Week of September 22 - 28, 2014

Monday - Starting my day out by jogging by a temple makes my day so great! After my run, I started hauling in Fall decorations. It wasn't supposed to take as long as it did, but I was cleaning and dusting at the same time.


I stopped midstream and headed over to Dorrie's house, and we headed to Millie's Hallmark in Awatukee. They have the most awesome Dept 56 village displays. We usually go on their annual sale day, but we weren't able to attend, so the shopping this time was slow and nice. The guy that puts together these displays is awesome! We had a great lunch at Sweet Tomatoes and I headed to Albertsons, got some on-sale chicken breasts, and spent the next couple of hours grinding and packaging them, since my Zaycon chicken order is delayed a few weeks. Dee had stopped at Deseret Industries to drop off some cleaned out books on his way there.

I had hoped to get two boxes of decorations up that day, but it was going slow. Perhaps next year I should number the boxes???

Dee and I headed to Costco after work was over, bought chicken food and toilet paper...and a hot dog for Dad, headed to WalMart (where he sat in the car talking to his friend, Randy, on the phone...Dee told Randy that one of his suppliers, who is also a former employer of Randy's, would love to have him back working for them. Randy got hired and has been working there since last Thursday) while I bought some new orange LED lights for around the front door, and then to Lowe's to buy wood for a raised bed garden on the other side of the back yard for Dad's peppers.

He worked on the yard, and I worked on the house. I got the stuff in those two boxes put up and started on the next two. We took a quick drive to see the temple all lit up...I just never get tired of that! A few minutes of the news and we headed to bed.

Tuesday - It was cooler, or less humid, so I ran in a different direction to the temple and back. It's a little less that 3 miles, but I hope it keeps potential criminals guessing.  I  on those nexI t two boxes...putting up LOTS of bugs and centipedes and even face snakes in the bathroom, and got to the final box five when Nano came by to visit.

She brought this jewelry box of my dad's. As soon as I saw it, I remembered it being in his top dresser drawer.

The box is leather with the symbols from my mom's college sorority, Alpha Delta Phi. She said that when there was a special dance or event, they would give their date a gift, and this was a gift she gave to my dad when they were dating. 

This is one of two cuff links. I remember when I was little at our old house on Tuckey Lane, he would take a little tin pan from a chicken pot pie and put these clear marbles in boiling water, and then in cold water, so they would crackle, and then he would make tie pins and cuff links.

Some of his rings

It's now in my box in my closet with my jewelry and other treasures...

 I finished the decorating...other than the spider webbing, which Kayty uses her Party City skills to do...and started cleaning up.

I had a great interruption: a phone call from Nathan. His doctor is trying another treatment for his headaches. Celiac bloodwork came up negative so they are trying another medication, plus vitamins (riboflavin, magnesium, and CoQ10) and exercise. The meds make him feel pretty nauseous, so he was gonna rest. School is good, and there is more homework in his religion class than in his engineering class. Little Lilly was not feeling well for a few days last week, but has seemed to be much better.

Got my chores all done by the early evening, squeezed some key limes and headed to church for a visiting teaching interview...which was to happen the next night. Grrr...

Dee built a raised bed garden box, and reloaded some bullet shells

Trash out and down the road...that's it!

Wednesday - Beau was barking, so I finally let him in. It was time to get up anyway. Run was cooler, though I was still soaked in perspiration when I got home. I found some red paint and painted the raised bed garden box Dee built.

I should have worn gloves. I really don't understand why I don't remember that I am such a messy painter! It did come out nice, though I wish Rustoleum Brush on Paint came in turquoise or purple. I got some cleaning done and went to get my hair trimmed as soon as the place opened. I was hoping a trim would help me do something with this hair (it didn't).

Cameo texted from the doctors office...Kaylee had a bad bout of stomach flu that bothered her all day and night...she wanted "tay toes" so much! Pedialyte didn't match.

My visiting teacher, Kim Edwards, came and we had a great visit. The rest of the day was filled with cleaning and errands to the post office and grocery store. Dee worked on his garden as well as his reloader. I did finally get to the right time and place for a visiting teaching interview...it was literally in the parking lot of the Parkside church building. (The blessings of being the "temple ward" also mean the sacrifice of being a roaming nomad for a few months...church at one building and finding a place to meet for everything else.) I finished the evening making some homemade play dough.

Thursday - I swept and mopped the kitchen before I ran and did my pool brushing and dog feeding. I also finished a small Halloween laminating project I had saved. Morning was filled with general chores: dusting, vacuuming, laundry. I canned another batch of prickly pear jelly and helped Dee move the box I painted to its final location. I am not much help right now, though. The mosquitoes  are just terrible every evening and I get eaten alive. I got the baptism program for Saturday all coordinated and typed, and printed up Dad's conducting sheet with the names of this month's children to be baptized.

The best part of my day was getting texts from Adam, whose cardboard boat sailed into third place at his school race, and Grace's volleyball team won their game! I am so thankful for them texting me. Usually, the texts come when I am missing them...Truly a tender mercy for me!

Friday - I jogged on a humid, 83 degree Autumn morning. Ugh. This time of year is hard: to hot to like it outside, and too cold to swim. (It's never too cold for Dee to swim!) I worked on organizing and catching up photo printing. I usually spend my General Conference Weekend updating photo albums...and I haven't updated in a LONG time. I am going to be ready for the first October weekend.

Dee visited suppliers, so I did my housework pretty quickly. He stopped at the LDS Cannery in Mesa to pick up some more potato pearls for me...we were almost out. He also got a case of rice and two cans of beans. Well, I started to move a few things to make room for the potatoes, which led to me moving a few things to make room for the rice, which led to a gallon jar of dill pickle spears tipping over on the floor and shattering, sending pickles and juice everywhere in the pantry. Two hours later, all the juice was mopped up and the pantry was clean...a bit smelly, but clean.

This is how you clean up the initial mess and glass from a one gallon jar of dill pickle spears...

We went to the Johnson family's house for an enchilada dinner. Yummy and totally fun! Kids gave us a tour of their bedrooms, played piano for us, and Dr. Johnson - he's our dentist - showed us all the projects he has done for their house and yard. It was great!

Saturday - No evidence of rain except for spotty cars, so I set out on my jog. I was totally surprised to find a huge tent being put up when I jogged by the temple. Open House preparations had truly started!

New tent is to the right.

After brushing the pool, I did a few things in the house, picked some key limes,

 and Dee woke early. We headed to Lowe's for stone stuff for his new garden bed and hit a few yard sales. It was humid and very mosquito-ey outside, so I stayed indoors.  he would periodically come in and cool off and itch.

The phone rang mid-morning and Sharynn, my sister, was calling. After a few odd questions as to our location and plans, we discovered they were stopping by in a few minutes, since they were in town for Sharynn's high school reunion. They came, bearing fresh potatoes from their garden, and we enjoyed visiting for about an hour. They had to surprise Nano, and we had to get ready for our wonderful church calling of Stake 8 year old baptism coordinators.

The font was already being filled when we arrived, so Dee made the program copies and I helped set up chairs. One by one, three very excited children arrived, I gave them their baptismal outfits to wear, and many happy pictures were taken with loving family and friends before the baptism. I love seeing these sweet young children, so excited and ready to make their first covenant with their Heavenly Father!

We cleaned up the building and headed out for what we thought was lunch...when we looked at the sky. Dark billowy clouds and a rapidly approaching storm (Dee said the clouds were full of hail - beautiful but bad for our young tomato and pepper plants still on the counters of the outdoor kitchen. We fought wind and rain, but arrived to save the plants and enjoy the downpour.

This stuff just doesn't happen in Phoenix...and usually not this late in the season.

Many across Phoenix suffered downed trees, flooding, and power outages, but we were blessed to be fine (we checked on Ethan/Cam and Doran/Amber and they were fine too)

After the initial deluge was done, we headed out for groceries, some Albertsons Fried Chicken, and to enjoy the slow rain.

Got a call from Nate while driving that he scored: Not one but two "Mormon Doctrine" books by Bruce R. McConkie at a Deseret Industries there in Idaho. (Searching had been going on for awhile for these, in Az, Utah, and Idaho)

Dee worked more in the yard...It was so nice to feel cool! Though mosquitoes didn't care.

I enjoyed the General Women's Broadcast from Salt Lake City via my computer. I got the baptismal clothing all laundered, ready to return to church tomorrow. The missionaries stopped by for a visit...to see us and to get out of the rain. After they left, we picked up photos at Walgreens and had a quiet night.

Sunday I woke up and opened up the doors and windows...it was COOL outside! We spent the morning reading the scriptures, had a visit from Ethan, Cam and Kaylee and saw their new car, picked up the missionaries to drive to church.

Church was great...but freezing cold! We stopped by Dorrie's for some cheese and crackers before heading home to drop off the missionaries and then to our house. Dinner included a baked potato from Rollin's garden...yummy!

The rest of the evening was quiet...as usual. Dee invited a friend to the temple open house, talked to Doran, and snacked on things he might regret...

Week of September 15 - 21, 2014

Monday - I woke up and took a short two mile run. Dee had to be up earlier than usual, and we headed out to the airport before 6 am, which was good, since we both thought he was flying Delta at Terminal 3, and he really was on USAirways in Terminal 4! He ran and made it on time and had a nice cool, and productive day in Utah. I had much to do in his absence: animals to feed, plants to keep alive. Kaylee came and we spent the morning outdoors, though it was a little warm, the breeze in the shade was pleasant.

  Dee and I had moved the slide from poolside to the sand, and that was a great move, since she was on it three times! Our day was busy and Kaylee enjoyed her weekly nail polish from Kayty's room. She and Kayty even shared some make up tips!

Evening was quiet...I was grumpy about Master Chef results...but hey, it's only a tv show. Elizabeth was robbed...that is all!

Talked ot Dee on the phone...he enjoyed visiting the Ogden Temple...

greeted Kayty and then headed to bed...early!

Tuesday - Slept in a bit later than normal, exercised, woke Dee by phone, and did my pool-brushing-plant-watering-animal-feeding duties. It was cloudy, but Hurricane Odile was more clouds than rain. It was nice to play in the sand, etc. with cloudy sunshine, though, and Kaylee enjoyed that, and the visit from Granny Dorrie later.

Kayty headed out to work early and went to her One Direction Concert...and was on cloud 9 before, during, and hours after! She had a blast!

Evening was quiet...feeding and no watering, due to a sprinkle we had, vacuuming, mopping, laundry, talked to Dee who attended the Bountiful Temple for a session

in bed early.

Wednesday - Woke up to make sure Kayty was home and happy...no question about the happy part! She said it took nearly an hour to get out of her parking place, but it was totally worth it!

Got up, woke Dee, exercised, fed animals, watered plants due to the skimpy overnight rain, got the trash cans back home.

Kaylee and I had a pretty typical day, though the mosquitos were TERRIBLE outside!

Note: walking around with dryer sheets hanging from every pocket and part of your body does NOT keep mosquitos away.

Hurricane Odille, the one they had been talking about and warning of and filling sandbags for, turned out to be Hurricane No-Deal...one 15 minute rainstorm in the early afternoon...

Kaylee and I went outside to see it...and she totally enjoyed every moment!

Kayty was home early from work, and she and Kaylee shared her phone videos of the concert.

Kaylee wasn't quite sure why someone in that video was screaming the whole time! ;)

After Kaylee and Cam went home, I fed and watered, took a quick trip to Dollar Tree, cleaned, talked to Dee, who had a great temple session at the Provo Temple,

 and went to bed.

Thursday - Cool, though humid, morning and gorgeous stars (again, no clouds, no rain from Odille) lured me to jog...love running by that beautiful temple!!!

Pool brushed, chickens fed, plants checked and moved to sunlight as opposed to under protection of the roof from rain (a bust!) pulled weeds, scooped up dog droppings, straighten and clean, and ready the  stroller to try for a walk to see out goat that we haven't seen since early May.

That stroller on the from porch turned Grouchy Thursday into happiness. It was a warm and humid stroll but we did see our goat friend. I gave him the first granola bar bite, to make sure he/she didn't learn to bite in our months of absence. He was good, so Kaylee fed him a few bites on her own. She called him an elk...which I am sure totally made him feel super...but I let her in on the fact that he was still a little goat. We hurried home and tried to cool off. It was funny..she kept wanting to be up in my arms and she would point outside and say "rain". I guess she is the one the weather forecasters consult when they tell us it will be cloudy and rainy for days!!!

After I got all the chickens fed and plants watered, and Cameo got Kaylee, Kayty and I headed out to WalMart and Winco for some new purple lights for the bathroom mirror Halloween decorations and some treats and salad at the store. I couldn't wait to hang them up and did so as I vacuumed and talked to Dee on the phone. He had a good day: work, a visit with Sharynn and family, and a session at the Mt. Timpanogas Temple. (I-phone Camera didn't work)

Friday - I exercised and woke Dee by phone, pulled some weeds, fed the chickens, and avoided ant and mosquito bites. Humidity is NOT something we here are used to...and this has been one humid September!

Kaylee came and we enjoyed Curious George on tv...until she wanted to get in the stroller and feed "goat". Now, mind you, I love going for a walk, but since the weather is still warm...and that doggone humidity I keep complaining about makes it even warmer...I usually head out as soon as Cameo leaves for work. I really figured...silly me...that Kaylee wouldn't want to walk two days in a row. So, we headed out. Mr. Goat was so happy...Kaylee loved it...and I had sweat behind my sunglasses! ugh!

We cooled off and headed out to the airport to pick up Papa. Kaylee was quiet on the way out... it was our first car trip together in my car and she was very interested. Once Papa got in the car, however, she turned into the chatting tour guide, showing him the airplanes and buses and taxis. She liked having Papa back home and spent the afternoon...including her nap time...visiting him in his office, sharing snacks, and playing.

Yep...no nap...She was pretty tired...and crashed asleep on the way home. Dee and I needed gardening supplies, so I drug myself through WalMart and Lowes with him...hoping I could crash soon.

Saturday - Early wake up and good run. Though it's still very warm and humid, Saturday mornings mean less traffic and a great jog. Dee woke up and sprayed some week killer on the yard before it got too warm.

Rain is wonderful...but it awakens the desert...and the weeds.

Weeds are not wonderful.

As we were readying to head out for yard sales, I received a text from Cameo...Kaylee had just woken up...7:30 AM...from falling asleep on the way home the evening before.

No wonder I felt so tired...

I was!

Yard sales brought some barn stars for Amber, some plexiglas and a part for Dee's panel truck,  a stuffed Minnie Mouse and Dori that I laundered when home...a couple of books that I have no idea where we are going to put.

Dee loves to buy books. He loves to read them.

I don't love finding a place to put them. Shelf after shelf is full. I am going to give away some of my books so there is room for his books.

He worked on his tomato garden. I did laundry and cleaned some.

Nate called with a question about selling that doggone van. People are cheap! They keep offering less than Nate's new tires cost!

Made some pizza dough.

Ethan and family, and Doran and family arrived after 3pm for a planned reloading, swimming and pizza get together.

Some swam...

Some loaded...

We all ate...

We played...

Evening was quiet. Pizza is easy but it just takes awhile to clean up the counters and floor and pizza pans.

I noticed on my email late that there were some additional days for ushers opening up at the Phoenix Temple Open House, so I signed up for three additional times.

Glad for that quick late night check I sometimes do.

Sunday - Slept in late. Thus, I woke up to a weird dream.

Too much sleep!

We spent the morning reading...me the latest Ensign magazine and trying to load that reader thingy on Dee's work phone. After at least 30 minutes...success!

I ended up finishing reading the entire Ensign today...it was great! We met at the new building...really strange driving on the freeway to the building! The chapel was COLD! Next week, sweater! I helped in the nursery, which was absolutely crazy: 12 kids, tired from no naps since we have church in the afternoon, new nursery with new toys and a new set up...which meant that by the final 20 minutes of singing time, they were running around . My voice was gone. I was gone.

We were supposed to visit Dorrie on the way home...she even had snacks...but I was so dead that I told Dee he could go in and visit, but not me...I would sit in the quiet car...the nice quiet car. We headed home.

Dinner, quiet evening with me writing a visiting teaching letter and Dee calling kids for next Saturday's stake baptism.

We are so anxious for cooler weather...for Fall...hope it gives us a peek soon!

Week of September 8-14, 2014

Monday - I was awakened during the night with thunder and lightning. I got up at 4:15 am to run, and saw the rain, so I went back to bed to try again at 5:00. There hasn't been a rain around here that lasted more than that, and I could just run through puddles.

At least, I thought that.

At 5 am, it was still raining, but dark, so I turned on the news and decided to exercise.

I was shocked. There was rain and flooding from one end of town to the other. Freeways flooded. Cars sunk. And it was still raining outside.

At the end of the morning, there had fallen a record 3.96 inches of rain at Sky Harbor Airport...all time record for one day.

Between Saturday's rain, and todays, we had a total of nearly 4.5 inches of rain!

I texted my kids to make sure all were well. Those who worked made it there, or had it cancelled. Those who had school made it there...and Kelsie had it cancelled. I felt blessed that we were dry and well. We had some friends from church who did not fare so well.

I spent the day cleaning and packing and preparing for my three days in Vegas.

Tuesday - We got started to Vegas by 8:20 am, after renting the smallest, "mid-size" Ford Focus I had ever experienced. I was crunched and all the stuff barely fit. Since it was Dee's business trip, he got Subway sandwich for him on the way up.

It was great to see Josh and Sam...oh, and Allison waiting outside for us. I unloaded my stuff and Dee came in for a rest. Allison asked if he had heard about the road closure. I played with Josh: puzzles, trains, etc. while Dad soon discovered that the only road to his St. George Utah destination had been washed out the night before and the detour added 250 miles to the trip! I hugged Sam and Josh and I played and organized his trains some. Dee's boss told him to cancel his St. George Hotel and return home the next morning.

:(

Josh with his hiking stick

Sorry about the ghetto selfie...the smart card from my camera was misplaced when Dad took pics of his garden, so this was on his i-phone

So, we made the best of our shortened time. I did more puzzles with Joshy, played with Sam, and Papa gave the kids the walking sticks he had made for them.

When the family went to a church activity, Adam stayed home and we played a couple of card games with him. I read to Josh. Dee played War with Grace.

We had a blast...wish it could have gone on longer...but at least I got a little time.

I haven't played with these guys in six months!

Everyone finally got tired...Dee took the couch and I took the floor.

Wednesday - I woke up early on my own, got dressed and got most of the stuff in the car and was greeted by Tyger...and Adam. It was nice to see how very responsible and independent he has become in just a few months. And he sure is a sharp dresser for school! It's hard for me to realize he is in sixth grade. Gracie woke up and I helped get her lunch ready. Sammy came out...with Mommy...donning his always present big smile. That kid is SO happy...All of the time! And Joshy, who is NOT  a morning person, came out and snoozed by all of us. Kids readied, "Preach My Gospel" was studied, and prayers were said...and out we headed so the kids could get to school.

But not without a big, take-my-breath-away Gracie hug...

And a kissing hand kiss...that I will treasure...forever.

Long drive...again! Dad got a Subway sub in Kingman.

Drive was painful and uneventful. We arrived to a clean home and I started housework while Dee went back to work. We returned the painfully small rental car...and ended up getting a 10 percent discount for the mixup in "midsize".

I hope Honeywell appreciates me!

We made some prickly pear jelly.

Dee mowed...and poisoned the weeds we have from all the rain.

I received a phone call asking for some help tomorrow with the Cultural Celebration costumes.

We didn't want to leave the house at all the rest of the evening...until we saw a Facebook post that the construction fence was partially down around the temple. We had to go see that!

Thursday - The early morning was nice and cool and my run was wonderful...made more wonderful when I got to the temple. I have jogged past this site for years: in the dirt...on the busy street...on a sidewalk peeking in at the granite jogging path behind the construction fence.

I wanted to be one of the first ones to jog on this past...

So I was.

It is dark, but this is the path, looking West, with the construction fence and street on the left, and the temple on the right. Yes, I was running in the dark, towards the dark, behind a fence. Not the brightest and safest move...but so worth it to be, perhaps, the First!

The fence is still up on the street side, so there was a bit of backtracking...So worth it!

Pool was brushed. Chickens were treated with corn on the cob, watermelon, and grass clippings. House was vacuumed.

I headed over to Debbie Blake's...and with Cheryl Burrow and Yvonne Brimhall (friends from church) we went to another sister's house and worked on cutting out 'leather' jackets for the kids to wear for the Phoenix Temple Cultural Celebration. Yvonne and I worked at a short, vinyl covered card table...not easy...but in two hours, we got four cut out and I visited with Yvonne: fun...and visiting teaching her done for the month. I also received a wonderful call from Nathan, who had a break from work for a few hours. Made my morning!

My back ached for awhile, but a trip to Dollar Tree cured that...got some stuff I needed: cleaning products (they say that the "Totally Awesome" brand of cleaners there really are, so I am testing).

The rest of the day was cleaning up and laundry.

Friday - The construction fence was down, so I was able to run on the temple path...awesome! (As you can see, it really doesn't take much to please me.

I was going to head to the grocery store, but felt I should check Kayty...I am ever so thankful Heavenly Father  loves Kayty so much, and that I have learned to act on those promptings. I walked into her room, and she sat up...I checked her leg and it felt cold and then she began the seizures - sign of low blood glucose. I asked her if she was low and she said "Yes"...(miracle because you are VERY low at seizure time). I grabbed the nearby sugary soda and gave her some in a bottle. She tried to hold it herself but it was difficult with the jerking. (That in itself was so miraculous that she was aware enough at that low level...she must had a glucose in the 20's!) We got two cans of soda down her, and  she  was able to eat some candy...I checked her glucose at that point and it was 79, so I had her swish her mouth with water to keep her teeth safe and left...VERY THANKFUL! I check on her all night...routinely...and I am so thankful that the Lord gets me where I need to be EVERY TIME!)

We hit a couple of yard sales when Dee had a work break...I hit the jackpot with the two six inch round cake pans Cameo needed for Kaylee's Minnie Mouse Cake, plus I got a half sheet cake pan, to rectangular pans, and two eight inch rounds ...all for $13!

I wasn't going to start the Fall Put Away (I pack up all the decorations that are on my shelves, etc. i.e. photos, missionary plaques, etc. in the Fall and get them back out in January after the holidays) but one thing led to another and my shelves were emptied...a suitcase and a box in the garage DJ/office room, and the rest in my hut. I vowed that I needed to thin out some of my stuff...

I finally got my dusting, vacuuming, mopping and bathroom cleaning done. I worked on adding purple flowers to my back porch wreaths.

Dee needed more chicken manure, so we headed to a friend of a friend. Lots of chickens...but no manure (rain washed it all away).

Quick shopping trip to the 99 cent store and WinCo for salad stuff. Dee worked in the garden and poisoned weeds.

Saturday - Another wonderful jog by a temple...I pinch myself all of the time! It's too amazing to be true!

I brushed the pool, did a little back yard cleaning. Dee woke up early to plant and poison more weeds.

Love the rain...the weeds? not so much!

Yard sales were pretty good. I helped Dee get two garden beds ready to plant, and we planted the snow peas in the morning...and he planted tomatoes in the evening.

In between time, we went to Costco, took some stuff left in Vegas to Ethan and Cameo's and ended up going to New Asian Kitchen with them for lunch. We then got two propane tanks filled and rested out the heat of the day.

Morgan called and updated us on how he is doing...sounds great!

We got Dee's tomatoes covered and in...all while being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Quiet evening

Sunday - We both woke early and so Dad enjoyed the yard and I got a few things done and ready for church. Sunday classes were all good. It's our last day in our building...they are even changing the locks and have asked that we not even try to come into the building until further notice. Temple wards make great sacrifices, but get to walk out of church every single Sunday and see a temple.

Worthwhile trade off, I would say!

Nathan called and updated us...He worked LOTS of hours last week! They are doing well...he starts college on Tuesday. (I wonder if Jess could get me a "first day of school" pic with him holding a sign that says "College Freshman"?...

I doubt it. I am sure not going to mention anything on Facebook either...don't want to spend the next year 'unfriended' like it was in high school!

Dee home taught and I went to Ethan's to get the car seat I bought fixed up...turned out my rear seatbelts didn't lock...Dad worked on it, though, and it seems all good. I still am going to get it checked at a fire station at my next opportunity.

We finished packing up Dee's stuff for his trip to Utah next week...

We ended the evening with Kayty showing us pics of strange men in suits on her phone.

The fun never ends around here...