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