May, 2015

1. Such happy news. The family we grew to love, the Gallaghers, the mom was

baptized today.

The two oldest children were baptized last Saturday and then confirmed on Sunday. ReeAnn

said that during Relief Society Sis. Marquit said something that rang so true to her and was so clear.

She knew then that she needed to get baptized. She called the Elders and said, "How soon can

you do it?" Needless to say, they were very excited.

We had a wonderful conversation with her this afternoon. 

We are so thankful for them in our lives and the privilege of being a part of their lives.

2 &3. We went to Salt Lake and met with my first cousin, Joan Capener Kimball.

We talked for two hours. It was so wonderful.She had some pictures that I had never 

seen before and some other artifacts. She also has the grand piano that belonged to my grandmother. She has had it refinished, but it is beautiful. Josh has volunteered to go with us when we see her again so he can play the piano.

Rob, here is the cane made from casket of Joseph Smith that brought him back from Carthage to Nauvoo. Heber C. Kimball gave it to her husband's several great-grandfathers ago. She lives up behind the state capitol building about 5 blocks away.

4. After that we went to Grandma and Grandpa's home in the Avenues. It was their winter

home. It's for sale and no one lives in it, but he was there mowing the lawn and he took

me through the whole house. It was wonderful.

The light switch in the upstairs bedroom.

5. This is at Tammy Capener's home. It is a cabinet made by William Capener that was being used to put tools, nails, and screws in out in the shed at U. Lee's house.

We'll all be grateful to Tammy for restoring it.

Here is the before and after pictures:

6. The "What Not" Cabinet he made

7. A skit by Max, Tayler, Cambria, and Gabe.

It's sure nice to have them here. 

8. Eric and Jacoby. They have sure grown since I saw them last. 

Latest weight: Eric-10 lbs. 6 oz. and Jacoby-9 lbs. 3 oz.

9. A puppet show put on by Alaina and Matthew

10. Tom and Dad making tomato cages. I don't covet very often, but I bought some tomatoes

from Rose Pickett and she had these tomato cages.

And Dad was so willing to go over and see them, then borrowed the tools and 

came home and made them. We were grateful Tom was here to help out toward the end.

 (Forgot to rotate the picture before I brought it in, so it's sideways)

10 very large tomato plants with the sturdiest cages you ever saw.

I love you all very much. We are so blessed, and so very happy.

We have begun our farm with 27 chickens and half the garden planted now.

Hopefully it will dry enough to finish planting next week. 

Right now we have plenty of rhubarb if anyone wants some.

I listened to a CD by John Lund called "They Myth we call Perfection." It was very good. It was very good and well worth listening to. There was one part that keeps sticking out in my mind.

I can't give it exactly, of course, but the idea is that we have all these 

different desires, appetites, passion inside of us. 

The ones that emerge are the ones we feed. It's true, whether they are character

traits, gifts, talents, we decide who we "feed."

Elder Oaks said in the last conference:

"Spiritual food is necessary for spiritual survival..."

May we remember to feed on some spiritual things this week as we go about our busy lives.  

Hudson's blessing, Scott's baptism, May 2015

A week filled with so many blessings

1. Little Hudson receives his name and a beautiful blessings from his Dad

Their family is growing so much. It was such a fun day.

Dusty in the front and Jeffrey, Val holding Hudson, Kaden, Suzy with such a cute haircut, 

Ryan in the back. 

2. Emily, Mike, and Noelle

3. Scott and Jeffrey

4. Monday night we went to one of Jeffrey's baseball games. It was so much fun to

watch him play. They really have quite a good team.

After the game we went to U. Bill's and planned the family reunion. It

sounds like it will be the biggest one yet, so try and come.

June 19th and 20th at Earley Park.

5. Then we went to see Mike and Emily in "Shrek the Musical." We went

with Daniel and Ellen. It was really good and the costuming was amazing.

Yes, Mike is one of the three little pigs. 

6. Dad has been working hard on enlarging the chicken run,

Josh came over to help him finish up the last of it before it rained again.

7. Such a beautiful day on Saturday with Scott getting baptized.

I don't think we will have another month where three grandkids are getting 

baptized. Caleb the first week, Scott the second week, and Olivia the last week in May.

It's such an important decision to make, and I'm proud of them all.

8. Caleb, Scott, and Isaac sang "Jesus Came to John the Baptist" for a

musical number at the baptism. It was so cute. I think Emily posted it.

9. I promised them they could do a silly picture after the serious one, so here it is:

10. After eating at Rob's we went to Spencer and John's Shakespeare play,

"Mid Summer Night's Dream." I was actually amazed at the how good it was.

I think that play needs to be done by teenagers. They all did an excellent job.

John played the director of the play within the play. 

He was so good and played the character perfectly.

11. Spencer played Demetrius, and he did such a good job, as did all the kids.

I was very impressed and had such a good laugh.

12. Spencer and John after the play

13. Dad and Daniel making Mother's Day dinner, actually it was the rhubarb cake and Daniel got to taste his first freshly picked rhubarb. Then they both went down to the railroad tracks

and came back with a whole bunch of asparagus. Dinner was delicious.

14. I'm not sleeping. I was just soaking up joy from sitting here looking at the pictures

of our family on the wall. I am so full of joy and gratitude and love.

Thank you all for being our children. I don't know where the time has gone.

I'm sure we have made many mistakes in parenting, but we tried our best and we 

love you all so very much. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father entrusted you to our care, and thank

you all for teaching and taking such good care of us. Life is so good.

Caleb's baptism, 2nd of May 2015

1. This weeks post begins with the snowy weather we have had.

It seemed colder than during the winter. But it didn't last too long.

2. Dad was going to do some cooking in the fire pit with 

his 11 year old scouts, but the weather didn't permit.

So they roasted marshmallows over a little tuna fish can burner in the family room. 

3. Noelle and their two new cats. One of the kittens got run over by a car,

so this is a new one on the right.

4. April is birthday month. We had Mel, Rob, Nikki, Scott, Dad, Caleb, and Tom

I hope I didn't forget anyone. Both Scott and Caleb turned 8.

Here is Caleb ready to blow out his candles

5. Not a surprise that he gets new trucks!

6. Our twins keep growing! They are both over  8 pounds.

7. We spent Sunday evening visiting and recording John singing.

Here is John and Stacey at the piano. It is such a blessing to have his Tyroid cancer all done and over with. Because it was discovered so early, things are so much better than they might have been.At one time, they didn't know if he would have much of a singing voice left.

I am very thankful to Heavenly Father for all the blessings He sends to our family. 

We are so  very blessed and I am so grateful to Him. 

8. While Dad, John, and Stacey went to Los Angeles for the surgery, I got to

stay at home with the kids and we did school! I had so much fun. They all amaze

me at how much they know and how much they enjoy learning. We are watching a You Tube on butterflies for part of the science they did. Stacey sure works hard to provide them with an education.

Kirsten, Timmy, Maren, and Sam

9. One big cucumber to go with lunch just wasn't enough for Timmy, so

he is peeling another one. 

10. Our art project was to tie a quilt for Sam and Timmy's new bed when they get it.

We tied a Star Wars quilt, and I forgot to take a final picture of it.

11. We were there for Danny's court of honor where he received his 2nd class.

He is almost done with his 1st class also.

12. Home from California in time for Caleb's baptism.

Congratulations, Caleb. This is such an important decision in your life.Next week Scott will be baptized. It is important to remember the promises you have made. While cleaning in the Genealogy room, I came across a notebook with memories that our children wrote about when they were baptized. I need to share them again. I don't know if you even remember writing them.

This is a very important covenant they are making with Heavenly Father

13. Marion and boys were up along with Rob's family and David's family for the baptism.

It was time to finally get the chickens moved out to the chicken coop.

The chickens had much more tender loving care from the grandkids than we

could have given them. We also worked hard to get things ready in the basement for

Tom to brings Mel and kids in next week.They will stay there while they locate a house for them to live in. Thank you to all the grandkids who helped with work this weekend. We sure appreciate it.

14. Of course, a good time was had by all. I didn't take very many pictures because we were so busy, but here are Caleb, Scott, Robert, and Isaac on the trampoline.

Skit time. Can you guess who?

I just want to tell all of you how important it is when we make a covenant with our Father in Heaven. It is very sacred an He will always keep His end of the covenant and has blessings in store for us beyond anything we can imagine.

May we all remember back to the covenants we have made. and I admonish all of us to strive

to strengthen our relationship with our Father in Heaven through personal prayer with Him each day. 

And may we all call down the protective blessings upon our families as we kneel to pray as a family each morning and night.

I love you all.