses. And he finally has his schedule finalized.

Maren and Landon went to Roosevelt this weekend with Landon's family for the Labor Day weekend. They were going to a cousins baptism. I don't know what else they had planned. Michelle babysat for her one day this week because Shirley didn't get back from Nevada in time and all the other babysitters Maren has called could not take Brinlie. I bet that was fun with two babies.

Lexie had soccer practice this week. Ashton cut a tooth this week and has been a grumpy blankety blank, according to Jake, this week. Jake is trying to get together some materials to build their detached garage they are putting in the back. Then they just need to save money for the stucco. Nikki worked on things for a Relief Society Super Saturday that is this coming Saturday. Jake has guard this weekend and it is Governor's day on Saturday. Lexie also has a soccer game on Saturday. So they are having a busy weekend. Jake says that he doesn't know what he is doing on his job because they keep changing it. Sunday they are having a party for Ashton's birthday with the family, but his birthday is Thursday.

Michelle and Daniel have Ethan and Hailee in a charter school in Syracuse. They like their teachers. Michelle is a room mother. Right now she has a lot of work to do with that but they said it should lighten up. Michelle has found people to car pool with at the school so she only has to go once a day. She thought she was going to have to go twice a day because Hailee is in kindergarten but she saw a license plate that she thought she recognized so she followed it home and it was her neighbor that lives behind them. They were able to invite the kids over and Michelle was able to work things out with her for kindergarten. Ethan is starting soccer next Saturday but they haven't heard from the coach. Michelle is starting joy school, which is a co-op preschool between mothers, on the 11 of Sept. for Jaron. Kalisse rolled over from her back to her stomach this week but Michelle was in the other room and missed it. Ethan has a concert coming up on the 11th of Sept.

Larry had our home teacher and Erick give him a blessing and he got feeling better almost immediately. I have been amazed at how much better he has felt. He is starting a new job at work and should get a raise. He also applied for a job where he would be doing research that would be a step up. Larry is taking classes on Tuesdays and so I usually work late at school on that night.

I start a class about English as a Second Lanugage Training or ESL on the 11th of September that should last every Monday night until February. It will give me an ESL endorsement and help me in techniques to teach students who have problems with English. I have started my class at the U which is an Introduction to Instructional Design. So far it has been good. That is on Wednesdays.

We are working at the Family History Center on the 2nd and 4th Thursday's and on the First Saturday of the month starting in November. So I put all the things on the calendar for September and we only had two nights that we did not have something to do. But according to Reader's Digest that is how you keep your mind active.

2006-08-27T18:33:00.000-06:00

Well, BJ went back to Logan tonight early as school starts tomorrow. Erick is at a birthday party for a girl in his University of Utah ward. Larry is comming down with something that has left him with a sore throat and coughing and some nausea today so he has gone to bed right now so I am by myself with the computer.

I started going back to school on the 14th of August to get ready for school. We had a CTE conference on the 17th, a faculty meeting on the 18th and an all day traiming on Behavior Management on the 21st. We had Back to School night on the 16th a week before school started. School started on my birthday the 23rd so I bought 200 brownies and served them to my students and the faculty. I also had my first class at the U that night so I took what was left to them. It was a fun birthday.

We had a family party last Sunday for the birthdays in July and August. The weather was great and I think that everyone had a good time. Kirsten and Jon were not able to come because Brooke was in the hospital because of a week long headache but everyone else that lives close was here. We had ham and cheese potatoes and green beans and fresh fruit salad and ice cream and cake. The grandkids had a great time on the trampoline. And we all had a good visit. The girls all have a great time getting together with their babies and comparing notes.

Maren was excited because she was able to get a $4,000.00 grant for her schooling this week from the federal student aid. With that and her scholarship she should have plenty to finish school on. Landon is still applying for jobs but hasn't found anything yet. Brinlie is crawling and has figure out that she can walk if someone holds her hands so she doesn't want to sit anymore.

BJ starts at USU tomorrow. He came down last night to attend a friends missionary farewell today and a missionary companion's wedding last night, but had to go back today. He was able to move into his apartment this weekend. He has two roommates but I do not know who they are.

Erick started at the U of U on Wednesday with me. He is already complaining about Physics. He has to spend a lot of time on campus this semester during the day so he has been working later at night.

Kirsten's foot is doing better. She is off the crutches but still has the boot. They had quite the ordeal with Brooke. She was in the hospital for three days and the hospital essentially said that it was probably a migraine but they really don't know what was going on.

Jeff and Misty have an interesting schedule since she started working. Misty goes to work from midnight until about 7:30 a.m. She come home and sleeps while Jeff takes care of the kids until about 11:30 a.m. when he has to go to work she takes care of things until about 7:00 p.m. and her mother watches the kids while Misty sleeps. Jeff gets home about 9:00 p.m. He puts the kids to bed and then Misty gets up in time to be to work at midnight again.

I went with Misty and the kids yesterday to the Children's garden's at Thanksgiving Point. They have a sculpture of Noah's ark that the kids like to play in the water in. It was a little cool yesterday but they loved it anyway. It is a beautiful garden. It was fun to see. We stopped at Mom and Dad's for a minute so they could see the kids and Leah and Matthew had fun swinging. Then we went to McDonald's and took Misty and the kids home for naps. I played a Dora the explorer game with Leah before I left. It was a fun morning.

Michelle and Dan have been busy getting the kids ready for school. They are attending the Syracuse Arts Academy this year so they so not start until tomorrow. They had an open house this week and Michelle went in a couple of days to help clean up rooms because they have a new school that was just finished. Michelle also went in to help Hailee's teacher set up her room. Hailee has morning kindergarten. Ethan is in 2nd grade. Michelle is going to start "Joy School" with Jaron in a few weeks. Daniel has been working on a new website for his business.

Nathan has set up a kitchen in his motel room with a rice cooker, George Foreman grill and the microwave and mini fridge they provide and he is cooking his own meals. Then he saves the per deim they give him for other things. He said that Sara was so sick that she didn't want to talk tonight on the phone so I guess this is not a fun pregnancy so far. Sara went down there last weekend and they went to South Padres Island to the beach and David wanted to go to Pizza Hut for bread sticks.

Larry has classes on Tuesday night right now. He is working hard at work and is going to receive a promotion in two weeks. I have been worried about him because he sleeps so much but I haven't made him go get checked on that. He went into the Dr. on Wednesday and they have ordered him an insulin pump to see if they can get his blood sugar under control. His Blood pressure has finally leveled off so we have one thing that is working. He is getting something acute today.

John's only surviving Aunt on the Michaelsen side, Virginia Young, died last week. They had the viewing in Milford where she had lived and then they had a graveside service in Mayfield. Erick and I were the only ones that were able to go. We were able to see most of the Chrsitiansen relatives for a few minutes at a dinner held at Aunt Mabel's place. We stopped on the way home and looked at the land at Indian Ridge and stopped at Erick's friend Jared McSweeney's.

We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins's on the way home and they gave me my birthday present and Larry's. I had ask Mother to fill out a book about her and me as a baby and they had finished that for my birthday. Dad had written a short history and part of his testimony about the importance of the Gospel. Mom had been cleaning out her cedar chest and she gave me some baby clothes that she had saved that I had worn. There was a dress there that my Grandma Sylvia Jenkins had made and decorated with tatting. There were also some booties made from tatting. I was so excited. I did not know that Grandma Jenkins had done tatting. There is a kimono that mother had crocheted around and another dress and two slips like the babies used to wear. There was also a quilt that was embroidered that my mom's Aunt Ernestine had given to me. I didn't know that mother had saved any of my baby clothes. It was a great present, a real treasure.

2006-08-13T19:55:00.000-06:00

We just finished playing Tribond with Maren and Landon. It was fun to have them over. Landon lost the first game and won the next one so it was a really up and down game.

I just talked to Nathan on the phone in Texas. He says that he should know by September when he will be going to helicoper school. He says that he will have an apartment sometime by himself because he is an officer. He will be able to have Sara and the boys visit him there. He rattled off a whole list of countries that they have caught refugees trying to go across the border. He says that a lot of the refugees are not just from Mexico.

We attended a great birthday party for Jaron on Monday, August 7th. Michelle had the party at the new Clearfield recreation center. They had a room we could have for a while where we ate pizza and fruit and cake and ice cream. Then we could all go swimming for a fee. They had some really nice water toys for the whole family and everyone had a good time except Jacob who got there just as we were all getting out because he was stuck in traffic after he got off work.

Last night we had Ethan and Hailee and Jaron and Kalisse over while Michelle and Dan went to a primary workers party. Grandpa barbecued some hamburgers and hotdogs and the kids had fun playing down stairs and on the trampoline. Kalisse is pushing herself around the floor now.

Kirsten had her foot operated on on Friday. I took her to the surgical center while Jon went to a job interview then he was back before they took her in for the surgery. They went over to Jon's parents for the afternoon and Ann, Jon's mom, took the kids to an art show and Jon helped his dad with fixing something. Kirsten's foot was pretty sore yesterday but she says that it is feeling better today. So, hopefully it will heal right.

I have been tending Brinlie for the last three weeks. It has been fun but I have to start working on school tomorrow so Friday was supposed to be my last day but then Landon had to work yesterday so I had her for the afternoon. Maren said that she crawled today. She was about ready yesterday but she kept pushing backwards. She is trying really hard to pull herself up to things. Maren is doing good in school and just has this fall to finish up her schooling. Landon has applied for a job in the oil fields in Casper but I don't know where that will go.

Some of us went to the Michealsen reunion last weekend, August 4,5,and 6th. That was one of the reasons that I could not make myself write in the blog last Sunday. It was late when we got home. Larry and I took Kyle, Kennedy and Brooke with us down as Kirsten and Jon had to work on Saturday. We all ended up sleeping in tents the first night. They had a lot of fun craft activities on Saturday for the kids, making boxes, printing on T-shirts with stamps, and decorating flip flops with tied cloth. The kids really enjoyed that. In the afternoon they put up a Blown-up waterslide and the kids had fun getting cool on that.

Larry got a room in Gunnison for Saturday night so Kirsten and Jon could sleep in the tent. We went there to shower on Saturday afternoon and a lump that Larry had the day before on his leg had doubled in size and was inflammed to I made him go to the Emergency Room in Gunnison. He had an abcessed hair folicle that they had to lance and put a tag in to help it drain. He was pretty sore on Saturday night and Sunday so we were glad he had a hotel room. Monday he had to see the doctor in Kaysville and it seems to be healing okay. They also gave him antibiotic.

Jacob got some free tickets from the Guard to go to the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert on Saturday night so Erick and BJ left to go North to go to the concert with them. They each had dates and Nikki and Lexie went to the concert but Jake had drill early the next morning so he did not go. Then Erick's date lived in Spanish Fork so after he dropped her off he came back to the reunion about 2:00 a.m. but BJ's date lives in Sandy so he stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins for the night and then came down in the morning.

We visited with Grandma and Grandpa on the way home from Mayfield Sunday night. They seemed to be in good spirits and were planning to visit Aunt Annette the next day. I talked to Mom on Thursday and she said they had a good trip and it was fun to talk to Annette before she got so busy with school. Annette is out of her boot with her broken ankle but it is still tender.

Erick spent two days in Coalville this week for work marking every storm drain in the town on an arial photo for a project they are doing up there. He came home pretty sunburned but at least he wasn't sitting in the office all week. He went out with a girl named Celeste on Friday and said he had a good time. He chose to do the dishes last night rather than play with the grandkids so I think mowing the lawn wore him out.

BJ has been working 12 hour days this week. He said that they have been working both at the Cache Valley Mall and the Cache County fair so they had to work double time. He is staying with Aunt Marva until the 26th because he can't get into his apartment until then and Christie's family came to stay at Steve and Christie's. He is finally accepted at USU so he is progressing but he still has to register and apply for aid.

Jeff and Misty went to Montana this weekend to take back her cousin Clay who has been babysitting for them. They just got back tonight and Misty starts her job at midnight. Jeff works from noon till nine so hopefully they can do all the babysitting.

Erick went down on Friday to have Jake help him look at his car that is stalling to see if they could figure it out. He got to the house when they were not there and when he walked in he set off the alarm. Luckily they got there soon. He said that Jake went to the University of Utah surplus place to get a laptop but he wasn't impressed with what you could get, nothing has a harddrive. Lexie just got her first homework. Erick was able to hold Ashton for 2 seconds without him crying for Nikki. And they figured out it might cost Erick about $400.00 to fix his car.

I have been finishing up a class on the Pioneer online library. When I wasn't playing with or taking care of Brinlie I was at the computer learning about the library. If you have not gone into it you should check it out at www.uen.org
then click on Pioneer Library. If you are going in from home the username is Pioneer and the password is cake. It has so many things that can be used from preschool all the way to college. I wished that I had gone in and learned about it when my kids were in school. It is a safe way for kids to do research and learn fun facts on the web.

I have also worked at the Family History Center twice this month. We have had a lot of people coming in this summer. I am starting to be able to help people more efficiently. I was able to get some information on Mary Pollock's first husband, Hazen Hatfield and his first wife and child this week so I spent the afternoon yesterday typing all of the information into PAF. It is really fun doing Family History work. It is so rewarding when you find something you have been looking for.

I have had a lot of episodes of my Fibromyalgia bothering me this summer. Yesterday I was reading a book that I got about the Martin and Willie handcart rescue when we were on Trek. It told about a girl whose father had a hard time because of his rhumatism and could hardly walk when they were trying to get through the snow. The man kept going and made it to Salt Lake only to die the day after they arrived. It made me appreciate the fact that I have a shelter and plenty of food and transportation and medicine to make me feel better when it is too hot or too cold. Although my arthritis and fibromyalgia make me feel like I am enduring a great trial sometimes, I realized it could be worse and I need to count my blessings.

We are having a birthday party on the 20th for the August and July birthdays. Jeff is July 18, Jaron is August 7, Larry is August 21, I am August 23, and Misty is August 28th. It will be here at the house at 6:00 p.m.

2006-07-31T20:39:00.000-06:00

Well today I spent all day running around with BJ helping him work out the details for getting a phone and a car with no credit. He was able to get a cellphone through the company he works for and he had to pay $100.00 for it today but he gets a $50.00 rebate and he earned $60.00 dollars commission on the sale so when he gets his money back he will have earned $10.00. He was able to get a loan from the credit union to buy a car from Jacob. Because he was not wanting as much as a new car they were willing to lend him 80% of the price of the car and then he can pay the extra money to Jacob himself. So he was happy to get a phone and wheels.

I also had to take Kirsten to the foot doctor to check on her foot. She still has a chip in there but he wanted to wait one more week before deciding on surgery.

Larry is busy working on his homework after Family Home Evening.

Erick went to his student ward Family Home Evening. BJ decided to stay here again tonight before he goes to Logan because he has a meeting with his work early in the morning in Salt Lake City.

Last Monday was the 24th of July and a holiday in Utah. We didn't do much in the morning we did some yard work and then the boys made Gelato from the recipes in Erick's Italian cookbook. BJ made Chocolate and Erick made Cantaloupe. Then we went to Kathy and Gary's for the annual barbecue and fireworks. Erick and BJ went. BJ had a date named Whitney Rose that we all met. Michelle and Daniel and their family there. I had fun holding the new baby, Kalisse. Maren and Landon and Brinlie also went and we all had a good time together. We also had a good time visiting with Larry and Leslie and their family and Kathy and Gary and their family and friends.

Tuesday and Wednesday I took another dreamweaver class at UEN. I got a few things accomplished on my website but I basically found out what it feels like to be in a class where the teacher does not have time to help everyone. I felt a little overhelmed.

Larry started a new class on Tuesday so he is back doing homework. He has been stressing because he was supposed to work with a team on a presentation and one person took all the emails and was supposed to send it to everyone else and didn't so he didn't know how to contact the others, so he has been planning his own presentation.

I have been tending Brinlie also on the days I don't have school. She is so cute and funny it is fun to tend her. Maren had some pictures taken of her at Kiddie Kandids that are so darling but I can't show them to you because our scanner has not been working.

Michelle and Daniel invited us to dinner on Saturday night. They had invited Jeannine Cobb also and we had a good visit with her. Michelle served a wonderful dinner. It was attractive and well presented and tasted wonderful. Ethan and Hailee wanted us to play Uno with them so we did that for a while. Jeannine hadn't seen the baby and their new house so it was good that they could show her. Ethan played us a piano solo. He is doing so well. Jaron and Hailee had great fun teasing Grandpa Larry and Me. Larry was really in a good mood and had fun with them.

After dinner we left for Logan to pick up BJ to come home for the weekend. We had a nice ride up and picked BJ up at the mall then went to Steve's and got his things and came home. It has been nice to see Steve some also. This week BJ will move in with Aunt Marva until his apartment is available August 26th. I have enjoyed the rides to Logan but I am glad that BJ has a car now and can transport himself.

Erick was a little frustrated because his date for Saturday night canceled out on him about an hour before he was supposed to pick her up. He was a little discouraged but he went to the group family home evening tonight and came back in a better mood. He said they played wiffle ball in the rain.

Jeff and Misty were cooking for a company party that Chelly had this weekend so they were busy with that. Jeff's birthday was this month but we couldn't come up with a day to celebrate it so we will celebrate it with the August birthday's

Jon took the kids to Lagoon today so that is why I was taking Kirsten to the doctor. It was a good day and a little cooler so I hope they had fun. It did rain this evening though. Mom and Dad said it really rained in Lehi.

I talked to Sara on the phone and she said that Nathan is working a 3-11:00 p.m. shift on the border by Brownsville, Texas. That is about a 7 hour drive from Houston where they are. He can call them every night so that is good. He has orders to do this for a year or until he hears about helicopter school. She said it is hard but it is better than if he was in Iraq. She also let slip that they just found out that she is pregnant. She is about 7 weeks so maybe another February baby. She said I could tell everyone so I am. She need your prayers because she is really sick right now.

It was good to visit with Jake and Nikki tonight. Lexie is back in school but she had come home. She had great fun teasing BJ about poking him and saying "Jump start. BJ taught that to her last week so she was poking him this week. Ashton's nap had been disturbed so he was a little grumpy but he is really showing that he is learning. He knows how the rider moves on the horse and he can tell you what an elephant says. Jacob spent a lot of time going over the car with BJ and even included 4 snow tires with it (which I am sure BJ will need this winter in Sardine Canyon.)

The Michaelsen reunion is this weekend in Mayfield so I hope that we will see some of you there. Sweet dreams.

2006-07-23T20:42:00.000-06:00

As usual we had a busy week. Erick left on Sunday for Wyoming with the Equipment crew from trek. Larry and I left on Monday morning about 6:00 a.m. and helped make sandwiches for the first snack of the day and then we drove with 5 other people in a suburban to Wyoming. The first night we stayed at a ranch area where the church has a campground. We had dinner ready by about 8:30 p.m. but they didn't make it in from their first trek until about 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. We stayed under a canopy that they had for the kitchen but the wind blew part of it all night long and made it hard for many to sleep.

On Tuesday the kids were bussed to Sage creek and started a trek over Rocky Ridge to Rock Creek where the cemetary is for those who died from the Willey handcart company. Some of our crew went to hike over Rocky ridge and then serve lunch to those on the trail. I wanted to go but did not feel good that morning so I stayed behind. Four of our group went to feed a second group lunch. and then we had 5 of us cleaning up the kitchen so we could move on. We had the canopy fall on us before we were ready and it spilled 5 gallon of punch all over some of the coolers. It also spilled 5 gallons of water that we had just filled. So we had a little more mess to clean up than planned. When we got everything packed and sorted Rich and Paul two of the guys with us went to Lander to buy some supplies. Then our leader David left to get the kitchen set up for dinner at the next campground. He left Larry and I and Denise Wright waiting for the others to pick us up. It got so hot that Denise and I pumped water on each other's heads to cool off. Larry just sat in the shade. David, our leader, thought that they should be back within the hour but three and a half hours later one of the surburbans came but it was full of people. However, they made room for us and took us to another van, then we started the hour and a half trip to Rock Creek. We ended up getting lost, however, and three hours later we made it to camp. Where dinner was almost over.

Wednesday we served breakfast at Rock Creek and then we drove to Lander to pick up more groceries and go to the dump with the garbage. Then we drove on to Martin's cove and got there about noon. Just in time to serve lunch. They had a really nice picnic area at Martins cove that made it easier to serve.

After lunch Carol Richens made arrangements for those on the food committe who wanted to go to Martin's cove to ride to the bottom of the hill in the missionaries golf carts. We walked up the hill to a pre cove area and they had a presentation about the Martin Handcart company and then we walked up the hill to the cove where the pioneers stayed to protect themselves from the winter weather. Then we walked past the area where they had buried the bodies of the dead in the snow. We were walking down the hill and I was going slow because I walk slow but I thought I was doing okay but a member of the Bishopric, Brother McKinnon called for me to have a golf cart ride down. I started to walk down while we waited and a group of kids and the parents of a youth that had a downs syndrome offered me his rick shaw typed wheel chair. I protested but they insisted saying he could walk. I must admit it felt good but I was embarrassed. I ask Larry if I looked like I was walking that bad and he said, "yes" so I guess I was not aware of how I looked. They took us to the golf cart and then we rode down. I realized that perhaps I could have walked down but it would have taken me most of the night and this way I made it in time to help with dinner.

Thursday we served breakfast and then made about 400 sandwiches and sack lunches for the trip home. Then we packed up and started home. It was almost 7:00 p.m. when we made it to Kaysville. It was really good to have a shower and be home. BJ took my phone to Logan with him so that was a little frustrating but we worked it out.

Friday morning we had to meet at the 2nd north church to help unload equipment and divide it up to the areas it went to at 8:30 a.m. After getting all of that done we went home and unloaded what was our equipment. Then I talked Larry into helping me in the yard for about an hour. In the afternoon I went to Fran Brown and had Maren cut and blow dry my hair, wax my eyebrows, and give me a manicure. It was great fun and gave us a chance to talk. That evening we had Maren and Landon over for Pizza and we played Pirates of the Carribean Monopoly. They got the game while they were at Disneyland when they went to Los Angles. We played for about 6 hours but still haven't finished the game.

Saturday we slept in. Larry went to work about 11:00 a.m. Erick and I started our day. We had invited Lexie over to stay and she came about 11:30 a.m. with Jake and Nikki and Ashton. Ashton let me hold him when we took them out to see the fish in Erick's pond. They Jake and Nikki and Ashton left and Erick and I played legos and Barbies with Lexie. Later we went to Cherry Hill and played minature golf. Erick went home after that because he did not want to go swimming (even though it was 103 degrees) Lexie and I went through almost all of the water attractions at Cherry Hill and then had dinner. Lexie wanted to see BJ and when she found out he was coming home from Logan that night she decided to stay for the night with Jacob and Nikki's okay.

Lexie and BJ got up early and did some things. BJ told Lexie that they better wake Grandma up so we could get her back in time for church. Lexie said, "Do, you have to do that everyday." We drove Lexie down about 9:30 a.m. When we got there Ashton had just fallen and cut his gum on a table. He had been crying for quite a while they said.

We had to wear our trek outfits to church today. They looked much better clean. We sat on the stand and sang a song called "Carry Me" which is on the trek website at www.trek2006.com it is a really beautiful song that some ladies in our stake wrote for our trek. It talks about how Christ can carry us through our trials just like the four young men that carried the handcart pioneers over the sweetwater.

We took dinner to Kirsten and Jon tonight to give Kirsten a chance to be off of her broken foot a little bit. Jon has a bad cold and has slept most of the day. Kirsten's hands are getting sore from using crutches. Larry wanted to stay there tonight because their house was cooler and he liked the feel of laying on their love sac. But we finally came home.

Erick and BJ went over to Maren's this evening to get their hair cut. Erick was invited to dinner by a girl in his U of U ward but he didn't tell me who. We got to see him at meals on the trek but that was about the only time. He was busy picking up and delivering sleeping bags and buckets (that they used for luggage) He seemed to have a good time working with Roger Tuttle who is also in our ward.

BJ had the car this week and also my phone. He decided to ask this girl out that he thought was flirting with him at different times at his work, but she looked shocked and told him, "but I am married" when he asked her. He had another girl ask him out and he has been out with her twice this week and is bringing her to the Shaw's barbeque for the 24th.

Maren and Landon had a great time in Los Angles especially when they took Brinlie to Disneyland. Evan and Shirley helped tend Brinlie when they went on rides so they had a good time. They also got to ride the roller coaster on top of New York, New York in Las Vegas.

Kirsten and Jon have no children this weekend because the girls went with their mom and Kyle is in Vernal. It is probably just as well considering how they both feel.

Jeff and Misty have been doing things with Misty's cousin Clay. They have been to several attractions in Utah that he wanted to see. Matthew fell the otherday and cut himself and had to have stitches. Clay goes home in about three weeks.

Michelle and Daniel went to Pioneer state park yesterday and had a good time. Ethan's piano teacher wants to move him to the advanced class he is doing so well. Michelle is going to help part time with Hailee's class this year at the school they are going to in Syracuse.

It is too late to call Nathan and Sara but I will post and update soon.

2006-07-16T19:25:00.000-06:00

We have had an interesting week since I posted Tuesday. Wednesday Kathy called and said that she had some Iris starts if I still wanted some so I decided to go get them. I was also tending Brinlie so we packed up and went. I stopped at school because Mark Enomoto said he could help me get my username and password for my school website which I need for my class in two weeks. Then we went to Kathy's and picked up the Iris and I decided if we were that far we might as well go and visit Dad and Mom. Brinlie had great fun talking to all the people going down and rolling on Mom and Dad's floor and talking to them. We visited for about 2 hours and then I started home.

Wednesday night I went to Teresa and Darrell Bowman's to work on Chicken for the Trek. We were putting the chicken into Ziploc bags and puring marinade on it and then putting it back in the freezer. That took about 2 hours.

While I was at Mom and Dad's Annette had called and asked me to bring her a sweater to her hotel. She was staying in Layton for an education conference she was attending. Erick and I went to deliver the sweater and had to track her down at Sonic Drive In. We had a good time talking to her about Vernal and such.

Nathan called while I was driving to the hotel so I got a short talk with him and ment to call him back but we talked to Annette until about 10:00 p.m. our time and I didn't think he would want to be called back at 11:00 p.m. He said that he had a second chance to interview for a job in Utah so they were hoping that would come through. He also has been called up to help on the border with the National Guard so he had to go to Austin this weekend for a physical and other things. No word yet on what his job will be on the border or when he will be leaving.

Larry had class until late on Wednesday. It was a test for his math class. He came home early so I don't know if that was bad or good but this last class has been easier he said because it has been a review of an earlier class. Usually he has to start a new class the next week but this time he does not have to start for two weeks so he is off for the trek.

Thursday Larry had the day of so we worked on getting things ready for the Pioneer Trek that we are going on Monday. We worked on getting supplies found and shirt collars taken off and getting last minute supplies. I was tending Brinlie for Maren now she is back in cosmetology school and Larry helped me. We both did a lot of work on the computer. Brinlie had great fun trying to eat the cord for the internet on the laptop. Larry was not to happy about that.

In the afternoon I had to go to the family history center from 2-4:00 p.m. We couldn't find a babysitter so Larry tended Brinlie while I went.

After we went to Kirsten's to borrow a few things for the trek. Her ankle was really swollen on the opposite ankle from the one she broke. She has had to move her work upstairs so she can rest her foot while she works but she has to have one foot to pedal something so she has to have that foot down.

Friday I had to go help them get supplies at Sam's Club at 6:45 a.m. I thought Larry was on his way so I took off. I was surprized to find Larry in bed when I got home. He had thrown up and was still naseated so he had called in sick. I was quite worried about him as he has never thrown up since we got married and I have know him. He slept for a while and then when he got up his blood pressure was up to 169/121. He got on the computer and began reading again about what he needed to do to bring is blood pressure down. He got it down about 2:00 p.m. but then about 6:00 p.m. it was way up again. We went out to dinner with Jenny Tarbet and then we went to have her mom take his blood pressure at the doctor's office. It was pretty normal 140/80 so they had us bring the monitor in and check it but it was accurate so the doctor is sending Larry to some specialists when we get back. We had the home teachers and BJ gave Larry a blessing today so that things will be okay for trek.

Saturday Larry had to work. Erick and I got up and planted some plants that we have not been able to plant and I went up to get a manicure and pedicure from Maren. Erick mowed the lawn and made a new pump for the pond while I was gone. Larry came home and was testing the air mattress. We got our things packed that were supposed to be at the church early and then we went to get medicines and sunglasses.

We had to pick BJ up about 5:00 p.m. in Logan but we were late but, so was he, so we took him out to dinner in Logan and then we drove home. Everyone else went to bed but I was up until about midnight working on an assignment that needed to be submitted for my online class on the Pioneer Online library.

This morning Erick went to his ward and then he left today about 2:00 p.m. with the crew he is working with to go to Wyoming to set up for the trek. BJ had to speak in the 13th ward today but it was when we are teaching primary so we did not get to hear him. Larry woke up with his fingers hurting so he took an Indomethecin and it knocked him out so he only came for Sacrament.

Maren and Landon flew to Los Angeles to meet Landon's parents this morning. She said that they almost missed their plane because it was so slow through security. They will be there until Wednesday. Brinlie slept most of the flight so that was good. Maren needs manicures to do at school so if you have been thinking of getting a manicure go to Fran Brown and have her do it for you.

Nathan called and is in Austin tonight. The family dropped him off this evening and he has some things to do before they send him to the border. He and Sara celebrated their anniversary(which was today) on Friday and Saturday. He finished tying a quilt Saturday afternoon. Sara gave a baby shower for someone on Saturday morning.

Jacob went to girls camp as the priesthood advisor on Friday. Nikki has been getting Lexie ready for school which starts for her on the 26th of July. They also went to the acquarium. Nikki said that Ashton was really enthralled with the whole thing.

Jeff and Misty went to Cheyenne this weekend to meet Misty's grandparents and visit with them. Jeff said they had a good time and visited the Western museum they have there with all different kinds of championship saddles.

Kirsten and Jon have the girls this week but Kyle is in Vernal with his dad. But then Kyle will come back and the girls go with their Mom for the weekend. Kirsten said that their dog Cooper is getting good at stealing food. He ate Kennedy's birthday cake, and took a bite out of the roast and ate all the hamburgers Jon made one day. They are having a time trying to keep him out of things.

BJ goes back to Logan on Tuesday. He is excited because he will have a car this week while we are gone so he is going to go on a date he said. He is trying to finish up his enrollment but somewhere the ACT scores that ACT sent did not make it to the school so he has to find out about that. He found an apartment for fall but can't move in until August 26th so he will probably live with Aunt Marva until then as Steve and Christy have family coming.

I talked to Michelle on Saturday but only for a few minutes. We called Daniel and teased him about getting a free taco from Taco maker as the name on their sign for a free taco was "Daniel" this week in Kaysville and Logan.

The picture is at the Heber Cemetary by Grandma sylvia and Grandpa Junius Jenkins's grave stones. Nathan and Sara and David and Isaac are on the left. Erick and BJ are on the right.

2006-07-11T09:59:00.000-06:00

I thought I would post today to let you know that Larry is better. His blood pressure had gone up to 179/93 and his blood sugar was 280 but it was because he forgot to take his pills again. He went on line and read what he needed to do for the blood pressure and took his pills and he was feeling good yesterday.

I finished up the quilt that I started with Brooke. Brooke and Kennedy came over in the morning and helped me but they had to be back at their mothers by noon so we didn't finish but then I was able to finish it in the afternoon and get the living room cleaned up. The picture is of Brooke working on the quilt.

Maren went to the airport to see Amber and Nate and their new baby. I took her down so it was fun to see them again before they left and it gave her a chance to show off Brinlie to them also. The baby picture on this blog is a picture of Adalyn.

By the time I finished these things it was five o'clock so I was feeling a little frustrated but I did go and help package cookies for the trek for an hour at 5:00 p.m. and then I did dishes and spent time with Larry.

Erick went to his University of Utah ward for Family home evening. He took me out when he fed the fish in his pond and it was quite a sight to see about 30 goldfish and several coi come to the top when he put the food in. I told him we would have to let the grandkids do it sometime.