June 8th And before

Today, June 8th, is our grandson Max's 2nd birthday.  He is Maren's youngest son.  In honor of him I posted this video that Maren sent of him showing his parts of his body that he knows.  He is such a cute boy, but Grandma's are not prejudice.  

 On the 29th of May we went with the Wounder Warriors to an evening event at a special amusement park they have here called Morgan's Wonderland.  It is designed so that handicapped people can participate in the rides and amusements that are offered.  You can see that Nathan was able to ride the train with all of us without getting out of his wheelchair.  They kids really enjoyed the playground and Nathan was interested in a Wheelchair soccer teams that they presented at the gym there.  Below here are several pictures of our time at Morgan's Wonderland.

 

 They had a sound playground where the kids could play all sorts of instrument type things to make music.  They kids really liked this as Nathan's kids are very creative.  They also had a regular playground that was designed so that those in wheelchairs could go right up on the play equipment.

 We have had several zone conferences in the last two weeks that we have had to attend throughout the mission to speak at as missionary office couples.  On May 30th we went to Eagle Pass which is on the border of Texas and Mexico.  As I had never been to the Mexican border before I had to get some pictures of the border.

Just across the river there is a large Mexican Flag that you can see for a long way.

This is a picture of part of the bridge that goes across the Rio Grande River to Mexico

This is the entrance to the bridge crossing over into Mexico to the town of Piedras Negras

 On the 31st of May we had the kids like we do for most weekends.  After cleaning the church  and going to buy some cheap swim toys, we went to the Northstar Mall and I bought a swimsuit so that I could go swimming with the kids and help Maggie get into the water.  Nathan took the kids to the lego store and bought some legos and then we had lunch and went home to swim.  Senior missionaries can swim!!

Can you recognize the Teen age face on David?

 

Maggie and I both had ruffles in the front of our swimsuits so we took a selfie but mine aren't showing too good and I still have a hard time smiling in a selfie.

 Then we went home to the pool and swam.  The boys swam for about 3 hours that day but Maggie was tired and didn't want to swim and went back to the apartment with Nathan.  Larry was off trying to figure out what he could do about our car's transmission.  He found a place that said they could fix it so we decided that was cheaper than a new car.

 On June 4th we had to drive a car up to the Oak Hills section of the mission in Austin for zone conference and to take a new car to some Elders.  One of the Sisters there, Sister Davis, needed a ride to San Antonio for a doctor's appointment.  Despite that beautiful smile, she is the one in the center, she suffers from rheumatoid Arthritis.  We had two cars to drive back and so she road with me.  She was so fun to talk to to and we had a great time.  She is from southern California.  I started talking to her and wasn't looking at Google Maps like I should.  Sometimes it switches routes on you without looking.  We were planning on going home on the Freeway as usual, but we ended up having a lovely ride through the back country of Texas that was very beautiful.  So we learned a new way to get to Austin.

Sister Davis with the threesome that she was working with.

Our Selfie.  Me, Sister Turpin, Sister Davis and Sister Greenall.  Sister Greenall is a visa waiter hoping to go to Brazil eventually.

 Most of the week was spent doing mission work this week.  The other office couple was out of the office all week so it was a very stressful week but we were able to survive.  We had two zone conferences and Larry had three more accidents to deal with.  The one day he went home saying that he had more to do going home that he had when he came and we worked all day.  Thursday was Bingo night and then Friday was Mission leaders conference where we had to feed the participants and I spent two days getting all the supply orders together for the zones that had ordered them so they could be picked up at the conference.

Friday night we had the kids overnight again.  They wanted to go swimming and so we went swimming from about 6-8 p.m.  Nathan slipped out of his wheel chair and was able to sit on the side of the pool and dangle his feet in the water.  He is trying to be able to do more and that was a first step.  Maggie was tired and would not get in the water and spent the entire evening holding her beach ball because she did not want anyone to play with it but she did not want to get in the water either.  A group that were holding a party on the barbecue patio took pity on her and offered her food hoping it would help.  She liked that but she did not quit whinning that night.  I think that she was tired.


Saturday we went to clean the church again.  David had a practice for a young men's sacrament presentation during that time then we came home and ate lunch.  The kids made their own pizza's with english muffins and everyone enjoys that except Sammy.  Then we filled water bottles and went to the park.  It was about 95 that day so it was hot but we were able to see the Blanco side of Phil Hardberger Park.  We have three very nice parks within about 10 minutes of our apartment here.

After that Nathan and Larry both took naps because Nathan was tired from trying to sleep with both Sammy and Isaac in his bed and Larry has been fighting a bout with gout this week in addition to all the other we had.  The kids and I went to the pool.  It was about 2:00 p.m.  The kids swam all afternoon.  They did not get out except for the occasional bathroom break until about 7:30 p.m.  Larry and Nathan woke up about 6:00 p.m. and went to get Pizza.  Sara showed up for a while after work to bring clothes and blankets for the kids as she was working in the morning early.  We ate Pizza by the pool and then went home to get ready for bed.

I saw the lady that had fed Maggie the cake and she said is this the same child you had last night.  Maggie decided for some reason that now the boys could use the beach ball and that she could get in the water and had fun all day.

Today was Sunday and so we went to church in the morning.  We had a couple talk in church that are moving to another ward.  She talked about the importance of Music in our lives and for setting the stage for feeling the spirit.  She also read from the For Strengh of Youth pamphlet that talks about how to pick music that is uplifting but one thing that she mentioned was a study that they did with mice.  They played Johan Strass Waltzes for some of the mice.  They played disharmonious music for some other mice and then they left others in the quiet.  After several weeks they tested their ability to find their way through a maze.   The mice that had listened to the Straus music did the best.  The mice that had listened to the disharmonious music actually had trouble executing the maze and so they concluded that music can affect the performance of how you think about performing certain tasks.  I thought that was interesting.  I had to take Maggie to the bathroom during the second talk so I did not get most of it.

This is Isaac in the swing, but when was swinging in it she fell asleep she was so relaxed even though we were pushing her quite high!

 This afternoon we had lunch and watched several church productions for Family Home Evening.  The kids really liked the animated Matt and Mandy shorts from the Friend.  There is also an animated short about Presidents Uchdorf's mothers experience about leaving her children one the train to find food and coming back to find the train gone and then she prayed and was able to find the train after in another section of the train yard.  Maggie is just fascinated with that one and replayed it several time.  Nathan also found the children's Book of Mormon Stories from the Books online.

After Family Home Evening Maggie and I went for a walk and the boys built legos.  Maggie had the children's song book and as she cannot read she decided by the pictures what the song was we were supposed to sing.  She sang me the Let it Go song from Frozen and then she thought of several song from primary that we sang.  Then she started making up her own songs and singing songs about what was happening to her.  She talked the entire walk.  I concluded that she is related to her Grandmother and has the gift of gab!

May 26th and 27th

Monday was memorial day.  We decided to work because we didn't really have anything planned.  I went to work in the morning but we got there late.  Often on Mondays the Assistants to the President need the computers so we just go in a little later so they can use them.

We went to Walgreens on the way to work to get a prescription that I needed.  We picked up a few things.  It was about 10:30 a.m. when we got there.  There were more Assistants there than usual so I let them use my computer.  At first I was having a hard time deciding what I could do without a computer so I called Mom.  Mom was just getting ready to go to the annual Jenkins Reunion in Heber City, Utah with Kathy and Rex and Annette.  We had a good talk for a few minutes.

After I got off the phone the Williams came and we decided to have devotional.  Every morning we get together and sing a song and have a thought and a prayer.  Elder Williams plays the piano in the meeting room and we sound like a bunch of off tune people but we enjoy it.  Often we will talk for a half hour about the thought.  Elder Williams served his first mission 48 years ago in San Antonio and he loves to tell us about how it was then.  It is amazing to compare the growth and the improved standards for missionaries.  He got all excited the other day at San Antonio North Zone conference and told them about how he learned to make beans on his mission and they would make them several different ways and they would eat that all week.  He loves beans or frijoles as the Spanish call them and he speaks very good Spanish it seems.  Having grown up with my Dad it suprized me that someone actually liked beans.

Nathan had a friend call from the ward who's husband is in jail and wanted him to take her to see her husband.  He wanted to help her but as he cannot drive, I volunteered to go with him thinking it would take about an hour.  We started out at 1:30 p.m and went to Kirby to pick her up.  It was almost 3:00 p.m. by the time we got back to the jail.  Nathan and his friend went into the jail to visit while I sat in the lobby for an hour.  I did everything I could on my phone and then I noticed that I had some pass a long cards in my purse.  I decided that I should try to pass them out to the people that were there waiting for their turn to visit someone.  It took me a few minutes to get up the courage but the spirit helped me to know what to say and I was able to pass out all the ones I had in my purse.  I only had three people tell me that they did not want one so it wasn't as bad as I thought. By the time I passed out the last card Nathan and Connie were looking for me. By the time we took her back to her home it was 5:00 p.m. when we got home. So I did not go back to the office.

It rained a lot yesterday.  Down by Nathan's friends house there were a lot of roads blocked off by water over the road.  The northbound exit to Austin on 35 north was closed because there was water over the road.  That is one reason it took so long.

When we got home we had dinner and we went to Walgreens again to get some medicine for me and Nathan went just to look around.  He said he had not been there for a long time.  That was our family home evening activity and then we read from the conference talks when we got home and said prayers together and went to bed.

Today we went to work early and had another fun devotional.  I started working and it seemed that I kept getting one referral after another.  I was busy answering the phone all morning.  And some of them were not easy referrals.  I hate it when the address is not good and it is hard to understand the addresses from Mexico.

We got a lunch fixed for Nathan before we left because we were not coming home because of Zone Trainings in Kyle, Texas.  Nathan had some friends come and bring him a pair of pants because of his plea for help finding pants with elastic waist or with a snap rather than a button on Facebook.  He said that the speech therapist came today also.

We drove to Kyle and stopped at MacDonald's for lunch.  We gave our presentation and were back by 3:30 p.m.  We drove one of the mission cars because Larry was worried about our car.  It went well but it was raining a lot today also, more so in Kyle.

I spent most of the afternoon on the phone with the global support center trying to find the answer to how to find out which Mexican mission a referral I had went to.  I am hoping to figure out a way to find this but so far the method they told me is not working.  Many times though all it takes is a short prayer and things are working again.

The car started not shifting again when we were coming home so we were glad that we had taken the other car to Kyle.

It was 6:25 p.m. by the time we made it home.  We had some yummy burritos and fruit and than we have worked on a few things around.  Larry learned how to deposit a check with USAA with his phone tonight as I finally got paid for the curriculum that I spent forever writing.  Now he is in misery because his neuropathy is acting up.  Praying that it will relax soon and he can sleep.  I bet you can't tell what I spent the night doing!! Nathan watched Ender's game for the 100th time and worked on his Ipad.  Sorry no pictures tonight.

May 25th and before

Brother and Sister Sturdevant are military relations at Fort Sam

Well Church was good today.  Sacrament meeting was the missionaries assigned to the ward speaking.  They both did a good job.  Sister Beckstead a missionary from Bountiful Utah spoke first about the things that you can do to prepare for a mission.  She mentioned that you should take Seminary and learn the scripture mastery scriptures.  She mentioned learning to serve others before you come out into the field.  She also mentioned that we read Preach my Gospel and that we need to be member missionaries.  Sister Medina spoke next and I really liked the talk she gave.  She talked about the responsibilities and blessings of missionary work.  She pointed out that it is a privilege and blessing to be able to teach people about Christ and that one of the blessings of the restoration was that the ability to find Israel or God's people.  It was a dynamic talk pointing out the blessing we are bringing to people when we present them with the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Nathan and Larry visiting

Brother and Sister Eslick are a second marriage like us

 I have to admit that in Utah I felt like there were not that many people that would accept the Gospel and I often felt like I was pressing people to do something they did not want to do but here I hear so many stories of people that have found the Gospel and it has been the thing they have been looking for all their life.  We baptize about 50 a month in the mission and the missionaries give out about 33 boxes of Book of Mormons a month with 40 Book of Mormons to each box.  I realized that I have had the wrong idea of the importance of the work although I know how important it is.

The kids came home from church with us and we had a family home evening with them from the Friend and then we went for a walk.  Sara had sent several Liken the Scriptures videos up for the kids to watch and so they watched those while they built with legos and ate popcorn and soda or chocolate milk.  For a while they wanted to go out and walk through the forest behind our apartment but soon came in when they found there were many mosquitoes.  Sammy must be sensitive to them because his swelled up quickly and we had to put caladryl on them to calm the itch.  Sara came to get them about 6:30 just as they were getting hungry again.

Brother and Sister Adair are MLS at Georgetown, Texas

Brother and Sister D.Williams are originally from Vernal

Last week in the mission they had Zone Training meetings at a different zone each day.  We did not have to go for the whole time but we went to each one in the afternoon for an hour and presented some things to help the missionaries in the areas we cover.  Tuesday was at San Antonio North Zone and met in the Stone Oak Chapel which is close by the temple.  Wednesday was Hill Country Zone and we drove up to Bulverde, Texas to the chapel there.  The chapel is a beautiful chapel but it is out in the middle of a field about a half mile from the road and the road to it is a very tight two lanes.  We wondered if someone donated the land there to them as I have never seen an LDS chapel so concealed.  The San Antonio West Zone had their meeting in the University of Texas San Antonio Institute building.  Larry and I got stuck in a traffic jam and so we were about 10 minutes late getting there luckily Elder Williams got there before us so he could start on time.

Brother and Sister Magonigil are Military Relations also.  They knew Nathan in Alabama

Brother and Sister Page are MLS on the Border at Eagle Pass, Texas

I talked about needing to update referrals in the system so that people referring others know if they have been contacted.  I also talked about who the head of household is on the Baptismal and Confirmation Records they fill out.  On the record the first person baptized in the family is the head of household for purposes of keeping the records together for a family and many were using the standard definition of head of household and putting down non-member fathers for the head of household. 

Larry talked about how to fill out the mileage reports he needs and what the gas cards can pay for.  Elder Williams has been teaching them the importance of budgeting and what they can use their personal use card for.  They don't have a lot of money for the month because basically it should be only used for food and personal items.  Elders get $135.00 and Sisters get $150.00.  Sisters get more because they need to buy hairspray and make-up and things.

Brother and Sister Sandquist are MLS at Shoal Creek, Texas

Monday night they had the Senior's Family Night at Mamacitas in San Marcos.  Nathan went with us and we had a fun night of talking and learning from each other.  That usually starts at 6:30 so we had to leave by 5:00 p.m. from the office so we could pick up Nathan and get there on time.  I took pictures of all the Senior Couples that were there.  I think that they were all there.

Nathan had to go to the VA on Wednesday for two appointments so he scheduled them to pick him up and it worked very well.  He was able to go by himself and do what he needed to do without our help.

Some of the yummy food at Bingo Night

Thursday night was Bingo night again.  We got there a little late again because of the traffic.  We turned off the 410 freeway and went a different way or we never would have made it. Lately the 410 is clogged where you transfer to the 35 South and it makes it hard to get there on time.  It was fun thought because the Recreational Coordinator at Warm Springs had two new people to bring and they got there late also so we were in the back room with them and part of the fun is being with the people we know.  No one ever wins bingo lately but the food is good.  This week it was wonderful.  They had some mini cheesecakes that were so good.  The BAMC Auxillary brought the food but I saw a Hilton chef running around so I think that they may have got the food there.  It was some of the best we have had.  I have a hard time staying on my weigh watchers there.

Brother and Sister Antur are from Australia.  They teach CES in Austin, Texas

Brother and Sister M. Williams are the other office couple with us.

Friday Nathan had his friend Reed come and pick him up and they went shopping for the supplies he needed for a bar that he needs for Therapy.  The therapist that introduced it to him said that they do not make them anymore and suggested that he could make them out of PVC pipe with sand inside.  Then Nathan instructed Reed how to make the bars and Reed built them.  They got three of them done that day.  A one pound, Two pound and Two and a half pound.  I was impressed.  Nathan is showing people that he can do things for himself more and more now he has the chance to do things himself.

Nathan's kids came over on Friday night to spend the night.  We bought pizza from Little Ceasar's and got the movie "The Nut Job". We had a good time eating pizza and soda.  We all went to sleep after the movie because we had signed up to clean the church in Nathan's ward on Saturday at 8:00 a.m.

David doing thumbs up with his swim noodles

Saturday we got up early enough to actually get to the church on time.  I was surprized to find that Nathan's kids were excited to clean the church.  We each had a different job, even Maggie who dusted the pictures with a duster.  Because Nathan's ward is about 20 minutes from where we live we stayed in the area because David was invited to a party in Cibolo which is close to Converse and we didn't want to drive home and back. 

Larry and I with Nathan

Nathan had promised the kids that they could get some swim toys for the pool here at the apartment.  We went to get those at a 99 cent store.  Then Maggie decided that she wanted to go to Chick-fil-a to eat.  even though it was only 10:30 a.m. we decided to look for a Chick-fil-a for lunch.  We found one on google that was close to Cibolo where David's party was so we drove to that.  When we got there however it was closed for remodeling so we decided to go to Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakhouse.  I learned that it didn't matter to Maggie where she ate really although she had insisted we go to Chick-fil-a she just wanted to eat and was hungry.  The food at Freddy's was good but I spent my whole 26 points and more on one meal there.  David's party started before we all finished eating so Larry took David to the party while we all finished eating.

We came home and Sammy and Isaac wanted to go to the pool and Maggie did not so Nathan stayed with Maggie and I took Sammy and Isaac to the pool.  Larry went to see about our car because the transmission had not been shifting. They swam for almost three hours and still did not want to quit when I suggested they needed to.  Maggie fell asleep on the floor watching "The Nut Job" and slept all that time.  As I didn't have a swim suit yet I talked to Kirsten and Erick and some others on the phone while they were swimming.  I think Nathan was doing things in his Ipad all afternoon.  Larry came back happy but frustrated because the car worked fine when he took it in to the transmission place.

Sara came and got the kids about 6:00 p.m.  We were all tired and ate and went to bed.  The next morning we got up early enough to be ready about 45 minutes early.  Larry had thrown some bird seed out to the birds and we were able to watch them as they ate it through the Living Room window.  They were pretty cautious about watching our movements so I scared them off when I went to get the camera.  Larry was able to get this video of them eating the bird seed.  Sometimes they have squirrels out eating with them.

May 18th and before

Today was a hectic Sunday and I don't feel like we did much to keep the Sabbath Day holy.  We had the kids and after church they came home with us because Sara had to work. 

Nathan and Isaac in a group of Wounded Warriors at the Picnic

Church was good.  David was able to pass the Sacrament for the first time and the Bishop acknowledged that he did that.  They had talks on the Priesthood for the commemoration of the restoration of the Priesthood an May 15.  The kids were really good in church.  I think they are getting used to us.

The Wounded Warrior Tent

We had the kids over on Friday night and Saturday for a while also and they rented a movie on Friday night and they wanted to watch that again when we got home so I let them while we got dinner.  Then they wanted to go to the fitness center at the community center so Nathan took them there.  Larry and I lay down and went to sleep.  When they got back Maggie came and got me because she was hungary and I fixed them some popcorn and punch.  They started watching the movie again and instead of staying up I went and laid down again.  When I woke up they had made a few messes trying to make more punch because they could not find the punch I made in the refrigerator, so I determined that I should not do that again.  They were watching a Star Wars movie that Nathan has.  We cleaned up the messes and then I started to play hide n seek with them and before long Sara came.  I felt bad because we did not do anything with them to promote the Sabbath and help them to grow in the gospel.

Some of the people at the picnic

Saturday we got up and went to Chick-fil-et for breakfast because the kids preferred that to MacDonald's and we had no food for breakfast at the apartment.  Then the kids went to the pool with Nathan while Larry and I went to Weight Watchers to weigh in.  It was not a good day for either of us as we both gained a little.

Nathan talking to a friend Sarah Bennett who works for Wounded Warriors

Maggie and Isaac at the spinning cups

When we got home Nathan and I took the kids to the Wounded Warrior Picnic at the Phil Hardberger Park that was just down another hill from us than the park I talked about last week and Larry went grocery shopping.  The Park was so fun.  It is a 311 acre park in the middle of San Antonio that has been set aside as green space and for conservation of the native species of Texas.  They had a Jimmy John's box lunch and then we could hike and do what ever we wanted.  We did not hike far because the trails were not as good for Nathan's wheelchair as at the Walker park the week before.  Eventually we went to the playground and the kids played for some time.

 Just as they were getting tired Nathan realized that he could not get his wheelchair to go.  David and I tried to help him figure out what we needed to do but we were not successful at getting it to start.  Larry had texted me he was home and so I eventually called him and asked him to come and help us.  It took him a while to get there because he did not hear me say that we were on the Military Highway entrance to the park and he went to the Blanco Road entrance and was trying to find us there.  Eventually he found us and between him and David and Nathan they figured out that someone had bumped the controls in the back and turn off the controls in the front.  We were all really ready to go home when we finally got it going because it was getting hot and the kids were tired.

Larry and I at Joe's Crabshack for our anniversary

That evening Sara came and got the kids and Nathan went to a parade at the Riverwalk with some friends from church and Larry and I went out to dinner to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary.  We went to Joe's Crab Shack as that has become a new favorite because we can eat a lot of steamed crab and lobster and still be within Weight Watcher's points.  However we had Key lime pie last night so that blew that.  It was a fun night and Nathan seemed to have a good time with his friends.

I have had an allergic reaction of some kind this week and I have been itching and breaking out on my neck.  I have had to wear my hair on a pony tail because I cannot stand it on my neck.  I decided it might be one of my medications and I stopped taking that but it is still bothering me after I put on my lotion so I am thinking that maybe I do not need the lotion here or something.  I guess I will go to the dermatologist this week and see what he says.

A catepillar the kids found that they wanted a picture of

David and Sammy at the Spinning cups

Sammy and Maggie running on the hills

It was transfer week in the mission this week so it has been a very hectic week for Larry and I.  We had several days where we could not come home to eat lunch with Nathan.  On Wednesday we have to feed the new incoming missionaries a lunch at the Mission home and then we have to feed them a dinner that same night at the mission home plus get our other work done.  On Thursday we had transfers and we went to the transfer meeting in the morning early and then drove to Austin for the transfer meetings there.  Larry had to rent a van and a trailer to help transport the missionaries to the border and back and to Austin and back so he was involved in getting that on Monday and then they used it Tuesday to get the missionaries that were leaving and on Wednesday to get the new missionaries and Thursday's for transfers.  On Friday Larry was supposed to take it back to the rental places but the Assistants did not leave the keys to the vehicles at the Mission Office when they dropped them off.  He was frustrated because he could not take them back until about 5:00 p.m. because they were in meetings all day with the President and he couldn't get the keys.  He was exhausted after we returned them in rush hour traffic.

Maggie

Nathan is becoming more independent in advocating for himself.  He has become more involved in his own finances and working out things at the VA.  Larry has been a big help to him to know what to do for his disability paperwork now he has his disablity compensation because Larry has already gone through that.  We have John Trolinger to thank for guiding Larry through it so he knows how to help Nathan.  Nathan has been able to get people in the ward to help him drive his van to appointments at the VA and is taking over much of the responsibility of advocating for himself.  As he does this he is becoming much more mature in his thinking and  growing in his abilities to do things.  He is also working with the lawyer mostly by himself for the work on the divorce and only asks me to help when he needs something typed which is still hard for him to do.  We are trying to give him the support he needs when he needs it but trying to let him be as independent as possible.  Basically we help him with food and help him dress some in the morning and get his foot brace on and set up some things he needs at bed time.

We listened to Elder Todd Christofferson's talk from April General Conference tonight.  It is an awesome testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and how it testifies of his divinity.  I am so glad to be a member of the Lord's church as I know that it is true.

Isaac and David Racing on the hills

David

May 11 and before

Today has been a roller coaster Mother's Day.  We arose early and got to church early so that David, Nathan's oldest son could be interviewed by the Bishop for the Aaronic Priesthood.  His birthday was this week and he turned 12. Sara and the kids met us there.  David was interviewed and presented in sacrament meeting for sustaining and then they ordained him in Priesthood session.  Sara and I were able to go in for the ordination and Nathan was able to do the ordination.  It was a very emotional time for Nathan but he was able to do the ordination.  Sara took the kids home after church as it was Mother's Day and her birthday was yesterday and she had to work.

We came home and had lunch.  I had several ecards and texts from my children and it was fun to get those.  After eating I was able to do a video hangout with BJ on my phone and talk to him for about and hour.  It was good to talk to him.  He said that Holly had just got home from 6 days with her parents at her sister's graduation.  Holly was at work.  He also talked to Larry and Nathan.

Kirsten and Jacob's families sent gift cards with e-cards so that is fun to have some money to spend on Amazon.  Erick and Heather sent a CD and earings and chocolate that I got earlier in the week.  I am listening to the CD now as it is Mormon Tabernacle choir.  Maren and Jacob posted greetings on Facebook this week.  Nathan is here and I have enjoyed having him in my life more.

I slept for about 2 hours after talking to BJ.  I was surprised that I was so tired because I have tried to get to bed earlier this week so I am not so tired.  Larry gave me a card and fixed dinner for me tonight so I have had a good day.

I sent Mom's present on Thursday so I was able to talk to her a couple of times this week.  It was funny because I called her to see if she got the flowers I sent her and she said, "well no" so I said that the company said they had delivered it and she said, "just a minute" and she looked at the one present again and it was from us but she had read Larry and thought it was from my brother Larry because I signed it Larry and June.

Anyway Happy Mother's Day.!!

Here are some pictures of the week before:

Davd had a birthday party at a glorified Chucky Cheese place called the Main Event on Friday May 9th

David sporting his winnings from the games at his party

Lori Ann the recreational director at Warm Springs with another patient at the Wounded Warrior Bingo Night

Lori Ann and Nathan talking while he is eating on May 8th

Food Servers at the Wounded Warriors BN

Nathan carrying his kids that were too tired to walk when we went hiking at  Walker Park a park just down the hill from where we live.

Hiking with the kids.  David was the only one to keep walking.

Taylor with her friend Taisha in the middle at a Easter Egg hunt

May 4 and before

Maggie getting ready to ride to church

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

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

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

Abbie's School Picture

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

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

Ashton's School Picture

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

Our Tomato Plant

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

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

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

Maggie being carried by her daddy

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

Isaac looking at something

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

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

April 27th and before

I am sorry that my posts have been so sporadic.  I just am too tired to stay up late here with what we have to do.

Today was the Sabbath and so we went to church.  I was not aware that it was Fast and Testimony meeting today so we did not fast.  I think it would not have been but it is Stake Conference next week so they had it early.  It was a good meeting.  Nathan bore testimony of the importance of going to the Temple this week and he was quite composed.  The kids were late but they were really good when they got there.  We went to the Marriage and Family Relations Class for Sunday School and they were talking about the principles of getting along with each other in dealing with Finances.  They quoted a lot from Nathan Eldon Tanners classic talk Constancy amid Change.  In Relief Society they talked about Bonnie Oscarson's talk in October 2013 Conference on Be Ye Converted.  They pointed out that one important thing that parents need to remember is that they need to set the example for their children of going to church every Sunday so that the children will know that they are converted and have testimonies strengthened each week by those who they associate with.  The Relief Society President told of a time when she was younger when she was tempted to stay home because her husband was always out on assignment but when she prayed about it the Lord told her that she needed to set the example for her children and others.  She says that many times she has come away feeling that her cup was not replenished because of problems of the day but that she knows that her children are stronger because she had the courage to go to church even when it was hard.

The kids went home with Sara today after church.  We were all tired I think because we all took a nap after lunch.  Even Nathan took a nap and he doesn't usually because he says it is too hard to wake up after and it doesn't seem worth it.  But, it was worth it for me.

When I got up I had a text from Kirsten asking how I was doing so I called her and we talked for quite a long time.  It was a good talk.  I can see that she is being blessed already because of our mission.

Thursday we worked all day except for when we went home for lunch.  I didn't get all of my work done that day so I felt a little frustrated.  I turned in the curriculum before I left and they were satisfied with the adult books but they wanted me to expand the youth books.  It would be very simple to do that if I had the time to work on it so I thought maybe I could work on it for an hour a day so I tried to do that in the morning, but I don't know if it is worth it even though it would mean an additional $2800.00 and they will not pay me for the youth books if I don't finish that.  So I have been spending a lot of time in prayer this week.  Larry says he doesn't think I should worry about it, so there is no pressure there.  It is just hard to give up that much money.

Thursday evening Nathan committed to go to help in the nursery for Relief Society Enrichment so he decided that we would forgo the WW Bingo night for the week.  Larry came also and he and Nathan helped in the nursery and I went to enrichment night and we all got dinner there.  There were not too many from the ward that came but it was a good time to get to know some of the sisters in the ward we are going to be attending.  I talked to a lot of people but towards the end I talked with a sister that had just moved here from Richfield, Utah just a couple of months ago.  She was frustrated because she had just moved here for her husband's new job and then after moving here her adult son was diagnosed with adult onset schizophrenia she is frustrated trying to deal with that being here and then of course she is frustrated with all the newness of moving.  We had a lot in common to talk about.

I was surprised that Bishop Alonzo was also in the nursery with Nathan and Larry.  In fact it was all young men and men in the nursery that night.  I don't think I have every seen that in Utah.  It was good for them to experience I think.

Friday I went to the office in the morning and got caught up on the work I had not finished and finished the work for the day.

Nathan wanted to go to the VA to get a paper signed for an application to use a handicapped bus system called VIA trans.  He had to turn it into a doctor and he did not get it before we went for his appointment last week.  When he got there he asked if he could talk to a couple of the doctors and he was actually was able to see Dr. Baig.  We also had an interview with Veronica Gonzales his new case worker at the VA and met her for a few minutes and Nathan talked to her about his concerns.  So it took most of the afternoon. 

Then I had to go to a lady's house back where our ward is about 30 minutes away so she could look at my hair to decide what color she needed to buy so she could do my hair at her home on Saturday.  Nathan rode with me out there and was a big help in finding her house.

Friday evening Larry and I were invited to President Slaughters house with three other couples that are new to the mission for dinner.  We all introduced ourselves and got to know each other.  All of the couples except the Williams's that work with us in the office were 2nd marriages like Larry and I have.  I thought that was interesting.  One couple that are now from Grantsville were originally from Vernal.  They were DeNyle and Leslie Williams.  I know I have known DeNyle sometime before but I cannot remember when.  I was suprised to find out that Leslie was the daughter of Dr. Ray Spendlove and the sister to Brian Spendlove and Val Schaefermeyer who were all in my ward before I moved to Kaysville. Val's husband Mike Schaefermeyer was my last Bishop in Vernal. We all laughed about it being a small world in the Mormon Church.  It was a fun evening.

The view from out patio.  One of the deer the kids saw

Sara had asked if the kids could come and spend the night on Friday night so they got there just a while after we got home from the dinner.  They brought a movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2"  We watched that while I worked on some referrals.  Luckily they all wanted to go to bed relatively early.  Maggie crashed in the car on the way over and didn't wake up until the next morning.

Isaac and Sammy watching the talent show

Saturday morning Nathan got up about 5:00 a.m. with some problems. I was surprised that the kids did not wake up. After we took care of that we just stayed up and Larry had to run out to get milk because we were out. The kids woke up as we started breakfast but almost ignored breakfast because they could see three deer in the wooded area behind our apartment.

Larry and I went to Weight Watchers while Nathan stayed with the kids. When we weighed in we had both gained weight which was not surprising because of all the dinners during the week that we went to and ate more than we should have.  But at least I did not gain back all that I lost last week.  We actually made it to the meeting without getting lost also.  We are starting to understand where a few things are and not need to use the GPS.

Larry and Nathan at the dinner.  It was our Pday

Nathan texted us that they were going to the pool that we have at the apartment so when we got home we headed to the pool.  Although by this time they were in the Hot Tub because it was a cool morning.  Only 74 degrees!!  My Utah friend will laugh at that.  They played around for a while and then we went back to the apartment.  I played the My Little Pony game with Isaac and Maggie again and they had a good time playing with the toys that they brought.

Larry says it is 96 outside right now at 7:43 p.m., so there Utah.  I am glad we have air conditioning!

The candles that Maggie liked

I took the kids home at about 1:00 p.m. and went to get my hair done.  She was a lady recommended by the ward.  She just does it in her home but she is not too expensive either.  She did a really good job and it looks great.  It was fun getting to know her because she is in the ward, but I was frustrated to find out that after school gets out she will not be doing hair until September because she is going back to Utah and Idaho to visit family in the summer and she is expecting a baby soon.

It took until 4:00 p.m. to get my hair done.  Then I hurried home.  It is a 28 minutes drive so I got home about 4:40 p.m.  They had a ward party and talent show that evening and we had promised the grand kids we would take them.  I remembered that I had to take a salad and so it was a rush made salad and we were off.

The Talent Show and dinner was so fun.  They cheered and clapped for each act and they just had fun.  The lady that had planned it had gone to a lot of work.  She had some kind of votive candle with fake flames on the tables and Maggie really liked those.  They had little children perform and lots of youth and even the Bishopric sang "Called to Serve".  It was a fun evening.  I got some of the fringe decoration for Maggie to take home and she said that she looked like Rapunzel.  Many of the kids got down on the floor to watch and then started dancing and such.  I put a picture of Maggie dancing on.  I hope it works.

April 23 and before

Today Nathan and I spent most of the day at the VA Hospital.  He had an appointment at 10:30 a.m.  Before he left his physical therapist came here to the apartment.  When we got there I was able to drop him off at the front but then I drove around for 20 minutes looking for a parking place. They usually have valet parking but there is construction going on at the entrance so that is not available right now.  It was a good thing we got there at 10:00 a.m. because I would have been late if I had arrived at 10:30 a.m.!!

Nathan went into his appointment almost immediately after we got there.  It was an evaluation for counseling.  Initially the had me come in but then Nathan got upset when I answered a question and so I was asked to leave.  I went to his Wounded Warrior advocate to talk to him and to fill out some paper work.  I got some things off my chest talking to him and I was able to fill out an application for help with care giving there and also the pay voucher for travel time.  Then I was able to talk to the the Dr. for a few minutes later.

Then we went with the WW advocate and he helped Nathan get his VA ID and showed us where to sign up for care giving and he had him fill out an application for what he called a clothing allowance but it is really an allowance to be reimbursed for your assistive devices like the wheelchair and a leg brace.  While Nathan waited for them to get to him in to get the ID I went down to talk to the lady about care giving support.  I filled out the application before so I just turned it in and she said that it would probably process by summer.  So until then I guess we are just doing what we can do.  I should not be ungrateful however.  I am just lucky that the program is there to help, but it is frustrating because we could use the help now.

By the time that Nathan finished up his application for the ID it was 2:00 p.m.  I was hurting and hungry but I thought we should drive to the next appointment and then find something to eat.  We got to where it was according to the GPS in my phone and so I went to look for something to eat.  There was nothing so we started to drive back.  Nathan gets upset with me if I do not follow his directions so he was upset with me when we went back because I did not turn where he told me because I did not understand his directions.  When we got to the place we could not find the suite so I called the office number and she said that they were in a building 5 exits down on the freeway.  So we got back in the car and went to where she told us. 

When we got there it was another psychiatrist that had been set up for us by Warm Springs.  Nathan talked to him and I called to get hold of Nathan's advocate to see why he was going to two psychiatrists in the same day.  It seemed like a waste of time to me and seemed like there are too many people trying to stir the pot to get the help that Nathan needs.  I couldn't get the advocate on the phone so maybe I will find out something later but it seemed like a useless visit to me.  The Dr. came out to talk to me for a while and when he went back in he said something that made Nathan mad and he has been kind of mad all evening at me so I don't know what the problem is but I am supposing the Dr. said something about needing my help and Nathan likes to be independent as much as possible.  He told us that he only had a receptionist part time and that she doesn't often answer as we were leaving so I felt like it was a blessing that she had answered when I called to find out where we should be.

Nathan wanted the address of some friends so we drove to their home to get the address after that.  I insisted that he stop and get something to eat as I was starving.  We got some smoothies at Jack in the Box because it was almost time for dinner.  I was glad that I had taken two sodas and some fruit in my purse to eat because I do not feel well when I do not eat regularly and it helped me to survive the marathon.

After that we went back to the apartment and I had several calls to return to missionaries with problems for me to solve or with referrals for me to enter.  Luckily the referral system is on line so I was able to get those in while dinner was cooking.

I was so tired I wanted to go to bed after dinner so I layed down to take a nap.  Larry went grocery shopping because we were getting low and Nathan spent time texting trying to find someone who could help him run some errands tomorrow that still needed to get done.  He said that he found someone so maybe that will work better.

Yesterday I finished most of my work in the first hour that I was at the mission except for updating the war board (a diagram of cards showing where each Elder and Sister are and what their assignment is.) President Slaughter came in and we had a meeting together with him and the other couple in the office.  That lasted until about 1:00 p.m.  Larry and I then went home and got some lunch and then I had to go with Larry to get a new car that was in and drive our car back to the office.  When we got back I had a baptism to enter and Larry was working on getting the car out to who needed it and trying to solve the problems for three accidents that have occured in the last two weeks.  No one was hurt but the cars were damaged and needed to be fixed.

Nathan and Larry in front of the San Antonio Temple

At four we had to leave and go home because Nathan had volunteered to help with the baptisms at the temple for the youth in our ward.  We helped him get dressed.  We teased him because his pants were so tight they were hard to get on.  I told him they must have been bought when he was skinny last July, but of course that is not true.  We did get them on him in a fashion and they looked okay but he is going to have to lose weight or buy some new ones.

We arrived at the temple and the people determined that Nathan could confirm some and that he could be a witness.  They didn't need us so we went and did some initiatory while he was helping with baptisms.  It was a good feeling to be able to leave him in loving hands and he did so well.  I enjoyed the initiatory ceremonies but it was surprising that they only had two rooms for the ordinances.  It felt good to be in the temple.

After the temple I told Larry that I wanted to go somewhere to eat where we could relax and sit and eat.  Nathan suggested a Brazilian Steak house that he had been to so we went there.  It was a wonderful experience.  Much like Rodiso but with much more emphasis on service.  And the food was wonderful but they do not have grilled pineapple so I missed that.  It was really a fun thing to do to top off the night at the temple.

Monday was a typical day at the office.  It feels good to be able to get my work done with time to spare.  Although after lunch I began to wonder because I had several referrals coming in and there were some baptisms that came in the mail.

Maren had her nose operated on and she was really in pain and the pain pills made her sick.  She called me at the end of the day and I was so sorry for what she was having to go through.  I was so glad that Shirley was able to go back and help her.  Maren has wanted the work done on her deviated septum for a long time and Shirley is a very competent Grandmother and worker.  I told Maren to let her take care of things and rest.  I hope that she listened.

Monday night we did not so anything special we were all so tired that we just went to bed.  I find myself exhausted at the end of the day so if I am not doing something to contact you I am sorry.  It is a good tired because we know that we have worked hard each day but we are learning a new level of work that we have not experienced for several years.