Quotes of the Week

God's love there for you whether or not you feel you deserve it.  It is simply always there.
--Thomas S. Monson

Draw close to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Be of good cheer.  Keep the faith.  Doubt not.  The storms will one day be stilled.
--Joseph B. Wirthlin

The purpose of faith is not to change God's will, but to empower us to act on God's will.  Faith is trust.
--Dieter F. Uchtdorf

We are the Lord's hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children.  He is dependent upon each of us.
--Thomas S. Monson

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Glen has been having issues. For quite a while now. For years in fact. After a couple of years of his shoulder killing him, he finally had surgery. That was two years ago. He never got full relief from the pain.

We thought he would need surgery again a year ago. MRI showed no need for surgery. Still having pain. Still annoying.

Flash forward another year to now. Shoulder still hurts. Pain is getting worse. He got another MRI.

We are sure he will need surgery this time. Ortho doctor said no. Try a cortisone shot and physical therapy. The cortisone shot helped a lot. He's now been to two therapy sessions and he is very pleased with the therapist and how it has been helping. Time will tell.

That's not the only doctor Glen has been visiting. He decided he wanted in on some foot doctor action since I've been spending so much time there.

He had his toenails yanked out several years ago and has claimed it was the best thing that's ever happened to him. He recommends toenail-less toes to everyone. He doesn't have to cut his toenails on those toes. His socks don't get holes in the toes anymore. He is not in pain. It's the best. So he says.

Except for the part that his right toe is growing a sliver of a nail that has been bugging him ever since he got his toenails yanked out. Which means for several years now. So he decided to go for it and get that yanked out and chemically burned once again.

Here is the finished look. YUCK!! I watched the doctor cram a gigantic wooden toothpick down into his nail bed. Three times! Getting all the chemical stuff to seep inside where the nail sliver used to be. It was DISGUSTING!!!

The good news is Glen says it doesn't even hurt. That is shocking after watching the trauma that was inflicted upon that big toe.

Let's move on to something more pleasant to look at besides a nasty big toenail-less toe. This would be Elder Ruhl who loves to take selfies when he gets a hold of my camera.

He was in charge of taking a photo of all the Spanish missionaries after our Spanish conference, complete with homemade tamales.

We have the smiling photo.

And then the serious face photo.

It was a very enjoyable day when Glen went to the mission office to do exit interviews and let me stay home to get some things done. I cooked up 8 packages of turkey bacon to put in the freezer. They are good to pull out when I need a little protein for a quick breakfast.

I was able to cook a delicious meal for him to eat after his long day at the office.

I was even able to get a much-needed haircut.

We found ourself with an unscheduled afternoon one day so we decided to make it a long date when we drove to the ocean and parked strategically so we could see the ocean from the comfort of our car.

The weather had been so rainy and windy and there were high surf warnings every day. We wanted to get a view of the high surf. We watched for a couple of hours. Glen napped during part of the time. I studied Spanish during his nap time.

We stayed long enough to see the sun go down. It was beautiful!

Glen had one of his super long coordinating council meetings on Sunday which meant I had hours to myself at home once again. I love it when that happens! Except for when I blow a fuse and can't for the life of me find the electrical switch box in this house. 

So I had to make do with no kitchen lights by bringing in lamps to light the kitchen so I could fix our Sunday dinner. The stove was working, so I had a light over the stove. And the oven was able to cook the chicken. It was annoying. Glen found the switch box outside on the side of the house by the garbage cans. 

Apparently it has been the wettest winter anybody has ever experienced in southern California. It has been one way to get the dead fronds off the palm trees.

Look at the size of that thing. A few of them can fill up a trash can in no time.

All the rain has sure made it green and beautiful around here. Even though it's winter, we still see flowers all around us. This is the view from the side of our house by the electrical breaker box.

I love where we live. As Klarissa commented when she saw this picture, "Looks like Hawaii." We are living in paradise. And we love it!!!

Quotes of the Week

The touchstone of compassion is a measure of our discipleship; it is a measure of our love for God and for one another.
--Howard W. Hunter

The Savior also offers an intensity, depth, and breadth of joy that defy human logic or mortal comprehension.
--Russell M. Nelson

Remember you are never alone.  Never forget that you are loved.  Never doubt that someone surely cares for you.
--Thomas S. Monson

Virtue is akin to holiness, an attribute of godliness.
--Ezra Taft Benson

Escape Room, Ben and Haley Sealed in the San Diego Temple, Frolfing, Ocean Viewing

It was a happy sight when I opened the door to see these two sons standing on our front porch. Jacob had flown in from Omaha and had picked up Abe who had flown in from San Francisco.

That meant we had the whole crew here, plus Haley's mom Tracie.

We had planned to have a full day of fun with the group, but we ended up dealing with a missionary who was having medical issues and needed to go home early. Those always take a lot of time to manage and coordinate between all the phone calls with Missionary Medical, the Area Medical Adviser, our mission doctor, the nurse, the counselor, the In-field Representative, Elder Cook, the travel department, the stake president, sometimes phone calls or correspondence with the parents and then meeting with the missionary. It is all so time-consuming and so emotionally draining.

We ended up sending the group off to the tide pools without us with the hope that we would meet up with them at their next destination. Luckily that happened and we found ourselves waiting in a parking lot behind a sketchy looking building which we had booked online to have a super hero escape room adventure.

Everyone mocked my super hero pose--and don't ask me which super hero I was posing as--except Glen who apparently wanted a Spiderman super hero pose for the photo.

Here's another one. Super hero Ben is pounding the ground so hard that we all react to the shock of it.

All of us caped crusaders received our super powers and went upstairs into a room where we had to use brain power to solve all the puzzles to help us escape from the room.

The guy in charge seemed very surprised when we broke out of the room in way less minutes than the allotted 60 minutes. Hooray for us!!

Rebecca wondered if I would bring out the tablecloth and use the formal dining room when she was here. Here's proof that I did.

The reason we were all gathered together was for the sealing of Ben and Haley in the San Diego Temple. I loved having all of our children in the temple with us. Such a great feeling. We are very happy Ben and Haley chose the San Diego Temple so we could attend with them. 

Ben wanted a picture of him holding the spires of the temple in his hands.

Our family lunch after the temple was at the Tequila Factory overlooking Old Town San Diego. Our children wanted to have the same experience our missionaries have when we take them to this restaurant before going to the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. 

After we changed our clothes we found a frisbee golf course and had an eye-opening experience of what frolfing is all about. Or rather what the players are like who take throwing discs at a target extremely seriously.

Our crew was definitely not as serious-minded as the "professionals" who carry around 35-pound bags full of different kinds of throwing discs. And who have their wind-up routine down pat, complete with kissing the disc before throwing. Hilarious! The game was way more entertaining than I ever could have imagined.

There was a lot of waiting time in between each hole, so Jacob randomly decided to climb a tree.

Sarah had stepped in a tide pool and had gotten her foot soaked the day before. This day we sloshed through muddy grass and her shoe got filled with mud.

After our fun-filled frolfing frenzy, we went our separate ways. Glen and the boys went to a BYU basketball game. Haley and her mom went to a movie. The girls and I walked around the Carlsbad Outlet Mall where my companions decided they needed an ice cream treat.

We had a fun time walking around out in the night air under the stars.

And then pregnant Sarah came home and was exhausted. She had been determined to use her no-kid vacation to full advantage and cram in all she could and she was getting tired.

She did get off the couch to play Qwirkle with Rebecca and me. I love that game!

Ben showed us how he does his morning cheer with his Amazon team. After that, his siblings had to get in a good cheer whenever they could at his expense. Like right before we left for Church.

Abe left town Sunday afternoon and Jacob left early Monday morning. That left these four wanting to go to the ocean one more time before they left town. So off we went to the Oceanside Pier.

 They weren't the only ones willing to pose for a photo on the pier.

I love this picture so much. Not only are the people cute in the photo, but the photo-bombing pelican is quite cute, too.

Ben, Haley and Tracie ate lunch at the Pier before taking Tracie to the airport. The girls had a few more hours before their plane left, so we had a fun girly lunch at Gregorio's in Carlsbad Village.

Ben and Haley left town the following morning. It was a great week of family togetherness.  

Our children decided it was pretty relaxing and fun to go on vacation without their kids. They have since been dreaming about how they can make it happen again--only with their spouses next time.

Any time children. Any time. We are here for another 2 1/2 years.