GETTING OLD

snow is finally melting but we need more moisture

Sunday was not only special because it was the Sabbath but because Jalen came into the world 4 years ago.  We are so grateful that David and Kristin found him and brought him home, adopted as their own.  

He is such a special little boy who bounces off the walls with happiness.  He certainly has  his own opinions  about everything and they always make us laugh.

Robbie Boscoe spoke as our high council speaker.  He really gave it to us on attending the temple.  It was powerful.  We have decided to go every Tuesday.  YaHoo!

That evening Ava invited us to their home for a birthday dinner.  Bethany made the best Cafe Rio dinner.  We were stuffed with such good food.  We spent the evening in loudness and laughter and had a terrific time.

Perfect black  mail for the future

                                             

  It was wonderful to feel the Spirit in their home.

We love that families are forever.  We can't imagine heaven with even one of our family missing.  
I'm finally 49.  We started my birthday by going to I HOP for breakfast. We also went to see “The Book Thief”  at the dollar place on my birthday.  It was so good.  It really gives you a feel for the desperate conditions of the people during WWII.  You can’t watch it without a Kleenex. My birthday was a good day.  Dad gave me a fishing license.  Can’t wait to cast my new rod. Everyone called which made the day perfect. 

Flowers from Tiff left out in the cold.  We found them at 10:30 PM.  What was the florist thinking?

Brent Murray came over and completely overhauled my computer.  It is amazing how good it works now.  It only cost me 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies and a dinner.  Pretty good deal.  He is from NC.  His parents are good friends. 
I was able to get some pictures Aunt Bev's son, Dean sent me.  They are of my mother's family.

Clarasetta and David Jones 50th

Uncle Jack prisoner inn WWll, Belvalene, mama Katie. Larrel 1966

Grandpa, grandma, Belvalene 1943

We had dentist appointments with Dr. McKell and then headed to SLC to take Elder Brandon Jenkins and his companion to lunch. 

 Brandon is from the Caswell Ward  in NC.  They have 4 missionaries out now.  Brandon is a good missionary and is so enjoying his time to serve.  We enjoyed being with him.  His grandma is a great lady and a good friend.  She has several missionaries serving our Savior now.
Scott came over that evening and sanded and textured our basement bedroom wall where the water leaked.  He had his kids so I had fun.

Little pig and the big, bad. wolf

Mountain man

The threesome went to the dermatologist.  He took a sample from me and cut out that red thing on Erik's head.  Dad was good.
We got up early Saturday so we could go watch Parker play basket ball.  He beats everyone down the court and back.  His skills have greatly improved.  It's fun to watch how improved he is.

Saturday we took an elder from our mission and his mother to lunch.  He is from Maine but his mother now lives here.  He is going to live with her and attend UVU.  It was so good to see someone we served with and renew memories.  We loved the time we spent in North Carolina  teaching the doctrine of Christ.  We especially loved the good people we rubbed shoulders with.

Kristin posted her blog about my birthday.  Tiffani posted one on her blog.  I took the liberty to copy it here because one day I will make a book of our mission and I want it there for that book.  Who knows when?

My mom has a birthday

I have always thought my Mom was beautiful. When I was little, my grandma had pictures of my mom and her siblings on the wall. I used to lay on the bed and look at these pictures and think how lucky I was that my mom was the prettiest. My Mom has many talents and gifts. Some I share with her - like I can stretch a dime into a dollar and I am always finding "stashed" cash that I forgot about. I wish I had some of her other gifts and talents like...
she has a beautiful singing voice. She was the lead in the musical Kismet. I loved to sit by her in church and listen to her sing. I can remember her helping me follow along with the music in the hymn book. She would point my finger at the words as we sang. I think this actually helped me learn to read. I love that my girls are doing the exact same thing right now. I also wish I would have inherited her legs. No joke she has the prettiest legs I have ever seen.

She graduated from BYU. She taught school for many many years. Often when I am home visiting we will run into her students around town. Some of them are married and have kids and they are still always so happy to see her. She impacted many lives of tiny little third graders.

One of the best decisions she made was to marry my dad. They fell in love quickly and got married quickly. Life was different for her after that. My parents were raised so differently. My mom was raised in the city while my dad was raised in small towns in Utah and Colorado. He grew up a rancher and my Mom grew up with a scouter and spent a lot of time traveling. When we were all still very small my parents moved from southern California to my dad's hometown in southern Utah. This was a huge adjustment for my mom, but instead of just adjusting, she embraced her new home. She loved Blanding and raising her family there. I remember how hard it was for her to leave.

She used to give me all kinds of grief about bleaching my hair, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when I found this picture. My mom sacrificed a lot for her family. My dad was a football coach and every week she would throw us all in a pickup truck with the football equipment in the back and we would follow the school bus to the next game. Sometimes these trips were several hours away. She loved my dad's football players and considered them her boys as well.  

When I was in Jr. High, my mom worked as a subtitute teacher. My mom never had new clothes. Anything extra that my parents had was spent on us kids. Every year my mom would start saving for Christmas the day after Christmas. She would find deals and put stuff away. We never went without and our holidays were always awesome because she planned ahead. 

She would also save for our annual trip to Disneyland. Every summer we would make the trek to So. Cal. My mom would make us matching shirts so she could find us. We knew how to do Disney. It is still one of our favorite places. When we were all older my parents asked us where we wanted to go on vacation. They told us we could go anywhere. We all chose Disneyland. A few years ago they took all of us with our families. We have fond memories of Disneyland and the trips we took there when we were little.

So maybe Disneyland should be a post all on its own.  I will save that for later. 

I love my mom with all of my heart. I think of her every day and wonder how she managed five kids. She is an amazing mother. There is a reason why all of our friends always wanted to be at our house. She always made them feel comfortable and at home. My dad always says about her that she never met a stranger. This is true. She can talk to anybody. She was a born missionary. Happy Birthday Mom!  I hope I look as good as you do when I hit the ripe old age of....

Families are supposed to be filled with joy and happiness.  Well, ours definitely is.  We have our moments, but we wouldn’t trade our family ties for all the riches imaginable. We are the richest people in the world through the blessings our Father in Heaven continuously pours out on us.  We love the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and His plan for us.  We must shout it to the world.  We love our family and each other. 
To see Kristin's blog just go to the following blog (Jan 21st) Her blog is at the beginning.