May 4 and before

Maggie getting ready to ride to church

Well today was Stake Conference for our ward, the Woodlake Ward.  It was interesting that they have the main conference in our building and then send the conference to other buildings in the stake for them to hear.  I was glad we were privileged to be in the originating building.

It was a wonderful Stake Conference.  I wish I had taken notes but we had Nathan's four kids with us and I forgot to bring the church bag that Sara brought for us to use and so I was just praying that they would be good.  They were good for the most part.  Maggie fell asleep during the last half so that was helpful.  One talk that really impressed me was a talk on how to prepare for Temple Marriage given by the temple matron here in San Antonio.  She talked about the fact that the best way to prepare for Temple Marriage was to learn to live happily with our family.  Learn to get along with family members and learn to help out with the chores.  Learn to put the Lord first in all out priorities so that he can help us with our trials.  She pointed out that many people focus on the party that is held after and do not focus on the Temple.  She mentioned that many of the people at a temple wedding will never see your dress and that it should be more of a priority to get a dress that you can wear back to the temple often to help you remember the temple marriage and not the party afterwards.  She had some really important things to say like that.

President and Sister Slaughter were there and on the stand as invited dignitaries so they were able to come and see Nathan after the service and talk to him and they were able to see the children that he has.  They were very nice to Nathan and he enjoyed talking to them.

Abbie's School Picture

The kids came home with us after the conference and we had lunch.  They all were fed and having a good time when Sara came to pick them up.

Larry and I were both tired so we went in and took a nap for about 2 hours.  When we got up we Skyped with Abbie and her family for her birthday.  It was fun to talk to them about what they have been doing for the last two weeks since we talked to them.  Myles is talking some and his favorite saying is "ready, set, go" as he jumps off the fireplace hearth.  Lexie hurt her foot in a track meet on Friday so she is thinking that it will have to be checked by the trainer.  Abbie and Ashton had new school pictures to show me and Abbie showed me some of her birthday presents.  Nathan also talked to them some.  Jake was off on a National Guard training for a week.

Ashton's School Picture

After that we ate dinner and then decided to go for a walk.  There are 15 different buildings in our apartment complex and the numbers correspond to the building that you are in.  So 211 means that we are in building two and the eleven means that we are on the first floor.  If it was a 20 number after the building number like 221 then that is second floor and a 30 number is the Third floor.  I am glad that we are on the first floor so Nathan had access to the building easily.

Our Tomato Plant

Last week here are a few of the highlights.  Most of the week we were working on normal routine.  Larry and I went to the mission office and worked on our jobs and Nathan stayed home and did his therapies when they came.  Monday night I told Nathan to think of something that we could do for Family Home Evening and when we got home he wanted to go and get a plant to plant in the pot that the Kasper's left on the patio.  So we went to Home Depot and got a tomato plant and then all the stuff to surround it so the deer and the squirrels will not eat it.  We got it planted that night and Larry and Nathan figured out how to encase it so that has been fun to watch.  It has grown quite a bit already.

Thursday was a little more hectic because Nathan had a VA appointment and we were the only people in the office because the Williams had to be gone.  Normally Sister Williams was the person that would take the food to Mission Leaders Conference but we filled in with it this week.  Nathan was able to find a friend Reid Johnson to take him to his appointment and to help him find some shoes.  Larry and I got the lunch and took it to the church but because of traffic and other issues we were late so it was embarrassing but Sister Slaughter was very nice about it.  And the missionaries are always so appreciative of everything that we do that it is fun.  But because we were late that meant that the Zone Leaders were late in coming in to pick up their supplies so we were not able to go to the Bingo Night this week with Nathan.

Friday Nathan wanted me to go with him to transfer some money and then he decided that he didn't want to do that and we went to the VA to turn in a paper that he and Reid had forgot the day before.  It took most of the morning.   Nathan was not happy with the way I helped him so we got in a disagreement.  Later that day Larry decided that he needed to go with Nathan to the VA because he understands the process having gone through it himself.

Maggie being carried by her daddy

 When I called Larry to come and get me he was on the phone trying to translate between Salt Lake and the missionaries that had been in an accident so he was not able to come and get me for a while.  President Slaughter came in on Friday to do some interviews and so we were able to see him.  Surprisingly I was able to accomplish the days work in the afternoon so I feel like Heavenly Father is helping me with the work.

Isaac looking at something

Saturday Morning we went to Weight Watchers and Larry lost weight but I stayed the same.  But I guess that is better than gaining and considering how I ate the week before I was not surprised.  I am really tempted to eat in the evenings things that are not so WW friendly.

Sara wanted us to take the kids in the evening but we told her to bring them at 2:00p.m. so we could take them to one of the State Parks that were close to San Antonio but then Nathan and Larry decided to take off and go shoe shopping and so I took the kids to the pool here at the apartments.  They swam for about and hour and then Larry and Nathan said they were back.  But Larry decided to take Nathan's van to wash it and get gas.  That took another hour and so we didn't even start for the State Park until 4:30 p.m.  We went to Government Canyon State Park.  It is a park only 16 miles away in San Antonio.  It has some good picnic and camping facilities.  We should have brought a picnic lunch and it would have been more fun.  Nathan could go for a ways on the paths but then it got harder to go and the kids were hungry and tired and we needed to get back.  We were able to read some of the history of the park and the canyon and that is about all.  The store that they have there closes early on Saturday so we could not even access that.  Not a very well planned trip but maybe we can do better next time.