So it is Easter and we celebrated with our family that is here on Thursday so Larry and I have a few minutes to complete a post about our week.

Kyle with me at the youth conference for Rootstech

Today we had a great lesson on the atonement for Relief Society.  It essentially boiled down to this thought:  He lived, He died, He lives again.  It is so good to have evidence of the atonement and how it works in our lives.  I am living proof that he can help you to become more than you are.  I was so sick and depressed until last July and around the time that Dad died I ask Heavenly Father to help me, because I could not do it alone.  I immediately started feeling better and have progressed to doing many things again.  I know it is through the help of my Savior.

Today in sacrament we also witnessed what a person can do if they are truly converted and learning to rely on the Savior.  All of the talks where good.  But I have had a friend Margarita Tovar who joined the church in 1993.  I met her when I moved out here.  She has always been afraid to do things in the church but has always been active.  She has her times when she is sick also but she has continued to come.  She taught a primary class with me about 5 years ago and she would always prepare wonderful handouts and such but she would not give a lesson if I was there.  Today for the first time she gave a talk in Sacrament meeting in English which is not her native language.  She has also accepted a call to work in the Relief Society and is working hard to do that.  To me it is a miracle knowing how afraid that Margarita has been to speak and do things in the church.

Our crocus are up and blooming

Yesterday we went to the Family History Center in the morning.  I taught a class on adding notes to Family Search Family Tree and Larry helped others.  Then I helped others.  We have often been without people on Saturday but since the First Presidency has reemphasized the importance of finding our own ancestors things are picking up.  We have a couple of people that have been coming every Saturday for a while now and it is fun to help them.  Yesterday one of the High Councilors from our Stake, Kevin Collier came in to learn how to print a fan chart and wanted to know how to find a name to attend the temple after our Family History Supervisors talked to the High Council on the programs we have.  It was fun helping him and I found out he is originally from Vernal.  After I got through helping him I printed out a fan chart for Larry and We have a lot of work to do.  It may be that we just have to add what Judy has found but it will keep us busy for a while.

The plant that we got for Grandpa's funeral is blooming
Great testimony of the resurrection!

In the afternoon we went to help Mom and visit with her.  She is having a hard time right now she is really lonely and needs people to talk to and help her.  Maybe the family that is reading this could call her once a week or send some pictures or go visit her if you are close enough.  We could all fast and Pray for her too.  I think that she is just going through a stage of grief that is hard for her right now.

We worked on the house and then we took a ride to see where the Frontrunner Station is in Lehi.  It was a beautiful day in the high 60's.  The stop is by Thanksgiving Point of course.  I had to take a package back to some people in Cedar Hills.  It was remarkable how the things have grown up along the Alpine road.  It used to be rather rural but now it is a thriving city with lots of homes.  Kathy called and said that they were at Mom's when we were planning to go home.  It was weird because she called from home and used Mom's phone so my phone said that I had a call from Mom and Mom was right there in the car with me!

Larry, Brooke, Taylor, Heather, Erick and Ryker having fun
at the Birthday Party

Mom took Kathy's family and Larry and I our to dinner at Culver's  We found a great sandwich there that we like.  It is called shaved prime rib.  It was fun to talk with Kathy and Gary and the girls and Mom while we ate.  I think that Mom likes to take us out to dinner just to have something to do.

Michelle called while we were at Culver's and asked us to watch their birds and fish while they go to Caliifornia.  They were going down to see Michelle and Jeff's Aunt Betty on Diane's side but she died earlier in the week so now they will be going down to help go through things so Michelle can get some of the significant things they will give her for Family History.  They are also going down to meet Jeff and his family and go to Disneyland.  It is Spring Break this week so they will be gone most of the week.

Ethan, Kallise, Hailee, Michelle, Jaron singing Happy Birthday

Kirsten got to go to the Conference Center for the Young Woman's broadcast on Saturday.  She took Brooke and Kennedy and they went to dinner with the Young Women in their ward.  She said that they had a good time.

Friday was a day to" rest from our labors" according to Larry.  We had the mission on Thursday and a Family Party the day before so I guess he is referring to the mission.

I went visiting teaching with Kelly Jenkins (no relation that we know of).  She mention while she was giving her lesson that she had learned that she needed to be able to put mistakes in the past and move on.  She said that she has always thought that because she came from a rather dysfunctional family that she had no chance to be otherwise but now she knows that she doesn't have to make the same mistakes that they did and that she can learn from them.  I have  been frustrated ever since I went on a website that helps you to see who you are related to that was famous.  It told me that I was not related to anyone who was famous.  So I have kind of felt bad like maybe I did not have the power in me to do anything great.  Her comments helped me to see that I do not have to be tied to the past.  But I also know that I want to do what Heavenly Father would want me to do.

Brooke and Taylor waiting for birthday cake

While I went visiting teaching, Larry went and got some parts for the Truck so Jon Hayford could finish fixing it so it will pass inspection.  We were both gone for about 2 hours and got back about the same time even though we didn't plan it that way.

In the afternoon I was able to work on my lesson for Saturday and start cleaning off my desk.  Larry was able to spend some time looking for a job.  I was still stiff from going to physical therapy on Wednesday so I welcomed the chance to sit down.

Thursday was our LDS Employment mission.  Larry and I both went in the morning but Larry stayed home in the afternoon to wait for the dishwasher repair person.  He said that they completely replaced the motor for the Dishwasher.  Hopefully it will not have any problems now.  He spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for the Family Party so just about everything was completed when I got home.

Kallise close-up

We went to Weight Watcher's to weigh in at noon and Larry had lost another 3 lbs and I had lost 2.8.  That finally put me over the 25lbs lost mark.  They give you a little token to go on your key ring when you lose 25 lbs so that was fun.  Larry has lost a total of 43 lbs and is looking great.

Thursday at 6:00 p.m. we had a Family Birthday Party at our house for all the March and April Birthday's.  It was finally warming up and so we were able to barbecue outside and some even ate outside.  There were a few mosquitoes, despite we took our the pond, so Larry go lots of bites because he was outside barbecuing.  He even has one on the top of his head.  It was a fun party.  We just had a good time talking and eating and talking and eating some more.  Everyone was gone by 8:00 pm and then Kirsten called and said that Jon wanted Larry to go buy parts for the truck that night so he could work on it the next morning.  We had Kyle at our house still so he and Larry took off to get the parts.  Larry didn't get home until about 10:00 pm.  I watched TV because I was so stiff from physical therapy the day before.

Kennedy, Larry, Taylor and Kirsten eating cake

Wednesday we slept in a little.  I finally did my hair and got dressed like I should.  I had a Physical Therapy at 2:00 p.m.  They really worked me hard on an exercise ball but it felt good at the time and I think I need to get one of those balls.  Other than that Larry worked on looking for jobs and I worked on finishing the job with Dorius Academy.  I have been writing curriculum on Economic Systems so I have been learning while I do it.

Tuesday I actually was able to get myself to post about already.

Monday I spent most of the time researching information for the curriculum that I am writing.  Larry spent most of the day looking for jobs and cleaning.  I didn't even do my hair.  I did have to help Larry jumpstart the his car and I think that is the day we took the truck to Jon's so he could repair it.

Erick and Heather are going through some tests for fertility and he is having a surgery this week on Thursday I think to correct some vein problem he has so I am sure they would like your prayers.

Our living room with the new carpet.  It looks brighter and
bigger I think!

The new kitchen floor

Well sorry it is so long.  I will try to post more often so they are not so long.

We got new carpet and flooring in the kitchen, utility room and my bathroom.  It looks much better but it was a stupid time to buy it when we have so little money anyway.  But we do have good credit!  We have needed it for a long time as you know but I am embarrassed that we bought it when we did.

The Gibby Fish

The Gibby Birds

Spent most of the day today working on the curriculum for Dorius Academy.  But it was interspersed with a call from Maren to vent and give me a chance to excercise,  my visiting teacher, Carol Harris coming to visit, it was a good visit and making phone calls about my visiting teaching with Larry laying by me on the bed.

I have not done my hair for two days except to brush it.  It is terribly liberating until I look in the mirror.

We also had a person come to sell us a Hepa filter today but we have no money to buy anything.

Larry has worked on several things to try to get a job today and even fixed dinner while I was talking to Carol.

Attached is a picture of Kyle and me at Rootstech last Saturday.

I wrote this post on the 10th of March.  I intended to add some pictures but I got sick the next day and it has taken this long to get back.  Hopefully you will enjoy it with no pictures and I can move on.

Spring has come to Kaysville this week.  Most of the snow is melted except on the north sides and big piles in parking lots.  The sun has been out some days in abundance but we had a few cloudy days also.  When it stormed it was mostly in the mountains.

I woke up this morning and had a gruff voice.  That has escalated through the day to a really gruff voice and being extremely tired.  I guess I might be coming down with something.

It has been a busy week.  Monday we got the fan charts that I had printed for my kids packaged and sent most of them to the kids out of town I didn't have BJ's new address so I had to wait to send his.  Larry did not want to do them for his kids yet because there is hardly anything on nfs about Diane's family so he decided to work on that for a while before he printed them.  That was my birthday present for them.  We sent them all though regardless of when their birthday's are because I didn't want to lose them or have them get messed up.

We went grocery shopping in the afternoon and got some more fruits and vegetables and milk.  We eat about 20-30 lbs of fresh fruit since we are on Weight Watcher's because they are 0 points.

Larry was frustrated that his computer was not being repaired so he started to set up the desktop computer and he could not get that to turn on.  So then he was more frustrated.  He has not been able to get into his email all week even on my computer and so he has been doing a lot of cleaning and fixing up.
 
I also got mad at my phone in the evening and went to the mall to see if they could get it to have sound.  I had no sound on speaker phone when I was listening to my messages.  Note to self:  Do not buy another Samsung Stratosphere!!!

 Larry went to the endocrinologist on Tuesday morning  the doctor was very impressed with his progress on losing weight and getting his blood sugar down but Larry was disappointed to find out that the monitor that Medicare had given him could not be used to record his blood sugar at the doctors for a read out.  They gave him a new one to use but he is still waiting for the test strips to come for the new one.

 I got a message that I was not going to considered for the job at Salt Lake Community College on linked in.  It was a job I thought I had a chance at so I was really bummed.  I thought that maybe I did not have a good resume because I did not even get a chance to interview it kind of put me down.

We went to Kirsten's at 12:00 p.m. and I was going to tend Taylor so Kirsten could work and Larry was going to help Jon bleed the breaks so he could get his truck registered.  They got that done pretty quickly and Larry went to get the truck registered but then they would not pass the steering mechanism so he still could not get it registered.

I played with Taylor.  She likes to play games right now and as soon as you get it out and set up and play a couple of rounds she walks away.  It is nice that she does not have to wear the oxygen anymore.  They had the steri strips off her face and she has to wear a salve so she doesn't get scars.  She was cute.  She lifted her dress to show me that her surgical scars are healing.

Tuesday I worked most of the afternoon on trying to find jobs and applying for jobs.  I joined the U of U Alumni association so I could get the six months of Job search help and it took me most of the afternoon. to figure that out.  I also went into Simply Hired to sign up for a job they sent me and now I am signed up for about 3 other websites for job search including some Engineer's site!

Wednesday I went to the Dermatologist and they burned off two spots of pre-cancer, a wart and told me that a spot on my leg was just a patch of dry skin even thought it is round.  While I was at doctor Larry went shopping at Bowman's and went to Pet's Co and bought a light for the fish tank and then he let himself watch TV and relax which he does not do very often.

Wednesday afternoon we also spent looking for jobs.

Thursday we went to our mission.  I was a little down because I had read an article on saving for retirement in AARP's website and realized that we have done everything wrong lately and so now we are having to find jobs.  We went to lunch and went to weigh at Weight Watcher's and I had lost 2.8 lbs and Larry had lost 4.6.  That raised my spirit's some because we have been in a funk on losing and gaining.  I had finally made it past 198!  But then we went home to lunch and DATC called me for an interview the next day!  I was really excited!!! At least they liked my resume.  It helped me feel better all day. I spent the evening preparing for the interview.

Friday I had the interview at 9:30 a.m.  It went well.  I did the best I knew how.  If I don't get it is because there is someone more qualified or my personality did not click with theirs.

Friday afternoon we went down to Mom's to help her.  We went down to Modern Shoe in Provo and she picked out some shoes for church occasions.  I thought they looked nice and they are a comfortable brand that supports her foot.  That was all she wanted us to do. I am beginning to believe what Dad used to say, "Mom does not like to do things that mess up the house"  That includes deep cleaning right now.  But it is good to go and visit her each week.  I realize that Mom has been in Dad's shadow for so long that it is good to have time to spend just with her.

We went home and ate and watched the Mentalist on TV and then I had to work on a class that I had to teach for the Family Search Center the next morning at 9:00 a.m.  It wasn't a class that was all planned out in the reference book for Family Tree so I was up until about midnight. I still didn't feel good about the class when I went to bed but with the Lord's help I was able to do a good job.

Today is a rainy day but that is better than snow.  It might melt some of the foot of snow we still have in our yard.  Yesterday was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and it got to 53 or more degrees.  The scent of spring was in the air.  I am certainly looking forward to spring coming.

Monday I had to take my new phone that I got from the insurance to get it reset with my contacts.  They did something to sync all of my Facebook friends to my contacts so I was frustrated with that but I have figured out how to not have them show.  They also got all the contacts from Backup Assistant.  So now I have all the old contacts that I had deleted and all the old phone numbers for those of you who switched phones and I now have to determine which ones are the current numbers again.

Sunday our dishwasher started leaking all over the floor after dinner and then it shut off and would not go through the cycle.  I called Sears to see about getting it repaired and the soonest they could come was Saturday.  It is under warranty and it will not cost us anything but I thought that was pretty slow response time and told them so but they said they had to give priority to people who did not have heat or needed something for survival.  I guess they do not understand that a person needs a dishwasher for survival.

Erick and Ryker in the big train

We spent the rest of the day doing things to get jobs.  Networking, filling our applications, calling people about the application to find out the hiring manager etc.  I applied for a position at DATC that would be good because they are just through the field so I wouldn't have to drive very far.  Larry also is applying for jobs.

Tuesday we spent most of the day also looking for jobs.  I had a Dr. appointment at 1: 45 pm because I have this feeling that comes to my neck every so often that feels like someone put a vise clamp by the right shoulder and then it lets up and radiates out down my arm and chest and back.  The doctor x-rayed my neck and said that I had a lot of vertebrae that are too close together so he sent me to physical therapy for 2 months and then I am supposed to go back.  I thought maybe it might be a symptom of my Fibromyalgia but I guess I was wrong.

Tuesday evening we spent teaching career workshop.  It was the last class.  We had 7 originally last week but we only had three come back so it was a small ending class.

Wednesday was a crazy day.  We started out working on jobs but I had consented to a free in home estimate for flooring from Sears when I called about the dishwasher.  They came at about 11:30 a.m. and finally left at 3:30 p.m.  Kirsten called me to go get Kyle from school because they were coming back from Primary Children's Medical Center with Taylor.  So I went to get Kyle.  I had had a prompting to look at my calendar but ignored it twice.  When I looked at my phone when I went to get Kyle I realized that we were supposed to be at the Ogden Cannery at the same time I was picking Kyle up.  I panicked and called them to see if we could come in late and they said that would be okay.  Kyle came to tell me that he did not need a ride only one of the girls in their car pool.  I told him that was fine and then just as the girl comes to get in the car a person from the DATC job that I had called a couple of times to find out about the hiring manager called me back.  I motioned for the girl to get in and she basically sat and listened to me have this phone interview over the phone when we hadn't even met.  She was nice enough about it when I got off the phone but I certainly had adrenaline pumping.  Then I went home and the flooring people had not left yet and it took about a half hour to get them to finish up.  Then we went to the cannery.  They were starting to thaw turkeys for turkey chunks but we got there in time to clean up.

Kirsten and Taylor
If you look closely you can see the steri-strips
 on Taylor's face from the dog bite

Kirsten stopped on the way home from Taylor's check up to visit John's sister and Taylor was playing with the dog and it all of a sudden bit her on the cheek.  Kirsten was pretty upset after all that Taylor has been through.  They were able to get her into a plastic surgeon at Tanner Clinic and so they feel like it should heal okay.  The Doctor said that it was cut in ways that should not show as she grows.

Thursday we worked at LDS Employment all day on our mission.  We also leave at about 10:45 a.m. to weigh in at weight watchers and have lunch.  I was happy to have lost 2.4 lbs.  Larry left his shoes on so he can weigh with his shoes on after this so he gained 1.6 lbs. but considering that his shoes weigh 2 lbs he probably lost weight from last week.

Friday we went to Mom's about 9:00 a.m.  The idea was to take her shoe shopping in the morning but when we got there she didn't want to do that so we went to buy bird seed and food at the grocery store before the Senior Lunch started.  Larry went over early when we got back because he wanted to play pool.  Mom and I and her friend Eula went about 11:20 a.m. so we could get there on time for bingo.  I won the first game again so that was weird. Maren called me just as they were playing Black Out so I didn't get to finish but it was better talking to Maren.   It was a good lunch and we had a good time with Mom and her friends there.

Heather, Erick and Ryker with Thomas the train 

Mom had to go get a perm in the afternoon so we visited with her while we worked and sent her to get her perm.  She said that she was too tired to go shoe shopping and not to wait for her so we went home about 2:30 p.m.

I spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for a Family Tree class on Merging Duplicates that I had to teach the next morning.  Larry went and got the plastic covers for the lights in the kitchen that I have needed for a year and put those in.  He spends time everyday now trying to find things to fix up in the house.  It is looking better everyday.

We got up early on Saturday and were to the Family Search Center by 8:30 a.m. so we were able to set up well and have some time to breath.  The class went well and then I spent about an hour and a half helping a lady in the class figure out to merge duplicates and add and correct information for one family.  Just as she left a man came in wanting to learn how to find a name to take to the temple.  I showed him how to find people that need ordinances on Family Tree and what he would have to do to qualify them and so he was completely overwhelmed when he left but knew what he had to do.

Erick and Ryker getting ready to ride the train

We spent the afternoon waiting for the dishwasher repair man to show up.  They said that he would come from 1-5 and of course he got there about 4:30 p.m.  There was a hose clamp that had broken so that is why it was leaking and would not run.  Grateful to have it under warranty when I saw the bill.

Yesterday was Erick's birthday so we went over to take him his present and see them for a few minutes.  They had gone to the Hostler's train show in Ogden at the Train Depot so Ryker was excited about the trains they had seen.  They had some cute pictures of Erick and Ryker riding a little miniature train and of Ryker and Erick in  the big train exhibit they had there.  They even had a G size Thomas the train that they let Ryker hold one of the cars from.

Last night we watched a couple of "The Mentalist" shows on On Demand with Xfinity.

Today is Fast Sunday so we are fasting and waiting to eat until we get to dinner because that is when we ate last yesterday.  We had a good Fast and Testimony meeting today.  It seemed to me to center on the blessings of the Atonement in helping us not only overcome sins but in helping us with our weaknesses in life. I am so grateful for the Gospel and the fact that though faith I can obtain the help I need to overcome obstacles and challenges in this life.  Just recently I experienced this blessing in trying to work our some feelings I had about looking for work.

Tonight for supper we made Grandma Christiansen's Cabbage soup.  This is one of the first things that she taught me how to make of her dishes.  It is typical of Danish cooking in the Christiansen family.  Here is the recipe:

Grandma Christiansen's Cabbage Soup

2 pork hocks covered with 3 quarts of water

1 medium large potatoes cut in 1 inch cubes

3 carrots peeled and cut in slices

1 onion diced

1/4 head cabbage if large 1/2 if small

1 Tbsp. Salt

Put Onion and Carrot in with Pork Hocks and cook for 2-3 hours until meat is tender.

Add potatoes, cabbage and Salt and cook until tender.

It tasted so good.  The secret is to get the meat juices into the water for flavor.

Well hope you all have a great day tomorrow.  We already have more scheduled than we have time to do.