*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear bike ride, I have been so blessed because the weather keeps holding up so I can continue to ride my bike!  I am starting to feel more confident in my cycling, but I did almost biff it today because I was texting while biking!  A big no no!

Looking pretty serious there...  I'm not, just concentrating so I don't biff it!

dear closets, I had a couple of hours and so I used them to begin cleaning Tyson's closet.  It mainly needed to be reorganized. It seems no matter how many times I do that, it always needs it again.  I guess it would be because McKay uses that closet for his clothes even though I still have some of Tyson's clothes that I saved in it.  I think it has helped McKay to feel closer to him.  And Taylor uses Tyson's desk for the same reason I believe.  I have to say it was a bit of a challenge for my heart to be exposed to all of his stuff.  I was either feeling very sad or very happy.  I would find things that would just make my heart wrench, like two pair of shoes of his that I still have....or make it fill with joy, like the stash of fire crackers I found hidden in a toolbox tucked way under a drawer that I had missed all the other times I have gone through the closet. When I found those I had a huge grin on my face. I text Sky a picture of them and he said that he had given those to him right before he left on his mission. 

One of my friends text me while doing it and asked what I was doing.  When I told them, they told me to stop!  It was too hard for them to comprehend doing that.  When I told them I had gotten rid of his shoes, they told me to bronze them instead!  They were very serious and persistent and so I ended up taking the good pair out of the donation box and kept them.  I am not going to bronze them - haha - but I did keep them.  For now.  I am not sure if it's the way cleaning a closet of a child who has passed should be done, but it's my way.  I have to do it slowly.  I try and go through it every year or so and it's easier that way to let go of his things. The attachment to certain things become less and less over time.  Dave can't do it at all.  But I know I can't keep everything forever.  When you have so many precious items, you have to learn to let go of the sand and keep the gold so what you do keep (the gold) remains special.  But, it's oh so difficult.  I have to be feeling very strong emotionally before I even attempt to tackle it.  Today was a good day.  I was able to let go of a lot of things.  I even found some love notes I hadn't seen before.  BIG GRIN with those!  hah  That boy was such a treasure and so hilarious.  So many memories came flooding into my mind.  How I miss him.  I feel so much closer to him when I am going through his things.  I really believe that's why my boys enjoy spending time in his room.  I am sure most people would have turned the room into a more usable space by now, but since I don't need to, I am not going to.  Sigh........

dear little mermaid, Dave and I were offered tickets from a friend who was trying to sell her extra ones to The Little Mermaid (play) at the high school and so we invited Troy and Carol to go with us.  I was blown away by the costumes, props, makeup, hair, talent, and the overall experience.  It was incredible!  The costumes were unbelievable! They even had bubbles!  I am glad we have tickets for next week as well because I can't wait to see it again!  A couple of kids from my Sunday School class are in it.  It was fun to talk to them after with their makeup still on.

 William played King Triton.  He is in my SS class.  He did an amazing job!  And look at those caramel apples!  Incredible!  Everything was top notch.

With cute Abby (middle) who is also in my SS class.  She was a VERY talented dancer!   Check out that dog!  He was my fave!  His costume was unreal!  All of the costumes were! 

After the play we went with Troy and Carol to Costa Vida to grab some dinner but they were closed.  We ended up at Arby's since it was about the only place in town still open (at 9 pm- small town problems- hah).  Check out this purple vase thing Troy gave me.  It's cool because it was made with a 3D printer!  Blows my  mind how that works!

dear bike ride, I made it on another 12 miler Tuesday.  I fear this may be my very last bike ride of the season because winter is supposed to hit tomorrow or the next day.  I thoroughly  enjoyed today's ride.  

dear cleaning, I scheduled Tuesday to clean more closets and other things.  I even turned down some lunch invites.  I had this on my calendar and to me it was as good as an appointment.  I have to do that or it never happens. I have to schedule things in my planner that can be done at anytime because if I don't, they never get done.   And even though going out to lunch sounded like a ton more fun, I knew getting done what I needed to would bring me more peace.  Today I cleaned out the hideout in Tyson's room.  It is a small cubby connected to his room that the boys have used for hiding out, reading, playing, etc.  It has kind of turned into a storage device for blankets as of late.  I went through everything in there and got rid of a TON of blankets!  I have no idea how we have accumulated so many blankets, but we have.  Most of them were gifts through the years.  I even found an afghan my mom helped Tyson crochet.  There are still posters hanging up in there from when Tyson ran for Student Body President in 9th grade.  He won.  Well, he technically was called Freshman Class President.  He received the most votes out of anyone running.  Did I mention everyone loved that boy?  You could not NOT love him.  He was one of those with that type of personality.  Sure do miss him. 

I also cleaned Tyson's room and the boy's bathroom.  I have decided to paint it and redo all the fixtures. I really want to gut the entire thing and start over, but Dave is not on board.  I want new counters, new tile in the shower and around the sink and redo the floor.  But I will start with painting and light fixtures. Why do I choose to start these kind of projects during the busiest time of year?  Because it needs to be done!

dear harp lesson, this week's lesson was the worst one I have ever had since I started!  When I arrived, she had me play my recital piece and she took my book away.  I have it memorized and have for weeks and so it was no big deal, but holy harping you would have thought I had never even looked at the piece!  I had it down so good too!  I could not believe how bad I kept messing up!  I couldn't even get through the dang thing without some major mistake and forgetting things!  I have no idea what was going on because I never do that at home!  Ugh!  We talked about some secrets to performance in case it happens at the recital, like visualization and practicing my recital piece first thing in the morning when I'm cold and not warmed up.  I never got to any of my other pieces today even though they were all more than ready. I even put my hands together on one piece even though I wasn't assigned to yet.  So frustrating! 

dear taylor's phone and world's largest costco, Taylor asked me if I would go to SLC and pick up a phone from a gal he bought it from on KSL.  I met her at the Costco on 1800 South.  I wanted to check it out anyway because it is the world's largest Costco. 

After I met her and got the phone, I went inside and was overwhelmed!  It was huge!  I was there for over an hour.  They had whole sides of lamb hanging in a big fridge and gallon size soy sauce and huge containers of everything.  I think they cater to restaurants!  It was crazy.  The best thing I found was some butter cinnamon bread that tastes exactly like Amish Friendship bread!  Taylor will be so happy because he is always asking me to make it but it is a pain because you have to babysit the start and add things and squish the bag everyday for 10 days before you can bake it.  I hope our Costco sells it too though I have never seen it there.  

dear homeless guy, on my way home from SLC, I stopped in Ogden to make a few returns and while there I saw a young guy in a flimsy jacket who appeared to be homeless because he was wandering around and then would sit and pull the jacket tight around him.  He had the hood wrapped around his head and looked like he was freezing.  I was 100% positive he was homeless.  The wind was picking up and the temperature had dropped around 25 degrees from what it normally is and a big COLD storm was moving in.  I felt so much compassion for him and I felt like I needed to go buy him a warm coat so he wouldn't freeze to death during the night.  I was nearby Savers and so I ran in there and found a warm coat for $12.99 (the c.  I was disappointed in how high their prices were!  Most were $17.99 -$21.99 for old used coats!  I also grabbed some warm socks and a hat.  When I was checking out I saw the coat was ripped on one side and so I asked if they would discount it as I didn't have time to go back and find another coat. 

They gave me half off because it was damaged and so I was happy.   When I think of all the coats I have at my house that would have fit him, I cringed a little, but I wasn't home and so I just bought the stuff.  With everything it came to $16-17.  I drove back to where I saw him last and he was gone!  I asked some people that were around if they knew where he went and one guy said he took off 20 minutes ago. I had barely been gone that long and so I started driving all around trying to find him, but to no avail.  I am not one to give up easily but I had to get to an appointment to get my phone fixed and so I made another loop around, but still nothing.  I saw the Navajo guy that I gave $20 to a while back that I found out had to give most of it to his boss (posted about that a couple months ago) but he already had a coat.  After another 10 minutes and still no luck, I decided to just keep the stuff in my car and next time I go to O town I will look for him again.  I felt really bad.  I mostly felt bad because I was expecting Heavenly Father to help me find him.  I had a hard time understanding why I didn't find him when I was trying to help him.  I am still struggling with that one.  Heavenly Father knew where he was and he knew he needed help and he knew I was willing to help him, but He didn't lead me to him.  Some day I guess I will know why, but for now I am very perplexed.

dear phone repair, my phone went a little psycho this week. The home button basically quit working and the screen was flashing at the bottom and I couldn't get in it half the time and my sounds were not working when I got a text.  My repair guy (Zack) has been tough to get in contact with as Taylor has been trying for two weeks and I have also been trying FOR Taylor.  I tried every avenue this time and I finally got a hold of him.  He was very nice and told me to drop by.  I did but he was gone.  He had another appt at 5 and so I went to Deseret Book and killed some time while waiting.  That was an expensive time killer because I bought a Jim Shore purple Christmas scene with bunnies etc.  It reminded me of Tyson because of the bunnies.  So cute.  I'll give it to Dave to give me for Christmas. 

White Woodland Santa with Baby Jesus

When I went back, he was so nice and accommodating and took me back to his office while he worked on my phone.  It was the screen. He was a bit perplexed as to why it wasn't working but in the end he said the culprit was the screen protector I got from Verizon.  It wasn't put on straight and he couldn't get it aligned right.  After an hour, all was well.  He kept saying he wasn't going to leave until he got it fixed for me. He also apologized for dropping the ball on Taylor and said I was one of his best customers and they talk about me a lot.  He gave me a new case, and a running arm band for free.  He also told me he gets his shatterproof glass screens at Dollar Tree and the are better than the one I paid $29.99 for.  (Groan)  I was just grateful to have my phone back in business.  It is a little scary how dependent I have become on it.  My calendar is in there, all my phone #'s (I have very few memorized), birthday's, events, photos, all my correspondence!  How did we ever live without them?  Not sure!

dear relief society board meeting, as soon as I got back from O town, I ran to Becky's for our planning meeting.  We got December and January planned.  It was a lot of fun.  I enjoy planning events!  I think I missed my calling in life as a party or event planner.  That is what I really should have done. Never too late right?!


dear first snowfall, we got our first snowstorm on Wednesday night.  Much less than predicted and it was already on the ground when we woke up and so we missed the beauty of watching it fall.  Not to worry as I am sure it will do it again.  And again.  And again.  

dear study group, Thursday was a really busy day again this week.  It was really cold this morning with the new snow and so I didn't ride my bike.  I had my Jesus the Christ study group at 10:00 a.m. and so I just got ready and headed to that.  There were only three of us this time.  It was very educational and I love learning about the Savior this way.  We only have one more time to meet and we are done with the entire book!  It has taken us two years, but I have learned so much!   There are so many insights that I have never thought about until reading this book.  James Talmadge was one intelligent and inspired man.

dear women's forum lunch, as soon as I left my study group I headed to our evaluation meeting at the hospital.  They served us lunch and it was really good as always.  I just ate the soup and brought my huge sandwich and cheesecake home. I have been trying so hard this week to eat clean and to eat more protein and less carbs so I can lose four pounds.  My body doesn't seem to be cooperating.  Even when I only eat 1000 calories.  It's very frustrating. Such are the joys of being a woman later in life!   The meeting was actually fun.  We had a good time reading the evaluations and discussing what to do next year.   After the meeting I came home and cleaned the house.  I worked on the upstairs bedrooms, cleaning the shutters, bathrooms, and vacuuming.  I know it's not blog worthy to even write that, but I noticed today how tired I get now days when I clean for a few hours. It didn't use to be that way.  Such are the joys of getting older! Sigh. I can run a marathon, but cleaning my house for three hours wipes me out!  haha

Article about it in the local paper this week.

dear first run!  Friday I attempted to run for the first time in SEVEN WEEKS!  Other than a couple really short attempts at the beginning of my injury.  It has been a LONG flippin' time!  I was so excited!  I started out slow, but really tried to see if I could run fast at all anymore but I started to immediately feel the injury pain!  I knew it was going to be tough but I wasn't expecting it to hurt!  Yes, my injury felt EXACTLY the same as it did seven weeks ago!  HOW?  NO!!!!  I was so excited to be able to run injury free!  How can not running and resting it for that long not help it go away?  I have no answers, I only know it felt like I hadn't even rested it.  I have been faithfully doing strengthening exercises to get it stronger for the past two or three weeks too.  I am perplexed.  That is the third time I have used that word in this post.  This week has been perplexing!  Today was more depressing than anything.  I was so disappointed!  I felt like I had wasted seven weeks!  I could have healed a broken bone or recovered from surgery after this long!  I was beyond frustrated!  So baffled!  I managed to get in five miles and even was getting up to 9:30's a mile which I thought was pretty good after not running for that long.  I came home and did my strength exercises and called Dave and told him how painful my run was.  He still thinks the rest has helped. Hmm..... I'm not convinced!  

At least I found a penny!

dear time out for women, I drove to Karen's house to meet her and Mary.  We picked up Aubrey on our way to attend the Time Out For Women in SLC at the South Towne Expo.  We stopped at Subway on the way and got stuck in traffic forever!  But we had fun chatting on the way. I love to talk to them, they are so fun!  Aubrey told me she found Taylor's wife and is going to line him up with this gorgeous girl named Ashlee.  Apparently him and Aubrey text all the time and keep each other up to date on their love lifes.  We had to park SO far away and we were almost 30 minutes late due to traffic but so was everyone else.  There were thousands of women there!  We had a hard time finding a seat!  But we finally did!    

The speakers were AMAZING!  First we heard from Michael McClean and he talked very personally about the faith crisis and struggle he has been having over the past nine years in regards to his testimony.  He said he was seeking answers but the heavens were closed and he couldn't get anything.  He said it was very difficult to not just give up. He shared with us the difficulty he went through when his son announced he was gay and wanted to be married in their backyard right when Prop 8 was going on in California where they lived.  He wrote a song called Keeping Promises My Heart No Longer Feels during this time that came to him in a dream with Mother Teresa who also had a faith crisis during her ministry.  He said if you are doubting you are in good company.  He said when we feel alone to still choose God and His son.  And to hold on.  He said even though his heart was feeling nothing, he held on to the promise he had made and after a nine year grueling struggle, he made it through.  It was really good.

Then Hilary Weeks spoke and performed many of her incredibly touching songs. She is adorable and so fun to listen to.  She sang a song with the message that He loves us always, not when we EARN it or when we DESERVE it, but His grace extends to us all the time.  She told us to not hold back compliments to others and to tell them the good we are thinking about them. 

Lastly, we heard from Alissa Parker, the mother of Emily Parker who was shot and killed in the Sandy Hook shootings.  It was so fun to hear from her because I just heard her husband speak last weekend at our Women's Forum conference.  Their talks were a little bit similar but also very different perspectives.  It was a very difficult talk to sit through for me though.  She talked about what emotions are experienced when losing a child and I could relate a little too well.  The only thing you could hear in the room was sniffling.  I am not sure there was a dry eye in that enormous building.  Karen put her arm around me at one point and I had a hard time keeping the tears inside when she did that.  Losing a child is not something you ever get over.  You just get through the best you can.  It never goes away, it does change over time, but it never gets easier, it just gets different.  I loved the scripture she referred to in 1 Corinthians 10:13.  God gives us nothing we can't handle.

After her talk I felt like I had run a marathon!  Only this time it was an emotional marathon instead of a physical one.  I felt spent and weak and exhausted.  I let out a huge sigh once she ended.  She did a fabulous job and is an amazing woman.  I truly admire her. 

We headed out in the freezing cold for our long journey to our car.  We had to park a long way away and the wind was blowing hard.  We had some good discussion on the way home about life and some deep things.  Aubrey is always so fun to talk to and she told me she found Taylor's wife.  LOL  She is lining him up with one of her friends.  He actually wanted to go out with the same friend and so we will see if she is right. haha  Fun Fun Fun night!


dear turkey trot, well, Taylor text me while I was at TOFW and told me, "I'm in".  Meaning he was in for the Turkey Trot!  I wasn't sure how I felt about that.  hah  I have ran this race every year for around nine years (I don't think I've missed it once) and it's now become a tradition to run it with Taylor each year.  He is so good to come and run it with me.  He really only does it for me.  I figured if he could do it, I could.  He never runs and certainly never trains.  I knew it was going to be a humbling experience for me because I was truly unsure if I could even manage to run at all since I haven't run in SEVEN WEEKS!  I was probably being crazy to even attempt it, but I figured if I didn't come home with a turkey this year, that would be okay too. Maybe I could get 2nd and win a pumpkin pie (more like humble pie).  I was very discouraged because of how my first attempt at running yesterday went so poorly and my injury continued to hurt all day long on Friday.  I decided to take a couple of Advil before the race and see if that helped.  

There were a lot of people that showed up. Probably because the weather was nice this year. The temperature was about 35-39 degrees. Two years ago, it was so cold and pouring rain!   Dave showed up for the start but had to go to work right after.  

My #1 athletic supporter

Dave's "lovely" candid shots

I was a little nervous how I was going to do because I have never loved this course. It's a four mile course that repeats itself after two miles and it has quite a bit of uphill.  But, I decided I would just see how it went.  I expected to be a turtle, but the first mile I stayed at a 7:56 pace.  I obviously went out a bit too fast because mile 2 was a 9:14 (the uphill) and mile 3 was a 8:35 and mile 4 was a 9:40.  I was SO surprised!  Seriously surprised I was able to maintain that pace without having run for so long.  I finished at 35:15. Not a PR, but much faster than I thought possible.  My cycling must have helped keep my cardio in check.  I think my PR is 32:59.  But I was still very happy and pretty shocked that I won my age division!  I was sure the lady in front of me was in my AD and was going to take first.  I was very surprised when I heard I won 1st place.  Taylor killed it!  He ran it in a 29 something.  Not sure how he always does that, but he does.  He took 3rd in his AD and won a Martinelli sparkling cider.  They had some prizes setting on chairs during the race that if you could carry it while running, then you got to keep it.  There was NO way!  haha  But several people did.

 With Robin's pie, my turkey, and Taylor's sparkling cider, all we need now is some potatoes, gravy and stuffing and we will have a feast!

This kid is so dang handsome!  Of course, I say that about all my boys.  I'm not prejudiced or anything!  :)

Gobble gobble!

The bottom left is the YOUNGEST runner and the bottom right is the OLDEST runner.  Steven Jenks.  Haha  He is 67 and can still tear it up!  That little guy was so speedy!  Blew me away!

Now, I am so happy I did run it.  I think it gave me the confidence I need to dive into my Boston training.  I am still concerned about my injury, but I am going to start out slow and see how things go. It didn't even bother me once during the race!  Who knows? 

The loot bags were awesome!  Tons better than any expensive marathon and this race only cost $7!

dear breakfast, I took Taylor to breakfast after the race.  We decided to try Corbins.  It was a VERY GOOD choice!  Holy cow, that place had HUGE portions and very reasonable prices.  Their dinner menu is very pricey, but the breakfast menu has the best prices in town for the amount of food you get.  What I ordered (biscuits and gravy) was only $4.99 and it would have fed four people! Taylor's was $6.99 and even he couldn't finish it all and he can eat more food than any human I know.  He did have two refills on his hot cocoa though so maybe that had something to do with it. We also ordered some mini scones.  They come with two syringes filled with thick chocolate sauce to squeeze in the middle of them.  I was very impressed with everything.  The food was very good as well.  I think it's the best kept secret in our little town!

We took THREE large boxes home filled with our leftovers.  I think four or five more people could have joined us and we would have had enough food!


dear stake dinner, yes that is stake not steak.  Before the adult session of stake conference we are always privileged to have a wonderful meal prepared by the Stake Relief Society presidency.  No, they didn't serve steak at the stake dinner, but that would be a good idea!  hah  But, they always do an amazing job.  I wish I would have taken photos of everything they served.  I only got one of my salad.  It was very delicious.  Elder McKay was our visiting authority and he sat at our table.  He asked me about my running (apparently Dave told him all about it) and so we chatted quite a bit about that during dinner.  He has a brother that ran the Boston Marathon a couple times.  Elder McKay is about our age and is the father of nine, seven of which have served missions.  That is incredible.  I was very impressed with him.  He is a brilliant man and you can just feel his powerful testimony just by meeting him. 

dear stake conference adult meeting, I was not prepared for what we about to experience at the adult session.  The meeting was good and going along great. I learned a lot and felt the spirit, but when Elder Mckay began to speak, everything was magnified a thousand times.  I have never experienced anything like what happened.  We had a member of our stake who is a police officer get hit by a car on Friday and he was not doing well.  They had to take off one of his legs below the knee and he was now in a coma with very little brain activity.   He has three little boys.  It was weighing heavily on many of the members of his ward that evening.  Elder Mckay knew this and he instructed us on how the priesthood's power can also be used when the holder is not even present.  He then proceeded to say a prayer and a blessing on this man who was laying in ICU in an Ogden hospital bed.  It was the most powerful blessing I have ever heard and the most incredible prayer as well. It's as if his hands were on this brother's head even though he was 30 miles away.  There was not a dry eye in the building.  He spoke with such power and authority. I felt like I was experiencing something that you would read about in the church history or in the Bible. It was that amazing.  I wish I had taken some notes of the things he said, but it was if everyone in that entire building was united in spirit and faith and it was as if angels were in attendance.  I'm not sure I have ever felt anything in my life as powerful as what I did during that prayer and blessing, with the exception of some spiritual experiences during Tyson's life.  

This is the home of police officer Ellsworth

He then spoke to us about the law of the fast and that was just as incredible.  He said fasting is not saying "Pretty please" to the Lord.  Fasting is NOT a hunger strike. The more we are like Jesus the more we put off the natural man.  We should be “hungering and thirsting after righteousness.”  A title for Jesus is, “Son of Righteousness.”  When you hunger and thirst after righteousness, you hunger and thirst after God. Whenever you read “humble yourself” insert “fast.” We misapply D&C82:10 if we set out to “bind” God.   

I was holding the adorable Benson (Hollingsworth's new baby) or I would have taken pages and pages of notes because what he was teaching was so powerful and it was as if the heavens were open and the spirit was pouring down through him to instruct us.  When the meeting ended, all I could say was, "Wow!".  It is one of those meetings that will be remembered and talked about for many years.  It was as if the Prophet himself were there teaching us.  And in a way, he was, for Elder Mckay has been given the authority from the Twelve to teach us. Teach us he did.  I wish it had been recorded somehow so I could go back and listen to it over and over.  What a glorious blessing to have been present to witness it.

dear homecoming, Elder Bodily's homecoming was at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning and our stake conference started at 10 a.m.  I was hoping he would be the first speaker so I could slip out and not be late to conference.  He wasn't and I was.  But it was worth it.  I was so excited as I listened to him talk about the cities where McKay has served and tell stories of their service and the law changes and how they have revamped things.  He said it has really been better because the Russian people are not open and warm when you go up to them to try and teach them they way they used to and how doing more service and friendshipping is working so much better due to their culture.  He then bore his testimony in Russian and even though I was going to be even later, I couldn't leave.  It was so awesome to hear him and know that my McKay was speaking that same language.  It sounds very difficult!  I was very excited to have been able to go even though I wasn't able to stay and talk to him. I did see his mom in the congregation (I was in a little room that was overflow) and she waved to me.  She is the sweetest thing.

dear stake conference,

I rushed from the homecoming to the tabernacle and was five minutes late and so I slipped in the very back.  It would not look good for me to show up five minutes late and make a grand entrance.  Dave was the first speaker, and he did a fabulous job.  He spoke on finding joy in the journey and shared the experience at the Women's General conference in our building when the sign language incident happened.  It was funny.  He is a very good speaker and always has been.  He has a commanding presence.  I've noticed it always gets very quiet when he stands to speak.  Elder McKay said some very nice things about him during his talk.  The most significant was that he was called from direct revelation and that when Elder Ballard came to call a new president, he saw a vision of who the new president should be and it was Pres. Wilding.  That gave me chills.  He said we have a wonderful Stake President and if you follow him you will not go astray.  All of the speakers were excellent.  A cute little 10 year old in our stake named Anna (my friend Karen's granddaughter) spoke on her baptism (how scary would that be?) and her talk was one of the best talks I have heard and she is only 10!  I took a full page of notes on it.  She taught us how to make the sacrament more meaningful. She is adorable and comes from one of the most sweetest and purest families.  Her talk was about what we should do during sacrament. Elder Mckay's talk today was once again powerful.  He focused on the sacrament.  I loved when he talked about how we should not have our electronic devices turned on during that meeting.  He related it to when the Savior asked His apostles if they could not tarry with Him for one hour.  I took pages and pages of notes.  He talked about the holy vs profane.  Profane meaning ordinary and common.  The sabbath is holy.  The sacrament should be like a memorial service for the Savior.  Those who occupy the pulpit during sacrament meeting should do and say only those things appropriate for a memorial service. During the sacrament, if you are on your mobile device, you are profaning the sacrament.  There should be an element of sadness during the sacrament and drop a tear or two for Him who groaned beneath our load.  He is alive and His work is not done until He has redeemed and saved every soul that will and has been born on the face of the earth.  

Once again I was in awe of his powerful and brilliant soul.  He is one of the most amazing speakers I have ever heard.  After it was over we had a special meeting in the upstairs room of the tabernacle with Elder Mckay and our families.   He told them how there are many presidents in the churches organizations but he said this presidency is as the presidency of the church for this area.  Just like the First Presidency are all called President, so are they.  He talked about repentance and a few other things.  He re-invoked the blessing found in D&C 109:71: Remember, O Lord, the presidents, even all the presidents of thy church, that thy right hand may exalt them, with all their families, and their immediate connections, that their names may be perpetuated and had in everlasting remembrance from generation to generation. 

He expressed what an amazing weekend it was and his continued concern for the family of the police officer in our stake. We were able to get some photos of him with the Presidency.

 Dave's presidency with Elder McKay

With the clerks and secretary

dear lunch, Elder Bodily's mom sent me a text inviting me to their house for lunch.  Dave and I decided to head over because we really wanted to talk to Damon.  I am so glad we did because he showed some of the things he brought home and I even got to try on the coat Andrea brought back that is made of rabbit.  It was so cool!  Maybe McKay can bring me one home.  Hah  They picked him up and spent three weeks traveling through the mission and Russia. They were so nice and all sat down with us and we chatted for quite a while.  I enjoyed so much hearing about things from him first hand.  He told us the planes over there are sketchy and he was glad he only had to fly on those for shorter distances.  He is a great kid.  He told me he knew me from when I went and helped at Challenge Day at the high school, and he was in my family. I totally forgot.  Dave had to get back to set apart some people and so we left after about an hour or so. 

Bandit's (our former rabbit) posterity at work!

dear emily's birthday party, we went to Corrine for cute Emily's party.  She is a cutie.  We had a good time talking about conference and other things.  Dave's dad was so cute when he asked about the race and heard I won a turkey.  We had yummy chocolate cake and ice cream.  Mmmm.... 

 dear mr. cat,

 He still prefers Dave over me.  Dang animal!

dear fall, we have had an Indian Summer this year and it's been incredible.

  Look at those leaves carpeting the grass!  So gorgeous!

 dear recipe, doesn't this look yummy?  I need to try it out!

dear obit photo, this popped up on my FB memories and I think I want it to be my obituary photo if I die in the next little while.  Morbid, I know.  But, you never know.  The only thing I don't like is I am looking down instead of straight ahead.  Dave never reads my blog (that I know of) and so you my fellow bloggers will have to inform him of this request.  haha   Maybe it's too "cheesy"?  Too playful?  Not serious enough?  I am half kidding about this.  Maybe I need to get a professional one taken like the oldies do.  What age do people get professional photos done for their obituaries?  It seems everyone over the age of 60 has a professional photo that they put in the paper.  That is REALLY a morbid thought.  But such is life....  And death....

Am I the only one that thinks about these things? 

dear humor, 

Bwhahah

dear quotes,