GETTING READY FOR THE WEEKEND

Got home from the gym on Thursday and it was cold and windy,

My pretty Flowering Cherry was loosing petals like crazy and the grass was pink. I could cry!  

I tried to get a picture of the petals falling and I did. This wasn't as many as at other times but at least I tried. We came in and ate a quick breakfast and then Tony took Lynn to her eye surgery. He was gone till three in the afternoon so I got busy.

I signed up to make three dozen cookies for THE LIVING CHRIST. I got 3 loads of laundry done in between baking.

I had some icing left over from the last one's I made so I used it up.

Then I made a new batch for the remainder of the cookies. I like this batch much better! Good thing they both taste the same. lol

Tony got home at 3, like I said, and I made us taco's for lunch.   Then we rested and were watching TV and I'd fold clothes and put them away when a commercial came on. We got a call from Debbie and she said she was trying to call her Mom but she wasn't answering. We told her we'd go over and turn her phone back on. Tony had silenced it while they were at the eye surgery and he forgot to turn it back on. So, we went over, turned it back on and then came home to bed. Got up Friday and went to the gym again. After we finished we came home, ate and then I got busy sewing.

Pat's birthday is coming up and I wanted to make her a makeup bag. She loves her three little dogs . She used to have 2 cats but one died. Nonetheless, she loves her animals. I had this fabric with paw prints on it so I used it.

It really didn't turn out too good but she will love it. I filled it with gum, two pair of earrings and a necklace.

Then I had some  tiles, so I made her four coaster's with dogs and cats on them. While I was looking for the tiles in my craft closet, I decided to get my serger out along with all the thread. I posted it on Marketplace and I have a lady coming out tonight to pick it up. I told her we go to bed at 7 so she said she'd get on the freeway immediately. I only asked $75 dollars for it all so I know it's a good deal. I just don't use it anymore , so there's that.  lol

I will be glad to get rid of it. I hope she is happy with it.

GOD IS GOOD!

TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

Tuesday, was Silver Sister's. I asked Pat to go with me and she said she would. I really enjoy her company. She came to my house and we went to pick up Lynn. It was held at the Stake house on Northside. They had a gal who is the Mental Health officer at Ridgeview High, was the speaker. She was really interesting and Pat loved it. She has only been to one other luncheon with me. It was all about the public library and she said she liked this one even more.

After the speaker finished,  they served Hawaiian Haystacks for lunch. Pat had never had them and she liked them. They were delicious. When we went home, I also took Wanetta home. We dropped her off 1st and then Lynn. When we got back to my house, Tony took a picture of me and Pat.

After Pat went home, I played with AI and made us into "ROCK STARS"  lol  I only wish I looked this good! lol

Wednesday, we picked up Lynn and then we picked up both sister Brown and her husband.  We went to the temple and we were happy to have another one along. We were able to do 10 endowments today.

It was a great day and the grounds are gorgeous. We dropped the Brown's off at their home and then the three of us went to Costco. We needed milk and half and half and then decided to eat lunch there. We dropped lynn off at home and we came home & rested up.

At 5:45, we went to pick up Lynn again and went to the Smith building. We wanted to take Lynn to THE LIVING CHRIST before she gets her eye surgery tomorrow. Tonight was the 1st night of it. We plan to bring Pat on Saturday.

It was done so beautifully. There were pictures of the Savior everywhere. They divided us into groups and then took each group to the rooms where they had a speaker and a video about the Savior. 

It ended in the gymnasium where they had tables set up and served cookies. There were several displays set up around the gym with more pictures and displays of the Savior. We saw a lot of friends who have moved out of our ward and other's from the Stake. I'm excited to have Pat come with us on Saturday.

GOD IS GOOD

LIVIE'S HOME FROM HER MISSION

We met some of the family at the airport Thursday evening at 5 to welcome Alivia home from her mission. 

I got a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Cleaver with their little granddaughter. Evelyn is such a little doll!

It was so fun to see Livie come out of the airport hallway and to see her expression as she was greeted by her family and friends!  She was so happy to finally meet the baby and get to hold her.

From the left: Melissa, Nathan, Livie and Evie, Ellie, Joe, Gravce and Blake. Grace is due to have her baby in July.

Aunt Alivia and Baby Evelyn

The three Cleaver siblings and their spouses and  baby Evie.

Me, Livie and Tony

AKA: Grandpa & Grandma Norton

Margie (Melissa's best friend) came to see her home as well as her Grandma & Grandpa Cleaver. 

It was such a fun evening and it didn't end there. We went home for a bit while they went to eat and get Livie home to settle in. She had never seen her parents new home so that was fun for her. We were invited up to their home because she was getting released from her mission at 8 PM. We still had Lynn with us and we drove up at the assigned time. President Wolstenhulme and his wife and Brother Bossen came up and we had a very spiritual get together on the new patio. It was a beautiful evening and Livie told us things about her mission as the President asked her questions. He had each of us tell Livie what we learned from her while she was on her mission. It was such a wonderful experience.  When she was released, she had Ellie video her taking off her Missionary tag and she went and jumped in the pool, dress and all!  It was so fun and her siblings and spouses  joined her soon after. She wants to send it to her Mission president.

The pool was a warm 87 degrees and what a view!

It was a Great day!

GOD IS GOOD!

WHAT A GREAT SATURDAY !

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SATURDAY

Saturday, our temple day was so awesome.  The trees along the sidewalk were all in bloom with their snowy white blossoms. We had a wonderful day serving and I was so excited to see Ellie and Alivia. They came to do Initiatory and I was in the main hall so I got to see them come in. Then I was at new name when they left so I got to see them again. It's always wonderful to see family at the temple.

They took this picture as they left. Beautiful girls.

When we left, I took a picture of the flower bed and the bulbs are all coming up and the grounds are lovely!!

Wish my garden beds looked so good!

We drove back to Nampa and guess where we went?? YEP,

Chick Fil A! We had to eat quickly because we made an  appointment to come back at 5 for baptisms. We ate and visited with our neighbors across the street for a bit about our yards. They are thinking about giving up their garden area like we did so we had a nice visit in our back yard. Then we came in and rested for a bit. We picked up Mom and Liz at 4pm and Drue picked up Christopher. (Yeti had to back out because he needed to get a new part in his car ) We called Tammy and Chris and they were on their way with the little boys. When we got to the temple, we were thrilled to see Elder Fenton and Elder Fritz as well as 6 Sister missionaries. 2 of which had served in our ward recently. Sister Curtis was dressed to do baptisms and so were the Elders. Sister Fonua and the other 4 sisters sat in the baptismal chapel and watched. 

These are the Elder's and the Sister's who helped us and Christopher is in the middle. Christopher has been a member a month now and he was so excited to attend the temple. He blessed the sacrament for the 1st time last Sunday and he was able to baptize for the 1st time on Saturday. He did a great job. He was nervous but he relaxed the more baptisms he performed. Our grandson (little Tony) had Christopher baptize him. It was sweet. There was a temple worker who came up to Christopher as we were getting ready to leave and told him how much he could feel the spirit as Christopher baptized. It made Christopher feel good and he said he felt it too.

We were able to get 89 baptisms and 89 confirmations completed with the group we had. It was an awesome evening.  From the left: Drue, who just took out his endowment last Saturday,  Elder Fenton, then Elder Fritz (little Tony in front of them) Liz, a convert almost 6 months. Christopher in the middle and he's been a member a month. Sister Curtis and Sister Fonua and me and Tammy in front of us. Mom and Chris on the right and Corbin behind us on the fountain. We were so grateful to the Elder's and Sisters who came to support our new members and to help us with our names. Drue and Elder Fenton each did 4 of their own family plus helping us with family names. It is such a joy for me and Tony to be able to help the Missionaries as we go on visits with them and get to know friends who are investigating the gospel and coming unto Christ.

GOD IS GOOD

FRIDAY AND ALL IS WELL

We went to the gym and walked our 4 miles. I've seriously got to do something more. I am not getting thinner but I'm still upright and walking.  I guess that's something. lol

When we got home, I was in awe of my flowering cherry tree. It is starting to bloom and it's beautiful! 

I love this tree so much. I just wish the blossoms lasted longer!

I needed to use my sourdough starter and feed it again, so I made a loaf of bread. I had to pull and stretch it every 30 minutes for 5 times. It takes a while to make this bread but it's sure good when it's done. I got it to the point where it sits in the dutch oven for several hours in the fridge. I didn't have room in the fridge and it's not cold enough outside anymore to set it on the back step, so I set it in the back room and let it sit and rise. Planned to cook it Saturday, after our temple shift. Then I went to my craft room and worked on 3 cards.

I used some of the words that I'd cut out. I glued several together to make the word rise and look 3 dimensional. Then I placed them on a gatefold card. Something to do before turning in Friday evening early. We went to bed early because we serve in the temple Saturday. We were in bed a short time when our doorbell rang. WHAT!! I practically jumped out of bed. Tony quickly did jump out and put on his pants and ran downstairs. HOWEVER, not quick enough. It was Clint, coming to pick up Joyce's mail but he drove off before Tony could get to the door. Tony called him and asked him to come back, which he did. THEN, we got to sleep. lol

My tree blooms a little more each day and this was it on Saturday when we got home from the temple on Saturday. Saturday to be continued.

IT'S A GOOD LIFE

It has been another busy week and now that the weather is getting warm, it's gonna be non-stop!! Of course, Monday, we did the gym thing and then celebrated with Mom Norton for her 94th birthday. Tuesday was our temple day. Starting by picking up Lynn and Diana Brown at 8:45am and ending at 2PM in the afternoon. It was such a productive day serving our ancestor's, so it was great!  Tuesday night was Relief Society and it was our yearly "PAINT NIGHT"... I'm terrible and didn't do any better on this one than I did on any of the others. Jon, my son in law will get another canvas to paint over and make something worthwhile. lol

We did an ocean sunset scene. My palm trees look like "FEATHER DUSTERS" ... LOL  BUT, check out some of the other sisters work!

I was really impressed with some of them!! These Palm trees look great!!  I need to start over!!!  But I won't! lol

This is Beanna Edge. Now married, and I don't know her last name. She came with her mom, and used to be one of my Young Women when I was Young Woman President.  So cute!

Val Jorgensen used to be another of my Young women. She's still in the ward and is a school teacher now. She did a mountain scene and did a great job!

Sister Wilson did a mountain scene as well and did a great job!!

I love this one!! Beautiful all the way around!!

JoHanna and I sat together and we had the best time laughing at ourselves and our master pieces! lol

Daniela and her mother, Chabuka sat with us as well. Daniela added birds and stars and a hammock on her painting. It was a fun night and a GREAT turnout. After putting up all the tables and chairs (thanks for the help from Val Jorgensen) and some other sisters, but mostly Val, I came home and went to bed. Dead tired!

We went to the gym, Wednesday morning, walked our 4 miles and Pat gave me this beautiful pot and the stand. She said she wasn't using it anymore and wanted me to have it. I put the plant (she gave me when Joyce died) in it and I love it higher!!

It really looks nice!

Even Tony said it looks better than just sitting on the floor. It's been a very healthy plant in this location so I hope it continues to thrive.  We ate a quick breakfast and then I had my yearly eye appointment. My eyesight is horrible! I have 3 cataracts in my left eye (I didn't even know there were different kinds) and one in the right. She said I needed to get them removed so they are making an appointment for me to meet with Dr, Barrett from Hollingshead.  Not sure when they will remove them but she said I will be amazed at how well I can see when they are taken out. YAY!! We went straight from the appointment to Robin's to put her "CAT HOUSE"  lol together.

It took us awhile and Tony did most of it but I helped some when I made some suggestion's he didn't see. He told me "good job" Laverne.  lol He also hung a beveled glass thing she wanted hy=ung up and then we came home and ate a quick lunch before heading out to do yard work. Yes, it's that time of year!!

We cleaned out the berm in the front yard and cut back bushes, pulled weeds etc! Tony blew off all the leaves and whatnot and I mowed it up.  My cherry tree is budding out!

We moved to the back yard and did the same. A lot more trees and bushes in the back to trim and clean up!  WHAT A JOB!! It's gonna be a dry summer, because we didn't get a lot of snow so we are cutting back on planting. We pulled up the raised garden too and I have a bunch of carrots to give to Pat for her rabbits. Not sure they will be good to eat. Maybe!  

I cleaned out my flower pots and then mowed the back yard. We were both so stiff and sore when we came in. The temp was 81 and beautiful outside. We showered and got ready for bed. Watched an episode of NCIS Origin and then came up to read our scriptures and go to bed. It's a good life! 

GOD IS GREAT!~