Week of May 21 - 27. 2017

Highlights:

Spiritual
Church on Sunday was wonderful and a new ward member, Brother Cusick, was put into the bishopric to replace Brother Floyd, who is moving. Dad taught High Priests. The bishop and his wife taught the same lesson in Relief Society. So interesting to see what the Lord inspires in each lesson.

I completed my visiting teaching this week by writing a letter to one sister, and delivering tomatoes to another. Dad home taught on Wednesday night and will complete his home teaching on Sunday.

I have indexed 15908  records so far this year.

I am in Alma 20 in the Book of Mormon.


Family

The Wilkins Family
This family had a busy week...
Final school projects...

Another wise observation by Sam, as shared by Allison

"Sam and I were playing Memory together this morning when he asked me where a match was. I told him I had no idea, and he replied, "But you're a mom. You know everything!"
And THIS, my friends, is why tantrum-throwing, mess-making, having-to-go-potty-10-times-in-a-store 3-year-olds are SO much easier than almost-14-year-olds. They still think their moms know stuff. :)"

Allison and Mike celebrated their 16th Wedding Anniversary

And Adam and Grace were in the school's musical production of "Cinderella"...


The Ethan Rice Family
Last Saturday, this family attended the local Geranium Festival






 

 

 
Ethan spent his week working in Indiana.
Cameo located a nearby park that reminded her of Flagstaff...


 Kaylee had her first mani-pedi on Saturday...





The Doran Rice Family
Doran had four long work days, so he was off Friday.
Amber shared this...
"Decided to wake Kelsie up with Alice Cooper's rendition of Schools out for the Summer.
I'm such a cool mom...She told me that I was dumb and embarrassing her."

The Morgan Rice Family
Kristy is doing well and enjoyed attending graduations for two of her daughters...
 
 

Morgan is enjoying working at the machine shop, and the four day work weeks. He invited Doran and Dad to go catfishing in the canal Friday night. Since Morgan was the only successful fisherman, he gets the pic and the notices.



Kayty
Kayty had a long work week. She is trying to find other work, but was led astray by two bogus jobs on an employment sight. Rule 1...if it sounds to good to be true, it's a foreign offered job that only seeks to bogus pay you and get into your bank account,

The Nathan Rice Family
Busy week of learning and working for Nathan, and Jessica. Jess had a class online meeting Wednesday, so she came here and Annalee and I played while she participated. She has a large research paper she is currently working on. She later attended her nephew's eighth grade graduation that night, and Nate and Annalee helped get the master bathroom shower prepped for more drywall.

They stayed with us Thursday night and Annalee played here with me...

These internships are so great for a student. Both Nathan and Jessica are learning so much. Jessica had a pretty heartwrenching day, and it brought to reality what she will be dealing with.
Work
Dad's work week was typical: lots of meetings, lots and lots of spreadsheets, reporting, a visit to a supplier or two, and more meetings and spreadsheets.

My week included the typical laundry, vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing, dusting, hauling trash, plus I baked bread, canned tomatoes and used the current tomatoes in sauces and meals.

Dad's Garden
Tomatoes are finally slowing down...and no one is more happy than I am! I completed canning for the year...

Tomato count so far:1112

Year of the House Part 2
You saw the work in the bathroom. Pipes are in. Now all the drywall can be completed. Then sealing the wall and floor, pouring the concrete rim. 

Other highlights
I got some new running shoes...my others were pretty thrashed...

I like them.

I also was surprised with this actual handmade card from my sweet inmate at the prison. We only get emailed scanned copies of any letters they write to us. The rule is the mail is sent to the ward post office box and then the bishop scans and emails a copy to us and keeps the original. This was sure a treat!!

Not so highlights
Two dear sisters in our ward, one recently retired and part of the stake Young Women's presidency, and the other, our Young Women's president, mother of four kids 16 and younger, were diagnosed with cancer. Sister Audrey Breast cancer, and Sister April Acute Myeloid Leukemia - and she had absolutely no warning...just a little tired for a couple of days. From a blood test to straight in the hospital and chemotherapy. Our bishop asked ward members to fast tomorrow for the members of the ward struggling with serious health issues.

Week of May 14 - 20. 2017

Highlights:

Spiritual
My ribs were so sore that I stayed home Sunday...did some indexing...Sacrament Meeting was good, the choir song I missed singing was excellent, and there was no Relief Society lesson but yummy cheesecake and chatting...at least, that is what I heard.

Temple is on shutdown for two weeks, so no temple attendance.

My visiting teachers came on Wednesday morning and we had a delightful visit! Love chatting with them and love their messages they leave!I called one sister I visit to make an appointment, and we talked for so long that she thought it should be called a visit for the month. I am going to take her some tomatoes in a few days.

Scouts went well on Wednesday and we completed two adventures.

I have indexed 15050 records so far this year.

In the Book of Mormon, I am in Alma 5.

Family

The Wilkins Family
School is winding down and many things are packed into a day, on top of working, church callings, and regular homekeeping duties...


On Mother's Day, she wrote:
 "The other day, I had to bring Adam to a follow-up radiology appointment with a grumpy Sam in tow, rush to the school to see Josh's school project, go to the library for Grace's books for a report... and clean up the floor at the library when Sam got sick all over it. When we came home, we were all grumpy as we did the homework, chore and activities routine. It was a hard day. But when I came home late from work that night and looked at their beautiful sleeping faces, I felt so profoundly and incredibly thankful that I get to be the one who has hard days with them. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they make me worry, they make me happy, and they make me try to be a better person every day."

On Wednesday, she shared on Facebook
"I was in the middle of taking a shower when I heard Sam come into the bathroom. I peeked out and saw him holding Elle (our cat). He told me "Elle loves flowers, Elle really loves flowers." I said, "Did you give Elle a flower buddy?" And he replied, "No, but I will." And then he dumped poor Elle in the shower with me. For the record, Elle does NOT love SHowers. :)"

The Ethan Rice Family
It was a busy week for this family! Ethan likes his new job but the longer commute is quite the adjustment! Cameo worked hard and finally found a good children's dentist for the kids. Turns out Kaylee  DID NOT need any fillings! So glad she drove the hour each way to find a good dentist.


Kaylee had a special program to celebrate the end of preschool on Friday.
Wade made a new friend...

Kaylee sang and got a diploma.


I called Kaylee via Facetime Saturday while Ethan was helping Dad with a YouTube download, and she had a face full of flowers. They had a great day and were outdoors, jumping in bounce houses and getting a little sunburned. 

The Doran Rice Family
Best thing ever happened on Saturday, May 20, 2017...Kelsie Jane Baumgard chose to be baptized.


 

Aunt Sherry, Cousin Rachel and Cousin Sam made the trek across town to attend. It appears that Kelsie now has her very own beautifully crocheted blanket by Aunt Sherry.

 
 

Many thanks to Nathan for taking the pics for me...and to Nathan and Jessica for attending. I said the opening prayer, Nathan said the closing, and Papa baptized her. She will be confirmed in two weeks in her Sacrament Meeting.

The Morgan Rice Family
Busy work week at a different job, which he seems to like a lot!

Kayty
Kayty's job is not going anywhere...either financially nor personally, so she is on the hunt for a new job. She needs insurance and that doesn't happen here.She attended a Single Adult Conference on Saturday.

The Nathan Rice Family
They had dinner with Grandma after work on Monday.  Happy Anniversary on Wednesday...


Busy work week! New baby is going to be named Elisabeth May...calling her Ellie May. How sweet!!
Nathan presented at work to his coworkers and boss, and Jessica taught two parenting classes on Friday. They came by on Friday night to visit, and Nathan installed my Mother's Day Present.

Everyone showered (even Kayty! ) and pronounced it Amazing!!! Thank you so much, Nate, Jess, Annalee and Ellie!!
Work
Dad had another very frustrating week, with reports that are constantly updated, sometimes twice a day, that require data collection, entry, and explanation writing. His boss is a total linguist, too, so his work is looked at, highlighted in red, and sent back for edit. I have been surprised that there were no red check marks!

In addition to my regular work, I canned 20 quarts of tomatoes on Tuesday, put them away on Wednesday,

Dad's Garden
Tomato picking...tomato canning. Busy week!!

Year of the House Part 2

Other highlights
Mother's Day...
Kind words. Wonderful Efforts. Thoughtful gifts. Visit and Facetime.

From Allison...
"I don't get to see or talk to her often enough, but my mom is the most amazing person who sacrificed so much for me and my siblings, made every little holiday incredible, supported me in whatever hobby/sport I wanted to pursue, taught me how to work hard and was the best example of patience, faith and Christ-like love. I hope I can (someday) be as awesome as her. Love you Mom!"

From Ethan





Ethan wrote:
"Happy Mother's Day to Suzzy Kew Rice, my amazing mom. Thak you for always being there, whether it was pitching a baseball, helping with a merit badge, or closing your eyes during a game, you have always been there for me and my family. Even now, being across the country, you find ways to continue to share your love, even if you have to play FaceTime hide-n-seek with Kaylee for hours. Happy Mother's Day Mom and Grammy!!!! We Love You!

My only dream; my toughest heartache- sometimes; my joy - ALWAYS...being the Mom of Allison, Ethan, Doran, Morgan, Katelyn, and Nathan, the mother in law of Mike, Cameo, Amber, almost Christy, and Jessica, and the Grammy of Adam, Grace, Josh, Sam, Kaylee, Wade, Kelsie, Kooper, Annalee and Elisabeth. Thank you for all you did for Mother's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Beautiful cool weather this week!! A rare and so enjoyable treat!!
 
Funny thing happened on the way to the baptism on Saturday...we were running a little late, and we turned onto Camelback Road and noticed police...we tried to figure out what was going on, and by the time we did, we realized we were near a huge funeral procession. We couldn't wait for this to pass, so, we turned on our emergency lights...and joined the procession. Yes, for miles...through red lights, everything, we were part of a funeral procession. When we reached the street we needed to turn on, we tried to look sad and turned. 

Not so highlights
My ribs are still crazy sore. Most of the time, I do fine and need no Naproxyn...but I go and do something silly...like a few situps...and boom. Pain and Pain meds. Looks like walking and jogging are ok but no exercises for week three of injury.