*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

            

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge - if print is too small, you need glasses! ☺)

dear things you see while running...like this ↓...

 I saw this on a dirt road and assume they went out that far so no one could hear it (on New Year's Eve I would guess) or they stashed the evidence of it out there.  Either way, it was huge.  The price tag was still on it.  $159.00!  That would have put on quite the show!  Too bad I missed it!

dear merry christmas bryce!  We gave him his gifts on Monday.  I actually wrapped all of his this year since he wasn't home on Christmas morning.  I didn't think Santa would make a special trip just to set them all out on the couch like he does on Christmas day and so I broke down and wrapped them.  It was fun to watch him open them.  Maybe I should do this every year!

dear party and movie night, since Bryce had finally made it back and since Taylor was leaving for school on Tuesday, and Sky was heading back to Hawaii on Wednesday, we decided to have a little party on Monday which was the last night we would all be together for a while.  Dave unfortunately wasn't feeling too well.  He came home and went right to bed.  He did come down and join us for the movie, but missed the excellent BBQ rib dinner.  I made another pomegranate cheesecake and went and bought lots of munchies.  We watched the movie Snitch as per Skyler's recommendation.  It was a good movie.  Kinda hard to watch, but it had a great message. 

Then the boys and Dave had a Dr. Mario tournament.  I heard Taylor kicked their stethoscopes.  Dr. Mario didn't do much for Dave because he was up literally all night throwing up!  It was not fun.  For him or for me.  I was up as well, not sick, but trying to help the sick.  He finally stopped throwing up (thanks to modern medicine and my nursing skills☺) around 4:30 a.m.  I called and arranged for his Dad to work for him and to cancel his appts. for the afternoon.  But staying true to his character, he called them and said he would be coming in for his afternoon shift.  Whaaat?  Yep.  He still looked like crap and I know he wasn't feeling well, but he has a hard time not going in unless he's on his deathbed like he had been all night.  THEN he also went to the church after working and was there doing stake stuff until about 10 pm.  He should have been in bed.  He has had a few tests and will be having a few more so we can figure out what is going on with him.  This is becoming way too frequent! 

dear sushi with the grandparentals, my Mom and Dad invited the boys to try out a new Sushi place by their house and so Sky, Bryce and Taylor all went. McKay had gone back to school the day before.  I stayed home with Dave since he had been up the entire night before puking.  Had I gone to the Sushi place, I would have been the one doing the puking!  Bleh!  

It sounded like they had a great time and loved the food.  I will take their word on that.

dear taking taylor to college, this was not a day I had been looking forward to at all.  He hasn't been home long enough since being gone for TWO WHOLE YEARS to already be leaving and living out on his own!  But, it is out of my control and it is what he needs to be doing to get on with his life and future...even though I don't like it one bit!

I took him shopping to get some things he needed for his apartment and then we went grocery shopping and then I took him to grab some dinner.  It was a lot of fun, but not so fun saying goodbye.  The good thing is, he was coming home the next day for a game!  So, that helped!  And just knowing he is only 30 minutes away also helps!

dear wednesday run, the temps have finally started to warm up this week and so I was looking forward to a great run.  Robin text me and asked me if I wanted to join her and I said of course I did!  We did a seven mile loop around town and it felt good.  We have really had a mild winter so far.

dear not so fun goodbye, if I counted all the times I have told this boy of mine goodbye (usually to far away places), the number would astound even me!  He has been a nomad that's for sure.  But he loves his life in Hawaii and so we sent him back again.  I do not like goodbyes, but I am getting a little better at them and accepting that they are a part of this life.  The goodbyes just make the hello's so much better.

But having said that, I am still going to really miss this kid.  He is a lot of fun to be around and so interesting to talk to.  My level of happiness rises when he is present.  He has big ideas and amazing thoughts and is the most incredible and prolific writer.  He left a letter for Dave for his birthday and it was just so touching and so eloquent.  He really could make a lot of money as a writer.  He is just so gifted that way.  If his job doesn't pan out how he hopes, he may be returning soon!  I hate to see him leave Hawaii because he has done so well over there and that air agrees with him, but it would be nice to have him closer again.  After we dropped him off, Dave and I did some shopping.  He still wasn't feeling too great, but I got him to Sam's, Costco, and a couple other places.  I was hoping to get him to go try on suits, but he wasn't feeling up to that.  He is not a shopper!  ☺

dear taylor game, I am seriously glad he is playing on a city team (my city) so he has to come home once a week for games.  It's been so fun to watch these guys play.  Tonight's game was their first loss. 

 Taylor did some dunking after the game and stealing during the game.

dear dave's birthday, even though he still wasn't feeling well, he went to work (still on call) and then had a full night of stake business.  He didn't get home until after 10 pm.  We sang to him and since he didn't want a cake because he wasn't feeling well, I got him a Maddox banana cream pie.  He wasn't really feeling like eating that either, but he HAD to something to put candle on! 

 Three of the boys were home.  So nice to have these three, but missing Sky. 

dear life is rough when you're a cat, yeah right.

He makes himself cozy almost anywhere.

Gotta love this one!

dear 15 hill repeats, check out what I found on the side of the road today!  How cool is that?  It made me snow happy!

I do believe Big Foot has taken up barefoot running!

dear fun night with the relatives, even though we got together for a not so fun thing - a viewing of my distant cousin - the company I was with was fun.  Too bad I didn't get a picture!  My Mom and I rode to the viewing with my other cousin Angie and my Mom's cousin Cathy.  Growing up, Cathy was always a hoot and Angie and I always had a lot of fun together.  Tonight was no exception.  To start it off Cathy said, "So how is it being the Stake President's (long pause)......mistress?  She couldn't come up with a word and so said mistress.  That set the tone for the night and we had a hard time not laughing especially when we were looking for Gordon. I won't go there, but suffice it to say I nearly wet my pants because I was laughing so hard.  That along with all of us witnessing my Mom give perfect strangers hugs as if she has known them all her life, gave us the chuckles as well.  I guess you would have had to have been there, but I got my laughing quota in for the day.  I love my relatives.  I really do.

dear friday run with robin,  I went out again with Robin on Friday and we got in another seven miles.  But today the fog was SO thick you could barely breathe and when we got down more toward the west, we could only see about 20 yards ahead of us.  The air was just so thick and probably really bad quality.

We took this to show that you couldn't see anything behind us, but it's hard to tell.  The fog was super dense.  I think it made us go slower too. But at least we got out there.  Not sure our lungs are happy that we did, but our hearts are.

I had frost on my hair when we finished.
But fog or not...

And...

 Give or take a few...

Oh man!  Look at what color the Boston Marathon jackets are this year?  PURPLE!  Aaaa!!  Proof I was supposed to qualify this year!  Dang!

dear taking christmas down, I finally got all my Christmas decor put away.  This year holds the record for the longest I have ever left it up.  One year I left it up for Dave's birthday at his request, but that was just more than I could take and I never did that again.  This year we left it up until Bryce got home but it still took me four days to find the time to get it put away once he arrived.  It always feels so good to get it all put away and a fresh clean start again.   The boys took down the tree when I was out on my long run this week.  I was so excited to see that when I got home!  It was like magic.  My boys are really hard workers and are always doing things like that without being told.  Bryce hasn't stopped helping out since his return.  He does things that he sees needs doing on his own.  It's so nice. They are all that way.  I have been incredibly blessed with amazing sons.  In fact, right this minute while I am writing this, McKay is in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher and he wasn't even asked to do it.  But I still "got" to put the ornaments away by myself.  Since I have my own system, I actually won't let anyone help me put them away.  Does this stress anyone else out?   Just knowing I have so many of those things to put away in such a small amount of space makes me crazy.  Once I get it done, I realize it's not so bad, but the whole thing is not one bit enjoyable to me.  Putting them up isn't either because I'm thinking the entire time we are putting them up, in just a few weeks I have to put them all away!  Yeah, I need an attitude adjustment!  Or maybe just some little ones that love and appreciate the effort.  hah  But I really do miss the beauty of the tree and the lights.  There is just something so magical about lights inside the house.  One of my favorite things is to get up early and just sit near the tree in the dark starring at the lights.  It's just so peaceful and calming.

dear date night, well this one was unique.  I went to a wedding reception alone because Dave was on call and wouldn't be off in time.  I probably should get used to this.  Once he got home, we headed to two viewings that he needed to go to because they were both members of our stake.  We went to Sid Jensen's first and then to see if Sheriff Lynn Yeates was going to be a three hour wait or not.  We got there at the perfect time because we were only in line for maybe 15 minutes.  Earlier in the day the lines were all the way outside.  His viewing was scheduled for five hours.  We felt lucky we our timing was so great.  I was able to talk to his daughter Sherry and it was good to see her.  We tried to go to his wife Lynda's viewing two months ago, but the wait was over two hours and we had two other places we had to be and so didn't make it.  His funeral is expected to have 1200 in attendance, 500 at the luncheon, and the Governor and Lieutenant Governor is supposed to come.  He died in office one day after being sworn in only two months after his wife passed away.  Everyone in the city got a recorded message telling them what streets to avoid due to heavy traffic because of the funeral.  I had no idea it was going to be such a huge thing.  According to what we were told at the viewing, the law enforcement people are family and it's a brotherhood.  That is pretty cool.

dear stake president calling, what I have noticed with this new calling is that whenever we are out in public now, people go out of their way to come over and shake Dave's hand.  It's not like it's anything new as far as people going out of their way to talk to him.  He always gets that because he is a doctor and either he sees his patients or others come up and want medical advice.  He is good about it, but sometimes a five minute trip to the store can take 20 min. or more.  But this has been a bit different.  For instance at both viewings, people gathered around him (several at a time) and just wanted to shake his hand and talk to him.  They look at him as if he were some kind of celebrity.  I know it makes him uncomfortable because he isn't one for a lot of adulation.  He handles it well and is very friendly with them.  He realizes it is the office not necessarily the man that they are wanting to acknowledge.  For me, I just kind of enjoy watching it all because I am pretty much invisible.  Hah.  I find it quite entertaining in fact.  This new calling has been brutal for the past month as far as time goes, but he has embraced it with his whole heart and is doing a great job with very little training.  Change the word Bishop in this comic strip below to Stake President and that says it all.  Though some of his busiest days are Tuesdays and Wednesdays, not just Sundays.  But, he is doing a great job.

dear long run aka funeral procession, Dave took Robin and I up to the sheds so we could run down Sardine to try and get in over 10 miles. 

 As we were coming down back into town, we saw this amazing sight! 

Our timing was perfect as we happened onto the awesome tribute for Sheriff Lynn Yeates.  It was his "Last Call" as he was taken to the cemetery. 

 We had to get a photo under the flag.  This was so cool!

 We decided to run down west hoping that our timing would work out for when the procession began.  We even made a pit stop at Smiths and still had time to run back up to the canyon where we first saw the large flag.

 The main route to the canyon was lined with people, most with flags.  My ward's scout troop was among them.  It was quite a sight.

This was one of the best sights of the day. ↑

 So many flags!

 We got up to the large flag and then after about 10 minutes the procession arrived.
 I wish I had counted how many Sheriff trucks went past us, but there were SO many.

 I loved how all these co-workers of Sheriff Yeates saluted as it went by.

It was a great experience, not to mention a great distraction from a long run.
 It was truly an amazing sight and brought tears to my eyes. So inspiring to see the support and brotherhood of the "law enforcement family".  A big thank you to all those who risk their lives for us each day! RIP Sheriff Yeates. 

dear sunday school lesson,  I have a new class and this was my first week to teach them.  I ended up with six extra kids due to a homecoming!  Then the Stake President decided to join us, so I had 14 total!  The SP joined us because I sent him home to grab more treats when I saw how many kids I had.  Yes, I do give them treats.  Yes, I am probably not supposed to.  No, I don't care because 16 year old boys NEED to have some form of nutrition (be it sugar or not) in their systems at nearly all times.  How do I know this?  Because I have raised five 16 year old boys so far.  It's amazing the power a little tasty morsel can have over a teenage boy.  The girls would be fine without them, but as a girl myself, I am always up for a treat.  It keeps them awake and alert and last but not least, excited to come.☺

Speaking of excited...  As I was teaching, I read a quote by Bruce R. McConkie that had a description of Heavenly Father.  It said:  

"We know, because the Lord has revealed it in this our day, that we are the spirit children of an exalted, glorified being, a holy man who has a body of flesh and bones and who is our Father in Heaven".

When I came to the word exalted I read it as excited.  That is really what my eyes saw. I read it over a few times because the word excited just didn't seem to go with that quote but I wasn't 100 % sure because we had also just read the quote by Heber C. Kimball that says:

"I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my god is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am cheerful, pleasant, lively and good-natured when I have His Spirit…. That arises from the perfection of His attributes; He is a jovial, lively person, and a beautiful man.”

So if he is a jovial, lively person, then why wouldn't he also be an excited being?  It was rather hilarious to say the least especially with the SP in the room.  Every time I re-read it (which was about four times because I just wasn't sure it was right) with the word excited, he shook his head.  I was laughing too hard to care by that point.  I finally gave him the quote and he corrected it with exalted.  Oh well, it broke the ice with my new class.  hah 

  ~ ~ ~

A few thoughts I have found this week that I either already posted on Facebook or plan to... 

This has been for a very long time and still is my favorite quote of all time: