October 12 and before

Larry and I are on our way back from Kerrville.  We have had a good time with John and Judy Trolinger, Larry’s sister and her husband.  We came on Friday night and went to a restaurant named Billy Gene’s that we like here.  They have turtle cheesecake that is to die for. 

 Saturday I went to a Kerrville Genealogical Society Conference for Family History with Judy.  It was a workshop on how to use technology in doing family history given by Caroline Pointer who has the blog 4YourFamilyStory.com.  It was a good conference but I think I took too many of some pill accidentally or I had a harder time sleeping the night before than I thought because I had a hard time staying awake for most of the morning.  Larry and John went to The National Museum of the Pacific War that they have in Fredericksburg which is about 22 miles from Kerrville.  Larry and John said that there is enough there to spend 2 full days there.  It was built there because Admiral Nimitz one of the great leaders of World War II grew up in Fredericksburg.  It sounds like a place that I would like to go to with Larry.

Friday night it rained half the night and about half the day on Saturday.  It brought a cold front with it and the temperatures plummeted from the 80’s and 90’s to the 50’s and 60’s.  Part of a presentation that John and Larry went to was outside and they said they got really cold.  For Larry to complain about the cold it had to be cold.

Judy and I finished up about 3:00 p.m. and we went home.  The guys were not back yet so I was still tired so I went to sleep.  I ended up sleeping for about 2 hours.  About that time the guys came back and we went out to eat at a Chinese, Vietnamese restaurant that they have here in Kerrville.  It was really good food and it gave us a chance to talk.  After coming home from there we talked some more until about 11:30 p.m. and decided we needed to get to bed.

This morning John and Judy went to the Kerrville Ward with us.  They were having Fast Sunday because of Conference and so it was Fast and Testimony meeting.  The Bishop there is very personable and when he saw me he said, “Hello Sister Presser” like he knew me, from clear across the foyer.  There were some good testimonies of the truth of the church from many members.  Several people mentioned the movie “Meet the Mormons” and advised those who had not seen it to take a non-member friend to go and see it.  I agree!

We had lunch with John and Judy and then Judy told us about some new Genealogical finds that she has discovered on Larry and her Bates line.  We talked for about three hours again and now we are on the road.  It is always good to see them.  Because Nathan had gone to Utah this time we were able to stay for the whole weekend.

It has been a crazy week this week.  On Monday we helped Nathan to prepare to go to Utah after several weeks of up and down discussion about whether it was safe.  Ultimately he proved to us that he could do it he thought riding a bus because you can request a handicapped bus for him to get on and off of.  He also got a hotel room in Vernal, Utah where he went that was handicap accessible and after that I felt much better about him going, although he told me he was going whether I liked it or not.  He went out to get on Via Trans about 11:00 a.m. and we waved to him as we went to the mission office.  He kept us updated from time to time but eventually he got on the Greyhound bus at about 1:00 p.m.  When we went to bed he was around Big Spring, Texas

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Larry had to pick up several new cars and trucks from Benson Chevrolet and Ancira Nissan this past week and had to get those distributed this week.  He had one car and 4 trucks.  He picked up the trucks on Monday after we got there.

Tuesday we thought we were going to go to Oak Hills Zone Conference to deliver two of the trucks but the moving elders talked Elder Presser into letting them deliver them and we stayed home and worked on office work that was waiting. Larry was a little frustrated though because they waited until about 2:00 p.m to go there and he was thinking they were leaving about 11:00 a.m. so they were late.  

We worked all day in the office and then went home and had dinner at home and watched bones.  We had prayer and scripture and Larry went to bed.  I stayed up a little longer to coordinate picking up David and Isaac for scouts and with Brother Smith, a new convert that I am helping with Family History in Woodlake ward.

So I started to say my personal prayers and all of a sudden the phone rang. When I answered the phone the person calling was Marcy Zufelt Vogler’s brother Antony.  He was calling to ask me if I knew that Nathan and Marcy were planning on getting married on Thursday of that week.  We knew that Nathan was going to see Marcy, an old high school sweetheart that was also divorced, but he hadn’t mentioned marriage to us.  Marcy’s brother was against them getting married.  He was hoping that I could talk some sense into Nathan, Ha Ha!  Anyway I just about had a heart attack when he told me that.  He had found me through the Studevants and other people that the guys at his work dug up.  I could not believe what I was hearing and was in shock.   I texted Nathan and asked him about it but he was not answering because he was probably asleep. 

Marcy and Nathan right after their wedding

Tuesday  I received a text from Nathan confirming what Anthony had told me and telling me that he did not want me to tell anyone.  I told him that I had already told the Studevants, Annette, Kirsten and Larry.  He told me he didn’t want anyone else to know.  I told him I thought it was a crazy thing that he was doing but essentially he said he didn’t care but not to tell anyone what he was doing.  Because I still felt peacefully about it when I prayed about it and because he is 40 I decided to not fight it.

We went to the mission to get ready to take a truck to Del Rio, Texas by the border.  As we drove down to the border I kept getting texts from him and then I got a text from Marcy apologizing for not telling Larry and I and saying that they were not going to change their life style for a while so they thought that it would be better to not tell anyone.  She was very nice and said that she loved Nathan very much and was excited to see him.  I thought when she saw him that she might change her mind.

Marcy and Nathan kissing after the wedding

We went to the zone conference and got there just before lunch.  We had lunch with the missionaries and were able to spend some time with a missionary couple, the Pages, that are going home in two weeks and talk with them.  They had a lovely Mexican dinner of Beans and Rice and Beef fajita meat and tortilla and mashed potatoes.  They had the traditional three milk cake and some cheesecake so it was not weight watchers friendly but it sure tasted good and it was the right price.

Sammy on the swing

Nathan and Marcy texted that he arrived in Vernal about 11:30 a.m. Utah time.  They both seemed excited to see each other.  Later when I texted Marcy about how she felt about his handicaps she said that she had pictured him much worse and was pleasantly surprized by what he could do.

Sammy crossing the monkey bars, He actually made it all the way

We worked on some paperwork together as we rode back from Del Rio and arrived in San Antonio just in time to go to Converse and pick up the David and Isaac for Scouts.  They went to each of their activities and Larry and I went to the Family History Center.  It was so fun to be helping someone with Family History again.  I helped Brother Smith and his wife find a birth certificate for his grandmother and a possible person on the census of 1910 that could be his grandma on the other side.  I was on cloud nine.  David was excited because he took a pinewood derby car and slapped the wheels on it because he forgot his and won 3^rd place in the pinewood derby that the Young Men had.  Isaac made a trial mix and was excited to show that to his mom.  I don’t know if Larry was excited about anything but I was glad for his support.

Isaac going down the slide backwards

Isaac working on the Monkey bars

Thursday I had a Dr. appointment in the morning at 11:00 p.m.  I arrived early and filled out my paperwork and then waited for an hour and a half.  I was wondering for a while if I had missed my call because my sister Kathy called and I talked to her for a while but they assured me that I had not missed the call and I was still in line.  Several people told me that the Dr. was worth it but it was frustrating because I had so much to do at the mission.  I finally got in after 1:30 p.m.  The Dr. is very nice and I enjoyed talking and dealing with her but I still was frustrated that I got back to the office at 3:00 p.m.

David attempting the Monkey Bars

I worked for an hour and then we went to get the kids to take them to do something.  The traffic is always bad in San Antonio in the 4-6 p.m. range and so we have to leave early to get there for 6:00 p.m. when normally it would be a half hour trip.  We bought a pizza and some drinks and took the kids to the Converse City park.  Maggie had a parent open house for part of the night and Sara came to get her about 7:30 p.m. and then we took the boys home about 8:30 p.m.

Sammy on the slide

Friday Nathan texted me that he had not got married yet because of some problems and that they were hoping to get married that day.

We went to the mission office and worked for most of the day.  I worked on an order for the distribution center and thought it would take about an hour or two to complete and I finally finished it up at 3:30 p.m.  I was going to try to do some baptisms but then Marcy texted some pictures of Nathan and her together kissing and the caption was “We did it”  At first I was a little heart sick so we decided to leave the mission office and go to John and Judy’s so we would get there on time.  Texting on the way over I learned that Kirsten and Marcy’s mom were the witnesses and there for the wedding.  Nathan said that he wanted to tell his brother’s and sisters and Grandma.  Friday night after we went out to eat with John and Judy I could not sleep because I was so frustrated so I texted Nathan and told him that I could not wait to much longer and that if he wanted to be the one to tell his other brothers and sisters that he had to do it quickly.  I also ask them a bunch of questions about whether they were serious about this or if it was just a fling or something to get back at their exes.  Marcy wrote me a text saying that they were very much in love and had just decided not to tell people until they could live together.  Nathan will come back here for the time like his original plan and they will work on how to get together after school is out this year.

Bishop Alonzo helping Isaac with his tool box

The week before we had the opportunity to take the kids to scouts on Wednesday and I was able to help Brother Smith with some Family History.  Isaac made a tool box in his Cub Scouts and David was helping to plan activities.  Nathan had Pack Committee meeting that night and so he went with me also.  Brother Smith was a little late and so we had basically just started when Nathan and the kids were finished so we did not get much done that night but I gave him a My Family book and asked him to fill it out.

Isaac finishing up his tool box

Thursday night we went to Wounded Warriors Bingo night.  David won again and got a $50.00 gift card to Toys r Us.  Because he won the first game and the family cannot win after one win we went out to the playground and other things there on the grounds for a while.

Isaac climbing the ropes

Maggie on the stepper

The weekend of General Conference Sara had tickets to go to something in Austin.  She asked if she could bring the kids at 12:30 p.m. on Friday rather than 6:00 p.m.  Because Nathan had 4 appointments at the VA that day and because I had Mission Leaders Conference with Zone Leaders coming to pick up orders I told her they would have to come to the Mission Office.  She brought them with new games that she had bought and treats and they were basically bored in one hour.  Sister Williams had them color some of the Small boxes that were left from the supply orders coming in and that lasted another hour.  Luckily we also had some electronic devices that they could play.  It all went pretty well but Sammy still found time to take the fender off a bike and take a part off a Bike Rack that was there.

David climbing the ropes

Saturday and Sunday were General Conference.  We had the kids for all of it.  Nathan had had them pick out a recipe to make for the weekend and we decided that it would be best if they each made theirs seperately with me.  Isaac chose peppermint bark so we made his first on Friday night.  It worked out fairly well and tasted good but it was a lot fatter than the ususal Bark.

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Maggie had chosen some cookies called snow balls that were made with almond meal and coconut and egg whiles.  We had to buy more ingredients for that on Saturday morning.  They tasted good but they were probably the hardest to make and Maggie had a hard time staying with it until they were complete.  When they were done the kids did not want to eat them because of the coconut so they must have Grandpa John's tastebuds.  I was disappointed with this one.

Isaac watching conference

David wasn't very excited about cooking with me but I tried to help him like I would have one of my students that were in 7th grade and teach him some cooking skills and help him to be successful.  He had chosen to make cinnamon rolls in a baking cup.  They were basically croissant rolls with the cinnamon and sugar on them.  He didn't want to do it at first but as he realized that this was not that hard and that he could also make croissants with the rolls we bought he got more excited.  We got them made in time to eat those with milk for the first session of conference on Sunday and they were a big hit.  I thought it was a good experience for David.

Sammy doing his favorite thing-playing on the Ipad

Sammy had chosen a mini beef wellington in the cup.  I realized after the coconut experience that he was not going to like having the blue cheese and spinach it called for with the sandwiches so we just put the steak in the cups and I had to make some pastry to put on top because Larry did not realize that he needed to buy puff pastry.  But when I looked up the recipe on line it was basically the same as my pie crust recipe but with butter rather than shortening or lard.  These were a hit also because they were basically steak with a piece of pastry on top and everyone likes steak.  Larry had bought some HEB steak that was already cooked and just needed to be warmed so it worked great.  Sammy got really excited about it which surprised me because he usually hates things like this.

David watching conference

June in the kitchen

So basically while we watched conference except for the Sunday sessions I was cooking all weekend but it was a fun activity for some of the kids.  However it was not a good activity to maintain my self control when eating.  I ended up making pie crust cookies out of the left over pastry and I think I ate most of them.

Conference was wonderful!!! There were so many good talks.  I especially liked Elder Scotts and Elder Bednars but they were all good.  I was so excited to be able to read them and study them immediately.  We played Elder Bednars for John and Judy while we were there this weekend.

Sammy trying to look like a sunshine baby in tellatubbies

Nathan asleep with Marcy's baby Drayk

We had the kids overnight for Sunday on that weekend too and then Sara came and picked them up at 6:45 a.m. in the morning for school.  So we had to get up very early on the Monday that Nathan left.  But we have enjoyed having some time to ourselves while Nathan is off getting into trouble.

September 29th and before

Well as you know it has been 20 days since I posted.  It seems that every Sunday lately I am too involved to do it or too tired.

Yesterday we went to church as usual.  It was fast Sunday in our ward because of General Conference next week.  Woodlake ward has a private chat or I think I would not have known that.  It was a good meeting.  But there is nothing that stood out that I wanted to share other than that Sister Beckstead who just left the mission on the 17th was back visiting and it was so good to see her.

The table we sat at with Antuars, Adairs and President and Sister McCullough

I was fasting to understand Nathan because he has been so grumpy lately.  In Sunday School the lesson was on the gospel principle of Charity.  I felt like it was telling me that I needed to be more charitable.  I spent a lot of time later talking to Heavenly Father about how I can do that.  I think I am charitable but I also loose my temper pretty easy sometimes when he is being obnoxious.  I just want my children to like me for everything I do but I know that is an unrealistic expectation.

Sister Slaughter, the Garffs, the Williams and President Slaughter standing

The Sandquists, one of the couples leaving

I slept for most of the afternoon after helping Nathan change his clothes.  When I awoke Larry and Nathan were out in the garage going through Nathan's things trying to find a binder he has with his credits for Social Work in it.  I helped for a while but then we all grew tired and we went in and I started fixing dinner.  By the time we ate it was time for Prayer and Scripture and so we did that and went to bed.  Sometimes after I have slept like that it is easy for me to stay up and do the blog but not yesterday.

Just as I was going to bed, Erick called and I was able to talk with him for a while.  Ryker had just got the postcard I sent him and so they wanted me to know that.  Ryker had had a bad dream so he started telling me about lions going down the stairs after him.  He was all excited because Heather is making him a Perry the Platypus costume for Halloween and they had just put up their Halloween decorations.

The Eslicks are leaving tomorrow and DeNile Williams

Saturday I did not feel good all day but I worked on bills and budget in the afternoon after I had fallen asleep for about 2 hours.  Larry was bobbing around doing all kinds of projects at the house but I was feeling like I didn't have the energy to do anything and I was hurting a lot all over.  After falling asleep I felt better.  I was able to figure out the budget we needed for the month and determine where we needed to cut back with Larry's input.

The Clarks next to the Eslicks again

Saturday evening I went to the San Antonio East Stake potluck dinner they had before the Women's meeting was broadcast.  It was such a fun experience as all the sisters in Woodlake ward kind of congregated together and there were so many fun things to eat that I overate.  I felt so included in then ward and realized that I had so many new friends in the ward.

I really enjoyed the Women's meeting.  I felt the spirit so strong and each talk had a message for me.  After some of the Sister missionaries came up and gave me a hug and said how much they loved me and that they appreciated all that we do for them.  They said we are like having parents here for them.  It made me feel so good to have them say that because I often feel inadequate and wonder if I am doing any good so it was so nice to have someone be positive about what we are doing.
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Friday I went to get my hair done and then I went to the office.  We had just finished devotional and Nathan texted me and told me that the toilet in his bathroom was overflowing and he couldn't stop it.  I called management about it and then went home to see if Nathan needed anything.  When I got there the cleaning personnel where there already vacuuming up the water.  It really went out into the hallway and they had to take out the carpet pad and set up a fan to blow the carpet dry.  They are coming on Tuesday to put in the new pad and deodorize the carpet.  I love that I can call and

Brother Garff with the M. Williams our office buddies

grateful for a place to live that cleans up the messes that we get and wondering why I have wanted to have my own house for so long.  I know that I could get a bad apartment but this apartment is very accommodating to clean things and fix things immediately.

I took Nathan with me back to the office and then when is was 5:00 p.m. I took him to pack meeting.  He is the Pack committee chairman and so feels like he needs to be there.  Isaac was not able to come so that was disappointing.  It was a fun pack meeting but Nathan was upset with some things I did and so that dampened the fun.  It was also raining and that was not making me feel good.  Nathan's church only has one way for him to get in and they usually open the door on the opposite end of the chapel for activities so someone has to run from the van parked by that door and go in to the other door at the end of the church and then run back up the hall to open the door for Nathan because the doors do not open from the outside.  I know I should be grateful they have a handicapped door and that we have a chapel!! But it is still frustrating when it is raining.

President Slaughter talking to the Clarks

The Magonigals are leaving this month also

Thursday  we were able to see the movie "Meet the Mormons"  with the missionaries in the South, West, and Hill Country zone.  The church has allowed the missionaries to see it at zone conference because they are not supposed to go to the theater.  I highly recommend it.  It is such a good movie.  We found out today also that it will be opening in San Antonio on Oct 10th so we had a lot of people go in and ask for it to be shown here.

Nathan and Larry

We had signed up to feed the missionaries in Woodlake ward but because we live a half hour away and they cannot come to our area we had to go to that area right after the movie and take them out to eat.  We went to Chili's in Converse.  It was fun to get to know the missionaries because they are new to the area except for Sister Swenson.  Then we asked Sara to bring the kids there for their Thursday night visit.  So we fed the missionaries at 5:00 p.m. and the kids at 6:00 p.m.  Larry was tired and worried about money so he did not enjoy this and let me know he did not want to do this again.  We went to Walmart for a few minutes so Nathan could get something and then we took the kids to the theater where Sara is doing her play and Maggie to the babysitter.

Wednesday was a welcome day because we finally got paid our Social Security and we had run out of money for the week.

Sister Slaughter with the Garffs

Antuars our couple from Australia and Sister Adair

Monday was the Senior Dinner that we have after Transfer week.  We went to New Braunfels to the Olive Garden.  It was fun to see everyone. President Slaughter and his wife came and President McCullough and his wife came which was unusual but probably because we have 4 couples leaving the mission this next month so we were telling them goodbye.  I did not get my meal until everyone was just about finished so I got it for free.  I don't know what the problem was but I could live with a free dinner.

Presdient and Sister McCullough the counselor in the mission presidency

June

Last Sunday I was trying to get dinner ready for the kids before we took them back.  I was making pasta with Alfredo Sauce and as I took the Pasta off to drain it I decided to drain it into the sink even thought there were dishes in the sink.  That was a big problem.  The boiling water came out of the dishes and went all down my left leg.  It was boiling hot.  I also had bare feet so even thought I jumped in the tub and turned on the cold water I ended up with some serious burns but I know that it could have been worse.  I spent about an hour total in cold water and was finally able to get the burning to cease by putting lotion on and taking some anti-inflammatory.  Larry was very helpful with his knowledge of how to treat burns from being a fire fighter in the Air Force.  He has bandaged the burn on my foot everyday for me and it does not hurt during the day.

A week ago Saturday we had the kids and we went to the Wounded Warrior Breakfast at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning and then spent a lot of time at the playground and other facilities that they have there.  The kids really seemed to like that.  They have a wonderful breakfast.

Nathan with Sister Leslie Williams

I think for the weeks before this I am just going to post the pictures and label what we were doing.

The blister on my foot at first

The blister on my foot on the 28th

Sammy in his coat of many colors that is a size 4 but he wanted it anyway

June with Elder Rasmussen, he reminds me so much of Erick my son in mannerisms and looks

At transfer meeting in Austin with Elder Vazquez a great zone leader

Nathan's storage pod waiting for us to unload it on the 12th into the garage that he rented

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Sister Beckstead, Sister Medina, Sister Swenson the Woodlake Sisters before transfers  when we took them to Orange Leaf before Transfers when Sister Beckstead went home and Sister Medina went to Cuelbra Creek

Clifford the big Red Dog came to Wounded Warriors Bingo Night and gave all the kids three books.  When we went back on Saturday for Breakfast this picture was on the slide show they were showing as we walked in.  Kind of a Tender Mercy for me and the kids.

Isaac is making it his goal to go across the monkey bars by himself.

Maggie is Elsa in her ice castle when she get on the play ground at Wounded Warriors

Isaac is the bad guy that got swallowed by the fish but is getting spit out

Playing in the Amphitheater at Wounded Warriors Site

The seating at the Amphitheater wide enough for wheelchairs

Isaac took pictures on the way home.  This is Sammy playing on the Ipad

Isaac's picture of Maggie staring off at something

One of about 10 selfies that Isaac took of himself coming home

Isaac's carrots just starting to grow after a week

Isaac's carrots the next day

David's plant the second day

Isaac's carrots a few days later and Maggies flower after it was dead headed

Isaac's carrots, Sammy's Flower and David's plant the same few days later

Isaac's carrots on the 27th are starting to look like Carrot leaves

Maggie's flower blooming again on the 27th

David's plant on the 27th is becoming a vine and climbing the fence

 If the videos upload one if of the kids doing a made up play at the amphitheater and the other is a video that Isaac shot when we were coming home which pretty much shows what it is like to ride with the kids in Nathan's van.  It may not appear because it said it was too large.

September 8 and 9

Monday we went into the office early because the assistants were not coming in to do their work until Wednesday. After devotional then we went to Weight Watchers and weighed in.  I was excited because I had lost almost 4 lbs.  Larry was not so excited because he had gained.  We went home and had lunch with Nathan and then went back to work.

Larry had to take the Mission President's old car into Pep Boys to get an estimate on repairs as the President got a new car on Friday.  Then he had to go to the DMV to get a registration that the zone leaders had lost replaced.  The afternoon he spent filling out mileage reports for the month of August in the computer.

I spent the day trying to get caught up with the referrals that I had not been able to fill in on Thursday and Friday.  It took most of the day to get them entered and to send out the referrals from the week before from the media.

I started this on the 9th but now I have not the foggiest what happened on the ninth and I was interrupted when I was typing and have not gotten back to it until now.
 

Sept 7th and before

You would not know it is getting to be fall in Texas.  It is still in the 90's most everyday.  It rained two days this week and cooled down to the 80's so we are still right up there with summer.

It is always a crazy day when the kids are here and today was no exception.  Although I think the devil heard us talking last week about how Sunday's are so hard to get the kids up and then last Monday when we had the kids for Labor Day they got up so easily. So to prove to us that it was not him, today they were not so hard to get up for church and we had no major meltdowns in the morning.  Everyone got ready and got dressed before we needed to leave and there was no major problem.  It was wonderful.

As it was fast and testimony meeting today there were a variety of testimonies.  Nathan usually bears his testimony and today was no exception.  Another lady Melissa Hoffer bore her testimony as she just had a new baby and is really enjoying the new baby.  She said though that Nathan was an inspiration to her and that when she feels like she is having a hard day she thinks about what it must be like for Nathan and realizes that he has not given up and she thinks that if he can keep going that she could keep going.

I felt like I should bear my testimony about the hastening of the missionary work.  I don't know what it is like in other missions but I give out 30 boxes of English Book of Mormons each month to the missionaries and about 5-10 boxes of Spanish Book of Mormons.  Each box of English books has 40 in it and the Spanish have 36.  It is always amazing to me that the amount never goes down.  And the other supplies are equally as plentiful.  I gave out 4 boxes of Restoration pamphlets and more than that other months.  There are at least 5-20 referrals everyday and it is amazing to me that the work just keeps growing.  Just in the ward that we are in there have been about 5 referrals in the last two weeks.  To me this is amazing.  The mission is on fire and we are baptizing about 70 a month lately.  I know that is not as many as some of the South American countries but I think I had been fooled into thinking that there was not much activity in the United States because it is so hard to find a convert in Utah.

On Monday the 1st we had the kids all day because it was our weekend and it was a holiday.  We went grocery shopping at the new Walmart that just opened about a block from us and Nathan bought the kids a few more clothes there that the kids needed.  He bought David some black boots for Sunday shoes and Maggie a new Hello Kitty dress for church.  We also got her some black Sunday shoes.  We also watched a movie and then the kids had to be back at 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday and Wednesday were very hectic days at the office.  I had a lot of Referrals to get in and Baptisms to type in plus we were trying to contact the incoming missionaries that had not sent in their car and bike information so we could get it before they went into the MTC. Plus I had to take Larry to the shops sometimes so he could pick up the cars when they were repaired or given estimates.   Elder Presser had an accident that was a missionary's fault as they rear ended a car that was stopped at a yield sign.  He has had a lot of different car problems lately and some of them he is concerned about how they are driving.

Thursday the church picked up 10 cars that had been removed from our fleet and Elder Presser had to make sure they were all fixed for sale and detailed before they came and so he was very busy for the last two weeks taking cars here and there.  It was interesting to see how they loaded the cars onto the truck.  Larry commented that the driver sure knew what he was doing to get the load balanced on the truck.

I was so busy during the week that I didn't have time to get the orders for supplies filled for MLC like I usually do.  So I was working all day on filling orders and getting them boxed up for the Zone Leaders to take home with them after the conference on Friday.  I worked up until 5:30 p.m. but then we had to go and get the kids.  When I checked my active link and I had 7 activity points for Weight Watchers and so I decided I need to work more at filling orders.  I didn't have all of the orders boxed up for Friday but we had to get the kids so I left.

Nathan and Larry's pineapple plant.  See the baby pineapple on it.

We went to the Post Exchange for dinner with the kids because Nathan wanted to check there for some things.  It was my first experience with the PX that people are always talking about.  The one here is kind of like a mini mall.  The kids enjoyed the Pizza that we got but they were not so happy about the shopping.  It reminded me of when John would shop and I was supposed to keep the kids happy.  It was not one of my fondest memories and Maggie and Sammy thought this was a time to act crazy and grab anything they liked so I hope we don't so that again.  By the time we got out of there all the kids were not happy either because we bought nothing for them (except food) so it was not our favorite night.  They asked if the next week we could go to Bingo night which surprised me as they usually have acted like they do not like to be there.

Isaac planted carrots rather than flowers

Friday was hectic for me in the morning because I was trying to finish up the orders by boxing them up and I also had to include the mail and the Ensigns and Liahonas that the church had sent for the missionaries.  I had called the moving Elders and asked them to come in later as I didn't have them ready and they agreed to come at about 10:00 a.m.  I got most of it done but I ended up having them help me box the last three orders.  I was embarrassed that they had to help me but they are always so kind and so wanting to help that it makes me just love them.  After all the years of having students who make it their point to make fun of you it is so nice to work with people who are kind and helpful and always thankful for what you do.

David, Sammy and Maggie's plants.  David's is seeds planted

Friday Sara brought the kids at 6:00 p.m. all except David who wanted to go to the school Football game.  Earlier she had said that she wanted us to take David to the game but at the last minute he got a ride with his friends.  So Nathan and Larry had decided that they would just take David to the game and stay for the game and then bring David home.  Therefore they went out to the game early and watched it.  Grandpa said that David's friend was a girl and that he sat with her for a while and then he came and sat with them.  The Randolph RoHawks must be pretty good as they won by about 53-0 but it was such a boring game that David wanted to leave at the half.

David's flower is coming up already from seed

While they were at the game I hung out with Maggie, Sammy, and Isaac.  They wanted to play on their electronics but when they started fighting I suggested that we go to the pool and they liked that idea.  It was almost dark but the pool is open until 10:00 p.m. so it was fun to see the pool all lit up and there was only one other family there so the kids had fun with them.  We stayed until about 9:00 p.m. and then they went home and took a bath and wanted hot chocolate because they got cold swimming even though it was not cold.

Friday night my brother Keith contacted me about setting up a link through a program he has that allows you to connect with 25 other people.  He wanted to have us all call in for Mom's birthday party that they were going to have on Saturday.  I worked on that while the kids were on their electronic games and we got it all set up to work.  I sent the link to all my kids but I don't know if they got it.

Maggie, Isaac, and Sammy's birdhouses

Saturday Nathan wanted to take the kids to the home depot to attend one of their craft classes.  They were making bird houses.  David didn't want to do it so he helped Isaac who loves this kind of thing.  Sammy said he didn't want to do it but when he found out that he couldn't have any of the treats they had for completing a house he changed his mind.  Larry helped Maggie do hers and I helped Sammy.  They neither one could hammer the nails that needed to be used to put the houses together.  Larry helped Maggie put the stickers on hers that were from the Wizard of Oz but Isaac and Sammy wanted to paint theirs.  It wasn't as messy as last time but it was still messy and Maggie and I got paint on our shirts.

After making the houses Nathan wanted to get some pots for Isaac to plant things in but then everyone wanted to get a pot and a plant so we ended up getting some for each of the kids and a pineapple plant for Nathan and Larry.  We came home and planted them and the kids really enjoyed them.  David actually texted pictures of the flowers that he like best to his girl friend to see what she liked before he bought his.  The only problem is that now we do not have the kids for two weeks and we have plants that need to be taken care of.

This is the plant that David picked out with his girlfriend

At 1:30 p.m. we were able to link with the others that were calling in and sing Happy Birthday to Mom.  It was fun for the kids to see the others and I enjoyed seeing the family in Utah.  Mom waved to us but it was hard to talk to her.  I was really appreciative that Keith had gone to the trouble to offer the link for us to be there for a few minutes.  I was disappointed that more people did not take advantage of the opportunity.

Saturday evening Nathan was invited to a dinner at the Studevants, the military relations missionaries for the church here that have done so much for him.  We decided it would be easier for him to not have to take the kids and so we spent the evening hanging out with them.  We watched a movie and had dinner and the kids played on their electronics if they wanted to and it was a fun night.  Maggie fell asleep about 7:00 p.m. so it was really quiet until she woke up about 8:30 p.m.  But she still went to bed good so she must have been tired.  She was really missing her mom this weekend.

Ashton with his family at his favorite Birthday place, Bubba Gump

I talked about Sunday at the beginning.  It was a good weekend and we had a good time with the kids.  Nathan is trying to get them to do something else besides electronics on Sunday's to keep the Sabbath day holy and even Sammy did pretty good as long as he had legos, but when we went to take them back he had a meltdown because he was sure that Nathan's charging cord was his.  We looked all over for his cord but could not find it and when we got to Sara's she said that he lost his a long time ago.

Sunday evening about 7:30 p.m. we were able to Skype with Jake and Nikki and their family for Ashton's birthday.  It was fun to talk with each one of them and find out more about what is going on in their lives.  Jake is doing a good job of providing for them and they had just finished up grilling something.  Apparently Jake likes to do that.  Ashton said that he got a lot of legos for gifts and amazingly he already had them put together so he could show them to us.  Myles could say Grandma and Grandpa so that was fun.  Nikki does a great job of keeping the family going and together.  Abby read us 2 stories from her reading books and she is doing a good job.  Lexie came in at the last minute because she was at a Seminary event.  I can't believe that she is old enough for Seminary.