gratil going ons

Utah-Part 2

2011-10-06T03:23:00.001-07:00

After conference was over, Melchor and I decided to walk around temple square before heading back to the car to eat dinner. While walking, we saw a nice looking returned missionary holding up a sign the read "looking for a wife". We laughed and I thought, why don't I make up a sign that says "son needs a wife"---for Jeremy....people started to read the sign and laugh. Even got another Mom to hold it so that she can send it to her son. I then proceeded to grab a few single ladies and took another picture with them and me holding the sign--so funny!!! Later on, a couple of days after we returned home, one of Jeremy's missionary buddies fbkd the pic and said that he knew a couple of the girls in the picture--small world. Stay tuned for part 3......

Utah Trip--Part I

2011-10-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

For the past three conferences, Melchor and I have traveled to Salt Lake to visit friends and to attend General Conference. We are usually gone for four days. This time Melchor came up with the idea to go up and stay for a week so we could have plenty of time to visit our friends. Good idea. The boys especially thought so. We left on the 26th and headed up to Logan. We stayed with our dear friends the Hugies. Brett was my zone leader and Julie lived with us for a while before they got married. Logan was beautiful. We hiked, did sealings in the Logan Temple, shopped, walked, ate and ate and ate..for those of you that are wondering, yes, I did manage to get excercise in. We love Logan--until we thought of the snow, then we quickly forgot about liking it so much.

After being with the Hugies for four days, we went down south to Draper to stay with our other friends the Parsons. The visit was full of partying, shopping, eating, eating and more eating and getting to go and see the last session of General Conference and going to attend the Filippino Fireside. A dear friend of the family who used to be in our ward growing up, Tad Callister, had been but into the quorum of the seventy and had given a magnificent talk on the Book of Mormon. After conference was over, we just hung around until the crowd died down. I took a walk to get closer and found out that the section I wanted to get to was blocked off for the general authorities and their families and in no way were the bodygards going to let me thru. I just happended to look to the left and there was Tad with his wife Cathy talking to people, so I ran over to the rope, and when they were through talking, I yelled "Tad"--they looked up and saw me and came walking over and we greeted each other and took pics.

This was just the cupcake coming out of the oven on this special day....

Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?

2011-09-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

It was 10 years ago--I was 43--working at PCH and my shift was just about over when we got a phone call from a fellow nurse who was coming in to work that morning and told us that we had just gotten attacked and to turn on the tv. We immediately got to the tv and watched in horror as the twin towers were burning, dust everywhere and people running for safety. It was so awful and so very sad. I was really touched about flight 93--how they over took the terrorists and caused the plane to crash in a PA field. I have watched the anniverary segments this past week on the Today Show, the local news and on the internet..America has changed...People have changed...for the better. It has been a week of service. A time of reflection for us all. Life has gone on. Life will go on. "Let's Roll"

Pioneer Day

2011-07-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

One of my goals is that someday I can be in Salt Lake on the 24th of July and be a part of all of the festivities. By going on our stake trek a couple of years ago, I was able to experience what it must have been like for the pioneers to make their way west. Last Monday night for family home evening, Melchor and I went with Patty and Tim Cox and Rhea and Sam Dahl to go see the film "17 Miracles". It was about the Willy/Martin handcart companies as they traveled to Salt Lake and told various stories about the people who were a part of that company. It was an excellent movie. Of course, some of the stories I have heard and read about many times, but there were other neat, spiritual events that happened that I had never known about--after all, there were 17 miracles--and yes, we did count them...

Harry Potter

2011-07-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

For the past 11 years, I have enjoyed watching all of the Harry Potter movies. My boys have read the books, gone to the midnight showings of each of the movies when thsy came out. The very last movie came out yesterday, so naturally, Jeremy and Ryan attended the midnight showings with their various friends. I texted Jeremy to ask him how he liked the movie. He texted back: I feel like a part of my childhood is gone.......and so it is...after seven novels and eight movies, Harry Potter is now gone. However, because of the books and the movies being on dvds, Harry will live on and without a doubt, will become part of my boys boys childhood. Thank you J.K. Rowling for such a wonderful, imaginative series of funfilled stories..I wonder what is next for her???????

Graduation

2011-05-23T03:41:00.000-07:00

The graduation festivities have officially begun....and so have the tears. Last night was Ryan's graduation from seminary. After four years of learning from the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, he received his certificate. I am so proud of him. Next on the agenda...his graduation from high school this Wednesday. More tears.

General Conference

2011-04-06T03:35:00.000-07:00

I remember the days way back when we would have to go to our stake center to watch general conference via satelite. Then we got to watch it on tv. Now we watch it on the internet. This past conference, Melchor and I drove up to Utah to attend conference, visit and stay with friends and just plain party. We left Thursday morning (the boys stayed at home by themselves) and got to Draper at dinner time. Friday we ran errands and had friends over for a filipino dinner. Sat. we listened and watched the first two sessions as we drove up to Park City to help our friends clean up their condo. We played tourists and saw the town. Came home, watched the second session of conference and then went to a party before heading out to see the play "Anne Frank"..which by the way was pretty good. On the way home from SLC, it rained...up til then, the weather was very nice. When we woke up on Sunday morning, we found out that it had snowed over night..about a couple of feet. It was great and very cold. We watched the morning session of conference and then headed out to SLC for the final session. It was great to be in the presence of prophets. We had a picnic in the car and then we went to a filipino fireside. It was very good. We came home Monday afternoon safe and sound and that the boys did not kill each other. With in 30 min. it was back to reality with doing the laundry, what to fix for dinner and work calling me to see if I could work that night. The end to a fun and spritual weekend. I have lots of pics on facebook...check it out!!!

A Very Proud Mom

2011-03-29T05:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am a couple of days late with this blog entry, but it will be worth the wait...I promise. As parents, we want the best for our children and we want them to be active members of the church, be kind and loving to others, pray and read the scriptures, serve a mission and be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. Todays thought has to do with going on a mission. One son has gone on a mission and has returned with honor. Son number two will be preparing to go on his mission come this July. This past sunday, being fast sunday, he got up and bore his testimony for the first time. I was so proud of him. He talked about how he decided to just work after graduation to save money for his mission and he wanted to go. Of course, I cried--what else can a proud mom do???

Spring Has Sprung

2011-03-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

Who does't like springtime--I mean really. The weather starts to get warmer, nature is renewed, baseball spring training is in full swing (no pun intended), Easter is just around the corner and General Conference will soon be viewed and listened to by millions of church members. It is a beautiful time of the year. The first day of spring brought rain to AZ...yahoo!!! It also snowed in the high mountains...yes, the ski bunnies can return to the slopes for some more downhill fun. For me, i can now hardly wait for summer, now that spring is here :)

Super Sunday

2011-02-07T00:13:00.000-08:00

Such a super sunday today--minus the part that I worked the night before and I slept basically the entire day--but it was the day of the super bowl (which includes the comercials) and the return of "Glee"!!!!! The game was great. I rooted for the Packers and they won. It was a great game. Glee came on after the game. Mind you, I was at work but the best part was that when Glee came on, it just happened to be when I was taking care of a baby. Needless to say, I was able to watch the entire show!!! It was soooo good. Now I don't have to worry about taking time out of my daily schedule to watch it---yeesssss!!!! It made my night. I am a happy camper right now.....

Groundhog Day

2011-02-02T03:00:00.000-08:00

February....really....already--ugh!!!!! Where did January go? It is groundhog day today, so the question comes up this time of year, how much longer till spring? I am sure that everyone on the east coast is wondering that and hoping that spring will be here tomorrow. Then there are us on the west coast who would like it to be cold a little longer. Only Mr. Groundhog can give us the answer. Stay tuned.

Missionary Work

2011-01-18T03:18:00.000-08:00

"Every member a missionary". Isn't that what President David O. McKay said? Do we remember to apply that to our daily lives? Do we realize how many people need to hear about the gospel? As I was sitting here at work between feeding my babies, I had a chance to go to Jeremys' mission website (yes, even though he has been home now for almost four months, we still have it up--), where once a week, I look up and read the weekly letters from his friends that are still out in the mission field. Just reading each one gets me excited to hear how each one is doing and to see how much each person has grown up. These Elders are serving in Mexico, Argentina, two in Chile (same mission) and two in Florida. It is just so neat to read about their experieces, the fun they are having, the people whose lives they are changing and the growth of their testimony that each one is receiving. They are not afraid to speak about the church. They are enjoying meeting people and sharing the gospel with them. I need to be a better member missionary.

Happy New Year, Half Way Through the Month

2011-01-16T05:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have been off the blog for over three months...why, are you wondering, take a guess---work, sleep, sick, cleaning, reading, the holidays, the weather, family, shopping, cooking, excercising, watching tv...they all count. Wasn't it just last year that I posted as part of my New Years' resolution, that I would write on my blog more regulary, add pics (meaning, learn how to post pics so that my son doesn't have to do it for me) and be more creative. It did not work out do will. But hey, it is a brand new spankin new year--at 16 days old and better late than never. In the past 16 days, I have been sick with a cold, worked, put all the christmas decor back into storage. Should I let you know what my goals are for 2011??? OF COURSE..

-eat better
-have a family vacation
-cook more, eat out less
-daily scripture reading
-go to the temple weekly
-do crafty stuff
-educate myself

That is off the top of my head. I will add more as I get more goals that apply to me. Hope that we can all stick to our goals this year. Remember, "a goal not written, is only a wish".

Fall into Fall

2010-11-04T04:33:00.000-07:00

I am a bad blogger!!!! I am sure that you all have missed my inspiring, uplifting and humorous out takes of life in the Gratil household. I have now made your day as I am back from the blogging underworld. A couple of months have gone by and so summer has ended and fall has begun. Labor Day ended the lay back days of being so hot outside and Halloween has come and gone and that brings us to cooler weather (ha,ha for us here in AZ) and Thanksgiving. Jeremy is home and is still adjusting to civilian life--no longer a missionary and is trying to find a job. Ryan is basking in the senior life and loves working at Ned's Sub Shop. Melchor is still delivering and is really looking foreward to bringing lots of joy and excitement into everyone's lives as he brings them all of their christmas cards and presents. He is still riding his bike to work and liking it. Me, I am still me--nurse, bad cook, great organizer and clean freak with a wonderful sense of humor!!! Loved the outcome of the recent election. The Suns are off to an awful start. Work is slow in the NICU dept. but that means that I can take some time off to play. I am liking my tv shows: Glee, Modern Family and Dancing with the Stars. I love fall.

School in Back in Session

2010-08-13T04:21:00.000-07:00

I have always loved going back to school. I enjoyed having my mom take us to "Fedco" to get our school supplies, lunch box, school shoes and clothes. It was so much fun to do. This year, Ryan is a senior in high school. As usual, we did our school shopping two weeks before it started. The night before the first day of the new school year, before I left for work, Ryan had to show me what he decided to wear. He chose a very cool looking outfit. I left for work that night kind of sad that I would not be at home to send him off. As I was driving to work, I thought how I forgot to tell him to send me a pic via cell phone on how he looked. When I got home the next am, I just happened to check my phone for any messages and I found that I had gotten two of them and they were both from Ry. I retrived them and lo to my wonderful surprise, I had two cute pics of him that he had sent me. Do you think that I was happy???? You betcha. :)

My, How Time Files

2010-08-02T04:12:00.000-07:00

When I was in school, I could not wait until summer vacation would start. It seemed forever to come. Then, as soon as it arrived, it was over and school will begin once again.....unbelievable...Where has the time gone. School will start in just 10 days (are we moms counting down???) and my baby boy will be a senior---UGH!!!!!! Our family did not get away at all during this past summer--nope, instead that money went towards getting our car all fixed up and running--yahoo!!!! Well, I take that back, one person in the fam did get to get away and that will be Ryan. Come later today, he and a friend--Stewey---will take a road trip to CA to the beach and stay at Stewey's aunt and uncles' house for the week and attend the surfing compition show and hit the beach. Luckyyyyyy!!!! Am I a nervous mom, YES!!! They will be getting such a talk before they leave, that they will not want to leave--I doubt it. Aw---but then again, Melchor and I will have a vacation of our own with no kids around......????

June is Over Already????

2010-06-30T05:01:00.000-07:00

Ok,I know, I know....not one blog to write home about in over one month--very tacky of me. It is not because I am lazy or that nothing has been going on in the Gratil household---it is just because I am just plain forgetful about writing on this blog of all of my going ons and thoughts and theories. I am sure that all of you fellow bloggers can relate, right????? Well, now that the month of June is almost over and so is half the year, let me give you a simple run down on how the month went.....

June 3: Jeremys' 21st birthday. Another year older and another year spending his birthday in Brazil. The members in his area took good care of him and he even got his birthday care package on his birthday. He is excited that he is now an adult. I on the other hand, am not.

June 6: My birthday. I enjoyed my second year into the 50's. It was spent with family and lunch with the girls. Still waiting for my WII--Melchor????

June 12: Ryan got his first paycheck--ka ching!!! He is working at "Ned's Crazy Subs"--he is loving it. He has plenty of hours and mom will now get her money back that he owes her (yah,right...)

June 13: The dedication of the Gila Valley Temple. It is the third temple in AZ. A road trip for the girls is being planned to go see it and enjoy being away for a little while.

June 21: The first day of summer, my favorite season, being the sun worshipper, water sports person that I am. However, up to this time, I have yet to get into the water...bummer!

June 30: The last day of the month and "ECLIPSE" comes out!!!! I will be seeing this movies in the next couple of days with the girls and I can hardly wait!!!

There you have it. My going ons in the month of June. Bring on July.

Renewing Old Acquintances

2010-05-05T04:17:00.000-07:00

We have a dear friend, Mark Merrill who played a very key part in helping out with keeping Melchor from being homeless when he firse arrived here in the states. I had asked, well nicely begged, Mark to let Melchor stay with him. I told him that he was a nice guy and a returned missionary and relunctantly, Mark agreeded to house Melchor til we got married. We have kept in touch through the years. Mark had a desk that he wanted to get rid of and Melchor just could not say no, so we headed off to CA to get our inheritance. We were invited to spend the weekend with Mark and his lovely wife, Kaylene, for the three days that we were there. We talked, played Wii, went to a ward dinner, took them with us to dinner with us to my sisters' house and attended an emergence prepardness expo (will Mark, Kaylene and Melchor did--I stayed home and took a lovely walk). While we were back home, Melchor and I were able to visit one of our dear friends, the Justiniano Family. Juno's family were the very first family that I met my first night in the Philippines. Her parents and brother and sisters were there. We had a lovely lunch of filipino food (Mark loved it)and a afternoon full of story telling and catching up on our families. I felt like I was back in the Philippines. We hated to leave so soon--thank goodness, Juno and Alexs' daughter, Trisha, is having a sweet 16 birthday party the end of the month and it looks like we will be heading back for more fun and reminicing with the Justiniano and Merrill Families.

Hoppy Easter

2010-04-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

Today is Easter. I love Easter. It is spring. The weather is simply beautiful. This past week, as a family, I have been trying to review the last week of Christs' mortal life here on earh. We have read and discussed all of the events that occured leading up to his crucifixtion and resurrection. I am so greatful for my savior, Jesus Christ and what he did for me, for all of us. I will have him on my mind and in my heart on this special day.

When my grandma died a few years ago, my mom gave me a picture of myself when I was about 2 years old. I am wearing a hat, gloves, white patent leather mary jane shoes and a very fancy white lacey, frilly dress and I am carrying an easter basket. My mom tells me that that picture was my grandmas favorite. That picture was taken on Easter Sunday at my grandparents house. Every Easter Sunday, we would have three easter egg hunts--one at our house, and the other two were at each of my grandparents house. We would have a huge easter feast with the entire family. Such found memories. I love Easter

Best Weekend Ever

2010-04-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

It is the first weekend in April--that mean two things. First one is that Easter is this Sunday--yeah for the Easter bunny, chocolate, Easter feast and springtime!!! the second thing is that it is general conference weekend---i look foreward to it every six months. It is time to spritually charge up my battery. I even got conference goodies to help Ryan concentrate better. The sad thing is that I am working tonight and I worked last night, which means that I have to sleep sometime--I will fit it in somehow--i plan to lay down on the couch and be able to take it all in by osmosis.

Break Into Spring

2010-03-18T04:58:00.000-07:00

This entire week is dedicated to spring break. I do not know how all of you had your spring vacations, but back in the day back home in CA, it was called Easter Vacation. This week long break from school was held annually the week prior to Easter Sunday. The weather was always so beautiful--spring weather, you might say--heck, it was just great to be out of school and spend time with your friends!!! My mothers' aunt owned a house in Palm Springs, so every so often during Easter Vacation, our family would go to Palm Springs, stay at her house and spend the week sight seeing and shopping but for me, it was being outside by the pool getting a head start on my summer tan. While in high school, we had names for different types of groups of kids--one being "the surfers"--they were always tanned, dressed cool and looked hot, to say the least. One year while we were vacationing, we were walking down the main drag and just happened to run into some of those nice, cute surfer dudes and we all said hello to each other!!! I never felt so "in"!!! When school started up again, we all pretended that it never happened.

Nowadays, Easter Vacation is known nation wide as Spring Break and it is all about getting together with friends and going away with them somewhere. This Spring Break, I am getting together with my friends--when I am at work. I am getting away--when I go to work. At least I know that Spring, Easter and General Conference is just around the corner. Happy Spring.

What's Happening......

2010-02-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Well, 18 days have gone by since my last entry but that does not mean that nothing has been happening, so let me tell you all about the going ons around the Gratil household. Work has been very busy these past three weeks, which is a good thing. I have been able to do some over time--I get to make some extra money so that we can pay taxes--oh well. Been keeping up on my daily excercising, helping out my girlfriend Peggy---which last Friday, a bunch of us sisters in the ward were able to re-do her bedroom and boy, it looks so nice. Thanks to Jane who got it all together!!!! Kept up with the housework for the most part, but it had to go a week without it due to the fact that I had put in my four days of work and we were going out of town to go back home to California to atten my nephews' missionary farewell. The weather was lovely. We stayed at our dear friend's house--thank you to Mark and Kaylene--we were not able to see them since they we in St. George, but they made us feel very welcomed, none the less. Had a great time with my sis and her hubby, my parents and my niece and her hubby. Grant was to report to the MTC this Wed. however, his appendix decided to act up and it was removed early this am. So it looks like his mission will be on hold for a while. My sis will find out later today what is going to happen. Poor guy. Now it is pouring outside and I am loving it. Thank goodness I was able to take the doggie out for a walk before it hit. That is all for the Gratil going ons---

A Personal Best

2010-02-04T05:08:00.001-08:00

Last week I found myself working five nights in a row. Why would I do that?, you would ask yourself--I wanted to do some overtime--taxes are coming soon---so since we have lots of little patients and not so many nurses, I decided to help out. It paid off--lol--I ended being off for six nights. My first night back to work was last night. It was a busy night--first night back usually is. I made it thru the night. I learned that I can do five nights in a row, enjoy six nights off and survive the first night back syndrome. It makes one a better person.

What a Whacky Weekend

2010-01-14T02:06:00.000-08:00

I do enjoy my weekend, unless I am working it, that is. Thank goodness this weekend I am not. I worked last night and I am working tonight and then I am off for three nights. Tonight while I am at work, our dear friends the Mortensens' will be arriving from Utah. Also tonight, my sister and her family will be arriving from CA to celebrate her 50th birthday with us. There are plans to shop, eat, watch the Cardinals beat the Saints, play games and do lots of talking. The only problem is that on Friday, I do not know when I will sleep. Wish me luck.

The Ills of Being Sick

2010-01-10T03:06:00.000-08:00

I'd say about a month ago, Ryan came down with a bad cold. Of course, he got it from school. He got over it in about a week, at which time, you guessed it, I came down with it..now mind you, all of you that know Melchor, knows, that to him, the key of not getting sick is to drink lots of water, lots and lots and lots of water. In fact, it has become a little family joke of ours, that when he dies, we are going to put on his headstone: "Melchor C. Gratil----He did not drink enough water." Well, last Wednesday, his time was up. The cold germs found him and he got sick. He went to work on Thursday, which lasted only 30 minutes. He called me to say he was coming home and for me to call the dr. to make an appointment and to give him a shot. He was seen by the dr, got some antibiotics and I have been telling him to rest, take his medicine and oh yeah, drink lots of fluids. He is doing fine. Hopefully he will be up to going to church and enjoying some family time today. And to think, it only took six days into the new year for someone to get sick in our little family.

Off to a Great Start

2010-01-03T05:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am a very positive person and I am thinking that on this, the third day of the new year, things are going quite well. So far I have worked the past two nights. Tonight at work, we had a grand total of 8 admits. I have done nothing but sleep and eat and work. That does not change for today. Work is almost over. I will go home, check FB, say hello (and good night) to Melchor and Ryan (as they prepare to go to church--it now starts at 10:30) and be off to bed. I will get up, prepare dinner and I shall go to work once more. Yes, the new year is off to a great start.

New Year---2010

2010-01-02T01:10:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are, it is a brand new year. Why is it, that the older we get, the faster the year goes by??? Anyone have an answer? I did not think so. 2009 was a pretty good year. It was fun, busy, joy, sadness, learning, teaching and growing.

New Years Eve was fun. Melchor and I went back and forth between two parties. Thank you to our dear friends the Sue-Sues and the Walkers!!! For being over the hill, we stayed up until 1am. We danced, ate, played games, ate, talked and ate some more. A great way to bring in the new year. The only thing that was truely missed was watching Dick Clarks' Rockn' New Years' Eve.

For New Years Day, we slept in until 8 am. I watched the Rose Parade--I get homesick when I see it. After all, I do have history with that parade. I did sleep on the curb twice, waiting to see the parade. I thought of my grandmother who was born on January 1, 1911. She would be 99 years old. I did clean the bathrooms, did the laundry, excercised, took Maddie for a walk and Melchor treated us all to Flancers for lunch. I also managed to fit a three hour nap in--had to you know, I have to work for the next three nights.

Let me see if this year, I can be fit, eat healthier, share the gospel more, cook more (and better), so more random acts of kindness, be more of service to others, be more patient, study the scriptures better, keep up with journal writing, read more and be more like the Savior. I guess that I just want to do what President Hinckley said---do a little bit better. Happy New Year.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

2009-12-25T01:26:00.000-08:00

It certainly is, isn't it??? I have so many fond memories of christmases past. Trying to stay awake to hear Santa come (could of sworn that I heard those bells jingling), trying to stay up late so that I would be tired enough to fall asleep fast and sleep well (only to have my parents tell me that it was time to go to bed or else Santa could not come) and just plain wondering what I would get for christmas.

I spent christmas eve working while Ryan and Melchor went to my cousins' house for the family christmas eve dinner. Lots of food and of course the white elephant gift exchange. Today, I will go home and open gifts,take a nap and wake up in time to get the christmas call from Elder Gratil. Some of his friends will pop over to say hi to him. I will try to get in another nap befor going over to my parents' house. There, we will have dinner, open more gifts and play games. I will then pass out--either from eating too much, too much excitement or too tired--probably all three.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

2009-12-24T04:23:00.000-08:00

"It"s christmas eve, i'm tucked in bed,
I'm safe and warm, my prayers are said,
I start to think about the first christmas night.

The manger scene, the baby fair,
The star that led the shepards there,
The mother Mary smiles...at the christ child...

Can I hold the baby and will he smile at me,
Does he know just who he is and how he will loved,
Can I hold the baby and will he smile at me,
Does he know why he is here on earth from heaven above."

The primary children sang this tear jerker of a song last sunday for the prelude music for sacrement meeting. We had been learning it for about three weeks. Everytime the kids sang it, the primary chorister (love her, Michelle Kiel) and I would have a good little cry.

It is christmas eve. I won't be tucked in bed. I will be working instead. But that does not mean that I will not be thinking of that first christmas night...the wisemen, the shepards and the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in that lowly stable. The greatest event on earth to ever take place.

Christ is the reason for the season. Merry Christmas.

Recuperating

2009-11-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

That is the perfect word!!!!! Recuperating from what you might be wondering? Let's see:
A car accident-for once in my car accident career, it was not my fault. A car just turned in front of me as I was going straight. It was scary, at least no one was hurt, just our cars. And for those of you that are wondering which car it was that got injured, let us just say that the Cox family and us no longer have the same car.

Thanksgiving: It was a great day. Our family went to my cousins' house for dinner. It was great to see everyone---since we have not been together since last Christmas. Pigged out royally and enjoyed it immensely. The best part was to bring home some leftovers, oh yeah!!!!

Black Friday--ok, back in the day, my sisters, mom and I would get up at 6 am to be at the store early before it opened at 7. And I thought that that was early. May how the times have changed!!!! Being so tired after eating (triptophine, you know), I took a four hour nap-got up at 10:30 and Melchor and I hit Wal-Mart and the Mall. What a mess!
We lasted a couple of hours before heading home. Got to bed at 2:30 am and slept until
8. To be even more crazier, Melchor and I hit the stores again!!! It was a fun filled day with a good sport. I did get a nap today but I am still paying for the weird sleeping pattern that I had today--even for the night shifter.

Because of being preoccupied last Sat., I was not able to take Ryan birthday shopping (He turned 17 on the 20th), we might try it again tomorrow. Looks like I will still be recuperating for awhile.

Fasting With a Purpose

2009-10-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

Once a month, members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints, have the opportunity to fast--which means going without two meals for 24 hours. By doing this, it brings us closer to the Lord and in return he blesses us with the strength to face our trials. We fast with a purpose--meaning for ourselves if we have a problem--for a friend or family member who is having problems--whether physical or spritual or financial--or even for a missionary. Fast Sunday is usually held on the first sunday of the month, however, on this particulay sunday, our ward family had a special fast for one of my dearest friends--Peggy. She and I met when we first moved into the ward about 17 years ago. We are the same age, both nurses, both married "late" in our lives, both have two kids and both love chocolate!!!!!! About a little over a year ago, she started to have trouble using her right leg. Over a period of time, it progressively got worse and gradually whatever was going on, started to attack other parts of her body. She went to her dr and had some tests done and the diagnosis was made. It was what we feared the most (being nurses, you always fear the worst cause you know what illness or disease it could be). Peggy was diagnosed with ALS or "Lou Gherigs's Disease. You can google it and read about it. The day it was found out, she and I just cried. Deep down inside, I knew that she had it. I told her that I would be her private nurse and would take care of her. She is in pretty good spirits. She has lots of help, love and support from her family--biological and ward--and she is working at a job that she enjoys and that keeps her mind occupied and busy. The fasting that we are doing as a ward family today will bring us all closer and bless Peggy and her family with the love and spirtual strength that they need so much at this time in their lives.

Another Missionary in the Family

2009-10-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, October 8th, my nephew Grant recieved his mission call. Earlier that day, my sister had called me to tell me that he did get his call and that the postage was $1.56 which means that it is a foreign call. So we all got on Skype and we all were able to listen in on Grant as he opened his letter from the Prophet. As it turns out, Grant will report to the MTC on February 24th, 2010. He will be going to the Torreon, Mexico Mission!!! Congrats to Elder Payzant!!!

A Week Late and a Dollar Short

2009-10-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here it is a week later---since I attended Time Out For Women that is!!!! I was able to go to the friday night session and saturday. The speakers were there in abundance. The music was in abundance. Love and friendship was in abundance. The theme was ABUNDANCE--can you guess??? The best part of the whole weekend was being with my dearest friends. It was attended by Rhea, Peggy, Wendi, Trisha, Patty, Jennifer and we had two of our dear old friends come down from Utah--kuddos out to Heidi and Shannon who sacrificed their time, family and money to spend the weekend with us. We had such a great time together!!! The speakers were so good--but the time that we spent together was even better!! We tried to do a slumber party but I guess we were just too old to do one. The worst part of the weekend was that while everyone and their hubbies went out to dinner to reminence, I had to work--dang it!!!! At the end of our girls weekend, it was decided that we would all go up in the springtime and they would come back down in the fall--the start of a new tradition!!! Thanks girls for a super sister weekend!! Love to all of you!!

P.S. For pics of the sisters, please look at my friends and family part of the blog and check Patty and you can get to her blog---it is because I can not do pics on my own!!!

I am On a Holiday

2009-09-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

This past week I have had the previlege to be a hostess to a very special house guest. Robyn Bennett and I served together in the Philippines over 20 years ago. She came all the way from New Zealand, just to see little ol' me!!!! During the next six day,we did alot of eating, shopping and site seeing. So make yourself comfy and enjoy the tour:

We begin our holiday by going to Wal-Mart--she loves that place. We bought some cute little gifts for some of her friends. Since we were right there, and we planned it--we saw the movie "The Time Travelers Wife". A very good chick flick.We spent the rest of the day just touring around Gilbert. Of course one place that I had to take her was to In and Out. She really enjoyed their double-double and fries. That was on Wednesday.

Thursday, we went to the Mesa, AZ temple. After that, we headed back home, changed our clothes and went to cooking class at Shar's, where we meet my mom and her friends and learned a few mexican receipes that you can do in the pressure cooker. Yummy food. That took care of our lunch. From there, we went marketing. That night, we attended my wards' book club in which I proceeded to introduce her to everybody--who in turned, kept asking her questions just so that they can hear her talk (New Zealant accent, you know). We had a very fun evening with all the sisters.

Friday, we ventured out to South Mountain. It was a lovely drive. We had a beautiful view of the "Valley of the Sun". Next stop was the Chandler Mall---boy, did we get our excercise there!!! Lots of shopping and snacking we did. I taught her never buy anything that was not more that 50% off. Let's just say that she is a very quick learner. From there, we did more marketing in preparation for our Filipino feast!! Melchor was sweet enough to cook some pancit and lupia of which we also had some tropical fruit and sticky rice---soooooooo masarup!!!!! The highlight of the night of course, was the presence of Elder Craig Taylor. He just happens to live in Gilbert also, and was able to come to dinner. We all pigged out and spent the night reminesing about our mission days. Memories!!!!

Saturday, we headed out early once again, this time to Schepfs' Farm where we had a delicious breakfast and a lovely train ride around the farm. Next stop, the Olive Mill. Robyn did not like olives or any of the fantastic flavors of the olive oils, but she did love the Parmagranite Balsamic Vinegar--which she did purchase--just hope that it does not break between here and NZ!!!! Saturday night was the General Womens' Relief Society Broadcast. We had a nice meal of different types of foods from many countries. We enjoyed the broadcast immensley. Again we went to Sams' Club for food shopping for Sunday, came home and watched the movie "Forever Strong". It was a great movie.

Sunday was church. Melchor enjoye introducing her in sunday school class as his long lost twin sister separated at birth---brother!!!!!! We had a great dinner at my parents house. We watched the Cardinals get creamed by the colts and played triominoes and scottish bridge--both of which she liked playing.

Today I had to take her to the airport. Next stop on her holiday is SLC to visit friends and to attend general conference. It was fun to have her here. It was well worth the week of not getting my usual nap time in.

Daddy's Day

2009-09-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

Back on September 14th,1932, William Standish Coleman was born in El Paso, Texas. On February 12, 1955, he married Pattie Jeanne Hooper. On June 6, 1958, I was born. This made Bill a dad for the first time. I know that people say this about their own dads, but my dad is the best dad that Heavenly Father blessed any child with. He worked hard. Traveled alot. Did the yard work. Bbqd. Made egg nog for christmas. Made fresh squeezed oj from oranges from our orange tree. Taught me how to drive. Helped me with my math and french homework assignments. Had a great sense of humor when we hid the "board" from him when we would not go to bed. Put up with all the times that we got tp'd--he also made us clean it up. Put up with boys coming over--no matter what time it was. Drove me to early morning seminary and to work. Was very supportive when I made the decision to serve a mission. Was very proud of me when my husband and I got sealed in the temple. He has been there for me for each blessing, baptism and so far for each graduation, eagle scout honor and missionary farewell. He has always been there with willingness to help, give advice and to lead an ear. He is a traveler, hense the nickname "Bill C. tourist". Today my dad is spending the day his way, what doing what he likes to do, play golf and go out to dinner to one of his favorite restaurants with my mom. Happy birthday to you daddy dear!!

Thoughful Thursday

2009-08-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

I thought of of couple of thoughts (that I actually read) for this Thursday--I thought that these thoughtful thoughts were quite thoughtful.

"When God comes first in our lives, whatever somes second will likely change tomorrow"

This next thoughtful thought tickled my fancy. Melchor thinks that I am trying to kept up with Imelda Marcos (former Philippines' first lady) in the shoe department, with all the shoes that I have on my closet floor, so I thought this was really cute.

"Cinderella is proof that a new pair of shoes can change a girls' life."

Ladies, try that one on your hubbies the next time you would like to get a new pair of shoes.

Change is Good (sometimes)

2009-08-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

I have always considered myself to be a flexible kind of gal. You know, one that roles with the punches. Every once in awhile, when we are overstaffed at work and there is another sister unit that is understaffed, we get to float to that unit to help out. The team leaders keep a list of when that last time that you are floated so when the need arises and your turn comes up, you go. Different times throughout the day, the thought kept coming into my mind that my time was up. I was trying to remember all the little things that are done in the other unit, things that I have to do as an RN and stuff that the PCA does that I do not have to worry about doing myself. On the way to work, I was starting to get nervous about where I was going to be. I put my lunch away went to check on the assignment board to see who I was going to be taking care of and my name was not where it should be, but sure as the sun shines, there was my name: Susan G-3BW, peds!!! It was a good thing that I got myself all psyched up to floating--it is a small unit. The charge nurse is a very nice person--he is also married to a philippina. Everyone was very helpful. I had nice parents and good babies that didn't cause any problems for me. All in all, it was a good night for me. Change is good--at least in this particular case.

The First Day Back to School

2009-08-11T03:22:00.001-07:00

I had always looked foreward to the first day of going back to school. The clothes buying, the shoe shopping and last but not least--the school supply shopping. I almost forgot: open house-the opportunity to meet the teacher and to see who was in your class. I loved it!!! I think that it is hereditary. Both Jeremy and Ryan look foreward to the same activities (but I think that they liked open house because of getting to see their friends). Of course, with Jeremy being on his mission, I didn't have to worry about spending money on his school stuff (I was just informed last week by his e-mail, to put some money in his account so that he can get more clothes and shoes--how can it be?? He has only been out for 11 months!!!!--but I degress---)but I do recall that last year we still had to go shopping even though he was now a "college man". As you remember from my last blogging, I had gone and did the school thing with Ryan. On Sunday, before we all went to sleep, Ryan had to model all of his new outfits for me and to get approval for the one outfit that he thought that he would wear. He looked so cute--excuse me, handsome. He was so excited that he could not sleep. He woke up at 5 am went back to sleep and got up at 5:45. He showered, ate breakfast and left for school a little late. Of course, I had to get all the low down on what he thought of his classes and teachers. He said that he liked everything about his classes. He said that one teacher tried to be funny--and was not. Another teacher was an atheist. All in all, he had a good first day back to school. After all, he is now a junior!!!!

The Countdown Begins!!!!

2009-08-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

As my fellow Moms are very much aware, this is the last weekend before school starts. The countdown has officially begun! Do I hear cheers from you Moms???? Do I see tears on my sons' face? Do I see one of my favorite commercials on tv from Staples in which the dad is joyfully skipping down the school supply aisle while the kids are slowly trailing behind with sad looks on their faces while "Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is playing in the backround. So very funny!!! Ryan and I have done his clothes shopping---way too much if you ask my bank account. Today we did the school supply shopping. It was fun, quick and painless, but not for my bank account. He won't admit it, but I think that he is very excited to be going back to school and to see his friends, let alone to be in the 11th grade. Ah yes, it is the most wonderful time of the year.

I'm Back.....With a Vengence

2009-08-06T04:06:00.000-07:00

Yes people, I am back---and with a vengence even!!! It has been such a long time since I have written in my blog. I give my friends such a hard time about not updating their blogs and here I am. I bet you are all wondering why haven't I done my blog duty. Is it because she is lazy? Is it because she forgets? Is it because she has nothing to write about? Is it because her creativity has left her? Let me tell ya, it is all of the above--Lazy: when you work nights, it takes you awhile sometimes to get back to normalcy, so I blame it on just being too tired to type. Forgets: the story of my life. I am over 50, need I say more? Nothing to write about: at times, when I think about blogging and want to do it, I have nothing exciting and worthwhile to write about. Then again, there has been stuff, fun and interesting stuff--like helping the missionaries teach the discussions to a young couple whom the wife is from the Philippines (teaching brought back memories of my mission days),Melchor surprising me by cooking one of my favorite philippine dishes--Pancit Palabok--yum,yum, Maddies'doggie antics, like eating two teacakes and being hyper for two days, shopping with Ryan for school clothes,work buddies, family game night and our ward party. Creativity: It comes and goes, mostly stays away for awhile I'm afraid. When it does come back, I forget about it or too lazy!! So there is my story. Hope that you enjoyed it. I hope to write more often without forgetting using lots of creativity and when I have lots of energy so that I am too lazy to update.

Happy Birthday America

2009-07-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

The fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up, as a family we would spend the holiday at Lake Arrowhead. We would also spend most of the day at my granparents house swimming and have a bbq. Today we will spend the afternoon with our dear friends the Cox family--swim and bbq, YAHOO!! As I rode my bike around the neighborhood this morning, I noticed the flags, or rather lack of flags, hanging outside the homes. I thought to myself, what is the problem here? Don't people realize that today is the fourth? Aren't they celebrating the birth of the greates nation in the world? Do people realize how Heavenly Father had his had in creating this land of freedom? Do people even realize what freedoms we have, how lucky we are to be living in this great country? Our nation might be having a hard time right now, but we are so blessed. I love this nation. So happy birthday, America, land of the free and home of the brave. Everyone enjoy your bbq, family, friends and the fireworks and be greatful for this land of ours>

Another Eagle in the House

2009-06-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Four years ago, Jeremy completed his eagle project. Two years ago, he received this hoor. So, it took him a little while to get it all together. Ryan said at the time that he would get his done faster then Jeremy did--he did!! I have to admit, Ryan was a whole lot easier to deal with then Jeremy. Ryan was really motivated and got things done without any "persuation". He did it yesterday. His project was to paint the address numbers on the curbs in a subdivision. There did arise one little incident in which a couple of sisters were about to paint the curb and a lady came running out of her house yelling at them not to do it, they were not allowed to do it and that she knew that once it was completed, she would be getting a bill and have to pay for it. After a few minutes of talking, the lady was finally convinced that it truely was a boy scout eagle project and she allowed them to continue (yeah Debbie and Patty). We had over 20 people come and help him. I did make 140 min muffins, got some of the paint (most of it was donated by Bro. Nappi--THANK YOU!!!), ice, tompica drinks, cups, water--I think that I did a good job too!! He was nervous, scared and a little shy about doing it, but at the end he was happy that it was all done and that he accomplished it all on this own, not to mention that an eagle project can be done in the heat!! A heartfelt thank you to all of those who came out and supported Ryan. Now, he just has two badges to complete and then the eagle court of honor--WHEW!!!

Fathers' Day

2009-06-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

It is Sunday and it is even Fathers' Day. Growing up, we would always go over to my grandparents house and have a big bbq /swim party. It was so fun to have all the grandparents, aunts and my sisters and I all together for some family time. This faters' day, my dad and mom are in SLC visiting some friends and are on their way to ID to visit my sister and her family for a few days. It was a quiet day for us. Went to church, had our home teachers over, got some nap time in (of course) and fixed a nice dinner for the dad of our home of salmon, rice and aspargus with Melchors' favorite deser--cheesecake!!! In church, he, and all the men, got a piece of pie, so that was nice. He got his nap and time checking his mission page and FB anad got his favorite fish for dinner--along with cards from the three of us, and a bottle of really nice smelling cologne (after all, I do love to have me man smell good!!). I think that he had a nice day, I can not tell. He is still not used to all the fuss given to him on Fathers's Day. It is just another day for him. He doesn't expect anything for this day or any other holiday (like birthday, Christmas, Valentines', Easter)it is just the way he is due to how and where he was born and raised. I am grateful for him being the father of our two boys. I am greatful for my wonderful dad who has been a fantastic dad for over 50 years!!! Happy Fathers' Day to the two dad in my life!!!

The Pros and Cons of Being Sick

2009-06-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

I knew it was coming. I felt it coming on in the middle of my shift last Tuesday morning. The blah feeling, fever, sore throat, oh no, here comes a cold feeling. As a nurse, I diagnosed myself correctly. I was hoping that I might get cancelled at work on Wednesday, but it did not happen. I ended up going into work. I did stay way from the babies, but as the night grew on, I got worse. I am grateful that Melchor sent me to work with some theraflu. I made it home and went straight to sleep. Between naps, the thought occurred to me that there are some pros and cons to being sick.

Cons:
1. You feel like crap--the world can just pass me by
2. You are on drugs--as much as I do not like taking any medications, I find myself taking tylenol, theraflu, afrin and anything else that is in the medicine cabinet that is labeled for cold symptoms.
3. You are doing nothing but sleep---it wastes the day away but then again, you don't feel much like doing anything much else anyways.
4. You are drinking lots of water ergo you end up having to go to the bathroom alot when you have no strength to make it to the bathroom.

Pros:
1. You loose weight--simply because you are not eating due to the loss of appetite
2. You get lots of sleep--you do not feel much of doing anything else.
3. Your family waits on you constantly--because they love you and want to take care of you or maybe they want you to get better faster so you can take care of them !!??
4. You can catch up on your reading--since you have no energy to do anything else but read, you can finish up that book that you have been trying to read for the past three months!!!!
5. Once you are better, you can really appreciate you health once more.

So now I am just reading, resting and drinking lots of water so that I can once again enjoy my well being.
4. Your taste buds are dead--even though you might feel like eating, you can taste nothing, so way eat???

The Trek

2009-06-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

What a great time it was!!! From May 27 to the 30 the youth and stake leaders participated in the trek. We left Wednesday morning at 6:15 and traveled to Luna, New Mexico--a 5 hour drive. We had lunch at the ward building there and relaxed for an hour and then it began. We had a little devotional followed by the picking of families. All of the ma's and pa's lined up. The girls were on one side, boys on the other. The parents were told to rely on the spirit to pick their kids. An awesome experience. While the families were getting together and making their handcarts, us medical people were getting all of the medical releases and meds together to give to each family. Around 4 pm we started our trek. The trek was a long one, into the night and we did not arive until 1am at our point of destination. The kids were exhausted--which brought on headaches, nausea, stomach aches--it was a busy urgent care. Got to bed at 3am and got up at 6am. The stake leaders all stayed in a separated area from the families. We had great food. I slept in the back seat of a truck--it was cool. We checked in with all of the families to see how the kids were. We told the parents to tell the kids that if they were not feeling well, to rely on the Lord for help, go to the parents second and go to the nurses third. It worked out pretty well. We started another day of walking and it went well. It was when we had a devotional (a tear jerker) and we started off to do the womens' pull. A great spirtual excperience. Of course, I did not shed a tear!!! We reached the beautiful meadow in the afternoon. The families set up their camp sites which was to be their home for the next couple of days. That night we had a nice devotional and everyone went to bed. On Friday it was game day. The weather was warm during the day and in the afternoon it would cloud up--this particular afternoon, it decided that it would rain and rain it did. We were all sopping wet and cold. Because of the rain, the games had to end. Until the rain, the games were going good--roping, stick pull, black powder shooting, hatchet throwing, tug of war, hair washing, button game, butter making, buscuit making, fire starting--it was so fun. If you can believe it, I did the butter making. I know now how to make butter. Just call me "susy pioneer". The rain ended in a couple of hours. We ate dinner and then had a fireside. While waiting for it to start, a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky. The Lords' tender mercy was shown to all of us there. The fireside was magnificent--another sprirtual event. The next morning the families packed up and off we started for our last little trek. We had an nice breakfast of pancakes and sausage and gatorade. When we all reached our final destination, the families had watermelon to eat and took apart the handcarts. We then waited for the buses to arrive, which they finally did, and we headed back to the ward building in Luna. We had lunch and a poddy break and then we all header out for home. We got home at 6:30. I do believe that all were relieved to be back home safe and sound and to see their real familes. When Ryan and I got home, we had dinner waiting for us, courtesy of Melchor. Ryan and I then discovered how stinky we both were (maybe that is why Melchor did not kiss and hug me when I walked in the door?) so we took a good warm shower--did that feel good!!! Sunday night the stake held a fireside for all the youth that participated in the trek and their parents. It was very nice. The families were able to meet with each other one last time. A slide presentation was done with great pics--hopefully I will be able to get some pictures and upload them. I did bring my camera, but I forgot to charge the battery--it figures!!! I made it. I trekked with all of the youth. I am so grateful to have been a part of such a wonderful experience. I would do it again!!! A big thank you to the Loves for taking me home, along with the Sue Sues. It was a fun ride back to civilization. To sum it all up--"I CAN DO HARD THINGS".

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T05:19:00.000-07:00

Another holiday to enjoy with family and friends. This holiday is Memorial Day, the day we set aside to remember those who have passed away and have fought for our freedom. I can remember going to my grandparents house on this day. We would have a bbq and swim all day. It is neat just to see all the american flags hanging outside of everyones' house. Now that I think about it, it is our way of saying "thank you". Happy Memorial Day.

The Laughing Samoans

2009-05-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

I have this thought in the back of my head that in my other life (if I had another life, not meaning in the pre-existance) I must have been a PI (Pacifice Islander). After all, I love to get in the sun, go the the beach, do water sports and not to mention--served a mission in the Philippines and even married a Philippino. I love Hawaii. The PCC is my favorite place to see. I love the dances, the weather, the native costumes and of course the people. I have even told one family in our ward who are Samoan, that I am an adopted Samoan. This past Saturday night, my hubby, Ryan and my parents went to a show at Mesquite High School put on by our friends the Schwenkes. Their dance group "Tausala" performed--they we so fun to watch!!! The "Laughing Samoans" performed their comedy act. Very funny and original. They had food there also. It was nice to see the Dahl family there--thank you to Rhea and Sam for saving the seats for us!!!

The Week at the End

2009-05-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

Well it is Sunday, which is almost Monday, which is the beginning of the new week and just one day after the end of the end--are you with me on this? This past week has been a good one--uneventful--thank goodness. I was to work overtime last Monday but due to the lost overtime sign-up sheet, the team leader on the day shift had no idea who signed up. I still came to work since I received no phone call telling me that I was not needed. I was not needed. It was Nurses's Day that day, so at least for my trouble of coming into work, I got a free orange julius--yum,yum!! At least I was able to be home with the boys and watch 24. I worked on Wenesday and Thursday, off Friday and I worked last night and tonight. I was able to go out to lunch with my girlfriends, Patty and Rhea, to "Sweet Cakes" which if you have not been there, you must try it out!! Delicious food and you have got to save room for dessert--great homemade cookies of every creation!!!! Of course my non-sleep days were filled withe am excercising followed by running errands (trying to get things together for Ryan and I for the stake trek in a couple of weeks). Friday night, Melchor and I had a date night. We went to "Soup and Salad" for dinner, followed by window shopping followed by Nielsens for some wonderful frozen custard. Saturday morning Melchor and I hit the date scene again by going to the temple. On the way home, we went to the market and came home and we fixed a very nice brunch for the three of us. We ended up spending the day just relaxing around the house. Yesterday and today was filled with sleep and Melchor cooking his famous bbqd chicken!! All in all, a great end of a great week. Hope that you had a nice week too!!

Mommy Me

2009-05-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

It has been almost 20 yrs ago since I became a mom. It was a scary thing for me to think that I was going to be a mom but I think that I have done a pretty good job so far. I have two wonderful boys who look "down" on me for everything, who call me keebs instead of mom, who come to me whenever they need or want something (cause they know that dad will probably say no--and they are right and who never confide in me because they know that I will get over excited or over react depending upon the situation. Those are my boys. They are mine for eternity. I love them. I am glad to be blessed with the calling of being a mom. I am grateful that I have just a wonderful mom who has been such a great example to me. Happy Mothers'Day to all of you great moms out there who I associate with and admire. Enjoy your day tomorrow!

"Shars"

2009-05-02T04:36:00.000-07:00

Maybe you have and then again, maybe you haven't, but in Gilbert there is a store called "Shars" (located on Gilber Rd, south of Baseline on the west side of the street). I had heard of it a while back from a friend who mentioned that a brother in our ward learned how to bake bread at her place. Anyhow, this place is so cool!!!
It is a store that sells Bosche, grain grinders, pressure cookers, cookware and kicthen gadgets galore!! Not only that, but she also sells food products for food storage, spices, flavorings, grains, recipe books, good nutrition stuff--period. I do not how, but my mom heard about it and told a couple of her friends and they started to come to her classes. She has classes once a month on canning, bread making and then three times a week, she has free cooking classes on various themes--for instance, this past week the theme was on cinco de mayo and next week the theme is on Mothers' Day. These classes are so fun to attend. She teaches her cooking class with using the grain grinder or the pressure cooker or the bosche, along with introducing all these fun cooking utensils, ingredients used for the recipes and then passes them around to everybody to look at. She is always putting the products she uses on sale. She usually demonstrates 3-5 recipes which she passes out copies of, to the class. If this isn't enough, everyone in the class gets to taste the finished meal--it is so yummie!!!! I brought a friend this last week and she really enjoyed it and will come with me next week when the moms' day brunch will be demonstrated--I am so looking foreward to that!!! Now for those of you that know me really well, no know that I am not the best cook in the world, but by attending these food filled classes each week, I can sure hope that someday I will be and I can thank Shar!!!!!

P.S. I am trying to get my mom to get me a bosche and a pressure cooker for mothers' day and for my birthday--I remind her every week--hee, hee!!

The Birthday Boy

2009-04-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Today is Melchors' 51st birthday or as Jeremy put it in his last letter, the 10th anniversary of turning 40. How is he spending his b-day you might ask??? He is working!!! Fun-Fun-Fun!!! I did go birthday shopping, so he will be surprised--I think that I will get him a Bosche or maybe a pressure cooker--I know that he will like it, just like I did when he gave me tire rims for our old van for my birthday. I did give him a choice on where he would like to go for dinner so we will either go to "Joe's Farm Grill" or to "The Keg", either way, he gets a free birthday dinner. Here's to my sweetie pie--Happy Birthday to you!!!

Hoppy Easter

2009-04-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

I just love this time of the year--it is spring, the weather is warming up, baseball season has started and Easter!!! I just loved Easter growing up. I can remember doing two easter egg hunts--one at our house and then one at my grandparents house--double the candy. My parents would give each of us a little gift. We had (still have) a wonderful Easter dinner to enjoy. One year, my grandfather even gave my sister and I a bunny rabbit and a chicken--how is that for getting into the Easter spirit????? Now as I am older I am truly grateful for the reason of Easter. It is not about candy, eggs, gifts, dinner feasting or cute little rabbits and ducks, rather it is all about the savior, Jesus Christ and the reason for the season. Happy Easter to all!!

The Magnificent Mortensens

2009-04-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, in a state far away, two newlywed couples met in church, started to have FHE together, hang out and have kids together (they ended up with 6, we had 2). Life goes on and we got busy--family, work, school and before we all knew it, we each moved to our own respected states but we still kept in touch. When my niece got married in Utah, we were able to stay with them. This past Saturday we were finally able to return the favor and have them stay with us. We had five fun filled days with them. We watched conference together, shopped, went to the Olive Mill, tried to get a computer fixed, got me hooked on getting a I-pod, I was taught how to make cinnamon rolls, morning walks, FHE and for the finale---we attended the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple (parked one block away and sat 11 rows from the front of the stage, in the middle!!!). They left us last Thursday morning--Ryan and I said to each other--"we miss them already!!" Five minutes after they left, I called Krista to say that I was lonely. We decided that for our 30th anniversaries, we would got to Greece--we have 8 years to save up--I hope that the time goes by fast. Thank you Mortensen family for being so magnificent. See ya on Facebook.

A Busy Bee--That's Me!!!

2009-04-10T01:30:00.000-07:00

I really do have good intentions to keep this blog up to date and to have it be really creative--but boy, these past couple of weeks have left me no spare time to write and to keep all of my wonderful blog fans up to date!!! I am going to have to back track a little to fill you in on what has been happening. Back on March 25th, out family and a few of my parents friends gave my Mom a surprise birthday party--she turned 75 on the 26th. She was very surprised!!! We got her good!! We had dinner catered in from "Guidos"--yummy for the tummy!!! For the entertainment portion of the evening, we presented a "this is your life" presentation. Her two sisters talked about her early childhood and teenage years, I talked about her motherhood years, my sister Caryn talked about her friends and Nancy talked about her example to others. It was fun and well enjoyed by all in attendance. I do have pictures so I will post them as soon as I can sit Ryan down to help me get them on the blog.

Outing at Oreganos

2009-03-24T04:30:00.000-07:00

My niece and nephew spent the past week here visiting their grandparents for their spring break vacation. My parents did a great job as always in keeping them entertained (shopping,baseball games). Before they were to leave, we decided to get together and go out for a family activity. We unanimously decided to got out an eat dinner and thanks to Ryan, the smart boy that he is, we went to "Oregano's". The food was so good!! The men (Melchor, Ryan and Liam) feasted on chicken wings (Melchors' tummy is still not the same) while my parents and myself had a great salad--forgot the name of it, but take my word for it, it was very good!!! We managed to save room for dessert, too. A chocolate chip pazookie!! Worth every calorie!!! We had a great time. Wish you were there!!!

Coming Attractions

2009-03-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well let's see--it has almost been a month since I last made an entry on my blog. To all of my devoted fans, I am truly sorry that I have not written as frequently as I would have liked to, but life gets busy: work, church, family and don't forget--SPRING BREAK. I haven't written because nothing EXCITING has happened. I am still putting in my three nights a week of work, still doing my excercising, doing the housewife stuff, being the mommy, maintaining Jeremy's mission website and napping as much as I can!! However, there are a few things that are coming up that will be great for a blog entry, so please stay tuned. Happy Spring everyone!!!!

Monday,Monday

2009-02-23T03:17:00.000-08:00

Today is Monday. Every Monday, I can not help think of the song "Monday,Monday" by the "Mommas' and the Poppas'". Monday is the get back to the real world day. It is time to get back to hurry, hurry stage of living. It is time to stop relaxing and go,go,go. It is when there is more traffic, more shopping, kids going back to school. Ah, but for me this Monday, while everyone is going back to their hectic lives, I will be sleeping the day away, relaxing, go slow and enjoy the next few days as my weekend. Eat your hearts out!!!

My Valentines

2009-02-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

It is Valentines' Day, one of my favorite holidays, the day of LOVE--expression of love to my family, my friends and my Heavenly Father and my savior Jesus Christ. I have a love for the earth, this country, the gospel of Jesus Christ, my job, my home and my health. Love to you all.

Super Sunday

2009-02-02T00:21:00.000-08:00

I love Sundays. I love going to church. I love my nap time. I love family time. Yesterday was no exception--except I slept the day away from having to work the night before--but it was the SUPER BOWL, so I made sure that I was up by 4:00 pm so that I wouldn't miss anything, especially since the Cardinals were playing. I really enjoyed Faith Hill at the beginning of the program not to mention her singing "God Bless America". Tears came to my eyes when the crew from the plane that crashed into the Hudson River were honored. Next, Jennifer Hudson singing the national anthem was beautiful!!! I thought that the half time entertainment with Bruce Springsteen and the E St. Band did was wonderful!! They were so good!!! Their introduction by members of the Cards and Steelers was so cool. The game itself was a good one. The cardinals came so close to winning it. I was never really a fan up until a month ago. It was fun to root to them. Now, their season it over. There is always next year.

Blogging VS Facebook

2009-01-30T03:32:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are interested, and I know that your are, as of a month ago, I got into facebook. This blog was just not enough for me to have fun. I do love blogging, but I do get sad when I see how clever someone has written their entry, or how cute and creative someones' blog backround is or better yet, when I see pictures statigicly posted and I can not help but think to myself that I have got to get into this blogging more!!!! Now, with facebook, I am still new at it, but I am learning a bit faster. I have been able to connect with all of my friends here in AZ, friends that live out of state, people that I grew up with and (this is scary) people that I used to babysit!! I am amazed that they still remember me!! I truly enjoy doing both. This bring me to ask the question of the day: Which do you enjoy more, blogging or facebook??? An inquiring mind wants to know!!!

The Inaguration of the AZ Cardinals

2009-01-21T05:29:00.000-08:00

Clever title, don't you think? Sunday was such a beautiful day--I am still so excited and in shock that our AZ Cardinals won the NFC championship and are now going to the Superbowl. The game was great. I was really into it and those of you that know me, know that I can get pretty excited!!!!! The only bad thing is that now I have to wait two weeks before they play!!

I did not watch the inaguration of our 44th President. I did however, look at all the many pictures taken during the event. I did also read his speech. I thought that some of it was very inspiring. I did not vote for B.O. (as my mother calls him), but I am very welling to let him prove himself and give him a chance to try to fullfill his promises. I will also pray for him, for that is what I feel that he really needs--a lot of prayers.

Up, up and away!

2009-01-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

My sister and brother-in-law came for a visit this past weekend to celebrate her 40 something birthday. The one thing that she wanted to do for her birthday was to go indoor skydiving. Last May, Melchor and I went for the first time to say that we did somtething exciting and unusual for our 50th birthdays. Then, last October, Melchor did it again with my Dad and bro. in law, Kevin. They loved it. So, Friday we all did it again. It was the first time for Ryan and Caryn. It was a blast!!! The place in down in Eloy, about a 45 min drive from Mesa. You have to watch a film and then you go in with an instructor. It is a great thing to do. I still want to do the real thing but I have to wait until Jeremy gets home from his mission because he is the only one who will go. COWARDS!

Breakfast at Primary

2009-01-11T04:08:00.000-08:00

I teach the CTR 5-6 year olds in Primary in our ward. Yesterday, the primary presidency held a breakfast for all of the kids and the primary teachers. I had worked the night before, but being the loving, devoted teacher that I am, I was determined to go, even after working 12 long hours (do you feel sorry for my yet?) I got home at 8am and I took an hour nap, got up and headed out to church. All of my kids came. We had our own table to sit at and eat our breakfast. Kuddos to the primary presidency who made a great feast (I am never one to turn down food). We had milk and o.j., homemade blueberry muffins, fresh fruit salad and a breakfast casserole--made of hashbrowns, ham, eggs, and cheese---yum,yum!!!!! After the meal was over, we went to our classroom where we were told to set some class rules and to name our classroom (I thought it already had a name--no. 19,who knew??). So we made some class rules. They are as follows: no gum chewing, no touching each other, no talking, raise your hand if you want to talk, keep your clothes on, keep your feet still and Choose The Right!!! Now choosing a name for the classroom in which there are four girls and just one boy was quite an ordeal, let me tell you!! Suggestions were: the princess room, the quiet room, the playroom and the happy room. At the end, it was unanimously decided that the classroom would be forever known as the dragon room!! After an hour of these little ones, I was exhausted. It was definitely time for this little body to go to sleep. I love my primary class.

The New Year Has Begun

2009-01-07T03:13:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it, we are already seven days into the new year! New Years Eve was fun at work. We NICU nurses sure know how to party hardy with the babies. We has lots of bubbly and snacks. I called home to wish Melchor a happy new year and I woke him up and the poor guy was up for the rest of the day--oh well. I had the next four days off which was nice. Monday was back to the real world. Ryan is back in school. Melchor went back to work and I stayed home and cleaned up the house and put all of the christmas decor away for another year. I did of course do my excercising. I got familiar with facebook. I played with Maddie. I got to know how to use my new cell phone. Patty and I are twins again (we both drive the same kind of car and they are both the same color). I am now back to work. It has gotten slower again. For our FHE lesson on Monday, I gave it on the new year and what things we can do individually to improve on our goals and the way we live the gospel. Personally, I came up with reading the scriptures more on a daily basis, being a better member missionary (an example to Jeremy), weekly FHE's, better journal writing and be of service--be more christ like. I hope that I can be successful in my year of improvement in christ like attributes. I hope that everyone is starting off the new year on a good note.

The Year 2008

2008-12-31T03:19:00.000-08:00

2009 will be here tomorrow. The year of 2008 is nearly gone. As the new year comes into view, I think back on the past year and all that had happened. Here is what I have remembered that made my 2008 a great year:
1) A Cruise to Ensada with my dear friends from work
2) The death of President Hinckley
3) Melchor and I both turned the BIG 5-0!!!
4) My niece Rachel got married so we did a trip to Utah
5) Jeremy recieved his mission call and is serving in the Sao Paulo Brazil, North mission.
6) Waterskiing with the girls at the lake--I still laugh about that trip.
7) Indoor skydiving--what a blast
8) Sunday dinners with Mom and Dad
9) Teaching the 5-6 yr olds in Primary

Yes, it was a very good year and I hope that the next year is even better--the same to you all.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-31T02:57:00.000-08:00

I can not believe that this is the last day of 2008!!! When I was younger, it seemed forever for the year to end. Now that I am older, the year goes by way too fast! Growing up and doing New Years' Eve was always fun. As a youth, we would go to the church dance at the stake center and have a blast and wait for midnight to come to see who we would be dancing with and see if we would get a kiss (at least a hug). Being from N. Hollywood, we were only 15 minutes away from Pasadena. One had not lived until you had spent the night on Colorado Blvd and slept on the sidewalk and then the next morning see the Rose Parade (I did that twice). As a young adult, I still attended the stake New Years' Eve dance and still wandered who I would have the midnight dance with and still wander if I would get the hug or a kiss (it never happened). One New Years Eve, my parents let my sister and I have a party. We had a lot of friends over for the entire night. We played games, ate and ate and then my mom got up and cooked everyone a big breakfast--aw, memories. Now Melchor and I go bed at 9pm--midnight came already in New York. This year I will be spending New Years' Eve at work with all of my nursing friends and babies. We will have lots of food and hats and of course the Martinelli's. So if any of you guys are planning to be up past midnight (AZ time), give me a call--512-5105--I'll be up!! From our family to yours, please have a safe and a very Happy New Year!!!

We Had a Very Merry Christmas

2008-12-27T05:38:00.000-08:00

I tried to remember to write a blog to wish everyone a very merry christmas, but as par for the course for my little brain, I forgot to. I do sincerely hope that you and your families had a great holiday. I sent out christmas cards. I got in trouble for not writing individual notes and each christmas card...by the way someone did not get our name printed on the cards (he stated that there was no step to do that) and because of that little error, no one would know who the card was from. It was a picture card--I do think that our dear friends and family know what we look like and I did write our name on the envelope with the return address.

On the 23rd, we received from Elder Jeremy, our very first handwrittened letter. It was his christmas present to us. He also included a few pics for us. This letter was three and a half pages long. For those of you that know me well, yes, I did cry.

Christmas Eve was fun. We had a nice dinner with all of the extened family members--aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins' kids and it was a blast!!! The little cousins got all dressed up and did the nativity scene. My cousin made all of the costumes--she is the "Martha Stewart" of the family. We each brought a gag gift and we picked numbers and took turns choosing gifts. The highlight of that activity was that my dad kept getting girly gifts--he did't want a girly gift. It was a great time had by all.

Our Christmas day was even nicer. We opened up our gifts. The best part was that I was very sneaky and surprised Ryan by giving him "guitar hero. He was shocked and very happy. We were able to talk to Jeremy. He is doing well. He has a bad cold and as her put it, "feel like crap". He sounded wonderful. We had a few of his friends over to talk to him too, along with my parents. We talked for an hour and a half--thank you Rhea for the wonderful idea of getting an international phone card!!
We also had christmas dinner at our house. Everything turned out great. We had the Coxs' over and we played a game and was able to talk to Elder Cox on the phone.

Here are some pictures from my wonderful christmas eve and christmas night!

I Love the Rain

2008-12-17T02:43:00.000-08:00

When we first moved here to AZ back in 1992, that first winter was a wet one. You would drive on the 10 and go over the Salt River and it would be running rapid. It hasn't happened since. AZ is having and been in a drought for a very long time, so when it does rain, we are being blessed. About a year ago, our stake was asked to fast and pray for rain and it did come. For the past couple of days was have been blessed once again with wet weather. I personally love the rain--I enjoy walking in the rain, I love rain songs--"Rainy Days and Mondays", "I Love the Rainy Nights" and my personal favorite--"I Hear Laughter in the Rain". The other morning I thought that I would take Maddie out for a walk, so I got her ready--leash attached, coat on, opened the front door and started to walk. Mind you, it was just sprinkling at the time. Well, we got about three steps out the door and she stopped dead in her tracks, looked up at me and be-lined it for the front door! I guess that she doesn't like the rain as much as I do!!!!

Skateboarding USA

2008-12-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

For those of you that might not know, my youngest son, Ryan (who just turned 16 last month--which means that he became eligible to get his drivers lincense, which he did, which his instructor said was the best driver that he had all day, which he scored 100% on his driving road test, which is a lot better than his mother did---but I degress), is a supurb skateboarder--if I do say so myself. Ryan is labeled as the atheletic one of the family. He has always excelled himself in sports such as basketball, baseball and even wrestling (for a short time, however) but at the age of 9, he decided to take on the role of skateboarder. He is really good at it. So to show him off to you, I, with the help of Ryans' computer knowledge and assistance, I talked him into putting some of his pictures of him skateboarding on this blog entry. Mind you, to be a good as he is, it has paid a price, such as bruised butts, hips, thighs and arms, not to mention the lovely scrapes that he recieved, which are now beautiful scares so when he takes a shower and sees all of those scares, it is a reminder of all of his hard work. Thank goodness though, we have not had to take him to the ER for anything--YET!!! Ryan is a great son and in my humble opinion, not a bad skateboarder either. I do hope that you like the pictures.

OUCH

Tis the Season to be Jolley

2008-12-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

I can not believe that it is now only 24 days left until Christmas!!! When I was a little tot, it seemed to take forever for Santa to visit. Being the first day of December, I am planning to get out my christmas decor and decorate the house (Melchor and Ryan got some of the lights up last night, neighborhood pressure!!). I will now bring myself to start to listen to the christmas music stations on the radio (I refuse to start listening prior to the first) to get into the holiday spirit. Jeremy did request that I listen to 99.9 for him. I just love Christmas season. It brings out the very best in people. It gives one to be thinking of the real purpose of the season--you know, Jesus is the reason for season. I find myself thinking of the savior even more and the story of his birth. I enjoy reading chirstmas stories, the holiday miracles so to speak. The one thing I don't mind missing is the snow. I don't do well in cold weather. Jeremy is finding it hard to be in hot weather when it is suppose to be cold. So everybody, start getting into the holiday spirit--start getting that shopping done, put up those decorations and lights and start listening to that beautiful christmas music and remembering the true meaning of the Christmas season. Have fun!!!!!

The Day After

2008-11-28T02:14:00.000-08:00

Well, it is the day after Thanksgiving. How was your thanksgiving? I hope that it was very nice and that you enjoyed it with your family. Our thanksgiving was good. We went to Peoria to have dinner with the family. We had it at a park so that the little kids could play. It was nice, but it did get a little too chilly for my comfort. The food was great (I had three helpings of pumpkin bread and mashed potatoes--yum,yum!). I had to work, so I took cat naps on the way home. It was wonderful to spend the day with the family. When we blessed the food, my uncle mentioned Jeremy and it was kind of sad that he wasn't with us. He is spending his first thanksgiving away from home in Brazil. I am just hoping that he and his companion got to have a nice meal. Today I will sleep and relax and try to recuperate from the annual pig-out. I am not going to even think about trying to go and be apart of BLACK FRIDAY!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!! I just love thanksgiving. I enjoy being with friends and family and enjoying the feasting. It is the one time of the year that we can sit down and think about all the blessings that we have recieved and to be grateful for what we have. On that note, I want to express the things that I am sooooo thankful for. Here it goes:

1. I am thankful for the gospel. I have been a member of the church all of my life and I can not imagine what my life would be without it. It is so wonderful to know that I am a child of God, I am his daughter. I am so thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for the atonement.

2. I am thankful for my friends. I have been blessed with so many fun, sweet, kind, thoughtful, loving friends who inspire me, help me and care about me. I love you all.

3. I am thankful for my family--a wonderful, cute, loving, strong, smart, honorable husband and two wonderful sons who I am so proud of. I have loving parents who would do anything for us and of course my two sisters and their families, not to mention all of the extended family members. Families can be together forever--for that knowledge, I am eternally grateful for.

4. I am thankful for a job. I love being a nurse. I love taking care of the babies. I will be working til I am dead.

5. I am grateful for this country. I love this country and all of its freedoms.

6. I am grateful for my health..I am so glad to be blessed with good health so that I can work and be able to serve others.

7. I am grateful for knowledge, for that is why we are here on earth, to gain knowledge, for that is all we will be taking back with us after we die.

In closing this blog entry, I would like to end with a very classy, thoughtful little poem:

May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Never have a lump,
May your yams be delicious
and your pies take the prize
and may your thanksgiving dinner
stay off your thighs.

May you and yours have a very Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Anniversary, HappyAnniversary.........

2008-11-13T03:01:00.000-08:00

It was 23 yrs ago that I noticed a nice looking young man walk out of the bathroom with just wearing a towel and who would have known (except Heavenly Father of course) that he would become my eternal companion two years later. We were married on Friday, November 13, 1987 in the Los Angeles Temple--being that type of a day, there was only one other couple that got married also. So it has been 21 years now. It has been 21 years of tears, joy, fun, laughter, discussions and lots of love. He is the man that has all the qualifications that I wanted in a husband: cute, funny, kind, good cook, nice dresser, smells dang good all the time, honors his priesthood, a good handyman and loves his boys. Happy Anniversary my love.

Top 10--Hates

2008-11-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, hate is an ugly word. Growing up, I would say "I hate this, I hate that......" until my Dad put is foot down and said never say the word HATE!!! I came back with, "Alright, I will say, I dislike....very, very much". So here is my top 10 list of things that I dislike very, very much.

1. I hate liver (who doesn't)
2. I hate cigarette smoke.
3. I hate commercials (unless they are the commercials that they show on Super Bowl Sunday).
4. I hate sloppyness.
5. I hate being late for anything.
6. I hate being disorganized.
7. I hate it when I don't get in my daily excercise.
8. I hate it when I see people talking on their cell phones while they are driving.
9. I hate having naturally curly hair (only when I want to blow dry it straight, because it takes so long and my hand and arm gets tired.
10. I hate it when I have to hem a dress or a pair of pants just because I am short and I don't want to take the time out to do it--I guess that is why I buy pants and dresses in the little girls dept. at the store.

Top 10 Week--Yahooooooooooo!!!!

2008-11-10T02:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, I was watching the Suns game on Saturday night and I was thinking of what creative topic I could write on my blog that would not be boring, it would be fun to read, yet interesting. Clever and not so stupid. So it popped into my head, since Monday is the 10th of November, I should dedicate the week to the "TOP 10", the TOP 10 of various little tidbits about me. I thought it would be rather interesting for all of you friends of mine that thought that you knew me well. So for the next five days, I will try to make your day by writing my "TOP 10". So here it goes. I hope that you get as much as a kick out of it as I did thinking and writing it:
Top 10 things that you might not have known of me:
1. That it took me 8 times to pass the RN Ca state board (I am not proud, I am just not a good test taker).
2. That I got locked out of a car by my own sister while we were "dragging" down Van Nuys Blvd doing a "chinese fire drill" (a friend let me in his car--I think that it was just because he was embarrassed for me).
3. I took care of Genie Francis ("Laura" of "Luke and Laura" fame of General Hospital)--she was very nice.
4. I took me three times to past my driving test (I did get the same score the first two times, yeah for me!!)
5. I sat next to Nick Cassavetes in my jr high English class (his parents are John Cassavetes and Gina Rowlands, he directed "The Notebook"--He was sooooo cute.
6. I got into my first car accident three months after I got my license. It was at 2am coming home from Mormon nite at Disneyland, it was raining, I was looking for the st. to turn on and a car had stopped in the middle of the st--he sped off only to hit another car which was driven by the mother of the best friend of the guy I had a crush on--yuck
7. I got my mission call in three days--what a miracle.
8. I had my first eye operation when I was three only to have my tonsils removed three days later.....Fast foreward eight years, I had my second eye operation only to have my appendix out three days after that--needless to say, I no longer have the desire to have my right eye operated on again!!!
9. I stayed awake for 26 hrs only to have to pull a eight hr. shift--I have to--it was aYoung Adult co-ed sleep over party!!!
10. While I was taking drivers training, I had to sit on a booster so I could see over the steering wheel--I still use it to this very day---hee, hee!!

Well, I hope that you all enjoyed the first edition of my week of TOP 10. Just think of what Top 10 list awaits you and your eyes tomorrow!! Make it a wonderful day!!!!!

National Mormon Day

2008-11-05T03:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was election day (da Susan) and as a last ditch effort to get the people of CA to vote no on Prop 8 (Ca's version of Az's prop 102--marriage is to be defined between an man and a woman), a group of people decided to air a video using Mormon missionaries to represent the church in taking away the gays' right to marry. It was a pretty sick ad, by the way. Will, another group called the "Ruth ????" ( just forgot the dang name--its only 4:30 in the morning, for goodness sakes) felt that it was a pretty low blow to church and it was against any person or church's right of speech, so they decided to make this day "National Mormon Day". Pretty cool, huh? I found the article at www.meridianmagazine.com so you can look it up and read it for yourself. So in honor of National Mormon Day, I would simply like to wish all of you---"Happy National Mormon Day" (have I written it enough???). Have a great day--til next blog, see ya.

It's Voting Day

2008-11-04T05:04:00.000-08:00

Every four years we have the priviledge and the right to vote for the next president of the United States. I remember the first time that I voted. It was back in 1976, I was 18 and very excited to vote for the first time. I would tease my Grandfather that I was going to vote democratic and he would yell at me--it was funny. I was serving my mission in the Philippines, when it was time to vote in 1984. My parents sent me an absentee ballott, so I was able to vote that way. Melchor was very excited to vote for the first time as an american citizen in 1992. Now my oldest son has the honor to vote, but due to lack of time, we were unable to send him his ballott to vote. This is a very important election. It will be very interesting to see who wins. This past Sunday at our stake conference, our stake president was encouraging all of us to study the issues, pray and vote according to our conscience. He then said that come Wednesday when it is our stake temple day, he is going to put the name of the winner of the election on the prayer roll. He also said that he was going to put the name of the loser on the prayer roll. What a very inspiring idea. Like most of you, I will be keeping a close watch on the results and hope for the best. Whatever happens, I will continue to be hopeful--and faitful, prayerful and respectful of the results. Happy Election Day to everyone!!!

Tick or Treat

2008-10-30T03:38:00.000-07:00

Here it is the day before Halloween. I love Halloween. I have such fond memories of dressing up and going trick or treating. I think that I will share of few of them with you. I trick or treated until I was 18 years old (with my height, I could get away with it). When I was three, my mom made a schunk costume and entered me in the Park and Rec Halloween Costume Contest. I ended up winning first place (by the way, when my two younger sisters were big enough to wear the costume, they also entered the contest and won first place!!!). I can remember dressing up as a roller skating queen and a housewife (cold cream, rollers, robe, slippers--the whold bit). One year--I think it was my last--my friend Matt and I decided to go as "Mutt and Jeff" (he was 6-6) and we were such a unique pair. We would try to go to as many houses as we could, just to get lots of candy, not to mention to go visit the areas where the movie stars lived. When I went to the Philippines on my mission, I was sad to find out that the filippinos did not celebrate Halloween--I thought the every country did, gee. However, it is that countrys' custom to honor All Saints Day. It is on November 1st--close enough, right? On All Saints Day, everyone goes to the cemetary to eat with their dead--yum, yum. You bring your meal and sit at your deceased love ones' grave and eat with them, hoping that that persons' spirit will appear and join you. According to Melchor, the best place to do it is at the Chinese cemetary, cause they are wealthy and have great food and are very willing to share with you. Well, those are a few of my Halloween memories. I sure hope that you liked them and got a smile out of it. Hope that you have a Happy Halloween.

I Wish.......I'm Glad

2008-10-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

It is just one of those Mondays---have you ever had one. I don't know if any of you have heard or rather read "Nienie's Dialogue". It is kept by a member of the church by the name of Stephanie Nielson. Back in August, there was a small plane crash in St. John which involved Stephanie, her husband Christian and the pilot. The pilot died the next day, Christian suffered burns over 30% of his body, while Stephanie suffered burns over 88% of her body. Anyways, Nie had been keeping a blog--entrys about her, her husband, their marriage, kids--everyday life, very inspiring, cute, funny stuff. Her sister Jane has been posting her blog with "re-runs" and keeping every blog reader up to date with the Nielson's progress. There have been numerous benefits, concerts, auctions and various other fund raiser on their behalf here in Mesa and in Provo. Lately, the Az republic and AZcentral.com have been running articles about her and her family (it is all this week) and are articles are so touching--I am such a sap anyways. This whole thing got me thinking of I wish--I wish that:
I was taller, prettier, smarter, a better cook, craftier, played the piano, patient, better member missionary, scriptorian, sew, I didn't have to work---that is just off the top of my head. As I am thinking of those areas, it did occur to me that I am glad that:
I am short--at least I am last to feel the rain, I do love my hazel eyes--even though one is crossed, I am smart--I picked a good guy to marry for time and all eternity, I can cook-my family does love my spaghetti, I do feel craftier when I attend the yearly "super saturday", I do have a piano in my home, I take care of little patients, I do have a son who is serving a mission and is inspiring me to be a better member missionary, I do read the scriptures everyday and I do enjoy being a nurse and being able to take care of the little babies. I am glad. I hope that your wishes are glad ones too. Oh yeah, on a p.s. note to my last blog, if you scroll down to the very bottom of the blog page, you will find a picture of me in my attempt to water ski--my son couldn't figure out how to get it up to the blog. We will work on that.

Water Logged

2008-10-19T03:50:00.000-07:00

Here I am at work, between feedings, and all I am thinking about is what a fun, crazy, hysterical and beautiful day that I had yesterday!!! It was the end to a eight nights off of work, however, I did have to come back to work last night. Thanks to a special friend whose birthday is coming up and wanted to celebrate it with her friends, she came up with a brilliant idea to take the girls out on her family boat for some water fun in the sun. The weather was beautiful and the company was wonderful. There was seven of us gal pals (one male companion, who never had a chance, but who put up with all of our shananigans--and did the driving--we did keep him happy with feeding him lots of delicious homemade sugar cookies, though!!!!!!!). I have never enjoyed such a great fun-filled day in a long time. We had good, nurtritious food to eat. We were able to try our skills at wake boarding, skiing and innertubing (or is it intertubing?). I did not dare try the wake
boarding but I did go all out on the water skiiing, but not out all the way--after three hearfilled tries, I gave up--reluctanly I might add. Afterall, I am only 50, I did learn how to water ski at the Lake of the Ozarks and I was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself!!! But I failed. Ah, but I did do great with my two other companions on the innertubing. We had such a blast!!! Pics were taken and will be put on my blog eventually--I hope (Rhea, ?????) so stay tuned my fellow bloggers. It was so neat to spend the day with the girls. I truly enjoyed it and a big shout out to my fellow birthday celebrators--you are the funnest, sweetest, coolest, neatest friends I could ever be blessed with---I need to stop now, I am having trouble writing do to the collection of moisture in my eyes. I love you all--thanks to all of you for making my day so super. By the way, I made it to work by 7:20.

Pediatric Paradise

2008-10-09T03:40:00.000-07:00

This is my second night to work and when I did get to work, I found out much to my dismiss that it was my turn to float (I had just floated back in June, so I could not believe it was my turn to go). So off to peds I went. I was not a happy camper. I was given four babies to take care of. All with IVs, meds, parents that were staying the night (that is a plus) and being in unfamiliar territory, was the beginning of a long and stressful 12 hour shift. I knew a couple of the nurses, so at least I could ask them for help. The night started out hectic--not knowing where some things were, and iv going out, no supplies in the room---etc. Well, about after five hours of work, things got under control. About seven hours of work, I was comfortable. Come 7:30 am, I will be in paradise because I will be going home. I think that Heavenly Father puts us in "out of our comfort zone" situations, just to prove to ourselves that we CAN handle out of the ordinary circumstances, which help us grow and give us "look what I can do" times in our lives. I hope that you feel that way too. Hope you all had a good nights rest---I will get mine in about four hours from now.

How to Make the Big Bucks

2008-10-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

I am sometimes thinking of ways to make some extra cash, to make an investment. Yesterday we recieved an e-mail from a friend of ours with some financial advice. I want to send it on to you all and take it for what it is worth--tee,hee.

1. Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush and W.R. Grace Co. will merge and become: Hale Mary, Fuller Grace.
2. Polygram Records, Warner Bros. and Zesta Crackers join forces and become: Poly, Warner
Cracker.
3. 3M will merge with Gookyear and become: MMMGood
4. Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco and Dakota Mining will merge and become: ZipAudiDoDa.
5. FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS and become: FedUP.
6. Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become: Fairwell Honeychild.
7. Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become: PoiponPants.
8. Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become: Knott NOW!!!!
9. Victoria's Secret and Smith and Wesson will merge under the new name: TittyTittyBangBang

Cute huh! I thought that it would put a smile on your face. Hope that you enjoyed it.

What are your thoughts????

2008-10-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

It is Monday morning and I am still on a spiritual high. I really enjoyed General Conference this past weekend. I enjoyed all of the talks. By the way, as you might recall in my last entry, I mentioned that I would come home from work and take a little cat nap and wake up in time to watch conference. To answer the burning question that you have in your mind--"Did she wake up?" The answer is sort of. I did wake up to find that it was 10:00--I had missed the first hour!! I turned on the tv, checked to see that Ryan was up (he is our go to bed late and sleep in late child) and to my surprise, he was up!! He said that he had just gotten up, but he was up, none the less. I was excited to learn about the 5 new temples (though I can only remember 4 of them, after Rhea told me where they were going to be built). In our family, we go around and everyone tells what their favorite three talks were and why. I was touched by Elder Oaks talk on the importance of Sacrement Meeting, followed by Elder Uchdorf's' talk on hope and how it intertwines with faith and charity. I was also touched by Pres. Monsons' demeanor at the end of conference. He seemed so loving and concerned for everyone. So like my family, I will now ask the same question to you, my fellow friends and bloggers--what talk did you like the best and why? I did take notes. Did you notice that one of the temples will be built in Brazil and that one of the speakers in the last session was from Brazil, not to mention that the Phillippines was also mentioned? In any event, I hope that you all had a great spiritual feast these past couple of days. I close this days blog with a thought from Richard Bach--it can be applied on a spiritual sense--"Happiness is the reward we get for living to the highest right we know." Cool, huh? Have a good day everybody.

The Night Owl

2008-10-04T03:05:00.000-07:00

It is 3:o6 in the morning and while most of you are sound asleep (except for Melchor), I am here at work. I just finished round three of feedings for my cute little babies and I have some time to make an entry. It has been a good night so far. There is only four hours left until I get to go home!!! I will take an hour cat nap and then it will be time to watch General Conference. I am so excited to listen to the general authorities. I will hopefully be alert enough to write down some notes from each of the talks. I will of course be thinking of Jeremy being in the CTM (MTC) and hope that boy is being attentive and in tune with the spirit--he is so used to watching conf. in bed. I hope that all of you will enjoy conf. this weekend. Here is my thought--"Come listen to a prophets' voice and hear the word of God."

My Second Entry

2008-10-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well I am just in shock, like most of you are, that October is already here. Halloween is just around the corner. I will always remember a "Peanuts" comic strip that one day read--"after Halloween, its down hill to Christmas." How true. So far, I am doing ok with getting into this blog of mine. I am still playing around with it. I already have two comments from a couple of followers--thanks!! And yes Loretta, I do remember you--very well. Rhea and I read your blog--very entertaining. My husband thinks that I am nuts to have a blog--its a girl thing. I did send off a care pkg to my missionary son--as requested. It is expensive!!!! Just to send a letter with some pics in it cost me $20!!! He is doing great. He is picking up on the language quite well and loves the people and the food. I would like to share with you a senior moment--I work the night shift. I always double check my schedule when it comes out..this time I double checked it, however, it was the persons above my name and so I ended up going to work on the wrong night--how embarassing!!! Oh well, I would rather show up to work and not be scheduled than not show up when I am scheduled. I have also decided the leave each blog entry with a cute litte thought for the day---so here goes "smile--its contagious." Smile to those that you pass as you go throughout your day. Till next time.

First Blog

2008-09-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

Here I go--I have now entered into the blogging world. I guess that I am now pretty cool. I am just thinking how exciting it will be to be to now have a blog site. My oldest son would be so proud of me. I have always wanted to start a blog, but being so computer illeterate, I felt so enept. I finally got brave and got my friend Rhea to come over and get me started. I plan to do a lot of playing around with this blog so I can get use to it. Now that you (whoever you are) are reading this blog, you have probably already read my profile and know about me and are just amazed at what I like to do and what my accomplishments are--I am too!! Just a little more about my family--Melchor (yes, that is a real name) is Filippino (we met when I served as a Mormon missionary over there) and works as a postman, excuse me, a mail carrier--he loves it. Jeremy is 19. He completed one year of college as ASU and is now serving in the Sao Paulo Brazil, North mission for the church. He just left a week ago...to see his website you can go to missionsite.net/eldergratil--it is pretty awesome. Ryan is almost 16 and is a sophmore at Mesquite High. He is quite the skateboarder and artist. Well, I just wanted to get this blog started. I just hope that I can do this blog justice and be informative, funny, enjoyable and creative. Wish me luck all you bloggers.