Happy Anniversary

CHUCK & FAY!!!

Have a great day.

We love you.

WAITING

1/2 HOUR TO GO THEN I GET TO GO HOME TO FAMILY (KIM & GIRLS, JOCELYN & GIRLS) CHARLIE & FAMILY SHOULD BE THERE BY SUPPER THEN LES & FAMILY WILL BE THERE AROUND 8 PM. OH HOW BLESS I FEEL RIGHT NOW.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone on this wonderful Sabbath Day!!!  It was a beautiful sunny day here with awesome blue skies!!!!  May we all celebrate the birth of our Savior and remember why it is that we celebrate this Christmas Day.

With Love from our Family to Yours!!!!!

Cute background, Hannah!

Can I?

I'm just trying to see if I can post from work. Something I really shouldn't be doing but oh well. Let's see if this works now. Maybe I can figure why I can't post from home.

My Angels

These are my two angels that I made at our Relief Society's Christmas in November. I didn't notice that I did their hair different until this morning. So my angels are a little different just like each of us are.

Happy 81st Biurthday

Have a Wonderful Birthday!

We love you!

Halloween

Happy Halloween! Hope you all had fun. We sure did!

First Snow

Today we got our first snowfall of the season. It wasn't a lot of snow and it didn't last long, but yes we did get snow in October. The snow stuck to the ground but not to the pavement. I will be making a trip to Sam's on Monday to replace my front tires since the diver's side is bald. I am not looking forward to all of the snow we are expected to receive this winter. I see buying snow boots to be in my future.

Background

Who changed the background? It's cute.

Music Part 2

Yesterday was my first day of teaching music class and it went well. I teach 3 kindergarten classes and one first, second, and third grade class. So if you can't count that is a total of six classes and they are each 40 minutes long. So in class we had a mini lesson and then we sang Halloween songs and played a Halloween game. The kids loved the Halloween portion of class! While subbing in the same school today I saw one of my first graders and she asked me who was to be in the middle for Pumpkin, Pumpkin (the Halloween game we played) next time, and she also wanted me to sing the song again because she couldn't remember all the words. Well, at least I know the kids are having a good time, now I will have to find ways to keep them interested.

pumkinpatch

we took the kids out to montrose orchard today it was real fun they took us on a hayride and took us out to the pumkinpatch so we could pick out our own pumkins

Music

So yesterday I got a great birthday gift. Mr. Neptune from Jayenne Elementary called me and asked me to teach music every Tuesday for the rest of the year. So I am guaranteed to at least have enough money to pay the bills every month. This will also give me the opportunity to show Mr. Neptune his mistake in not hiring me and maybe set up the chance to get a job there next year if they are hiring. They have another music teacher there that teaches one day a week so I am not sure if we are supposed to do the same thing or if I will be planning out my own lessons. I am very grateful and excited for this opportunity I have been given.

Thanksgiving

So I thought we should have a little discussion about plans for Thanksgiving. Mom would like for us to have a family temple day on Saturday, Nov. 26th, in the morning. At the last family dinner, we kind of talked about having the November family dinner at Les and Kristi's house after we go to the temple. I know Alexis and Merrit could babysit at Les and Kristi's while we are at the temple. We could all just leave our kids there (if that's O.K. with Les and Kristi).

At family dinner, we also talked about maybe having Christmas at Les and Kristi's too since we will all be together then and Mom and Dad probably won't be able to make it back up for real Christmas.

What does everyone think about these possibilities? Also, I was thinking that we should try to have some kind of family pictures taken on Nov. 26th too. We haven't had a family picture taken in quite a while, and most of us should be there. What do you guys think about that? We could either ask one of Les and Kristi's friends to come take the pictures for us or we could use a camera timer and set it up ourselves. If you guys like the idea of a family picture, do you want to try to coordinate colors for clothing in the picture? If so, throw out some ideas.

:(

So, I had another interview yesterday with 3 principals and I felt that it went really well. It is now 8:36 pm and I think it is safe to say that they will not be calling me tonight with a job offer. I'm really bummed. I'm trying to not think about it too much because if I do I will cry. I refuse to be a life-time substitute teacher and am thinking that I might need to come up with a plan B. Any realistic suggestions?

Steer go bye-bye

Picked up the steer tonight. Now with any luck there won't be too much of a problem getting him to the butcher tomorrow. Unfortunately, we are sharing the same horse trailer with someone else tomorrow and they have to pick up horses at 9:30 a.m. I have no time to get the steer to the butcher and back in time before that so he's going to have to go back off the trailer and sit at the horse person's house until they get back with the horses. Then we'll have to get him back on the trailer so I can take him to the butcher. Getting him of won't be the problem, it's getting him back on that I think might be. I hope this isn't as much of an adventure as I'm scared it will be. Wish us luck.

Joke

Saw this joke on facebook and thought it worthy to share.

A guy took his girlfriend to her very first football game. After the game, he asked her how she liked it.
"Oh, I really liked it," she replied, "especially the tight pants and the BIG muscles, but I don't get why they were killing each other over 25 cents."
Dumbfounded, her date asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, they flipped a coin, one team got it and then for the rest of the game, all they kept screaming was: 'Get the quarterback! Get the quarterback!' I'm like, hello? It's only 25 cents!

Charlie update

Charlie went to the orthopedic surgeon yesterday. There is no need for surgery and he didn't even get a cast. They gave him a different splint and told him to be careful with his hand. He goes back in a couple weeks to see how it is healing. Hopefully it will heal quick and correctly.

Now he has a major cold and had to take the day off work today because of it. He took yesterday off for his appointment. So since the first of the year, he has only taught one day and missed two. I hope this isn't an indication of how the rest of the year will go. He doesn't have that many sick days he can take.

Merrit and Alexis's concerts for the year

Merrit is continuing with band and Lexi is in the choir and the following are their dates for concerts through to the end of the year. Then, hopefully, I'll remember to write the rest of them at the first of the year, for anyone who might want to come see them perform.
Middle School Band concert: Nov. 15 @ 7 p.m. at the high school auditorium
Dec. 13 @ 7 p.m. at the high school auditorium

Holiday choir concert: Dec. 15 @ 8 p.m. at the high school auditorium
Holiday Collage concert: Dec. 20, 21 @ 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Dec. 22 @ 8:30 p.m. and 9:20 p.m.

Merrit and Cross Country

Merrit wants to wrestle this year. When we went to talk to the coach about it, the coach suggested that Merrit run cross country in the fall to get him into better shape for wrestling in the winter. So Merrit decided to do that. This week has been his first and it has gone pretty well so far. He isn't the fastest, but he isn't the slowest. I thought I'd write his schedule down for any one who might want to come watch him run in a meet. Most of his meets are during the week so I know it might be hard for you to come, but he'd love for anyone to come even if it's just once.
09/13 @ home @ 4:45 p.m.
09/20 @ Clio @ 4:45 p.m.
09/24 (Sat.) @ Linden TBA
09/27 @ home @ 4:45 p.m.
10/04 @ Linden TBA
10/11 @ Lapeer @ 5 p.m.
10/13 @ Davison @ 4:45 p.m.
10/18 @ Grand Blanc W @ 4:45 p.m.
10/22 (Sat.) @ Kearsley TBA

If you do want to come and need directions, just let me know. We are looking forward to seeing how well he does.

Alexis and robotics club

Alexis wants to join the robotics club at school. She will be competing in competitions in the spring and preparing for those competitions throughout the year leading up to them. She seems pretty excited about it. She may even try her hand at the drama club later in the year, if she can fit it in. I don't have any dates for her yet. There is a parent meeting next week where I'm sure I'll be getting more information. Yeah for after school activities.

Drama for Logan

We have had quite the start of the school year for Logan this year.  First it started by Logan not receiving his classroom placement letter.  Which made him very sad because both his brothers got theirs.  So, we didn't find out until we walked into school on the first day who his teacher was.  Then I wasn't very happy with who he was placed with because I really wanted him to have the teacher that Parker had last year.  Its not like I had a problem with the teacher they gave him, I had nothing against her, I just wanted him to have the other one.  I liked the idea of already having a relationship with the teacher and feeling comfortable with her.  We have never had any repeat teachers in our family because the teachers Bradyn has had always get reassigned to another school and so his younger brothers can never have them.  This was going to be our first opportunity to finally have a repeat teacher and one that I really liked.  So, I talked to the principal and he was pretty whatever about it, but I wasn't about to give up just yet.  That night after the 1st day I sent him an email asking him if he was able to talk to the two teachers and then I had Les send an email asking if the switch could happen too.  Well, the next morning we got to school and the secretary informed me that the switch happened....HOORAY!!!!!!!  Logan is also pretty excited because he has friends from his Kindergarten class in his new class.

Another thing that has happened, I was talking to a department in the district asking why Logan didn't get a different letter that the other boys got and when they looked him up, they had his home address as a completely different address.  So weird!!!!!!  So, I called the school and sure enough his home address was wrong and they have some high school student named April Hicks as living in the same household as him.  I am assuming the wrong address they have for Logan is the right address for April.  Then, last night when I was looking over the Pink Emergency Card that Logan brought home they had listed that Kristi was his mother and that Leslie was his mother too (as a side note, Bradyn's card had him listed as the father so I don't know what is up with Logan's info).  Apparently they think that we are Lesbian Lovers...hahahaha.  I feel bad for Les because it always annoys him when places have him listed as a girl.

Now the final thing that has happened with Logan is that I got an automated phone call this morning informing me that my 1st grader (Logan) was absent.  So, yet again I call the school and talk to the secretary and she is like No, Logan is here I just saw him in the office helping a couple of kids with something.  Such drama and it is only the 3rd day!!!!!!

First Day of School

Well, it is that time of year again.  Time for another school year.  Hip Hip Hooray!!!!  I only say that because I know the kids are actually really excited to be going back.  We had a pretty uneventful summer, but still a great one.  The kids were able to spend a ton of time playing outside with friends and Les and I were able to have a lot of time together just hanging out at home.  The summer was nice, but time to get back to the grind.  So, now it begins.......

Ready to go and all wearing their brand new shoes!

 Bradyn 4th grade!!!!

 Parker 2nd Grade!!!

Logan 1st Grade!!!

Now it is just Audrey and Mom all day....I wonder what fun adventures we will have :)

Our news

The steer has been getting out and is rather mean sometimes when Kim has tried to corral him back into the pen. In fact, he pinned Sierra against the fence once and bruised her up. So we are going to slaughter him soon to get him off her hands. We decided that making him a smaller pen with reinforced fence posts will help him stay fenced until we can get him to the butcher in two weeks. So we went to make the pen lastnight and while we were there the steer started to get a little pushy with Charlie. Charlie smacked him a couple of times but he wouldn't leave him alone, so Charlie decided to punch him in the face. Unfortunately, he caught him right on the eye socket bone and hurt his hand. We went to the urgent care today to get it checked out and, surprise, it is broken. So now Charlie has to see an orthopedic surgeon to see if it needs surgery. What great timing considering school starts on Tuesday and it just happens to be his right hand. He isn't going to have very much fun for the next couple of weeks. It hurts, but we both think it's pretty funny!



It's not casted, just splinted right now, but if he needs surgery, I'm sure he'll have to get a cast. Also, surprise, the steer isn't a steer after all. When we got there yesterday we noticed that he is pretty well hung for a steer. This may explain why he is getting more aggressive. We are too happy about that.

GETTING READY!

It's me (Fay) and for some reason my sign in will not let me post.

Let me tell you about the dishwasher that WAS in the house. It was a BIG PAIN to get it out. A few things made it hard to get out. 1. It was directed wired 2. It was directed plumed. 3. It was bolted to the side of the cabinet. Oh what fun my wonderful husband had taking it out. He is now putting a plug in for it downstairs, we will put the cord down the hole where the live wire came up. He will also need to work on the plumbing. When we get done it WILL be better when we get done.






We (I should say me and maybe Hannah)are getting ready to paint the living room on Saturday. I am so tired of the way it looks. I hate to paint but it has to get looking better. I have ordered shades but they will not be shipped until the 15th but that is ok I found what I wanted. They are being specially made so they will fit the windows right. I'm really getting excited to paint and getting to look like I want it to look. Dad is not sure about the colors I have picked out but he hasn't said a word except that the first brown I had was to dark. I'm not sure how it will turn out but I do know that it will be that color for a few years.

Busy Week for the Boswell's

This has been an exciting week for the Boswell's!

Brian and I went to Logan to enjoy the wonderful time with Blake, Kira and Jackson.
Monday was Jackson's adoption.

He is now Jackson Braeden Boswell.

Blake, Kira and Jackson with their lawyer and the judge.

Jackson holding his adoption papers.

Tuesday, it was off to the Logan temple to be sealed as an eternal family!

The Boswell family outside of the temple.

The Boswell family...sealed together forever!

Trek 2011

These pictures go in order from the first day (you can tell these pictures because the kids are still clean and smiling) to the last day. The last two pictures are of Charlie's beard right before we cut it after we got home from Trek.
The first afternoon it rained really bad until about 9 p.m. That made for setting up camp real fun.
The second day was dry, but cool. We did the ravine that morning. Unfortunately I was too involved with the pull that I didn't get any pictures of our ravine pull. We did the women pull that afternoon. The only picture with me in it was me and our "daughters" after the women's pull. We had a good stretch of mud to pull through. That was lots of fun. Our girls were so pumped that they ran the cart up a tree.
The third day we only pulled a little. We had some pioneer games and square dancing that day. It was a lot more laid back which was nice. Then we had to take our cart apart and go home. The last picture is of our family flag. The two pictures just before that are of our kids from the ward asleep in our van on the way home. Everyone was pretty tired.

Summer catch up

We went with Les and Kristi and their family to this hands on museum in Toledo. It was lots of fun. It might be our second most favorite hands on museum.

Here are some pictures from Chelsea's baptism and birthday party. I think I have one of her quilt, but I have to find it. I'll post it when I do.

Here are the pictures of the kids with their goats during the goat show. They all did very well during the show.

These pictures are of Makayla participating in the super showmanship competition. She won the junior goat showmanship class on Monday and the super showmanship competition took place on Friday. It's a competition that she competed against the winners from pigs, steers, dairy, and sheep. In this competition she had to show all five animals. She did really well. She scored a 19 out of 25. She tied for last, but she was also the youngest kid to compete. We were pretty happy with how well she did.


Some other things we did but don't have pictures from are that Lexi went to EFY. She had lots of fun and can't wait to go again. Charlie, Lexi and I went on a pioneer trek for youth conference at the end of June. I posted pictures on facebook, but I will post some on the blog for those of you not on facebook. It's been a fairly busy summer, but lots of fun.

I have finally completed my mission scrapbooks almost 5 1/2 years after returning home! I have posted a few pictures on my blog if you want to take a look at them.

Interview

I have a job interview here in Fairmont next Friday at 9am! The teaching position is for either 5th or 4th grade and is only for this school year. It would be great if it was for more than just the one year but I will take what I can get. Hopefully all goes well!

Job Search

Marion County finally posted job openings for elementary teachers this week. So on Wednesday I turned in 8 bid sheets. The closing date isn't until July 27th and the first day of school is August 18th which wouldn't leave me a lot of time to prepare for the school year if I do get a job. So I have been hoping and praying, praying, praying that I will get a teaching job here. Any additional prayers would be great. Wish/pray me luck!!!!!

Catch up time

Let's play some catch up with pictures (going from most recent and back)...

Lexi's first church prom, April 30.


Daddy Daughter Dance. Charlie with Makayla, April 15.


Daddy/ Daughter Dance. Charlie with Chelsea.


Merrit's first temple trip, April 12.

Birthday pictures

Happy Birthday Makayla!

She is the big 1-0! She's so excited because now she gets to stay at home all by herself when Charlie and I are gone. I can't believe she is getting so old!

10 Years of Wedded Bliss

LES AND KRISTI ETERNAL FAMILY ESTABLISHED MAY 26, 2001

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Last week Les and I celebrated our 10 Year Wedding Anniversary. It is hard to believe that it has already been 10 years, but on the other hand our life together is so right that it feels like we have been together forever. I am such a blessed woman to have Les in my life. He is such a wonderful husband and a fantastic father. We are true partners in this life of ours and I love it. Les had his last track meet on the day of our Anniversary so we weren't able to celebrate and the weekend was full of different activities so we still haven't done anything. In our perfect world we would be sitting on a Beach in Hawaii or on some Cruise Ship somewhere, but this is our life so that probably won't be happening anytime soon...haha :( 

So, some may ask what we have been doing with our time together these last 10 years well, here is a little sample of what our life has involved.........

(Click on picture to enlarge)

WE couldn't be more happy with the Life our Heavenly Father has blessed us with.  We had some VERY poor student years, but we are blessed with Les having his teaching degree and this summer he will be finishing his Masters degree.  We have been fortunate enough to have a good job for the last 4 years and are excited at the possibilities his Masters will open to us.  We still love each other just as much as we did 10 years ago and can't wait to see what the next 60 years will be like with each other.  I LOVE YOU LES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom's Post

(I am posting this for Mom because for some reason when she tried to post it it keep being saved as a draft instead of posting normally)

I survived my first week of work it's at a graphite plant so it's a dirty plant to work in but I can handle it. I was bored most of the time that I was there. Ann, whose place I will be taking, was on vacation the week before and then on Thursday and Friday she had to take over another guy’s job. So she was very busy with her own catch up work and then add another job on top of it. It being the end of the month makes it busier too. She didn't have a lot of time to train me, but by Wednesday she started to give me things to do. I got them done fast and she told me to slow it down a little. Ann has already told me that Wednesday is the beginning of a new month and she will bury me will all sorts of new information. It's ok with me because the days have gone by slowly. I don't feel that I have earned my money.

Talk about money. Kelly Services informed me that my time will be put in over the internet, I think great. I TRY to put my time in on Saturday and can't do it. The office in Fairmont has not given me the right to do that even though they have given me all the information I need to do it. What a pain. Now I have to get a hold of them on Tuesday and tell them to get it fixed. The main office said that they could not fix it, only the office where I sign up at can but that I will still get paid this week because it was not my fault that I couldn't get my time in by Sunday. I least I know that the money will be coming.

I'm still praying that I get a call for an interview with Fairmont State.

Look who turned 3!!!!!

LAST WEEK THIS BEAUTIFUL GIRL TURNED 3 YEARS OLD!!

(click on picture to enlarge)

We just cannot believe that our baby girl is already 3 years old.  We have never had a youngest child be 3 years old because we have always had another baby in the house under them.  We just love Audrey so much and she adds so much life and personality to our house.

Some things about Audrey.......
*She is a total Girly Girl even in a house with 3 older brothers.
*She loves the color pink and feels that if an object is the color pink then it must belong to her, example, plates, cups or kid spoons and forks.
*She loves Dora and Diego.
*Her favorite Disney princess is Belle from Beauty and the Beast and can sing along with the movie.
*When she hears music she loves to move along with it.
*She loves to get in there and wrestle with her brothers.
*She loves playing with friends.
*Chicken Nuggets are her favorite food, but she always likes pretty much anything chocolate.
*She loves her mom and likes to spend lots of time with her.
*If her Mom or Dad leaves for any length of time she immediate tells them how much she missed them.
*Next year when her brother Logan starts going to school all day she will miss him so much.  It has been just the 2 of them for a while now.

Audrey is so full of personality she has us laughing constantly at the things she says.  We are so blessed to have her as a part of our family and We Love Her so much!!!!!

I feel bad that I haven't posted anything on here recently. So I just thought that I would write on here to say that I have written on my blog, so go read it. What are you waiting for? Go to the top of the page on the left hand side and click on where it says Hannah's Blog and then read and comment on my post. Are you still reading this? Well stop and follow the previously written directions.

Stake Conference Talk

Here is my talk that I gave Saturday night at stake conference and it about your family history so I thought you migh enjoy it.

My brother once said to me why do you want to do Family History it’s just a bunch of dead people buried here and there? Well to me, it’s much more, it’s about children of God just like you and me. Your family tree is also more than just a straight trunk, it has many branches in all directions. As you do your family history you might be surprised in what you find out some good some not so good. One thing I do know is that your love and appreciation for them will grow as you find out what they have gone through for you.

My Grandma Huff was a tough old gal. When I asked her about her father she said she didn’t know much about him or his family for her parents divorced when she was about 3. All she knew was that his family came from Germany to the United States when he was about 9 or 10 years old. Ok I had his name Herman Henry Listeman, a great place to start. After searching on and off for over 10 years I was finally able to put GGranpa Listeman family together. Now this was at a time when I was trying to raise 6 children and when we had to go to the library to do research. Also I had found the name spelt 5 different ways and there was not one census where they were all together because the children were farmed out to work. I was so excited to tell Grandma what I had found out, a family of 10 children and the parents name. When I started to tell Grandma she stopped me and said I know and finished telling me their names and the name of their spouses. Gota love my Grandma.

The Lords will open doors for you if you but asked. I was able to get the orphanage records of Nellie Zimmerman who was my GGma over 20 years ago when those records were not to be released to the public. I found out that after the death of her father, my Great Grandma was placed in an orphanage along with her two sisters and brother. This was done because her mother had St. Vitus' dance, which is the uncontrollable movements, either of the face or of the arms and legs. She couldn’t provide for them. This happened on May 20, 1884 six days later she was made an indentured servant at the age of 10. Indentured servant means that Joseph Chamberlain paid $75 to the State of Michigan for the right to use grandma as a servant until the age of 21. All Mr. Chamberlain had to do at the end of that term was furnish Nellie with two good suits of clothes. They must have liked her for they let her get married at the age of 18 to GGpa Charles Huff. I later found out that her brother died in the orphanage and her two sisters were adopted.

Where would baseball be without Jackie Robinson? Where would have Jackie Robinson been without James Leslie Wilkinson? Where would night time baseball be without James Leslie Wilkinson? How does Wilkinson, Robinson, baseball and night time games, and me all fit together? By finding Mr Wilkinson at a 1930 census it took me into further research and this is how it all fits together.

Leslie was affectionately known to player, sportswriters and fans a "Wilkie". He was the innovative creator and owner of the Kansas City Monarchs, the longest running franchise in Negro National League history. The only white owner upon the founding of the league in 1920, he is credited with developing the first successful lighting system for night games and apparatus which traveled with the team during its cross-country barnstorming trips. His Monarchs supplied the white major leagues with more players, than any other black ballclub. He signed Jackie Robinson to his first professional contract, in 1945. He sold the Monarchs in 1948, and died in poverty in a Kansas City nursing home. Wilkie happens to fit onto one of my branches he is my 1c 2r.

This one is about my GGU and not the most wonderful thing to find out. This article was in the local paper where he lived dated Oct. 1952-Fred W. Wilkinson, 88, died about 8 o'clock Monday morning at the home of his daughter, Mrs. George Cole, R.2, Perry, as the result of self-inflicted knife wounds. Authorities said Mr. Wilkinson had cut his throat with a pocket knife and was dead when he was found a short time later by members of the family. He was believed to have been despondent over ill health.

I love finding out my family history no matter what their story is, no matter how distantly related or even if they are not really related but married my 3GGFather wife’s brothers son. They all fit into my tree somewhere. They really lived they all helped make things the way they are today.

I can’t talk about Family History without talking about a very special temple experience. For that is what Family History is about getting those names and taking them to the temple. Now understand this I knew the names we were going to do during the sealing session because I had given them to the sealer. As Chuck and I kneeled at the alter as proxy for my great-grand parents the sealer said the name Starl Alexander Wilkinson my stomach flip flopped, my heart jumped for joy and I start to cry like a baby. Brother Young, who was acting as proxy for my Uncle Starl patted my hand and whispered it will be all right. I couldn’t say a thing for it was not me who was really crying for I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life for it was Grandma Wilkinson who was crying. Her tear were for the joy she was experiencing. She testified to me that she now felt complete she had her whole family sealed for eternity.

There is a song called White Dress by Kenneth Cope let me read just part of it, In Wichita, Kansas Nettie and Francis bow over breakfast to start off the day. When the voice of the spirit pays them a visit and says it’s time to get with it-there’s family to save. Your father and mother are biding their time. They’re waiting for you to help them get dressed up in white. Well Nettie and Francis are filled with desire, they’re searching through records and feeling the fire. And after each name’s acquired it’s up to God’s mountain where white is applied. And he in his robes and she in her gown they’re doing their best to turn it around. And they won’t rest till all are in white dress.

Brothers and Sister I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true and the church is making FH easier to do. Heavenly Father is opening the doors more for us every day. One time when you are on the internet take a name that you need more information on and go to familysearch.org. This wonderful sight is where the church is putting all of the film that they are digitizing. Everyone of us have a family members, no matter how distant, who are waiting for us to find them. Collect what information you can when the opportunity arises.

The day will come when you will take a name, a child of God to the temple. There is no doubt in my mind that you will dress them in white. You will present them at the veil to help them gain further light and knowledge that that they need to be able to enter into the presents of our Heavenly Father. Just think of the joy that will be in everyone’s heart when you meet on the other side and they say THANK YOU for taking the time to find me and dressing me in white.

Here is the full article I found on J. Leslie Wilkinsone some of it I did not put into my talk but thought you would enjoy the whole article.

Leslie was affectionately known to player, sportswriters and fans a "Wilkie" and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. Here is some information that I have learned about him. He was the innovative creator and owner of the Kansas City Monarchs, the longest running franchise in Negro Natioal League history. He was arguably the man most responsible for saving black baseball during the Great Depression, His teams won an unprecedted 17 league pennants and also two Colored World Series. The only white owner upon the founding of the league in 1920, he is credited with develping the first successful lighting system for night games and apparatus which traveled with the team during its cross-country barnstorming trips. His Monarchs supplied the white major leagues with more player, including Jackie Robinson, than any other black ballculb. He signed Jackie Robinson to his first profession contract, in 1945. Prior to the Monarchs, he owned one of the first all-girls barnstorming teams, as well as the multi-ethnic All-Nations squad. He sold the Monarchs in 1948, and died in poverty in a Kansas City nursing home.

Work

Found out today that I will start work on May 23rd. I will be working at GrafTex International in Clarksburg, through Kelly services. It is only to last for a month or two then I will be onto my next assignment.

I just have this ugly feeling that the college will call for an interview,(Fairmont State) they will want to hire me, and want me before my assignment is done at GrafTex. Then GrafTex will offer me more money to stay with them. I dislike that feeling so much. Why couldn't I just start working tomorrow so I wouldn't feel so bad if I leave early. Ok I will just put that in the back of my head and not worry about it. Just concentrate on the things I would like to get done around the house before I start working full time.

I will miss volunteering at school, I have enjoyed the kids and they have seemed to enjoy me. I did let them know that I will only be there a couple more weeks. I'm thinking about what I could do for them. Maybe a little homemade treat.

HAPPY EASTER

HAPPY EASTER TO YOUR FAMILY FROM OURS!!

We are overjoyed as we see the blessings in our lives given to us by our Savior Jesus Christ.  What comfort it gives me with these 3 words.

HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!

School is over!

Woot! Woot! I just took my last final exam and now I'm free from school work until the fall. I've been looking forward to this for several weeks now. Yeah!

I'm also up to running 5 miles now. I'll be moving on to 6 miles on Monday. Wish me luck.

A Little Secret

I don’t like my underwire bras. When I was mowing the lawn and pushing the silly lawnmower up the very steep hill, (above my head) my bra comes up right in the middle of my breast. Now it’s only on one side but it does not slide back down in place when the mower comes down. So uncomfortable, then I have to try to adjust myself. Hope the neighbors weren’t watching to close. By the way I can not make the bra any tighter, some of you youngsters need to learn when you get old and not so firm you just can’t hold some things in place or you're excess unfirmness falls through little cracks. Hope you had a good laugh but next time I mow the lawn I will put on an old one.

Patriarical blessing

Lexi received her patriarical blessing on Sunday. It was such a sweet, wondering experience. I always knew I was blessed to have her be my daughter, but that experience just further confirmed the fact that she is someone special. I am so thankful to have been able to share it with her. It was neat to be experiencing it as a parent. So different than my own experience, but just as good, if not better.

I did 3 miles today - finally!

After all the talk I finally ran today. I'm proud of my little start, especially since it was so hard and my legs are like limp spaghetti noodles now. Yeah for running!

Snow again!

Can you believe that two days ago was the first day of spring and here we are getting another snow storm?!?!?! Ahhhh! I can't wait for it to warm up permanently.

On a lighter note, we just finished parent/teacher conferences tonight and all the kids are doing very well. No complaints from any teachers. We are very proud parents. Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth our time even going to conferences. We sit with the teachers for like 5 minutes, just long enough for them to tell us how wonderful our kids are and then leave. Sometimes I wonder if the teachers think, "Why did you even bother to come?" But I do like hearing how good they are doing from some of the people who spend the most time with them.

Running

So I've been riding the exercise bike since January to help me get ready for the half-marathon that my sister, Jana, and I are doing. I've known all along that I'd have to start running at some point because riding a bike and running are very different. I have not been looking forward to running, because I, well, hate it. But I went and bought all the things I will need to run and hopefully not be too sore, so now I have to start running. My plan is to start Wednesday. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it. :)

Hole, NO HOLE

Ok we knew that the floor by the door needed help when we bought the house. There had been some termite damage but they killed them and fixed the floor. HA HA HA. As soon as the floor was taken up I could tell that they did not do it right. You can see how much had to be redone.

I also had the house checked for those nice little bugs and guess what they found. Yes some more under the same floor. They are now all dead!!! and the floor is fixed. We also found out that they never hooked up the heat vent so the termits even had heat under the floor.

Now we are waiting for the carpet guy to come back in to put the carpet down right. Then I will get the bill for the repair, YUCK!

Can You Hear Me Now?

Yes, he finally got new hearing aides! He will be paying for them for a few months, but at least he can hear now! Hopefully, he won't put these in a cup holder and forget about them.

Sad news

Yesterday morning, before church, we found that one of our rabbits, May, was injured, pretty badly. We brought her and her sister in the house and put them under the heat lamp, hoping that May would improve, but she died this morning, early. The kids are pretty sad, but are handling it much better than I thought they would. To be honest, I expected a total melt down like they did when Princess Fluffy's kittens were killed. They haven't acted that way at all though, which is a good thing for me. It breaks my heart to have my kids so sad. We've decided to keep her body and bury her when we can dig a hole. I know it sounds gross, but I think it will help the kids have better closure. I'll do anything to help them get through this better. This is the part I hate about having pets!

Don't Look

The title is don't look because as I was driving I looked at a closed store and then I ran into the back of another vehicle. STUPID ME. My truck is in the shop mostly because when I quickly stopped the weights we had in the back of the truck came up to see me. One of them his the frame of the window and busted it out. Sure hope they covered the window because it has been raining here. No one was hurt and I'm surprised that I didn't get a ticket.


Well here is a picture of a new quilt block I have made not the best but I'm getting better.



The gal that owns a quilt shop here said that I have picked one of the hardest patterns to start quilting on. Any quilt pattern with points is hard you have to be so exact with your stitching. You might be able to tell that my points in the middle don't quit match. I just looked at the picture and you can not tell that the points don't match just believe me they don't.

we are moved in

We have everything moved into the house thanks in large part to Charlie and the elders here in Flint. Now starts the fun task of putting everything away. I already got the washer hooked up and Jocelyn has already started to work on that and i also have Anna's new bed put together and she is down for a nap in her new room right now. Now i am takeing a break before i go back to work. Love and miss you all.

First church dance

What a fun time for cousins to share. They all had a blast and were all smiles when they arrived home. I'm so glad they were able to go together.

Merrit's ordination

Merrit was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood on Saturday evening. We are so blessed to have him in our family. Unfortunately, he didn't feel well that day. We are so glad to so many of our family were able to be there with us.

Snowmagaden II

These are pictures from our first snowfall, termed Snowmagaden by some.






We had a fun snow storm roll in yesterday afternoon. It snowed through the night and left us about 10 inches. Charlie and I even say a flash of snow lighting. Pretty fun. The kids were already out of school for mid-winter break, but there could be a chance of no school tomorrow, depending on how well the roads get cleaned up. I thought I'd post some pictures of our snow from yesterday. It was quite the load we got from the last snow storm, but it's a good amount. I posted pictures from the last snowfall so you can compare.

What Have They Been Up To?

We haven't done much, but here are a few pictures of what has been going on.

Hoover Dam, on the new bypass bridge.

The Las Vegas Temple.

Tournament of Kings dinner show.

We are very boring here, but we have done a few things. I hope that they enjoyed themselves during their visit!