Lyndsy, James and River move into a house on Redondo Street.

Lyndsy is so excited to actually have a house that has a fenced in backyard where River can go out and play and she doesn’t have to worry about him.  They are still renting, but it is a good move.  She also enrolled River in the school in his neighborhood.  They are excited to get acquainted with their new neighbors and their new ward.  She was so excited when she found out that River was assigned to Louise Bitner at Dillworth!  That name should bring back memories for all the Maxfield children.

As you can see, Lyndsy has a lot of organizing and work ahead of her.  They just moved in on Saturday evening and Neal and I visited them Sunday afternoon. 

Another grandson turns twelve! Congratulations Ryan!

We had the opportunity to witness and be a apart of Ryan being ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood.  Because we were in Mexico the week he turned twelve, he made the decision to wait until we were back.  We met at the Hintze home at 6 p.m. on April 29th.  His Bishop came along with his grandpa from Southern Utah.  The priesthood holders standing in the circle were Rick Conely (grandpa) his Bishop, his dad (who performed the ordination) and Neal Maxfield (grandpa).  We are so proud of you Ryan.

Time to say goodbye!

We left Mexico at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning.  We got on the wrong road and ended up in the Sentry Lane.  That is a huge mistake and one that could be a fine of $5,000 or impounding our vehicle.  However, because it was our first violation they let us through, held us for a little while in the inspection zone and then we were on our way.  That little mistake saved us over two hours of waiting in the lines at the border.  We shopped on the way home and reached St. George by 4:30 that afternoon.  When we drove into the parking area where Ron and Judy’s condo is, our car was gone.  We couldn’t believe it, but there was no car anywhere to be seen.  Ron called the President of the organization and found out that while we were gone parking areas were being repaired and if cars weren’t moved they were towed.  Ron and Neal drove over to the compound and found our car parked on the street, so we got it back with no fine and a great deal of relief!  We loaded all our stuff into our car, said our “thank yous” and “goodbyes” and headed for home.  We arrived in Salt Lake about 8:30.  Ron and Judy stayed the night in St. George and came home late this afternoon.  We had a wonderful time!  Thanks Stanfields.

Our finished puzzle with THREE pieces missing.  This was a brand new puzzle that had never been taken out of the box!  How disappointing and frustrating!

You can see we did some shopping and were well packed into the car with little or no room to move!  Neal did come home with a new pot and a huge sun to hang outside on our patio.

An interesting dinner that was delicious!

Judy fixed some chicken soup and served it over mashed potatoes.  Never in my life have I had soup over mashed potatoes.  In fact, I don’t remember the last time I ate mashed potatoes. 

Great picture of Neal and Ron washing their hands in the tub of water!  Let me think, are their hands cleaner before washing or after washing?  Typical of modern Mexico.  We were at the taco stand where we always go.  You don’t want to look or think about how the food is prepared.

Neal, Judy and Ron having a serious discussion!

And, of course, Neal’s collection of found golf balls.  I think he found about 45 or more on just one day!!

More fun days.

The weather was cooler than usual.  We had lots of rain, some sun, cool days and a lot of cloud cover.  But it didn’t stop the men from golfing.  It did put a damper on the women.  So Judy and I found a bridge game and we played bridge while the men golfed.  We also had pedicures.

Judy and I didn’t have a ride home after the game so we walked home.  It was about 2 miles along a road with no sidewalks, lots of construction and construction workers who had nothing better to do than whistle at two well aged women!  Below is a picture of Judy in front of Las Gaviotas where their home is.  The other picture of Ron and Neal at the club house checking their emails after we had finished at the hot tub.

There were a few cleaning projects and fix ups that needed to be done.  Neal and I were happy to pitch in and help.  Judy and I emptied all the cupboards, cleaned and put everything back.  Ron worked on spraying for termites and patching a wall from a leaking roof and Neal was assigned to get his school work done so we didn’t have to share his time for the rest of the trip!

Another fun trip to Mexico with the Stanfields

We arrived in Rosarito Thursday evening, unpacked and settled in.  Judy came out with some golf balls that she had purchased for us.  Only to be used for putting.  We don’t want to take the chance of losing this wild golf balls in the weeds.  Along with Mexico always comes the (what Judy and I fondly refer to as “Smut Magazines”).  We always have to read the People magazines that have been accumulated since our last trip.

N

Neal and I always try to buy a nice gift for Ron and Judy to show them our appreciation for their generosity and hospitality.  We bought these place mats and napkins at the Tommy Bahama store. 

We had a great dinner and then Neal, Ron and I started a puzzle – that took us the whole week to put together.  It was not an easy one.  Neal and Ron did most of the work!

Miracles happen every day!

This was one of those Saturdays that make you think you are living a nightmare!  We got a call from Maren at 8 a.m. telling us that Taylor was having a dance recital at Cottonwood High School.  Her three dances were 9:15, 12:45 and 1:45.  Mallory had a flute recital at the U of U Concert Hall at 2:30.  I had a two hour appointment with Lyndsy at 10:00 a.m. and Neal and I were hosting a dinner for his singles ward at 3 p.m.  Something had to go and so I had to opt out of my granddaughters performances because of time issues.  I got home from Lyndsy’s at 12:45 and began preparing the dinner.  I turned on the oven to start heating so I could put in the potatoes to bake and the roast to do the same.  About 10 after 1 I heard the oven beat at me and I remember thinking that it shouldn’t be heated up to 425 yet.  I looked at the settings and a number had come up – F-7.  I opened the oven door and NO HEAT!  I quickly checked my instruction book and F-7 means no heat and turn off the oven and call a repair service!  YIKES.  I had people coming for dinner and I didn’t have an oven that worked.  Panic struck for just a moment.  I realized the only thing I could do was get my roaster pan down, put the meat in the bottom and pile the tin foiled potatoes on the top of the meat, turn the heat to it’s highest setting and pray!  Well, pray I did.  I said that I new there wasn’t any magic to be done but if it were possible could I please have the dinner done by three so I could feed the guests.  I went about preparing the rest of the meal, setting the table and generally getting everything ready as if there were going to be a meal.  I did come up with a back up plan just in case things didn’t get done.  I would send Neal to get some pizzas and we could at least have a main course with the salads, rolls and vegetables.  By the way, I made home made rolls but with no way to cook them – they went in the garbage!  Neal ran to the store and bought some rolls.

Now, for the miracle.  We were supposed to eat at 3:00 p.m.  I checked the potatoes at 2:50 and they were obviously getting done but totally not ready to eat.  I thought, gosh if we only had another 1/2 hour the potatoes and meat would be done to perfection!  Guess what.  EVERYONE was a 1/2 hour late!  Honest.  Say what you want, but by the time everyone got there and sat down and I served up the dinner, it was 3:45 and the meal was done to perfection!  We had a wonderful visit with the Bishopric and young adults that we were honoring and the food was delicious!  Thank you for miracles. 

How often do we say little prayers and then don’t recognize that they were answered and forget to say “thank you”.  I told Mindy that last week I was walking along 13th East and needed to cross the street.  I waited for the light and when it turned green and the little walk man appeared I just about stepped off the curb but something held me back and in the split second of hesitation a truck came roaring by and had apparently not seen the red light and went through it!  Had I stepped out right when I intended, I would have been dead or seriously injured.  I cannot deny prayers being answered and guardian angels on my right and on my left protecting me and helping me along. 

I love my sign above my back door that says A. S. A. P.  Believe me, I do not leave the house without kneeling and thanking my Heavenly Father for the day and praying for safety for me and my family.  May we all be aware of the blessings we receive on a daily basis and acknowledge who is sending them down to us!

Then came the egg contest!

And Neal/dadl/Pa wins the much coveted trophy for 2012!  It came down to Pa and Brock.  Almost sad to beat out a grandchild.

There was much discussion about how hard we hit each other’s eggs and the fact that Neal had a little Easter sticker on the end of his egg.  As family members were throwing out comments, that we all in fun, Emmi wrote them down.  Below is the bracket and the rules for next year that I’m more than positive, no one will follow because it just doesn’t make one bit of difference as to whether your egg will break or not.  I love this family tradition!  We always miss Tucker and Jamie and the three girls and CJ, Justin and Derek.  How will they ever win if they aren’t here to participate.  Very sad.

The steroid comment because when Greg hit Maddie’s egg, he not only crushed the end of her egg but nearly split it to the other end!  Of course, the sticker was for Pa’s sake.  The other two rules I can’t give a report on where they came from or why.  I guess one has to recognize that this is SERIOUS business!!

What a wonderful day we had.  I love my family and I love being together.  We miss those who live far away but know that you are always thought of and missed when we are together.  The other night when Neal and I were at the mall, we ran into Nanette.  As we talked she turned to me and said, “How are YOUR kids – Lynda and Jeff?”  How very sad that even she who has adopted children doesn’t get that we are a sealed together forever family and that we all love each other and that we are ONE family.  I’m grateful to all my children who understand, believe and live the principle of a forever family. 

Easter gathering continues:

After dinner, we visited for some time.  I didn’t even jump right up and start clearing the table.  Everyone seemed to just want to enjoy each other and visit and I didn’t want to break into the mood.  So I hung onto my seat and tried to enjoy the mess around me!  The kids became anxious for the egg hunt.  Emmi, Mallory and Maddie decided this was their year to be on the adult side of things so I sent the three girls outside with the stuffed plastic eggs and they had fun hiding them for the younger ones.  Pictures of the gathering of grandchildren and the hunt.  Notice the egg trophy sitting on the grand.  Lyndsy was the winner last year and had to relinquish it to this years winner.  The last picture is everyone jumping.  That comes from Tucker and Derek!  Every picture I took in China it seemed that one of them jumped just as I snapped the shot!