Week of October 14-20, 2018

Highlights:

Spiritual

We attended a wonderful session of Stake Conference on Sunday morning. Speakers included our stake president, two youth, President Thompson and his wife from the Phoenix Temple Presidency, President and Sister Smith from the Phoenix Mission Presidency, and Elder Maximo Torres of the Quorum of the Seventy. I learned so much and was able to get some great notes to create a letter for my inmate sister, Jessica. The choir sounded better than I thought it would, and I was glad to have a good seat in the front. Dad visited a couple of his ministering families with his companion in the afternoon, and I was blessed to visit with all the Wilkins, all the Ethan Rice family, and all the Nathan Rice family in the evening.

I attended another very full session at the Phoenix Temple on Tuesday morning. Dad attended a session on Wednesday evening. A funeral in our building kept both of our scout groups from meeting.

I have indexed 16590 records and reviewed 57245 records so far this year.

I am in Mormon 8 in the Book of Mormon.

Family

The Wilkins Family

Grace and Josh sounded wonderful in the choir for their stake conference on Sunday. It was a good meeting and everyone seemed to enjoy it. They had a good family Sunday that included a fun game of Halloween Bingo.

The Ethan Rice Family

Ethan is doing well at his new job. He submitted a presentation, thinking he had made an error in what he created, and he ended up being assigned to teach that very presentation to the other leaders since upper management liked what he did so well. He traveled to Indiana during the week to present and attend meetings. Cameo is well, and Kaylee is loving her school. Poor Wade has been just struggling with a runny nose and cough that won't give up. They didn't want to put him on more antibiotics, so they sent him to an ENT. They are concerned about his adenoids and are treating them right now. He is on new medication...something not so easy to get. He still is active as he can be, but Cameo has kept him away from church nursery and preschool since she doesn't know if what he has is contagious. Here are pics of their totally decorated home...

They attended a neighborhood trick or treat last weekend.

Kaylee celebrated the 50th Day of School by having a 50s party, with music, dressing the era, and dancing. Cameo had less than 24 hours to create the adorable poodle skirt, and she did a fantastic job!

Kaylee has been enjoying baked goods for breakfast, so Wade and Mommy stayed up late one night making pumpkin chocolate chip bread.

On Friday, Kaylee's school celebrated breast cancer awareness by wearing pink.

She won the prize for her class: Most Pink!

The Doran Rice Family

Doran worked in Flagstaff this week and enjoyed the freshly fallen snow.

Amber got this one

Morgan

Morgan, Aimee, and Emileigh had a fun last weekend with Halloween face painting and fishing.

Kayty

Kayty had a good week at work. On Friday, she went to Costco and WalMart with us and found this

It has scared Lilly to death! I decided it was staying in the living room. I will create a "ScareCat" with a Christmas theme that might keep her away from my village when I put it up after Halloween.
One minor save this week. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Nathan spent eight hours last Saturday doing homework and was still not done. They also had Stake Conference on Sunday! He and the family took a trip south to Blackfoot on Monday for a job interview. Anna has been attending a small preschool group for a few days and is just loving it. Ellie was struggling earlier in the week with a new tooth. You know that girl is not well when she is not smiling. She is really growing up and is not a fan of sharing things with Daddy.

We had a wonderful surprise phone call on Monday! I will need to start creating a new Grammy Stocking. Yes, they will welcome a new baby next year! It will be exciting, with new beginnings of a new life and a new career. Anna is pretty certain it's a baby brother. We are so excited, whether she has a new sister or brother.

Dad's Garden

Dad plants...and replants. One rabbit still remains to leave the yard, and he can easily get into everything, even with chicken wire and bird netting. Dad replanted snow peas in another location. He also transplanted the carrot starts I thinned out. He worked getting our dead citrus cut down (the grapefruit, and Ethan's favorite Tangerine trees) and I hauled limbs to the quarterly bulk trash pile

Other highlights

Light sprinkles on Sunday morning and Sunday evening made for a pretty awesome and cool jog on Monday. The weather this week was beautiful, though my jogging attire went from full hoodie and sweatpants on Tuesday to half that on Saturday (don't take this wrong. I did wear pants and a shirt.The temple spire had just lit up when I jogged by, so I got these.

I

I was the first one on the grounds after the gate was unlocked. 

Dad finally got new tires this week. I got to sit with the car while he returned home after selecting to work. While I was there, they pushed this race car into a space right by the window.

I ended my Social Media ten day fast on Wednesday morning. One of the first things I saw was a post by a girl my kids had grown up with at church, who shared a picture of her brother, suffering from alcoholism, who overdid and is on life support. It was such a shock after no social media, so I spent my 40 minute run crying: sadness for the Taylor family, and pure gratitude for my children. I could participate in the messaging regarding Nathan and Jessica's baby announcement, and to witness the happiness and fun of all my children was a priceless treasure to me. I am just so thankful for all of you, for the people you have chosen to share your life with, and for the children you have brought into this world. The joy I felt totally lifted me through the sadness I was feeling for a family who had raised their children with mine, who was now praying for a child just to live, not knowing what the future holds.

We went over to Grandma's on Saturday, since Uncle Lloyd had been moved to Phoenix by cousin Dale McFarland

Uncle Tamas and Aunt Kay Judson

Loyd has been though a lot. His body is weak, but his mind is strong. 

Not so highlights

Nano tripped and fell while walking last week, and Kathy spent eight hours one night at the emergency room with her (she said her head was still hurting so they did a lot of tests). All came out fine, but it ends up she has Macular Degeneration and has had it for quite a few years (the doctor that did her cataract surgery said he told her, but Kathy is mom's extra ears when she goes to a doctor appointment and he told them nothing about it). So, Nano's eyesight is getting worse. There may be a sister in her ward that runs an Assisted Living in her home. That would still have Nano in the same ward with the same bishop as she wants, and still able to get to church, so that might be our next option. Sharynn has been very helpful with this portion of helping Nano. She can do the phone work and knows so much about funding and the government. I didn't take Nano shopping this week since she went to the eye doctor with Kathy. 

Week of October 7-13, 2018

Highlights:

Spiritual

We enjoyed a wonderful day of General Conference on Sunday. This Conference, I felt like there were more than a few talks I want to print up and seriously study. I began listening on Monday morning as I exercised and did so all week. I also completed reading the October Ensign Magazine.

This week was Stake Temple Week so no scout meetings. I attended the temple on Tuesday morning to perform initiatory work, and Dee and I attended a session on Thursday evening. With the Mesa Temple being remodeled for two years, and the Gilbert Temple shut down for nearly a month, our temple is very very busy, with longer waits and full sessions. It's a nice challenge to have.

We attended the adult meeting Saturday night for Stake Conference and enjoyed the talk given by the General Authority.

I have indexed 15838 records and reviewed 56066 records so far this year.

I am in 3 Nephi 24 in my Book of Mormon reading.

This week, I have been on a Social Media Fast, as requested by President Russell M. Nelson during the Women's Session of General Conference. I originally did this in March, during a very politically charged time locally, because so many were expressing disturbing opinions and I had to associate and work with them at church. I stopped commenting and began looking at Social Media as something that needs to bring light in my life, and if some were sharing things that caused upset or hard feelings in my life, I would eliminate those from my media. I removed my birthday notification and only would wish children and grandchildren Happy Birthday and that was surprisingly liberating and so enjoyable. As the months continued, I would only comment words of encouragement. I would, of course, follow my family members, but it was so freeing to just stay on and feel positivity. In years past, I would also stay off Social Media in the weeks before and after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Mother's day. I was happy and content until I saw what others did, so I just eliminated that from my life. All that being said, I have found the last seven days somewhat isolating, since I don't see anyone from church and have no neighbors or friends I do things with. I do include people with illness and challenges in their lives in my prayers, and I have not had any more word on their situations...kind of hard but okay. I feel that the Spirit guided me months ago as to what I needed to do, and I am grateful for that. I will make it through till Wednesday and then enjoy what I do on FaceBook and Instagram.

Family

The Wilkins Family

The Wilkins Family is struggling through illness but is doing well. Adam was off school with strep throat and probably has a tonsillectomy in his future. Grace was also home sick. She did have wonderful news this week: she was selected after an audition to be in her school dramatic production. She is very excited! Sam is doing great and gave me a wonderful tour of their Halloween decorations and lights around their home. Grace and Josh will be a part of their Stake Conference Children's Choir next Sunday.

The Ethan Rice Family

Hurricane Michael brought lots of wind and rain this week to this family, but they all are well. Cameo was surprised that, even with all the rain, Kaylee's class field trip to Southern Belle Farms for all their Fall fun was not a muddy mess, but was nice. I did see the pumpkin Wadey picked too. 

And while they were gone, Amber and Kelsie had a special dinner out. 

The Doran Rice Family

Doran and family had a good week. Kooper called Papa on Friday and asked if he wanted to go fishing, so Doran came by and picked up Papa for an overnight trip to Bartlett Lake.

Morgan

We called Morgan on Sunday afternoon and got to meet Aimee and her daughter Emleigh via phone. They are doing well.

Kayty

Kayty had a good work week and worked long hard days...an answer to prayer. We have been praying that her work load increases so they can justify hiring her permanently. 

She celebrated Lily's birthday on Saturday...

The Nathan Rice Family

We spoke a couple of times on Sunday via FaceTime. The girls found a new playhouse at Deseret Industries, and they were enjoying their new home in their bedroom. Jessica even added a string of white Christmas lights to the ceiling. It was not a healthy day for this family. Ellie was running a 103 fever and Jessica was fighting one as well. The girls did feel better and had a good week. They decorated the walls with black cats and spiders (the stick on kind).

Dad's Garden

Garden is struggling, though not due to weather, water or sunlight...it is varmints. Rabbits, rats, mice, quail, etc have been eating everything in sight and he lost the tops of many snow peas the other night. Tomato plants seem to be surviving. 

Other highlights

We had thunder and rain while we slept on Sunday. It was delightful to snuggle under the covers and have the cool air coming in the window for the first time in so long. We also had dark clouds and thunder in the early evening that we so enjoyed. Summer wasn't that bad, but it is so nice to finally have a cool Fall and enjoy the outdoors. We received rain Thursday morning...five minutes after I returned from my jog. Wow! What a blessing!