17 Apr 2016 - Birthday and More

   Ok, last Monday we started getting the house ready for the big happenings in the coming weeks. Stephen worked on the garden window in the kitchen getting it repaired and getting the chicks in a cage outside. Most of the week was beautiful with temperatures up in the 60's so working outside was delightful. The nights are still cold so we have a warming light on the chicks at night.

Chicks in their cage.

I was able to go around the parts of the yard and check on the plants. Most of them are alive including a very large selection of weeds that we are trying to kill. It appears that the weeds have the upper hand at this point but at least the other plants that add beauty, nutrition and fragrance are also thriving.

Removing the glue that holds the broken window together.

All repaired.

   Monday, Wednesday and Friday I taught Seminary. It's nice to have the break between lessons so you can get other things done. I have also been working on planning and locating items for upcoming events. That's been time consuming but it's slowly but surely working together. Stephen worked on putting together some stanchions for the open house. He's very good at making just the right items from "stuff" he has lying around in the garage.

Stanchions by Stephen.

   Thursday, Friday and Saturday Samuel had basketball games for regionals. Stephen and I couldn't make the first two since he had meetings on Thursday and I had RS enrichment and we went to the temple for Ward temple night on Friday. The first game they won by 1 point in the last seconds of the game. The second game they won by 6 points and then they lost the last game by 2 points because the other team made a 3 point shot at the buzzer. Samuel was not a happy camper on Saturday.
   Wednesday I went over to the Murphy's to watch Sean while Rebekah took Freddy to his swim therapy. Sean was awake and happy and loved having his scalp massaged and being sung to and rubbed down. He was mostly smiling. He is a cute kid and a very special spirit. I wonder what he thinks about. He seems to know more than he can let on....

Sean with a smile.

   Saturday for my 60th birthday, and I received calls from almost all of my children and cards from Grandma & Grandpa Ralph along with Jessica. It was wonderful to hear from my children. It warms my heart immensely.
   I requested some yard work done so Stephen worked on finishing up some of the potting soil that he bought on Tuesday. Now I get to purchase the plants to beautify and care for our "garden of Eden". Stephen and I also did a little reconnaissance work at the Restaurant Depot. It's a warehouse store like "Cash-n-Carry" but bigger in some respects. It has a cooler/freezer area that is bigger than the stake center gym. There was lots to see and we made some important executive decisions. Stephen just wishes that we had known about this place earlier. It would have been nice to know about this supply warehouse when we had a crowd living here.

Fringed tulips

Against the house in the back.

Ferns and bleeding hearts.

Lilies of the Valley. I've always wanted
to grow some of these. This is the first
time that they have actually grown for me. I
received these from my visiting teaching
companion, Jill Thacker.

   Today was our Ward Conference and a farewell talk by Mark Stroud. He is leaving Tuesday for Lima, Peru. He is already fairly fluent in Spanish (thanks to his mother) so he only gets to stay in the Peru MTC for 3 weeks. His dad, President Stroud also spoke along with the bishop and I sang in a small group (double quartet) for the musical number. Then Stephen taught the lesson for the Young Women and President Stroud taught in RS. It was a great lesson and very important. He spoke about the special training that he receives as a  Stake President and how it comes from the Seventy over our area who have a special 2 day training in SLC at conference time. He spoke on the emphasis on Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. He explained that this emphasis on one area was very unusual but extremely important. He showed 2 videos that we have already seen but he stopped them to emphasize certain parts and ask questions. He opened up the class to questions. What I thought was interesting in the video by Elder Clayton they had a family who decided to take a walk as a family together on Sunday, another family baked cookies together, others did family history or visited the shut-ins. Elder Clayton emphasized that there was not a "regimentation" of Do's or Don'ts but that the focus should be on "Is this activity helping to bring our family to Christ"? I thought this was a good thought. We discussed the importance of focusing our activities on helping bring family members to Christ...the  how's and why's of keeping the Sabbath Day holy. It was a great reminder for me and I hope that our children find ways to keep the Sabbath holy, connect and strengthen family bonds and develop charity making the Sabbath a Delight. I know that we will be blessed as we do so.
 

Love you ALL!

A  native dogwood tree behind the backyard fence.
Not bad for doing nothing about it...lol.