Ba humbug

We are the worst at Halloween. Josh decided years ago tha he was no longer into Halloween, and Boaz followed right along. So no costumes for us. 

We were happy to see the Dodgers force a game seven in the World Series. 

I am handing out fun sized chocolate bars. I say pick one. We live in an area where they hand out full sized bars. But I get a bit irritated when kids who are getting free candy think they should grab a hand full. 

On little girl picked two and said, " I can’t decide." I told her several times to "pick one" and she just held them both until her brother, the last of the group took one out of her hand and left her with one. She wanted me to tell she could have them both. Some kids just took two. She wanted permission. I didn’t give it to her. 

Silly me. 

But. The reason for this post. I saw this picture on Facebook. 

Darling pineapple. I miss her. Glad she is having fun. 

Going South to Indy

We were only seven or eight hours away from Thea. When we drove 27 hours to get to Wisconsin, then eight hours doesn't seem like that much. 

So we attended Church on Sunday, ate lunch, and got back in the car to drive to Indianapolis. 

I am a fan of my maps ap. I was the navigator, and I did pretty good. We got an idea of where Madison is and we headed into Illinois. I can tell you I am not a fan of Illinois, especially around the Chicago area. We had to pay almost $20.00 in tolls. Our experience as someone just traveling through the area was full of confusion and we think it was one of the most dangerous areas of our trip. With all the toll gates, we were confused as to which lane we should be in, we were dodging traffic, the vehicles were all traveling different speeds and switching lanes.

I was interested in visiting Chicago before, but that desire has been firmly squashed by the toll system.  

We made it past Chicago with out dying and we found a hotel to spend the night. Thea was so excited to spend the day with us. We were excited to spend the day with her. 

We followed the directions on my phone right to Thea's apartment. She looked great. We drove around on errands. 

A quick picture in her apartment. 

We went to the local burger joint for lunch. We love the Steak and Shake. Our server was Johnny, and we loved him. He was quick on his feet with the conversation and the service. 

We went to Goodwill for a pan. We went to Walmart for groceries and supplies. We went to Costco for canned chicken. 

A quick picture in the heat of the day. 

A lot of laughing, a bit of lecturing, and a lot of love. It was a fun day. We love her, and we miss her - lots. 

After a sweet day, we headed West for home. We made it to St Louis that night. We saw the St. Louis Arch, but I snapped a crappy picture. 

But there is the wonder of the internet. 

It is amazing. We crossed the river on an amazing bridge. 

I had fun looking for pictures. 

Again. 

It's a crazy bridge. I love it. 

The house feels empty

We have had Thea in our house since the summer. 

She has lived in our basement, had her own living area:bedroom, five closets, bathroom and access to the storage room. She has been in and out, eaten dinners, attended family events, hung out with all of us. 

We have witnessed the many miracles of her stopping parting, returning to activity in the Church, get her Patriarcal Blessing, get her recommend for baptisms and become interested in researching her family history. 

She has been accepted to BYUI for the Fall.  She has loved working at the nicest restaurant in our tiny town. But looking forward to school expenses, she is getting ready to try a summer sales job. She left early this morning for a visit home in Oregon. 

Her room downstairs is empty. The old truck and rickety Suburban are parked in the driveway and in front of the house. 

We don't know when we will be together again. 

I miss her. 

I will not be gathering empty glasses from around the house. I will not be folding her laundry. I will not be talking to her about the craziness of her friends at work. I will not be listening for her to come in late from work. I will not be sitting on the couch answering her questions. 

I will miss all those moments. 

She is growing up. She will turn 22 in just a few short weeks. It is very possible that she will never come to live with us again; just brief visits as she walks her own path. 

I am much more confident that she will find happiness. I am excited for the opportunities she has in front of her. 

But, I will miss her. 

Personal Liahonah

Thea has been studying about patriarcal blessings. She received hers today. Simply amazing. 

She was making sure she understood what the Liahonah was. It was a ball with two pointers. There were messages written on it for the Lehites. I agreed that was all correct. I was happy she knew what it was. Then she said, Heavenly Father was texting them. It was the first text message. 

That she can make analogies like at is awesome to me. 

The whole family went and we had a great talk about what the blessings are. 

Craig was driving, so of course we were twenty minutes early. We stayed out in the car and shared what we remembered from our blessings. Josh shared from his, Craig shared from his and I shared from mine. 

Coming home we talked about what we remembered from the blessing. We all remembered some different things. But what was most apparent was how The Lord knew Thea as a person. She was told what her strengths were and encouraged to stay faithful. Like all blessings, but what make it individual was truly geared just for her. 

Thea's Christmas present to the boys

Thea played Santa, big time his past Christmas. She got concert tickets for the boys to Imagine Dragons. 

At the time, I didn't know anything about the group, but Josh did. And because Josh did, Boaz did too. They were very excited. 

Saturday, the big day came. They braved the snowy roads to Boise.  Thea got her friend, David, to go to drive. That made me feel better about driving the roads. 

She sent me some pictures of their day. 

First stop was Red Robin. They got the monster milk shakes. I was told today thT Boaz was concerned that I wouldn't want them to have that big of milk shakes. Thea told him it didn't matter what I would want, just enjoy the milk shake. Josh finished his, and ended up finishing Boaz's as well. It must have a very big milk shake. :)

Next stop, the aquarium. 

They got to pet sting rays and sharks. They were a small shark variety, but still very cool. 

Boaz and David as Ursula. 

This is the picture from the concert. 

Josh texted me that it was the best concert ever. It made me smile, because it is his first concert ever. 

Favorite songs were: Radioactive, Demons and Monsters.  Josh also just added Tiptoe to the list. They were familiar songs because they got the CD for Christmas too. 

They got home at 3:00 in the morning. It is a good thing we have Church at 1:00. The only good thing about late Church. 

I was lonely all day and cleaned. Then I got a call that the inter-library loan book was in and I read. I didn't get any quilting done, 

She's a brunette

New hair. She looks good. 

Single ward ugly sweater contest

Thea and her friend really got into the spirit of the party.

I think the cats are creepy.

They won the contest. David got first place, Thea got second and David's brother got third.

Checking out BYUI and Bear World

I have never been to Ricks College or the newer version of ByUI.

Thea has been thinking about it, and so we headed north to look at the campus. Thea's cousin, Jake, works there so we met up with him and got a personal tour.

Jake works with purchasing the equipment for the media department. We got a cool view of the behind the scenes ai the I Center.

Such a fun day. I miss school.

Craig is a bit jealous that he wasn't able to go.

On the way home, we stopped at Bear World. Just a few pics of the many bears.

A black bear sitting by the road eating some bread.

I was a bit worried about the bears that were active. I've heard that they can rip the door handles off cars. He didn't get close enough, but I was watching him.

This guy was siting at the gate to say good-bye.

Headed to the corn maze

On the moped with her friend going to the singles ward activity.

I thought it looked like fun.

It barely looks street worthy.

She was so excited.

A blurry picture, but it gives a good idea of the whole bike.

Hair day for Thea

Thea got her hair done today. She was pleasantly surprised that she could get it done here in small town Idaho. :) 

I tell her there are all kinds of people in every population - even those who love to play with their hair.

She loves it. She's not partying anymore, but she can still have a party on her head.

Spring Break

Craig had to get right to work the next Monday, but the boys and I had Spring Break. So I got to sleep in and rest up while Craig had to get up and go to work. He hates the days that he is the only one getting up. I felt bad for him, but I was happy to not have to get up.

That Friday, Karly was taking out her endowments. She is getting ready to go on a mission. She will be serving in the Salt Lake City Mission.

My brother, Joe, drove up from St George on Wednesday night. We drove all night and arrived in Oregon Friday morning. We met Brenda for breakfast in Salem where we ordered lunch. I was happy to get a yummy salad. There is something about traveling that messes with my innards. I must be getting older.

After we ate, we drove to Dallas and showered up. I had a few people that I needed to see. My friend, Gladys, was turning 100 years old. I called and went to visit. I would miss her party by a day, but I got to see her. I also saw my former Visiting Teacher. Her dad was celebrating a birthday as well. I think he was turning 87.

Willa, Pete, Kayla, and Alysa arrived that night. Deb, Ivan, Raven, and Paul arrived that night too. Carl arrived Friday morning.We had a yummy breakfast and got ready and headed to the temple. Boaz and I wanted to get to the temple early to meet with Thea.

Thea looked so good. It was great to see her. I have missed her. We went to find a restaurant and saw the rest of the family. We piled into a Oriental rice bowl place and chatted and laughed and ate. It was great.

We went to the temple and took a few pictures.

Cousins at the Portland Temple. Karly had already gone in.

Beautiful girls.

Getting Boaz in the action. He was happy to see Thea. In fact, he agreed to the long drive to be able to see her.

Sweet picture. Don't they look happy?

At the temple I kept seeing people that I knew from everywhere I had lived in Oregon. Outside, I saw a couple from when we were in Madras. In the dressing room, I saw a daughter of our across the street neighbor from Gresham. Our former bishop and his wife were in the session with us. They were the ones we traveled to Spain to see last year. Some of the temple workers were members of our ward in Gresham. I saw the daughter of my former Relief Society President from Madras. It was sweet reunions all day long. I think that is what heaven will be like. Seeing people that you loved from all periods of your life. And happy smiles to be meeting in such a happy, amazing place.

These pictures are from after the session.

Boaz took a picture of his friend, Moroni.

Our group in the atrium. Willa and Pete, Joe, Me, Carl, Karly, Kayla, Brenda, Tim, Kimberly. In the front: Auntie, Deb, Raven

Auntie and Karly.

Auntie, Karly and Kimberly

Outside in front of the flowering cherry (I think) tree.

Boaz, Alysa and Ivan joined the group.

Paul has the hat on. He came out from behind the camera for this one.

Pete wanted to be able to see the pretty tree.

I had found a duck in the shrubbery and was communing with the wildlife. Brenda needs documentation on me every once in a while. An odd picture, I know. But I like it. :)


It was a beautiful day. We drove back to Brenda's and just talked.

Saturday morning, Joe, Boaz and I left. The others stayed for a barbecue.

Joe needed to get back for Sunday responsibilities and I had a talk to prepare. Besides, I do not like driving on Sunday. I've had tire problems the last two times I drove on Sunday. And I think Easter is the holiest day of the year. Not a day to drive and miss Church.

It was an amazing trip. So good to see so many family members in the temple.

Thea

Thea was here for a few days. We visited with family, watched ball games, chatted and had fun.

I only took one picture of her. Not too good, but glad to have the one.

Josh is rocking the hat and Boaz is a bit of a goof, but they were both happy to pose with Thea.

We miss her.

Craig took some pictures of her on a little date they had with Uncle Mark. She loved that he had the gear. :)

She got on a huge dirt bike and Uncle Mark lead on a 4-wheeler and Craig followed on a 4-wheeler. She was in heaven.

The view from the back.

Getting on the monster bike.

Her feet were off the ground, it was so big and she is so small. She loved it though. A great day.