A busy Saturday

Taylor had a dance recital in St. George and so Maren called and asked if I could tend Boston and Brock on Saturday while Greg was at work.  I ran out to Maren’s and picked up the two boys about 9 a.m.  I actually got lost coming out of Maren and Greg’s neighborhood.  Don’t ask me what street I got on but it took me nearly 1/2 hour to get back on the right road!  Seriously, children, you are going to have to watch me closely when I get old.

When I finally got home, Emmi was up and so we decided to take the boys to Wheeler Farm.  Here are some fun pictures of us enjoying the farm.

We ended back at the house to have a bit of lunch and then got ready to go to Grayson’s baptism.  Boston wanted a peanut butter and jam sandwich and then had a bowl of cereal.  Brock just wanted cereal.

A visit from the Gertsons and Neal hires Emmi!

Every year Neal loves to plant all his many planters that he has out on the patio.  I have to admit they are beautiful when they get growing a blooming, but I’m just not into planting.  So, last year he asked Emmi if she would stay over and help him plant and she willing accepted.  This year Spring came as usual and the pots needed to have new plants in them.  Again, Neal got Emmi to come and stay over night and help him. 

Lynda Ann was having a serious problem with her left eye and so she went to the doctors, Neal and Jeff G. went golfing and I took Emmi and we ran some errands and picked up some food for dinner.

When Neal got home he and Emmi went out on the patio to begin the planting and Lynda Ann, Jeff, Mallory, Abby and I played a game and then the Gertsons headed home, leaving Emmi to stay and finish with Pa and to dust and clean his office.

Oh my gosh!  Look how tall these grandchildren of mine are getting!  Am I really a midget or just a very small grandma?

Notice the big sun that Neal bought in Mexico along with another pot.  I also had to take a picture of Andrew in his coon skin hat!  Apparently he is doing a report on Daniel Boon.

Derek’s counted cross stitch statistics

Neal figured that if I did 6 complete cross stitches in 1 minute and worked 2 hours a day I could finish this project in 2 1/2 months and it would total about 200 hours.  Now you figure what the standard hourly rate is for working and you will see how much this thing will actually be worth when I finish it! 

I just finished a wonderful book by Stephanie Nielson

There are countless paragraphs of inspiration as I read this book.  But two paragraphs stood out for me.  The first was this thought (and I’m quoting from Stephanie):  A memory came back to her about being in a beautiful place, away from her body. She spent time with her grandmother and she says; “I was asked to choose.  I could stay there if I wanted, and be released from my physical body, or I could go back to earth.” (and what follows made me think about my sister, Annette who was taken from us so early in her life and about Judy, who was also taken at an early age).  Stephanie says, “In either case, I had work to do, and it could be accomplished in heaven or on Earth.  I thought about watching my girls get married and my boys go on missions, and I realized I could experience it from afar.” 

What a wonderful thing for all of us to think about and have a testimony of.  How blessed we are as members of the Church of Jesus Christ to know for a surety that all our loved ones are very close and they do experience and help us from the other side of the veil.  I remember clearly experiencing Judy’s presence when Tucker went through the temple and we were in the Celestial Room when Maren was married and we had just finished dressing her in the brides room.

Secondly, I believe as she does that God knows us each personally and that He understands our heart.  We all have challenges in this life but no matter the challenges we can rise above them if we believe that our Heavenly Father knows and loves us and we believe in the atonement.

Update on my sewing project for Derek

This is not the easiest counted cross I’ve done, nor can I say it is the hardest.  But, it falls somewhere toward one of the more challenging ones I’ve done.  Keep in mind, this is just the center of the project.  The trees branches out to the right and to the left. 

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!