Mother's Day until June 7th

View of the temple from the lower parking lot

Well, remember in the last post I mentioned that my computer was giving me problems.  Well it had a short in the cord.  When I purchased a new cord it blew out something  that needed to be fixed and that is the reason that I have not written for a month because it has taken them that long to fix it.  Valarie Sweat posted on Facebook that she missed my blog so I am glad to know that someone is counting on it besides my Mom and Judy.

Maggie is growing

After Mother's Day things settled down for a while as Nathan was at Marcy's and we had little to do other than work in the office.  We started going to the Temple on Tuesday's each week.  The Woodlake ward has temple night on the 3rd Tuesday for the 8:00 p.m. session so we go to that session on that night but by the time we get out of that it is too late to do that every week so we go to the 6:30 p.m. session the other days.  We have some cards that Michelle sent us to do but we also found out that some of those have already had the work done so they must have been printed before Family Tree and being able to print your own FOR.

Kyle and Nathan at Senior Dinner

We didn't have to pick up David for Mutual because they had a world wide video conference with David Bednar so we were planning to pick up Isaac and Sammy on the 13th for Scouts but then they had Scouts canceled and so we ended up not going to Woodlake because it was the 2nd week and at that time we could not get in the Family History Center because of staff meeting being that night.

Larry with Elder and Sister Antuar from Australia

We had a pretty easy week at the Mission Office.  I often got my work done and was looking for things to do this week.

Sister Clark with Elder and Sister Williams

We were struggling financially this week so we did not pick up the kids for Thursday night on the 14th of May but then we did have them overnight on Friday the 15th.  We had them here at the apartment and apparently I took no photos so that was unusual.  Saturday morning I took Maggie to dance and Larry stayed home with the boys.  They had fun playing on their electronics.  I took a picture of Maggie that week because she had grown taller and sent it to Nathan.  It seemed that her legs had grown 3 inches.  When she went to put on the Sophie pajamas that Nathan bought her she was longer in her waist length too and they did not fit anymore.

All of our Presser/Christiansen family at the blessing

Larry and the boys spent time at the apartment and then we took the kids back Saturday afternoon.  We only kept the kids for Friday night because it was our Anniversary and we wented to celebrate that and it was also Stake Conference night meeting and we could not take the kids to that and have no babysitters here to watch them.  We tried to trade weekends with Sara but she already had the plans for the kids for the fourth weekend.

We went to Applebee's for our anniversary with a gift card Michelle and Daniel had given us and enjoyed that.  Then we ended up going to the meeting.  I think the Saturday Adult session of Stake Conference is always a spiritual treat that you do not get as much of for the Sunday session.  It is like getting meat of the Gospel rather than milk.

BJ and Holly had Ciely Rose blessed this weekend in Utah and we were sorry that we could not be there.  We would have loved to see her in person and be there and participate in the blessing but we did not feel like it was what we should be doing and despite the fact they offered to pay for part of the tickets to get there we decided to stay home and celebrate our anniversary together. I was so happy that they posted pictures of the day on Facebook so that we could see who was there and participate that way.  It was hard for me to stay home.

Nathan with Cieli Rose

The next week was kind of slow also at the office.  Because we didn't have to go home to feed Nathan the last month we are getting a little more done, but I never minded going home to feed him.

Nathan, Kirsten, BJ with Cieli, Maren, and Erick

We took the kids to Scouts and had our usual dinner with the little kids at McDonald's before Scouts that night.  And we worked at the Family History Center.  They decided to open it on Wednesday with us as two of the permanent workers until September.

Thursday night we picked the kids up and took them out to dinner from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  That worked out for Sara as she had a play that she was starring in at the Harliquin Theatre.  Later that night Sara asked us to look for David's phone.  It was in the car to the side of the seat where it had fallen out of his pocket when we looked the next day.  We didn't have time to take it to him as we were planning to go to Kerrville.

The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd we went to Kerrville.  We had a good time there.  John and Judy talked us into going to the 1st Cav Reunion in a few weeks and we made a motel reservation.  We were surprised that they took out the money for the reservation when we made the appointment.  On our way home we took the phone to David so he would have it.

Kyle dropping off his supplies for his Senior Project

one of Kyle's Senior Pictures

Our oldest grandson Kyle Blunt graduated from high school on Tuesday the 26th of May.  We would have liked to be there but because it is transfer week we didn't feel like we could take off the time from the mission.  So, we asked him if he would like to come down and spend a week with us here in the mission and he agreed to do that June 1-8.

Sister Presser, Sister Sadler, Sister Jenkins, and Sister Williams

As I said this week was transfer week and I ended up going to the lunch for the returning missionaries to help Sister Williams as Brother Williams had a doctor's appointment.  I wanted to be there because there were several missionaries that we really liked that were going home.  Larry however was having many problems with cars that day so he did not get to go and say good bye.

Sister Presser, Elder Pope, Elder Goodman

Wednesday was Incoming missionaries which Larry and I feed.  We had a really small group this time.  Only two incoming missionaries and 28 went home but it is just about as much work to prepare for 2 as 33.  They are trying to cut down on the number of missionaries we have.  When we arrived we had 284 missionaries but now we have 217.

It rained a lot this week.  We went to the Transfer meeting in San Antonio and also in Austin.  It was frustrating though because we ended up having to go to the Office and then back to the Stone Oak Chapel(about 20 minutes one way) to get some things done because Elder Presser had one of the cars in trouble and he had to go to the office for that and then some Elders that were switching cars ended up not having any keys to go home and we had to take some back to Stone Oak before going to Austin.  We tried to hurry but apparently they started the meeting about 10 minutes early and so by the time we got there Elder Williams had to give our talks.  So except for the mail it felt like we went to Austin for nothing.

Sister Presser, and Elder Hunter Frampton just found out his brother lives in Kaysville 22nd now

Sister Presser and Elder Nebeker

On our way home from Austin we stopped in Converse and ate and then went to Maggie's preschool graduation.  It was quite the Graduation.  It had everything a high school or college graduation had in it.  They even had their own cap and gown.  Sara had play performance that night so she was not able to stay for the whole thing so we took the kids home for her after taking the kids to get a treat at their favorite place, McDonalds.  Maggie looked like she was five going on 15 that night.

Maggie with her preschool teachers

Maggie with one of her pre-school friends

Maggie looking before graduation

Friday morning our neighbor at the apartment came by in the morning and said that her husband was having a stroke and could we tend their grandchild that they have custody of right now.  Of course we said yes.  We got everything organized for the little boy and then Larry tried to help her get Rudy out to the car.  He was having a really hard time trying to walk.  She probably should have called the ambulance but he didn't want her to.  We had the baby all morning.

Elder Graham from Vernal, Elder Hutchings from Lehi, Sister Presser, Elder Larsen from Logan

In the afternoon I was going out to the talent show for Isaac at his Elementary school.  He had auditioned and was the only 4th grader selected.  He did a puppet show.  I recorded it but I don't know if it will upload to the blog.  It was really clever.  Sara has been teaching her students how to make puppets and so Isaac was interested in making some and they worked out a song he could have them sing to. It is perfect for Isaac as he is a little shy but likes to be recognized.  I ended up having to take the baby to the program as Susan had not found out yet what was the problem with Rudy for sure.  It reminded me of the good old days when I had six kids.  Sara was good to help me with him.  He is not a tiny baby.  He is about 18 months.

After that I took the baby back to the office and we had him all afternoon. Susan finally called about 4:30 p.m. as we were going back to the apartment and said that they had confirmed that Rudy had a stroke and that she could take the baby now.  He was a good baby.  Only cried when you stopped the car until he could see that you were going to get him out.

Sister Turpin a personal favorite that has not gone home yet.

Isaac getting his Bear and Faith in God Award

On Friday night was the Pack Meeting and Isaac got his Bear and his Faith in God award.  We were not able to help Sammy get his Bobcat yet but he still has time.  Isaac has been working hard because they are changing the Cub Scout Program in May to a new program and if they finished the old program up by May they could get it on that program but if they waited then they would have to start all over.  His leader worked with them to help them get most of the things that were required but there were a few things that Sara had to work with him on and we worked on one night when he was here.

After Pack meeting we took the kids home for the weekend.  We had a fairly lazy weekend with Ipads and the pool being the main entertainment.  I took Maggie to dance in the morning on Saturday but other than that we stayed close to home and just played with the kids.

Kyle eating the huge deseret at Hard Rock Cafe

We did have a ward party Saturday evening that was a Young Men's activity where they served food from different countries to get them used to eating different cuisine for their missions.  I signed up for Quiche and then realized that I did not have my recipes here.  So Larry went to HEB Central Market and purchased some that was pretty good.  David is Deacon's Quorum President so he went and helped set up and take down and a few other things.

Nathan flew in about 11:00 p.m. so it was really late but he had someone from the ward to pick him up so it was no problem for us.

Kyle flew in that day also.  We picked him up and I think we took him to the office to introduce him and then took him home to rest from his trip.

Looking to the sidewalk cafe from the boat

About 5:00 p.m. we went to Converse to pick up Nathan and Kyle drove his van and we went to the Senior Dinner in New Braunfels at a place called Spud Ranch.  It is actually a fast food place that serves all kinds of dinners on baked potatoes.  I had a steak potato and it was pretty good but not Weight Watchers approved.  We had a good time with everyone and took lots of pictures.  The couple from Australia, the Antuars, are leaving later this month so it was their last dinner.  I have really enjoyed talking to them and and they were always good to talk to Nathan and bring him into the conversation when he was hanging back.

Nathan wanted to buy something for Kyle for his graduation so he talked him into staying at his apartment and they went shopping the next day for Kyle's present and he ended up getting Kyle to take him several places to run errands he wanted to do.  I am sure Nathan had a good time and I hope that Kyle did too.

Bishop Alonzo guiding the boat

We went and got Kyle in the afternoon and then Larry and I took him to the Riverwalk because we had understood our Bishop in the Woodlake Ward here that runs a Riverwalk boat was going to be working and we could get a ride.  We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe out on the patio by the river.  We had a good time and ate too much but it was fun to be with Kyle.  When we went to find the Bishop we could not find him and so I texted him and he was very apologetic because he had meant to text that he would be working on Thursday in the evening but had written Tuesday so we went home.

On the Third day Wednesday we made arrangements for Kyle to go out with Elder Giles and Elder Hendricks for the day.  So he dressed up in his Sunday best and met them at the office and went with them.  They went to a district meeting and then the went out trying to contact some people in the area book.  Kyle said that the weirdest thing was when a man came to the door in his underwear and the Elders just talked to him like nothing was wrong.  He also learned that there are some poorer areas in San Antonio as well as the nice areas.

Maggie enjoying the boat ride

Wednesday night we went to get the kids for Scouts as usual with Kyle.  We also picked up Nathan for his Scout meeting because Kyle could drive.  I tried to get Kyle to go into Mutual with David but he opted to go to the Family History Center with us and text his friends.  When David came in all excited about the game that they played I wished that maybe I had been more assertive about having him go in.

I checked out of the office for a day so that I could go and do something with Kyle while he was here.  I asked him where he would like to go and he chose the Tower of the Americas downtown.  I was excited to see it also as it is something that we have not seen.  It is a lot like the Space Needle in Seattle but it was fun to be in the tower with Kyle and pointing out different land marks that I have become familiar with and he was excited to see the Alamo Dome nearby.  We stayed there and then I asked Kyle where he would like to eat.  He was curious about Whataburger as Elder Giles and Hendricks had suggested they had the best hamburgers in Texas, so we went there for lunch.  I tried to find the one downtown but I did not know where to park when we found it so we decided to go to Converse and eat there at the Whataburger as we were picking up Nathan and the kids to go to the Riverwalk with us in the evening.

Kyle from the Tower of America

Larry was invited to go to the Riverwalk with us but he was having a nervous breakdown about something he had to finish at the office so he opted to stay at the office for the evening to work.

We picked up Nathan and his van and then we went to get the kids.  We ended up parking by a restaurant that Nathan wanted to eat at.  We ended up going to Maria Mia's for Mexican food.  It was good and Nathan was thrilled that his kids actually tried chips and salsa and liked it and ate some.  It ended up taking quite a long time.  We got out of there about 7:15 p.m.  We had to walk about 4 blocks to get to where the Bishop was working out of for his boat.  When Maren and Landon where here we had to wait for about an hour for his boat.  This night we went down to the boat area and traveled to where we were supposed to meet the boat and Bishop Alonzo was just unloading the group from his previous tour.  We were able to get Nathan on the boat with his wheelchair which surprised me and Kyle and the boys were able to sit in the front where they wanted to be.  We didn't finish until about 8:30 or 9:00 and I was worried that Sara would be upset but I forgot that she was performing in her play so she didn't even care because someone was with the kids longer.

Selfie of me and Kyle on the tower

Kyle ended up just hanging out at the house on Friday.  He seemed to want to have a day to sleep in.

In the evening we went out to Converse to Nathan's apartment and had Pizza with him and the kids.  Because he has to have someone there at all times when the kids are there according to the divorce decree Kyle stayed the night with them to help him because the person from the ward backed out.

Looking down from the Tower of America

Saturday Larry had planned to spend the day with Kyle at the Alamo and other sights around there.  I was supposed to get Maggie ready for her dress rehearsal for her dance recital but I also had a hair appointment in town.  We arose early and Larry took me to the office where he picked up a mission car to drive for the day and then he went to get Kyle. I then drove to my hair appointment

On the water fall in front of the Tower

Maggie in her costume

I finished my hair appointment at about noon.  I drove out to Nathan's apartment and I had planned to take Maggie to Chick-Fil-A but when I got there they had just been there and they had been shopping also.  The kids were excited to go to the swimming pool so I went with them for a while and talked to Doug Emmett who was there to help Nathan.  After about an hour I took Maggie and got her dressed and I went to Chick-Fil-A to get me something to eat and then we started out to go to the Theater.  I did not know how to get to the Theater from Nathan's and so I was trying to use Google Maps but for some reason it was not working right and kept telling me opposite things to do.  It also told me to do somethings after I had passed the exit.  Luckily I figured out some things but after I got on the freeway it told me to get off on and exit after I passed it.  So flustered I started trying to figure out what to do.  I passed another exit after it told me to get off and so familiar with the next exit I went off.  It is a circular exit. But then it started telling me turn left, turn right at the same time several times.  I tried to look at the phone for just a second but as I did I turned the car off of the road and up over the curb.  I continued forward and the car hit a culvert coming off of the road.  The impact of hitting the culvert set off the airbag.  It looked like the car was on fire but Larry said that is only a powder in the airbag.  Of course Maggie was upset and felt like she was being choked by the smell and I was upset because now Nathan would have ammunition for his threat that I was not worthy to drive his kids and I was also worried that I would have to call someone to come and get us.  But I decided to try to move forward.  The car drove fine and no one stopped me waving their arms that the car was on fire so I continued on to the theatre to meet Sara so she could put on Maggie's makeup and comb her hair.  For some reason after that the GPS worked fine.

Maggie's class, Maggie is in the middle.  They danced to Candy Man.  They are holding lollipops

Kyle at the Alamo

We were a little late to meet Sara so we just went in and I told Maggie not to mention the accident.  She got her hair and makeup done and we went to the theater.  They let us wait with Maggie in the dressing room until she was called on stage.  Sara stayed until Maggie went on and then left to go with Kenneth.  I took some pictures of Maggie's dance as they said that it was not possible to take them the day of the recital.  Maggie really looked pretty and she loved the costume and the special feeling it gave her of being pretty.  I remember that feeling from my childhood.  She did the dance well.  She actually was the only one who did it right in one section along with the girl next to her.  After she danced she wanted to stay for a minute and watch the next dance.  I think she was excited to see what it looked like from the audience.  Luckily she was ready to go after the next dance.

Battle reenactment

Even though I had driven the car to the theater I called Larry and told him what happened.  I asked him if he wanted to come and look at the car before I drove it further, but he said that if I had driven it that far I could drive it to the apartment.  Maggie came home with me as she was spending the night.  Larry determined that the undercarriage was broken and the air conditioning line was broken and of course the air bag was deployed and so basically the car was totaled.  We have only had liability insurance on the car after the insurance wanted to total it when Larry got in an accident a few years ago so there was no money to pay for any repairs.

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I was just happy that neither Maggie or I was hurt.  Larry was too but he was a sad man.  He loved his classic car and on top of that we really had no money to replace it with.  So he was super stressed out that evening.  Maggie had been worried that Grandpa would be mad at us because we had wrecked his car.  I told her he wasn't mad he was just worried about how to get a new car because we did not have any money thinking that would make her feel better but it only increase her fears for him.  When I put her to bed we had a tender moment where she talked to me about her fears and one was that Grandpa would not have a car.  I told her that it would all work out and that we could get a new car somehow and not to worry.  Larry had brought home a mission car so we used that to go to church the next day and so she thought that was our new car and did not worry about that anymore.  When we were able to get the jeep she was confused about why we did not have the red car anymore.

Larry and Kyle had gone to the Alamo and Ripley's believe it or not, the Wax museum and other things on Alamo Square.  They were able to see a gun fight at the Alamo which is not an everyday thing and Kyle said that they had a good time.  They had actually just got home when I called Larry about 5:00 p.m. and told him about the car.


Sunday we had a good church.  It was fast and testimony meeting and so I bore my testimony that I knew that Heavenly Father had protected us and wanted Maggie to have the experience of a dance recital.  I feel like if the air bag had not deployed that I would have had broken ribs or something like that as my ribs were in the air bag.  I also felt like I might as well tell Nathan because he will eventually figure things out anyway.  Although I don't think he was listening at the time.

Kyle again

Sammy drove home to the apartment with us after church because he wanted to go there.  We had taken all the clothes back to Nathan's apartment so you should have seen his disappointment when he had no clothes to change into when he got home.  He tolerates Sunday Clothes but prefers not to wear them.  He took off all his Sunday clothes and went to the drawer where his clothes had been and then got upset because their were no clothes in his drawer.

Kyle at the Wax museum

Kyle the Astronaut

Sunday night was the recital.  I still wonder if we made the wrong choice to participate on Sunday but at least it was at 6:00 p.m. after church and it didn't cost anything except the parking in downtown San Antonio.  As I needed to meet Sara early so she could put on Maggie's makeup and do her hair Nathan wanted to take everyone at that time.  We found that they had special handicapped booth's that Nathan could go into with all his family and you had an excellent view of things and Sammy had room to move without bothering anyone.  It was funny to see Maggie dancing her own made up dance to about every dance music and it wasn't bothering anyone.

Sara took the kids home immediately after the recital was over and I forgot I had not told her about the accident.  One the way home Maggie told her about it so we had drama texting going on for about the next hour.  So that was a mistake that I made but it is frustrating that everything becomes a drama about how we are taking care of the kids.  But that may be Nathan and Marcy's life for the next 13 years.  We took Nathan home and helped with a few things and then took Kyle with us back to the apartment so we could all get to bed as he was leaving early the next day.

Mother's Day

Yesterday about an hour before we were supposed to pick up the kids from Sara she texted and said that she and Kenneth wanted to go out to dinner and could they bring the kids early.  We said yes.   She also wanted to know if the kids could spend the night as her play that she is starring in was going to get out late. But she wanted to come and pick them up in the morning by 8:00 a.m. so no church.  We said ok.  But that evening by the time they got through a traffic jam at 410 and 281 they were almost an hour later.  I don't know if they ever got dinner before the show.

David, Sammy, Maggie, and Isaac with the milkshake machine

When the kids came they had a mother's day present for me.  It was a milkshake machine with cards from them and a picture frame with a promise of a picture to put in it.  They wanted to make milkshakes right away.  But we talked them into going shopping first.

We went to Wal-mart and Larry and I told them what their amount they had to spend was.  Then they picked out the things they wanted.  After looking for a while they decided to get Sara some chocolate covered strawberries, a beautifully decorated sheet cake, some flowers and three cards.  Maggie was the only one that did not choose a card so we had her make one for her mom on Sunday morning.

We went back to the apartment and made chocolate milkshakes, and s'mores and they played on their Ipads and watched Yo Gabba Gabba on the computer.

When it was time for bed we read scriptures and a story about the whatif monster and had prayer and then the kids called their dad and had prayer with him.  They had fun telling him what they had bought and telling him about their day.  Then we all finally went to sleep.

I was laying by Maggie because she insists that she wants me to sleep with her.  After Maggie was asleep I went to work on the computer for about an hour and then I went to bed.

I set my alarm for 7:30 a.m. to get the kids up and get them dressed.  As they were going to fix breakfast for their mom in bed I figured that I didn't need to get them up any earlier.  They got up and got dressed.  But no one showed up at 8:00 a.m.  Finally about 20 minutes after I texted Sara.  She said that Kenneth was on his way.  When he finally got there at 9:05a.m. he said he got lost.  Anyway that was a time when it was good to have the Ipads to entertain them so that they didn't get upset about getting up so early.

When Kenneth came they excitedly showed him all the stuff they had purchased and bagged it all up and went home. 

I have to admit it is hard to have this man Kenneth in the place where my son once was.  I am not going to say anything further but it is really hard to deal with and I am upset everytime I have to mention his name as if he belongs there.

Larry and I read scriptures and had our prayers.  Today we read a talk by Elder Todd Christofferson from the April General Conference entitled, "Why Marriage and Family Matter".  It is a powerful talk that helps us to understand why marriage is not something that can be decided politically because it is an institution of God.  I feel like I need to study it again and again.

 After reading we got dressed and guess what it was time to go to church!  Today the topic was Christ like attributes.  Something that I needed.  But most of the talks seemed to center around the Christ like attributes of Mothers.  One young man gave a talk mentioning how important our Mothers are in our lives and said how much he appreciated his mother who had gone out to drive him to prom when she need to be home for something else.  He also mentioned several other sacrifices that his mother had made for him.  I thought it was touching and very mature to recognize that he owed so much to his mother at a young age.  They had another lady talk a lot about characteristics of Christ from the scriptures and related them to experiences that she had with her own mother.  Then they had two people bear their testimony.

After Sacrament they passed out the same book that Erick and Heather had given me with a Hershey's chocolate bar inside and a small bouquet of plastic flowers that actually looked quite real.  I don't believe I have been in another ward that has given that much to the mothers at one time.  Of course I ate the chocolate bar immediately because I was so hungry this morning.

Sunday School was a lesson on the importance of the scriptures in our lives and described the blessing we get from reading the scriptures which are a strengthening of our testimony and power to overcome Satan and his temptations.

Relief Society was a Visiting Teaching Conference today with ideas on how to be a better visiting teacher and how to do home teaching.  Of course because it was technically a conference they served refreshments and I ate them all so I ate 50 points worth of food today with the cheesecake and cookies I ate.

We came home and Larry fixed dinner.  He made boiled shrimp with sauce for dipping, a spinach salad and he cooked some frozen Mozzerella sticks that we have had.  They were yummy but they were a couple of points each so I probably shouldn't have eaten so much but it was all good and I appreciate him fixing dinner.  I ordered some new clothes for the mission for my present from him.

Kirsten texted while we were eating and wanted to Skype like we had planned.  So we Skyped with her and Taylor and Kyle for about an hour.  Taylor showed me my card that they are sending me so I would know I had one.  Kyle came over and talked under pressure as he was playing a basketball game.  He is graduating soon and because we cannot go to the graduation we are flying him down for a week to spend time here with us.

 After that we read the scriptures and such that we read at night and said our prayers even though it was only about 4:10 p.m.

Mom in the new swing

Larry took a nap and I called my Mom and talked to her for a while.  She said that it had really rained in Lehi yesterday so it was good that the patio was covered so Keith could put the new gliding swing the family bought her for the patio together.  She let me know about Clair graduating and a few other things I did not know like Cory and Rebecca have taken in a set of 3 month old twins to care for because the mother was having a hard time.

 After the call to Mom I have worked on the blog to get it all caught up.  I have been working on it now for about 4 hours.  I am so slow at writing and I often want to express some things differently but it is hard to express the feelings that are inside my head with the intensity that I feel them.  Part of the reason it has taken so long is that I also had to get up several times and move my legs and my computer seems to be dying for no reason this evening.

Jacob just called me for Mother's Day.  That means a lot to me.  We had a good visit but he needed to go because he gets up at 4:00 a.m. to go to work tomorrow.  He is such a hard worker. He really works hard to provide for Nikki and the kids.

Well until tomorrow or next week...............

May 9th and before

Today is Saturday and it feels so good to have a weekend all to ourselves.  We slept in until about 8:30 a.m. and took our time getting up and getting dressed.

Nathan and Marcy sent me a beautiful edible arrangement of fruit for Mother's Day that arrived at about 11:00 a.m.

Our Incredible Edible bouquet from Nathan and Marcy

Larry had a person from the Neptune Society come and talk to him about a prepaid cremation for a while.  He wants to be cremated when he dies so this is a way that he can determine that it is done as he wants it done.  We didn't purchase anything at this time but we learned a lot.  I had never heard of the Neptune Society before but apparently they have been around for 50 years helping people with their cremation wishes.

Right now Larry went to get some groceries as we have the kids for a while tonight.  We are taking them to find presents for their mom at Nathan's request and then they are staying for awhile as it is Sara's first night performing her new play and then she will pick them up after.

On Monday earlier in the week it was the day before MLC and I still had 10 Zones orders to fill.  I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me get the orders done or help me find someone that could help me lift the boxes.  I was worried about my hip getting worse again.  So I went with the promise from Larry that he would help me if he could.  When we got there Elder Jason Robert Nelson was going home because he had a fracture in his foot that needed repaired.  As I started I noticed that he seemed to need something to do.  We had talked for a while because he is an Elder from Heber City Utah that had stayed with some cousins of mine after his conversion to the church.  He was asking me if I knew various people in the family and I did so it was fun for him.  So I asked him if he would help me move a few boxes.  I showed him where he could see on the orders how many boxes of the Book of Mormons that they needed.  He didn't stop with just a few.  He got every box of Book of Mormons in both Spanish and English out and stacked and labeled ready for transport to MLC!  That was a great blessing.

I spent the rest of the day packing the other supplies in boxes and after Elder Nelson left then Larry helped me to lift the boxes of those.  When I finished it was around 5:30 p.m.  I considered it a miracle that I had been able to accomplish it as usually it takes me two days with about 6 different zones per day.  Consequently I did not foul up my leg and back like on Friday.

Marcy texted me a picture of Nathan with her youngest son Drayk.  She says that Drayk really likes to climb all over Nathan and nothing makes her happier than to see how cute Nathan is with him.  He is a cute little boy.

Nathan with Marcy's son Drayk

Tuesday Larry had to go and bring the cars back from the cul-de-sac.  He had the moving Elders and the Assistants help him.  They were able to get all of them except two that they could not find the keys for.

I worked on the paperwork that I had to do.  MLC was in Austin this time and so it was pretty quiet at the office because everything was taken in the morning by the moving Elders.  The Williams even stayed back from serving because the Antuars in the Institute at San Marcos fixed the dinner for the Leaders.  So it was a break for us.  I pretty much finished up all the work that I had to work on that day.  I get a little more done because we do not have to go home to fix lunch now Nathan has moved out and gone to Utah.

Tuesday I went to the doctor in the afternoon and she gave me some new medicines and referral for a dermatologist and for Blood work.  I was feeling pretty good that day.  I actually got in and out and was able to get back to the office for another two hours work.

Tuesday night we went to the temple after eating dinner.  We did endowments for two of Larry's ancestors that we got the cards from Michelle and did the initiatory for last week.  It was a good night with more introspection on my part.

Wednesday Larry still had not found the keys to the cars that he had lost.  He asked everyone who drove for him and no one had found them.  He looked every where that he thought they should be also.

My presents from Erick and Heather

I worked on my office work and finished it up at about 1:00 p.m.  When the mail came there was a present for Mother's Day in it from Erick and Heather and Ryker.  Because I was caught up on my work.  I sat and read the little book that they sent from a talk by Patricia Holland.  It was just what I needed to hear.  I have spent a lot of time in retrospection about why I had to experience the dislike I have from some of my children when I have worked so hard to be a good mom to them.  I have spent several hours over several days in prayer about it.  The book was just what I needed to help me move on.  It talks about this idea that she has on how to open your soul.  She says that the soul is in 5 boxes.  The first is opened by prayer to God.  The second is opened by studying the scriptures.  The third by unselfish service and the 4th is opened by humility.  I realized that I am at the 4th step in understanding myself.  I am at the time where I am learning to be humble.  I have had several experiences with people that do not like me and I cannot figure out why because I have always thought I was a pretty nice person and easy to get along with but I have learned that you cannot control what others do and recently I read a book called How to Hug a Porcupine trying to understand Nathan.  In the process I learned that I am somewhat of a porcupine in my personality and that may be the reason that I affect some people the wrong way.  So I am being humbled trying to learn to be less judgmental by being judged by others.  I am also learning to turn more over to Christ as I cannot do some things that I would like to do.  I just have to have faith that he can do what I know I cannot do.

Later in the day I worked on the transfer board for an hour as I remembered that I still had that to do.
Larry had been out of the office and came back and said that it was a good thing he had gone up to the cars because just as he got there the police had come because someone had called about the cars being there.  Larry was able to explain to him his circumstances and not get a ticket.  That was a tender mercy.

Then we left to go and get the kids.  I texted some vin numbers to a key maker while Larry drove out to Converse to pick up the kids from their schools so that we could take them to Scouts.  We have been picking up the little kids and taking them to McDonalds for dinner and then meeting Sara at the Church,  She takes the kids that do not have scouts and leaves David for his Scouts and Mutual and then while they are in Scouts we go to the Family History Center that they have there and help people with their family history.  Then we take the boys home after Scouts.

We did not have the people show up that said that they would be there but a group of Young Men came in to do some indexing so it is probably best they didn't because there were not many computers left.  So I went on line to learn more about the person I had done endowments for on Tuesday.  I found out that she was a cousin to one of Larry's Great Great Grandfathers.  As I played around on Family Search I found four of her kids that had not been there before so I have some people that we can take to the temple for David to do Baptism's for the dead sometime.  I am also learning the great value of doing descendency work to find names for the temple.  It was exciting to find someone that was actually not on Family Search Family Tree in the records.

Thursday we got up and went to breakfast at Taco Cabana because we had no milk and Larry was waiting for the key man to call and have him meet him at the cul-de-sac so he could get the keys for the cars he needed to move.  After eating we went up there and read scriptures and facebook while we were waiting for him to come.  He finally came and he started on the first car but he could not get it to work because of an electrical code problem.  So he started working on the other car.  There was nothing I could do in this so I read a book I had on Kindle.  At 10:30 a.m. I finally called Sister Williams to tell her where we were.  He got the second car to go and then he and Larry went back to the other and tried to jump it.  After another hour of work Larry finally came and told me to drive our car around and they used it to jump the one car.  Then he told me to take our car and go into the office.  So I did.

I got to the office and began working and Larry came in and we worked for a few minutes and then he wanted me to drive him to get the other car.  So I did.  While I was there I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions and then went to get some milk and fruit so we would not be out again because we had been out for three days because we didn't want to take the time to get it.  Consequently I was gone from the office for another hour.  When I got back I was able to do the paperwork that needed to be done for the day.  I kept thinking that it was Friday for some reason so I was hurrying to get somethings done and then later I realized that it was Thursday and I had worried ahead.

David at Red Robin

Thursday night we went to get David and took him to dinner for his birthday.  His birthday was actually on Friday the 8th but we thought we would give Sara that time with him and so we planned on Thursday.  We decided to take him by himself because he tends to move to the background and we do not get to talk to him with the little kids around.  We started out to go to Freddy's steakhouse and frozen custard but when we got to the Forum shopping center he changed his mind and wanted to go to Red Robin.  So we went there.  We had a good time talking to him and learning a little more about what he is thinking and what is important to him.  They sang a Happy Birthday song to him and gave him a Sundae and then we went to Toys R Us and he picked out a game that he liked after about a half hour of shopping and looking.  He got the Mario game for Wii.

Our book from BJ and Holly

Friday we actually got to the office early and worked all day and accomplished all that we needed to do.  We went to get the mail on the way to the office and there was a package for us.  We opened it on the way to the office trying to figure out who and what sent it.  When we finally got it opened it was a book that BJ and Holly had made with pictures from our trip to Hawaii when we visited them.  We had fun showing it to several of the people that came into the office to see us that day.

Larry was actually a little frustrated later in the day after paying $300.00 for the two keys the assistants came back to the office, at the end of the day, and said that the keys for the two cars they found on the seat of the Jeep they borrowed.  So either the Lord found them and put them there or someone did not look very good when they were driving that vehicle.

Our chocolate strawberries from Jake and Nikki

Friday we went home and found a package at out door.  It was a package from  Shari's Berries.  When we opened it it was Chocolate covered strawberries from Jake and Nikki.  Of course we ate a couple each and posted the picture on Facebook so they knew we got it and ate dinner and went to bed to get the rest we needed for the kids coming on Saturday.

May 3 and before

Some of the cars from Pinewood Derby, the red on the left was the winner

Today was a fun and frustrating day.  We had the kids for Sunday until after church.  They slept in until almost 8:00 a.m.  Then Maggie  came in and wanted some breakfast.  Larry had bought them bacon and mini cinnamon rolls last night when he went shopping.  Some of them also had cereal but when Maggie got her bacon and cinnamon rolls she said, "Grandpa is such a good cook, Huh Grandma?"  I had to agree even though I was fasting.

Sammy's angry birds car on the far left and Issac's Breakfast to go car on the second to end on the right

Getting ready for church wasn't to hard except that I had forgot to get more than one pair of socks for the boys from Nathan's apartment when we went to get stuff for them so they thought I was pretty gross for telling them to wear the same socks another day.

For some reason I was in a lot of pain today.  It comes and goes according to the weather I think.  When we got to church we were a half hour early because Larry had misread the clock and thought it was later than it was.   I had brought tablets for the kids to write on in  church so we got those out and they drew on them fine but for some reason Maggie did not feel like she could draw after the Sacrament meeting started.  She wanted to sit backwards on the bench in front.  She wanted to sit backwards on the bench.  She wanted to read a story out loud.  Then she decided she wanted to go outside.  I told her that she needed to sit down and listen or draw but she moved over by David.  Then David started loudly whispering that Maggie was bugging him.  I got up to go get Maggie and she walked out of the chapel.  I looked for her for 10 minutes.  She was in none of the places we usuallyo go when we go out like the bathroom or outside.  Finally I found her in the opposite foyer just dancing around the lamp.  I tried to get her to come with me but she wouldn't and dropped to the floor.  Then I picked her up and took her to the restroom because I needed to go to the bathroom.  I asked her if she needed to go and she said no.  So we went back into the meeting.  After we got in Sammy wanted to go and get a drink.  He was really good today so I told him yes.  Immediately Maggie starts talking saying that she has to go to the bathroom.  I was very frustrated and I told her she had to wait until Sammy got back.  When he got back she still said that she had to go but of course she had to have me go with her.  As I was shutting the door to the stall the door closed on my finger and it really hurt.  So much so that I started to cry.  When we went back to go in one of my friends in the ward wondered if I was okay.  I went over to show her that it was just my finger before we went back in the chapel.  In that time Maggie found her friend Elizabeth and wanted to play with her.  I told her we needed to go back into  the chapel.  I have never felt it was good to take kids out to play in the foyer because then they want to do it each week.  When we got inside she was still saying that she wanted to play with Elizabeth and she went to the row in front of us.  Larry reached up and whispered to  her to come and sit down by me and to be quiet.  Apparently that was not what she wanted to hear.  So she started to whimper cry.  I told her that she needed to try to stop like I had in the bathroom but she wouldn't and she was disturbing so I took her out and we went to the Mother's room where they have the meeting piped in.  I told her how disappointed I was and that I wanted to hear the meeting and she needed to stop thinking of only herself.  I was proud of myself because I wanted to take her and give her a spanking but I have learned that does not help.  So we sat in the Mother's lounge and I listened to the last two testimonies and tried to calm down.  After Sacrament meeting I took Maggie to primary and after spending the time trying to get away from me she starts to cry that she wants me to stay in Primary with her.  She just clings to me each time.  Luckily Sarah Christensen in the presidency has clued into this and tries to get her involved in helping her or I think she would still be standing there crying and clinging to me.  That was a frustrating day for me.

Sammy and Isaac on the right waiting to begin.

Sunday School we talked about following the Prophet.  He mentioned that President Monson is 87, President Packer is 91, Elder Perry is 92, and Elder Nelson is 91 so all of the people in immediate line for the presidency are in their 90's.  Then Elder Oaks is 83.  We have all been speculating about President Monson's health because he only spoke twice at conference but it said today on Facebook that he is just suffering from old age and still comes to work everyday and is not having any real problems in an announcement from the church.

In Relief Society we talked about Elder Eyring's talk in Priesthood Meeting on Binding others wounds. Essentially it talked about how we are to balance home and family responsibilities as we try to help others.  It pointed out that many times we have to listen to the spirit as we decide what is most important.

We took the kids home right after church while we were down there.

Maggie, Sara and Larry waiting for it to begin

We came home and ate dinner and then we read some scriptures and then took a nap.

I am not sure what time I woke up but a few minutes after Erick called and said that he and Ryker wanted to Skype with me.  Ryker wanted to show me his new notebook for writing in and he made some L's for me. Then he showed me his Perry the Platypus costume from Halloween. Larry woke up about that time and we had a good visit with Erick for about an hour or more.  It was good to talk to Ryker and Erick .

Isaac getting his Bear Award with Sara

On Tuesday of last week I ended up feeling wonderful physically after I talked to the Lord on Monday. 

Refreshments with awards

We got to the office early and I answered a phone call for Sister Williams but I felt like I was supposed to answer it because it was a Mom of one of the missionaries worried about how to buy him a new light for his bike as he had broken it.  After I talked to her I called him and we determined that I would send him a light that had been sitting on my desk for several months after someone left it there.  So then I was able to call the mother back and let her know that we had the problem taken care of.  Sister Williams would not have known that.  Tender mercy.

Larry waited all day to find out when they were going to put Twi's in the 11 new cars he received last week.  He had just given up and decided that it was not going to happen until next week when they called at 5:00 p.m. and said that everything was arranged on Salt Lake's end.  Then Larry had to contact the missionaries and make sure things were happening on his end.

Isaac proud of his Bear Award

If you remember from the post about the 27th we were very frustrated at not being able to find any of Nathan's tools at his apartment to finish the Pinewood Derby cars.  Larry determined it was important to me and so he went and bought the tools that were needed and put the boys wheels on the cars.  He worked on that at the office in the afternoon because at that point he had nothing pressing waiting for Salt Lake.  However when he went to get the tools he also went to the DMV and did the things he need to do for the licenses for the new cars.

The games begin

Wednesday Larry had to get to the office at 8:00 a.m. to begin putting in the Twi's on the new cars.  I dropped him off and went to mail some things for him and then I went to the store to get some fruit for the office to snack on.  By the time I got back they were almost finished with the Twi's and the office was teaming with the Elders and Sisters that had to bring their old cars in to get the new cars.  It was so fun to see them all.

Wednesday evening we had the Pinewood Derby at the ward house.  Sara came and she said that it was not as disciplined as the old unit they used to be in.  But the kids had a fun time.  Isaac won his first two races but then he lost in the third and fourth.  Sammy's car was hard to put the wheel on because he had decorated it with duck tape and it was sticking out next to the wheel and so the wheel was slanted so I think that is why his car was just a hairs slower than the other cars.  He lost all his races but he was happy.  Everyone got a participation ribbon and then the winners got red, yellow and blue.  Sammy got a ribbon so he did not care what color he got .

The white flowered thistle

Isaac also got his Bear awarded to him that evening.  I felt bad that Nathan could not be there because he had worked so hard to help him get his Bear.  Scouts is really important to Nathan and I think that is good.

Maggie and Sammy on our walk

Thursday morning I finished getting all my supply orders in for MLC so I got those printed out and began working on them.

Larry was worrying about how to get all the cars that he had in the parking lot moved because they were saying again that they were going to resurface the parking lot over the weekend and they wanted all the cars out of the parking lot at the building where the office is.  He got the Assistants to help him move most of them to a dead end cul-de-sac in front of our apartment complex.  It has worked good and so far no one has complained.

Strange growing Oak Tree makes for a great playground

Friday we worked more on orders and moving cars at the office.  I had felt pretty good all week but after trying to move only three boxes my Sciatica was acting up again even though the Physical Therapist had released me that morning as being better.

Maggie at dance

Larry had to drive to meet the missionaries from Cibolo to help them put on the Twi after they got a new windshield.  Last time he had this problem they made him put it back on but this time when he got there Safelight had glued it back on the windshield.  So we ended up with lots of time to kill before we met Sara to pick up the kids.  So, we went to Chick-fil-A and had dinner and talked and relaxed for a few minutes.  Then we went to Nathan's apartment where we had agreed to meet and were able to get in and get a few more things for the kids to take to our apartment for the time he is gone.  Sara was going to help us but because we got there early we had it all found and organized and were able to leave.

Friday night we just played games and figured out who was sleeping where.  Maggie wanted to play the Life Zapped game but we had to recharge the IPad it is on. We figured out how to get a show she liked on Amazon Prime and so that was something that she and the little boys enjoyed for most of the night.

Saturday morning we slept in.  We had breakfast and then I took Maggie to dance.  She looked so pretty in her leotard and I should have got a closer picture.  She is really growing taller and she just looked really pretty that morning.

When we got back we went to the park after eating and the kids played on the playground and Maggie and Sammy and I went for a short walk.  They had some thistles in bloom and they had white flowers so I was surprised because all the thistle blossoms that I have seen in Utah had Purple blossoms so I took a picture.  They also had an unusual shaped Oak tree in the park that I took a picture of.

The kids finally got tired and then we decided that we would go home and let them swim.  But only Isaac and Maggie wanted to swim and so Larry stayed with David and Sammy and I took the others to the pool.  I did not feel like swimming so I just watched.  Isaac had fun for a while using his snorkeling gear to swim.  Maggie made a friend with a girl named Evelyn and they played for a while.  Then Evelyn left and Maggie went to watch a Volley Ball Game that some Young Adult men were playing. They look very clean cut so I didn't think it would hurt.  Somehow she got them to play with her and she would catch the ball and other things and throw them back to them.  When Isaac had decide he had enough Maggie was not wanting to come home because she was having fun but I insisted.

Larry went shopping while I started dinner and got some food for treats.  He bought a chocolate, slow churned, no sugar added ice cream that was so good that we ate almost all the carton that night.  We also made s'mores from the supplies he bought.  He bought some giant marshmallow that were so big that they would only fit on the whole rectangular graham cracker after melting.

We watched part of the movie "Meet the Mormons" and then we did an activity from the friend before getting ready to go to bed.  The kids made hand prints to mail to the friend with something that they had done to serve others written on it.  It was a fun time.  Then we played a game of Life Zapped which Larry won.

When bedtime came it was easier to find beds for everyone with Nathan gone but I think the kids missed him because they kept asking where he was.

April 27th

Today was an interesting day.  We arose at 6:00 a.m. and read scriptures and conference talks and said prayer for an hour.  We then had breakfast and I went to Physical Therapy.  I still was not feeling well.  In addition to my hip hurting from the Sciatica I was aching all over which I think was Fibromyalgia but it is hard to tell sometimes.  Larry said that his feet were hurting so he did not want to exercise. 

It took me about and hour at PT and we did not do traction because I am thinking that may be what has been making me worse.  I came home and we got ready and went to Weight Watchers.  We both lost 2 lbs this week so we were feeling good about that.

After eating lunch at the apartment we went to the Mission Office.  Larry had a guy flying in to buy a car from him from Utah so he was focused on that and getting the new cars ready for Tiwis so he was in and out going to the DMV and the Airport and the Post Office.  I was working on my referrals and supply orders but most of the time wishing that I could go home and go to bed because I felt so awful. I also called and got and appointment with a Chiropractor to see if they could help because it seems that the PT is making me worse. I was also trying to work things out so that we could get the boys pinewood derby cars finished because Nathan was not able to get the help to finish them before he left.

About 2:30 p.m. I realized that I could not go any further with the supply orders until I went home and looked for my clip board that I had not been able to find in the morning.  I use a clipboard to take referrals and orders when I am out of the office.  So I went home.  I said a prayer on the way that I needed some help with my pain and that it was hard to function with what I was experiencing.  I went home and got the clipboard and got me a Weight Watchers ice cream bar and on the way back to the office I realized that I was feeling fine.  And I have felt fine for the rest of the day. I know God answers prayers.

About 5:00 p.m. we left to go to Converse to meet Sara with the kids and work on the cars.  She had the cars.  She also had a play practice this evening so we took the kids while she was at play practice.  We stopped and ate at Jack in the Box, one of Larry's favorite places to eat.

We asked Doug Emmett to meet us at Nathan's apartment so we could get some tools because he had the key.  He agreed to meet us at 6:45 p.m. when Sara wanted to meet us.  When he had not got there by 7:00 p.m. I texted him and he was on his way to get them from his son who took them to work with him.  He said he would be there in about 30-40 minutes.  We had been planning to take them to orange leaf for a treat after but we decided to go then.

Orange leaf is a fun frozen yogurt place that you can dispense your own yogurt and add your own toppings and make your own sundae.  I helped Maggie make hers and she always makes a lot.  She adds chocolate ice cream with pink lemonade and gummy bears so it is not what I want to eat then she sits down and takes one bite and is finished.  She has done this for about three times now.  Tonight she decided that she wanted a drink after getting her sundae and we said we would not buy a drink before she ate her sundae so she just sat and complained about needing a drink.  Finally she went into the restroom with me and drank water from the sink.  When we came back Larry was eating her sundae because he, "was not going to throw it away after paying for it."  So he got his sugar for the night.  Next time I will buy her a juice box.  Larry says there will be no next time.

When we got in the apartment we began to look for the tools for the derby cars.  We found everything except the dremel tool box was empty except for the handle .  We looked everywhere we could and could not find the parts to it.  I don't know where it went because when we worked on pinewood derby cars for the Elders vs. High Priests it was full and had all the parts in it.  We were frustrated.  Larry wanted to give up but I suggested that we say a pray that we could figure out how to finish the cars.  I ended up saying the prayers and got emotional while I was praying.  We made a few phone calls and Brother Smith in our ward said that he would help us on Wednesday before the pinewood derby contest at 5:30 p.m.  That seemed good but I guess that Larry realized how important this was to me because of my prayer and when we got home he agreed to try to find a dremel tool tomorrow and get some polished nails and work on the cars tomorrow.  So again I am feeling like God answers prayers.

Kirsten called tonight when we got home.  I talked to Kyle and explained to him that we would not be able to make it to his graduation but we would like him to come down to Texas after and spend some time with us.  He agreed to come on June 1-8th and so we will need to get the ticket purchased soon.  I also talked to Kirsten and Taylor for a while.

Well past time for bed.  Pleasent dreams.

April 26th and befoe

Today has gone by fast.  We slept in until 8:00 a.m. and then read scriptures and conference talks for an hour.  We had breakfast and showered and started to dress and it was 10:25 a.m. and we were almost late for church.

It was interesting because the theme today was the restoration of the priesthood and the first speaker spoke on the Ten Commandments.  The second speaker spoke on the Aaronic Priesthood and its importance but nothing about the restoration and the Third speaker talked on how Music has affected the Restoration of the Church instead of the Priesthood and the last speaker talked about the Importance of the two priesthoods working together.  I know that I probably did not have the right spirit or it would not have bothered me that no one spoke about the restoration of the Priesthood.

It has been a hard week for me.  For some reason my hips and back and legs are acting up and my Sciatica has been bad and all I could think about today in church was how much I hurt and maybe the Lord would give me credit for just coming.

After Sacrament meeting I decided to walk around a little before Sunday School class and ended up talking to others and walking the whole time.  It did help my legs some though.

Relief Society was based on Elder Hamula talk from October General Conference about the Sacrament and the Atonement.  It is an awesome talk that helps to focus on the importance of the atonement.  At the end she had us comment on how we apply the Sacrament and Atonement in our lives and there were some very good comments but one that I liked was that the Atonement can help us to overcome the hurts that others inflict on us because of no fault of our own.

Ciecli Rose Christiansen

Last week I didn't get the picture of Cieli Rose with her eyes open in the blog so I am adding it this week.

Monday morning I went to Physical Therapy at 7:30 a.m. feeling fine.  Walking fine.  I drove a van to pick up Larry from the Van rental place and could hardly walk.  I called the PT person and they said that sometime PT can do that.  During the day I worked on office work.  Larry had 11 new cars come in that he had to pick up from Toyota so he had the assistants and moving elders help him get them to the office parking lot.

Monday was the Senior Missionary dinner that we have after the Transfers.  It was in New  Braunfels this time at the Mamacitas restaurant they have there.  I was hoping that we could get Bob and Carol Vincent to meet us there as they have moved there from Utah but they were having health issues and couldn't make it.  Nathan was invited but he did not go so it was weird to be there by ourselves.

Elder Williams, Elder Clark and his sister, Sister Clark

After the dinner we went by Nathan's and took him a dinner and got the boys Scout uniforms and books so that we would have them for Wednesday.  I asked him if we could have a key for his apartment when we were gone but he said that he wanted to see about it.

Tuesday morning we went to San Marcos to pick up a car that Larry needed to have in San Antonio from a missionary and we gave him a different one.  We had breakfast with them at Jack in the Box.  I was feeling well this morning but for some reason I was stiff in all my leg muscles so my leg is a fluke. The only exersize that I did the day before was to hold in my stomach to build up my core. Larry spent the day getting that car ready to sell to a person flying down from Utah to buy it. I again worked on paperwork.  I got in about 45 boxes of Book of Mormons but was unable to get them put away because of my legs and back.

Elder and Sister Adair- Great people from Clearfield

Sometime during the day Nathan let me know that he was not going to give me a key but that I could pick some of the kids stuff up if I wanted before he left.  I was not happy. 

Tuesday night we went to the temple for Ward Temple night at 8:00 p.m.  It was a good session.

Elder and Sister Greer- Newly weds only been married a year

Wednesday morning we went to the office and worked most of the day until it was about time to get the kids for Scouts.  It rained all day long and was really wet.  Larry went to pick up the car that he was selling from Pep Boys and it took him and hour longer that he thought so we were slow picking up the kids but it worked out okay.  We got to McDonald's and got them some food.  We didn't have time for ice cream much to Sammy's chagrin but we make it to Scouts.  As we were driving there they said they were canceling Sammy's Scouts due to the rain on Facebook.  But Isaac had his Weblos meeting anyway.  They were supposed to go to a park and do a service project but it was too wet.  Isaac's leader planned something else but the others didn't.

Elder and Sister Williams and Elder and Sister Studevant

Sara got there late because their dog Roxy got lost and they were looking for her.  They were pretty sad.  She finally brought David and traded us kids about 7:20 p.m.  They didn't find Roxy that evening and Nathan volunteered that night to go look for her the next day but then she came home all muddy and such at about 3:30 a.m.  So that was good.  She is loved by the kids and Nathan and Sara.

We were able to help two people in our ward in the Family History Center that night and were able to help them get some names in Family Search Family Tree so they could take them to the temple.

We went by Nathan's after we dropped Isaac and David off and went to the apartment to get some of the kids stuff.  We were able to get their Ipads and Sunday Clothes and some of the snorkeling equipment but I could not find any bedding so we may have to have the kids sleep at Sara's and we will take them during the day

Elder and Sister Antuar are from Australia

Thursday I was really tired because of not sleeping well so Larry let me sleep in until noon and went to the office by himself.  It felt good but I could have slept the whole day. I was also still stiff in my legs.  I went in for the afternoon and worked diligently and accomplished quite a bit.  It also rained Thursday  in fact during the night it was really thundering and lightning.

I talked to mom for awhile in the morning after I woke up.  I was good to talk to her and she gave me some good advice.  Among which was to have the young Elders and Sisters help me with my boxes that needed put away.

Thursday afternoon we had an Elder Dittmar from the missionary office to visit for a while.  It turned out that he was origninally from San Antonio and was in the same stake or ward as the Williams's so they had a good time visiting with him as well as the President.

Nathan had Honey Bishop help him with the kids on Thursday so we had a night to go home and rest.

Friday morning I went to Physical Therapy at about 7:30 a.m.  I walked out of the house fine and when I got there and got out of the car I could hardly walk my sciatica hurt so much.  They worked on my back and helped me to do some traction but I have not got feeling better all weekend. They say that my spine is out of alignment and I have two areas in the lower back that are not opening.  Plus I have the aches of Fibromyalgia so I just do not feel good.

We worked in the office on Friday and were able to accomplish a lot.  I asked the assistants to help me move the boxes and they helped me move them all.  Larry spent the day out working on getting licenses on cars and working with tiwi's. We went grocery shopping that night and went home and went to bed because he was exhausted so we went to bed at 8:45 p.m.

I think that Nathan left on Saturday morning early for Utah to stay with Marcy for a month.  I will feel better with him there because he can do a lot for himself but he is still pron to falling and such.  Kirsten said that he got there and they had dinner with her and Marcus and Amanda Hadlock so at least I know he made it okay.

It was not a good night for me.  I woke up about every hours having to go to the bathroom.  About 4:00 a.m. after laying there and not being able to go to sleep for 15 minutes I got up and read for a while and then had breakfast and took a shower and went to the hairdresser at about 6:30 a.m.  I let Larry sleep because he had been so tired the night before.  I got there and felt fine as she was doing my hair.  Then when she took me to the wax room to do my eyebrows I started getting nauseated.  By the time I got home I was shaking all over and could hardly pour me some milk to drink as I felt like that would help.  Then I went to bed.  We read scriptures for a while but I didn't feel good and kept shaking and falling asleep.  I told Larry I wanted to sleep.  So I slept for most of the day. I never threw up and I only got up to eat. I was feeling better last night but right now I do not feel good again.  So I guess this is the whining blog for the week.

April 19th and before

Nathan moved out for good yesterday so it was just me and Larry that had to get ready for church despite the fact this was Nathan's week to have the kids.  We slept in.

We got to church early and sat where we usually do and when Nathan came in with the kids they came immediately to see us.  Nathan had Logan Ray from Woodlake ward that stayed with him this weekend.  He is barely 18 he looks like but they got the kids reasonably dressed and ready to be there and on time.  Sammy and Maggie were immediately wondering if they could come to our apartment today but I told them to ask Nathan and he said no.  But I was able to give them lots of hugs in Sacrament meeting.

Church was about the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration.  The Rosales family spoke.  It was the Mom and daughters first time speaking but they did a good job.  I missed most of the mom's talk because I was in the bathroom with Maggie.  The father was talking about how wonderful it is to have a temple in San Antonio and how it was before they had a temple when I came back.  He encouraged people to come to the temple as he works there.  He said there are times when the temple is not full. 

They also had the confirmation of 4 children that were converts baptized into the church from one family.  They ranged from about 14-8 or 9.  I talked to the 14 year old because I thought that he might be David's age and he seemed to really appreciate the contact.

Sunday School was about the Holy Ghost and why he is important.  They talked about how you need to have a witness from the Holy Ghost to know for sure if the church is true.

Relief Society was on the importance of studying the scriptures.  It was based on a talk by President Ezra Taft Benson.  They mentioned several blessings of studying the scriptures but one thing that stuck out to me is that if you continue to read them you will find answers to your problems and they will become real to you.  You will recognize that they are about real people just like you.

This week has been transfer week in the mission.  Mondays and Fridays I am doing physical therapy for my Sciatica at 7:30 in the morning.  That takes until about 9:00 a.m. so we are usually late on those days although on Mondays we do not go into the office early because the Assistants and the Sister Trainer Leaders are using the computers and we cannot get anything done.  So after we showered and dressed we went to Weight Watchers.  I lost .4 lbs and Larry lost 2 lbs so we at least lost this week.  Then we went home and ate lunch.  Nathan was there with his housekeeper packing up some of his stuff so we made him lunch.  He and Honey packed up most of his stuff in his bedroom and bathroom and most of the kids stuff that day.

Monday I spent most of the day catching up on the paperwork that I had to do.  Referrals, Baptisms and Confirmations, Monthly Reports Etc.  Larry was working on Tiwi reports and Accident paperwork.

Monday night we ate at home and watched Bones in anticipation that soon the TV would be gone because it is Nathan's.  We did not get home until about 7:00 p.m. because we were working some things out on our taxes with H&R Block. But we have that finished now.

Tuesday I worked on paperwork again. I also had to order the food for the meals we had to serve on Wednesday from Walmart and Blanco BBQ. I mostly held down the office as the Williamses had to go help feed the missionaries that were leaving the next day.  Larry was also out working on the cars that he had to get ready to sell and he went to the DMV to get paperwork for registrations.

Tuesday night because the temple was closed for cleaning we ate at home and watched Bones before prayer and Scripture and going to bed.  Larry and I went to bed early but I knew I had to get up to go and get a key from the Stone Oak Sisters for the Church for tomorrow.  Marcy texted me about 10:15 p.m. wondering if I knew if Nathan was okay because he had told her he would answer her back while she was at the Tax office and he quit answering at 7:22 p.m Utah time. She was worried that he might have fallen because that is easy for him to do.  So I called Ken Jackson that lives in the complex and he went over to look.  He said that the lights were all out but that the van was not there.  So I decided to call Honey Bishop his housekeeper and see if she had it.  Fortunately she did.  She said she had taken him some dinner and left at 7:15 p.m. and he was fine but he had said he was tired.  So after praying about it and feeling that things were okay then I called Marcy and told her that I thought he was sleeping and what I found out.  We talked for a while and then we went to bed about 11:00 p.m. Honey texted the next morning at 8:45 a.m. that "all is well."

Mission Leaders: Sister Shaffer, Sister Turpin, Elder Pew, Elder Calley, Elder Hatch, President McCullough(1st Counselor)  Moving Elders Elder Rallison, Elder Whitby and Elder Webb

Wednesday was our busy day for incoming missionaries although this time it was not too bad as we only had 5 missionaries come in this time.  We worked in the office in the morning and then left about 1:00 p.m. to get the food from Walmart for the lunch that we serve the missionaries when they get in.  We headed to Stone Oak and got things set up.  Unfortunately the planes were delayed because of a blizzard in Utah so we sat at the chapel for a while before anyone came.  We were amazed that they had had a blizzard in Utah because Larry checks the Utah mail every morning and it did not indicate a storm. The Stone Oak Sisters came to pick up their key and were there when the missionaries came in.  It was interesting because one of the missionaries knew a friend of Sister Tyree and he had been told to tell her hi and she was right there when he came in.  Tender Mercy!!

June, Elder Casey Hendricks, Larry one of our favorite Elders

Wednesday night we fed the missionaries their traditional Texas BBQ dinner to welcome them to Texas.  We worked hard and it turned out well.  We left a little early because of the small number of missionaries that were there.

Thursday we had to be at the Stone Oak Chapel at 7:30 a.m.  We made it fine.  We went through the orientation meeting and then they had the transfer meeting.  There were several changes.  Then at 10:30 a.m. we left to drive to Austin for the Transfer meeting there.  The transfer meeting was good in Austin also.  At the very end I went out to use the restroom and the Assistant to the President, Weston Peine, (that was here a year ago when we came and went home shortly after) was sitting in the foyer in a red t-shirt and jeans.  It took me a minute to recognize him but it was so good to see him.  He had come down to see a family he converted and to see if things might work out with a girl he knew down here. We took several pictures after the meeting with the missionaries.

Weston Piene and June.

Friday it rained all day. It was raining when I went to physical therapy.  It was a dreary day and my fibromyalgia was having a field day acting up.  I hurt so bad all day that I thought I would just as soon go to bed all day but I didn't.  I drove a van to Capps to pick up Larry after he dropped off a van there and when I got out my Sciatica was very bad again.  I could hardly walk.  It was weird because in the morning it was not bothering me at all at PT.  I pushed through the work of the day and then we left and went to Blanco BBQ and got some of their Chicken tenders.  We split a children's portion.  That is how big they are.  I was so sore and tired and Larry was tired so we went to bed when we got home.  I ended up sleeping about 12 hours again.

Saturday I woke up and my pain was gone and my hip did not hurt.  Go Figure?  It was suppose to rain all day but it cleared up and was a good day. 

I took Maggie to dance lessons for Sara as she had to take Hercules to the vet and Nathan had asked her to take her because he was moving.  She did a good job.  She has a knack for dancing.  We went to Chick-fil-A for lunch because that is Maggie's favorite and then I took her to Nathan's apartment because she was staying with him.  When we got there the ward was just helping him unload so I helped with that and then I went home.  I would have stayed to help him unpack but he started yelling at me because I started to answer a question that was for him (which I am trying to overcome) and so I just left.

I went home and took a nap with Larry and then worked on the blog all afternoon trying to get caught up.  Larry made dinner and worked on the house so I could have more time to work on the blog.  I don't know why it takes me so long but it does.  He says he also enjoyed the silence.  I miss the kids and Nathan too when he is nice.