Re: Jacob

Whoa, Jen, did you see a corresponding spike in your food purchases?  A half inch in 14 days...that is quite the growth spurt!

And Jacob made quite the impression on Ezra during Thanksgiving.  At least once a week he asks something about his cousin Jacob:  How long would it take to get to Jacob's house?  When will I see my cousin Jacob again?  Is this the state where my cousin Jacob lives?  (As we drove through the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona.)

He's very excited for the family reunion in June.

growth spurt

So this morning I noticed that the pants that Jacob was wearing were a bit short in the leg. I had him stand in the doorway where we measure these sort of things and he had grown a half inch since the last time we measured. This might not be worth mentioning, but we actually last measured everyone on the thirteen of this month. So Jacob grew a half inch in about two weeks. We are thrilled!

Callings

Well, thank you for asking Samuel! In case any of you missed it, I'm the new choir director! =) I'm really excited about my new calling, can you tell? I can't stop thinking about it.

Yay, LaDale!!! That's so awesome! I was telling Tyler last night that there's nothing like getting professional pictures done to show you just how much weight you can stand to lose...I'm definitely needing to lose 20 pounds myself. Tyler and I are going to start exercising together every other day. I know it takes more than that, but I'm not sure I can commit myself to more than that right now. I am so impressed with how well you're doing, LaDale!

Love you all!

Callings Again

The CTR 5 teacher is here!! That is my new calling. I only have the one right now, which is a change, but not a bad one. And it is pretty new. I've only taught the class twice. I share the calling with Shauna with the express purpose of teaching every other week and going to Sunday School and Relief Society the other week.

In other good news!! I finally (FINALLY) lost my next 5 pounds. It has taken six weeks and it was two steps forward, one step back- CRAWLING it felt like- but at least I've been MOSTLY moving forward!! It is a good thing I gave myself until June to loose the entire 20!! But I am half way there!! Time to celebrate!!

Love you all!
LaDale

Oh, and Bradley's, too

I forgot to include Bradley's calling, too.  He's the Elder's Quorum President.  So sometimes that makes meetings interesting, because if the RS president is gone, obviously I can't go to the meeting in her place like is normally done.  But it's really no big deal.

Callings

I have three callings right now, two ward callings and one stake calling. Two are what I call part time callings. I am the RS pianist, the Temple Prep teacher for the ward. My stake calling is being the liaison from the stake to LDS Family Services. As a part of this calling, I teach a 5th Sunday lesson to the Relief Society and Priesthood in each ward about the services offered, especially for birth parents and adoptive parents.

My calling

Right now I am the first (education) counselor in the RS--it's a pretty hearty calling, not as heavy on the oh-my-land-we need-nursery-teachers-today or where-is-CTR5's-teacher?? stress as when I was in the Primary presidency, but a pretty big calling all the same.

We've been really sick in our house the last two weeks, but I think we are crawling out of it finally.  We are very much enjoying ourselves here in Vegas with Mema.  It would be nice if the weather would be nice and sunny, but whatever.

Callings

So I will chime in on the current callings.

I am currently, and for the past 2 years now, the Webelos Leader in Cub Scouts. I have never had so much fun in all my other callings. I love this work. I hope they do not release me any time soon.

Caren currently does not have a calling and she is happy with that for the time being as she has other things on her mind for the moment.

Anyone else? I wonder what Telima and Tyler have for callings right now? Oh wait. This all started with them getting new callings. How about the rest?

Question

We're all pretty good at telling everyone when we get new callings and such, but it's sometimes hard to keep track. So, post and tell everyone...What is your current calling in your ward?

I am ward organist, ward choir director and a visiting teaching supervisor.

Jeff is an assistant stake clerk, in charge of finances, and a home teaching supervisor.

Just to be fair, Benjamin is second councilor in the deacon's quorum.

Check out Jayson's Newest Trick!!

Pop over to Sweet Peas for the latest news on Jayson. He's AMAZING!!!

US Olympic Curling Team 2022

Samuel called yesterday to tell me that he found a channel (one of those fuzzy ones) on his TV that was playing curling (Women's USA vs Great Britain) and immediately thought of me. If some of you don't know I find the sport very interesting (unlike one particular sister-in-law that I know of).

In the course of our conversation we talked about the sport, how its played and such. I had to refresh my memory about some rules because the only time I get to watch it is once every four years (though apparently not this year because our cable does not give us the Olympic coverage of curling but rather the normal programing on CNBC).

For those who don't know the game is played in 10 Ends (which Samuel wants called Rounds). It is played by throwing 42 lb. stones down a 146 ft. long by 15 ft., 7 in. wide field of ice in an attempt to get your stone to be the closest the center of the house (a design of 4 concentric circles that has a 12 ft. outer diameter, the other circles are for help in judging who is closest to the center). Only the team with the closest stone scores and only for those stones that are closer to the center than any of their opponents stones.

Each team throws 8 stones in each end and the team that scored last goes first in the next End. There is a lot more to the game than just stacking up and knocking stones out of the center, it is like chess only you have to have skill not only to pick your move but also to execute it.

Anyways, getting back to the title. Samuel said that we should start a team in 12 years (joking, I think). Why twelve years? So that Adam could be a third member of the four man team. Telima told me today that we should get David to do it and use Adam, Skyler, and Ephram as alternates for the fourth spot. So what do you think? Can we do it?

As a side note, each of the required eight 42 lb. stones costs $400. That doesn't include the shoes and synthetic brooms and possibly not even the handles for the stones. Any one have $3500 to help us get started?

I am just kidding, unless of course some one really does want to see us do it. In which case, I'm totally in!

Time's Up!!

Thank you for playing! The person who won the prize is....Momma! I am the new ward choir director. I'm really super excited about it (though I honestly never thought I would be) and I can't wait to really get started. I'm already directing a song for next week, but I feel like the real work will begin after we sing that. Then I have to start picking out the music and finding a pianist and so on and so forth. But I am thrilled!

Despite everyone's belief that Tyler should be back in scouting, Samuel was actually closest with his guess of Sunday School teacher. Tyler's new calling is Elder's Quorum teacher. He teaches the second and third weeks of every other month (got that?). He teaches his first class on March 14 and is actually pretty excited about it as well. We're thrilled to be out of Nursery and participating in the ward more. Although Nursery was fun (at times), it was also exhausting and isolating (all the time). I finally feel like I know people in our ward that I can call friends!

Anyway, so there's the exciting news. Love you all!

stereo reviews

I'm sure many of you are looking for a big screen for a front projector. Elite Screens is a big manufacturer for jrojector screens. They even make white boards that double as screens. Check out their review section. http://www.elitescreens.com/ and at the bottom of the news tab is where their reviews are. The have reviews done by some big names like Sound & Vision magazine, Projectorcentral.com, and Projector reviews, to name a few. But my favorite is the new one at the top of the list......=)

http://elitescreens.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=36&Itemid=112&lang=en

Jeff

Sunday

So, with our church at 8:00 and me responsible for prelude, we are up and out by 7:30. This morning, Lillian was cranky, but that wasn't to terribly unusual. When we got to church and I started playing, Lillian was sitting on the stand with me. She behaves herself when she is with me, and yells and screams when she's with Jeff. I looked over and noticed the glazed, sunken look in her eyes. When we left the stand after the sacrament, I felt her forehead and detected a temperature. Jeff and I held a low conversation and decided that we would all stick it out until after the meeting and then I would take Lillian home. I could get a jump on dinner and get the kitchen clean and Lillian was not going to be happy with Daddy when she's not feeling well. So, here we are at home with dinner in the crock pot, a clean kitchen and Lillian watching "Bella Dancerella" over and over and over and over and over. Today I'm trying a new recipe. Tomato Bisque Soup in the crock pot, and I'm going to attempt bread bowls to eat it in. It just sounds right for a cloudy rainy Sunday in February.

Callings and Pictures

Samuel, I'll give you another guess. Tyler and I were just released from being Nursery Leaders. So, that is not it. You may guess again. =)

And Momma, I love that picture! Tyler and I laughed when we saw it. Brooke does look like you! We noticed some definite differences, but the similarity is still striking. Thanks for posting that picture!

Keep the guesses coming! Some of you are very close...

Re: Callings

When Telima told me about her new mysterious calling I 'knew' she was called as the new Bishop of her ward or put in the Young Men's presidency. I had no idea that Tyler also got a new calling. Therefore, if Telima is the new Bishop, Tyler can't be the new Relief Society President, but he might be one of the counselors in the RS.

On a more realistic note, I think Nursery Leader, as I know how much you would look forward to being in change of all those little people. I think Tyler will be a Sunday School teacher. That is just my opinion.

MOM: Your scowl is better then Brooke's. But yes, you look a lot alike. Almost as if you are related.

Picture of Brooke and Me

I finally found a picture of me when I was just a little older than Brooke is now. Everyone is always saying that Brooke looks like me. Well judge for yourself. What do you think?

re:New Callings

I think they put Tyler back in Scouts. I don't mean Cub Scouts but with the boys 12-13. He loved it before and I know he will love it now. I am guessing you are the new choir director. I think you would be more thrilled with camp director but that guess was already taken.

new callings

I'll take a stab at it...Camp director. And for Tyler...Bear leader. Also, I've tried to post several times. I type and type and type and after about ten minutes my computer freezes for a second and I'm 'magically' back at the opening page, my post disappearing into cyberspace. Sigh, big bummer. I'll have to keep things short to get anything done!

New Calling

So, last week, I was extended a new calling. Because I haven't been sustained or set apart yet, I haven't really mentioned it to anyone (except Samuel, but I didn't tell him what it was, only that I got a new one). So, anybody want to guess? You have until tomorrow when I come home from Church, then I'll tell everyone. I'll give you a hint....I'm really, really excited about it! I think it's going to be so much fun and I'm thrilled that I am going to have this calling.

Tyler has also been given a new calling, which he has been sustained in, but he has not yet been set apart. We'll be taking care of that tomorrow. It's something that he's also really excited about and I personally think he'll be very good at it. Any guesses on that as well?

Can you tell I'm trying to get some blog participation? Everyone guess!!! We'll do the big reveal tomorrow! Unless no one guesses. Then I'll just assume you don't care and you'll have to wait a little longer...=) Just kidding. I love you all so much!

Family Pictures

So, most of you know already that we took family pictures this weekend. You can read about the experience here.  If you want to see all the pictures that we took (not just the ones I put on my blog or on Facebook), you can go here. And last but not least, I need all of you to get me your addresses (you can email them to me or Facebook them to me, I don't care which) so I can send all of you your pictures! We got about a million wallets of our family and we have a sheet of wallets of each of the kids too...I don't know how we're going to be giving those out yet, so don't necessarily expect individual pictures of the kids, but definitely everyone gets a family one. Anyway, I'll leave you with a sample of how well they turned out! Love you all!

 

  

 

Random maunderings of a pregnant sick woman

If I haven't eaten anything since about three pm, why in the world do I have some of the worst heartburn in my life?  From water???  There is something seriously wrong with this.

Did anyone else notice that when they announced all the past host cities of the Winter Olympics, the crowd cheered for Calgary (1988), naturally, but the only other audible cheer from the audience was when they said Salt Lake City (2002).  That made me laugh.  I went to that Olympics, you know.  (I know you all know.  I just like saying that.)

Guess what?  My close college friend/roommate Emily Bartlett got engaged last night!!!!!!  It's very exciting.  She's getting married in early May.  Most of my good friends seem to have gotten married in May:  Gabrielle, Kristy, Mandy, now Emily.  I prefer October, myself, but that's pretty far away for Emily.  :)

I've been very sick the last couple of days--prayers would be welcome.  I'm not dying, but I wonder if I have bronchitis.  It's been lovely.

Samuel, good luck with the Scouts.  They are nothing but trouble, right?  I have a feeling that I'll be spending a GOOD deal of time working with the Cubs sometime in the next ten years.  And I love the pictures of your car, and of your adorable boys.

Love you all.

So I only now remembered that I was going to add some pictures of our Pinewood Derby. Here are our boys playing with my car before any of the other boys showed up. Adam was so happy to see my car go down the track. And yes, it lost every single race, including any against the bishop's slow car. You might be able to make it out in these pictures, but there are head lights and tail lights on the car. The tail lights can be seen a little easier in the picture with Kip and the head lights might be able to be seen in the picture with Adam. Add the boy's dads thought my car was cool. There you go.

A Good and yet also Frustrating Problem

So last night I went to our weekly Den Meeting for the Cub Scouts. I am the Webelos leader and have been so for the last 2 years, almost. I love it. I arrived a few minutes early at the chapel to get my room ready and also prepare for opening ceremonies with the pack. As much as I was about 10 minutes early, no one else, especially the other leaders, don't seem to come until time to start or 5 minutes late. It is a good thing I was early as we had a problem. It is a good problem to have in the church but a bad problem to have when I only have 5 minutes to find a solution and no other leaders to confer with. There was a baptism going on in the Relief Society Room where we normally do our opening ceremonies. Since we could not move the baptismal font, I volunteered to go to another room and set up. I went to the Primary room and it seemed empty. Once I finally made a sign for the rest of the pack and put it on our usual door, another ward had moved into the Primary room to set up for an activity day for the girls in their primary. I was slightly frustrated at this point. So I claimed the chapel. The boys behaved themselves but it was VERY frustrating to not have access to our rooms that we normally have. I could not use the stage area or basketball court as our young women were setting up for their Young Women in Excellence. They needed to set up for their program that would start right after we finished.

I say this is a good problem because a baptism is always great. BUT, so many other things go on at the church building on Wednesday night. I also think the activity day for the other ward might have been put to another night. There are 2 different wards doing cub scouts at the building on Wednesday evening during the same time. Take away a few of the bigger rooms and all we have left are the small classroom, which are great for separate dens but not the whole pack.

Add to that the fact that I am starting to get more and more frustrated with the other leaders for not starting on time. I can only do what I can in my current calling but I wish they would show up earlier. Oh well. Love you all. SKT

Congratulations, Skyler!

I'm so proud of you, Skyler! I hope you had a great day yesterday! Congratulations on being baptized! We all love you so much!

Good for you Sky!

Congratulations to all of the David Tobler family on the Baptism today. I hope everything went smoothly and he was only dunked once!

Katy's Picture

Yesterday, Katy was drawing on her magnadoodle when I came to sit next to her. She proudly showed me her squiggles and lines and told me all about her drawing. Then she erased it and told me she was going to draw Katy. And she proceeded to do just that.

 

Isn't that awesome?!?! I was so impressed! She wanted to erase it again, but I wouldn't let her until I got the picture. When she realized what I was doing, she proudly showed it off. I sure love my girl!

On a completely different note: Anyone watch Lost? I know Keryn and Brad do (although they haven't watched the new episode yet), but I was wondering if anyone else did too.

Suggestible

What does it say about me that I am totally craving Oreos after seeing a super LAME commercial for them?

Or since a character in the show I'm watching was eating a cream puff, and now I really really want one. (Actually, now that I watched the whole scene, I realize that Tony was eating a croissant, not a cream puff. Doesn't matter. Still want a cream puff.)

I must be pregnant.

(Oh, and was Tony implying what we are to believe he was implying? Just wondering.)

(If you don't know who Tony is, don't worry.)