Alan and Lois Brown Family

Happy V-day, to the people I love!!!

2012-02-16T21:24:00.009-06:00

This week as been a busy, busy week!! It started by MaryAnn and I wanting to do something special for our Visiting Teaching ladies!! So Monday morning we hit the Dollar Tree store (my favorite store) to see if they had anything good/left. We found some great Valentine shaped boxes that were very cute and were big enough to put a variety of candy in and then we found these great bright Easter type colors of baskets that are the perfect shape for bread and for putting it on the table decoratively!! So we got some fancy/yummy bread (yes we were going to make some, and yes we ran out of time, so yes, we bought it instead) and the box of candy and then wrapped them all together to deliver to our ladies!! We wanted to sing something at the door to them when we delivered the gifts and I found a song online for Valentines day sung to the tune of "Mary Had A Little Lamb"

Tuesday we went to all 5 of our ladies homes and sang the following song as we handed them their gift, and lesson with some notes we wanted to point out......Yes, it was a "drive by" month.....but I don't think we have ever done a "drive by" so I think we can be forgiven......any way back to the song, we sang:

Here we bring a Valentine, Valentine, Valentine.

Here we bring a Valentine to the one we love!!

We had fun and everyone smiled and enjoyed and here is what the gift pkgs looked like after I got done putting them together!!

Monday, night my friend Ashley, who moved to Cleburne was getting ready to go in for surgery on Tuesday and she asked if Alan could come and give her a blessing so Alan and Bruce Willden went with Aileen and I to give her a Valentine gift from us (Flowers and candy) and a blessing. It was a neat experience to share with a friend!!

Tuesday, Grandpa and Grandma Barbara brought Aileen over her own 6-pack of Diet Coke and you should have seen her eyes....their was candy and cookies with it too, but Aileen only cared about the Diet Coke....funny girl!! She knows its hers too, and opens the fridge and grabs one! Too cute!!

The Doctor that I work for he and his wife gave me a cute cute piggy bank they brought back from their trip to Kentucky!! They told me it was to put all our change in it and then use it to go out with the girls!! Fun!! I've already started adding money!! Whoohoo, girls night out!!

Alan and I decided that sine I have Wednesday afternoon off, instead of spending more money on Tuesday night and having to fight the crowds, that we would celebrate Wednesday. So Alan took me to see "The Vow" I loved it and even though he was sure it was a "Chick flick" and he probably wouldn't enjoy it....he did!! Then we got yummy Chicken Fried Stake dinners at "The Cotton Patch" and it was a great date with lunch and matinee prices!! He also got me the DVD "Breaking Dawn, part 1" and earlier in a post I showed you the playing cards I got him with our families pictures on them!!

For our kids that live far from home, I sent care packages and I loved one of the things I sent very much and have almost decided that I need one too. I'm sure you can guess which one!!

Then tonight (Thursday) it was our Relief Society Meeting for the month of February and I was asked to give a workshop on "How to turn Scripture Reading into Scripture Study". It went very well and everyone participated. And the only resource we used were the Scriptures themselves. The Church has spent a lot of time and money making our scriptures the best study guide we can use in trying to learn what The Lord wants us to know!! Afterwards several people came up and said things like:

"I came here hoping I could learn something tonight, and I did".

"I have been struggling with some of the helps in the scriptures of how to use them, and know I know how".

"I heard this year in Gospel Doctrine Class that you gave everyone notebooks for taking notes last year and I was sad that I had missed that because I was in Primary, but now I have my own scripture study journal and pencils, I'm excited!"

I used a quote tonight from President Hinckley that was perfect for this week being Valentines day and all......about how he thinks scripture study is to have a "love affair" with the words of the Lord.

So my Valentines gift to everyone that came tonight to the class were these cute journals, I found at the "Dollar Tree" with a box of colored pencils and I hope they will use them when starting this new goal of studying the scriptures!!

Nephi comes to Gospel Doctrine Class

2012-02-13T10:26:00.003-06:00

Because yesterday's GD lesson was 2Nephi 3-5 where we were told in the lesson manual that it would be nice to have someone prepared to read Nephi's Psalm, I thought why not have Nephi himself!! Thanks to Robert Pruitt for being a good sport and doing such a fine job on presenting these powerful scripture verses! The really neat thing about this to me, other than just the fun of it in class, is that Robert told me that in preparing for Sunday he found some insights into these verses that he had never seen before and that it was a spiritual experience for him as well as our class!!

2012-02-13T10:24:00.001-06:00

5th and final one!

2012-02-11T20:10:00.003-06:00

I have finished the last of the Rex Family Christmas Stockings!! I feel a little bad the the last two were finished after the holiday, but I didn't get to start on them until the 1st week of December, so actually, it's pretty amazing that I got 3 done before Christmas!! Once Christmas was over I took a little more time to work on them, but still felt like I should be working on them a good percentage of the time until they were done!!

I'm pleased with how they turned out and I hope that Allison's mother-in-law is too!!

HEART ATTACK!!!

2012-02-10T21:09:00.002-06:00

Thursday morning we opened our door and were so surprised to see that we had been "Heart Attacked" !! What a nice surprise and one that was truly welcome and made our day!! Thanks to whoever.....those secret heart people are!! Thank you!

First time for everything.....

2012-02-10T20:13:00.003-06:00

For the first time, I had someone in my Gospel Doctrine Class, just come flat out and say "You're wrong". What might be surprising is that this is only the first time - ha, ha!! I know that not everyone is going to agree with me. And I welcome discussion in a big way in my class, because I feel this is what makes a classroom exciting and we all learn from each others comments etc. However in this situation I tried to explain my point, but felt that I got cut off before I could even really explain, or given a open mind to try and see where I was coming from, and the class room on Sunday is not where you want to have a debate, so I just moved on and left out about 8 minutes of the next part of my lesson because I really didn't know where to go from there. The most interesting thing is I felt like, and others said as well, we were both trying to say the same thing but this individual was hung up on semantics!

I have several sources that I use in studying the scriptures when preparing my lessons - first and foremost I use the GD Manual, but I also check into my old seminary lessons and handouts, and I also use the lesson helps on LDS Living - which is where I found this insight. And thought it a new way to look at 2 Nephi 1:10 about people who dwindle in unbelief, lose their belief in 1) The creation by God of the earth and all men. 2)The scriptural record of the great and marvelous works of the Lord. 3) The possibility to do things by faith. 4) The commandments. 5)The infinite goodness of the Lord. 6)The Messiah.

The argument was, that these are the blessings we are promised - Agreed! But we also don't go from being righteous and receiving all those blessings to dwindling in unbelief in the Messiah without first dwindling in unbelief in his gospel, his scriptures, his marvelous works, faith, commandments etc... until finally the Messiah.

Now I was worried if I had made everyone uneasy in my lesson but I got this email the other day that has helped me to see.......even when someone disagrees, the spirit can still be in the room, and maybe it makes class members go home and study for themselves to see what they think....

"...When we had FHE together last night, I told (my husband) about what happened Sunday, & we studied a little bit 2 Ne 1:10, the scripture in question."

".....like you said, it's all a matter of semantics, pure & simple. If people have rejected their Redeemer, then they certainly have stopped believing in His Gospel, which includes a knowledge of the creation of the earth, power to do all things by faith, etc. The very fact that they had been BLESSED with these things and in their "dwindling" now reject their Redeemer & the BLESSINGS they obviously took for granted & finally stopped believing -- that situation is really worse in my view than not having had the gospel blessings in the first place -- to me it shows they are more hardened than if they had never had these blessings & therefore out of ignorance didn't follow the gospel. I fear that this very situation of rejecting the Savior and the blessings is occurring in our country, & it worries me greatly."

"Anyway, I, for one, appreciated your "different angle," which I'd never really considered before til this whole thing came up & then (my husband) & I discussed it last night."

"So see how much contemplation and delving into the meat & real meaning of the scriptures happened as a result of your lesson Sunday? It's a very good thing!"

I really appreciated this friend sharing with me her experience!!

Another thing I used in my lesson for teaching about Agency from a CES symposium a long time ago when I was a seminary teacher and then saw again on LDS Living. The acronym POLKA

Requirements of Agency:

P: Power to choose (2Nephi 2:16)
O: Opposition, that gives us opportunity to choose. (2Nephi 2:11)
L: Laws, God gave us laws so that we would know what He wants us to choose. (2Nephi 2:13)
K: Knowledge - we are taught the difference between good and evil - between obeying and breaking the law. (2Nephi 2:5)
A: Agency - put together everything - power to choose, opportunity to choose, laws that help us to know what to choose, and knowledge of what is good and what is evil - we call it Agency!! (2Nephi 2:27)

Then one of the class members said: "I thought for sure you were going to say 'A' was for Atonement - '...The Messiah cometh in the fulness of time that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever' 2Nephi 2:26"

He felt that saying A = Agency was redundant, but that our joy, our happiness, and being free forever was because of the Atonement.

I loved that and changed my POLKA acronym to A=Atonement.

So even though I worried and wondered if I had fulfilled my calling of having the spirit with us in class and helping everyone feel the love of their Heavenly Father and Savior, I believe they did. And it was a great learning experience for me as well. Which once again just proves, how much we are all loved and watched over and that we can feel "encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" 2Nephi 1:15

Date with my hubby!

2012-02-03T19:28:00.003-06:00

It never fails that all the movies that you want to see come out all at once. Then there are months that you couldn't find a movie that you wanted to see or was rated the right rating if your life depended on it.

Today for our date this afternoon we went to see "Big Miracle" it was really well done and we enjoyed it very much. Always love movies based on stuff that really happened!!

Tonight is our night to feed the missionaries so we took them to Cousins BBQ. And I am ready for a relaxing weekend

I hope!!

A Change for Alan

2012-01-29T20:07:00.004-06:00

Sunday, Alan was released from the Bishopric so that he could be called to be the Stake Employment Specialist!! Kind of ironic I know!! Since he is unemployed!! However he is more than qualified because of his jobs in the past. That is exactly what his background is - working for the State(Workforce), and New Horizons - helping people find training and employement!! But it's probably my fault he has this new calling because of all of my prayers and pleadings to Heavenly Father to help Alan find a job!!

There are some neat experiences Alan has had that I would like to remember in my journal so here we go. Both Bishop Tillman and the High Counselor that issued the calling, told Alan that the Bishop said no twice, but that the Stake was persistent and so then Bishop said, o.k, but I'm not happy about it!!

Alan loves this man (Bishop Tillman) and has loved serving with him and being his counselor and support!! They have severed together for 3 1/2 yrs and it was an emotional goodbye for both of them. But they kind of just smiled as they got pulled away from each other after Sacrament Meeting with people needing to talk to each of them...."Changes come and we just keep moving forward"

Also, Sister Tillman came up and thanked Alan for all the behind the scenes that Alan did that made her husbands job easier!! I know that meant a lot to Alan as well.

This experience reminds me of When Alan was released as Bishop Fair's counselor in Wichita, Kansas to be put on the High Council, Bishop Fair and Alan were neither one happy then either!!
Our Stake President in Kansas said to me once, "I cannot prophesy about your future, but if I could Sis Brown, it would be that you will always be behind the scenes taking care of things at home while your husband fulfills his Priesthood callings!"

I'm not sure if I appreciated that comment at the time, but I sure do now! Its a very high compliment. And I know that I learned the "not complaining" about how much my husband is gone doing any calling he has had from my mother!!-- whether its Scouts that takes him away from home and family the most including family vacations and all we have is girls or Bishopric -- We choose to only see the blessings.

My mother always handled everything at home while my father served and I never heard her complain. My father was a Bishop, a Counselor in the Stake Presidency of 2 stake presidents in a row, Young Men's President, Scouting - all ages, etc... I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea. Mother never complained about his absence and we all supported him.

Alan, early on in our married life was Elders Quorum President when he was working full time and going to school full time - but he did it and he did it well. This is one of the many things that I love and appreciate about my husband. He is a doer. Someone you can count on. A worthy Priesthood holder, who will accept any calling he is given and go full out with it!!

And I am happy to be the wife and mother at home taking care of things behind the scenes, so Alan can serve!!

Playing Cards! Movies! and Books!

2012-01-29T19:21:00.009-06:00

Playing Cards is one of my most favorite things, next to seeing movies and reading books!! With our nephew Steve here we had fun this weekend by playing the Brown traditional card game of Shang-hi!! We wanted to spend some time having fun with him because - hooray, he leaves on Thursday to go get his family from Chicago and move them here to Allen, Texas. Which means he will no longer be living with us! We are very happy for him. I will say he has been the perfect house guest!! Since we were going to be playing cards, I gave Alan his Valentines Day present early!! Notice the cards, they have our family picture on them!! Thanks Shutterfly.com. I actually gave these same decks of cards to the girls and John for Christmas presents and they loved them. I was able to get them 1/2 price before Christmas. But didn't feel we should get us some right at that time, but when the kids came after Christmas and we got the cards out, they were shocked that we didn't have any of our fun family photo cards. So that has been corrected!! Happy Valentines sweetie!!

Also this week Aland and I were able to see a couple of movies. Alan and I went to see on Wednesday afternoon "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" I liked it and thought it was incredibly sad in some places. Alan didn't enjoy it at all. It was not what we thought it was going to be, but I'm glad that we went.

Thursday night my girlfriends and I saw "The Iron Lady" which once again, was not what I thought it would be but was incredibly good. So amazing. I kept expecting to see Meryl Streep, but all i saw was Margaret Thatcher!! An amazing performance!!

Then Friday, Alan and I both had been waiting impatiently for the movie "One for the Money" by one of our favorite authors, Janet Evanovich. Her Stephanie Plum books are laugh out loud funny and they made the 1st book into a movie - there are 18 in all!! I read one of the Stephenie Plum books to Alan while we were traveling somewhere in the car - I think it was number 10. He loved it so much and thought it was so funny that he went back and read all of them and has kept current with the new releases. We really enjoyed the show!! They never have enough time in the movie to really develop some of the characters that we wish they could have, but all in all we enjoyed it very much!!

Traveling in the Car to Utah is when I read the Hunger Games to Alan. Which he as read on his own twice more and cannot wait for the movie to come out in March!!

I've started a new series of books -The Jack Reacher Novels- I'm on book 5 now and have really enjoyed these even though they are kind of a "guys book" I like the intrigue and mystery and the solving of the crimes.

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo 2012

2012-01-26T07:49:00.007-06:00

It was pouring down rain, and yes, we drudged through it to be at the Rodeo Tuesday night!! Three important reasons: 1) it was Susan G.. Komen for Cure night at the Rodeo where everyone involved including the riders, and horses were in pink!! 2)Barbara is a breast cancer survivor and so we go to celebrate that and yell, clap, and cheer when she gets to stand up as a breast cancer survivor!! And 3) It's just a lot of fun to watch!! It brings back childhood memories of when we owned horses in Colorado and went frequently to Rodeos with my parents!! And quite frankly, because Aileen loves it!! She loves horses. When in High School she use to go to "Wings of Hope" in Burleson, Tx and not only loved riding the horses but the grooming of them as well. So as you can see, this would be the reason we would go pouring rain or not!!

My nephew Steven Brown came with us.

Alan was sick this night, so my friend Shawna came with and as you can see in the background, Barbara's sisters, Tootie, Beverly, and Bev's husband Ronnie were there as well!! As well as Bev's daughter Diana and her family, and Tooties two girls!! (not pictured, I'm sure they are so sad. lol)

Dad and Barbara!!

Also there was Barbara's son's Chris and his girlfriend Ashley, and David and his two kids Emmalin, and Landin.

Barbara's birthday party

2012-01-23T07:49:00.012-06:00

It's always so hard to know what to call your stepmother! Stepmother or Stepmom always brings up pictures of Snow White, Cinderella and a bunch of other Disney characters that do not bring positive or loving connotations. Having lost my mother later in life and I'm not now being raised by Barbara, Mom seems wrong as well. And so I think of her as my "other Mother". The Mother who I have on earth right now because she is married to my Dad. And who could ask for a better "other Mother"? No one I promise you. Aileen loves Grandma Barbara and for that I am truly grateful. Barbara and I were also friends before Dad starting dating her and married her, so in this sense my Stepmother is truly my friend - what a gift. So it was my pleasure to have a little party to celebrate her birthday with our family! Thanks to everyone who could come.

Opening presents...

Barbara and David

The birthday cake - and bday flowers

Barbara and her sisters Tootie and Beverly

Grandma Barbara and Aileen

Tootie's Girls - Lauren and Taylor

Elizabeth and Lois - Art was there too!

Alan and my nephew, Steven Brown, who is living with us until his family can move here from Chicago - has a job in Dallas! Yay! More family close by!!

Here we go....having too much fun Visiting Teaching again!!

2012-01-21T17:43:00.006-06:00

We just can't help it!! We have too much fun Visiting Teaching! We love our girls and we love each other as companions - so it is a win, win, situation!!

Lacey Lassiter had a birthday in December, but with holiday hub bub we told her we would celebrate in January! We also had Anita Williams who had a birthday in December so we celebrated it in January too! I didn't get pictures of Anita opening her presents, but we went by Tuesday night and gave her the lesson and her presents!! Too fun. Mary Arrington was there to watch, listen to the lesson, and have fun too!

Then Wednesday we took Lacey out for lunch, brought cupcakes, and presents and invited Becky along for lunch, gave them both the lesson and had a great visit and loved our lunch!!

What a great way to spend the week!

Sarah's Baptism

2012-01-20T18:28:00.017-06:00

Last Weekend we went to Atlanta, Georgia for my niece, Sarah Hauser's Baptism. It was a wonderful weekend and we were so glad we went. We traveled down on Friday, Jan. 13th, and since we are not superstitious, it was a safe and fun trip! We had Dad along with us so that was awesome. But he got to stay longer and fly back on Tuesday!! I had to be home Monday afternoon for work!

When we got there it was 3:00 am so we dropped everything inside the hotel and went to bed!!

Ruth had planned a delicious brunch for us at her house and we all went over to eat and to see everybody for the first time in a long time!!

Sarah and her aunts and mom. We were so happy to be with our sister again!!

Elizabeth and Sarah have a special bond!! Elizabeth sang at her Baptism "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" a beautiful arrangement sang beautifully!

All dressed and ready to go to on her special day!!

At the church before.

Sarah asked me to give a talk on the Holy Ghost!!

Sarah asked Grandpa to speak on Baptism.

Afterwards her Aunts took her on a shopping spree!!

Here is her bounty from the trip!! Remember it was 3 occasions we were celebrating each Aunt..... Christmas, Birthday and Baptism!!

Sarah even picked out the perfect gift for Aileen, when Aileen pushes a button, it spins and lights up an makes different light patterns as it spins.......perfect for Aileen!!

And EVERYONE got "Hello Kitty" PJ's!!!

We played games and had a hoot!! This one made me laugh to see everyone in their headbands, so I had to take pictures!!

Dad's taking to Barbara, couldn't stand being away from her. So crazy to be young and in love!!

Aileen loved being with Aunt Ruth again! She has missed her. They have always had a special bond!

This is as we are saying goodbye to Stone Mountain Park Resort and Atlanta. Headed home to Texas!!

It really could not have been a better trip!!

Thanks Ruth and John for the awesome hospitality! And Alan thanks you Ruth for the Taco Soup recipe you sent me!! It was to die for good!!

The Marriott at Stone Mountain Resort, Georgia

2012-01-19T10:54:00.010-06:00

The Evergreen Resort at Stone Mountain Park, Stone Mountain, GA.

I will tell more about our trip to Atlanta Georgia, but I have to do a post just on the amazing hotel we got to stay at because my Sister Elizabeth, is so kind and generous!! Thanks Elizabeth, Alan really can't get over that you would do this for us - and frankly neither can I, but Thank you!!!

The front entryway

Elizabeth has to travel a whole bunch for her work. She stays a Marriott's where ever she goes and is a platinum member, with lots of points!! She used these points so that Our family could stay at the Marriott Hotel at Stone Mountain Park Resort in Atlanta, Georgia. It was beautiful and Aileen and everyone enjoyed the atmosphere and amenities!!

The Lobby

Aileen in the Lobby

Our Room

The view from our patio

The outside pool area, they also have an indoor pool and exercise area
Some pictures are from Evergreen Resort.com

From Alan

2012-01-12T22:20:00.004-06:00

Alan had this very neat observation regarding our son-in-law John, and I want it in my journal, and since my blog is my journal - here it is!!

"Hi John and Marianne,"

"I feel impressed to share with you the special experience I had watching John at the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. I've put off emailing you but the feeling continues so I need to say this. Thank you for raising such a fine young man."

"Watching how hard John worked during the game was impressive. He was all over the field and sidelines making sure the players got what they needed. To see a young man that committed and focused on his future career makes me as Allison's father feel very secure that she made the right decision to marry John."

"At a time when many men are failing to take care of their families, It is very comforting to know that John is focused on a professional career and taking care of his family. I can't tell you how much peace of mind that brings to Lois and I."

"I want you to know that we have NEVER been in any doubt about John. He just keeps showing us how special he really is."

"Just thought you would like to know."
"Alan"

This came back from the Rexes:

"Alan,"

"Your note really touched our hearts. Thank you for sharing your confidence in John. He’s a good young man and knows how to work hard – especially on those things he’s passionate about, and this line of work is one of them. We are so grateful that he and Allison found one another. Marianne and I look at each other pretty much every day and thank our Heavenly Father that the two of them love each other and complement one another so well. Thank you to both you and Lois for the great in-laws you are! We know how much you love and care for these terrific kids!!"

"Warmly,"
"John & Marianne"

Photo of John by Allison Rex Photography

#4 down and only one more to go.......

2012-01-11T22:48:00.002-06:00

Here is how the Mom's sock turned out!!! I really love it and I can't wait to get it sent to her. Then there was 1........... only one more to go!! Then what will I do with all my spare time?? I'm sure I will come up with something!

This weekend we are going to Atlanta because my niece Sarah is getting baptized!! We are so excited for her and her family and we all cannot wait to get there!! Precious story: When asked who she wanted to give a talk at her Baptism she said Aileen!! Since she can't have Aileen she settled for Aunt Lois, but still, I love that she wanted Aileen! Love that girl!

Saturday Evening with a friend.

2012-01-08T22:26:00.005-06:00

Saturday night my friend Becky Wangler came over to visit and work on craft projects together. She was crocheting and I was making Christmas socks, yes still!! I'm almost done with the 4th one and then there will be only 1 more to make. I think I might be a little sad to be done. But I do think I will be ready to take a break and wait a little while to make any more!! ha-ha. I just need to finish the snowman and decorate the tree and we are done!!

Becky Wangler is someone who turns up a lot in my blog, because I am her visiting teacher as well as being friends. I put this picture of the two of us up, because the top I am wearing as well as the jewelry were some of the Christmas gifts she gave me this year!! That's right, I'm her visiting teacher, but she gives me gifts!! Well, I love the color, and as another one of my friends (Rebecca Albright) said to someone who was wearing the same color, "You know that is Lois' color right? You have to pay royalty to her to wear that color!" Lol! I wish it were true. I do feel put together and in style with the whole look! Thank you Becky, for remembering me this year for Christmas!!

Listening to the Spirit and the Ensign

2012-01-08T21:33:00.004-06:00

Today in my Gospel Doctrine Class we had a great discussion. And as we were talking about Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem, being in the Wilderness, going back for the brass plates and then going back for Ishmael and his daughters, a story which can almost be quoted by heart word for word by most members of the church we have studied it so many times and started reading the BOM so many times, that I wondered if there were new insights left to discuss. Now I live in an excellent Ward and even if we would have just discussed the stories exactly as we always have, there would have been great participation and new insights. But as the teacher I do feel some responsibility to find some on my own. I always pray to Heavenly Father, that I will be lead by the spirit when studying the lesson and studying the scriptures for the lesson, and that my class will have their love of the Savior and their testimonies strengthened by the lessons each week. And I did feel that I had some thoughtful points that maybe would be new insights.

Another part of this story is that Our Bishop bore his testimony today about how wonderful the new Ensign for January is and encouraged us to read some of the articles in it. At this point I had not taken the plastic sealed covering off of the Ensign until I came home from church tonight, I'm a little embarrassed to tell you. But it is true.

In wanting to leave on a spiritual note at the end of my lesson, I felt inspired to read 1 Nephi 7:17-19 which talks about Nephi being bound with bands by his brothers and that he prays that the Lord will "...give me strength to burst these bands with which I am bound... and it came to pass that....the bands were loosed" and it goes on to say that a daughter of Ishmael and Ishmael's wife and one of his sons pleaded his case. As I was standing there the spirit told me that I should share that this is a type of simile/metaphor of the atonement. That with whatever sin, addiction, or struggle we may have that has bound us, that if we pray we can have these bands loosened. And that we do have the Savior who does and will plead our case with The Father, and I bore testimony of this.

Well, when I got home, I took off the plastic cover over our Ensign and started reading the articles when lo and behold on page 47 in the article entitled "Finding Answers in the Book of Mormon" Susan Lunt of Utah, USA tells how she turned to the Book of Mormon to help her with her addiction to food. And quoted this very block of scriptures and how she felt something shift inside her when she read those verses.

Even though at first I thought, Oh, my gosh, everyone is going to think I read this and then took credit for it.....I then realized what an amazing experience to have a prompting from the spirit and what an answer to my prayer it really was that What I felt when reading those verses out loud to the class was indeed a real insight a real prompting from the Holy Ghost and was indeed a very spiritual way to end my lesson.

We our Children of a loving Heavenly Father and he does answer our prayers and helps us magnify our callings so that we can bring the Holy Ghost and the spirit of our Heavenly Father and Savior in the classroom with us. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Printing large photographs at kinkos

2012-01-04T19:22:00.005-06:00

(Hard to take a picture of a picture without the flash showing up....so I took a couple to give you the idea, I hope)

I did something at Kinko's for one of my Sunday School lessons and I have gotten more questions about how I did this then almost any other thing I have ever done. So I thought I would share.

We had our family pictures taken over the summer. And we got a DVD with all the picture options on it with a release form from the photographer to show that I had permission to print them wherever I wanted i.e. Walmart, Kinko's etc...

I took the DVD to Kinko's to the self help area and then asked for help - so they only charged me the $5.95 or $6.95 (can't remember which) if you do this yourself. I used a picture that was already B&W, but even if it is color it will only print B&W. And any color photo that I have had printed turns out nicely as a B&W. I think Kinko's has another way to print in color large sized, but I have never done this, but might be worth asking the question though. And as stated before I had copyright permission to use the picture with me so they could see I had permission to print it out.

You go the machine that copies architect blue print size copies. You say what size you want to print - I did 24 x 36 but you can do any size 16 x 24 maybe even 36 x 36. But I knew they had frames for 24 x 36 so that is the size I made so I didn't have to have a custom frame. I got the frame on sale for $25.00 so the whole picture cost about $32.00. You make sure the settings on the machine are for photo. And then you print it out and it looks just like a large photograph. But its a copy on copy paper!

You can also take a 8x10 photograph/picture and just slide it through the machine on the same settings - choose your size of paper/and make sure it is on photo -- and it prints out large size copies. So you don't have to have a DVD, but I think the picture is better qaulity because it came straight from the DVD.

It's one of the coolest things I have done in a long time!!

Allison and John

2012-01-02T20:58:00.011-06:00

Even though we missed having John around while he was with the BYU football team, it was nice to have some 'one on one' time with Allison. What was also really nice for Allison, is this gave her time that she could set up some photo shoots while she was in town without feeling guilty!!

Thursday night John was able to get away for a few hours and go to dinner with us and he chose to go to "Buffalo Wild Wings". It's one of his favorite places that they don't have in Utah, although there are rumors that one is going to be built soon in Salt Lake.

Friday night after the "Armed Forces Bowl" game, Grandpa and Barbara, Logan, Steve, and all of us were together for Cousin's BBQ and for the opening of Christmas presents. Yes, we celebrated late this year!!

Cousin's (Allison and Logan) enjoying each other's company!!

Alan & I were just happy the whole time they were here!!

On the way out of town, to the airport, we stopped at Grandma Clay's grave site and added some flowers so that she knows she is never forgotten!!

The Christmas sweater I have on in this photo was my Mom's. Nice memories!!

It wouldn't be the Holiday's if I didn't see a few movies!!

2012-01-02T20:45:00.006-06:00

The first movie I saw over the holiday's was with two of my friends, Mary Ann Stephens and Becky Wangler - "New Years Eve". I really enjoyed it. I don't think it was a good as "Valentines Day" done by the same Director, Garry Marshall, but it was good and had a few surprises!!

The second movie I saw on a date with my husband right before Christmas, the new Mission Impossible movie!! I really enjoyed this and so did Alan. He really liked that it was less about the romance and more about the action then the previous MI's. While Allison was with us and John was with the team, one evening she went and met John Downtown and went to see this movie with him and all the other trainers for BYU!!

The 3rd movie I saw was today, the New Year's Day official holiday day. We saw "We Bought A Zoo" it was Fabulous!! I really cannot begin to tell you how good it was. Matt Damon was fantastic, and the actors who played his Children were amazing and it was a great, great movie that Alan and I both loved!!

Christmas Surprises!!

2012-01-02T20:26:00.006-06:00

We did have some fun Christmas Surprises!! Besides Alan getting to go to the Armed Forces Bowl, I got a new camera!! I have been without a camera for quite awhile now. And everyone seemed content for me not to be able to really be able to take pictures other then crappy cell phone pictures if I really wanted one. But on Christmas Eve, my husband admitted that it just was not the same without the Camera Nazi (my nickname)!!

As you can guess, my sweet husband got me a new camera for Christmas with Allison's help, hence the much nicer pictures on my blog now!! I was really surprised because right before Christmas our printer quit working, and for my job at the Doctor's office, I type his chart notes and need to be able to print them out. So, I said, "happy Christmas to me!" and bought a new one! I assumed that was my gift, but my husband the sweet man that he is got me my new camera anyway!!

The other surprises came from our Children, Anne Marie got me a new Santa for my Santa collection from our favorite artist, Jim Shore. A Russian Santa. And Allison and John gave me a new mug, and when I say mug, I mean MUG!!! Also, all 3 gave Alan a "Y" football with all the team's autographs on it. Alan was thrilled!! And my Dad almost fell off his chair laughing at how huge my mug was!! It's awesome!!

Christmas for my kids in Utah

2012-01-02T20:16:00.002-06:00

In December the Browns had a family dinner at Grandma Brown's home where every family had some or all of their family there to Celebrate Christmas. This picture is of John, Allison, baby Tucker (Stacey's new baby) and Anne Marie. They had a great time and I'm so glad that they were able to go and represent our family!! This truly is one of the reasons I miss living in Utah, the family get together's, showers, baby blessings, baptism, weddings etc... We try to go to as many as we can, but we miss a lot.

Then the Utah kids (John, Allison, and Anne Marie) had the traditional Clay family Christmas eve at John & Allison's. Because they could not be here, it gave me great comfort to know they were carrying on the traditions together in Utah. They called and we talked on speaker phone so that we could all be together on Christmas eve for a few minutes at least! And I did send some surprises that they totally loved so it was fun to hear their reactions.

After, Anne Marie spent Christmas day with my brother, Edward and his family and Allison and John headed for Texas!! Thanks Ed and Jill for taking care of my girl!!

Bowling on New Years Eve

2012-01-02T19:56:00.010-06:00

In order to try to have as much family get to spend time with John and Allison, once John was available we decided since Aileen loves to go bowling that that would be a fun thing for all of us to do!! My brother George bowled a 204 game, John was second highest and Steve was third. Alan would have been in the running, I'm sure, except that he helped Aileen bowl, which is always sweet to watch!! And we did have a great time laughing, cheering, and giving each other a hard time!! I no can no longer bowl, now that I have gained weight, but I gave it a go anyway!!

Then we went to Salt Grass for steaks, then home to play cards!! It was a great New Years Eve and the way that we usually spend it, with family, playing cards!! My sister, Elizabeth and her husband Art couldn't come bowling, but they did come to play games and make the best popcorn I've ever eaten!!

BYU wins the Armed Forces Bowl

2012-01-02T19:35:00.008-06:00

This year the week between Christmas and New Years was very exciting for our family!!! John as one of the student Athletic Trainers was chosen to come with BYU to the Armed Forces Bowl!!! It was our year for Christmas this year, but because John had to come with and be with the team until after the Bowl, Allison didn't want to come until John left with the team, which just happened to be the day after Christmas!! So our celebration really started on December 26th!

For Christmas I got Alan two tickets to the Armed Forces Bowl and then my Dad added on another one so that Alan and his two nephews, one from the Brown side and one from the Clay side could attend the game with him!! Alan was in heaven!!

Logan, Alan, and Steve, all said that they really got to see John working on the sidelines and the game was a nail biter won in the last 11 seconds!! A great time was had by all!! After the game they waited for John to finish his work and be released from the team, and then they all headed to Fort Worth were we had a great family dinner of Cousin's BBQ with Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Clay.

Christmas traditions

2011-12-26T09:35:00.005-06:00

We have a new tradition that has started in our family and it came about by my dear friend Bessie Treber! Every year Bessie and her husband go to Florida and visit Disney World and for the past few years, they always bring back a Christmas gift for Aileen of a Disney shirt!! This years has all the Disney characters on it and Aileen adored it!! Here is a picture of her the first time she got to wear it!

The other one is the Christmas Eve PJ's that everyone always gets!! When Allison and John get here I hope that we will get to take a picture of them all together in their matching PJ's!!! But its just nice knowing that they all match where ever they are celebrating Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

2011-12-25T20:51:00.003-06:00

We pray that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a blessed 2012!!! From our family to yours!

3rd sock down and 2 more to go......

2011-12-25T20:39:00.004-06:00

So, no, I did not get them all done before Christmas, but I did get 3!! Tomorrow Allison will be in town (John will be here too,but with the BYU Football team, so not with us) so I have taken off the week of sewing to spend with my Daughter and then on Friday after BYU wins ;) the Armed Forces Bowl John will be with us too!! We are very anxious to see them again, it feels like forever, even though its only been since August!! We are sad that Anne Marie can't be with us, when you work in the medical field there are no holidays!! But she did get to spend Christmas Eve with Allison and John, and Christmas day with my Brother Edward and his family so she has been with family and that has made it better!!

We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner and Family Home Evening at my Sister Elizabeth's house with the traditional foods, telling of the Christmas Story with hymns, and opening presents from family!! It was a beautiful evening!

Today, Aileen woke up and opened her gifts from Santa, ate her orange and candy from her sock and then we all went to Church, where as a member of the Choir we celebrated the birth of our Savior!! Everyone in the Choir was struggling with colds and soar throats etc... but I had Alan give me a blessing and I made it through and we had Angels singing with us today because it was beautiful!!

Now, we are just waiting and anxious to pick Allison up tomorrow morning!!

2nd one down and 3 more to go.....

2011-12-18T14:16:00.003-06:00

This is the 2nd Christmas sock done for the Rex family in as many weeks!! Normally socks cannot be made this fast - its about 30 - 40 hrs of hand sewing and sequining, cutting and stuffing my fingers are all pricked from needles and my eyes are crossing from trying to thread the needle in an eye that is small enough to have little tiny beads go over the eye too!! But I've never had so much fun!! It definitely feels like Christmas. Unfortunately there is no way I'm going to get them all done by Christmas but I am going to ship out the two girls and since they are the only ones home for Christmas this year at least that will work. And I'm going to try and get one more done really quick and overnight it so they can at least have 3 of them....but we shall see, sometimes my ideas and expectations are unrealistic.......ya think? ha, ha, ha!!

1st of 5

2011-12-10T22:28:00.002-06:00

I have the first of 5 Christmas Socks that I am trying to make for the Rex family before Christmas!! The only camera that I have to take pictures with is my cell phone and it's not one of those nice iPhone's so you can't see all the detail, but you can get the idea! I'm happy with how it turned out!! when you are sewing for others and not just your immediate family, there is more pressure on making sure it looks good. But I'm pleased!

You know your old when......

2011-12-09T06:24:00.002-06:00

You know you are old when you have to wear a head light to work on embroidering, sequining, and appliqueing Christmas Socks!! I have been working on the Christmas socks for John's family and I had been complaining to Alan that I didn't have enough light and that I was really having to strain to see to thread the needle etc... so he brought me in his camping head light. I can't believe I got so excited and put it right one and it made all the difference!!! Alan laughed so hard at me with it on sewing he said "I gotta get a picture of this" So I let him....no matter who goofy I looked!! Then we started talking about my "big head" and he told a story about my big head, that I don't remember at all, and told him never to repeat as we were laughing hysterically and I was hitting him with my pillow!! Really, he can never repeat that story!!

Weekend in Iola, Kansas

2011-12-04T22:13:00.012-06:00

Friday after work, I left immediately to meet my sister, Elizabeth, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she had been on business so we could have some sister bonding time, stay in a fabulous hotel, and then get up the next morning and drive the rest of the way to Iola, Kansas, for my niece's baby shower, another sister, Kim's, daughter-in-law!! We continued the fun sister bonding and it really was so nice for the 3 of us to be together again!! This will be my first great-niece on the Clay side of the family!! While we were in Tulsa, Elizabeth treated me to a fancy restaurant, Flemings Steak House, and had a scrumptious dinner!! My steak was so tender it fell apart when I tried to cut it!! and the Flemings potatoes where to die for!! S0000 Good!

For Kristen and Jimmie's baby, Elizabeth and I talked about what kind of gift we wanted to get her and was she registered anywhere etc... and then all of a sudden I remembered that while going through my mother's things I found a pattern for a sequined Christmas Stocking that Mom had obviously been waiting for her first great grandchild to make, so I got busy and in 3 days of staying up til the wee hours of the morning I was able to make the Christmas Stocking that my Mom, had bought, and started cutting out!! We did get her other gifts too, but we were excited about the stocking.

The reason this is so meaningful is that My grandmother Clay started this tradition when my brothers and sisters and I were all small! Grandma Clay made them for all 10 of her children and their spouses and then she made one for each grandchild as they came along! After I got married I continued on the tradition and if you have followed my blog at all you have seen previous pictures of ones I have made or of our Christmas Stockings hanging at the fireplace etc... and the story behind them. My sister Kim, also continued the tradition by making these fancy sequined stockings for all of her children, Elizabeth has made them for her family, Ruth hers etc....

Kim loved the thought that it was something that Mom would have wanted to give to Kristen and Jimmies baby, and when my nephew, Jimmie, saw the stocking he immediately zeroed in on it and thought it was fabulous that I had made one for his new baby daughter, and knew the significance of my making it as a tradition, but like my sister Kim, was really touched when he found out it was something Grandma had bought and had been waiting to make for her first great grandchild!!

Since I didn't have this brilliant idea until 3 days before the shower I was up all night at the hotel embroidering, appliqueing, and sequining all night finishing --and in fact I got done around 5:00 am Saturday morning. Elizabeth helped me finish the stocking and made the kitty have the cutest face I have ever seen!! I'm so glad I hadn't done that yet -- because she is the pro of cute stocking faces!!

On the way to Iola, we had to stop in Chenute at a fast food restaurant called "Taco Johns" because Elizabeth could not stop raving about it and that I HAD TO TRY IT!! It was good but what was the best about it was Elizabeth's excitement that they had one.......until now she had only been able to eat at Taco Johns in Montana!!

The shower was delightful. It was so fun to see Kristen and Jimmie again since they have moved away from us here in Texas!! My niece, Valeree, had to work and couldn't be at the shower so we went and saw how Kristen and her mom had decorated the baby's room, visited with Kim and her family for a while and then went and saw Valeree's new apartment/house that she is living in now. We took her out to dinner and Elizabeth had just been to New Orleans on business and picked up a Mask that made her think of the Masquerade Ball in the Phantom of the Opera and since Valeree is a theatre arts major in college she brought that to her.

On the way home we caravaned and had fun zooming home, but we did have to stop and sleep for about 30 to 45 minutes so we were later than we thought in getting home, plus we just had a hard time leaving - so I got home about 4:45 this morning!! But it was such a wonderful weekend. I really felt so many feelings this weekend, that I haven't felt with such strength for awhile, like how much I miss Mom, how fun it would have been if she could have been with us. How much she would love to be getting ready for her first great grand child. Then of course realizing, she has already met her and probably been getting her ready to meet all of us!!

It really was just a very good weekend!

Catching up.....

2011-11-28T10:18:00.007-06:00

Credit: ABC.com
And the winner of Dancing with the Stars is JR Martinez and Karina Smirnoff!! Who can be mad that the war hero won! Not me! Even though I believe that Ricki Lake was the better dancer and I liked her free style, but I have to admit, that Rob and Cheryl had a killer "Free Style" I really thought he could have won. And I will say, JR and Karina had a show stopping "free style" dance as seen below and therefore took home the mirror-ball trophy!!

Credit: ABC.com
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, even though it was just Alan, Aileen, and myself, it was very relaxing, no pressure, no cooking, no fuss, it was GREAT!! We did get invited to join Barbara's (my step mom) family for Thanksgiving and as always it was nice to be together and visit. Aunt Beverly always has wonderful food, lots of room to gather, and beautiful big screen tv's to watch the football games on!! This year was fun because my step brother, Chris, brought a girlfriend for us to meet! She is a beauty and after meeting her and talking with her it is clear she is as beautiful on the inside too! My understanding is that Chris has never brought a girlfriend to meet the family so this is serious stuff going on here and Chris is going to her family for Christmas!!

Chris and Ashley
Alan and I finally were able to celebrate his birthday!! He was sick, I was sick, Aileen was sick, then I had to work full days instead of getting off early on Wednesday's and Friday's so that we could go before Aileen got home from Day Care --- so finally we celebrated!! We went to see "Tower Heist" and went to dinner at Salt Grass!! It was a great date and we had fun being together just the two of us!!

I have had an awesome compliment from my daughter's mother-in-law!! She saw the Christmas socks that I made for John and Allison and asked if I could make some for her family!! Of course I will be happy to make their Christmas Socks and here is one of them that we picked out for the Dad!! As soon as they get here, whenever you see me from now on, I will be embroidering and sequining away!!

And this you are going to die over.......I have seen "Breaking Dawn" part 1 four times!! I know, I know, its crazy right? But in my own defense, its because different people ask me to go see it with them and I just can't say NO!!

Dancing with the Stars - the finale!

2011-11-20T08:44:00.005-06:00

So my favorite show - Dancing with the stars will have its finale tomorrow night and I am very excited. I'm happy with who is in the finale - I would have been very sad if Hope Solo had made it - she is a great athlete I'm sure, but she is not a dancer but even more so I would have been unhappy because of the attitude.

credit: ABC.com

I'm going to go on a little rant here for a minute - I think Maks has soured Hope for many people. First off, I don't think Maks should be back on the show again! His attitude is terrible and he is mean to his dance partners while in training! I think everyone was shocked on the footage we saw before the group dance a couple of weeks ago! Thank heaven's Derek was nice to her when Maks stormed out and that Cheryl also helped her nicely get ready for the team dance. I thought he was supposed to be the professional!!! And him going off on the judges was bad, bad, bad. No one wants to see that. The judges say what some might call "mean" things to EVERYONE! That's their job to tell what is wrong, or what they need to improve on, and the people who listen like Rob, and Ricki, come back and then get rave reviews because they listened and tried to improve. Last season, when Mark Ballas started going off on the judges, I was worried and started not liking watching them because of it....and I loved when his partner said that she thought he was hurting their chances because it seemed as if they were saying they deserved something or were entitled to something and no one is that.....I loved that he listened, he stopped and they went all the way to the finals because they worked hard and they were good and they didn't act like they were entitled!! I think Mark is an incredible choreographer, but I still didn't like him so much when he fought with the judges.

Another thing that I thought was so very unprofessional was all the swearing that Maks and Hope did about - forget the judges with a much worse word then "forget" used and Hope saying she didn't even want to look at the judges etc... if Maks really was the "professional" he would have told her to hold her head high and listen and act professional. And I was really incensed when Hope told everyone that the judges have wanted her gone since the beginning.....Sweetie, you need to hit replay and watch the previous shows, they actually wanted you to stick around and I thought they favored you over others that maybe should have still been there....can anyone say David Arquette! He wanted to be there and was willing to work hard.

I won't even go into Maks comment about "It's my show", I do think it was a language thing....that came out wrong....but not helping his case any! I did wonder however, what all the other professional dancers who come and work hard and take the criticism professionally and just try to help their celebrities get better - felt about his comment!! And I'm glad that ABC or the show has kept Maks and Hope off of the talk show circuit! who wants to hear more of them!! NOT ME!

And my last rant and I can't really rant, because I didn't vote - I think the last 4 should have been, J.R. Martinez, Ricki Lake, China Phillips, and Rob Kardashian - I would have never thought that I would be cheering for Rob, but he has worked really hard, listened to Cheryl and the judges and has really become a dancer so fun to watch. Cheryl is a great choreographer and teacher.

But if there was anyone who could say - "It's my show" it would be Derek Hough, but he would never say so. There is no one who can choreograph like Derek!! I love to watch every dance and I loved getting to see him really perform his spotlight dance, the Flamingo, I think it was - that was Wow, there are no words for how incredible that was. And I loved his and Anna's Paso that the fans voted for them to dance! He has always choreographed amazing dances and I knew he had to be a good teacher, but I have loved seeing this season, that he can choreograph/teach great dances no matter the size of his partner - he has always had skinny celebrities to dance with - and Ricki I do not think was fat, but she was not the normal skinny celebrity he has gotten in the past either. He is just good!

O.k., done with the rant. It will be fun to see what everyone does. J.R. Martinez is amazing and a war hero and someone who is just happy and fun to watch and he is the favorite. But I still hope that Ricki Lake wins, I've loved her attitude of just working hard and getting it perfect and then going out and performing it beautifully! But I also, hard to believe, wouldn't mind if Rob Kardashian won - he really is what the competition is all about, about not being a dancer and then every week just getting better and better because of hard work and then winning! So, really I'll be happy with any, but still my favorite is Ricki Lake.

Can't wait to see!

Saturday - what a great day!

2011-11-20T08:34:00.004-06:00

Saturday was a lot of fun.

First, I had a baby shower to go to. It was for a young woman of our congregation/ward that is not very active so Becky Wangler and Shelby Denti wanted to have a shower for her so that more people could meet her and get to know her and hopefully have her feel more comfortable around us. There was a good turn out, but funny thing, she had her baby Thursday and it was a c-section so she wasn't even getting home from the hospital until later today.....so I think they did a brilliant thing. They video taped us all opening our own gifts to her and us telling her what we got her and congratulations etc...! And we all still got to visit and eat goodies and see what everyone gave her. I thought it was brilliant!

Second, I then rushed home so that I could pick up Alan and Aileen and we all headed to the Oliver Garden restaurant so that we could be at a surprise birthday party for David Ukle! He turned 50 this year and according to his wife has never had a birthday party.....so it was really nice to get to be apart of this one!!

Third, Alan then had to rush home and change to a suit to go up to Stake Leadership Meetings at 4:30pm and then Aileen and I met him at 7:00 pm for the Adult meeting of our Stake Conference. It was a good evening with good talks and messages.

Fourth, we hurried home to watch BYU trample over New Mexico State and see our son-in-law on TV on the sidelines doing his athletic trainer thing - awesome!

Finally, you add that I got to talk to both of my girls that live far away and you know..........

It was a great day!

Midnight at the movies!!

2011-11-18T07:56:00.008-06:00

Credit: trailershut.com/movieposters

Yes, I'm a dork, and Yes, I was at the movie theatre at midnight to see the "Breaking Dawn" movie part 1!!! In fact, for the first time I was able to go to the movie theatre early and sit through the 3 previous movies of the Twilight saga before seeing the new one at midnight!! I had an awesome time!! My favorite thing has always been to "go to the movies" so to get to see 4 all in one evening was amazing

I also, thought that "Breaking Dawn" part 1 was really well done, and I can't wait to go and see it again!!! Like I said, I'm a dork.........but a good one!! lol!

Oh, yeah, and we took our visiting teach sisters with us!!! MaryAnn Stephens and I had a great time with Becky Wangler, Lacy lassiter, and Shawna Rhea. Yay for Visiting Teaching!!

A Chosen Generation

2011-11-13T21:24:00.007-06:00

Today's Gospel Doctrine lesson for Sunday School was 1&2 Peter and Jude and talked about a chosen generation. Now I don't know about you all, but when I hear that, I think about the youth today. I've always know that they are 0lder than we adults spiritually and there is no doubt that they are heads and tails more knowledgeable in the Gospel then I was at their age, and that their testimonies are stronger at a younger age because they are the "Chosen Generation" for these last days.....they have to be stronger, more committed and more sure of their testimony because of the World today and all the temptations that are more "in your face" then they were when I was a teenager.

But the lesson brought out that we are all a chosen generation. And a couple of times while thinking of this lesson, I visualized having posters all over the room of scripture hero's. I told Alan about my idea, and that several times I had the prompting of using these posters I had seen online and at Moon's LDS Book Store in Dallas. And I love Alan because he said, "Well, lets grab Aileen and go then, because you always want to follow inspiration".

So my room was filled with these beautiful posters of Scripture Hero's and I started by asking the question - when you see these posters what does it make you think of? I got awesome answers like - amazing stories from the scriptures, obedience, great faith etc...

Then I asked, When I tell you that the lesson is titled "A Chosen Generation" what do you think of when you see these posters? And I got great answers, like they were all Chosen for a specific purpose in their generation, they are the examples, examples that we hold up to the youth today and say they need to have courage to stand up for truth like these larger than life characters in the scriptures, etc...

I then quoted Elder Bruce R. McConkie's quote that a chosen generation is “not those living in a particular period or age, but … the house of Israel both anciently, in the meridian of time, and now in these latter-days. … [It includes] faithful members of the Church who have taken upon themselves the name of Christ and been adopted into his family” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1966–73], 3:294).

Then I talked about how we are a chosen generation and then throughout the lesson referred to the posters of the hero's. I think it really set an amazing tone to the start of the lesson that continued all the way to the end.

I wish I could have gotten the whole room in one picture so you could really get the feel, but even though it had to be broken up into 3 pictures. I think you get the idea. I am always grateful for the blessing of inspiration that the Lord continues to bless me with so that I can fulfill my calling and hopefully help others to feel their Heavenly Father and Savior's unconditional love for them!

I know that I feel it daily! I am a daughter of a King and part of a chosen generation and I have a purpose on the earth today!!

Guest's for the weekend!!

2011-11-06T13:04:00.007-06:00

We have company for the weekend!! Our Nephew Steven Brown and his family are here visiting and have been a joy to have in our home!! What a delightful little family He and Teresa have. Miriam is 9 and Dallin is 5! I have learned that my house is no longer child proofed but nothing I own materially is more important than family!!

Steven has worked for the Mayo Clinic as a statistician, then for a drug company where he helped test and do statistics for new drugs that they are trying to get approved for consumer use, and now he has been hired by a hospital in Dallas so they will be moving to the Dallas area very soon!!

It will be fun to have more family close here in Texas.....and Teresa (Steve's wife) has family in Houston, so that will be nice for her as well.

They originally asked if they could live with us for awhile until they could find the "right place" and we told them of course but also felt that they needed to understand what living with Aileen and our crazy schedule is like, so I think this weekend is kind of a "test" to see if they would be comfortable living with us for a couple of months.

We will see if we have passed the test!! But either way, its going to be great to have them close by!!

Sarah the Artist!

2011-11-01T09:46:00.007-05:00

My niece Sarah Hauser is turning into a great artist. I know that she is being tested for the gifted program to which Grandma Barbara said "She will definitely get in" and since Grandma Barbara is a teacher she is someone you can listen to on that. And after seeing Sarah's latest accomplishment I believe that if she isn't already in the gifted program that is definitely where she belongs!!

Sarah won the Dr. Frandsen Art Award

Art Student of the Month for the 2nd grade.

The theme of her artwork here is: Diversity

The hair and clothes of the paper dolls were created from paper and fabric and I am very impressed with the intricate work she created!!

Congratulations Sarah!! We are so proud of you!!

Gospel Doctrine Class - "I Have Finished My Course"

2011-10-30T13:14:00.004-05:00

Today's lesson was New Testament, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus and the title is a statement by the Apostle Paul "I Have Finished My Course" for the attention activity they suggested asking questions about racing, about finishing races, how many winners, how our life is like a race, etc.

All week long after I had read the lesson I kept thinking about an email that my son-in-law's father sent me in 2009 about his experience of running his first marathon. When he sent it to me I remembered thinking this experience he has shared with us (everyone he emailed) is such a great metaphor for life and I saved it, thinking that some day I might want to refer to it for a lesson or talk. Well, 2 yrs later I did.

I started my lesson with the following excerpts from his story:

"...The first eight miles flew by. I hardly remember them. We ran about a 10:45 pace up through mile 19 or 20. By then, the fatigue starting kicking in as both the long run and the heat began to really take their toll.

"...[My] daughter Becky ran from the finish line out to mile 22, met me there, and then ran on in with me. That was pretty cool. I was very glad to have her along with me. We didn't talk much, because I was quite focused on keeping going at that point, but I felt her encouragement as we pounded the hot pavement and put one foot in front of the other. Marianne (his wife) was waiting at mile 24 and ran in the last two with us. That was great too... although in many ways I wasn't very tuned into their presence. My brain was definitely focused on just making my body do what was required to get to the finish line. I knew there was no way I was going to quit after having gone so far. I couldn't truly imagine quitting at mile 22 or 23 or 24 or even 25, even though my body really, really wanted me to. Those last four miles were certainly the most physically grueling experience of my life. ...By then, my right knee was finally numb (which I was quite thankful for since it had been screaming at me since about mile 14) and a nail on my right foot informed me that it no longer wanted to stay connected to its toe."

"My training program really emphasized mental focus and preparation. I had practiced many of the program's visualization and focus techniques over the 5 months, but in those final four miles I ended up using something that was totally new for me and very basic. I simply began to mentally chant, "I will not quit, I will not quit." Then, in a way that was quite spiritual for me, I put the chant to music, adopting the melody from the last two lines of the hymn Press Forward Saints. So my chant became, "I will not quit, no I will not quit. I will not quit. I will not quit. I will not quit." This might seem weird, cheesy or overly churchy to others, but it was quite meaningful and powerful for me -- the combination of my assertive language and the resolute tone and tempo of the hymn gave me the strength and determination to keep going."

"I finally crossed the finish line. I had expected that to be a very jubilant moment, but it was almost surreal. I couldn't quite believe that it was over, that I had gone the full 26.2, and that I had indeed finished my first marathon. In fact, I was pretty disoriented. Maybe the heat had gotten to me or maybe I was just fully and completely exhausted. More likely, it was both. I kind of wandered around a bit, looking for water and shade, and unsure if I should sit or walk, stretch or lay down. Marianne and Becky kind of followed me around asking what I needed or what they could do for me. The event organizers were serving all the runners strawberry shortcake. Once I got my senses about me, that's what I wanted. I had two huge helpings and immensely savored every wolfed-down bite."

"[I] finished in about 5 hours flat. That was on the long side of what I had expected to do (I figured 4 1/2 to 5 hours), but I have no disappointment about it. My goal was to complete a marathon and that's exactly what I did."

I then asked the question - What similes are there in this story and to the course that we are trying to run/finish in our lives?

enduring to the end

That he did not remember much before mile 8 (much of our life before the age of 8 is not remembered)

The "I will not quit"

That even though he had done all the training programs of mental focus and visualization that it was the spiritual that got him through

That he did not have to run alone - Becky & Marianne ran beside him, (much like we are not asked to go through life alone)

That it was a Hymn that gave him strength

That even though he had pain and struggles that was not what he focused on in his story, it was the lessons learned, and the spiritual that he remembered

The great reward at the end

That even if he wasn't able to do it in the time he had hoped to, he was not disappointed (so many things in this life relate to that)

That he met his goal

There were others, I know, but that gives you the idea.....and then we went on to talk about the things that Paul teaches us that we need to do -

To finish my course, I must:

Learn and teach true doctrine

Be an example of the believers

Follow after righteousness and deny ungodliness

But I loved how this awesome journal entry helped start out the lesson so beautifully! Another cool part of this is that most of the people of our Ward had met John Rex, Sr. at the wedding reception here it Tx, so that added an extra, "oh, I know this person" kind of meaning to the story!!

I'm always so grateful and humbled that when I listen to the spirit tell me to "save a story" or to "use a story" that it is a great teaching moment and an instrument in strengthening mine and others testimonies of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Weekend update......

2011-10-30T12:36:00.005-05:00

So, sad, the Ranger's lost the World Series. I really couldn't believe that we didn't win the 6th game -- 11 innings and 3 times that they were 1 strike away from winning and the Cardinals win. Crazy and even though I hoped against it, once that happened I figured that the Cardinals would win the World Series, I didn't dare speak it, but I wasn't too surprised even though I yelled at the TV all night. Then I would go and check on the TCU/BYU game when the World Series game 7 got too stressful and then BYU was losing. Basically BYU gave TCU 3 touchdowns by punting errors!! There I was in my sick bed wanting good things and both games were sad!!

I think BYU would have won if they would have sent John with them on this road trip as one of the Athletic trainers..............I'm just sayin!!!

The guy in the BYU shirt is pointing at John's back -- picture is of John getting a football player ready by wrapping (I think maybe it's called taping) his ankles etc.. So this is what the football room looks like.

Saturday some friends of ours were having an estate sale of their parents home and they told me there was some antique luggage. Now, ever since Allison has started doing her photography she had mentioned that she would like old luggage as props. I have been tempted at different times to just go to an antique store and pay a lot of money and just get them for her. But something in the back of my mind told me to be patient and just check out garage sales whenever I see them and eventually I would find success. Now, me not being the patient person that I am, fought against this a couple of times, but have waited and this weekend found success and it only cost me $26.00 ($35.00 total, but last day discount of 25%) Yay!!
I'm also excited because the last time I went to the movie, I saw my first trailer for my favorite series of Books the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evonovich that is coming out in December, I think. "One for the Money" - I can't wait.

Testimony

2011-10-26T00:51:00.003-05:00

Testimony, you never know where you are going to be bearing it. It could be talking on your cell phone to your sister while waiting in the drive through lane at Sonic, it could be while talking to your children, it could be while doing your calling at church, OR, it could be at the Doctor's office that you work at.

Today after our last patient had left for the day I had an interesting experience with the Doctor I work for. I guess with all the talk on the news etc. of whether we are Christians, or a cult, it has made people randomly talk about "Mormons" for no apparent reason. Luckily, I am not the first member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) to work for this Doctor. So he knows quite a bit about what we believe. He himself is Jewish and very religious, very devout. So when one of our patients said something about us (Mormons) not believing in Jesus Christ, he immediately told them that was not true, and that our Church was even called, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" - BRAVO Doctor!! Of course he likes to remind everyone that Jesus Christ was Jewish!! Indeed he was.

As he was telling me about correcting this misunderstanding by one of our patients, he went into a whole spiel to something of the effect, that all religions were good and that if God only wanted one religion on the earth, he would tell us, He would appear to man and He would make it happen. And that if God had told him that there was only one true church he (the Doctor) would let everyone know, so we could all be apart of it, and maybe a few other sentences along this line. Now normally when religion comes up because he is Jewish and very devoted to his belief's I just listen and shake my head, comment when appropriate, but because he is my boss, I do not get into religious debates. But I have to tell you when he said those particular statements, I looked right at him and said......

"Then I feel that I should let you know that God has appeared to man. That Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father did appear to Joseph Smith. And that God the Father through Jesus Christ did tell Joseph Smith that none of the Churches on the earth were the true church, that he should join none of the them and that he would have Joesph Smith bring the gospel back to the earth through him as our prophet in the latter days. And that I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth today."

He told me that he knew that was what I believed and that he would have been disappointed if I had said anything else.

I went home and told my husband about this experience and before I got to the last part about what the Doctor said in response, he looked at me and said, "so do you still have a job tomorrow?" ha-ha!! Yes, of course! We have been promised that when we Stand for Truth, or Stand with Jesus Christ we will lose nothing!

But if anyone would like more information about my church or if you still have any concerns about if we are Christians please go to Mormon.org or ask me!!

A mother's right to brag......

2011-10-25T09:19:00.006-05:00

Saturday night Anne Marie calls to tell me that she has been invited to become a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Salt Lake Community College!! I'm so excited for her because I know that she has worked hard to keep her grades up and it is nice to be recognized for doing so!!

I think there are some good benefits for being apart of this society but whether she joins or not, she knows that she earned the privilege to be a member! Great job Anne Marie we are proud of you!

It's not me after all.....

2011-10-24T10:37:00.005-05:00

Happy day, it's not me after all!! In a previous post a told you that I thought I was jinxing the Texas Rangers because whenever I watch the whole game from the beginning to end and not just tune in at the 7th or 8th inning they lose! But I watched game 4 of the World Series from beginning to end (I couldn't help myself) and it was an awesome game to see and they won!!! My mother always told me that "everything is not about you, Lois" and she as always is correct!! But I will say I'm relieved lol! Derek Holland did an awesome job of shutting out the St. Louis Cardinals and the last few minutes of the game gave me a heart attack. But they won and now the series is tied up 2 each. Can't wait to see tonight's game! GO RANGERS!!!

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/M9bIlCwFeGY/2011+World+Series+Game+4+Texas+Rangers+v+St/yGuvqRiayYJ/Derek+Holland

Weekend update

2011-10-23T13:05:00.006-05:00

I was so excited that BYU won and won big!! TCU did the same thing, so they are gearing up for their match up this coming Friday!! I told Alan he definitely needs to get tickets for this, especially if John is coming with the team for that game as an Athletic Trainer.....We won't know until Monday or Tuesday if he is coming or not, but either way its going to be a great game and he should be there.

(John is on the right side of the football player)

We saw John several times on T.V. during the game and not just quick little shots, but times on the air where we really got to see him for several seconds before moving on. So it was a good time to go and get a picture of John from the televised Idaho State/BYU game. We always love seeing our son-in-law on t.v.

The sad news is that the Ranger lost their game on Saturday!! I kept thinking they were going to have a comeback, but I guess it just wasn't their game. I worry that I jinxed them, because Texas never wins if I watch the whole game.....and I did watch the whole game. So Game 4, I'm going to go back to ignoring the game until the 7th or 8th inning and then start watching!! They seem to win when I do that. So I will do my part! Goooooo Rangers!!

For my Gospel Doctrine Sunday school class today, It was on the letters that Paul wrote to the Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon but started with the 13th Article of Faith, where it talks about that we follow the admonition of Paul..... And talked about where does the admonition of Paul that Joseph Smith talks about come from..... Philippians 4:8. But as I was thinking about the 13th Article of Faith all week long in preparation of what I was going to teach, I kept visualizing our Family picture of us all laughing and enjoying life blown up in B&W at Kinko's with the 13th article of Faith below it. So that is what I did, and it did look like...."if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or praiseworthy or of good report, we seek after these things"!!

I'm now going to take this 24 x 36 B&W printed copy and frame it and put it above my bed so that every night and every morning it will be the 1st and last thing that I see with the admonition of Paul below it!!

Texas Rangers win game 2 of the World Series!!

2011-10-21T17:41:00.003-05:00

My father is a huge baseball fan and loves watching the Rangers. Baseball is a long drawn out game I feel most times, but my Dad loves to watch and keep score in his program and has a deep love for America's favorite pastime!! I think it is because it is the one sport he played and was good at. I love watching the Rangers "live and in person" for any game but I don't usually watch the games on TV. But if they are in the World Series I'm glued to the TV every game!! Last nights game was so exciting in the 9th inning!! What a way to win the game. My favorite part is that the commentators had written off the game and figured it was over and that St. Louis had won, but they don't understand the fighting mentality of the Texas Rangers!! And they won, by running bases....the old fashion way of winning baseball games!! I love it.

Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus delivered back-to-back singles in the ninth inning Thursday night before Hamilton and Michael Young brought them in with a pair of sacrifice flies, allowing Texas to tie the World Series with a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2.Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2011/10/21/world-series-texas-rangers-rally-for-win-over-cardinals/#ixzz1bSVYqeDZ

Seminary, oh, how I love my students.....

2011-10-18T08:26:00.005-05:00

As a former seminary teacher, it is so wonderful to watch my former students continue to wait for and make correct choices in their life!! Bruce Malone graduated seminary, served a mission to Mongolia, graduated BYU in April, has started his masters program, and a few weeks ago was Married in the Mount Tempanogas Temple for time and all eternity!! Congratulations Bruce, I'm so happy for you!! Your parents told me it was perfect in every way and I can't wait to celebrate with you at the open house here in Texas!! It has been such a joy to be apart of your life during your teenage years and see the awesome man you have become!!

Babes!

2011-10-18T08:05:00.003-05:00

It has been a long time since I have been to Babes restaurant, so when a couple of my girlfriends asked me to go to lunch with them on Friday, I was kind of excited, because they do have good smoked (roasted) chicken! The company was awesome as well!! Thanks Becky Wangler and Shawna Rhea for thinking of me!! It had been a long hard week so it was a nice way to start the weekend!

Photography

2011-10-15T17:45:00.031-05:00

I honor of Allison's birthday I would like to show a few of my favorite shots of the work she has done with her photography!! This in no means is all that I love, because there are so many its hard to choose -- but these are some of the ones that made me go "Wow, how does she do that!" You can see all of her work on her website. Allison Rex Photography.

Allison turns 23 today!!

2011-10-12T05:37:00.004-05:00

It is hard to express the feelings a mother has when her baby - they last one that she had - is such a beautiful grown woman!!

She has always been a joy. She was such a happy baby and little girl and a great source of healing to Alan and I after Aileen. She has so much compassion for others. She is a woman of great faith and has always been a good example to others and to her family! She succeeds at anything that she puts her mind to doing, not necessarily because it comes easy to her....but because she is willing to work hard and perseveres and then masters it! We can't wait to help her celebrate her graduation from BYU in April - another goal that she has worked diligently towards and will accomplish with great honors.

I know that she is an excellent wife, daughter, sister, friend.....you really could not have better!! And for me personally - she makes me an extraordinary mother!! Love you sweetheart!! I know right now you are going through a hard time, but the light will shine through soon!! Happy birthday Allie-boo!!

Contagion

2011-10-11T08:52:00.003-05:00

Last Friday afternoon, after I got off work and Alan was through with his job interview (yay!) Alan took me out to the movies!! I will say it is fun to be able to go the matinees with Alan home during the day that don't cost as much. Add to that, we don't need to get a babysitter because Aileen isn't home until after 5:00 pm. So it has actually been happening for the first time in a long time that we are able to go on weekly dates. That has been a great bonus!! However, Alan and I will both be happy when we have to struggle to find a babysitter because evening time or the weekend is the only time we can go out. But until then, why not enjoy!!

We saw the movie "Contagion"! It is not for the faint of heart, or germaphobes. But Alan and I were talking about it long into the evening after seeing it.....so that's usually the sign of a good movie or at least one that brings up interesting subjects that need discussing!! I like alot of the actors that are in this show. Not one that I will buy or see again, however!!

Dancing With The Stars.....

2011-10-10T08:30:00.010-05:00

This weekend was an extremely hard weekend for many reasons of which I will not go into, but the one highlight was re-watching my recording of last Monday nights "Dancing with the Stars". It was a really touching night with everyone's background stories. I don't know why I love DWTS, but I do!! I've watched all 13 seasons!! I have 3 favorites that I hope do really good. And so far they are!!!

I loved Chynna Phillips Rumba, to her own song of "Hold On"! And I really would like to see Tony (dancing pro) go all the way to win this. I love that he has a good partner this year. I've felt sorry for him when he has had difficult partners like Kate of Kate plus 8 fame and a couple of others. He has come close to winning a couple of times, so I think it would be nice for him this year.

I also really like JR, the veteran/actor, he really is a hero in so many ways and his Rumba was so emotional with the song they danced to by Tim McGraw, about a soldier who doesn't make it home. I had tears when it was over!! I don't think that has ever happened to me while watching DWTS. It really was emotional. The choreography was great at portraying the story.

But the best of the show, was Ricki Lake and she is who I would ultimately like to see win this....although any of the other two would make me happy as well, her Rumba was BEAUTIFUL !! You know how you watch the other dances and they are so good and you listen to the judges and you don't always understand why they don't judge it higher than they do.....until you see Ricki Lake and Derick Hough's dance and then witness, all the things that the judges are commenting on, on the others performances!! Their dance was just a thing of beauty, where every movement of the dance was essential to the story and it was fluid and performed basically perfectly!! I think Derick Hough is one of the best choreographers on that show.....he always makes everyone look good, but this time he has someone who can dance it beautifully as well!! (not that the other partners he won with didn't as well but I'm making a point here! lol!) I can watch their dance over and over and never get tired of watching it.

If you haven't seen it, it would be worth a trip to ABC's website http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/ to watch it!!

Can't wait to see what happens tonight!!

Breakfast out - my favorite meal to eat out!!!

2011-10-06T10:47:00.004-05:00

I love eating breakfast out!! It has always been my favorite meal to eat out! I knew I was on vacation when we could eat out for breakfast!!

Today we had a re-assessment meeting with medicaid (Amerigroup) for Aileen to see if she still qualifies to keep getting Day Care benefits and other Aileen necessities!! It went well, but its always such a pain in the pattootie!! I understand why, there are those out there that do take advantage (not in a good way) of any and all benefits, but it's just such a pain.

In March we will have to have a social worker from the Courts come and re-evaluate our home, Aileen, and us to make sure we can still be her legal guardians. It just goes on and on....however, we are happy to make any concessions that keeps Aileen well cared for and getting the benefits she deserves and needs!!

After the meeting Alan and I went to IHOP for breakfast!! Kind of a mini date! It was nice to have him at the meeting with me (I usually have to do these things on my own) and then to get breakfast together!! It was like being on vacation on a Thursday!!

Last Thursday......

2011-10-04T09:11:00.004-05:00

Last Thursday night after I came home and took care of all the family stuff, and Aileen was in bed, a couple of my friends, Becky Wangler, and Shawna Rhea, came and picked me up for a 10:00 pm movie!! I haven't done a late show like that for quite awhile!! We went and saw the movie "Abduction" with Taylor Lautner. And I have to say I thought it was very entertaining, suspenseful, action filled, and a surprising storyline, at least it turned out to be different than i thought it the story was going to go. But I will say I had trouble not thinking of him as "Wolf Boy" from Twilight!! I know, poor guy, he is going to carry that around for a while isn't he!! But enjoyable!! Thanks girlfriends!! Oh, and I'm so excited, Shawna gave me a gift certificate for a free massage!! Wow oh wow! I'm excited!! Thank you for being so kind!

Alan keeps applying and looking for jobs, no luck yet, but he is persistent and keeping a strict schedule of daily exercise, (YMCA swimming), giving service, and applying for jobs and networking! I know Heavenly Father has a plan for us and I am anxiously awaiting to see what it is!! Thanks for everyone's prayers and concerns!

In getting ready for General Conference.....

2011-10-02T22:20:00.003-05:00

In getting ready for General Conference this last week, 3 friends, Linda Davila, MaryAnn Stephens, Anita Williams and I went to the Temple Tuesday night. I was so happy to get to go because I no longer have a babysitter for Aileen (she got married and moved away, how rude!!) so Alan goes on our Ward Temple Days usually because of being in the Bishopric as assigned, or because it was his friend that was going through for the first time, etc.... which means it had been several months since I had made it to the temple!! It was so nice to go with these particular ladies and it was really nice to go in preparation for General Conference this weekend.

Alan went on splits with the missionaries on Friday, I thought that was also a really great way to prepare for General Conference!!

My sister came to Fort Worth and we went shopping and visited Dad and Barbara Friday night. Aileen was really good at the mall.

My brother went out of town this weekend, so my nephew Tytan, was with us this weekend and I have to say getting to spend time with him is always a blast. He's 10 yrs old and it's fun for Alan to get to "hang out" with a boy! Tytan had basketball games in Frisco, that Alan took him too, but I recorded Saturday's sessions for him so that he can watch them, plus I read him all my notes!!

Sunday Conference was awesome as well, AND I got to talk to all my children today (Sunday)!! I took Tytan over to my Dad's so he could spend time with Grandpa and Grandma Barbara and he had fun visiting and playing with his cousins Lauren and Taylor!

Some of my favorite things said in Conference are:

"Memorized scripture can be an enduring friend".

"I didn't keep my testimony during those hard times, the testimony kept me".

In speaking about the Kingdom of God - "The work progresses silently, it progresses one heart, and one family at a time".

"We don't need to hold a meeting to serve, we just need to serve".

"Compared to God we are nothing, but we are everything to God".

"Let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text".

"We must look up, step up, and then we will cheer up".

"Be loyal to the royal within you"

In speaking about personal revelation from the Lord "Recognize it, trust it, and then follow it"

"Teach by the spirit, not in front of or behind the spirit, but by the spirit".

Can't wait for the November Ensign to read the wonderful words of the Apostles/Prophets that I have heard this weekend!! All and all it was a fabulous weekend!!

Promptings

2011-09-27T09:14:00.005-05:00

This post kind of reminds me of "be careful what you pray for"! Lately I have been praying to feel the Holy Ghost more in my life to listen to the promptings and then to take action. I think I've always been pretty good at this, obviously some periods of my life have been better than others, but I have been more focus on this recently and in giving service. So Sunday, as I was gathering up all my Gospel Doctrine Lesson stuff, and had Aileen in hand, and was heading out the door I walked by the piano and the thought came to me....."Carol Malone is out of town, I should take my simplified hymnbook just in case they need me to play in RS" so I added it to my bag and off to Sacrament meeting I went. Didn't really think anything of it, until Sacrament Meeting was starting 5 minutes late and not a soul was up on the stand playing music anywhere!!

Now our Wards is one of the few wards that only has 1 person who can play the organ, and only about 2 people who play the piano for Sacrament meeting when she is not there!! One is now away at college and the other must of been out of town. And of course as I said we knew Carol was out of town, because her son was getting married in Utah. Now, I know without a shadow of a doubt that Carol made arrangements.....but something happened to those arrangements and we might never know but the next thing I know I'm grabbing my simplified hymnbook and playing the piano for Sacrament meeting. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But I changed all the songs in the program to ones I felt comfortable playing, not because I had practiced mind you.....I should have gotten or listened to that prompting, lol, but because they were in a key I thought I could manage!!

Anyway, I'm sure my Mom was chuckling on the other side and saying "I told you, you should keep taking those piano lessons!!" But I also think she was there cheering me on!! Funny thing I saw about 2 other people in the audience who could play better than I could, but I guess for some reason I was suppose to!

Gospel Doctrine lesson was a breeze after that terror!! And then you guessed it, I ended up playing in Relief Society too! Funny thing that prompting!

Tytan turns 10!

2011-09-26T10:36:00.002-05:00

Our nephew Tytan turned 10 and his Dad had a birthday party for him at a fun place called Jump Street Indoor Trampoline Park in Plano, TX. I had never been to a place like this but it was perfect for a bunch of 10 yr old boys, they have a foam pit, wall to wall trampolines, dodge ball, mazes, all kinds of things and they all had a blast!! Even Tytan's 16 yr old brother, Logan and his friend that he brought along, had fun!! Aileen enjoyed watching everyone jump and even laughed out loud while there!! Happy Birthday Tytan!! We love you!!

Busy Weekend!

2011-09-25T01:19:00.008-05:00

Friday afternoon, Alan and I went to a matinee, to see the new Brad Pitt movie "Moneyball" it was really good and it was fun being together to do what I LOVE BEST, and that is going to movies!! This is a downloadable screensaver......just sayin!

Friday night, we had a wedding in our Ward. The couple was married at the Dallas Temple and then had a reception Friday night. I remembered when Allison was getting married and the worry of who would help in the kitchen -- even though you have food catered, you still have to have people keep things filled, and wash, and clean. My dear friend MaryAnn Stephens said to me, "When my daughters got married it was always such a worry to find people to help in the kitchen, so I want to do that for you" And she did along with 2 other of my dear friends, one of who is now my stepmother, bless her heart!! Who knew?? Anyway, I stuck this precious gift of service in the back of my mind knowing that the next wedding I would want to do this same kindness for another friend. So when my friend Lori Wagley found out that her daughter was engaged and when the wedding would be, I told her that I wanted to be in the kitchen helping with the reception......it was awesome, she was surprised and grateful and of course MaryAnn was there too.....she is still being that kind of friend and giving service to those she loves!! It was a fun night, exhausting, but indeed a joy!!

Friday night was also BYU's game against a team from Florida (UCF I think). I got a kick out of MaryAnn mentioning to me at the wedding reception that I was missing getting to see my son-in-law on T.V. But no, no, I did not because Alan recorded it for me and I watched the whole game so that I could see John on the sidelines doing his Athletic trainer thing!!! So fun now that we worry about watching the sidelines more than the players on the field.....priorities people!! Priorities!! Oh, yes, and they won!!

Saturday, I had a birthday party to attend for a Sister in our Ward from Conga, who is a recent convert, who doesn't really understand about birthday traditions in the USA, so it was fun to go to a luncheon and celebrate this happy day with her

The Fort Worth Symphony

Then Saturday night was the General Relief Society Broadcast, which I recorded and watched at 10:00 pm that night, because..........Alan and I were given Symphony tickets at Bass Hall! And it was an awesome night to get to go.......... it was a special concert called "Holst: The Planets" it was music written about the solar system and NASA through satellite photos, Hubble Telescope, etc.. were able to show actual pictures of the planets while the Orchestra played....it was awesome! And the whole time we were watching and listening and seeing all these incredible pictures of the planets, Alan and I were both thinking how much Dad Brown would have loved seeing it all!! It was a beautiful night. Thank you Carol and Chuck Malone for the gift of the tickets. And I hope that your Son's wedding in Utah was fabulous!!!

As always the General Relief Society broadcast was amazing and just what I need to get read for next weekend and General Conference. I Loved the 5 Forget-Me-Nots, especially the - I will not forget that I am a beloved daughter of God!!

Most exciting.....

2011-09-25T01:01:00.013-05:00

I am thrilled, ecstatic, happy with how our family pictures turned out that Allison took of us when we were out in Utah and Idaho in August!! She had just broke her hand, you might remember and had never used a tripod to date, nor had she had to set up the shot, get everyone ready, and then have to run in and join the group and worry about what she looked like as well! I'd say that's talent!! And here are some of my favorites.

I love this picture of this man that I love so deeply! I think its the best picture we have ever had of him!!

My Boys...... gotta love that!

My girls, they joy of my life!!!

And this really is how happy they are!! It's so fun to watch them.

Love this, especially since Aileen initiated this pose and Anne Marie adored it and Allison was able to catch it on film!

I think this one is my favorite....but I need opinions from others so I know which one to frame.

This does represent the day beautifully!

Thanks Allison! Here is her website: http://allisonrexphotography.blogspot.com/

Weekend update

2011-09-19T09:17:00.009-05:00

I know, I couldn't think of a name for this post, so sorry, its just a boring update!!

I loved calling Anne Marie on her birthday and getting to talk to Allison and John too because they were all together going out to celebrate! I love that they support each other since I am so far away! When I called later to find out how it all went, Anne Marie was very happy! It's hard to be a Mom that lives so far away!!

Saturday at 3:00 pm I was invited to my friend Ashley's little boys 2nd birthday party! I was thrilled to be invited and of course I'm always up for a party!! But I was worried because 1) I've never had a boy -- have no idea what 2 yr old boys like or want. 2) I'm so far removed from knowing what is popular for kids today since it has been so long since I've had little kids!! But I took on the challenge and was THRILLED (even though I shouldn't have been) when he loved my Tonka truck, trailer, 4 wheeler toy. It was the hit of the party!! You know how 2 yr olds are....you try to get them to help open presents but they kind of help and kind of don't, and they are kind of like, no big deal about what the presents are, but when he saw what was in my gift bag, he pulled it out....he tried to get it out of the box, he wouldn't look at anything else, they had to get it out of the box and then all he wanted to do was play with it....he wouldn't help his mom open any other presents!! I do feel bad about that, but I have to say I had the biggest smile on my face as he kept playing with that toy and wouldn't let anyone else play with it!! I just might make a pretty good grandma some day after all!! Happy Birthday Camden!

But Saturday night was hard to believe!! Who would have thought BYU would play so badly against Utah!! On facebook someone posted that it was so painful to watch and that he couldn't believe he watched the whole thing......to which I laughed and thought, yeah, why did I sit and watch the whole thing.....oh, yes, now I remember, my son-in-law John is an athletic trainer with the team so I wanted to watch to see him on the sidelines, which I did, so that was good. But it was a hard game to watch. I will say that Utah did deserve to win, they came to play!! But this is how Aileen looked watching the game, too funny!

My 1st great blessing is having a birthday!!

2011-09-17T00:23:00.007-05:00

AnneMarie, my oldest, is turning 31 on Sunday!!! I don't look that old do I? O.k., I probably do! But oh what a joy and blessing she has been in my life! She has always made us (her parents) proud. She was our miracle baby, all the nurses said so, there is no way that she should have been able to breath on her own so quickly, being so small and so early, but she did! She was a perfect 2 yr old, who never touched things that she shouldn't, and as smart as a whip!! She is so very talented - voice, theatre, medicine! She gave us quite a scare this last year with the blood clots in her lungs, but we are thrilled to say she is well and seems to not be having anymore trouble with that (knock wood). And since then she has been trying to get healthier by going on nutrisystems and loosing weight and we are so proud of her! She has lost 26 lbs to date!! Yes, that's my girl!!! yay!

John likes to get the girls ire up by saying that Aileen likes him best......and Allison says but I was with her longest.......but I say, ah but Anne Marie was first!!! And she went through all the worry when we were finding out what Aileen being Autistic with other severe disabilities meant and she helped and supported like someone 3 times her age!!

She will tell it to you like it is.....and I prefer that frankly, and she is loyal as the day is long! She is a hard worker, she thinks the only grade that is acceptable in college is an A.

She finds humor in most things and can make us all laugh with a good story anytime!! She's a wicked "Shang-hi" card player. Most importantly, she is the 1st love of my life, other than her father!! That will always make her special to me!! and like Sandra Bullock says in the movie "Hope Floats" she is who makes me special! Happy Birthday Sweetie!! Dad & I Love you!!

"I Don't Know How She Does It"

2011-09-17T00:09:00.003-05:00

Just got back from the late show seeing this movie Friday night!! Having worked when my children were little I could relate! Not that I had to fly everywhere all the time, but I did have to work long hard hours when my children were small and in grade school etc... so I laughed, I cried, I cheered, loved that it ended how it should.....loved it!! I was kind of gloomy today, it was just the pick me up I needed!! Thanks to shawna and Becky for going with me!

What does Uncle Alan, Anatomy, and Break-a-leg have in common?

2011-09-13T19:27:00.004-05:00

Nothing, except they have something to do with things that have happened or are yet to happen this week.

Monday, Our nephew, Steve Brown came to Dallas for a job interview, so Uncle Alan went to meet him Monday afternoon to have dinner with him and take him to the airport! They had a great visit and it meant a lot to both of us that he would remember we lived here and wanted to see us. I had to work, but that's o.k. I'm glad Alan got to have some guy time!!

Tuesday, Anne Marie aced her anatomy test!! Yay, for being the smartest woman in the class!! And anyone who has taken anatomy knows that that is a big deal!!

Thursday, Allison as a Senior at BYU directs her cast in the theatre production of "Proof". So Break-a-leg sweetie! I'm sure your actors will come through with flying colors after all your great direction and everyone's hard work!!

So, there you go! That is what they have in common! Good week!

BYU vs Ole Miss and John Rex!!!

2011-09-06T22:34:00.006-05:00

to watch the game go here on ESPN

Saturday, 9/3/11, BYU played its first game as an Independent!!! And everyone was anxious to see how they were going to do!! But in our home we were excited to watch the game for a whole other reason! Our Son-in-law John is in his Senior Year of the Athletic Trainer program at BYU and got to travel with the team to the Ole Miss game!!! So while everyone else was watching the players we were watching the sidelines to see John! And we did!! before the first 1/2 was over we had seen him working on the sidelines at least 5 times!! It was very exciting and we were very proud.....oh, and yes, it was an exciting nail biter game as well and BYU won! So it was a great game!

John is by the flag marker on the right side!! GOOOOO Cougars!!!

"No Doubt About It" I love Neal McCoy!!!

2011-09-05T21:49:00.011-05:00

I was 35 yrs old when I joined my first Fan Club and it was for the Country Western Singer, Neal McCoy!! I saw him for the first time when I lived in Salt Lake and my sister, Ruth and I went to a Country Music Festival of some kind in Grand Junction Colorado!!! We were going because Sawyer Brown was the "big" name group and we loved them plus the Oak Ridge Boys, Suzy Bogus, and a couple other names that we liked were performing too. Neal McCoy was earlier in the day but I have to tell you he was so entertaining that everyone (Except for Sawyer Brown) after him paled by comparison. I started hearing his songs more on the Radio and then we moved to Kansas! My first year in Kansas he was singing at the State Fair, so I went, then for my birthday a year or so later my husband surprised me by bringing me to Fort Worth Stockyards for a Neal McCoy concert (this was before we lived here) after that I tried to see him wherever he was. It was then that I decided I should join his fan club and the next time he came to Wichita in Concert - because I was a fan I got to go to the "Meet and Greet" it was too exciting to get to meet him in person and when I told him what my favorite song was he even sang a little to me!!

I am no longer a Fan Club Member, I think I stopped that after we moved to Atlanta, Georgia. But I will always be a fan. I lost track of his career a little but this weekend, my sister gave me tickets so that my friends and I could go see Neal McCoy at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma. She told me that she remembered how much I loved him and since she was no longer going to use the tickets she had bought, she would give them to me if I didn't mind driving the 2 hrs to get there and if I had some people to go with me!!! YES, I said, and called my best girls - Becky & MaryAnn and away we went. Becky had heard Neal McCoy in concert before and said that he was not the main group that they had gone to see, but that he was so entertaining and was better then the main group!! (Sounds just like my experience). MaryAnn is not a country western music fan, but loves Becky and Me, so she came along and really had a good time and loved him and said, "Wow, he can really sing!" Which of course is true!!!

Getting ready to leave for the Concert!!

At the concert waiting for it to start!!

Becky & MaryAnn bought me a T-shirt!!! "Ya Gotta Love that"!!

Neal McCoy fan website

He has a new Album coming out in October, that Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert have produced. He sang 2 songs from that Album and I loved them.....can't wait until the radio starts playing them!!

It cost us only 1/2 tank of gas to get there an back, and our talking, laughing and catching up, made the trip go so fast that it seemed like no time at all!!!

It was a great way to spend Labor Day weekend. With good friends that I could talk about my mom with and celebrate her life!! She would have loved that we went as girlfriends and had a good time!!!

Start the day with a smile!

2011-08-31T00:35:00.002-05:00

Sunday morning Aileen woke up giggling! She giggled all through her bath, she giggled all the while I was getting her dressed, she giggled and hopped all the way out to the car to leave for church. She did get over excited and started stemming (screaming, jumping and flapping her arms) too much when we first arrived at Church, so I told her, "Aileen I would rather that you would laugh instead of scream out"........

So you guessed it, she giggled all through Sacrament meeting, all up and down the halls with Alan during my Sunday School lesson. She did calm down some for Relief Society and then I made the big mistake of fanning her with a fan (because it was hot) and she started laughing again!!! We ended up leaving about 10 minutes early and she laughed all the way home in the car, all through lunch until she finally went up to her room, laid down on her bed, and took a nap!

It's so cute when she laughs, you can't help but smile and laugh too! Probably because its so rare!

Funny Story = Alan Thinks the dishwasher is broken

2011-08-31T00:15:00.005-05:00

While Alan being unemployed is no picnic for him, for me it does have a few perks!! While he's home and I'm working he has started doing a lot of the household chores!! Yay! He has always been very helpful, but he has really taken on the "Mr. Mom" role right now! Isn't he a great guy! I've always know that he was!

Funny Story:

Alan told me that the dishwasher is broken and that we need to call the repair guy. I asked him what was wrong. He told me that the Electrasol powerball tabs are not dissolving in the wash cycle. So I said to him, why don't you try again, maybe the little trap door didn't open for some reason, so he re-washes the load, still didn't dissolve and so he tries a 3rd time.

Before we call a repair guy I decide to just go check out the dishwasher myself. When I open the door I see that the Powerball Tab is still in its individual cellophane wrapper!! I look at Alan and say, you haven't unwrapped the tab, that's why its not dissolving.

We both laugh and he said he thought it was like the gel packs I bought before that you don't have to unwrap you just toss them in and they are ready to go!!

Like these! I'll remember to get these next time at the store!!!

Visiting Teaching done in Style!!!

2011-08-20T21:14:00.012-05:00

Yes, we went visiting teaching in a newly detailed convertible!!! It was too much fun! We did this because it was Mary Ann Stephens' birthday this month and we needed to CELEBRATE!!

We rang her front doorbell holding this cake and started singing Happy Birthday!!

She was nice to ask us if we wanted cake.....of course the answer was YES!!

Mary Ann Stephens and Becky Wangler

Lacy Lassiter and Me!

Presents - this top was made out of some really cool fabric and you can barely see it but there is jewelry in her hand that matches it perfectly!

Of course I got her a Jelly Watch.....I told you in earlier posts I'm crazy about them and it is what I am giving everyone this year!!!

Then it was off to the Movie Tavern where we ordered lunch and watched the movie "The Help" Love, love, loved it!!

Our hair doesn't look too bad for people who have been driving around in a convertible!! It was a great afternoon! Now that's my way to go visiting teaching!!

Let me tell ya......

2011-08-18T18:29:00.014-05:00

Utah and Idaho were beautiful this time of year, with cool breezes and very pleasant temperatures!! Even when everyone else thought it was hot....it was like springtime!! Anyone living in Texas would understand that this is a very big deal since we are breaking records with over 100 degree weather for too many consecutive days.....it was really nice to be in cooler weather!

We just got back from a Brown Family Reunion where we had a niece, Jill, get married (the youngest of the family) in the Twin Falls, Idaho temple. Then the next day my Nephew Ryan took his precious little family to the Twin Falls Temple to be sealed as an eternal family.

Jill & Kade Searle, she has cowboy boots on under that beautiful dress!! Love it!

I really like Jill's husband. I went up to introduce myself to him and said, "Hi, I'm the favorite Aunt Lois" and without missing a beat said, "Yes, I think I've hear that"!!! You gotta love someone who I know has never heard anything of the kind, but says that he has!! They are a beautiful couple and seem so incredibly happy and in love!! The Reception that night was great!

The Wedding luncheon on Friday was awesome!!! Now being from Texas, we really understand barbecue and what is good barbecue........but I gotta tell ya, the caterer had some AWESOME BBQ, and I'm not a lyin! It was worth the trip just to get to eat those ribs and chicken and really delicious baked beans. Really it was GREAT!

Ryan, Kaci, and Mackie Jo

When Ryan and his family went to the Temple the next day, there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd! The Temple president did this sealing himself and it was such a spiritual experience. Then to see that precious little baby girl, Mackie, be brought in and be sealed to her parents for time and all eternity! I'm telling you, it was beautiful!

Then to see All of Kris (Alan's little sister) and Tad's children (4) and their spouses all in temple at one time and in one place it really was an amazing sight and one I hope to have some day!! I was so happy for the privilege of being there!!

Aileen loved seeing all her aunts and uncles, and cousins and she really loved getting to see her great Aunts and Uncles. It was obvious she was in a very happy place because she freely gave out kisses and hugs and we know that doesn't normally happen and it was pretty wonderful to see!!

Mom, has full size beds for visitors to sleep in and so we were going to split up and have one of us sleep with Aileen and then the other have one bed all to themselves. But after the 1st night that we were in Ogden and the house was full of other family.....we had a bedroll out for Aileen to sleep on, but she wanted to sleep with Alan and I so we had 3 in the bed in a very small bed..... so after that, that is how we slept 3 in a very small bed for two out of 3 very big people!! But it was fun!

yes, Alan is falling off the bed.....lol!

This I know......

2011-08-17T23:54:00.008-05:00

* That I hate not having a camera!!!
* That I'm happy to be home!
* That I loved, loved, loved being with family this past weekend!
* That it has been 2 yrs since the Alan Brown family has ALL been together at one time and one place.
*That Anne Marie is doing awesome since the blood clot scare and has now lost 17 lbs!!! She really was awesome this weekend watching all of us eat wedding goodies and stick to her Nutrisystem! So proud!! Hang in there sweetie!! You're doing great.
*That Allison won't let a silly thing like a broken hand keep her from taking gorgeous photos for her photo jobs!
*That my nieces have to be about the best mother's I have ever seen!!
*That watching my niece Jill & her new husband Kade get married in the Twin Falls Idaho Temple was Amazing!
*That seeing my nephew Ryan take his precious family to the Twin Falls Idaho Temple the next day to be sealed as an eternal family was AWESOME!!!
*That celebrating all these events in a Family Reunion was about the best family reunion ever!
*That my daughter Allison has been married 2 yrs now and Alan & I have been married for 33!
*That Heavenly Father kept us safe over all the miles we traveled!
*And that Heavenly Father gave us families for a reason and I am so grateful for the love and support we have felt from both families! Families are what make life worth living!
*That this last weekend's family reunion was just the 'pick-me-up' needed to handle the unemployment and looking for a job trial that we are going through right now.
*That I hate paying bills but so grateful that we can!!!
*That I am very grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for a loving Heavenly Father and for my Savior and his gift of the atonement.
*That there really are angels here on earth that leave surprises at doors and in pockets!!! Thank you and may God Bless You!!

That I really am trying to be a better person every day, Even though I fall so short!

Going out with my baby......

2011-08-08T10:04:00.003-05:00

So life has been very crazy lately with my Dad in the hospital for so many different things and coincidentally ended up back the hospital again on Friday, but hope to be home on Monday (today) after they run one more test!!! Then you add Alan's unemployment with his emergency room trauma with diverticulitis. Anne Marie with her blood clots, my poor sweetheart. And me feeling the stress of being the only income right now........I decided we might as well take advantage of Alan being home during the day and go on a real life date together!!! So Wednesday afternoon we went to see "Cowboys Vs. Aliens" with Daniel Craig, Mr. 007, and Harrison Ford, who is always a favorite! And even though Alan was a little sceptical as to whether he would enjoy it or not, after the movie was over we both agreed it was really really good!! I will say that I didn't like Harrison Ford's character at first, weird to see him as not a nice person, but luckily he redeemed himself by the end of the show!! Whew! That would have been horrible if I had to dislike Harrison Ford!!

Anyway, Alan and I had fun, just being out with each other while Aileen was at Day Care, and not talking about "problems" but just enjoying being together! And matinees are cheaper!! yay!

Good movie!

Gospel Doctrine Bingo!

2011-08-03T12:58:00.003-05:00

I try to switch things up every now and then in Gospel Doctrine. So I was thinking last week, what hadn't I done in a while. I've had Characters from the Scriptures come to class to share their story, I've had music, I've had a video/DVD, I've had group work, and the thought came to me, I haven't done a game for awhile. I had tried crossword puzzles before, but the thought came to me I hadn't done BINGO yet in Gospel Doctrine. So I planned out my lesson and saw what scriptures we would be reading in class and then put together bingo clues with phrases or words right from the scriptures. Then after several hours of putting this whole thing together and printing out all the cards, I thought, Oh my gosh, this could be a disaster and totally take away from the spirit of the class and most of all, totally NOT NECESSARY! And I freaked out a little bit! But I told Alan, I've spent so much time on this and already printed the card stock, I'm doing it.

All through Sacrament and in my prayers Sunday Morning, I prayed that the game would be a successful way to get the class involved in the scriptures but not detract from the class learning and having the Holy Ghost with us.

I had class members team up so one would have their scriptures open and one would be paying attention to clues as we would come across them while discussing the lesson. I also told them that when they got a Bingo, if they would just quietly raise their card, I would notice, but I would probably not stop right then, we would go over every one's bingo's at the end of the class. I also told them that after the first couple of Bingo's everyone should be going for blackout!

Then I started the class, and it was awesome!!! Everyone was very into looking for and hearing the clues throughout the lesson. It didn't stop everyone from having the great discussions about the scripture verses and/or stories that we always have. And when someone got a Bingo they just quietly got my attention and then we continued on with the lesson.

When it was all done, I gave the winners Key Chains that said "Jesus Is The Light" that I had left over from my Seminary days, which were a hit! I even had someone come up afterwards and ask me for extra Bingo Cards because they wanted to show their spouse etc...

That week we were talking about Stephen, Phillip, and Saul/Paul and one of the Bingo Clues was "why do you kick against the prick" and when we were discussing "what does that mean" Sister Denti said that in relating that statement to her personal life - she thought - how many times has her heart been pricked by the spirit telling her to do something but then she fought against it? Which I thought was an awesome analogy. And when I got home and thought about that comment, I thought - that is exactly what I had done. I had felt inspired to do the Bingo game. But then I second guess myself and 'kicked against the prick' a little, but did end up doing it anyway and it turned out to be an amazing experience!

Lesson learned, Lois Brown, don't 'kick against the prick"!

John Rex had a birthday!!!

2011-07-30T15:00:00.002-05:00

Oh, how I love this boy that I now get to call mine!!! He is a fabulous person! And a thrill to have as a Son-In-Law! He is willing to work hard to get through school and provide for his family! He is good at what he is majoring in, and is already working as a athletic trainer at the MTC and he will be graduating this next April! He worked with the BYU football team before for one of his classes in his Major, and as a Senior many people in his major wanted to work with the BYU football team, but only so many can, and he was chosen to come back and work with the team, so Starting August 2, he has been busy every day with football camp! He loves his wife, and it shows!! And as Carrie Underwood song goes....."he treats her like a real man should". He is compassionate and loves Aileen and Anne Marie like his sisters. And even though we all know I'm a little crazy, he respects Alan and I as parents and really is just able to go with the flow, roll with the punches, and have a great time no matter the circumstances i.e. a million bees in my home!!!

Really, there is hardly anything you can't love about this Man, except that he is not a Mavericks fan, but we are working on that!! Dad & I Love you John, and I'm so glad you had a great birthday!!!

July's almost gone.....

2011-07-27T13:29:00.006-05:00

I didn't get all my July decorations out, but I did get enough out to feel festive!!!

I put this Quilt square all together by hand while I was in the hospital trying not to have Anne Marie prematurely!! Later made it into a door wreath. Lots of memories with this decoration!

I really like my Uncle Sam I made in Wichita, Ks

Hope everyone had a patriotic and happy July!!

I'm humbled, amazed, and very grateful!

2011-07-24T23:54:00.003-05:00

Today seemed to be a normal Sunday where church callings and keeping the Sabbath Day holy are the priority of the day. The only thing that has made the day a little sad is that Alan is still very sick and getting frustrated that he is not feeling better sooner!!

Today is also Pioneer Day, which is a church holiday that celebrates and remembers the sacrifices, faith and determination to get to a place that we could worship as our hearts dictated, made possible by our forefathers. Our Sacrament meeting was a really beautiful celebration of our pioneers and the musical numbers really helped everyone feel the spirit and feel our Saviors love.

But tonight the most amazing, humbling thing happened. Late tonight I heard the doorbell ring and we were surprised because we were not expecting anyone, especially this late at night. I cautiously opened the door to find an envelope stuck to our door. I looked around and no one was there. I took the envelope into Alan and we opened it and were so stunned at what we saw. Someone knowing Alan has been unemployed left an envelope with money on our door. Unbelievable!! Who could afford to do such a thing? But your gift is a gift of love and we are so appreciative to whom ever you are! We have given thanks to our Heavenly Father for someone who would be so kind! I pray that you will receive many blessings for your kindness!!

Thank you! I feel my Saviors love through you! Thank you! So humbled to be a better person!

Poor Daddy!

2011-07-22T20:08:00.005-05:00

I'll tell you what, my Dad has had a rough year.....starting with his heart attack last March or April!! the latest of a list of things to trouble him is Kidney Stones! Which shouldn't have been as horrible as it was, except, there was blockage going on, infections, one infection that was hiding until they tried to go in and break up the kidney stones, so then couldn't......putting him on antibiotics that haven't cleared up the infection and now he has two different kinds of infections.....so then surgery still has to be put off......crazy wild, how ridiculous this has been. Then to top it all off, he slipped and fell in the shower and dislocated his finger and had to go to the Emergency Room because they thought for sure it was broken, but miracle of miracles it wasn't! But WARNING the PICTURES ARE NOT PRETTY!!!

One is of the x-ray's the other is the actual hand!!! It made me sick to think about how it must have felt!!!

Poor Daddy!

Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me!

2011-07-20T18:44:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite primary hymns ends with that statement and it is the perfect title for this post. Someone said to me "Boy you are having a hard month, aren't you?" and the answer would be absolutely yes!!! But through it all I have seen the workings and miracles of a Heavenly Father's love for me and my family!

First, to start off the month, my husband lost his job! Not fun, but seems now it is for the best and we know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and for Alan in particular!

My oldest, Anne Marie found out that she had blood clots in her lungs and was admitted into the hospital urgently trying to get that under control and not die from it!!! And she is in Utah and I am here! I was going to try and fly out, but couldn't really go because my boss was leaving on vacation out of the Country, and I was to tend the office.....So blessed that my mother-in-law and her husband Jay were able to be with Anne Marie through this whole ordeal, and that Anne Marie said that the scare was over and that she didn't feel like it was urgent that I be there, and she would rather I came when we could do something fun instead of be in the hospital. Such an angel and I know also that she worried about the expense for us too. I love my children and would do anything for them. But Heavenly Father blessed me with extended family that were right there for Anne Marie, and blessed me with a daughter that would think of others at a time like this and would want to ease my stress as a mother for not being able to be there! She is home now and doing well.

Then Alan ended up in the Emergency Room with diverticulitis, and was in so much pain I can hardly stand it, let alone him! Found out our insurance did not have a 30 day leeway until terminated and we haven't gotten the Cobra information yet!!! It was a great blessing that they were able to get the pain under control and he could go home instead of an overnight stay in the hospital, or worse, if we wouldn't have caught it as soon as we did, it could have ruptured and then it would have meant surgery!!! Such miracles and blessing.

Our Home Teacher came right up and gave Alan a blessing! I love our Home Teachers!

Then our air conditioning has not been working......inside the house the thermostat reads 98 degrees! I know its hot hot hot and brutally hot outside, record breaking hot, but obviously something is not right if the inside is that hot. But the blessing is we were able through friends to find a good reliable company, that came right away, and the day the repair man came another work reimbursement check came for Alan in the mail from his old job that covered the exact cost of the repair!! Tithing! I can't say it enough! You really can't afford not to pay it!

And even though we just found out that we have an obstacle in our way of Alan getting Unemployment benefits, I know that however it turns out Heavenly Father is aware, that he cares very much for what happens to us and that we will be blessed one way or another!!!

How could I not know that, when I know my Heavenly Father loves me and my family!!!

Harry Potter goes Visiting Teaching.....

2011-07-16T16:07:00.007-05:00

My Visiting Teaching partner, MaryAnn Stephens, was out of town a lot in June so we were not able to celebrate my birthday! I wasn't worried about it, but cute enough, MaryAnn was!!! So Friday, she picked me up with a Harry Potter Balloon, saying "Happy Birthday" when I answered the door and then gave me HP glasses to wear!!! She had them on and had another pair for the friend that we were going to V.T., Becky Wangler! When we first got to Becky's house she said, "No Way am I wearing those glasses!" but soon got into the spirit of the day and did!

First we went to lunch at Johnny Corinos, a restaurant that I had never been to before, and I will say was very good!!!

Then it was off to the final movie of Harry Potter!! I thought it was great was a great way to end. It was nice to be there Opening Day and so much fun to be with these two great friends!

Thanks MaryAnn for a great Bday gift and another fun day of Visiting Teaching!!!

Jelly watches and a gift from England

2011-07-09T21:57:00.007-05:00

So, I still don't have a camera and it is hit and miss with my cell phone camera......but I just keep a trying!!! I start out with this disclaimer because I have an infatuation with jelly watches!!! And I took pictures of them all, but it didn't really show them to their best advantage, but I think you will get the idea!! I started out with a lime green one! Everyone commented on it so much, that I then bought my girls jelly watches. Then even more people commented after that so I have started giving them to family as gifts for birthday's, mother's days, etc... The funny thing is that now I have to buy one for myself whenever I am buying one for others! Hence, I now have quite a collection! The lime green, a black one with a zebra print face, then came the white one with daisy's on the face, then the orange one, the red one with red polka dots on the face, and the camouflage one which is my new favorite!!! I've decided what my fascination is.....because I have to wear scrubs everyday.....it is too fun to be playful with the watches and then not have to worry because they are inexpensive! But I always get comments from patients on them!

The Doctor I work for and his wife just got back from a 2 week trip to England, Scotland, and Ireland. And look what they brought me back!!! I was very much into the Royal Wedding of Prince William so when I opened it up and this is what I saw....I had the biggest smile and laughed and thought it was perfect!!! Thanks Doctor!!

July 4th weekend!!!

2011-07-05T17:40:00.006-05:00

My 4th of July weekend started by going to a movie and ended by going to a movie, and anyone who knows me that is the perfect holiday weekend!!!

Friday afternoon after I got off work, Ashley Myers and I went to see the new Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts movie, "Larry Crowne". I really enjoyed it! but loved getting to catch up with Ashley for a little bit!! I sure miss having her in our Ward at church!!! But happy she is not too far away that we can't still get together and do things!! yay!

Saturday was a lazy day, but really good to get things done around the house! Loved it!

Sunday, was of course, church, and my Gospel Doctrine lesson. It seemed different this time. The lesson didn't have a lot a scripture, just a lot of quotes, but the scriptures and quotes we did study were awesome!!!

Then Sunday afternoon my sister Elizabeth came to Fort Worth and we went to go see my Dad who is not getting better as expected from the kidney stones, but getting worse!!! We visited and could tell he was not doing well, but I also aggravated him with all my questions as to why his doctor wasn't doing more......ooops! Sorry Dad! Today (Tuesday) he is back in the emergency room and they do have him scheduled for surgery tomorrow! Thank goodness!

After visiting my dad, Elizabeth stayed for a while at my house and Alan, Elizabeth and I all played cards!! Alan beat us all.....it was sad for us but awesome for him!!! he was on a role!

Monday, the 4th of July we went out to lunch to Chili's which Aileen enjoyed very much and then we took Aileen to "Cars 2"!!! She loved it and after the afternoon we had she went home and went to bed, for the night! That was a surprise, but happy she had a good time and then was able to sleep and be ready to go to her Day Care this morning!

But the best thing I love is that John and Allison picked up Anne Marie and they spent the holiday weekend together!!! I love when I find out things like that! Nothing makes a parent happier then to find out that their children like to do things together!

Good weekend!

Happy July to us.....

2011-07-03T22:39:00.003-05:00

July 1st my husband was unemployed!!! Yes, laid off. Our Economy is so hard right now! So many of the things we had planned this summer are now on hold! But I do know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and we will be o.k. New Horizons changed Fort Worth's base of operation (Alan's office) to Dallas, so for the past month he had been having to drive to Dallas every day and back which adds 2 hrs to the work day, and because his area was still Ft. Worth, he had to drive back and forth during the work day as well to meet with clients or go to work force centers.....so the gas was killing us! One blessing I have seen from this so far is that I am grateful they waited until July 1st because then we were able to get through Anne Marie's hospital crisis and Allison and John being her for a visit before we had to worry about or tell anyone about this....

We will be fine, but prayers would be appreciated!!! And I can't wait to see what adventure this next phase of our life will bring!!! And any Company would be lucky to get Alan!!!

They came, they visited, they left......

2011-06-29T13:20:00.024-05:00

They, meaning Allison & John, one of my beautiful daughters and my favorite son-in-law! They were here for the weekend for a special occasion! Allison's friend from High School, Katie Butler, was getting married. Now, if you have read my blog at all you know that Katie is my daughter even if I didn't give birth to her and she has a perfectly wonderful mother, but we love her for so many reasons! Allison and Katie were tied at the hip through high school, she was an excellent friend, one that a mother could be pleased that their child had, and she loves Aileen. She has babysat Aileen for us for many years and has been a life saver after all my children but Aileen moved away!! Now that Katie is married and moving to San Diego while her husband is in the Marines, I don't know what we will do now! But that's not important now, what is important now is the Wedding and that I was able to spend time with two of my children that live far away!!

After I picked them up from the airport we had to hurry and get them ready for the Wedding Rehearsal dinner.

After the Rehearsal dinner, Allison was going to spend time with Katie, so John and Alan were able to go to a guys night out to the Movies and saw "Green Lantern" they said it was good but it needed more action......I think that is totally a guy thing!

Saturday morning after Katie and Allison got pedicures, we all went to Sundance Square, downtown Fort Worth, and went to Razoo's Restaurant so John could eat some good ole Alligator!! Aileen loved being with John and Allison and we all had fun eating out! I had never been to this restaurant, neither had Alan, but Allison who has been everywhere assured us that we would love it! And we did!

Took a driving tour of the Stockyards, ended at the famous "Billy Bob's", but couldn't talk them into going in and seeing the the famous mirror ball saddle or ride the mechanical bull!!! I told them it was just like what you see in the movies....but no go!!
John and Aileen waiting for the wedding to start.

Allison walking down the aisle

Allison as a bridesmaid

Allison and Katie!

Allison and John at the Reception

Dad and Aileen, she was so good!

I love this picture!

and this one...Katie and Aileen. So, funny, Allison was telling Aileen that she had to be careful of Katie's dress and Aileen looked at Allison like, this isn't my first wedding, you know! It was kind of funny! But Aileen was careful and posed so nicely for this picture.

Theatre friends from High School, Allison, Katie, Josemar, and Nicole.

After the wedding and reception, Aunt Elizabeth came over and we played canasta until 4:30 am Sunday Morning!!! Crazy right? But fun with lots of laughter!

Went to church, and I swear I cannot remember anything about my lesson on Sunday even though I know I stood up front and gave a lesson. I came home made Sunday dinner and Grandpa and Barbara came to see Allison and John and have dinner with us, which was very nice. Then it was off to the airport again so they could fly home!

Allison wanted her flowers to be put on Grandma Clay's grave!

It was an awesome visit, but entirely too quick

Pirates..... and bad hair

2011-06-24T19:15:00.008-05:00

I loved the new Pirates of the Caribbean: On stranger tides movie!!! I think its the best one since the 1st one!!! I've enjoyed them all mind you....but I really enjoyed this one and my friend Becky Wangler took me to it for my birthday.....with a large popcorn and large diet coke what more can you ask for!!! It was a great time and great company! Thanks Becky -- Love you!!! Becky is a Wedding planner and was up to her eyeballs with a Wedding when my birthday rolled around, so we agreed to wait and I have to say after last week, I was ready for something fun and this totally fit the bill!!

I got my hair cut, colored, and styled by the great Don Martin and looked awesome all week until Thursday when I woke up late and said bag it!!! Do I have a single picture of me looking awesome!! No! But yes, we have a picture of me with my BAD HAIR DAY!!! Now its Friday and I knew I couldn't be caught with bad hair again and I have great hair.....and no camera!!! Story of my life!

Happy Father's day and more.....

2011-06-20T09:00:00.003-05:00

Oh, my children are so blessed! They have the best father, really they do!! He has and will always be there for them! I have heard from several women as my children were growing up things such as "I wish my husband would play with my girls they way your husband does" or "I wish my husband came to all of our children's performances" etc... anyway you get the idea, he really does love his girls and would do just about anything for them or with them!! His ultimate dream would be for he and Allison to be on the "Amazing Race" together and be the 1st father daughter team to win! And going on a cruise with Anne Marie to some exotic place! And being with Aileen when she talks for the first time!!! He actually has had this dream and feels that he has heard what her voice will sound like. Anyway, as you can tell his girls (me included) are his life!!! And now he is loving life because he has a boy (our John) to talk sports with!!! He is livin' the good life!!! Can't ask for much more!! Thanks honey for being the best Dad ever.......

Unless of course we are talking about my dad, I think he would have to join the ranks of best dad as well! I went over and visited my Dad on Sunday and had a special visit. I appreciate all he does for and with me now and all that he did for me in my youth and that he made it possible for me to go to BYU and meet this fabulous guy I'm married to that continues the tradition of awesome Dads.

Friday, we had a scare Anne Marie had not been feeling well and out of breath and called and asked if she should go to the Doctor or did I think she was over reacting. I'm so glad that I told her that she needed to listen to her body and get checked out!! Turns out one Doctor sent her same day to another specialist and on the same day was sent to another specialist until she was put in the hospital because of 2 blood clots in her lungs!! Of course the question on every one's mind is how does this happen to a 30 yr old!! They have put her on Coumadin which is a blood thinner taken her off other medications that they thought might be causing the blood clots and have given her another med to stabilize the blood clots she already has so that they don't move to places we don't want them to travel to i.e. the brain etc... The body eventually takes care of getting rid of the blood clots as long as they don't go somewhere and cause more problems. They thought she would be able to go home on Sunday but her blood levels are not where they should be yet and when she gets up to move around her heart beat goes crazy and is very erratic, so not gonna happen yet!! Oh, my sweet baby! I was going to fly out for the weekend, but Anne Marie said that she didn't really feel like it was that urgent of a thing for me to come! But its been a tough weekend being away!! Thank heavens for family - Mom and Jay have been there with her and Kevin & MaryAnn my brother and sister-in-laws, Anne Marie's cousins have been by and her friends have come to visit and the Doctors and Nurses that she works with have all been by several times to see her so that is very cool! But I must admit now that she has not gone home on Sunday I do regret that I didn't fly out........work would have been a problem for me, but I would have dealt with it......and I do wish I would have gone! But my girl is an adult and I am so proud of her for so many reasons!!!

Then......Allison posts on Facebook that she had a close encounter with a shark!!! I was finally able to talk to both John and Allison, and it was no joke, it was scary, and they are swimming in the pool in Orlando now and not the ocean!!!

Wow, I think I am ready for a new week!!! Everyone be safe and get well in my family!!!

Can you say....."Best Birthday Ever!!!" ?

2011-06-14T02:30:00.003-05:00

My birthday this year was awesome!!! The Doctor that I work for and his wife always do something really nice for me (see post below). Some friends from church the Betts, brought me flowers (that really was a surprise). Also mentioned in an earlier post I was taken by Rebecca to see the movie "THOR" and anyone who knows me, knows I'm the movie queen....so nothing better than going to the movie!! I got a birthday card from my old boss at CFT, Karen Vanderwerken, that made me smile to be remembered!!! My very thoughtful mother-in-law, sent a beautiful card with money, thank you Mom and Jay!!! My Dad and Barbara gave me a card with money as well, so thoughtful. Of course both of these birthday cards had little to do with the money which was a nice gift and very much appreciated, but knowing how Mom spends hours reading cards to say just the right thing, and I'm not sure if my Dad did or Barbara did....but the sentiments of both cards meant the very most to me!!! When you are younger and hear people say that, you think, yeah right! But it really is true what the card said the personal notes inside was the best part of that gift!!!

My husband and Aileen, on Saturday, took me out for breakfast, my favorite meal to eat out! They got me a beautiful flower arrangement, for my home and for Sunday Lessons!!! Does my husband know me or what!! And spent the day running errands that I wanted to get done!

Sunday, my actual birthday, Anne Marie called, John texted me, and Allison called all to wish me a happy birthday!! Really made my day to hear from all of them!!! And my Sunday School lesson at church went well, can't ask for more than that!!

But the part that made it the "Best Birthday Ever" is that the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA National Title!! It was so exciting, and I was so noisy cheering the Mav's on!! It was AWESOME!!!

Have I hidden my talents?

2011-06-11T11:09:00.004-05:00

This weeks Sunday School lesson on the parables - The Ten Virgins, the Talents, and the sheep and the goats has made me very thoughtful and has had me looking back over my life several times. As I have been thinking about what personal experiences to share or not share several have come to mind at different times based on what part of the lesson I was focusing on.

Although I did post a comment about this very thing on my friend Mona's blog I don't think I have posted about it on my blog.

Growing up my family has always been a musical family, I've played the violin for years, was a member of the Murray Utah Symphony as an adult etc... but my love is singing. I started taking lessons late in High School but made up for lost time quickly because the talent was natural and inherited from my mother!!

So everyone was surprised when I went to College at BYU and instead of majoring with my violin I was Majoring in Music with my voice! Even all my professors said, you played the violin so long and your majoring in singing??? Until they heard me sing! My Major was Music Education. My first Jury my freshman year on my critique all of the professors said, "She should be a Music Performance Major". Which was a huge compliment and in fact at my 2nd Jury my second semester, this Jury all commented on that as well and asked why I hadn't changed my major.

But by then I had fallen in love and was about to get married that summer! And even though I had always dreamed of being a Young Ambassador at BYU, I was happy to be getting married and starting my eternal family.

I have spent many years in Primary as the chorister (15 to be exact not all in one place or all at one time but 15) helping children to love music as much as I do and I will say that there is nothing sweeter than hearing enthusiastic voices sing the beautiful, testimony building songs of primary. I've directed our Church Choir, sang in the church choirs everywhere we have lived. I've sung in the nursery at our church with the 18 month -2 yr olds. I've been the soloist for the City of Murray "Messiah Sing-In" I have performed at Pioneer Valley Playhouse on stage in Musicals, I've sung at weddings and funerals and have loved being asked by those I love and some I don't know but have heard of my talent.

I've seen other of my friends travel with professional choirs to sing at Carnegie Hall, or be in performing groups that perform for a living. Some friends have even sang on the stage in Musicals professionally! And while I will admit that I'm human and once in a while wonder what have I done with my talent.......

All I have to do is look into the eyes of my 26 y/o disabled daughter Aileen and know that I have sung for angels and my Heavenly Father......every morning when I wake up my Leeny to a medley of songs that I have sung to her since she was born, all I have to do is look in her eyes and see that I am giving the most important audience of my life happiness and joy each day as we start the new day!!!

I love being Aileen's mother! I love singing songs of praise and joy for Aileen who cannot sing out loud but I know sings in her heart! And I do know that even though others may say...."I have wasted my talent...............those who truly know me, i.e. my Savior and Heavenly Father, know that I have done the most with my talent!!! That I have doubled, tripled, my most important talent, that of being a mother! A mother who is helping her family return to a loving Heavenly Father!

And the human mother in me cannot wait until the next life or the Saviors coming to hear my sweet Aileen sing....because I know it is a beautiful voice!

Found a new store......

2011-06-10T00:48:00.007-05:00

It's called Brighton! The Doctor and his wife gave me my Birthday present today, my bday is on Sunday, and the Doctor's wife doesn't work on Friday's so today was the last day that they would both be there to see me open my gift!!!

Never heard of this store before, I hardly ever go to the mall anymore, do most of my shopping online nowadays!!! But they do have a Brighton.com. They have awesome accessories, handbags etc... and I love, love love, the jewelry that they gave me for my birthday!!! And I think the closest one to me is University Mall, by Talbot's, I'm excited to make a visit based on the awesome gift I just received as well as checking out the website!!!

The necklace and earrings are called "Posh Posey"

Perfect bracelet to wear with everything!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOO MAVS!!!!

2011-06-07T23:58:00.004-05:00

The Mavericks are killing me with all this last 5 minutes of nail biting stressful come from behind games!!! But they are doing it and it is exciting!!! I would love it if the Mav's could go all the way, especially since my Son-in-law, John is cheering for the Miami Heat!!! O.k. so he has one flaw, he likes Florida teams when it comes to sports..... but I forgive him!! I do realize after this post if the Heat win, I'll be eating a lot of humble pie and John will be here the weekend of the 24th with Allison to feed it to me lol!!! I like that my girl (Allison) is still loyal to Texas, is not being swayed by her husband, and is cheering for the Mav's as well.

My Mom loved watching the Mav's!!!

Go Mav's!!!

Thor - the movie!!!

2011-06-07T23:51:00.003-05:00

For my birthday, my friend Rebecca Albright took me to the movie Thor!!! Oh, my gosh, can I tell you it was awesome and I'm not usually a really big cartoon made into a movie fan, but this was awesome!!! Bonus - Sr. Anthony Hopkins plays Thor's Dad ---- what could be better.

The whole time I was watching Thor in action and thinking "oh, my look how good looking that guy is" Then I realized....."I wonder how they got Alan to play that role and make that movie, I don't remember him being gone."

Thor is a great movie to go see for girls night out or a fun date night movie with your hubby!!!

So happy.....

2011-06-07T23:41:00.004-05:00

Can I tell you how happy I am that Hines and Kim won Dancing with the Stars? Really happy! I had the most fun watching them dance and I know I don't really know them but it seemed like they were always happy and laughing and just having a good time! Hines seems like someone you could have as a role model in sports for your children and not be sad about it. His background story of how his mother worked so many jobs to give him a better life was inspirational and how even when he thought he would be a 1st or 2nd round pick for the NFL draft then doctors found out that his knee didn't have any cartilage and so he got picked lower, he didn't give up he just worked harder and has been a great success. He doesn't do a lot of trash talk he just gets it done. I was really moved by how concerned he was about Kim, his dancing partner, when she got injured. They always made me smile to watch them dance!!! Never really been a big Steeler's fan but I may just become one, now that I feel that I have gotten to know one of their players a little better!!

Giggles and dominos......

2011-06-06T10:55:00.005-05:00

Sunday Aileen decided that right when Lori Wagley started to give her lesson in Relief Society that she would start giggling, which then turned into outright laughter and a little screaming.....so of course I picked up all my bags and took her to the lobby. Then she just started laughing, laughing in the lobby and disrupting everyone even with doors closed, laughing all the way to the car, all the ride home, laughing all the way into the house, and laughing all the way to my bedroom where we laid on my bed and turned on BYU TV!!! She continued to laugh all the rest of the day. Alan came home and saw that she was laughing and so then he started laughing too! So we all giggled and laughed all Sunday afternoon!! Not a bad way to spend the day.....but who knows why she got so tickled???? There is no way of knowing but it is contagious and even though I wanted to be frustrated with her because of having to leave church.....all I could do was laugh with her!!!

For my Gospel Doctrine lesson on Sunday, the lesson was on the signs of the 2nd coming. So I did a word collage on the main chalk board with words like speculation, rumors, hearsay, prophecy, prepare, signs etc.... some good and some not good for the subject of the lesson. Then on the table in front of that chalkboard I lined up my domino's standing up in a snake like line.

When class first started I told them I was going to make a prediction about the weather today.....I told them that in 2 hrs it was going to snow (this was out of the lesson manual) they all just smiled at me....so I asked them if they believed that or not and why and I got answers like because its 100 degrees outside, because its Texas, etc... Then this was my part added to what the lesson suggested.....

So what about the on May 21, 2011 the world was suppose to end, there was a billboard on I-35 proclaiming that.....or about 20 yrs ago in Idaho there was a man that said the Lord had told him when the 2nd coming was and that we all needed to stock up on ammunition and firearms...

What words in my word collage applies to these types of stories..... so then as they said them I crossed out the words: rumors, hearsay, speculation, predictions and left the good words alone like signs, prophecy, prepare, etc...

I said today's lesson is a lesson that is easy to get side tracked and to talk about things we have heard, rumors etc... and do you know what happens to our lesson when we do that????

I then hit the 1st domino and they all snaked and fell down..... I said it runs away from us, and that we don't learn what the prophet, General Authorities and the Lord have prepared for us to learn and the spirit leaves the room.... So today as we talk about the signs of the 2nd Coming ask yourselves these two questions before adding to the lesson - "Where did I learn this?" and "Where can I read this?"

Anyway it was an affective way to open this lesson and as people commented they would say where in the scriptures they had found their answer or comment and it was very cool!!! And of course all my comments and points came from the scriptures, the lesson manual or quotes from General Authorities!

A month or so ago......

2011-06-02T08:30:00.002-05:00

Because I didn't want to sound like I was tooting my own horn, I didn't tell about something I did to begin Gospel Doctrine class. But, because this is my personal history, that I turn into a journal at the end of each year I do want to document something I did that turned out pretty cool!

The lesson was on "Who is my neighbor" and how every person on the earth the Savior considers our neighbors. So to start the lesson off, I came in, after everyone was seated and ready to start class singing "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" song "Won't You Be My Neighbor". I came in wearing a sweater to take off and hang up, I set up my table for class, and changed my shoes to slippers, all while singing "Won't You Be My Neighbor". When I pulled out the UGG's (slippers) to change into I will say that got the most chuckles but everyone was smiling the whole time. It was great fun and a fun way to start this particular lesson! I definitely got their attention!

Here is what one of my friends (Carol Malone) emailed me later that day:

"Lois, I can't think of anybody else who could have pulled off the "Mrs. Rogers" act like you did today! What a unique way to start a lesson about "Who Is My Neighbor?"! It was great. Carol"

I went to Mr Rogers Neighborhood website and downloaded the music and words

Remembering Mom on Memorial Day

2011-05-31T08:52:00.004-05:00

On the way to the Cemetery I had to honor my Mom by stopping and getting a LARGE diet coke as my Mom always had a large diet coke where ever she was going, a tradition that I happily continue!!!! Yes that is a 60 oz drink!!! My Dad went with me to put a patriotic flower arrangement at her grave site!!! The picture doesn't show the flower arrangement as nice as it really is, but the cell phone is all I have right now and I don't always get a good picture from that!!! But like it have said in past posts, it's better than nothing!!!

I sure hope for my birthday coming up on June 12th!!! My family will take all my hints about needing a camera!!! lol!

TexasBrownie.com

2011-05-31T08:39:00.005-05:00

Wow, oh Wow!!! If you want a great brownie you need to go to Texasbrownie.com!!! I just ordered the cheesecake brownies and they are so good!!!And I have tasted the chocolate chocolate chip brownie as that is my Dad's favorite and he shared one of his with me! They were very very chocolate! I would have to say that the cheesecake brownies are my favorite so far but they have so many different kinds to try I might just find out I like others just as much or better!!!! I will sure enjoy trying and tasting them!!!

This was started by a couple in our Ward/Church and Yamilla is an amazing cook and baker!!! I so recommend that you go and give them a try!!!

Texasbrownie.com

Water For Elephants the movie and Becky........

2011-05-31T08:24:00.006-05:00

Early in May was Becky Wangler's B-day! She is an excellent and awesome friend, but is also one of MaryAnn and my's Visiting Teaching sisters! We asked her what she wanted to do and we ended up doing a Dinner and Movie and went to see "Water For Elephants" which I was excited about because it was one of the movies I had wanted to see! Afterwards we also went shopping as well as giving our sweet friend gifts!!! And you guessed it -- from me she got a jelly watch!!! Funny! But it was a great one and she loved it! This was right after I found out my camera was broke and before I realized I could use my cell phone!!! But I did want to document this activity! The movie was awesome!!! I heard the book showed the meanness of the husband much worse then the movie did, and I'm o.k. with the fact that I haven't read the book then, because the movie was stressful enough!!! Love you Becky and happy birthday!!!

Stephanie Plum, here we come......

2011-05-29T20:36:00.004-05:00

My birthday is in June and I am so excited because my sister found out that my favorite author of a series of Books that I just love, Janet Evanovich will be in Frisco, Tx, on June 24th and Elizabeth and I are going so we can buy the new book and have her sign it!!! I'm very excited to meet her. She writes a series of books about a Jersey Girl, Stephanie Plum, that through a series of mishaps and desperation becomes a bounty hunter, and not a very good one. These books my oldest, Anne Marie, got me hooked on and they are laugh out loud while you are reading it funny - plus there is also suspense, romance, and a happy ending, but never a dull minute!!! WARNING: There is however some language that I just skip over.....there is less and less of the language the further along the books go, so I was really happy about that!

My sister Ruth, loves them too, and both of us told my sister Elizabeth about them so she started reading them. While Elizabeth was reading them she would laugh out loud because they are so funny, so much so, that my brother-in-law Art decided to read them and he agrees they are funny and has read them all as well!!!

Alan's favorite characters in the book are Lulu and Grandma Mazer!

I'm ready for #17 - "Smokin Seventeen"!!!!

Double Date at Salt Grass......

2011-05-29T20:22:00.003-05:00

To kick off our Memorial day weekend, we (Alan, Aileen, and me) went on a double date with Rebecca Albright and Greg Uribe at Salt Grass! We were very excited to do this and were happy to do this as a thank you for Greg saving our house from burning down!!!! Plus they are just awesome friends and any excuse to get together is o.k. with me!!! All day Saturday as we were running errands and doing chores around the house I would tell Aileen that She and I were going on a date with Daddy tonight! She would always get excited and kind of hide her face and smile, which is always so cute and a sign that she is excited about something. Then to top it off when she found out we were going with Rebecca and Greg she could not have been happier!

During dinner Rebecca said, "Oh, Aileen, I'm sorry I haven't been meaning to ignore you" and then proceeded to ask Aileen questions about her friends at Day Hab, about what activities she has there etc... Alan and I of course answered for her, but Rebecca has always been very sensitive to make sure Aileen knows that she is part of the party and that she will talk to her like she would any other adult 26 yr old. And that my friends is one of the many, many reasons that we love Rebecca!!!

It was a really fun evening! And lets not wait for my house to try and burn down a second time to double date again!!! Love you guys!!!

Visiting Teaching Luncheon......

2011-05-29T19:56:00.011-05:00

We (MaryAnn Stephens and I) do have fun doing our Visiting Teaching!!! This month we had a luncheon and Yensey Willden and Kristen Jensen invited their visiting teaching ladies to come too, so it was a joint lunch and I must say Yensey made the best cake I have had in a long time!!! Thanks to Kathleen Brackney for having a birthday that we needed to celebrate!!! We (MaryAnn and I) had already visited most of our sisters, but we were given a new name and met her for the first time at this luncheon! Lacy Lassiter has only been a member for a year now and has the cutest 7 month old baby I've seen in a long time.....yes my grandma instincts kicked in and I had a great time holding the baby!!! I still don't have a camera yet, so cell phone pictures are the best I can do right now, but I say, it's better then no picture documentation!!! MaryAnn always has her back yard so beautiful and even though it was hot the wind and shade of her porch made it a lovely way to spend an afternoon!

Kristie, Yensy, Kathleen

Yamilla and her little girl

Yamilla's son

Mary Ann, Kristie, Yensy, and Kathleen

Lacy and baby

Me - Always in scrubs just getting off work and hurrying over!!! But happy to pick up Lacy and be there!!!

Livin' the good life!

2011-05-26T10:55:00.003-05:00

I work at a Doctors office and as I call patients back to the examination rooms you always make a little small talk by asking how their doing, or isn't it a beautiful day etc.... almost always I get asked how I am doing in return. And I just noticed the other day that I always answer, "I'm livin' the good life!" To which there are a lot of smiles, and chuckles, some other random comments about how that is a great answer!!! But it's true. To our regular routine patients that I see 4 times a year for 3 yrs now, we may go into a more depth discussion about theirs and my children etc... and some may even ask, "so no problems?" Then I quickly tell them, "Oh, I didn't say that! - not everything is always runnin' smoothly, but its a great life!"

I am so grateful for my family and friends for my fabulous, magnificent husband. My awesome and amazing children (yes, that totally includes my son-in-law), a shelter over my head, food to eat, clothing to wear, jobs for my husband and I and a Heavenly Father who loves me and has provided all these blessing for me! A Savior that makes it possible to repent and try to do better daily and hopefully return to live with him someday! It's a great life!

Now on a silly note........ Sonic has an awesome new blast out, I encourage all to try it.....the Oreo double stuff blast! Yummy! It taste way different than just an oreo blast!!

I love, love, love Tim McGraw, saw him in concert once in Kansas!!! But totally love the song that he and the new American Idol did on the finale show last night!!! "Live Like You Were Dying" I think Scotty McCreery is going to be big like Carrie Underwood!!

Burn update

2011-05-23T09:10:00.007-05:00

Count your many blessings name them one by one......

1. That the electrical burn smell happened while I was at home.
2. That we know an exceptional master electrician (Greg Uribe).
3. That he was willing to come over after a very long and frustrating day at work, very late at night and check everything out.
4. That even though, it was bad, (Alan could see it in his eyes) he just told us, "I know exactly what to do" and did it. He even changed out and upgraded our breaker box, air conditioner hook-ups, fixed the water heater connection before we got the new water heater installed, and really took care of who knows what else! And never really told us how bad it was!!!!
5. That Rebecca (his significant other) told me how blessed we really were. When Greg (master electrician) came to see her after being at our house....he said, "you're friend is lucky her house did not burn down". Who knows how long Heavenly Father kept us safe until we had this warning and could take care of it.
6. That we know a great plumber, Rick Frey, who helped Alan install our new water heater, even though it turned out to be one big hassled because the first one, when taken out of the box had obviously been dropped on its head, as it was all smashed up!
7. That Home Depot, just said sure -- here's another one! When we took it back.
8. That all is fixed now and working wonderfully.
9. How safe we feel now.
10. How blessed we are! Thanks Heavenly Father for your protection and answer to prayers!
(Pictured: Greg Uribe and Rebecca Albright)