Nov. 23 and before

Larry and I are back to being empty nesters for the next 2 weeks. Nathan went to Utah to visit Marcy last Monday and will be there until Dec. 3.  It has really been quiet in our apartment this week.

Today was Church and because it is Thanksgiving this week they talked about Gratitude and Thanksgiving.  Brother Smith (that I have been helping with Family History on Wednesday) and his family were the speakers. His daughter Raeanne talked about the fact that we need to be grateful for our life knowing that we chose it in the premortal existance.  She also pointed out that trials can be a way of learning gratitude.  We are teachers of how to show gratitude by the way we act.  The way we handle things can change others.  His wife talked about how they had experienced many trials in the last two years and that she felt that with all they were going through the Lord had a great blessing for them if they endured it well.  When her husband was baptized after about 28 years of marriage she could see the blessing.  As we cultivate a grateful attitude we are more likely to be happy.  We should thank our Heavenly Father and others for their help.  Brother Smith talked about things we can do to be grateful.  He mentioned that we should be grateful everyday not just on Thanksgiving.  We should honor our Father and Mother and Counsel with the Lord in all our doings.  He pointed out that all we have to do is to be thankful to God and to keep the 10 commandments and God will bless us.  As a detention counselor he gave examples of people that had not been blessed with good parents and said that we should be grateful for our parents and pointed out that we could have worse parents.  Bishop Alonzo also told about how when he was a teen he had a dream that everything was confused and he couldn't find his family.  He looked and then he started to run and he couldn't find them at all.  It had a profound effect on him and that changed his appreciation for his family and he started to listen more both in school and in church.  He admonished us to stay focused and think about the Lord during Thanksgiving.

During Sunday School we talked about the importance of family and how to make our family eternal.  We talked about how to have successful families and focused on theses steps from the Gospel Principles Chapter 36  All of us want to have happy, successful families. The following things will help us achieve this:

1. Have family prayer every night and morning (see 3 Nephi 18:21). Pray together as husband and wife.
   
2. Teach children the gospel every week in family home evening.
   
3. Study the scriptures regularly as a family.
   
4. Do things together as a family, such as work projects, outings, and decision making.
   
5. Learn to be kind, patient, long-suffering, and charitable (see Moroni 7:45–48).
   
6. Attend Church meetings regularly (see D&C 59:9–10).
   
7. Follow the counsel of the Lord in D&C 88:119: “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.”
   
8. Keep a family history, perform temple work together, and receive the sealing ordinances of the temple
   
   
   In Relief Society we talked about President Uchdorf's talk, "Grateful in Any Circumstances" And determined that being grateful has a lot to do with your perspective.

This after noon we took a nap and then we Skyped with Jake and Nikki and their children for Myles's birthday.  Myles had a cute workbench with a motorized screwdriver and a dump truck and a helicopter that he could tell us the names of.  We had a good time talking with each of the kids and Jacob and Nikki.  Lexie is in early morning Seminary and has to go to that at 5:00 a.m.  She has been called as a Family History Consultant in her ward.  She was also in a play this fall at school.  She is in High School this year, her freshman year.  Ashton is doing so well in school that even though he is in the third grade he scores in the sixth grade on every section of the STAR test.  Abbie has completed her My Family book that we sent her.  They had the idea to put the extra pictures that I sent in the blank page at the back of the book.  Jacob is working outage and working nights from 5:30 p.m. until 6:00 a.m.  He is such a hard worker for his family.  Nikki is busy holding it all together.  She is a good mother. I appreciate all they do.  I wish we could be closer.

This week has been very different.  Monday I woke up with a request from Sara to come and tend Maggie because she was throwing up but when I responded she said that she had already got a sub for the day.  We went to Weight Watchers in the morning and I was excited to have lost 2 lbs but Larry had gained.  We went to the office in the afternoon to work on the usual things but we also had to prepare for more Zone trainings this week.  Monday evening we helped Nathan prepare for his trip to Utah this week.  Nathan also had two appointments at the VA that day so he was pretty busy that day.

Nathan in Las Vegas with Drayk

Nathan getting off the plane in Vernal

Tuesday morning we took Nathan to the airport to fly to Vernal.  I was a little apprehensive about him flying alone but after he checked in and someone went with him to the gate I felt like maybe he would be taken care of.

We went home and packed because we decided to go to the Round Rock training and then stay overnight at Austin for their training rather than having to drive the hour and a half home and back the next day.  We had just got on the road and Nathan texted us that his plane had been cancelled and he had to be rebooked on a later flight but it was at noon so he thought he would be okay at the airport until then.

Wagon ruts carved in the stone in 1850

Larry and June at the Round Rock in background

We got to Round Rock and completed our training.  We had a half day and so we went out to eat for lunch and then we asked if there was something interesting in Round Rock that would be interesting to see in an afternoon.  They told us there was a round rock down the road a ways in a park that was the rock that the city got its name from so we decided to go look for it.

The round rock is the cylindrical rock

Kathrine with her son Landers

Larry in Memorial Park

We went to a Memorial Park.  Some people told us that the rock was at the end of a path that we were at the trail head.  We started out and then met a lady that was there with her 5 year old son.  She asked us if we were LDS because we had our missionary tags on.  We told her yes and she said that she was LDS also and that they had just moved here from Saratoga Springs, Utah.  She walked along with us and told us she had just come from the rock and would show us where it was.  We went along and talked together about the church and family and then she showed us the rock.  I felt like she was a blessing because I don't think I would have known what rock they were talking about.  Also she took some pictures of us together with the rock and we took some pictures of her.  Her name was Kathrine and her little boy was Landers.  After we saw the rock she said that she would show us where they made the world famous Round Rock donuts.  Apparently they have an orange glaze on them.  So we went to the donut shop with her and had a donut and took some more pictures and had a good time there. The donuts were yummy. Finally we took off for Austin to find a motel.

At the "world famous" Round Rock Donuts

Kathrine bought one of the king size donuts

We found a motel close to the Rutherford Lane chapel where the Austin training would be held and then rested for a while and then went to Olive Garden for a dinner that was so fun.  It was a fun afternoon and evening. When we tried to go back to the hotel however we learned that there are three Motel 6's along Highway 35 in Austin.  We put Motel 6 in google maps and thought we were going to the right place but when we got there it was like Twilight Zone because it looked like the road we had been on but the Motel 6 was not the same building and we finally went in and asked if there was another Motel 6 along the road.  He called and found out the address of the one we were at and we were able to put that in and get back to the right motel.

At about 11:00 p.m. we got word from Marcy that Nathan had finally made it to Vernal.  They flew today to Las Vegas for her sister's vow renewal with her husband.
 

Kilor, Drayk, Korbin Vogler and Nathan

Wednesday morning we were able to sleep in a little and then get some supplies for the training and breakfast and then went to the training.  It was so fun to see the missionaries.  I love the trainings they are so good and listen so politely.

We returned to San Antonio after the training.  We went past the apartment and ate and then went to the office.  We had several things waiting for us to work on and it was good to see the Williams's.  We worked in the office until 5:00 p.m. and then we went to pick up Issac and Sammy from their school and then went to get Maggie.  We did this because we decided if we got the boys and Maggie then we could get Isaac to his cub scouts on time at 6:30 p.m. while Sara got David and then we would meet at the church.  We decided that we would have to go earlier next time because traffic was bad and we barely made it to pick up the boys before the 6:00 p.m. cut off.  Isaac ended up not having cub scouts because it was pack meeting Friday so it worked out but at least we are working on the problem of getting him there on time.  Also Brother Smith was not able to make it so we ended up waiting for David to do Mutual and doing our own family history, and then taking him home.  We got home about 9:30 p.m.

Thursday we had a training at Bulverde with the Hill Country Zone.  That is only about 25 minutes from the office so we were able to go up and back by about 1:00 p.m. We had agreed with Sara that we would not get the kids on Thursday because there would be the Raingutter Regatta on Friday and we would see the kids then. So after working on things for a little later than usual we went home and enjoyed an evening to ourselves.

Our cute stockings notice the tie and necklace on them

Friday we woke up to a text message from Sara that Isaac was sick so there would be no Raingutter Regatta for him.  We were sad because he had worked so good on his boat and Sara said he was sad also but that throw up stuff really makes people sick and we did not want him there sick and giving it to others.  She said that she had to take him with her to school.

When we got the mail at the office on Friday there was a package for us from the Relief Society President in the Kaysville 22nd ward.  It turned out to be a Christmas Stocking for each of us filled with small presents with a scriptural phrase attached that applied to each gift.  They were so cute and a fun present to receive.

I worked diligently on Thursday to get my supply order in and then on Friday we worked to get other things done at the office.  Larry was a little discouraged because he has had 12 accidents in the last two weeks and that is frustrating in and of itself but then there is all the followup with the insurance and claims and estimates that he has to deal with and he is constantly on the go.  He has been showing a safety video for the training that he is hoping will help them but we are dealing with 18 and 19 year olds.

Friday we Skyped with Kirsten and Taylor and Kyle for Taylor's birthday that was on Wednesday.  It was good to talk to them.  Kirsten is working hard to maintain her apartment and keep things going for the family.  She planned a party for Taylor on Saturday.  Taylor had fun showing us her presents from us and the family.  She is really taking on a little girl look rather than a toddler look.  Kyle is doing well in school this year.  He is still going to Nuames Charter School.  It was fun talking to him.  We are praying that he will get a testimony that will help him want to go on a mission as this is his senior year.

Because we couldn't go to the Raingutter Regatta on Friday we had a nice dinner at home and then watched a marathon Bones for a while.  It was a fun relaxing night and we had a good time being indoors because it was raining and there was a flash flood warning out.

Saturday we slept in again.  We went to the office for a while because I had mistakenly left my church phone there and needed to get it.  While we were there I took Larry to get a truck that he had taken to Benson Motors for repair and then we came home bay way of Wal-mart.  In the afternoon we watched Bones while working on our bills and budget and finally found out how Bones and Booth got pregnant and had their baby.  Saturday it rained again and so we were happy to be indoors as well on that evening as there were two different flash flood warnings that night and a lot of thunder and lightning.  But there was a lot of water with the storm which is needed.

Nathan at Applebee's

The week before on the 10th of November started out busy also. Nathan always schedules his therapy on Mondays or Fridays and I think he had a therapy that day.

 On Veteran's Day we worked but then went to counseling with Nathan.  After counseling we went to Applebee's for the free dinner they were offering the Veterans.  Nathan was somewhat mad at me as we went in but he seemed to soften as we ate dinner and it was a fun night for all of us. 

Larry at Applebee's

Zone trainings started on the 13th and so we were supposed to go to that but Nathan had an appointment with the lawyer and so I told him I would take him.  He had been up and down all week about whether he was mad at me or not and it got cold that week and so I asked him if he needed a jacket to take.  I couldn't hear what he said so I asked him again and he said he wanted a hoodie.  There was one on the floor in his room so I asked him if he wanted that one and he got mad.  He seems to get upset if I ask him something more than once to clarify it.  I didn't leave him then because he needed to go to the lawyer but when we got there he said that I could not go in because he was still mad.  I had been told in counseling that I needed to let him know when he crossed the line so I thought about if for a few minutes and determined that I would leave him there to find his own way home-which he can do.  So I told him that I would be leaving then if I could not come in.  I took the van back to the apartment and texted him that he would have to find his own way home and called Larry and went to the zone training for San Antonio East Zone that went well despite the quick turn of events.  Nathan rode home in his wheelchair, even thought there were other ways he could have got home, just to prove to me how stubborn he could be and he finally got home 4 hours later.  I told him I was proud of him and that I loved him and did not mention him being mad or get defensive.  I was nice and he talked to me in a civil tone for the rest of the week.

Thursday we had another zone training.  This one was at San Antonio North Zone so it was only about 20 minutes away at the Stone Oak Chapel which is close to the temples here.  Larry showed a video of Elder Holland stressing the importance of Safety in cars and on the bicycles and then he showed them a video about a boy that was injured on a bike when a car hit him.  He suffered severe spinal cord injuries and head injuries  and had to recover from that much the same as Nathan has.  I talked to them on the importance of updating referrals in the system and passed out handouts on the referrals they had in their area in the system that were not updated and we also talked about how to fill out the Baptism and Confirmation Certificates as we have several mistakes that are made each week.  We finished there and then came home and got lunch for Nathan.

After lunch we took Nathan to the office and then went to Isaac's school that evening for a special program for the Veterans that Isaac's class put on.  I taped the whole thing and will try to upload it but the file may be too large.  Isaac had a part in it and did a good job.  We ate several snacks at the program that the school was selling as a fund raiser and then after the program we took the kids to dinner at the Jack in the Box around the corner from the school.  It was still cold outside and they had something broken on their air conditioning system and it was so cold in there I thought I was going to freeze and break even with my winter coat on.  I was so glad to get out of there and I called and registered a complaint to the management.

Friday we were supposed to go to Kyle Zone but I had a hair appointment and Larry had some people coming to the office wanting to buy one of the cars so we sent the information with the Assistants to the President.

I went in thinking that I needed a perm in my hair again but the lady I have do my hair, Mary George convinced me that the curl in my hair is natural and that it is just curlier in San Antonio so I didn't get my permanent but I did get it cut and my eyebrows waxed.  I don't know what she did but she slightly burned my eye lids by the brow so it was stinging for a few days.

Saturday we did not have kids so I slept in until about 9:00 a.m. and then I just watched bones all day while I put in referrals on the computer and worked on the bills.  It was a much needed day.  Larry was a little more ambitious than me.  He went grocery shopping and took Nathan somewhere.

Sunday was church and then we started all over again.