Memorial Day 2013

We went to Tyler to visit the kids for Memorial day, and to see Charlotte before they leave for Provo, Utah for the summer!  We all went swimming, not only was it Charlotte's first time, but Aileen loves swimming and it had been a long time since she's been able to go!  Then we had hamburger's and watermelon, and played cards!  Nothing more American than that!  It was a lot of fun!  And we all had a great time!!

This next weekend will be helping the kids move all their stuff into a storage unit!  When they get back to Tyler, TX. about July 15th they will be moving into a new 2 bedroom apartment, which I am really excited for Allison, because then she can decorate and have a separate room for Charlotte!!

We are going to miss them so much......but the good news is, after they move on Saturday they will be staying with us until they fly out on Tuesday!  So we will have a little more bonding time with Charlotte before she forgets who we are....lol!!

You really gotta love this face!!

 

 

Grandma Great (Brown/Jackson) will really love my towel!!

The perfect end to a perfect day!!

Getting to play with Miss Charlotte

This last week I was able to go to Tyler for a couple of days to help Allison while she had some Doctor appointments and procedures and even though we were a little worried, all test came back good and normal so all is good, but even though we were a little worried.....we were still able to enjoy our time together and with Miss Charlotte!

Tuesday night I drove down and the weather was tornado weather with windy windy rain....but I got to Tyler while it was still light enough outside so that I could see the tornado coming if it came (Luckily not)....but I knew I would rather be able to see it than be in the dark and not know!  Because of the weather, the Doctor I work for closed the office early and let me leave earlier than planned for Tyler, because he was worried about my drive.....I thought that was incredibly kind!

Wednesday, I got to go to Charlotte's 4 month check-up and be the hero that saved her from the mean Nurse and Mom that held her down and gave her shots!!  That's what Grandma's are for after all to rescue grandchildren from their mean parents lol!!

 

Then later that afternoon I watched Charlotte while Allison went to her Doctor's appointment and procedure and then because Allison couldn't lift anything over 10 lbs. for 36 hrs, I took care of Charlotte with John and only handed her to Allison so she could nurse etc...  I know it was hard on Allison not be be able to pick her up and care for her as she usually does, she is such a good Mom.  But it was wonderful for me to get to be the main care giver of Charlotte for that time.

This is Charlotte ready to hit the town shopping!!

Thursday, we decided we had to go shopping, and so we did.  We had lots of fun picking out a swimsuit for Charlotte for Memorial Day when we are all going to be together for swimming and hamburgers!!  It has the cutest matching towel and everything!

In her new swimsuit!!

 Then after John got off work we decided to go out to dinner to Chili's and Grandma had bought some new onsies for Charlotte, and we got them in John's favorite color....yellow!!  So we let John pick which outfit, its kind of fun to see him care what Charlotte is dressed in and looks like!!  Of course Charlotte was a hit at Chili's!

 

 

 

 

While there I still had to work out, so I used the treadmill a couple of times (Tues. & Thurs.) and on Wednesday John and I did walk for 4 miles.  I'm grateful to John for all his support of me, but especially this week, I was grateful that he is such a supportive loving husband that helps so much at home!!  He is a great father and husband!  So glad they found each other, they are perfect together!!

 

Week 16 - Biggest Loser - Charlotte Edition

It's getting pretty exciting I think!  3 more lbs gone.  I have now lost 59 lbs.  It would be more exciting to say 60....but I'll be happy with 59!!

John is right on my heels, and has lost 49 lbs.  Now it really is a contest....last week he said he's only 1% behind me and and this week he is only .5% behind me for total weight loss.  Now as we all know men can lose more, easier and faster....so I have really been working trying to stay ahead!!

In fact he told me, that he if loses 2 lbs and I lose 3 lbs this next week we will be exactly even..... we will have both lost 20% of our initial body weight....so the contest is on!!

While I was walking Friday, when walking by myself at the same point every time around the lake I run and try to run farther each time.  There were some gals there that were probably late 20's early 30's with their children playing in the park and about my 3rd time around the lake when I ran by one of the gals clapped for me!  It was so fun and I thanked her and it did keep me going!!  Too cute!

I was able to go to Tyler this week and hold the reason we are all trying to lose weight and get in shape!!  She sure makes it worthwhile!

And I never knew you could love someone so much!!  But you can!

Love you Miss Charlotte!

Monopoly vs. Tithing & Fast Offerings

Today in my Gospel Doctrine Class for Sunday School my lesson was on Tithing and Fast Offering.  So to present the subject of the class.......

 

This is what I did.....

Gospel Doctrine Lesson 17

The Law of Tithing & The Law of the Fast
May 19, 2013

In the game “Monopoly”, what does money represent?

Read game Objective:  In 1934 Charles B Darrow presented the game to Parker Brothers and in the game “Rules” it says…..The object of the game is to become the wealthiest player through buying, renting, and selling property.   And for the purpose of today I’m going to add by promoting power, greed, and pride.

Q:  Does that kind of sound like what money can represent in the World today?

“…Depending on how money is used it can represent material possessions, power, greed, or the simple necessities of life”

In the game “Tithing & Fast Offering”, what do you think money represents?

The object of this game according to Elder Sylvester Q. Cannon: CR October 1929, is to promote the spirit of unselfishness.  It promotes the spirit of church and community welfare.  It encourages fair dealing, for if a man is true in his obligations toward God, he cannot be otherwise than straightforward in his dealings with his fellow man.  It helps to cultivate economy and living within our means.  Thus we may gain material happiness…..training in moderate self denial is important to every human being, so that we may learn to control our appetites and our improper desires.  Therein is strength and power.  In like manner the principle of fasting and fast donations promotes the spirit of humility, charity, and equality in the hearts of those who observe it.

 Today we are going to play this game – Tithing and Fast Offerings – before we start there are only 3 rules I need to make you aware of:

 1.                  The Lord has commanded us to pay tithing.

 2.                  The Lord has commanded us to fast and to pay generous fast offerings.
 3.                  The Lord has promised great blessings to those who obey these Commandments.

 Have students pick questions out of a bag to know the order the discussion is going to go in….

What is the Lord’s definition of Tithing?

Read;  D&C 119: 3-4

What is the Lord’s promises to Tithe payers

Read:  Malachi 3:8-9  And Malachi 3:10-12

 How does paying tithing show our love for the Lord?

Why is it sometimes a challenge to pay tithing?   How can we overcome this Challenge?

Who determines how tithing funds are used? (D&C 120)

What are tithing funds used for?

What are some purposes for fasting?

What are some things we can do to prepare to fast?
Read: D&C 59: 13-14

How should we act when fasting?

How generous should we be when we pay fast offerings?

Read Isaiah 58:5-7

What has the Lord promised to those who obey the Law of the fast?

Conclusion:

When we faithfully pay tithing, we contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God.  Giving generous fast offerings is one way we can manifest that we are disciples of the Savior, who said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt 25:40).

Temple Time!!

The Tillman's at the Dallas Temple

Alan and I were shocked at how long it has been since we have been to the Temple!  I think this is the first time for 2013, and we have never been that bad....so we have some repenting to do and some reorganizing of priorities....not that Charlotte isn't an awesome priority, but we still need to make time to see and do both!

We had the perfect excuse Saturday!  Monica Tillman (Who's father was Bishop of our Ward and Alan was his counselor for 4 yrs) went to the temple today to take out her endowments to prepare for leaving on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Brazil!  She is such an amazing young woman, one I have always admired for her spirituality, integrity, and maturity!  She will be an awesome missionary and we were so excited to get to be apart of this special day!

I did get a kick out of the fact that she speaks Spanish, but in Brazil they speak Portuguese and so she has to learn a new language anyway!

Ben and Rosa were extremely happy and proud too!  Ben said that he was just thinking about how it wasn't that long ago and it was his parents going with him to the temple to prepare to leave on a mission.  That it brought back lots of memories today!  It was fun to be at the Temple with Willden's but we

 kind of laughed that we live on the same street and we didn't think about coming together....missed opportunity!  But it was great to be with them and Ben Hepworth as he came to be with Monica in the temple too!



at "Corner Bakery" after the session.

Friday Lunch....

This is old of us.....this is pre-weight loss for me!
But Ashley after meeting her goal!! Go Ashley!!

Friday, I had lunch with Ashley, who because of so many different things we have not been able to get together!  But we finally managed it and it was great!  Ashley Myers actually inspired me to believe that losing weight was possible, as I sat and watched her shrink from just walking and counting her calories!  Now she does Cross Fit training which is weight lifting stuff and she really is amazing!  As we were talking, I told her that it was too bad I couldn't get interested in walking with her when she was doing it just think how much farther along I would be!  She gave me hope, John gave me the desire and the how.....and I'm just stubborn enough to do it!  Then maybe I will look like her someday!!  That would be awesome!

A true friend (she calls me her Ft. Worth Mom which I totally accept and love) so I guess I should say daughter instead of friend.  But a true friend is someone that it doesn't matter how long you've been apart....when your together you pick up right where you left off, and its like you never were apart!

Thanks for being that kind of friend Ashley!  Love you.....and next time I'll try and not come strait from work and we can take a picture together that is more current!

Biggest Loser - Charlotte Edition - Week 15!

 This week I am down 3 more lbs! Yay!  I broke the just losing 2 streak!!  My total now is 56 lbs!

Allison weighs less now then before she got pregnant.  John is down 46 lbs I think, and Alan is down 68!

Yay Team!  We will keep working hard!  For this sweet face, I'd do just about anything!!

Ahhhh, The Symphony!

My friend Carol Malone, invited me to attend the Ft. Worth Symphony with her Friday night!  I was so excited!  They are celebrating 100 yrs!  And as this was the last concert for the season, they wanted to go out with a bang and boy did they!!

It was an amazing night and they performed a new original piece written just for the Ft. Worth Symphony for their centennial season and used may different instruments that are known only in Peru, where the composer was born.  The piece "Peru Negro" by Jimmy Lopez was really amazing and went through 6 different sections in one continuous movement - Cry I; The Bull Kills; Incan Origin; I told Papa; Cry II; Dance of the Devils.  The composer was there and he said that "this piece stems from a personal desire to assimilate Peruvian folk music to the point of blending it seamlessly with his own language."  and then we were told to be the judge!

Then they performed "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff and they had a huge Choir, Boys Choir, and Soprano soloist; Baritone Soloist; and a Tenor Soloist. It was incredible!!  The Soprano was beautiful and I loved listening to her float the notes so high and so without effort!  Oh, it was breathtaking!

Carol has invited me before to go with her and it really always is a treat and there where two other times that Carol and her husband were going to be out of town so they gave us there tickets....Once was on my parents Anniversary so we gave the tickets to them so my Mom and Dad could go, knowing that Mom would love that.  And the other time was when they did the piece that was written about all the planets and they had a slide show from NASA that showed all the planets while the different sections where played!  Alan really loved that.  So we have been so blessed by their generous sharing hearts and I truly do appreciated her thinking of me!

A fun side note about this is, because I am now in better shape and losing weight, I could walk up all 7 flights of stairs and not even breath hard, and when I sat down I slid right into the seat with plenty of room between my hips and the arms of the chairs....and in Bass Hall they are small chairs compared to other places such as movie theatres and such.....so it was a huge VICTORY!!  yay me!

During the encore the Conductor said that we could take pictures......so I couldn't resist!  Bass hall is beautiful and always a joy to go there!

It's a Chocolate Party!!!

At dinner before at Souper Salad

 My friend Shawna Reha was given an awesome Mother's day gift from her daughter Megan (who was also one of my seminary students....just a fun little fact).  Shawna and 9 of her friends could go to the Chocolate Factory downtown in Sundance Square and learn to dip/decorate/make chocolate!  What's not to love about a party like that!  Everyone who came had a great time, with lots of laughter and yummy chocolate!!

 

The very last thing they had was a contest between two teams of who could build the chocolate house the fastest and the team who won got a prize!!  Of course my team won --- Shawna, Becky, Lois, Rebecca, and Sandy!  It was a really fun night and I found out they do Children birthday parties too!  Amazing!

Alan and Aileen loved the treats I brought home and I did eat a couple myself.  But I felt I used great restraint to not just eat everything!!  Must do more exercising Thursday!!