HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA & CORY!

Emma turned 20 this week, and I remember her as a beautiful baby who grew up to be a beautiful young woman.  We celebrated with breakfast at Cracker Barrell, and then she stopped by the house Saturday evening to pick up her birthday gift.  I am so happy she is close by and I love our visits so much 💖

Birthday Shoes

CORY celebrated her - I'm sure it was 30th - birthday this week! 😊  I have watched her grow up from a spunky teenager, to an amazing and beautiful wife, mom, daughter, teacher, friend, and the list could just keep on going . . .  She enjoyed a "me" day - some time alone to relax and focus on herself.  I vote we follow Cory's example and all of us take a "me" day for our birthdays this year.  Who doesn't need a day to slow down, catch your breath, and enjoy some quiet time?

MONDAY MORNING BLUES . . . .   So I started my week off at Traffic Court and, I think I said this last week, but I will never speed again!  I felt terrible being there, I felt like a law-breaker (which I was), and never want to find myself in that position - ever!  I think one of the things I learned is that there is no reason to be in such a big hurry  - and especially - if I had organized my day better, I would have been able to leave on time and wouldn't have had to pay $265 (the judge did lower the fine) and lose 3 points. 

I DEFINITELY HAD A PROBLEM WITH TIME MANAGEMENT this week -

I really enjoy being at the Middle School on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I found this past week, I filled my Mondays and Wednesdays with other appointments (like traffic court) and didn't set aside enough time for all of the reading that needed to be done for my class.  I got it all done, but I had to stay up late a couple of nights, which I have been trying hard not to do.  Also, the content and vocabulary are new to me, so I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.  

One of the things I did love this week, was reading a chapter in a book from President Oaks, titled, Reason and Revelation.  There were a couple of points that hit home - The first was the relationship between study and revelation should be sequential.  He gave an example of Oliver Cowdrey who attempted to translate part of the Book of Mormon.  After he failed the Lord told him this was because he "took no thought," but only asked God.  He should have studied it out in his mind and then asked if it was right.  Only after he applied himself to study and reason would the Lord affirm or deny the correctness of the proposed translation.  Study and reason can find the truth on many subjects, but only revelation can confirm it.  The second concept in our reading assignment was that in the sequential relationship between reason and revelation, it is important that reason has what we can call "the first word" and that revelation has the "last word."   So what does this have to do with time management?  I think I have been trying to reason and study, but have left out relying on revelation.  This week my goal is to study with a purpose, filter out those things that are important to know, focus on them, and then seek the revelation to confirm my understanding of the material.  I will keep you posted on the outcome 😊

SATURDAY WITH THE GRANDKIDS ~

Jake, Lily, and Hollie spent Saturday with us.  Samantha brought Paul down for a couple of hours before his soccer game, and Eilis and Emma came by in the evening.  That means I saw all of our grandchildren who live in the county (except for Ben) on Saturday.  The only thing that could have made the day better was to have Chicago and Iowa City here!!!  

We took Jake to get a haircut and he had no problem telling the beautician what he liked and didn't like.  I need to be more like him!  

He wanted Subway for lunch so we got him his favorite sandwich, which he came home and ate with Ji-Chan while the girls went to Noodles & Co.  

After lunch, we made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, where Hollie found Herbert and Lily found a Palm Pal Shark which she named Marvin.

We came home and picked up Jake and went to Target where this was the first thing that caught my eye  -  Remember Buzz Lightyear? 😁. When Spencer was little he loved Buzz, so seeing this reminded me of Spencer and how cute he was - and still is! 

Looks like Adam likes Buzz too 😊

And it looks like Ji-Chan wanted to be Woody😁

HAPPY SUNDAY

 So happy we got one extra day with this amazing young man!   How could he grow so quickly from 

👈 this to  this 👉  

When I was downstairs getting the room ready for Cathy, I found the tie he wore over the weekend.  I thought what a lovely part of Max to add to my Grammie Board! So here it is and it smells sooooo good.  I'll send it over to him when he sends me his address 😊

I do love my Grammie Board - I think I have something on it from every grandchild - baptism announcements, letters, valentines, handprints, Christmas cards, a child's mask, awards, a Christmas ornament, and now a tie 💖

This past week was a busy one!  Tuesday I had PT and all is going well.  Only two more appointments and then I will be done.  Wednesday, I had a dental appointment and our Addiction Recovery meeting.  Thursday, I worked at Timberview,  had an appointment to get a shot in my thumb - arthritis, and yes it hurt, and a Zoom meeting with my presentation partner for my class this term.  I did a lot of reading and note-taking this week, and on Friday and most of Saturday, I finished up my assignments.  My plan has always been to have everything complete and turned in by Thursday, and I have pretty well been able to do that, but I'm not sure that's going to work for my class this time.  I decided to take Kate's advice, and just push through it - only 12 more weeks to go - and I won't cry if I don't get an "A".  At this point, I think I'll just be grateful to pass it! 

FUN PHOTOS OF THE KIDS THIS WEEK!

Jake celebrated his birthday at Dart Wars on Saturday and by the looks of it, everyone had a great time.

I love this photo of Samantha - I'm not sure if she is in trouble or causing trouble 😀

What a great sister to spend a Saturday at her younger brother's birthday party!

And it looks like she carried the spirit of the party home with her 😂

Ben learned some cleaning skills this week and also how to slide down the stairs on a mattress 😃.  It looks like fun but hard on the back -

Kate also sent some videos of Sayre.  I love his imagination in the first one - he is fishing and watching TV at the same time.  In the second video, he was going to put on a show - it didn't last long, but I loved watching Clementine -

And then there is Emma!  Sorry no video, but she tried her hand at using a drill this week to hang a mount for her vacuum cleaner.  Great job Emma!  

TWO BIRTHDAYS COMING UP THIS WEEK!   Emma on the 23rd, and Cory on the 27th

My favorite thing about doing this blog is looking back at all of our fun photos and just reminiscing about special times.  Families really do bring us the greatest joys!

  

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE! 💖

 BRRRR . . . . I think we are all in a deep freeze! This weekend has been super cold for us - this morning on the way to Church it was 2° and we currently stand at 6°. 

Kate and Jonathan have had an especially cold and snowy week. They have had a ton of snow, freezing rain, and, wind chill temperatures that dipped to 30 - 45° below 0.  

Currently, Park Ridge is -7° and Salt Lake is a balmy 34°.  Everybody BUNDLE UP!

                                              

Clementine, up to her tummy in snow

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAKE!    

Jake turned 8 this past Thursday.  He has certainly brought a lot of fun and laughter to our family.  He also has the kindest heart and says the very best prayers.  We love you so much, Jake!

AND Jake was baptized on Saturday by Max

It was a wonderful weekend and we loved so much spending time with Chris, Kim, Max, Grant, and Blythe.   Their stay was too short, but hopefully, we will get to see them again before too long.  Emma stopped by with her friend, Sean, on Saturday evening and it was fun to visit with them for a few minutes.  We really missed those who weren't with us! 

We finally got to see Max!

Sendai loved Grant

20° outside and Paul in shorts

Cute Sammi

Good-looking Grant

Emma and Sean

Conspirators in the laundry room!

Tonight it was so fun to visit with Max!  Blythe had shared with him President Uchtdorf's talk in April 2016, titled, He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home.  Max forwarded it to me and I don't recall hearing it before, but after reading it, I wanted to share some of his thoughts - 

"It matters not how completely ruined our lives may seem. 

It matters not how scarlet our sins, how deep our bitterness, how lonely, abandoned, or broken our hearts may be. Even those who are without hope, who live in despair, who have betrayed trust, surrendered their integrity or turned away from God can be rebuilt. There is no life so shattered that it cannot be restored.

Our Savior, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us. He knows and loves you.

He knows when you are lost, and He knows where you are. He knows your grief. Your silent pleadings. Your fears. Your tears.

It matters not how you became lost—whether because of your own poor choices or because of circumstances beyond your control.

What matters is that you are His child. And He loves you. He loves His children.

My dear brothers and sisters, my dear friends, I testify that God sees us as we truly are—and He sees us worthy of rescue.

You may feel that your life is in ruins. You may have sinned. You may be afraid, angry, grieving, or tortured by doubt. But just as the Good Shepherd finds His lost sheep, if you will only lift up your heart to the Savior of the world, He will find you.

He will rescue you.

He will lift you up and place you on His shoulders.

He will carry you home.

If mortal hands can transform rubble and ruins into a beautiful house of worship, then we can have confidence and trust that our loving Heavenly Father can and will rebuild us. His plan is to build us into something far greater than what we were—far greater than what we can ever imagine."

I love that the Gospel can give us hope.  Hope that we can always become better than we are at this moment, and if we take a step backward, the Savior is always there to help us find our way back.  I don't know about you, but every day, even when I have the best of intentions, I always slip, and I'm always making mistakes, saying or doing things that might not be the best.  However, as we have often said in our Addiction Recovery meetings, "If our feet are pointed in the right direction, and we are moving forward, we can find hope and peace in the Savior's love".