December 15th

I cannot believe that it is getting so close to Christmas.  We will be leaving for Nathan's and to see John and Judy in a week.

Yesterday we went to the Family Search Center to work in the morning.  We were the only ones that came in though except for Marsha Edwards that works with us on the third Saturday.  I spent most of my time working on catching up on this blog that I had got so far behind on.  Larry found two censuses with a Great Grandfather on and was busy trying to reconcile the differences of the two.  The 1850 census only listed the initials of the children so he was frustrated about that.  And the 1860 census did not match up for age and place of birth.  I went in and attached a few sources when I got through by just using the "search records" button on the Family Tree person page for a few ancestors.  I still need to change the title of the city directories that I attached to Larry's grandfather that they called "Daddy Jack".

We had talked to Steve Libby about fixing our stair railing and handrail and a few ceiling problems and he called and wanted to do that when we got home.  It looks great and hopefully we can keep it that way for a while.  We had to go to mom's to help her so we just left him here working with his son, Bowan and when we got back it was all finished.  Now we just need to figure out how much it all cost.

Michelle called while we were at the Family Search Center and asked if we could tend Kallise while they went to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Program last night.  Kallise is only seven and you have to be eight to attend anything at the conference center.  Because they were planning on leaving at 4:00 p.m. we took her with us to mom's and she was great fun.

We did some vacuuming for mom and some things on the computer.  Then she wanted to go grocery shopping at Kohler's in Lehi.  We followed her around as she got her things, but she was glad we went because it was really slushy in the parking lot and she was afraid that she might fall.  She bought a donut for her and Kallise to share Larry and I declined. Then she wanted to go to Smith's Marketplace.  I thought it was still in American Fork but she took us up to the Alpine Highway above Lehi and we went there.  I could not believe how it had built up there just since I moved from Vernal.  If you remember Mom went and traded some pajamas she bought online at Macy's a few weeks ago and I could not get her to try them on.  They looked way too big to me but Mom just bought them.  It turns out that they were mislabeled and they were actually 2x which is not the size my mother will ever be!!  Anyway Smith's marketplace had pajamas on sale for $19.99 so she wanted to go there rather than go to Macy's and trade the others.  We found some that she liked and they said XL so I hope they fit her this time.  She has sure had a hard time getting some pajamas!!

When we got back to her house it was about time for us to leave so we could get back for the Ward Christmas Party.  We got home in time to rest for about 30 minutes so I plugged in my phone because it had died at mom's and I had not taken a charger.  Ifound that Nathan and Kirsten had tried to text me.  Kirsten had called while we were at Mom's and wanted to know if we could tend Taylor so they could go Christmas Shopping.  I told her we could take her to the Ward Christmas Party.  So I texted her that we were home.  Initially she was going to bring her but then she texted that Taylor wanted to stay with Kyle and Brooke.  I texted Nathan back and we talked for a few minutes but then he didn't answer so he must have been busy.

We went to the Ward Party with Kallise.  We sat by some empty nesters at the party.  They had white paper on the tables and crayons so Kallies went to work drawing a picture of herself and several things to go with it.  I wish I had taken a picture of it.  Then she and Larry started playing this game where she was meowing like a kitty and he was looking for the kitty under the table.  Then he was challenging her to do math problems and was very impressed at how smart she was about math.  She could do all of the different types of math problems and she is only in 2nd grade.  I was impressed at how much he was playing with her.  He doesn't always do that.

We ate way too many cookies at the party and they had baklava so I had that before dinner.  They had a baked potato bar and then desserts that were donated.  It was all very good.  They had a program but it was hard to hear from where we were.  They had the primary and the youth sing some Christmas songs and then they had made video of all the primary children answering questions about Christmas.  The Bishop also gave a nice talk reminding us of Presidents Monson's plea in the devotional to Remember Christ for Christmas.

We went home and Kallise played on the Super Nintento while Larry watched.  Again a first I have not seen him spend so much time with a grandchild except maybe Taylor.  I watched a couple of episodes of Elementary on the TV and then Larry and I read the first chapter in "Preach my Gospel"  starting to get ready for our mission.  Michelle and the family did not get there to get Kallise until about 11:30 p.m. which was expected.  Ethan said it was good  but he was tired.

This morning Larry and I did not want to get up.  We read scriptures and then lay in bed until about 8:00 a.m.  Because church is at 9:00 a.m. we finally got up.  We were slightly late which hasn't happened for a while. 

The theme of Sacrament Meeting was "How coming to Christ can make us happy".  There was a returned missionary from another ward that talked and gave a great talk showing that in Lehi's dream of the Tree of Life he teaches that we are happy if we come to the gospel because of God's love for us and yet to be truly happy we need to participate in the fruit of the gospel by living the things that Christ teaches and that is how we truly become happy in this life.  It was a great talk.  I wish I could remember more of it.  The last speaker talked about the happiness that we can experience if we will do our family history work.  That is something I can testify is true!

I substituted in Primary today in the 5-6 year old class.  It was so fun to be in Primary again.  They were learning some new Christmas songs.  One was about what Samuel the Lamanite said about the birth of Christ:

Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus

Said Samuel, "Within five years

A night will be as day,

And Baby Jesus will be born 

In a land far, far away."

Hosanna! Hosanna!

Oh, let us gladly sing

How blessed that our Lord was born;

Let earth receive her King!

Across the sea, in Bethlehem,

Lord Jesus came to earth

As Samuel had prophecied,

And Angels sang his birth

 Then they had a new song about wanting to hold the Baby Jesus.

Could I Hold The Baby

It's Christmas Eve, I'm tucked in bed.  I'm snug and warm, my prayers are said.

I start to think about the first Christmas night.

The manger warm, the baby fair, the star that led the shepherds there,

And what I'd say to Mary as she smiled at the little Christ child.

(Chorus)  Could I hold the baby?  Will he smile at me?

Does He know why He is born and what his life will be?

Could I hold the baby and tell Him of my love?

How glad I am that Jesus Christ was sent from heaven above!

Now ev'ry day the whole year through, I'll think of all that I can do

To be like Him and live as He showed me how.

And I'll remember that Christmas toys are not as dear as girls and boys

That Jesus loves each one of us endlessly.  He loves you and me.

(Chorus)

How glad I am that Jesus Christ was sent from heaven above!

I love Primary songs.  I wish I could include the music also!

The lesson in class was on how the children could be good examples of how to live like Jesus did.

We thought we had an appointment with the Bishop to talk to him about our mission but Larry talked to him and he said he needed to talk to us on Wednesday, when he is at the church, after Larry's medical papers are in.  Larry told me on Friday that the Bishop wanted to talk to us about our Mission because he was concerned about our finances.  Some how I took that that he was going to tell us we did not have enough money so I have been stewing about that all weekend.  The Larry says that is not what he told me.  So I am feeling a little crazy about that.

This afternoon after eating lunch Larry put on BYU TV on and we started to watch it.  I actually slept through a great deal of it but I did wake up to hear a talk by Tad Callister of the Seventy that he gave at BYU Idaho at a devotional that I thought was the best talk I have heard about how to keep the law of Chastity in this crazy world and why it is important.  You can read it here:  http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2013_1_22_Callister.htm

 Then I finally got up and did some pacing for a while.  As I did I listened to a talk that Bishop Gerald Causse gave at a BYU devotional on Friday.  I had so much good information on how to overcome your weaknesses that I decide I wanted to post that link also:  http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=2157

Then I came in my office to type this blog and to try to get some calls made today.  While I was working Larry went for a walk outside and then he fixed dinner.  He is a great husband!  So glad I married him!

December 9th and before and after

Well I suppose I should finish out the day for Saturday before I move on. 

I worked all of the afternoon and part of the evening on the curriculum because it was snowing and I didn't want to go out in it and I needed to get it done.  I was able to get several pages written on the media that are used for advertising and start on public relations before the night was over.  I worked so long on that that I did not feel like blogging that night.  Again I was tired.  Larry mostly watched TV that day but he may have been doing something on the computer.

I also spent some time on the phone texting with Nathan and Sara separately.  I am frustrated that he has received a 60% classification for somethings on his discharge and retirement but I really do not understand it.  Sara said that he has 100% for depression and speech.  I spent some time talking with Sara about the new place and suggesting that she get a lawyer to help her.  I talked to Nathan about how he liked the place.  He said it is okay but he really doesn't know what to think.  I said something about if he worked really hard he could go home eventually and he answered, "I have been trying to get better for a long time.  I don't know if I can try harder."  I felt bad after that because I know he is working hard and I forget that he has been trying so hard to get back anything that he can do.  I am sure it must be frustrating to be trying so hard and having so many problems to deal with.  Sara said that the new place is making him be more self-reliant, which is not bad, so I asked him if he could dress himself yet because I know they were working with that at the VA but he said that he can't dress himself yet.  Then he said that his place has its highs and its lows.  I feel so frustrated being here and wanting to help and not being able to do anything except try to understand.

Sunday's Snowfall

Sunday we had a wonderful Sacrament meeting themed "Come unto Christ"  Several people talked but the last Brother Foy gave an interesting analogy.  He told about how he had gone to Cancun with his wife after a lengthy recovery from a collapsed lung.  He said that they went out on the boat and they were going to go snorkeling.  He likes to snorkel and so when they stopped and they began to prepare when he got his snorkeling equipment he just jumped in without a life jacket.  He was having so much fun snorkeling that he didn't notice that the current was sweeping him away from the boat until the spirit told him to look up.  He was about a mile from the boat.  He said that he started to swim and he was still being pushed back.  He began to panic because he did not have his life vest on and so he said a prayer to Heavenly Father for some help.  Shortly after that he had a small boat pull up along side him and asked him if he needed help.  He said he did not know why but he just kept swimming.  So the boat left.  He likened it to sometimes we ask Heavenly Father for help but then we do not listen to his promptings and we try to do things for ourselves when it would have been easier to listen to the prompting and so what he tells us to do.  We often don't accept the help when it is given.  He eventually made it back to the boat but it would have been easier to get into the boat.

We are taking the Marriage and Family Relations class in Sunday School.  The lesson this week was on the Family Proclamation to the World and a talk that Elder Boyd K. Packer gave in 1993 entitled, "For Time and All Eternity"  We spent our time talking a about the proclamation and the timeliness of it's teachings.

In Relief Society we had a lesson on Joseph Smith from the writings and speeches of Lorenzo Snow.  It was interesting to me to realize that Lorenzo Snow had the opportunity to know Joseph Smith intimately and that he spoke so highly of his character.

Snow in the back yard, about a foot

We went home and fixed a quick lunch of our favorite Quesadilla's with fresh salsa and then our Home teachers came to visit us.  As it had snowed the night before we had to hurry and shovel some of the snow so they could get to our house.  We had not got up early enough to get it shoveled before church. We got about 8-10 inches.  I took a picture of the snow and posted it on Facebook in the morning.  After they left then Larry went to his Home Teaching Families and I spent about an hour shoveling snow on the sidewalk to the north of the house.  Our neighbor had used his snow blower on  the snow on the front public walk.  Later Larry came home and used the snow blower on the driveway.

I went in to find the story "The Gift of the magi" by O. Henry on the computer.  I had agreed to decorate a table about a story for the Relief Society Christmas Dinner on Sunday.  While I was working on it Nathan texted me and we talked for a while as I prepared the story to email it to Merrilee Morgan who was in charge of the program and the tables.

While I was talking to Nathan I remembered that it was Maggie's birthday and Nathan reminded me that it was my sister, Annette's birthday.  I tried to text Sara to Skype with Maggie for her birthday but she wasn't home so it never worked out.  Larry called Matthew because his birthday was on Friday and we had a good time talking with him about his birthday.  He said that they are having a party next weekend and going to have three TV's hooked up downstairs so they could play video games.  I always like talking to Matthew because he is so energetic.  Later in the evening Annette commented on my snow picture on Facebook and it reminded me again to call her for her birthday and we had a good talk.

At 6:00 p.m. we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on TV.  It had some really good talks.  I was especially interested in a story about how the song "Far Far Away on Judea's plains was written.  Apparently the author was asked by one of the leaders of the church in St. George to write a song for a celebration they were having in St. George for the holidays.  He prayed and tried to write a song but it didn't come to him for a while.  Then one night he was awakened in the night with the song and words in his head.  His wife held a burning piece of flannel over something for a light as he tried to write it out so he would remember it.  I had always thought that the song was just one of the traditional Christmas carol's so it was interesting to find out it had Mormon roots.

Monday we got up and did the usual routine in the morning.  When we got home from the Gym we ate lunch and then I started working on cleaning my desk.  It was such a mess that I had a hard time working on the curriculum on Saturday.  I found the theater tickets that Erick and Heather had given us for our birthdays.  I also found a gift check to Baskin and Robbins for $2.00 worth of something there. I also put several things in the DI pile and threw a lot away but I finally got my desk organized so I did not feel like I was working in a mess.

Nathan texted me again and we talked back and forth.  He was concerned that they wanted to give him a shot for blood clots in his stomach and wanted to know what I thought. He had told them they could give it to him when he was asleep and wanted to know if I thought that was okay.  I told him to ask them if it was safe to give it that way and if they really had to give it to him in his stomach because I have heard that is a painful way to get shots.

Kirsten did not want to do FHE this week and maybe for a while because she got a new job  and she works Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the evening.  So I got the idea that we could use our movie tickets and go see a movie for Family Home Evening.  We looked on line and Disney's Frozen was playing at the place where we had the tickets so we went to see that.  It was a good movie.  Very well done but it was not my favorite movie.  It had a good message about love that I appreciated.  It was an AMC theater that has the recliner seating so we laid back and watched the movie in comfort.

Tuesday I spent the morning looking for Christmas decorations that I could use to decorate the table for the Relief Society Christmas party.  I spent a lot of time going through boxes and running up and down stairs.  I found some things for the table and I also found some decorations to put out that are nice for Christmas but not a lot of work.  Larry and I decided that because we are going to Texas for Christmas we are not putting up the big tree.  We have a small tree about 2 ft high that I got out so I was not such a Scrooge.  I actually got as many points running around working on that as I usually do going to the gym.  So I got my exercise.  Larry went to the gym while I worked on that.

I took the things to the church at 3:00 pm and Larry came too to help the High Priests set up the tables for the dinner.  Then I went to see Dr. Flitten because my foot has been cramping up when I walk.  I have also had some callouses on my right foot and on a lot of my toes.  He cut part of the callous off on my right foot and my toes.  It didn't even hurt and gave me some cream to buy to keep on it.  He also put a pad in one of my shoes that has been making the callous under the inner sole and told me next time I buy shoes to get a half size bigger.  It felt a lot better when I walked on it after the Relief Society Dinner.  When I got back Larry had already set up the table for me so I didn't have to do much of anything.  Thoughtful husband!

When I got home we decided to go to Bowman's to get some bananas and my prescriptions that needed refilled and the cream he told me to get.  The cream was as much as all my prescriptions combined.

The dinner was great.  It was so much fun.  And I just ate the dinner so I had about 30 extra points for the day.  After the dinner Larry and I went to the gym so we were up kind of late that night.

This morning I got up at 7:00 a.m.  Larry was fasting for a medical appointment for today at 10:00 a.m. and he wanted to go to the gym early.  He left and I was coming but I ended up calling Mom and talking to her about Aunt Donna.  Merrilee had messenged me on Facebook that she was in the hospital for low sodium and then that they had put her in a care center at the Dr. recommendation for 10 days.  Mom and I had a good talk about a lot of things.  It has been good to have her live a little longer than Dad.  Dad was always the one that wanted to talk to us and I think it is helping me to understand her better and learn more about her family to not have him there to dominate the conversation.  Not that Dad was bad but he tended to be the one that talked all the time up until a few months before his death.

After that I got ready and went to the Gym.  I missed Larry because he had already gone to the doctor.  When I got home he came home within a few minutes.  I was surprised because besides the physical they had told him that he needed to talk to Dr. Flitton about his feet and get a stress test.  It made me realize that I am in better health than I sometimes realize.  Of course he had to do those things because of his diabetes.

After lunch I worked on the Marketing Curriculum until about 4:00 p.m.  Then my visiting teachers came to visit and we visited for about an hour.  I texted my cousin Merrilee to see if I could get her to go to Weight Watchers but she said she didn't feel well enough (then she posted she went Christmas Shopping that night on Facebook).  But that was okay with me.  Larry and I went to the gym.  Then we went to Baskin and Robbins with the Gift Certificate that I found.  It just happended that they have a two for one sundae promotion on Wednesdays so we were able to both get a sundae for $2.83 instead of $4.49 for one.  We got the Winter White Cherry Fudge with Fudge Topping.  It was heavenly.  Larry also got a scoop of Peanut butter fudge ice cream in his but I didn't want to ruin my sundae.

Thursday morning Larry had his appointment with Dr. Flitten so after the usual routine I  worked on the Marketing Curriculum while he was gone.   When he came home he said that Dr. Flitten thought his feet looked good.  His VA doctor said that his feet looked better than most diabetic feet that he has looked at so he is doing good.  After we had lunch we went to the Gym to workout.

In the afternoon we went to the Salt Lake Temple.  That way we thought we could get a parking place easier and we were right.  We left the house about 2:30 p.m. and got into a session by 4:00 p.m.  We were out of the session by 6:00 p.m. so we were able to eat dinner at the temple cafeteria and then we went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert.  We got there about 6:50 p.m.  You have to be there about a half hour early or you loose you chance for a seat even with a ticket.  The program was a wonderful celebration of Christmas.  It was just a fun date afternoon with the temple and the concert. Larry and I had a great time.  As usual it was really cold on Temple Square and I was a dunce and only wore my suit jacket so I was really cold between buildings. I guess we should have taken some pictures but we were too cold to worry about it.  We are so lucky that Daniel is in the Bell Choir and can get us tickets.

Friday we went to our Employment mission.  It was pretty busy in the morning but in the afternoon it slowed down.  Frank agreed to have our last day as December 20th next week so we just have one more time working there.  We will miss the people there.  They kept telling us that they would not know what to do without us so it made us feel worthwhile.  It has been a good mission for both of us.

It was a dreary day all day and the moisture was freezing in the air and so it was kind of like light snow.  The sky was gray and white like it gets when it snows but it did not seem to be really snowing.

After we ate dinner we went to the gym for about an hour and then we came home and watched two shows of "Elementary"in Xfinity On demand.

Busy Week

Well this week was so busy that in the evening I just wanted to go to bed rather than blog.

Tuesday morning we got up at 5:00 a.m. and went to the Ogden Cannery to help can beef stew.  We got there about 7:00 a.m.  Larry worked measuring carrots and onions to put into the mix.  I worked at a place on the assembly line where I had to make sure that all the ingredients were inside the can.  If not I was to pick it up and put it in.  When things were going slow at first it was not so bad but when it got going steady I felt like Lucy in the chocolate factory when they moved it up.  Sometimes the meat would stick to the side of the can and it took three or four times of trying to grab it before it went in.  We worked there until 11:00 a.m.

I made the mistake of wearing my suede walking shoes and they got stew all over the front.  I tried washing them twice to see if it was maybe fake suede but I haven't checked yet to see if they dried properly.  They were all covered with grease and white spots when I got home.  Note to self.  Wear washable shoes to the cannery!

When we got home after eating lunch I started working on the curriculum that I am writing.  I am trying to finish up the last three chapters before Christmas and it is taking me way too long.  I am so frustrated with this whole thing and pray each day that I can get it finished quickly.  It is a very hard project for me.

Nathan texted me when I was working that he was going to move from the VA soon. I asked him some questions about it but he didn't know anymore he said.  I wondered if he was confused so I texted Sara and she confirmed that he was being moved the next day.  I was shocked.  She was busy picking up kids from school so she said that she would update the caring bridge site later that evening.

This is what she posted:
"So....

These last few weeks have been pretty terrible. They told me at the beginning of November that Tricare denied sending Nathan to the Core Rehab center in Kyle, TX that we had been hoping he would get into. I was told I needed to consider other options, since Nathan may be looking at a discharge of early December. This was around the 5-8 of November. Melinda and I went and chose from several facilities. The next week, I asked all of the staff to come together to discuss options and possibly pushing back his discharge till after the holidays so Nathan could get thru em in a place he is comfortable. The doctor over Nathan was on vacation that week, so I wasn't able to talk with him, but I expected my concerns to be addressed. I also told them where I wanted Nathan to be moved and they said they would apply for that. The next week, the week before thanksgiving, Tuesday it was, the doctor came back from vacation and told the social worker, who told me (the docs don't like to deal with me)that he would not move discharge back and it would be taking place on December 2. Which I was more or less (mostly less) satisfied with b/c I had chosen another good rehab center. He is in an acute center now and the new one would be post acute. His therapy and everything would be happening at the new place. I was upset that they couldn't hold off the discharge by he has made so much progress where he is, but they assured me that he was reaching a "plateau" and his body needed "a break" to regenerate. The therapists told me they were torn bc he has made so much progress and they didn't want to see him go, but they felt pressure bc acute facilities are only supposed to be short term and he has been there 7 months. But I felt confident he would still get help and rehab in the new post acute facility. Meanwhile his retirement papers are quickly being pushed thru and I am making runs to jag to get those straight bc they evaluated him incorrectly. Anyone who has been around Nathan knows that he is more than 60% disabled and so we are fighting to get %s changed and special monthly compensations put back on that someone at the VA took off. Ugh. So anyways, the Thursday before Thanksgiving, I was called into the office of his Army case worker who proceeded to tell me that I had until the following Monday at 8am to choose a place or the decision would be taken from me. What?! I chose a place! Apparently it was a no go. The Army was requiring I chose from a list of five places that are both under the Tricare/va coverage. I freaked! Spent that Sunday driving to these five places, completely discouraged by what I was finding. Completely! I called the case worker and the va federal recovery coordinator in tears bc I felt my wants weren't being respected. I had already chosen a place and was ok if it was only covered by Tricare, I would worry about the va coverage when he is retired. So (this is the week of thxgvng) I spoke w them Monday morning and they said they would try to get it cleared at the place I originally wanted him. Tuesday they called back and said that the va social worker said there were no beds at the rehab center I wanted him in. I had to choose from the list of five I had been given the previous week, (all the while dealing with jag and trying to get special extensions on his retirement paperwork so we could get his monthly retirement pay up to where it should be)... (And dealing with a horrible chest cold/flu).... And Sam's diagnosis was also fully upped to autism spectrum this week, which we knew but it was still a step back and think moment.... So I had to chose.
I chose a place close to our church in the hopes that he would have more visitors from people he loved, as his visits have really tapered off, which has caused stress on both of us. It's not my favorite choice, but it was the least evils. A "skilled nursing facility".
Wednesday I was told it had been approved and he would be moved this week, after thxgvng. My dad came for thxgvng which was wonderful. And it passed too quick.
Monday morning, yesterday, I had a feeling I should call the rehab facility I originally wanted and see if there were in fact I beds, as I have been feeling lately like the VA docs just want to put him somewhere but still bring him back there for outpatient therapy, which makes no sense if they say he has plateaud and they think he needs a break. But I felt like they wanted the glory of still helping him, without the actually responsibility of housing him and if I put him in another rehab facility, they would relinquish control of his rehab, so that was a nogo from them. I called the rehab place but went to voicemail. Twenty minutes later the army rep from there called me and asked if I was still interested bc he hadn't heard from anyone. It old him that I had been told there were no beds. He told me they had plenty. So I called my army social worker upset and feeling lied to. Anyways, needless to say there's some BS about acute vs post acute vs skilled nursing and the number of rehab hours he would get at each... The VA docs talked the rehab guy down and told him that nathan needs skilled nursing and not another rehab facility, which I don't get bc they plan to bring him back there for rehab several days a week. So, I spent another hour of tear filled phone calls trying to convince someone to listen to me and let Nathan continue to work from the facilityI chose. No go.
He is being moved tomorrow to the skilled nursing facility by our church. He will receive rehab an hour or two a day, share a room with someone, and possibly be sent to the va for outpatient rehab a few times a week.

It was out of my hands and I've done all I can.

Nathan asked the doctor last week when he would be discharged and the doc said "I don't know".... Which is a nice way of stretching the truth and completely unfair to Nathan, who feels like he has had little say in a any of it, but that makes two of us."

Needless to say I was so frustrated.  Frustrated by the fact that this had happened but also frustrated that Sara had not reached out to get some help from our family.  I feel like we need a family fast to get some help with the disability classification.  Larry is classified as 70% disabled with his diabetes so there is so way that Nathan is only 60%.  I also told Sara to call her congressman but Mom mentioned that maybe she should get a lawyer.  I haven't talked to her about that but I think I will text Larry my brother and see if he can recommend someone.

We went to the gym in the evening and went to bed early because we had to pick up BJ and Holly in the morning at 7:00 a.m.

Wednesday we got up at 5:00 a.m. again.  I know that some people have to do that everyday as I once did for work but for Larry and I we are really stretching when we get up that early.  Although I don't know why as we survive.

Anyway we went to get BJ and Holly at the airport.  They got in a little early so they were frozen by the time that we got there.  I forgot to mention yesterday that it snowed and the temperatures dropped from the 60's during the day to the teens and 20's.  They had just left Hawaii with 70 degree temperatures!  It was so good to see them and have a chance to talk to them for a minute.  Because they had flown all night and not got good sleep they went to bed for a while when we got home.

June and Larry in mission picture

While they were sleeping we decided to go to the temple in Bountiful.  We hurried and got dressed.  Before we went down we went to our neighbors Brent Peterson and had him take a picture of us dressed up for our mission papers.  Then we went down and as we were going in the temple I realized even before we got to the desk that I had forgot my recommend.  So we turned around and went back.  With the recommend in hand and about 30 minutes later we entered the temple and had a great experience.  No throwing up today.  Larry was able to do the work for another one of his uncles.

When we got home about 1:00 p.m. BJ and Holly were just getting up and dressed.  BJ wanted to make french toast for them so we all had some.  I began making salsa because we had bought the ingredients for some and it needed to get made.  It was fun talking and visiting with BJ and Holly as we worked and ate.  When I finished the salsa and cleaned up the kitchen I told them I had to work for a couple of hours.

When I went to work I needed to read some information so I could understand what to write.  I had a hard time staying awake at the temple and I found myself falling asleep in my chair.  Finally at 4:00 p.m.  I went in and joined Larry for a nap for an hour.  So I only "worked" for one hour that day.

Holly and BJ at the Utah Jazz game

At 5:00 p.m. I got up and cleaned some strawberries and we ate those with vanilla ice cream
and then we went to Salt Lake with BJ and Holly to go to a Utah Jazz game. We parked at the Gateway so Holly wanted to go get some cookies at a store there. We got some exercise as it was about 3 blocks away and the Gateway mall is outdoors so we were cold. We got about two for each of us and then we went to the game.  Apparently they have a deal where you can buy a ticket with Pizza for dinner so we all got a Papa John's individual pizza and a drink and went to enjoy the game.  It was a good game until the end.  The Jazz was ahead most of the game but then could not make many shots in the Fourth Quarter and ended up loosing it to the Pacers.  It was a better game than I thought it was going to be considering that the Pacers are #1 in the league and the Jazz is at the bottom.

I learned that an individual pizza is not necessarily the amount you should eat if you want to lose weight however.  The pizza was 24 points by it's self.  And I am sure that the cookies were about 5 points each so I had about 48 points for the day again.  I did get a diet drink though!

Brooke, Holly, Kirsten, BJ, Kennedy, Jon, and Taylor at party

Thursday we slept in until 8:00 a.m.  Then we went to the gym.  We came home and had lunch and I began working on curriculum.  I was able to start writing the chapter.  At 2:20 I went to get a mammogram because I have to have it for my mission papers.  Then I came home and wrote until 5:00 p.m. when we headed to Logan for the Family Party we were having at Erick's new apartment there.

The party was so fun.  We had everyone there that lives in Utah except Michelle and her family.  Heather had cooked a roast and potatoes and carrots and everyone made something to add to it.  We bought a cake topped with Strawberries and custard and cream that looked wonderful so I had some but it was not that good.  BJ and Holly gave us some cookies that they brought in Hawaii that are dipped in chocolate.  They are sooo good.  Too good they are 4-5 points each depending on the type of chocolate they are dipped in and they are about 1x2 inches.  They also offered to pay $150.00 of our fare to come to Hawaii.  Now we just need to find the other money.  I was also impressed that Kirsten's husband Jon came.  He does not always come to family parties so I was grateful he would come.  They girls also were able to come as it was on a Thursday evening when Jon and Kirsten have them.  It was fun because when we got there Ryker came and gave me a big hug around my legs.  Heather said that he has been missing having grandparents close.

Erick, Heather, Brooke, Kirsten, Larry and BJ at Party

Friday we had our LDS Employment mission.  We got there and forgot that we closed early that day for a "Staff Meeting"  which was actually a Christmas Dinner at Golden Corral.  I tried to be good but I forgot that their fudge is 9 pts per serving so I put it on my ice cream.  So my meal was 22 pts.  Larry didn't even worry about points for that meal. So if we loose weight this week it will be a miracle.

We went home and laid down for a while and had a great relaxing afternoon.  Mom called and said that we should not come down on Saturday in the storm so I may have some time on Saturday to write the curriculum.  I updated her on the happenings in our family and she told me about her carpet getting cleaned and what was going on there.

Then we went to the gym.  I don't know if it was resting for the afternoon but I was really tired at the gym and almost couldn't get in my 2 miles for the evening.

I am writing this from the Family Search Center on Saturday morning.  We have to work until noon.  It is predicted to snow a lot today so we have not had anyone come in today.  Larry is working on getting some more of his ancestors that need work done qualified.  I got a packet full of information on the new goals of Family Search last night in the mail.  It said "Dear Missionary" so I guess someone does not have me on the list of released missionaries.  I was excited to get it.  I need to help some sisters in my ward and I decided that the "My Family" Book that they just brought out might be a way to start.  I needed 2 booklets and only had one and we have no money to spend.  So I asked Heavenly Father to help me find a way to get the other book.  He is so awesome in the way he answers prayers.  Now I have no excuse.  I have to take it to them and start helping them.  The Gospel is true and God answers prayers.

Dec 2

Well the day started out pretty good.  I slept in until 8:00 am and I did not set my alarm because I was up so late last night.  And this time Larry slept in with me.

I stayed up at first last night because I started automatching in Rootsmagic the file I have for my ancestors with Family Search.  If you don't stay there the computer goes to sleep and the program will not auto match if the computer is asleep.  That finally finished about 11:00 p.m. Then I went to email a picture to Carla Whittaker in the ward for the Christmas party on the 14th and when I went to look for more pictures I discovered that somehow my pictures of the slides that I am trying to get ready to copy onto CD's was deleted.  I went into my Carbonite backup and found the picture file after looking for about an hour for the pictures on the computer.  It was there thank heaven but it really takes a long time to restore a file.  And restoring a file is the same as auto matching.  If the computer goes to sleep then it quits.  I waited for the first file to restore and went in to see if it was there and realized that it had only backed up part of the file and that there was more missing.  I started the restore process for that but I could not stay up long enough to wait for it as I was really getting tired.  I decided to see if it would finish when I was asleep but it did not so I had to get it finished this afternoon.

 We did all the morning rituals and then went to Weight Watchers.  I was surprised because I lost 3.8 lbs today after all of the high point days last week.  Probably because I fasted yesterday.  I only have 2.8 lbs to go before I am at a goal weight that I can stop having to pay for weight watchers.  I was excited but Larry gained again so he was not happy.

After we went to the gym and work for about an hour and a half.  Larry always gets done before me and instead of doing more he just sits and waits for me.  I think, "why don't you take advantage of the time to do more."  But he says that he is doing more than me so I guess it shouldn't bug me.

We went to Bowman's and bought some food so we have several new things for this week.  We just went for Bananas which we cannot live without, we have decided, but we ended up getting about $75 worth of groceries.

Kyle borrowed Larry's computer for the weekend and Kirsten came to get the present for BJ while she was down to the dentist and forgot it so Larry went to get it after lunch. I went to work on the bills at first but found that the one file had not downloaded so it took me about an hour to download that plus some drama with Jon and Kirsten was going on then.

I worked on the bank account so we would know how much money we have.  After I subtracted all of the bills that need to come out automatically and what we have spent.   We have $70.19 left over so that was kind of a bummer.  Again it is only the 2nd day of the month and we are almost out of money.  Of course I need to add that we get paid on the 4th Wednesday of the month for some of it.  But at least we had enough to cover the bills that we have and we have bought about $300.00 worth of Food with the pay checks we just got last week.  Part of the problem though was that I thought I had gone in and stopped payment on our house payment with Wells Fargo and then when I went in to look it had been paid.  I swear I have Alzheimers lately with some of the things I forget.  So that was $1195 that we should have had because we are supposed to close on our loan this week soon.

Larry fixed dinner so I could finish up the budget.  He fixed pork chops and vegetables with potatoes and cantaloupe.  It was yummy.

We went to the Empty Nester Family Home Evening tonight.  It was fun.  They played a lot of games and we played songs with the Peterson's pipe bells.  It was crazy how many of them could not follow directions though.  I was disappointed because they did not have a lesson but I guess who ever was in charge thought we needed a  Christmas Party instead.  But it was fun.  They had about 15 there this time.

Larry and I walked over and back.  It was starting to rain a little when we were coming home.  It was warm.  Larry didn't even wear a coat.  We got a few sprinkles on us but we were not wet.  It is supposed to snow tomorrow so maybe it was getting started.

Yesterday and Today

Church was so wonderful today.  In Fast and Testimony meeting many people bore witness of the Savior and of his characteristics and humility that allowed him to come to the earth and die for us so that we might live again.  One person pointed out that he could have come in great glory because he was already a God but he came as a mortal to accomplish the atonement for us because he loves us and because that was God's plan.  I didn't feel like I needed to stand today and it was a good thing.  The Spirit was so strong that the meeting went 10 minutes beyond when it was supposed to end.  A family in our ward named the Standings both bore witness of the comfort and healing that came to them because of the ward fast for their daughter who had to have her hip operated on when they found out it was out of joint.  Apparently it was something that they were not aware of and when they went to the Dr. to find out why she was limping the Dr. freaked out and wanted to operated that day but then after she was given a blessing they calmed down and did some homework before operating.  It appears that she is going to be fine.  The power of the priesthood is amazing.

In Sunday School Larry talked me into going to the Marriage and Family Relations class that the Bishop wants everyone in the ward to take.  I admit I only went because the Bishop asked because I feel like Larry and I have a great marriage and relationship.  I was so excited though because Nathan has texted me often and asked me what to say to Sara and I never knew what to say except to pray about it.  But today we were taught that one of the most important things that we can do for our marriage is to tell our spouse everyday and often several times a day that we love them.  I was so excited as the Spirit bore witness to me that that was what I should tell Nathan and all my children.  Brother Maughan also told about his father that contracted polio when he was young and had young kids like Nathan has and that when he was better he was always in a wheelchair but he would do things like fix breakfast in bed for his wife and get the kids ready for church on Mother's day and that he was a great example of what a husband should be despite his handicap.  After hearing the lesson I was so excited that we went to that class.

In Relief Society they gave the lesson with the format of the new youth curriculum and gave us several links to finding tips on how to be better in our callings and teaching in our homes.  She had ten tips for improving our teaching so that we are teaching like the Savior would:

• He loved them, prayed for them, and continually served them.
• He knew who they were and who they could become.
• He prepared Himself to teach by spending time alone praying and fasting.
• He used the scriptures to teach and testify of His mission.
• He shared simple stories, parables, and real-life examples that made sense to them.
• He asked questions that caused them to think and feel deeply.
• He invited them to testify, and as they did, the Spirit touched their hearts.
• He trusted them, prepared them, and gave them important responsibilities to teach, bless, and serve others.
• He invited them to act in faith and live the truths He taught.
• In every setting He was their example and mentor.  

(https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/guidebook/teaching?lang=eng, "Teaching in the Savior's Way," lds.org)

I realized that I need to continue to read my scriptures, pray and listen to the promptings of the Spirit in my life so that I can be a better missionary and teacher.  We really had a good discussion about these topics and the Spirit was in the room testifying of their truthfulness.

Nathan just texted me and said that he has a new blog.  It is www.Iamnotdeadyett.blogspot.com I am excited to see it. I thought it was an appropriate title!  I just went in to read it and I am impressed.  He has some problems with spelling that the stroke did not help and I am sure the extra punctuation is because of his hands but the message is there. I don't know about you but it is so good to see him expressing his feelings again.

Erick called and said that Ryker has the croup so he wanted to know if we needed to change the party we have planned on Thursday when BJ and Holly get here.  I think that will depend on BJ and Holly because the rest of us have already been exposed through Taylor.  That might be where Ryker got it.  He said that they had settled into their apartment and had all their Christmas decorations up so they are adjusting well.

Larry and I walked together after church for a couple of miles and I am still fasting.  He had some lunch because he cannot fast and we are both on our computers now.

Yesterday we slept in.  We didn't get up until about 8:00 a.m. We read our scriptures as usual and said prayer together, ate breakfast and then we took showers.  Then we went to the gym.  When we finished at the gym it was noon.  We went home and had some lunch and then we started to Mom's in Lehi to help her.

Kirsten had ordered a present for BJ and Holly so we had to go pick that up first at Macy's grocery store where the person was working that we had to get it from.

We got to Mom's and she wanted to go buy printer ink at Office Max in American Fork and then go to Orem to the University Mall to exchange some pajamas that she had bought online from Macy's the department store.  We went to get the ink first and got 20% off with the specials.  Then we went to get Mom the new pajamas.  They did not have the same kind so she just picked out a bottom that she liked and got that.  She wouldn't try them on so I hope they fit.  She said that she needed an XL because of her stomach but they looked pretty big.  While we were there I got a look at some really cute clothes that I would have loved to buy but that is for another day.

We went back to Mom's and I vacuumed her kitchen and bathroom floors while Larry went to get gas in the car.  Gas is 30 cents a gallon cheaper in Lehi than it is in Kaysville.  So we filled up on the way out of town.  I also helped Mom to get a DVD going that Uncle Reed had sent to her of his movie pictures.  It was fun to see pictures of my sister Kathy's wedding and all of us looking so young.  Nathan was about 2 in the pictures we watched.  I also helped Mom figure out a disc that someone had sent her of a PAF file with 3374 names on it for genealogy.

Mom likes to have us stay and eat with her so we stayed and ate pot pies with her for dinner.  They were really good but I was shocked to find out that Marie Callendar's pot pies are 17 points on Weight Watchers so I ended up with 43 points again because I only had four left to begin with because we ate the last of the pie from Thanksgiving for lunch and breakfast.  But it was worth it.  I learn a lot of little things I was not aware of every time I go to Mom's.  Like  yesterday we were all eating banana's and they were getting a little ripe for the way I like them and Mom said that they didn't taste quite ripe.  I said, "this is the way I liked them" and she said "you must be like your dad.  He didn't like ripe bananas either."  I had never noticed that Mom like ripe bananas and that Dad liked them on the green side although to me the bananas we were eating were getting too ripe because they were yellow but not quite to brown spots.

After we ate we went home because I had to help at the Kaysville Nativity Celebration.  I am usually a host that helps to watch over things but this time I was the greeter at the door.  It was not really busy while the bell choir they had for the final act was performing but it got a little busy after they finished.  I got to see Gary's brother Mike and his wife Nan and talk to them for quite a while.  I found out that they have a son that is also stationed at Camp Lejeune as a Navy Corpman so it is a small workld.  They had run out of programs so I had to tell people where things were.  I had let them use my nativity scene that Erick brought me from Italy so at the end I was able to get that and take it home.  By the time I got home it was close to 9:30 p.m. so after we read and said prayer I was ready to go to bed.

Larry had been working on a lesson that he had to give in Priesthood today while I was gone so he read me the things he had planned.  It was a good lesson on missionary work.  So I guess we better get going on finding someone to teach.  I love the Gospel and wish that I could help all the world to see the blessings from living the gospel.

Sorry no pictures again.  I keep forgetting to use my camera.

Thanksgiving and today

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nov 27th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nov 26th

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

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

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

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

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

Nov 25th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nov 24th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I was so excited that he wrote that much.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nov 23rd

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 22nd

Ryker blowing on a party favor and Taylors friend Kenya

The train center piece that Kirsten made

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

Daniel Tiger Cake

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

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

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

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

Opening Presents

Myles with presents

Digging into the cake

Myles really liked his cake it seems!

November 21

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 20th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 19th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 18th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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