Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Play It Again Sam

We have been reading the Old Testament for family scripture study to support the youngsters with their Seminary studies this year. Tonight after we read, we were discussing Elijah and the Priests of Baal which led to Jezebel and then Shane was wondering who the other Old Testament temptress was.
Whereupon Sam began to sing:

(To the tune of the Plain White T's song)

"Hey there Delilah why do you keep asking me what my weaknesses are?
You go too far.
You tie me up while I'm asleep...
Then call the Philistines.
I  wake up to see you with 50 guys
I'm tired of your lies
And all your tries
Ohhhh it's what you do to me..."

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Happy 500th!



You may have noticed I have been moving the furniture around a bit here on my little blog. Just trying to drag myself forward  in the realm of technology. As I was exploring all of the possibilities (and getting lost in the process), I noticed that my last post was my 500th. Who knew I had that much to say? (My kids might have an  opinion on that).

Thursday, February 23, 2012

This is Dedicated to the One I Love



Since we are between Valentine's Day and our Anniversary, here's a little something for my Guy--anyone who has been married for awhile will probably relate.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Epistle the First







Our first communication from our missionary came today. Seth's cheerful, easy-going adaptability is serving him well--he's off to a good start:

Hello mother dear!
So I wrote you a letter and sent it a few days ago, but today is my P-day and much has happened since I wrote you last.
So essentially it’s awesome here! I love it, other than having a hard time adjusting to the sleep schedule. But, I’m getting better at it. I love all the missionaries in my district! We have way too much fun, it sometimes makes it hard to study when we get talking and laughing, but I figure it’s better to be friends with everybody than not. My companion is way cool, and we get along fine. We make a good team for teaching! I LOVE teaching investigators, it’s so crazy how the Spirit does all the work and I just sit there and let it work!

 Yesterday I had the most amazing experience yet here. Before we were just teaching our teachers who were pretending to be investigators, but we got to teach an older woman who was raised Baptist! She may or may not be a member, but either way it was amazing! I talked almost the whole time and was just pulling scriptures left and right to answer her questions and explain everything we were teaching! I don’t think I’ve ever felt the spirit so strongly, I was floating on air by the end (honestly I couldn’t feel my feet, but in a weird good way! haha) anyway, we get to study so much and its crazy how much you learn and understand in such a short period of time! But I’m having a good time and love it here! It makes me sad that I only get to stay here for 3 weeks, but at the same time I cannot wait to get out into the field and start baptising people left and right! My companion and I have decided we are going to baptize at least 1 million people and convert the whole south! haha at least that’s how it feels when you have the army of God on your side!

 It’s so cool to constantly have the Spirit pouring information into your brain and always receiving revelation when you need it! Oh, and I’m the district leader now! It’s pretty unfortunate, but I think I do a good job, at least with my district, but the paperwork and meetings suck and I always forget to do the little official things, but I’m trying to see it as a blessing.  Anyway, it’s way cool here and I love you all and hope things are going well!  I’m doing fine, so don’t worry.

Love,
Elder Gale

p.s. There’s a brother Gale in my branch (an old guy) who served in the Navajo res in New Mexico! Just like dad! haha anyway, he served in Gallup, and I thought that was interesting

Monday, February 20, 2012

Sweet

We were all gathered around the island in the kitchen discussing food. I was putting forth the idea that eating healthy can also taste good. The youngsters were skeptical.

Sam: I know Wurzel (who is vegan and Sam's Scout leader) says raisins are delicious and any fruit probably tastes really sweet to him.

Me: When you don't eat junk, an apple tastes like candy.

Shayla: Well, I just want my CANDY to taste like candy.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Man on a Mission

He came home for a few weeks.
To say good-bye to the ocean,
the beach
and his brother


The decision had been made
and confirmed
He knew  where he was going
and why

We enfolded him in the 
family bond
of here and now
and Forever


He said his piece
in church


Then he packed his bags
and made the journey
into the adventure of a lifetime
and eternity.





Friday, February 17, 2012

Early Morning Conversation With the Truthist

Shane and I were discussing an upcoming Scouting activity. These discussions usually involve me promoting the activity: "Yay Scouts! Go! Have Fun!" and Shane telling me why it will be the worst thing that ever happened to him: "Most of the Scouts don't want to be there. We get thrown together with kids that swear and say obnoxious stuff." (this is not our troop--it's a regional activity--just for the record) This time it went like this:

Me: Maybe you could look for the good in the other scouts--everyone has good qualities. God doesn't make any junk.

Shane: I know God doesn't make any junk but people make themselves into junk. And those Scouts have had 13 years to work on it.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The Further Adventures of Crazy Mormon Mother of Many


 I am an (annoying) optimist so I tend to look on the bright side in any given situation. I am still trying to find it for this one. Maybe by the end of this post I will come up with something.

I needed to pick Sam up at the school this afternoon. I thought I would leave a little early and pick up a few things at the grocery store. So I did my shopping and came out to my car. I pulled out my keys and opened the back, loaded the groceries and then shut the back and turned to put the cart away. When I walked back to the car, it was locked. That was odd because the back won't open unless the car is unlocked and it had just been open a moment before. I started digging for my keys. I usually drop them in my purse and find them right on top--nope. I searched my pockets. No keys. I was starting to get a little concerned but I just KNEW the keys had to be somewhere since I JUST HAD THEM! I looked all around the car, I tried to peek in the back window and see if they had dropped in with the groceries. I backtracked to the grocery cart and looked on the ground all around.

I finally had to admit that I had somehow locked my keys in the car. The only solution I could think of was to ask some kind friend to go by my house, pick up the spare key and come and rescue me. I called Shayla first to let her know to get the key out and have it ready. That was when I noticed my phone was on it's last gasp of battery. I tried to hurry along the explanation so I would have some battery left to call a friend. Shayla checked in the place where the key has been kept for the last three years we have lived here and informed me that the entire drawer was empty. Of course it was--I had been packing up everything that wasn't in regular use and that included the odd key drawer.

I had texted a couple of my thoughtful, understanding Relief Society friends but hadn't heard back yet. While I was waiting, I sent Shayla on a wild goose (key) chase amongst the stacks of boxes in the garage. She patiently searched every box that might possibly hold the key to my immediate happiness.

In the meantime, it started to rain.
Naturally.
 It rarely rains here in southern California but since I was locked out of my car and my son was waiting at the school, of course it would rain. As I stood in the rain I tried to think of a plan B. I realized a locksmith was probably the only other option. I walked into Stater Brothers Grocery but it was so crowded and busy I decided to go next door to the small UPS store and ask if anyone had a suggestion. The very nice proprietor told me she had helped several people with my very dilemma and she got out the phone book and opened it to the locksmith page. I made the call, and the very helpful locksmith said he could be right over for a nominal fee. The fee was not quite nominal enough for my good sense so I asked if I could check to see how my Plan A was working out and call him back. "Sure, but I close in 15 minutes."

 Shayla had not been able to find the key in the boxstack. So I resigned myself to paying a King's Ransom to get back into my car, free my hostage groceries and pick up my abandoned son (who just then texted: "It's raining frowny face").
 I summoned the locksmith.
And he came post-haste. Luckily his shop was just a few blocks away. He was a portly gentleman who greeted me with "So, what's for dinner?" As he retrieved his tools of the trade from the back of his cheery yellow van. I realized he was referring to my recent grocery-shopping and we had a nice chat about how nice stew is on a cold, damp day.  I was interested to see how he would get into a car with power locks--he used a  wooden wedge, a blow-up wedge and a stiff wire.
But to no avail.
 The car refused all of his advances.
He tried a different wire. He bent it all different ways. He tried the unlock buttons on both sides of the car and in the back. He tried the lift-gate button. The alarm went off, the lights flashed but the locks stayed locked.
I began to despair of ever leaving the Stater Brothers Parking lot.
Undaunted, the locksmith brought out a plastic crate to stand on. He needed to reach from a higher height. And lo and behold, it worked. The door opened and the alarms went crazy again for all the world to hear. That's when a helpful passerby asked "Ever thought of getting Triple A?" Why would I need Triple A when I have the high-priced locksmith at my service?
But alas, the lift-gate still refused to open. I had to crawl back over the seats to see if I could find my keys where they must surely be lurking amongst the groceries.
Nope.
No keys.
Can this story get any crazier?
Yes. Yes it can.
I emptied every grocery bag. Then I crawled back to the front of the car and emptied my purse. The locksmith waited patiently while I dug in every pocket. Nada.
How could this be?
The locksmith suggested I check in the store and see if someone had turned in my keys. I just couldn't fathom how that could have happened in the mere seconds it had taken me to return the cart earlier. But there was nothing else to do so I did.
I asked a bagger, who referred me to the manager, who asked a clerk who said "Yes! Some keys were brought in a little while ago." And sure enough, the keys were mine.
I hurried back out to let the locksmith know that he had been right and that he had broken into my car for no reason. He took it (and the cash) all with good humor. I swore him to secrecy and he promised he would not breathe a word of my misadventures.
About then the phone rang and Shayla let me know she had found the spare key--I had shoved the tray of keys from the key drawer into my dresser cupboard. What? I don't even want to try to explain that.
Then a friend called and said she could come right away and I thanked her anyway and said it was solved.
And then my phone beeped and died.
I retrieved poor, abandoned Sam from the rain and we headed for home.
That's when I noticed this:

So, to sum it up--I guess someone picked up my keys just after I dropped them and in the process, hit the lock button--locking me out of my car. In the process of being helpful, they set in motion a comedy of errors that I will not soon forget.


Oh, and on the bright side, it gave me a blog post for today.

Happy Birthday Scott!

 It has been awhile since I updated this little family scrapbook on the internet. I like to pop over here from time to time and look at our ...