HAPPY FIRST WEEK IN OCTOBER & HAPPY GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND

&

HAPPY GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND!

 After some rainy and cool days last week, this weekend we have had the most beautiful weather - lots of sun, and warm with a cool breeze here and there.  Dad and I were able to watch all of conference and loved it so much, I don't know if I could pick a favorite.  I did pick out a few thoughts that I think are important -

1. The ordinances and covenants we make in the Temple can bring forgiveness, healing and peace.

2. As members of the Church who have covenanted to take upon ourselves the name of Christ we need to share our witness of God and His Son as an important way to keep that covenant.

3. Our lives are carved from the very things that make it hard - the challenges and hardships that happen, and the righteous desires that haven't.

and one of my favorites - from the Primary General President - "Your Heavenly Father sees you. Your Savior Jesus Christ sees you. They know your name, your circumstances, your gifts, and your divine potential. As we learn to see ourselves and one another as They do, our homes, wards, schools, and communities will becomre places of belonging, healing, and love."  

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ADAM THIS WEEK❤. We are so thankful for all that Adam brings to our family.  He is such a hard worker - whether at school with the kids, at home with his kids, on the soccer field with his other kids, or working on his truck, organizing family reunions, hunting, 

and in general, just being a fun person to be around.  

 

Hope you have the best birthday ever.  Love you so much!

I forgot about this little gem until I came upon it earlier this week.  I knew I didn't have that kind of wrapping paper 😂

Thanks Adam, for always getting the best of me ❤

FAMILY NEWS

BEN and Angella (and Amos) had some fun adventures yesterday!  Ben is growing so much - each week it seems he's another inch taller 😁

CHRIS was invited by his friend to the BYU football game held in Texas yesterday.  GO COUGARS!!  It was a great win for BYU - 17 - 10.                                                                                                                                     By the way - Air Force also did a great job yesterday of beating Navy 9 - 17.  We didn't get to see the B2 flyover, but we sure could hear it. 

GO AIR FORCE!  

While Chris was away at the game, BLYTHE found out her mom would be alone for the weekend (Grant was also away from home), so she put herself on the standby list and flew home to keep her mom company.  

What a great daughter! Thanks, Blythe for taking such good care of your sweet Mom ❤

 This is LILY'S version of watching conference today

and ADAM and JAKE have work tirelessly on Adam's truck and I think it is looking pretty good!

SPEAKING of cars - why am I suddenly seeing so many pink and white cars around town???

OUR FAVORITE MISSIONARY -

We usually get our letter from Paul on Mondays, so since the last blog was last Monday, I don't have any new information to report other than he is amazing, and he is learning so many good things.  I'll have more to share next week.  

AND finally, the sweetest love story ever . . .

  

 I knew my Mom and Dad met at a dance, but I didn't remember many details so tonight I called and when he didn't answer, I call Ruthie, and luckily they were together.  Mike had gone to Salt Lake for conference.  Ruthie shared that Mom had gone to the dance at Beale Air Force Base (back then it was an army base called Camp Beale) with a date, but I guess Dad had gone alone. In the end, Mom left the dance with Dad, and I'm not sure what happened to her date.  Mike said Dad was always so proud to share that piece of information.  Then Mike was telling us that shortly after Mom had her stroke (when Kate got married), she would occasionally have spells where she couldn't speak.  It happened one evening and Mike was home with both Mom and Dad so they took her to the emergency room, where she was given some medication which seemed to help. Mike said they were starting for home when it happened again, so they turned around and went back to the hospital.  Dad was in the room with Mom, and Mike had gone to the nurse's desk to check on the doctor, and when he came back to the room he could see Dad leaning over Mom talking to her quietly, then he kissed her on the lips, and said that "after you there was no one else."  Mike said it was a really private moment for them, but I am so glad he was there to tell the story. ❤

Have a great week, and send me news about all of your adventures, and photos!  Love you all so much ❤

 Almost hot chocolate weather for us this week - highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's and 50's. The leaves are starting to change and I have pulled out all of my hoodies - I love this, especially when we still get some sunshine during the day.  This is what the sky looked like one evening when I was walking Sendai, and to top it off - this weekend we have had huge harvest moon that makes night look like day.

Wow! Isn't the beauty of our earth just amazing ❤

Between work, school, Church, and various other commitments, is there anyone in the family who isn't busy???

Hollie just let me know that she will be working 54 hours this week at The Broadmoor, including an event for the CIAB (Council for Insurance Agents and Brokers). One of her shifts is from 3pm until 1am, and another is 3pm until 3am.  

She says they make everything from scratch and you know it has to be delicious.  I wish I was learning what she is learning.  How fun to be a pastry chef! 

 Until soccer season is over next month Adam's day starts with early morning soccer practice, and then there are the soccer games - Liberty's, Jakes, and Lily's, and watching over the IEP and 504 kids at school, and being a husband to Cory, a dad to Jake, Lily, Paul, Sammi, and Milo, and then working on his truck(with Jake's help) - not always in that order 😁. He  has a super good helper with Jake when he finds time to spend on the truck.  In this photo, Jake drilled 100+ holes in the steel. I would love to have even 1/8 of his energy and stamina.  😊

Does anyone have any Provo connections?  Sammi is looking for a new job this week - filling out applications and hoping for interviews.  Extra prayers for you this week, Sammi!

I think she could always go into the cookie business - she makes the most delicious chocolate chip cookies.  Remember SPL?  Samantha, Paul, and Lily had a little cookie business going in their neighborhood - Samantha made the cookies, and Paul and Lily did the marketing.  This was years ago, and they went door-too-door drumming up business, and of course, who could say no to those cute faces? 😁 ❤

 Blythe and her friend, Warren, were the only two freshman selected to join a fraternity for students interested in a medical field,  They were among 14 who were selected out of 150 hopeful students.  

 So happy for you Blythe!❤

This has also been a great week for sports!

 Dad showed his Iowa spirit today.  The Hawkeyes beat Michigan 20-19 on Saturday.  With that score, it had to be a great game!

 Speaking of Iowa . . . Jonathan, Kate, and Sayre spent part of the week, including the weekend, feeling lousy due to a nasty cold.  Hope they at least got to enjoy the game.  

AND Chris and Spencer were in the stands at Wrigley Field when the Chicago Cubs beat the Marlins and secured a spot in the playoffs. 

I love going to a good baseball game and have the fondest memories of going to the Oakland A's games with my mom and dad when I was in high school - even made it to a World Series game one year. 😃

OUR FAVORITE MISSIONARY

I loved this letter from Paul this week and hope he won't mind if I share it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet -

Hello everyone! A lot happened this week so here are some highlights. First, we got to go to the temple on Friday and do baptisms. It was super special the members who took us had us do the baptism for one of their twin brothers who had just passed away. We also got to attend a baptism. It was their ward's first convert baptism in two years, so a ton of people came to support.

We had exchanges too, which was so much fun. I got to exchange with Elder Romney, our zone leader, and he had me lead out the area. We saw so many small miracles that day. One of them was getting to fly kites with the youth! It was my first time ever flying one and it was pretty sick.

The last big one we finally got one of our friends to church! This has been a struggling area, so we basically started from scratch in a place that isn't known for baptizing much. So that was a huge blessing. We also had some really good lessons last week and have a lot of faith going into this week!

Spiritual thought: Specific prayers bring specific blessings. On exchanges we prayed for a cool experience before companionship study and I kind of forgot about it. While we were walking to our study, a lady came up behind us and started asking us questions. We ended up walking and talking with her for like 30 minutes, and at the end we got to invite her to church. So pray for specific things and then go make them happen! The Lord will help and guide you along the way, not just do it for you.

Thank you for sending Photos this week, and thank you for the texts and phone calls.  We love you all so much and hope that in the week ahead you will do something that brings you joy! ❤

 YAY!  It's been a good week! Nothing special or out of the ordinary - no drama, or trauma, and nothing earth-shattering - just a great seven days of being healthy, loving my family, spending time with Kevin, and feeling the joy and peace the Savior brings into my life. ❤

We did yard work, mowed, edged, killed some dandelions, got rid of the pallets, the chewed up living room carpet, and our old coffee table. AND I finally took down our 4th of July lights and bunting. 

While on the topic of the coffee table, I think I mentioned that last week we received our replacement table, and sadly, it was also damaged.  I was ready to just cancel the order, but the lady I spoke with at Wayfair was so nice, she said we wouldn't need to send this one back, and she placed another order that should arrive tomorrow. I think if this one is damaged we will find the undamaged parts of both of the broken tables and put it together the best that we can - I just want to be done with it 😊

One evening this week, I was fixing taco rice for dinner, and while talking to Kate, she said she had recently read an article about taco rice in Okinawa.  So this may be an odd topic for a family blog, but who doesn't love an easy-to-fix, great-tasting dish????

This is what I learned - Okinawa taco rice was invented in 1984 by Matsuzo Gibo, who owned a restaurant, the Parlor Senri, located just outside of Camp Hansen.  Following World War II, the United States maintained a strong military presence in Okinawa and American service members who craved Tex-Mex foods found it difficult to find taco shells or tortillas. 

Matsuzo Gibo experimented with replacing taco shells with with steamed rice, topping it with taco-seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.  He named it "taco rice" so his staff could easily understand the order.

So, there you have it! The story behind taco rice.  I can still remember the first time I tried it.  To be honest it didn't sound appetizing to me at all, but the kids all like it, and one evening when I was working late at the elementary school, Kevin offered to pick some up for me at the bowling alley (I think that's where he got it from).  When I opened it up, there was a fly in it.😳😬😭

In my opinion flies rank right up there with dandelions, and spiders!  I don't understand why they needed to be created in the first place  - This meme says it all - Not only do I feel this way about spiders, but I have the same deep, dark feelings about flies!

And did you know a man actually burnt down his parent's house after he attempted to kill a spider with a blowtorch (that would be me with a fly)

On to more fun topics . . .

Today was our Sacrament Meeting Primary Program.  Our kids did such a great job, and their singing was amazing.  Jake had his Primary Program today also, as did Ben.  Angella sent me the link to their program so we were able to watch it over Zoom before going to Church. 

It was so good, and Ben did a great job reciting his part (He's in a white shirt with a vest, standing next to the teacher in a blue shirt.  Way to go Ben!!!

We just got home from having a delicious dinner with Adam, Cory, Lily, and Jake. It was nice to escape our kitchen for a couple of hours.  While we were there, Lily's cat, Danno joined us at the table - 

He just sat there very contentedly, until Kevin said something to him (we all know how he feels about cats) and Danno just gave him the look that said, "how dare you!"  She also said he is happy to be held upside- down.   

We feel so blessed to be able to spend time with the kids while they are still young.  Everyone is just growing up too fast!

Since NO ONE sent me any photos this week, I thought I would add some of my favorites 😁

Not only do these photos make me smile, they also bring back fond memories of fun times together ❤

This is the second promise from President Nelson, of the blessings that come to us as we spend time in the Temple.  

"Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work." 

 I have a testimony that attending the Temple doesn't necessarily take away the hard things in life, but it gives us the clarity we need to help us solve our problems, and the peace we seek for when we face the challenges and trials of everyday life. .  

Our Favorite Missionary - 

Paul has been great to share news and photos from his mission.  These are a couple of the most recent ones we have received.  

 It looks beautiful and I know so many people in his mission will be blessed by his example of faith and unconditional love. 

 If you have time to drop him a note, I know he would love it.  His current address is: Elder Paul Hopkins, 808 Washington Ave North, Long Beach, WA,   98631

WE LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU HAVE AN EXTRA WONDERFUL WEEK!