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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.