Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Ft. Worth Stock Yard Rodeo!



We had a lot of fun going to the Rodeo tonight! Barbara and her family always go on the Susan G. Koeman for the cure night at the Rodeo as Barbara is a breast cancer survivor so we were happy to join them this year. Aileen had a great time and it had been a long time since I had been to a Rodeo so it was fun to go again after so many years!


Landon, Barbara, and Dad


Mom and Aileen

Aileen liked the cotton candy and funnel cake, but mainly the Diet Coke! She is her mother's daughter after all. Aileen would push my arm away from her if I would put it around her until they would turn off the lights to bring in some new halftime entertainer and then she would grab my arm and have me put it around her. Funny!
Lauren, Kaity, and Taylor
It was a good night.

Danny Ainge and many more things....


Alan cannot believe (nor can I for that matter) that I have not blog about his most prized gift at Thanksgiving time! While Allison and John were here for Thanks-giving they brought a surprise gift for Dad (Alan). At one of the BYU Basketball games John was walking in the hall and ran into Danny Ainge, who just happens to be Alan's favorite Basketball player of all time. John asked Danny if he would sign his shirt....and he did! John called and talked to Alan about meeting him and getting his autograph and Alan was stoked and couldn't believe that John had had that experience. So the surprise is they presented Alan with the shirt with Danny Ainge's autograph and Alan is having me frame it. But before I take it to be framed I thought I would try to take up close and personal pictures. Then after framed, (for Valentines Day, hopefully) maybe do a after picture. Pretty neat experience for John and really amazing and very loving that he would give it to "Dad"!


Sunday I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting and usually I am all game for that, love to speak. Love to have that personal time spent in meditation with my Savior and Heavenly Father. I struggled a little with this talk and it felt different from my normal comfortable way of giving a talk. But I did feel growth and did feel that it went well and that it was the message that was to be presented. The neatest thing to me about my talk on Sunday was that I did not know who the other Adult speaker was and then when the meeting started found out I was speaking with my father! And he is such an amazing man that I love so very much and an incredible speaker that I knew he would make up for any of my lack! But it was exciting to speak together in Sacrament, I told Dad it was like walking into the temple endowment room and finding out he was the leader of that session or that he was the worker on the other side of the veil (which both has happened by the way and was so incredibly special).

Then for Gospel Doctrine Class, it was a first, no visual aids at all, just an awesome discussion with many people involved. It was awesome! As a teacher you always try to change things up and grab their attention in different ways..... and since I am all about visual helps what some people call "fluff" it was an attention getter to have none! It was what I did to simplify my life this week as I had to speak in Sacrament and give a Gospel Doctrine lesson!

Friday night, Alan went with the Boy Scouts Camping. Those of you who live in Texas, know that it was terribly terribly cold. But Alan came home happy as a clam (where did that expression come from?) and said he had forgotten how much fun it is to be with those boys. I thought to myself after all those years as Scoutmaster, Asst. Scoutmaster, etc. etc. how could he have forgotten. I think if you are a Scouter it is just in your blood! I'm glad he had fun and I'm glad Aileen and I were snuggled up nice and warm in a warm house and bed!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Today in Gospel Doctrine

Today in Gospel Doctrine we were studying the birth of the Savior so it was a fantastic time for me to get to show off my latest "Willow Tree" Figurines. I love Willow Tree, and wish that I could buy several of them right now, but I will just slowly continue to collect figurines that have special significance to me and my life. There is one called "The Circle" or something like that that has a grandmother, a daughter and and a granddaughter all looking at a quilt and I would love that in honor of my mother and her passing. That her legacy goes on.... This Nativity is one of my most prized possessions and even though Willow Tree never goes on sale - even after Christmas - I had to get it anyway!


large enough to have be a centerpiece in a large classroom!


Oh, so happy!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Oh, I love to wash!!!

After going for 1/2 the month of December and until today without a washing machine, I am so happy our new washer and dryer were delivered today! We ordered/purchased them on New Years Eve, but because of Christmas and back orders etc... we had to wait until today to get them. Merry Christmas to us (What Alan & I got each other this year)!

After buying the washer and dryer I had had it with the laundry mat, so we were doing all we could to wear clothes that didn't need to be washed, because I did not want to go to the laundry mat any longer! I know I'm spoiled!


So today I have been washing load after load and loving it! They are the new Maytag economical washer and dryer like the front loaders but a top loader instead. It doesn't have the middle agitator and we bought an industrial/larger load machine because we are always having to wash bedding for Aileen. So far I love it and love that I get to do wash again!!!


Not a bad side benefit from having to be without one for what equals about 1 month!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Look what I got in the mail......

Several months ago, long before Christmas, I saw this add in a Magazine


I really liked it and saw it featured in several other magazines so I tore out the page and took it home to Alan and said, "I really like this and would love to have it for Christmas, or Mother's day or my birthday!" To which Alan took the add and said something like "Good to know". And then we never talked about it again. Mother's day went by, my birthday went by and nothing had really been said about Christmas either so I kind of figured he forgot.

Since the jewelry is Silver and hand stamped, custom made etc... they make it after you order it and for Christmas you had to have ordered it really early or they said right on their website we aren't even going to start your order until after January 1, 2011. Alan felt bad that he was late in ordering but did it anyway and I got it Thursday!!! I was so surprised when I opened the package and it was what I had wanted!!!


I can never take un-blurry pictures up close - but you get the idea, I hope!

The website has some really cool things and they can put messages 0f love, hope etc... or names and its called The Vintage Pearl and I really love what they have.

But mostly I love that my husband bought this for me! Thanks sweetie! I love it!!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Snow in Texas.....

Snow in Texas is so funny! It's gone as soon as it lands usually. The only problem is if the temperatures get low enough it leaves ice...which Texans DO NOT know how to drive in. It always cracks me up how things start closing as soon as the weatherman even says the word snow!!! After church, Aileen and I went home, Alan had to stay for meetings etc... and when he came out he had a flat tire!! All of his tires have needed replacing and we had even talked about how he just needed to go do it....but he hadn't yet. So here he is in a suit, with slushy snowy weather needing to change a tire! Enter the hero's of the day.....the missionaries! They changed his tire for him to the "donut"and Bro. Denti, helped him find a tire place open on Sunday (Ox in the mire kind of thing, however we may have pushed the ox in as we should have taken care of it before now - we will repent) and he drove there and yes all his tires were so bad, as we knew they were, he got 4 new tires!!!

Friday Allison went in for major dental work - infected wisdom tooth pulled and some other major things so she was sedated and needing someone to care for her. With John and his classes, having just started a new job at the MTC, a BYU track meet on Saturday morning for his college course in athletic training that he had to work, etc... he was not going to be able to be with Allison through this ordeal. Anne Marie, my amazing oldest, took the day off of work to be with her and to help over the weekend. I love that my children are there for each other!! It was also a great comfort to be able to call Anne Marie and get status reports etc. throughout the weekend. Thanks Anne Marie for being such a great big sister!!!

But then, poor Anne Marie, Sunday night after coming back from Provo, to Salt Lake one of her engine lights came on in her car....so now she has to go to the repair shop Monday morning (today) and see what they think is causing this!!! Oh, I pray it won't be anything too serious for her. I think she deserves a break after being so good to her sister all weekend!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

My blog turned into a book......



I am so excited because I have been saying that my blog is my new way of keeping a journal and a fun way to add to my personal history that I had written up until I started my blog in 2008! so this year for Christmas one of my presents was to actually make the 2008-2009 posts into book. I used "blurb" which is what one of my blogger friends suggested I use - thanks Sarah K! I got it yesterday and I love it! And want to show it to everyone!!! If you click on the word blurb it will take you to the tutorial on how to make your blog into a book! I love it!



So happy with how it turned out!

Happy New Year at the Doctor's office


I work for a Podiatrist part time and type his dictation (medical notes) at home. The new year always brings added work and stress to the office - because there is only two of us to assist the Doctor at work and only one at a time. This is Marcia, she works the mornings and I work the afternoons. She is about the sweetest person you could ever meet. Another Doctor is in the hospital so we are taking all of his patients for him while he is unavailable, plus at the 1st of the year you have to check overyone's eligibility and copay's etc... not just the new patients so it has been a zoo and I will be very glad when March gets here that is when things kind of get back to normal! But I do love being busy at work!!! I just wish sometimes there were two of us in the office helping things to get done and run smoothly!!! But I can do it, I'm organized!!! lol!

Monday, January 3, 2011

My awesome, amazing, wonderful, fantastic John!

Our son John, (Alan refuses to call him a son-in-law) who is one of the most amazing people we know was hired by the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah, to be their athletic trainer. No this is not part of his education/classes this is a job that he really hoped to get and went and interviewed for and if you know BYU there were many many many who interviewed and he was offered the job! So he will have fun taking care of all the missionaries that hurt themselves playing basketball on pday, or hurt themselves hiking (don't really know if that's against the rules just guessing that would be a way that they might get hurt) etc...

He has been getting a lot of good experience in his field, add working at the MTC to working with the BYU football team for spring training (last spring), working at American Fork High School for their football season this past fall, working all the BYU sports camps over the summer and now will be working with the BYU track team. We are so happy for John and Allison as I know this will help with their worries of how to go to school and still afford to live. But really proud of him for working so hard to make his/their dreams come true!! Congratulations! We love you!

TCU wins the Rose Bowl - that is AWESOME!

New Years day was very exciting here in Texas! We loved getting to watch the Rose Bowl and watch TCU win! This was a welcome break as Alan had to move one of his Home Teaching families earlier in the day. It was fun for him to get to come home and watch the game on our new "bigger" (not BIG) screen then previously owned HD T.V. It was a good start to 2011!

New Years Eve



I finally felt good enough that we could finally do our Christmas day tradition of taking Aileen to the latest Disney movie. So we went to "Tangled". Oh my gosh what a cute cute movie! Aileen was glued to it and had all the appropriate reactions to worried, to happy, to rocking to the music it was fun to watch her! The movie was extremely enjoyable as well. There was a little girl in the theatre that after Rapunzel is stolen and she is saying something about "yes mother" the little girl in the audience says out loud "That's not her mother!" everyone giggled and smiled at each other it was too cute!



Then we did go and buy a new TV to replace our TV in the master bedroom that broke down and quit working. And Also a new washer and dryer! Merry Christmas to Us (Alan and Lois)! The only sad thing is they are back ordered everywhere so it won't be delivered until the 15th. So I have a few more weeks of Laundromats! But something to really look forward to!
A great way to finish out 2010!