Thanksgiving and today

Yesterday was a different Thanksgiving but it was fun.  Because we had originally planned to go to San Antonio, Texas all of the kids had a spouse Thanksgiving planned that were close.  But, they all agreed that they could come in the evening.

We got up and went walking and then I worked at getting some pie crust made.  In the past I have made about 10 pies but this year I only planned to make two so life was easier this year.

After I got the pie crust baked we went to have lunch at a restaurant.  Larry wanted Chinese but there were not any open that we usually go to.  So we went to Golden Corral but there was a line about 20 feet long out the door so we didn't want to go there.  We went to Marie Callenders but they had a 35 minute wait so Larry didn't want to stay there.  We went to Sizzler's and there was not a line there so we ate there.  I had a steak and shrimp dinner and Larry got Salad Bar and then we ate half of each others.

Kirsten texted me that she was ready to come over as we finished up dinner so we went home immediately after lunch. 

I went home and started the pie filling.  We also put a turkey breast in to cook so we could have Turkey and Rolls when the kids came over. I bought the rolls.

We also had the TV on a" Castle" marathon on TNT.  I was surprised that Larry did not turn it to football as he watched the football at the restaurant.

I made a banana cream pie and a coconut cream pie with splenda so Larry could eat it.  It was actually quite good.  Kirsten brought two pumpkin pies and an assortment of drinks left over from John's family dinner.  Heather brought a dutch apple pie and Michelle brought a pumpkin dessert that was topped with pecans and some sugary topping.  They were all good.  We had the Turkey and rolls with cranberry sauce and cream cheese.  It was fun to have the variety.

Taylor brought a game called 'Stuff the Pig' that she had a good time playing with Ryker and Kallise.  Erick and Heather had a new game called "Logo" that the Adults played and the older kids played with the Nintendo and the toys downstairs.  We had a great time playing the Logo game and the kids seemed to have a good time also.  We had a great time and I did not have to kill myself making a bunch of food that we didn't need.  And we had more left overs today than we really needed.

I was too tired to write last night so I just went to bed after they left but then I spent about an hour looking at Facebook on my Nextel.

Today we got up and went to the gym.  I walked 2 miles and did 5 machines and went .2 miles on the elliptical.  When we got home we ate lunch and then I began working on the curriculum I am writing.

I was able to finish Chapter 12 today and get it sent Dana at Northridge Learning Center.  I spent the rest of the afternoon studying about the essential types of promotion that I need to write about now.  I read until about 5 p.m. and then we ate dinner.  As we were eating I realized that we had plenty of left overs for us with the pie that the others left and our turkey and rolls.  In fact we had so much food that I ate 53 points!  More than double the points I have for a day.  Of course I ate three pieces of pie today and one piece is about 9 pts!

We watched a rerun of Elementary while I walked right after dinner.

Larry worked in the yard today raking up pine needles we got from the neighbors at the last windstorm.  Then he mowed the lawn to pick up other things.  I was thinking that a year ago he would not have been able to do that.  It is so exciting how much losing weight on Weight Watchers and getting active has helped us to find the energy and good health we had lost before.  We owe Kirsten a great deal for inspiring us to go to Weight Watchers.

Chiska Williams brought the quilt today, that she made for Nathan and Sara from squares that different family and friends sent to her. It is so cute.  She really put a lot of time into it.  She was a friend of Nathan and Sara's when they went to London.  She said that she got to be friends with Nathan because he was the closest to her in age and he came to talk to her when the girl talk with the younger girls got to be too much.

I read some more tonight after we ate and I walked some.  So I spent about an hour and a half reading again.  Then I walked while Larry watched Pawn Stars.  So I was excited when I got 5 pts for activity.  Then I recorded my points and figured out what was going on there while we watched the news.  I am up until 11:30 again but life is good.

Nov 27th

Well we got up this morning at 5:30 a.m. and went to the temple at 7:15 a.m.  I was feeling great.  We made it to the 7:45 a.m. session.  about  10 minutes into the session I felt this same wave of ickiness that went over me like last night at the gym.  I started getting nauseated.  I was praying that I would make it though the session while I was having the hot flash of the century and my skin was sweaty.  I did pretty good until I went to the veil.  As I was finishing up my stomach started throwing up and luckily it was just a little bit and didn't go everywhere but it sure caused a stir.  Luckily I was able to finish the ceremony and get dressed but I also threw up on the way home.  I really could not figure out what was going on.

After resting for about three hours and finally having my stomach feel better I was able to go to the Dr. appointment I had made yesterday for our mission medical.  When I got there he looked at me and then asked me if I had not taken one of my medications.  I had not taken my Lexapro generic since Sunday because I thought it wouldn't hurt me to not take it for two days until I got more money.  Dr. Lee says that is one of the symptoms that you get when you try to go off of it.  So I got my medicine and he said that I was in great shape and things are moving along for our mission.  I am feeling fine this evening.

Yesterday Larry went to the Dentist and he said that he would sign things off for him without having to do all the $8,000 of repairs so that was a relief as we do not have $8000.

After we went to the Dr. then we went grocery shopping and bought some food.  Fun to have some different foods in the house and get ready for Thanksgiving. Then we went to Wal-mart to buy Taylor a belated birthday present she wants.  It was a zoo.  I was glad we went shopping at Bowman's.

Tonight we have watched 3 episodes of Castle just relaxing.  I actually got 1 activity point after all that lying around.

Nathan texted me tonight saying he was tired.  I hope he is not getting sick from Sara's cold but I am probably being a worry wart.

Because we are just having a game night and snacks tomorrow night I am feeling very liberated for Thanksgiving this year.

Nov 26th

Today has been a day when I felt like I have not accomplished much.  We got up and went to the gym.  I had a pretty good workout this morning.  Felt really good about being able to do more but this evening when I went I felt like I was going to die before I got finished. 

After we went to the gym we went and bought some bananas and cantaloupe and went home and it was lunch time.  We got up at 7:00 a.m so it is not like we slept in.  We ate lunch and had a shower and it was time to work on the curriculum.

I did get the Chapter on promotion that I was working on finished and I am having Larry proofread it and then I can turn that one in tomorrow.  It looks good I think but it has taken me two weeks to write it and I have three more to go.  I wish it was done.  But wishing won't make it that way.

Larry fixed dinner chicken, brussel sprouts, cantaloupe and winter squash.  It was good.  Then we went to the gym.  I walked 2 miles and it felt like 10.  Now the weightwatchers website will not work so I think that I am finished with this day.

I did have a good talk with Kirsten today on the way home from the gym this morning.  And, Larry is always fun.

Nov 25th

I stayed up too late last night so I sure did not want to get up this morning but Larry wasn't tired because he went to bed like he should have.  I had a headache but I took an Excedrin Migraine and it went away.

We did some laundry and dishes after we had breakfast and prayer and scriptures then we went to Weight Watcher's.  We had already weighed at home and knew that we had gained and so we were not surprised that we were right.  Larry gained 4 pounds and I gained 3 pounds but part of mine was I decided to wear my shoes so I didn't have to take them off for the winter.  I probably gained a pound.  I don't know why other than we were not very active on the weekend.  So we went to the gym and worked out for a while.

When we got home I noticed my phone was ringing.  It was Maren and she had tried to call me about 5 times.  I had not heard or felt it at the gym.  She was upset because Landon is getting deployed to a ship for about 9 months to a year.  They were expecting it in January but now he has to be ready by next Monday.  She was upset because she did not know what to do and what she would have to take care of.  She was also upset because Landon will not be able to be there for Christmas now and though she recognized that they could help her a lot this week she was upset because Landon's parents are coming for Thanksgiving and she needs to get ready for that also.  We talked for a about 10 minutes and then she had to go because Landon was calling.  I have texted her a couple of times but she has not answered so I suppose she figured out what she needed to do and is busy.  Larry said that she should have someone on base that should walk her through what she needs to do so I hope that is true.  Maren said that they have a good Home teacher that can help with this and that there is a missionary couple there at the base that it is their job to help members of the church to have the help they need.

After Maren called we ate lunch and then both of us went to work on different paper work.  I had to finish up my Usborne book party.  I had about $100.00 of sales so I got $50 of free books and then I was able to buy another $70.00 dollars of books for half price.  So I have a few presents for my Grandkids for Christmas and I was able to help Kirsten with her party.

Then I balanced the checkbook and recorded the information on our spreadsheet that helps us track our budget.  We balanced with about a dollar and a half left so I am glad we get paid on Wednesday.

I also finally put our printer on KSL.com to sell.  They already have about 600 so I don't know how successful we will be but it is worth a try and it is a printer that we are not using.  It was only used for 7 months and is in good shape but it is not wireless so that may be a problem.

My visiting teachers came to visit at 4:00 p.m.  We had a good discussion on a variety of subjects.  Carol Harris and her husband are not having family for Thanksgiving so we talked about going out to dinner together.  She had to talk to her husband, Dennis.

I felt pretty good about what I had accomplished in the afternoon when I was finished but it doesn't look like much when I am writing it now.

We ate dinner and went to the gym.  Then we went to Kirsten's to have Family Home Evening with them.  I gave a lesson from the Friend on Gratitude and at the end I talked about how Nathan having to learn to use his body again had made me very grateful for my body that works so well.  I mentioned the text that I had received and Kirsten said that she had received the same text so I wonder if he sent it to all his brothers and sisters.  It made me feel a little less special but that is my problem.

We came home and read and said prayer and now I am trying to finish up my rituals for the evening.  I already tracked my food for Weight Watchers and I linked my active link.  I ended up with 4 more points for my food so I was glad I had earned 6 pts tonight for activity.  Now when I finish this it will be time to go to bed an hour and a half before last night so I am getting better.  Hopefully I can keep it up.

Nov 24th

Today was the Sabbath so of course we went to church this morning.  Larry had Bishop's meeting this morning because he is ward employment specialist.  I didn't get up when he did and ended up not getting up until 8:00 a.m. so I made us late.

The Sacrament meeting talks were on gratitude.  They had some good ideas for remembering to show gratitude.  I know that Larry and I are very grateful for the blessings we have been given this year of better health and enough money to pay our bills. They talked about how gratitude can help you to get closer to the Spirit.

 In Sunday School the lesson was on putting on the Armour of God we spent a lot of time talking about reasons for the law of Chastity.  One lady talked about the fact that if we do not keep the commandments and do the things that we have been asked to do each day it desensitizes us to the fact that we need to do those things until eventually you have problems.  The example she gave was that when you fly there is a whole checklist of things that you should do before take off.  If one day we don't do one of the steps and nothing bad happens then we think that we can skip that step more and more and start skipping other steps until there is a problem.  So in the gospel we sometimes think that we can skip the steps like reading the scriptures or praying everyday and when nothing bad happens that day we think that we can skip that and other things until one day we have lost the spirit.  I thought it was a good thought.  I think it is true.

In Relief Society we talked about three of the conference talks that were just given in October.  Elder Hales, Pres. Uchdorft, and Elder Perry's talks.  the main theme of the lesson was that we need to fit the needful and best things into our life.

My phone sometimes puts itself off of silent.  At the end of Relief Society I started getting texts.  There were 8 of them. And they were on loud.  It was so embarrassing. It was Nathan and I was glad he had texted me just embarrassed that the phone was so loud.  We have been suggesting that to pass the time on the weekends Nathan write about how things are going for him with his recovery.  He usually just texts me a few words but he really wrote a long text so it had to be broken up into 8 messages.  I wanted to share it because it gives insight into why he would get so upset with himself at the beginning when he was learning things but he felt like it was not fast enough.  Here is the quote:

"This week has been a pretty good week.  I have been doing a lot of therapies.  I was hoping my diet would be upgraded but the doctor stopped the test because of aspiration fears. I was told that it was the first time the test had been stopped like that.  The doctors don't know what to make of me.  I have been walking a lot more.  It is not easy but I am standing a little taller and that is cool.  I am just noticing my fingernails are getting longer and it is getting harder to type.  I walked about 196 feet at the beginning of the week.  I am trying to stand and I can go for about ten minutes

A few months ago I thought it would be no problem to get up and easy to walk.  It is not as easy as it looks.  I like the therapists and the nurses are pretty cool.  When I first became aware of what was going on with me I thought I would be up in a month at most and back to myself.  I guess it takes a little longer.  I didn't understand what had gone on.  Just an example, I thought I could get up and go to church on my own.  It was logical to me and I had done it plenty of times before why not.  I did not realize my new limits yet.  Hope all if swell.  Take care."

I was so excited that he wrote that much.

After our church we hurried and ate lunch and then went to Woods Cross to a missionary farewell for a student of mine that just joined the church a little over a year ago, Cory Gerrard.  I get invited to a lot of the farewells on Facebook but he actually messengered me individually to find out if I was coming so I wanted to go.  He gave a good talk.  He mentioned that he lived in Utah all his life and really did not know what the Mormons believed and didn't know what the Missionaries did until a family invited him to listen to the discussions.  I think we all need to at least ask people if they would like to hear the discussions.

I saw some other friends there as well.  Some former students and their families and Maureen Clemons was there and we had a fun talk for several minutes.  She said she missed me at school.  She was one of the teachers that I taught with at South Davis Jr. High.

Lately I have been feeling so good and I have been able to see that sometimes in the past that I have felt like people didn't like me because I was feeling inadequate but they really are my friends and I feel more loved and not so afraid to be friends with everyone.  It is truly a miracle in my life and I know that words are not conveying the feeling that I have.

Larry and I came home.  I looked at Facebook while he tried to see if he could get some Home Teaching appointments.  Then we went for a walk.  It was a nice day despite being in the 40's and we had a good time.

Larry and I have decided to do a mission away from home so we spent the afternoon filling out the mission papers online.  We talked to the Bishop last Tuesday and he gave us an entry to the site so we could fill out the papers.  They want to know everything about you but it isn't as hard as a job application online.  I was thinking that one thing that was better about the old days is that they just called you and didn't have to know everything about you. 

According to the instructions for applying for a mission it takes from 4-6 weeks to get a couples call and then it could be another 6 months before we go so I don't think that we will be leaving soon.  There is a lot to do like medical and dental exams.

Hope you all had a great Sunday.  It is past time for me to be in bed.

Nov 23rd

Today we started out the day by going to Erick and Heather's and helping to load the last minute things they needed to get on the truck for moving to Logan.  Then we drove to Logan and helped them unload it at their apartment.  Most of Heather's family was there to help.  Kyle came and helped also.  It only took about an hour to unload the U-Haul and then Heather's mom, Wendy, bought pizza for everyone.  It was good but it was 12 points so it was a little more than we needed for lunch.  Then we drove home with Kyle.

When we got home Larry went down the hill to our neighbors and got some of their apples that blew off of their tree again.  They are really good apples.  He got a couple of bowls full of apples.

I was tired so I set my alarm for an hour and took a nap.

When I got up I began to look for my wedding pictures from my first marriage because we were going to a wedding reception of the daughter of one of my cousins that was a flower girl for my reception and I thought it would be good to give her a copy.  I spent about 2 hours looking for the pictures.  I finally found it in a file drawer in the old files I have.  But, I was so excited because I have been looking for about 3 years for a photo album that had pictures of me growing up and pictures of John growing up.  It also had the certificate for my first marriage.  I had in my mind that Nathan had asked me if he could take it and then taken it so I have asked him about it several times. He always said that he did not remember having it.  But there it was in this drawer with my Treasures of Truth book from Young Women's and several other things.  I was so excited.  I must of thought that something else was in that drawer because I don't think that I had looked in there in all this time.

Larry has been needing to get Word 2010 on his computer because his trial copy expired.  I thought that I had purchased a copy for him when I purchased mine.  But I did not know where the information on it was so I spent the next hour looking for the key to my copy.  It took me about an hour but I finally found online where the receipt was so I found it but then I learned that I had only purchased one copy so Larry downloaded a trial copy for a month and then he can decide what to do then.

By this time I was late for a party that Kirsten was having for "It Works" Body wraps.  So, I had to hurry and eat and go to the party.  She had as many people for that as I had for my Usborne book party.  I tried a wrap and so did Kirsten.  They are supposed to help you lose weight by putting this serum into your system to break up fat.  It is tempting to get more but they are from $60-100 for a package of 4.  That just does not fit into my budget right now.

The bright side of the party was I got to see Kirsten's old friend from Elementary and Middle School,  Julia Jensen who is now a McAllister.  She is the one that is selling the wraps and she came all the way from Vernal to do the party!  It was fun to see her again.

Then at about 7:00 p.m. Larry and I drove to Fairview for the Wedding I mentioned in one of the first paragraphs.  Tawni Sorenson, Aunt Marva's daughter Charla's child was the girl getting married.  Charla died several years ago when their car was hit by a train.  Tawni was raised by Charla's sister LuIda.

While I was there Aunt Marva was telling us that Mom had found a thing about being able to trace lost prisoners of war with DNA and they had got kits and Uncle Joe and Uncle Terry and her had taken DNA tests and they are waiting to find out if they can match it with someone that would have been their brother Don that was lost in WWII when he was shot down over Thailand.  She was so excited and said that she felt like my dad had got to the other side and they were all working to solve this problem from over there and maybe now they would know what happened to Don.

I got home and Larry and I did prayer and scripture and then he went to sleep and I stayed up for a little longer to walk and finish up my active link and write this for today.  It helped to walk as I got 4 activity points today.

Nathan texted me today and said that he was feeling down.  When I asked him why he said that he wished that he could work on the weekends.  I assume he means that he wants to do his therapies on the weekends.  I suggested that he find something he could do on the weekends to keep his mind busy.  He said that sounded good.  He wanted suggestions.  If you have any suggestions please comment and I will send them to Nathan or you could send them to him yourself.  Larry suggested that he start writing down what he is going through to recover from the stroke.  I suggested maybe he could study something new that he could learn about on Saturdays and Sundays.  He said that he got to play bocci ball on Friday and that he was able to walk some more in Therapy.  He said that it was cool to get to walk some more.

November 22nd

Ryker blowing on a party favor and Taylors friend Kenya

The train center piece that Kirsten made

On Friday's we always work at the LDS Employment Center serving a mission for the Church helping people to find jobs.  It has been a little slow lately.  Frank Sano our boss says that is typical of the holidays which is interesting to me.  We have a list of people in a Stake we are assigned that we work with to help them find jobs and encourage them to take advantage of the programs at the center like the Career Workshop and the Professional Networking Group.  Today our Receptionist was sick so I ended up doing that in the morning.  Larry took it over in the afternoon.  In addition to the list we have we also help people who come in the center to get signed on to the website www.ldsjobs.org so they can search for jobs that are listed there and help them to understand the parts of the website so they know how to use them.  I was able to help one person today and I think Larry had at least one maybe two.  We are planning to finish this mission on Jan. 6, 2014 and we are presently applying for a mission away from home.  Larry finished early with his stakes and so he started to fill out our mission papers that we need to submit.

Daniel Tiger Cake

Taylor had her birthday party today because the Doctor said that she needed to wait until today when Kirsten took her in on Monday and she was diagnosed with croup.  Kirsten ask us to come and help her when we got off the mission.  Daniel had called earlier in the day to see if we could keep Kallise because they were going to the production "Savior of the World" at the LDS Conference center and you had to be 8 years old to attend and Kallise is still seven until April, so we took Kallise with us to the party.  I took some pictures of the party with my phone and Larry ended up videoing a lot of it with Kirsten's camera.  I will upload some of the pictures I took.  Kirsten had downloaded some instructions on how to make the things for the cake and the decorations and she made them all herself.  Taylor had a Daniel Tiger from Mr. Rogers themed party

Kallise, Kenya, Taylor's friend Brielle, and Taylor

Myles Christiansen, Jake and Nikki's youngest turned one on November 19th so Nikki posted some pictures of him with his cake and presents that I will try to add also.

After the party we all came home and Kallise watched Disney Junior while I paced back and forth to get my exercise and Larry was on his computer.  I guess we were pretty boring Grandparents but Kallise seemed to enjoy it.  Daniel came to pick her up about 10:00 p.m.

Opening Presents

Myles with presents

Digging into the cake

Myles really liked his cake it seems!

November 21

Today was cold and rainy and windy.  The wind is howling around the house tonight so I will probably have a harder time going to sleep.

We got up and read scriptures and then Maren called.  She wanted to know if she could freeze roll dough.  I told her I thought it would be okay but she might want to look online.  She told me some cute things that Ellie said when she wanted her to clean her room.  She kept telling her that she was "too little" Later she texted me and said that she finally got her to clean her room by promising her she could help with the rolls.  They had a fun time doing them together.

After breakfast we went to the gym.  We worked so hard I came home soaked from perspiration.  We took showers and got ready for the day.  It was about noon when I finally went in to work on the curriculum.  But before I started I looked at the bank account and was shocked that it was overdrawn.  So we scrambled around the house finding all our stashes of money so we could make up the $75.00 dollars we were overdrawn.  We finally found enough and Larry went to deposit it while I went to work.

I worked most of the afternoon with occasional breaks to move so I did not fall asleep.  I got quite a  bit done on the chapter 12 so hopefully it will be ready to turn in in a few days.

Nathan kept texting me today.  He said that he had gone bowling today with recreational therapy.  He said that they had a ramp to roll the ball on.  He also had a swallow test yesterday and he still cannot drink thin liquids.  He said they also worked him on the mats. It was good to text back and forth with him for a while.

Kirsten called and wanted me to tend Taylor.  I told her I would but I asked Larry if he would help me with her so I could work so I could get this job done!  Taylor was pretty happy with him as long as she had something to eat and Disney Junior to watch.  Specifically Sophia the 1st.  We all ended up playing Polly Pocket for a while at the end.  I was impressed that Larry would play it today.  Usually he doesn't want anything to do with it.

Larry fixed dinner while I worked.  He made Hamburgers and Green Salad.  It was good!

I worked for a while after dinner but finally I could not stand it anymore.  I came in the living room about 7:50 p.m. and began pacing back and forth for some exercise.  The wind was so bad that I didn't want to go back to the gym.  I paced until about 8:45 and then we read scriptures. 

We like to watch Elementary on Thursday nights.  It comes on at 9:00 p.m. here. I made us some cocoa and toast to eat and then I paced for most of it. also.

Larry started trying to do some work on the ancestor that we had problems with the other day,  After Elementary we worked on it for about an hour and a half, but we got Robert Lee Burt with his wife Mary Francis Shults and his second wife Anna Williams and got all the duplicates combined so it is a lot better than it was yesterday.  He still needs to be sealed to his second wife Anna or Roxie Williams.  I love it when I find something that ties everything together.

November 20th

Well today was a rainy cloudy day.  We went to the gym this morning and worked really hard and so we thought we were okay to just walk about 2 miles tonight but we were wrong.  With Active link you have to be active through the day.  I still reached my goal of 3 pts. but it was only 96% of my goal.  I need to get over a hundred so I should have walked a little longer.

When we got home we ate quesidillas again and then I went to work on the marketing curriculum I am writing.  I worked from noon until 5:00 p.m. trying to figure out how to present the principles of promotion.  I made some progress but I still have a ways to go before this chapter is finished.  I still need to write about the types of advertising and other channels of promotion.

Larry spent the time watching a video on line about how to do better with your money.

My friend Marion Peterson came over and bought some books from my Usborne book party so I have a little more to add to the total.

Tonight we talked to Larry's sister Judy for quite a while on the phone.  She called because we had not called them to tell them that we were now coming to San Antonio at Christmas and not next week.  We spent a lot of time talking about Family History as usual.  Judy was frustrated because she could not find the GED COM we had uploaded after she had seen it on Family Tree.  I went in and could not find it either.  About then Larry had dinner ready so we hung up and ate and then we went in to see why it would not come up.  I still could not bring it up when I was logged in as Larry so we called Family Search Support.  It turns out that if you put in anything else on a search it can elliminate some records and I had put in the country.

While we were on line with Family Search Support I asked them about a card we had last night that would not print.  We had taken a card to the temple on a Family Ordinance Request but it would not print so I asked them why and they thought it was because there was no birth or death date for the wife.  We went in and did a search and found that the name we had in Family Search was not the name on any of the marriage records for the wife and he had two marriages in the Arkansas marriages that were different names.  So now the fun begins.

After that we went to the gym and walked and I started watching a show called Castle.  It was pretty good.  Larry watched Fox News so he was frustrated with the way the country is going by the time we left.  Well time to go read and say prayers before we go to bed.

November 19th

Today is my youngest grandchild's birthday.  Happy Birthday Myles Christiansen.  He is one today.  I wish I could be there to see him eat his cake!

After the morning rituals Larry and I went to the gym and worked out for about an hour.  We have learned that it is best to do this in the morning if we want very many points on our active link.  Larry got 10 today and I got 5 for about the same work.  It is not a fair game when losing weight and working out with a man.

After taking a shower we got ready to go to the temple.  Larry had printed out a few names that he had on his temple ordinance list and so we decided to take them to get baptized and move as far as we could up the ladder of ordinances that needed done.  We had no problem getting someone to do the baptisms and confirmations and iniatories for us.  So, we did the endowments for two of Larry's Aunts and Uncles today.  Clinta Kathleen Presser and William Henry Presser.  It was a fun experience but it took most of the day.  We arrived home about 3:14 p.m.  It was also a good session because we were chosen to be the witness couple.

I spent some time trying to get some orders in for my Usborne book party when I got home and Larry did something around the house and yard.

We went to the grocery store to get a prescription and some cilantro and more fresh fruit.  Larry bought two large bunches of bananas on Monday and they were all gone.  After that I made a large batch of  salsa with some frozen tomatoes we had frozen earlier and we had quesidillas for dinner.

We had arranged an appointment with the Bishop tonight and talked to him about a mission.  He was excited for us to go and said he would get us a login so we could fill out our papers on line.  It is a pretty lengthy process so I don't know how long it will take to get our call.

After that I went to Kirsten's to tend Taylor because Kirsten is in the Young Women and needed to be there and Kyle needed to be at mutual as well and Taylor is too sick to go.  Jon works nights so he is not available then either.  Taylor was kind of whiny so I don't think that she is feeling better yet.  I was there until about 9:30 p.m.

Well have to go to bed.  I am falling asleep at the computer.

November 18th

I have decided that I am going to try to blog each day because it takes me too long to type the whole week on Sunday and I get the days mixed up. 

Today was a busy day.  We had dentist appointments and doctor's appointments besides our usual things to do.

After Prayer, Scripture study and Breakfast we decided to walk on our route through the neighborhood rather than go to the gym.  It was a beautiful morning.  It was a little crisp when we walked but it warmed up to the 60's which is pretty warm for this time of year.  We were hoping that walking that early would help us reach our baseline earlier for active link.

We went to weight watcher's to weigh in at 9:30 a.m. but we did not stay to the meeting because I had a dental cleaning appointment.  I lost a pound and Larry lost .6 lb.so we both lost so I guess something worked better this week.  The handout for the meeting was about how to enjoy Thanksgiving and stay on plan.

Larry dropped me off at the dentist and he went and transferred some money from our savings and went grocery shopping.  I just had my teeth cleaned and they said that everything looked great so I walked the 1.7 miles home for more exercise.

When I got home Larry had fixed lunch and had it ready.  Baked chicken and a big salad.  Larry makes great salads.  Today he put pickled beets in it which was good for a change.

After lunch Larry went outside to rake leaves and work on the yard.  I went to my office and balanced the checkbook and worked on the financial things that we needed to do this week for about 2 hours.

At 2:30 p.m. I went to see Dr. Fillerup my gynecologist and Larry went to the dentist for a cleaning.  I had to go in to get my hormones prescription refilled.  I also had all the great tests they have you do.  She said that my prolapse surgery has not held so if I wanted it fixed I would have to have it done again.  I told her no thanks!  I am feeling to good and the surgery requires 6 weeks of recovery and then another 3 months of light duty so I could heal properly.  She did say that I should not be lifting weights that are more than 12 lbs.  So I guess that is why my surgery did not hold because I have held lots of things more than 12 lbs.

Larry came home from the Dentist with a list of things that needed to be done with his teeth that totals about $8028 dollars and our insurance will only pay $1500.  He had two cavities and he needs three crowns and some partials!  But they said he had not been in for three years so I guess that is what he gets.  He said he has not wanted to go in because he knew it was going to cost a lot.

Kirsten called and said that Taylor has the croup so we decided to not meet for Family Home Evening.  Taylor has not felt good all weekend and Kirsten said she was up all night with her waking up and coughing.  She was planning to have a party for Taylor's birthday on Wednesday but the doctor told her that she better wait until Friday so they are having it Friday at 5:00 p.m.

After we got back from the doctor and dentist we ate dinner, Cheese Quesidillas with a mango peach salsa.  It was good but I prefer a salsa that is not so sweet.  Larry bought it today when he went shopping.

Then we went to the gym to workout.  I usually do ten minutes of elliptical and then do five of the weight machines and then walk for 2 miles.  I was able to watch the news while I walked tonight because we got there about 5:00 p.m.  Larry says that he doesn't like the elliptical because it hurts his bad knee.  I remember that is what prompted me to have my other knee done because it hurt so bad to do the elliptical.  He usually walks for about two miles and does the weights.

We came home and watched a video from our Financial Peace University class that we took from Dave Ramsey for Family Home Evening tonight.  Then we read a chapter from the Book of Mormon and said prayer.  We then tried to log in to weight watchers to record our food and check our activity link but the website had just gone down for maintenance.  It seems they have had a lot of that lately.  So here I am writing on the blog.  Larry is printing out some names that he had on his temple list that we can do at the temple tomorrow.  So life is good!

The real November 17th post

Today is beautiful again although it snowed last night and most of the day yesterday.  Larry and I just went for a walk and it was great.  It is about 48 degrees and very sunny.  It seems that the Sun does not want to give in to November and we have had some fantastic weather.

Today in church they talked about gratitude.   I have learned in the last few years that we have much to be grateful for.  We have so many comforts and luxuries that people of past decades did not have.  Some people attribute this to science but it seems to me that all this wonderful work that just keeps getting better started about the year 1830 when the church was established for the last time on the earth.  The Lord has blessed us immensely so that we can bring forth the truth to the earth.  Today I realized that the comforts that we take for granted were not enjoyed by even kings of the past.

Nathan's stroke and my first husband John's cancer have helped me to be grateful for what my body can do and what a miracle that it is for us that our bodies work everyday even if we have chronic illnesses.  To me it is a miracle that Larry and I are so healthy at this time and can walk and have lost so much weight and are able to do more than we have for the last 20 years.  It truly is a miracle what God can do for you.

Dad's grave decorated for his birthday and Veteran's Day

Nathan has been texting me a lot lately.  He is getting pretty bored in the afternoons and on the weekends when Sara and the kids cannot be there.  He was asking me what he should do.  I gave him several suggestions and yesterday he announced that he was going to text me everyday about the day and such.  He has never been a writer even before the stroke but I am excited to see what he texts to me.  Yesterday he simply said that he had a good day and that he had a chance to go outside and that he just sat and enjoyed it. He also said that it was getting cooler in San Antonio.   He said this morning he was sitting by the window looking out and that it was Sunny but it had been gray.  What he says is simple but I think that the fact that he is getting bored in the hospital is a sign of progress.

Last Monday we went to Weight Watcher's in the morning.  I gained weight (.8 lbs) and so did Larry (2 lbs.) so I decided that I needed to get serious about what I was eating and not go over my food points into the weekly points so much.  I also worked really had to get my exercise in and have actually been able to keep my points for exercise up in the 6 and 7 point range.  Considering that I have been in the 2-4 point range that is a big change.  It takes me about 3 hours a day to get that many points in though.  I am hoping that it will make a difference tomorrow on my weight loss and I also am aiming to set another goal as far as how many days I have been able to reach my goal.  I have to get 4 points each day to reach that goal.

Larry and Heather bagging leaves

Monday was Veteran's day so we went to Golden Corral to eat lunch because Larry could eat for free.  I thought I did a pretty good job of staying within my points until I put hot fudge on my no sugar soft serve and it was 9 points a serving.  But I had a good meal and it was fun to have some time out.

After that we went home to rake the leaves because it was such a beautiful day.  We had a lot of leaves in the back yard particularly on the south side.  Larry was able to mow the leaves in the front the week before but the back was still full.  About 1:00 p.m. we had them in piles and I thought, "Ryker would love to play in these," so I called Heather to see if she had time to bring him over.  She said she needed to finish feeding him and then she would come.  A while later they were there.  Ryker ran for the leaves one time and then did not want to play in them.  He wanted to go in the house.  It was funny.  I got a few pictures of him that I will post.  We did get him to stand in the leaves if he could kick the soccer ball he got out of the garage but he was adamant that he was not going to play in the leaves.

Ryker hiding from the camera

In the evening we went to Kirsten's for Family Home Evening and she gave the lesson on how to keep out of trouble and stay close to the Lord.  She is in the Young Women's organization as a teacher and it came from the new youth curriculum that the church has.  It was a great lesson.  Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, Taylor fell asleep for the whole thing.  Larry and I took cantaloupe for treat.  Then Kirsten gave me my Christmas Present she bought for me.  She had gone online and bought a new Polly Pocket game like the kids like to play.  Because it is no longer on the market and she had to buy it from someone who had also bought the game a while ago it was no small feat I can't remember where she found it.  I was impressed because lately the game has lost a lot of pieces and all the kids, even the boys seem to like that one when they come.  The one we had I bought for Maren about 20 years ago.

Tuesday we went to the gym and then I started making cookies for my Usborne books party. I got out the freshest shortening I had in my pantry but after working for about 3 hours and making snickerdoodles and peanut butter cookies I was disappointed because they didn't taste very good.  They were okay but they had a stale flavor that I could not deny.  When Ryker came over on Wednesday he would not eat the snickerdoodles but he did like the peanut butter cookies.  Because I had so few to my party no one ate them except me and Larry that day.  I made about 5 doz cookies for the party so I took some to the neighbors so I wouldn't eat them all.

Almost found his face

 
I had the Usborne book party to help Kirsten out with hers because I had no money to buy anything.  I invited 20 people in my neighborhood and 195 on facebook and I had two people come to the party. two of my best friends Kelly Jenkins and Carol Harris.  I did have two people order something online before the party and I have a few people that have said that they would like to see a catalog before the party closes Wednesday but I have decided I definitely do not have a good sales approach for parties because Usborne books are a good product and it is Christmas time.  Although the two that came to my party had never heard of Usborne books, which surprised me.

Wednesday Larry was getting ready to go to the VA for a check up on his feet and I was working on curriculum when Maren called.  I got up and walked while I talked to her.  We had a good talk.  Then Kirsten called and was talking to me so I kept walking.  We also had a good talk but  I got so tired I finally had to sit down because I think I walked for an hour and a half, but I may be wrong.  When Larry came in  I told him I didn't need to go to the gym for the morning because I had my workout and then Ryker came about noon and I tended him for the afternoon while Heather had a root canal.  I spent a fair amount of time following Ryker and lifting him up to the Basketball banker so he could make the shot.  We had a good time.  After we had dinner we went to the gym for an hour again I got my 2nd highest score on Active Link 122% of my baseline or 7 points.  The only other time I got 7 points was when we were in Minnesota and we walked around at Ashton's baptism and then walked at the Mall of America for three hours!

If Ryker is throwing it is okay to take a picture

Larry's doctor at the VA said that he had the best looking feet of anyone he had seen that had neuropathy as long as he has had it so he felt good about that.

Thursday we got up and went to the Temple because we could not go on Wednesday with Larry's VA appointment.  We ended up doing sealings because we had about seventeen sealings we still had to do from the names that John and Judy had given us.  We were able to complete them all and now if I can just get in the cards that I gave out to my kids I will have all of those names done.  Some of the cards were also left from the names I did for Mary and Theo Pollock's family.  It was a good feeling to have those done but now we have no names for the Ward Temple night this month so we better get working.

Thursday Evening we went to a presentation by Diversify Financial at the Davis Conference Center.  It had an interesting perspective.  He pointed out that the market will always come back up and if nothing else business can prosper by taking what we have in America to other counties.

Friday was our LDS Employment mission.  We are really having a slow turnout lately so some people must be finding jobs.  Frank Sano our manager says that it always slows down around the holidays.  We only had to work half a day and then they had staff meetings where they train us.

Ball's gone!  Great Throw!

Right after the mission we went to the gym and had a good workout but then I came home and paced for an hour to get the extra workout because I knew I would be low with being at the Employment Center all day, which is mostly sitting.

Saturday Morning is Family Search Center time from 9:00 am to noon.  We were relatively busy this day.  We had several phone calls which is unusual.  We had people come in but I did not end up helping them as Marion Peterson the director was there.  I went on my pedigree and put in sources for my Great Grandparents Earnest Elijah Jacklin and Emma Miriam Casper.  Grandpa Jacklin only lived to be 27 and then he died from Typhoid Fever that Grandma Jenkins said he got from tainted well water on their property.  I found that Grandma Clegg, as we called her because she remarried, was on the 1900 census twice because it was enumerated on June 6 when she was home and she was counted again on June 18th in American Fork where she worked as a servant for a couple when she was 18

Grandma Clegg front in rocking chair

 I also learned that Grandpa Jenkins's Grandma Murdock who is named Margaret Sedina was listed as Maggie on one of the censuses when she was young so I guess Nathan named his daughter after another relative without knowing it.

We talked to some people we have been working with on Financial Planning from the Legacy Group and started the process for wills for both of us on the way down to see Mom.

I had fun talking to Mother about the things I had found on her Grandmother and we did some vacuuming.  Mom had to go to a funeral for a friends son that had died so we worked while she was gone and when we finished I walked in circles around her stairs and we watched TV.  When Mom got home we went to dinner with her at Denny's.  It was fairly late when we got home and I still had to pace at home to get in my exercise but I was able to pace back at forth while I watched the news and make it to my goal or 4 points.

Well got to go walking...

Emma Miriam Jacklin and her 4 children

Ernest Elijah Jacklin

Great Ward Conference

It is such a beautiful day today.  In the sixties and bright and sunny.  We walked to church today and it was almost warm enough for no jacket on the 10th of November.

It was ward conference today so all of the Stake officers were there and the Stake Presidency.  The Bishop spoke in Sacrament meeting and talked about how all of us are loved by our Heavenly Father.  He said that he has become overwhelmed by the spirit telling him this as he was called.  He also challenged us to find a time to go to the temple regularly that works for us.  He promised us that we would feel the spirit more in our lives if we made this a commitment.  He told of how his wife and children were attending the temple more than him at one time and that after he made the commitment to go regularly that he felt the spirit more in his life.  His wife gave a talk in Relief Society once where she told of the struggle she had when she made the commitment to go every week but then the spirit was able to open things up to her after she kept making the commitment.  Larry and I decided we wanted that blessing so we are trying to go on Wednesday morning.

Our new Relief Society President Ann Shunn gave a wonderful talk in RS on how we need to have patience with ourselves and faith in Christ.  She told us that non of us was perfect and never would be without the help of the Savior.  She pointed out that we need to be forgiving of ourselves do the best we can and that is all that Heavenly Father expects.  He doesn't expect us to work beyond our capacities but we should be moving in the direction of Christ.  It was a great talk and helped me to feel better about myself and my inadequacies and seemed to answer the prayers of a friend of mine who felt like she was a failure because she had not always done what her church job had required of her.

After Relief Society Carla Whitaker share with me the special experience her daughter had in being able to do the temple work for a women that she had baptized on her mission with the permission of her daughter.  She was able to be the proxy for the lady while she was sealed to her parents and she said that the spirit was so strong she felt like Edith, the lady she did the work for was there.

Tonight we are going with Kyle to a youth fireside with TC Christensen as the speaker.  I am anxious to hear what he has to say as I loved both his movies, "17 Miracles" and "Ephraim's Rescue"

I feel very busy lately and yet when I sit down to write this it is all so blah.

Monday was a semi-busy day.  We had weight watchers in the morning.  I felt good because I lost 1.8 pounds again despite the fact that it was not a good week for me for following my diet.  I went over my main points every day and used up all but 8 of my weekly points so I was within my limits but sometimes in the past I have not been able to lose when I used my weekly points.  I concluded that it was because of my increasing exercise that I am losing weight.  Only three more pounds to go before I am at the top end of my ideal weight, 174 pounds.

After we went to Weight Watchers we went to the gym where we were supposed to get a free workout with a personal trainer but it was more of a sales pitch.  He did tell us that I was at 35% body fat and Larry is at 30% He also told us how to do the weights and machines to get more lean muscles.  He would help us for some amount of money that we could not afford so we are trying to do the weights and machines by ourselves with a warm up and walking.

After eating lunch we worked on the budget which was good

At 4:00 p.m. we went to a class at our Family Search Center on the premium websites that they offer at the Center.  It was informative because neither Larry or I have used all of the sites that are available and we needed to learn more about what they were for. Larry was already using one yesterday when we went to the center.

Our ward had some people that wanted to try an Empty Nester's Family Home Evening once a month so we decided to go to that.  I think every older couple in the ward was there.  I was a little disappointed because they only talked about how we wanted to organize the meetings and I thought they could have had a spiritual thought but that is me.  Larry said it had to be that way at the first.  We have been trying to meet with Kirsten and Taylor and Kyle because Jon is at work after 3:00 p.m. but that can still be accomplished the other three weeks of the month.

Tuesday we got up read our scriptures and said prayer together ate breakfast like we normally do every morning then Larry took off to Sam's Club to get a fruit tray for the evening when we went to Financial Peace University.  I started to work on the budget again because I had not finshed yesterday and as we were down to the wire.  With some checking of the accounts and the envelopes we were able to make sure that everything should be taken care of for the rest of the month.  I was feeling pretty good about this until an unexpected payment came in yesterday.  So tomorrow it is back to work and what can I sell to get some money in.  I also need to cancel the payment.

After that we went to the gym.  After doing the elliptical and some machines and walking at least 1.7 miles we came home at took a shower and it was time for lunch.  Time flies when you are having fun.  Going to the gym is really invigorating but I still don't know if I could make myself go if I had to work 8 hours a day.

In the afternoon I worked on the Marketing  curriculum that I am writing for Northridge Learning Center. I almost had a chapter finished but I had to add the questions and review for the material I had written.  Larry usually fixes dinner so I can work longer on Tuesday but he went and ran some errands and made some deposits from the work I did in the morning.  We had dinner at our class that night and we already had our contribution.

We drove to our class and it was fun but there was a lot of food there.  We went over our points but it was all good.  I was glad that we had taken the fruit tray though because most of the other food was points.  They had meatball sandwiches, Chicken salad sandwiches,  chips with and artichoke and chicken dip, little hot links, our fruit, a pasta salad with a lot of vegetables, and even thought they said to bring our own drinks they had a big bottle of Diet Coke.

Dave Ramsey is an Evangelical Christian he gave a great lecture about the benefits of giving a Tith to the Lord and helping others.  I think that about 99% of what he said goes along with doctrine in our church.  It was a good tape.  We found out though that the leaders of our group were also Evangelical Christians when we went to discussion.  Our leader actually apologized to us for having so much of the Bible in this lecture.  I got the impression that he believes that we do not use the Bible in our church, which surprised me.  We told him that there was nothing offensive in the discussion and it ended well but I was surprised that someone could live in Utah and not know that we believed in the Bible.

Wednesday morning we got up and went to the temple like we had decided to do.  It was a good session but I have to get to work again because I do not have any of the names left to do that we had processed to do.  So we have to do some serious family history work.  The Stake has challenged us to provide our own names for the temple or do names that someone in our ward has processed.

I love the new temple film and hope that if you have not seen it you will get the chance to go soon to the temple.

We went to the gym when we got home and worked really hard.

Wednesday afternoon I worked on Curriculum again.  I finished the chapter I was writing and sent it to Dana and then started studying for the next chapter.

Merrilee decided that she did not feel well enough to go to Weight Watchers so we went to the gym.  Despite all our work though we did not get very high points on the active link because we did not reach our base line until about 6:30 because we did not go to the gym earlier.  I do not like that about active link.  We worked for the same amount of time but because we did not do much after we went to the gym we were low on points.

When I got to this point last week we went to a fireside for Youth that they had in our stake.  It was TC Christensen the producer of "17 Miracles" and "Ephraim's Rescue".  Both are major films dealing with the pioneers moving west.  We took Kyle with us and it was so good.  He told about filming things in 90 degree temperatures that the pioneers had to go through in freezing temperatures and having his staff and extra's feeling very cold in the water.  He was funny but he had a testimony of what the pioneer's endured strengthened their testimony.  He had those who had relatives in the Willie and Martin Handcart companies stand.  He said that it does not matter where he goes to speak that usually about a third of the audience had descended from them.  He felt like maybe they had to go through what they did to cement the testimony of theses people that was passed down to their descendents.

Probably the only other thing I want to mention is that on my Dad's birthday I made a Memorial Group for him on Facebook.  It is located at https://www.facebook.com/groups/539405079483982/?bookmark_t=group if you want to post something or just take a look.  It would have been my dad's 92nd birthday. We went to Mom's and Mom got some flowers and we took some flags to the grave that we got for Memorial Day so they would be there for Veteran's day.  Several of the other kids came down and did things with Mom also.  Dad was a great man and so many people loved him.

Fasting makes perfect

Our ward is having it's annual fast for members of the ward that need help.  We always meet the night before to start the fast and each person who wants their name mentioned is prayed for by name.  It is a great unifying influence in our ward and it helps us to become aware of those who are in need of help.  Many people who were on the list testified today of being able to feel the spirit in abundance.

Ryker in his new Sunday Clothes

This is the first year in a long time that Larry and I have not been asked if we want our names on the list and we are doing so well we did not choose to have our name included.  We have truly been blessed with health and strength.  It makes me feel so good when I can walk for about 4 miles at a time and feel better than when I started.  It really is true that exercise makes you feel better emotionally and physically and I think spiritually as well. We bought the Weight Watchers active link that we wear and it is really pushing us to do better with what we are trying to do for as activity in our daily lives.

Taylor as Princess Sophia the First

Larry has been a member of Gold's gym since he went to medicare.  They have a free membership that they can get on that.  We decided to purchase me a membership as well now that there are some days that are getting colder.  We have gone there everyday this week to walk and tomorrow we are having a personal trainer help us decide which of the machines that we need to use to help with our health and weight loss.  I can truly say I cannot remember a time for a long time when I have felt better.  And at the gym I can watch a movie or other things on TV when I walk.

Last Monday was a busy day for Larry and I.  We weigh in at Weight Watchers at 9:30 a.m.  We walked before that.  I hit my goal of 40 lbs lost last Monday.  Larry lost several pounds and has lost 61 lbs so far so we have almost lost the equivalent of a whole person between the two of us.

We always work on our finances and other paper work on Monday.  We spent most of the day on that.

Taylor as Sophia and Ryker as a Ghost

My visiting teacher came at 4:00 p.m.  It is always good to visit with them.

At 5:15 p.m. we realized that it was our zone in the ward's turn to clean the building.  We went over and I have a key to the church so we started working.  We worked for almost 3 hours and another person did not show up.  We vacuumed the chapel and all the halls and classrooms and cleaned the restrooms.  It took us until 8:15 but we were not too upset because we got lots of activity points for Weight Watchers!  But I wonder if we missed a memo by going to Kirsten's church on Sunday.

Maggie as the Rainbow Princess

I think that Tuesday is the day we joined Gold's Gym in the morning.  After that I took my friend Kelly Jenkins to lunch for her birthday.  We went to Sizzler's and had a good talk while we ate but I tried to be in line with my points and did not do so well.  That afternoon I worked on curriculum until about 4:00 p.m. until Taylor came for us to tend her. 

Abbie as a Power Ranger

Kirsten and John were going to spend the night somewhere for their anniversary so we had Taylor and Kyle overnight.  We took Taylor to her other Grandma's for a while at 5:30 p.m. so we could go to our Financial Peace University Class.  Taylor stays up late at their house because John works until midnight and so sometimes she is up that late.  Needless to say she did not want to go to sleep when we usually do.  I took my pills that I take at night and I was falling asleep but Taylor was not sleepy.  I tried to tell her a bedtime story but my pill that helps me sleep made it so I could not concentrate on the story and I began wandering off like when you are in a dream and saying strange things.  We got up once and got her some treats and her aspirin that I had forgotten and then she finally went to sleep about 11:30 p.m.  I tried to go back to sleep with Larry twice but she would always wake up and come and find me so I spent most of the night with her.

Max, Ellie, Gauge and Brinlie

Wednesday morning we were able to have some one on one time with Kyle before he went to school.  Then when Taylor woke up I took her visiting teaching with me.  We walked to the house which is about two and a half blocks away.  We talked and than walking back I asked her if she had a fun time.  She said no.  Even with the lady offering her the toys her grandchildren play with!  I laughed.
Kirsten and John came about 11:45 am to get her.  After that Larry and I went walking for awhile.

In the afternoon we had a lady come from the insurance company that insures the retired teacher's association.  In the Dave Ramsey class he says that you should get long term care coverage about in your 60's so we wanted to find out about the plan.  Unfortunately we found out that we did not qualify because of the combination of things I have had done and because of Larry's disability classification so I guess we won't worry about that.  Also the lady said it is best to try to get it in you 50's before you have several things wrong with you.  We also talked to her about Dental and Vision because we will lose Larry's cobra with Discover in March.  They have very good plans so we felt good about that.

Max Skelington

Merrilee said she did not feel good enough to go to Weight Watchers so we exercised and then relaxed for a while in the evening.

Thursday morning I got up and had to get my hair done at 9:00 a.m.  It looked much better when she finished because my bangs were getting to long. Maren called while I was driving down there and I had a good talkd with her.  She was feeling good about several of her accomplishments so I was glad to have a chance to talk with her then.  She made a darling costume for Max for nothing but her time because she is such a good seamstress and had some scrap fabric.

 Larry went to the gym while I went and then I went when I got back.  Then we went to Golden Corral and listened to a sales pitch on a type of insulation that is supposed to be really good but we didn't have the money or like the fact that they wanted you to schedule that day to have it put in tomorrow.  You should be able to think about things.  But we had a good dinner at Golden Corral which was again over points.

Matthew, Owen, Leah with two friends

Of course Thursday was Halloween.  When we got home I was able to work for a while but then Taylor and Kirsten came about 5:30 p.m. and Erick and Heather and Ryker came shortly after that.  It was fun to get some picture of the two cousins together and they went for a while in our neighborhood.  I put on my grim reaper costume and answered the door to give out candy.  It was fun to see the looks on some of the kids faces when I answered the door.  One mother had to explain that it was just Sister Presser in a costume.  Some of the kids this year also commented on the wall hanging I put on my door every year.  Someone wanted to know if the house was really haunted and some of the little kids thought it was a scary picture.  I don't think I have had anyone comment on it before so it was a fun night for me.  Larry went to the gym after Taylor and Ryker had come.  I think that Michelle's kids had decided to do something else they said.  We did not see them all night.  We were able to see a lot of our grandchildren that live far away on Facebook.

Erick and Ryker with the pumpkin the carved

When Larry got home we watched Elementary, a program we like that is on that night and then began to get ready for bed.  I didn't make it until 1:00 am.

Friday is our LDS Employment mission.  We are there from 8-5 except for an hour for lunch.  I was able to contact all of my people on the list I have to work with.  It was a really slow day on Friday though.  We had a few people come in but not very many.  There are a lot of good jobs right now with call centers in our area.

Found out texting with Nathan that he had been able to go to the ward party on Halloween night.  He liked that and I think it was an answer to prayer because he was texting me last week about how he wanted to go home.

Taylor and Ryker

Friday night we went to the gym for date night.  I walked about 3.4 miles on the treadmill and got to watch Hocus Pocus on the TV so it went by pretty fast.  Unfortunately, I had to come home to finish part of the movie but that was fun also.  Was able to lay down for that part!!!

Saturday morning we walked over to the Family Search Center where we work from 9-12.  There were only two people that came in but I was able to get some sources on John Henry Michaelsen and his kids, that I found the week before, attached to Family Tree.  I was also able to find sources for his wife Ella Elizabeth Anderson and attach those.  I really love the new feature they have that you can search for documents in Family Search right in Family Tree.  We walked home and then after lunch went to Mom's.

Nathan with the family at McDonalds

About noon Sara sent us a picture of Nathan at McDonalds with the caption "We busted him out and went on and adventure.  I am sure he enjoyed it because he didn't text me that he was depressed this weekend.

At Mom's I vacuumed all the floors on the main floor.  So I got some activity points.  Larry didn't have much to do this week because my brother Craig and my nephews Josh and Weston were there with their families in the morning raking up the leaves.  Mom said that Craig hauled off 38 bags of leaves.  10 of them were from when Kathy and Gary worked last week.  And Kathy and Gary put another 4 in the garbage so they had a lot of leaves to rake.  There are still some that we will have to get next week.

Mom wanted to go somewhere for dinner so we went to Culver's with her.  I was craving a pumpkin shake so I got a mini pumpkin/cheesecake one with my sandwich.  Again I went overboard on my points.  But it was so worth it.  I only have 4 weekly points left of my 49 so it is a good thing that it is fast Sunday today.

When we got home we thought we could go to the gym but found out it closes at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday so we went home and watched NCIS on Xfinity while I walked back and forth for an hour from the bedroom to the kitchen.  It was worth it though, I got more points.