Sunday

Saturday night we watched women's conference at home then went straight to bed! After our camp out everyone was tired :)

Sunday morning I had stake council bright and early then came home and we did a little prep for having company that night.

We invited the Moran's for dinner.  They just moved here after spending 6 years in Germany. They have 5 daughters, many of the red headed!  We had a very pleasant night.  The little girls spent a lot of time outside.  They made a hopscotch game that spanned across 4 sidewalks.  The rest of us sat around and visited.

Penny Jane

Greg sent me this cute picture of Penny girl in a dress I got for her.

Camp out test drive

Our girls said they would like to camp more this year.  Teresa and I aren't trained but we are getting trained next month...what are we thinking??

Anyway we decided on a back yard test drive while the weather is nice.

FYI, I am being first aid/CPR trained and she is being camp out/outdoor cooking trained.  Then we are good to go.

Scouts takes a lot of training!

smores, crafting, cooking, singing, night hike, etc.

Update: the girls made it to 3:30 am before they "froze to death" and moved to the basement. Actual time spent sleeping was pretty small but they had a great time'

In the morning we made breakfast, planned our Juliette Low birthday celebration and made invitations for it.

One of these things is not like the other....

one of these things just isn't the same!  The song from Seaame Street!

Did you guess Siri? You would be right. 

I love my washer/ dryer. They work so well and look so shiny. The clothes smell good and they clean fast.

Love my dishwasher. I put dirty dishes in and take clean dishes out!

Vacuum likewise awesome! You roll it over dirt and it sucks it up. Sometimes the first time, sometimes the second but it always does. Honestly I love that. I have had appliances that have not. 

...but Siri is a different story. She drives me through the ghetto, drops my calls, doesn't even ring half the time when someone calls me. She gives me accurate but useless answers to my questions; for example one time I said "Siri where is "giant"." (the grocery store I knew was a couple blocks from the stake center but did not know where) and she said "I'm sorry I can not navigate to Zimbabwe". Another time I asked how long the flight from DCA to Bermuda was and she answered in seconds. That's if she answers at all. Sometimes she says "I'm sorry I can not answer that right now".

I guess 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

something light hearted

Clayton's mom found out that she has a brain tumor this week.  It's inoperable.  They say she has a 25% chance of surviving the next 2 years with treatment.  Of course we believe in miracles and that the Lord knows and loves her and that she will live exactly how long He intends.  I feel very sad about this news.  I really like Kathy and I know how much she means to her family.  The good news is she's had a wonderful, service filled life.  She's seen her children grow to adulthood and they are successful, lovely people.  She's enjoyed a happy marriage and many friends and callings.  She is joyful.  I hope she has many more joyful years, at the same time I am grateful for that families are forever and this is but a step towards eternity.  It's a weird thing, death.  I do not fear it for myself and look forward to it in some ways, at the same time no one is eager to leave mortality while there is work to do, loved ones to care for and spend time with, and things to learn and do.

It is always sad for those left behind and it is for them that my heart aches.

I'm pretty sure I already updated but Yoho too is facing chemo and a long road to recovery.  He is expected to do well but I am sad that the journey will be challenging and that he'll be sick, that's the worst.

Yesterday Hannah's school was on lock down, again, second week in a row.  This time for 3 hours.  It was a bomb threat.  I am sad that our children aren't in a wholesome, secure environment where they can learn and flourish.

There are definitely wars and rumors of wars, pestilence and fear through out the world and that makes me sad too.  It grieves me that the Savior had to bear this and when I see the pain and suffering around and know that He took all of that on Himself, to atone for mankind it makes me wish for a swift cease and desist, to cut His suffering short a little.  It's unimaginable. My list could go on and on with specific people and events but I won't.  Infinite suffering required an infinite atonement and that's what He did for us.

And still we must find joy and look forward with hope.

So I will look forward to little raspberry.  Dani may know as soon as tomorrow (maybe) if a little blue bundle or a little pink one will be joining our family.  Since we can't be together to guess, or to celebrate I did a little poll and we all cast our predictions.  Can't wait to see if the majority is right or the lone 3 pink bundle predictors.

Pink or Blue we love that baby already and can't wait to greet him/her!  What a precious miracle!!

mayberry

Daniel, Sar and Ethan

We had a half day.  Yay! Love half days.  It gives us time to play.  I love our neighborhood.  In the morning there are always lots of dogs being walked and moms with strollers and joggers.  After school, especially on a half day there are lots of kids running around.  Our grass is soft, the green trees offer places to hide and shade to rest in, the playground is busy with kidlets and the streets with bikes.  Around 5 o'clock I was calling Ethan to get in his scout uniform and I heard another mom down the road calling "Riley! come in for dinner".  It's a Norman Rockwell scene reenacted.

Hannah made bread.  It smelled delicious! I didn't try it because our good friend David Duke is in town and we had dinner with him at Salsas.

Yoho went to the doctor today, he starts chemo next week.  Kathy, Clayton's mom, just got diagnosed with a brain tumor last night and Jenna's good friend from college, married 4 months and still going to school with lymphoma last week.  What is going on???  Makes me sad.  

I saw this cartoon on facebook today and thought it was sooo funny.  The sad chicky on the left cracked me up.  I am out of eggs but still looking forward to menopause.  

weekend

Jenna and Ethan

We had such a great weekend.  I loved that Clayton and Jenna were able to come and visit.  They are doing so well and I am so proud of them.  Jenna got her first job! yay! She is a case worker and has her own office and everything.  Clayton loves his job and they love Buffalo.

love this picture of R and Lu before soccer, they were tired :)

At the end of the weekend we were all exhausted.  Two full days out in the sun having fun and going going going, then on Sunday I went to church with CJ in the morning so they could get on the road, then again with the family at our own ward.  By the end of church I could barely stifle a yawn and R also was .  One of us was wise and went to bed early :)

love this picture R took of E and H, they were riding the wagon out to the bean patch

Farming 4 Hunger

We had an opportunity to participate with our community in a big service project. It was a great day.  Everyone had a good time working and it was hot but not too hot.  In fact on the way home Grace said she had so much fun and could we go again next year.

After many hours of working we packed up and headed over to Ethan's soccer game.  We lost but had fun watching him.

 We got home around 5 and everyone showered and we fixed dinner and played outside.  We had a feast of crab and steak, corn on the cob and broccoli and chocolate cake.  It was a really special and tasty dinner.

It has been SO SO nice having Clayna here.  They are fun, easy going and helpful.  It was a top 10 weekend!

Tonight we are watching a movie and tomorrow going to church then they will head home.  

Fair Day

Every year we get a day off from school to go to the fair.  It's a fun tradition.  Today was the day!  We got there early and did all the usual fair stuff!  We looked at the animals, watched part of the horse show, Grace had fair hostess duty, we ate fatty food, rode rides, saw friends, got free stuff and looked at the giant produce!!

Grace,  Ainsley, Arden, Ellie and Izzy.  Cute girls!!  Ethan took off with Eric and Hannah with Chelsea so we didn't get many pictures of them.

After Arden rode the giant drop her legs were too weak to walk to the next ride.

what is Clayton doing?

Jenna and Clayton met us at the fair! Everyone was thrilled to see them!

After a long, hot, sweaty day full of fun we went home, walked the dogs, then met up with dad at Cheeseburger in Paradise.

look at the clouds reflected in the water

We've been busy with the usual things.  Swim clinic, kick boxing (ha!), culinary, soccer, homework, laundry, girl scouts, mutual, dog walking, car pooling, work.

I dream of simplifying.  This morning I passed this boat on my walk and thought what would it be like to live on that, full time?  Tied up somewhere different, floating along.  I don't think I'd really like to but there is a simplicity and a peacefulness to it.  I am enjoying our slightly decluttered home more.  There's always more to shed.  I'm loving how quickly I can run through the laundry.  I am considering tackleing Rob's ironing pile.  

Tonight we are having a presidency meeting here.  Looking forward to that. 

Tomorrow is fair day so no school!  We love fair day!

Tomrorw Jenna and Clayton are coming to visit!! So excited!! We haven't seen Clayton since the wedding and even though we saw J last month it's been a long time since she's been home to see us, almost 2 years!!  Dang.  It'll be great to have a weekend together.

weekend recap

Friday night dad went fishing.  He caught a big one!  Usually Grace wants to go with him, but not this time so he was solo.
While he was gone we played badminton and went to Salsas for dinner, then came home and watched Edge of Tomorrow.  Which I liked.

 Saturday Hannah and I went to the stake youth activity.  She didn't want to go and said she didn't have a good time.  Despite this report I think many of the youth did have a good time.  We had planned a volleyball tournament and a kick ball tournament with brunch in the middle.  The weather forecast was really bad so I asked the missionaries to come do a youth district meeting with the kids and we planned indoor games so the kick ball rotation could move inside.  Anyway, since we had such a great back up it didn't rain. We ended up splitting the kick ball time anyway and having the Elders do their district twice instead of 4 times.  Larry and I both spoke and the games were fun.  It did rain a little but we played anyway.  I thought it went well.  Becky and I, with the help of two of our awesome ward YW leaders who wandered by and offered themselves as chefs, made tons of pancakes.  I think the food was a hit.  We had fruit and juice and milk then lots of pancakes, blue berry, chocolate chip, traditional.  It was hot and yummy.

While we were gone Ethan had a soccer game.  They won 3-1!  He played keeper the first half and on the field the second half.  I hate missing his games, they are lots of fun to watch.

Saturday afternoon Ethan went to a birthday party for Tyler. It was a sleep over, although Ethan wasn't going to sleep over we were planning on getting him at 11. At 10 we got a call that that birthday boy was sick and to come early.  2 min later we got a call that John's dad was there and would bring the both boys home.  So that was a bummer for Tyler.  Ethan said that the rest of the boys had a good time.  They had mission BBQ and played football/basketball/soccer the whole time. (from 3:30- 10:00)

Between soccer and party the menfolk mowed the lawn.

Grace, who now lives next door :), played with Arden a lot of the day.

Sunday we church, then dinner, then Rob and I went back to the church for an adult fireside on finance. 

Hannah spent some time feeling sick this weekend, and now Ethan does a little.  It's the time of year I guess.  Although I suspect E's illness this morning was spurred by the "forgotten" homework.  Sadly it's not going to be a good day for him.

kick boxing

yep, you read that right.  Hannah and I went to a kick boxing class while Grace had her swim clinic and Ethan and dad were at soccer.  We were like an exercising crazy family.  I was concerned but wanted to be "fun" and "supportive" and I have to say the hour went really fast and I had fun and I could do some things that I was surprised I could do.  So sweet.  I had to document it because who knows if that will happen again.

Also it's raining and we had to walk the dogs in the rain and we got very wet but it wasn't cold so that was okay.  R and I said to each other " next week we won't be able to do this without umbrellas. "

Also also I bought curtains for my bathroom....a year ago.  I remember well because it was right before I hurt my back, which was last September, and I had started painting and got the curtains.  Tonight we put them up.  Yay!

over

Mary, Martha, Molly of just me??

silly sisters

In the story of Mary and Martha I have always sympathized with Martha.  She's a good woman, doing what women do. Serving. Maybe Mary loved Jesus more and that's why she rushed to sit at His feet, unable to allow herself to be away from Him when the opportunity came.  Or maybe she was prettier, and Martha wanting to show her love did it the only way she knew how..by serving; preparing a meal, sweeping the hearth.
While I know, and have every confidence that the Savior loves each of us with an infinite love and that He looks on the heart not the countanance we don't all have an equal capacity to receive that love.  So Mary trusted, perhaps a bit more, that she was of worth and we are taught that she chose the better part.
The practical application of the better part is sometimes difficult. Yesterday was a busy day for me.  I had a lot of things planned, things that were good, serving others things.  I woke up looking forward to my duties.

Mornings are always the same, 5:30 alarm, children in and out of the showers, needing shirts ironed, "oops I forgot" papers sign, back packs looked through one more time, lunch made, rides given, dogs cared for, teeth brushed...
Then I headed out the door to do a ward orientation. I always look forward to these, they are so sweet and lots of fun.  Just as I was walking out the door I got an emergency phone call from a friend, who was in despair, and didn't know if life was worth it.  We talked for a few minutes and I promised to come visit that very evening.  While I drove (an hour) to my meeting, I considered which of the good things, the serving others already things, I had on my schedule I was going to rearrange so I could now do a different good thing.  I called Rob and asked him if he could please get home "early" read: before 6pm, and drive Ethan and Grace to swim clinic.  He agreed.  This man of mine is a worker and we have to request his presence if it's daylight hours so I was happy that he could do this.

Orientation went well.

Came home and made a pie then started the picking up of children.  Today we added piano lessons for Hannah to our routine.  She has been asking to take again for about a year, and promised to practice and has been working on praciticeng on her own, which is a good sign.
By 4 we were all home, children were doing homework and I was making dinner for us and for the Wiests who had a new baby.  I talked to the kids about the altered evening schedule and that I was going to be out and that they needed to be ready to go when dad came to get them.  I have really good children.  The girls helped with another pie and Ethan showed great concern about my evenings visit. Grace even agreed to wear the less desirable pair of goggles with out complaint (this I found out later) because the good ones were in my car and my car was gone.

By 5 I was out the door and off to deliver dinner.  I got to hold baby Petra and hear about the birth, and the adjustment to having two little ones, and the itchy rash (there is always something for us moms!) and it was a delight.  I really like this little family, they are faithful and bright and cute. After that I went to my friend.  I thought a lot about our Sunday School lesson from last week and how to offer comfort as I drove.  Job's friends sat with him for a whole week, without saying anything.  They were just there.  I thought I would try that approach since I don't ever know what to say anyway, there isn't usually anything too helpful to say.  So I sat and I listened and I hugged.  Helped? Probably not but I showed up.  Interestingly both my new mom friend, and my struggling with life friend said to me "I know so many people have it worse than I do", and it occurred to me, and I said to each of them; yes, there is always someone who is suffering something harder, or that we would think of as worse and while it's great to count our blessings especially in times of trial, and we should, and that helps; it's also okay to recognize that at the same time the struggle we are having is real, and worth consideration, and hard.  A friend saying "that's really hard, and I'm really sorry" is a gift.  Life is hard.  Wonderful and worth it but terribly hard at the same time. This validation is a precious thing.

Well, the day ended as all days do.  I did some good things, some Mary things.  Also did some Martha things, still cleaned the kitchen, twice.  Still changed the sheets because the dog threw up on them.  Still....

So I am not really Martha, as you can find dust in my corners and laundry in my baskets, and I am definitely not Mary.  I am not Molly (Mormon) that darn pinterest is the death of me and my heels aren't high and my hairs a mess.  I am just me.  If I was talking to someone else I'd say, and I'd believe,  "that's all you have to be! you're great! Keep plugging along, improving, doing your best!"  To myself I say "you are called to do better, to be better...keep going....I think I can, I think I can!!"  Or on a not so kind day I say "this is why you will never make it to the celestial kingdom".

farm day

The rest of the weekend

playing sequence and one of me in my cute agnes & dora skirt ready for church

 We had a second soccer game.  While at the first one we sat in the pouring rain and were cold the second was in the middle of the afternoon and was sweat rolling down your back hot. It was a good game, full of action and drama! In the end we left with a satisfying tie, won at the literal last minute.

Grace spent the day next door.  Early in the morning two cute girls knocked on our door and thus ensued a lot of running back and forth, mostly there though. I kept checking in and they kept keeping her.  Hannah was home all day and had the easiest baby-sitting day of her life I think.  Finally at 10:30 pm they sent her home.  Lucky Grace!

Rob and I went to the temple.  Bishop came with us and we had a small plates worthy conversation coming home and experience there.

Went to church. Testimony meeting was powerful.

Jeff is our new home teacher so the Streeter crew came over after dinner and we hung out together, had a lesson and ate my favorite Popsicles ever.

study

It should be easy for me to study the scriptures.  I am home during the day and I love the gospel and often have talks about it, give talks about it, listen to talks about it and read it.  But to study is different and though I wish I did it well so far I have not.  I'm not a thinker really.  Once maybe I was but no longer.  I suffer from a brain cloud :) Rob is a thinker.  He has questions and seeks the answers.  This is a wonderful quality.  

It's easy to compare yourself and your spouse.  The temptation, right as I write this is that in the moment I say he is better at some particular thing than me is to say but I am better at .... and to value my strength more than his. Or sometimes the temptation is to feel discouraged because I will never be as good as __________.But I will stop that train of thought with out further elaboration.  Either path is very dangerous.  Feeling not good enough is one of Satan's great tools to thwart our progress by having us be too discouraged to try.  If that doesn't work he just lets us feel superior so we feel we don't have to try.  Sneaky sneaky.  My friend Amy told me that a good marriage take a good deal of mutual tolerance.  I laughed but it's so true.  Humans are so flawed and when you live with someone you see those things, and you live with yourself 24/7 so you see it in yourself as well.  We have to make a lot of room for growth in our hearts for ourselves and our loved ones.  At the same time we should be able to recognize and appreciate the great qualities we see without feeling jealous or defensive or like it's a competition. People are so silly.  

So, I have been searching for a study method and found an easy outline, 45 days to draw closer to the Savior.  It gives a quote and some verses and you read and think about it.  Easy peasy.  Today I did day 1.  It was lovely.  I thought of how much He went through to really know us.  Two of my brothers in law have been having some significant health problems.  Yoho, of course, with his cancer.  My thoughts have been very much with him and Andrea.  It comforts me to know that they know Christ and that He in return knows them very intimately and  knows Yoho's struggle and pain, emotional and physical, and that He can ease their pain and suffering. 

Ryan, who had surgery over 2 weeks ago to replace his ACL, and who should have been well on his way to recovery now has had set back after set back. Unexpected and frustrating as it has been he too follows the Savior and knows Him and loves Him and is held in the hollow of His hand.  What a blessing that we have someone to walk with us through the trials and challenges of life. 

My great friend and counselor, Tara, went to the temple yesterday.  She called me on her way home and we were talking about her visit there.  At the end of our chat I said to her that she should have told me she was going and I would have happily gone with her, I would have, in fact, welcomed the opportunity. She replied that she had thought about it and at the last minute decided to "be a big girl" and go alone, but she then added, we are never really alone at the temple.  Which is true.  We don't have to be alone ever if we are yoked with Christ.  Interestingly there were 4-5 other sisters from our stake there at the same time, all from different wards, none had planned or traveled together.  Yet they met and embraced and enjoyed being together with friends.  In the temple if I ever run into someone I know and love I always think of the glorious reunion we have to look forward to in the Kingdom of Heaven.  I am sure it will be the same happy feeling, the same smiles of recognition, the same joyful, loving embrace.  "You're here! Good to see you!! I'm glad we are together".

Game time

Ethan had his first soccer game of the season tonight. That field was huge, I could not believe it. He looked so tiny in the box! The Savage Buffalos lost 2-5. Not a total shut out but still disappointing. The game got delayed several times because of lightning. Finally we started and played in the rain. We were soaked. After we went to chipotle and froze so we picnicked outside, a little warmer but still chilly. Good thing the food was warm.  It was a memorable start.  Hopefully tomorrows game will be better, or at least warmer...or at least I will have an umbrella :)

Meanwhile this dude had his surgery.   This went well and we are hopeful that the whole tumor was removed.  They will biopsy and then we'll know.  Meanwhile the fundraiser has been going so well.  I am ever grateful and in awe of the generosity of so many people.  They have raised over $6000, which is almost half of what the surgery costs.  That will be such a big big help.  The whole family is thrilled and grateful beyond words.  Hopefully he will recover, the cancer will be gone, and they can focus on moving on with life with out a huge financial burden.  What a big gigantic enormous unbelievable fabulouss ....no-adequate-words-to-describe-it blessing.

a small little complaint, insignificant in the grand scheme of things

lunch date

Went to Wal mart this morning.  My weekly torture.  It's not so much Wal mart as it is how expensive everything is.

After I got home and put stuff away I went back to pick up little Ziver from the spa and we met dad for lunch.  It was a nice reward.  

Loving the washer/dryer.  The washer holds so much more than my old one.  The dryer is faster than the washer.  Crazy!

Not loving Grace's STEM experience so far.  She's had a lot of homework and isn't doing it independently.  Last night's homework had some really hard questions too.  For example one of her math questions was what two numbers who's product is 10,000 don't have "0"s in them.  One of her science questions was why don't airplanes fly in the upper stratosphere, the answer btw, was not in the text and we only could answer it because we have an aerospace engineer in house.  The bus stop was full of homework chatter.  We are writing a letter saying it's too much.  2 hours a night for 9 year olds is too much.  When E was in 4th grade I do remember hearing some of the mom's complaining but he didn't ever have very much homework.  This time around it's different and it's hard for me. A) in my heart of hearts I dont' believe kids that age need homework, they have plenty of time at school to do work and I'm pretty sure nothing new is learned on hour 7 or 8 of studying.  I actually think kids need more recess and less classroom time.  I remember when I taught 1st grade, I would get to school early and be working in my classroom and kids would begin to arrive, sometimes 30 minutes before school started.  They would then play on the playground.  (what kind of insanity is that??) They would run and yell and sometimes scrape their knees.  This was not so great on picture day but pretty darn great every other day.  The bell would ring and the kids would run to line up.  It was great. In the morning they would have a 20 min recess.  There was a recess aide. At lunch there was recess and in the afternoon we would go outside for PE, often.  It would be hard to convince me that kids learn more now than they did then.  They also stayed and played on the playground after school.  Play on a playground.  Hmmmm? And they were allowed to run.  I'm just saying.

Anyway back to homework we have a lot and it's annoying.  B.) I'm not that dumb and if I have to ask Siri the answer maybe it's a little much.  Or at least cover it in school or in the text.  I hope this is going to be a good fit.  Grace is a smart little girl and loves science, particularly biology and zoology that kind of thing.  The study of living things is her thing.  That said this has been tough, it's not coming easily to her and the work load is discouraging.  Forging on, trudging on, moving forward encumbered with the burden of a heavy and unreasonable load....with cheer and an encouraging smile. Oh and C) what about playing at home, or playing on the playground across from your home, or playing on a sports team??  Nope, no time you have homework.

So this morning she cried.  I told her the answer to the math problem (after consulting Siri), Rob told her the science answer, which I translated for her on the way to school and she wrote down in the car...pretty sure no learning happened (well I learned something if you want to know about the stratosphere thing just ask) but it did make the morning oh so pleasant, and last night when I "reminded" her multiple times to do it and then used "sign language" while on my phone presidency meeting to "encourage" her...that was pleasant too.  

random things

Yoho is having surgery tomorrow.  Saying extra prayers tonight that everything will go well.

Got my new washer/dryer today! Pretty exciting stuff!! Unexpected difficulty, I can't reach the bottom of the tub with out a stool.  Luckily I didn't de-clutter Grace's baby washing her hands at the big girl sink stool, it has a new home in the laundry room.

Ethan isn't feeling well.  Had a fever last night, went to school but came home not feeling well still and missed soccer practice. Which says something.

R also missed practice, he went fishing.  That man loves his fishing.

Hannah had audtions for the fall play.  She said she didn't do well :(

Grace started swim clinic, Ethan started earlier this week.

Reading a book I like "the Language of Flowers".

It was hot today, in the 90's.  Our pool is closed and it's been hot all week, that seems wrong some how.

Had a presidency meeting tonight.

Grace's fish tank leak last night, got all her clothes in the second drawer of her dresser wet.  Oddly the first drawer was dry, I don't know why.  Had to wash all the undies and socks (residents of the second drawer).

Walked the dogs.

Talked to Jenna, she thinks she has a job!

Talked to Mom.

Watched Extant, recorded from last night.  I'm not sure if I like it or think it's dumb.

Grace ate oatmeal for breakfast and ravioli for dinner. Ethan wanted an omelet for dinner and Hannah made her own while I was at the pool with Grace.  I like family dinners better.

First soccer game is tomorrow, hope the boy feels better.

Ziva goes to the spa tomorrow.  Yay.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my fluffy bed, thanks Nana for fluffing it up! Who knew??

I ate left-overs for breakfast, did I eat lunch? I don't remember, for dinner I ate edamame, and baby bell cheese.  Also had some of the most delicious Popsicles from Costco, fruit juice covered in frozen greek yogurt.

Grace did not finish her homework tonight.  I had my meeting and dad was fishing so she played instead.  That means homework in the morning.  (sigh)

updated in the morning to add this lovely picture of the 6am homework fun we are having.


One thing I will not miss when Mill goes to doggie heaven is the hairballs. One thing I will miss is her soft ears and her faithful nature.

Convenient?

Some days I have very few pressing things to do.  There is always stuff to do but sometimes it can wait, or can be done slowly or whatever.  Some days a lot of things find their way on my plate and it's more hectic.  Interestingly doing service for others is often not convenient.  I want to serve others and would be happy to do it every day..in theory.  In practice I sometimes get lazy and selfish or feel like I am too busy.  Doing what?? I don't know.

This morning I drove a sweet older sister in our ward to her endoscopy.  Then I stayed to help her and listen to the doctor and drive her home.  I love this dear old sister and always enjoy visiting with her.  Today was particularly funny because they sedated her for the procedure.  When she came out she was still loopy and as we walked off the elevator she saw an old friend (picture a stooped, bald, old old man) She grabbed him with both hands on the face and gave him a big old kiss on the cheek. Then as we were walking out she kept saying "I can't believe I kissed him!' " We weren't even close enough to be hugging", over and over.  When we got to the car she turned to me and said "honey, that's why you should never do drugs!'.  I laughed.  It was a delight to take her and although it took the whole morning I was very grateful to be able to help.

Our ward has a new way of feeding the missionaries.  It's by assignment with no regard to the availability or convince of the member  Tonight we were assigned the sisters, who I love to have over.  The problem is Hannah had a thespian meeting after school and Ethan had swim clinic and Grace had scouts so our window of available time was 4:30, and thank goodness it was for the sisters and not the elders because Rob is never home at 4:30 (ha ha ha)  They came and helped out in the kitchen.  We made dinner together and had fun talking and laughing while things were prepared.  Dinner was good and then they left a nice message with us. 

Tonight was our first official junior meeting of the year.  It went well.  The girls are very silly and noisy but I think they enjoyed it and it will be fun year.

Three examples of service today that I at one point or another during the day didn't want to do.  Thankfully I ignored that and went ahead with each one because they each blessed my life and brought me joy.

We miss out on a lot if we don't allow ourselves to be inconvenienced pretty regularly.

help needed

link to our fundraiser

My brother in law has recently been diagnosed with testicular cancer.  Unfortunately his employer doesn't offer health insurance so they have a huge battle ahead of them, both emotionally and financially and physically.  Our family has set up a fund for them.  Any amount of $ is welcome and will be a huge help.

Yoho is a great guy.  He's funny and smart and kind.  He's a thoughtful husband and a fun-loving dad.  Our family has been praying for him each day.  I hope you will join your prayers with ours.

Thanks
Lana

Summer leftovers

It's with great sadness that we said goodbye to summer. Someone had the great idea to have a pool party. We had about 12 families from church come and we swam and ate. We pulled grills from a couple of our homes and cooked out. There was lots of sharing of summer foods, lots of throwing kids around the pool, lots of talking.  We stayed until the last minute and it wasn't until the life guard blew the whistle that we started to gather paper plates and soda bottles to take to the trash. We sorted through goggles and towels and all the equipment needed for pool party fun then slowly divided into families and walked to our homes (or hopped in our cars if we lived out of the neighborhood). Another sweet summer season has passed.

This morning Rob and Grace went fishing. Hannah and I went to the movies and Ethan stayed home.

some of the mom's as the sun beginnings to set