Thursday, January 26, 2006

Sean wins gold

Sean WON! He won! The JV Tennis team headed down to Houston yesterday to play the other schools in our league in a tennis tournament. Sean is his school's #1 JV player. He won all 4 matches he played. In the championship game he won 4-6, 7-5, 11-9 (super tie breaker). He brought home a victory for his High School and a gold medal for himself. He got home really late tired and sunburned, and we couldn't be any more excited for him. WOW!

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

It's rained

Looks like the fasting worked because we have been having rain. It really poured this last weekend. We got almost 3 inches. We still need more, and hopefully we get some on Friday.... but we are so grateful to the Lord for what he has provided so far.

Lacey led the music in Sacrament meeting for the first time on Sunday. She did a great job, even when one of the songs turned from 3/4 to 9/8 in the middle of it.

Lacey worked on Monday, helping a member of our ward do a presentation in Palestine, TX. She had to serve lunch and pass out cards to the attendees. She said she did pretty good and even got paid already.

Lacey is still looking for a full time job.... just don't know how hard she really is looking. She knows nobody in Lufkin, so doesn't get out much. She got a new calling (2 more- which makes 3). She is the music director, young single adult representative and young women's camp counselor. She is hoping to activate some young adults so she can have some friends. She was the only single young adult in the ward on sunday, and the only other active y.s.a. is a boy named Anthony. That's hard.

Page and Sean are down in Houston today for a tennis tournament for school. They had to leave at 5:30 a.m. Work has been extremely busy, so I couldn't go.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Apostle Dallin H. Oaks

I spent the last two days in Longview being taught by a living apostle of the Lord. What a blessing and experience that was. Elder Oaks has a wonderful sense of humor. It was fun to see him laugh and make a few funny remarks. One in particular occured Saturday night. He said he wanted to tell the men 4 things they should always say to their wives. He said "you may want to write them down" then he said "I'm talking to the men to write them down, not the women". Of course, that got a laugh. He said #1. Always say "yes, dear". #2. Always say "I love you" and #3 Always say "I'm sorry". He then got a grin on his face and said, "I'm sure all the wives love this list" (more laughter) So the 4th thing a husband should always say is "We Can't Afford It!" Now more men were laughing too. Elder Oaks talked a lot about the family. He said because the men have the priesthood doesnt mean they can boss their wives around and use it to dominate them. It's not like they are the Bishop and the wife is the Relief Society President. That is not how the priesthood works in the home. He talked about the importance of going to Sacrament Meeting every Sunday, by commandment, to renew our covenants. I thought one of his more powerful messages was to the youth. He read D&C 38:42

"And go ye out from among the wicked. Save yourselves. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Even so. Amen."

He said if your friends are going things they shouldn't, like drugs, immorality, etc. Youth should not hang around them on "Friday and Saturday night". Be friendly, but don't hang out with them. He talked about the importance of being clean. He told the Aaronic Priesthood men that they need to be clean to bear the vessels of the Lord, meaning the sacrament trays, cups, every Sunday. He told the young women that they don't handle the sacrament, but they have been given the gift to bear children, to create bodies for the spirits that Heavenly Father sends down to Earth, and there is not a more important vessel, or temple, than these bodies.
He told them that the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet was the word of God to them. When an Apostle says it, I think it reaches the youth in a special way.

We got to shake his hand. Elder Oaks went around before the meetings to try to shake hands with almost everyone in attendance. Lacey and Sean got to shake his hand twice.

I was thinking back about how many apostle's hands I have shaken in my life time and these come to mind: Dallin H. Oaks, Boyd K. Packer, Neal A. Maxwell, Marvin J. Ashton, M. Russel Ballard, Howard W. Hunter (before he was the Prophet), and Joseph B. Wirthlin. I haven't shaken a Prophet's hand, but I have been in their presence. The two I have seen were Spencer W. Kimball and Gordon B. Hinkley. I am so grateful that the Lord has restored his Church and again has a living Prophet on the Earth, so the Lord can speak to us today, as he did in the ancient of days. I am also thankful he restored the Church as it existed in his day, with Apostles. The time they give to us is remarkable. I was thinking, "when do they get to spend time with their families?" They are on the road so much attending meetings all over the world, staying in new and unfamiliar places. I have a greater appreciation of the sacrafices they give to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful weekend.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

70 at 8pm

Lacey and I went to the church tonight to see the Bishop. When we stepped out of the house it felt so warm. It was 70 degrees! Isn't this supposed to be winter? Texas is under major drought conditions and has experienced a lot of fires in the past month. It is getting really bad. We had a little bit of rain on Tuesday and supposed to get rain tonight. Its all dark and cloudy, but 70 degrees. The 3 Stakes in the area had a special Fast on Sunday for rain. This Sunday is the Longview Stake Conference and Elder Dallin H. Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve will be presiding. I am really excited. We got a motel room in Longview on Saturday night since it is a 2 hour drive to the Stake Center and it would be hard to go up Saturday night then drive home then get up early on Sunday and drive back. The Bishop suggested all the members do that.

So if you had your way, would you rather live in an area where you had cold and snowy winters or tropical warm ones? I've lived in both and I think I like the tropics. I don't have to shovel snow and hope my car doesn't spin out on the ice or stall.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

7 Words for Texas Longhorns

It's been a week since the Rose Bowl game and even though I've been trying to be a gracious loser (and think I have been doing a fairly decent job at it), I wanted to commemorate the 7th day after the loss with 7 little words to all you Longhorn fans....

HEY VINCE YOUNG, YOUR KNEE WAS DOWN !!!!

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The Bachelors

Well Sean and I have been bachelors for a week. Page and Lacey went up to Idaho to get her things from school. It's not all that its cracked up to be. We didnt eat too good and I had to do all the cleaning up. I did manage to get the christmas decorations down, all but the lights. Maybe I can get those tonight before the girls show up. I don't expect them until really late. They are so sick of driving. Since Thursday, I have had to get up extremely early to take Sean to Seminary at 6 a.m. I go pick him up at school at 3:30 p.m. and work somewhere around those times. I washed the bed sheet this morning and got the dishes all cleaned up too. That's the best I'm going to be able to do before they arrive. I might go buy some chicken to have on hand in case they are hungry when they get home... hey, nothings to good for my girls! Sean and I hunted all over town for the NCAA 2006 football X-box game last night for Family Night. We went to the mall- dont have it... then we went to a game store by target- nope.... then on to Target- again nada. So we cross over to another game store and waited forever for the guy to help us to find out they did not have any more. Finally, on the way home, we decide to go to WalMart, even though Sean informs me they usually dont have a lot of games.... they have several copies. So Sean got his game and I lost him the rest of the night as he played USC football. Too bad this glamourous life as a bachelor ends tonight.

Saturday, January 07, 2006


What a Ride!

USC loses in thriller at Rose Bowl

OK, I had to wait a couple days before I posted this aweful news. How could the team of destiny, with the longest winning streak, 2 consecutive national championships, ranked #1, with two Heisman Trophy winners lose to Texas? Ugh. The game ended up 41-38 in favor of the Longhorns. I'm sure you watched the game. It was the most watched college championship game in history. USC did have the chance to win the game many times and fell short. In the end, our defense couldnt stop the Longhorns when it mattered most. But now that a few days have past, I can really appreciate what this team accomplished over the last few years. They have been so much fun to watch. Matt Leinart is my all time favorite USC player. I think the guy is amazing and will hate to see him go. I knew we would eventually lose. And I guess its better to lose in a nail biter against a worthy opponent in a high stakes game than to our rivals Notre Dame or UCLA, or a low ranked team for that matter. Sean and I watched the game alone. We were screaming and yelling. We were up and down. At the end, we felt sick. But guess what, the sun came up the next day. I cant wait for next season to see what my Trojans can do. Sean and I would like to go to the opener in Arkansas in Sept.

Lacey and Page are still out with their Idaho trip. They were able to get all her stuff and headed back to Utah last night. We should see them in a couple days. BYU-Idaho wont give her a deferrment for her mission until she actually goes. She wanted to defer now and work a year before her mission. So she enrolled in a web-based class. If she takes an internet class each semester it keeps her enrolled, so that is what she is going to do. So she is still a part-time BYU-Idaho student.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year

2006 has arrived. I was so tired I went to bed at 11:30 p.m., but then for some reason I woke up at about 12:07 a.m. so got out of bed and told Lacey and Sean Happy New Year. No big party, or games, or celebration. Just like any other night. I had to get up early for Bishopric meeting that starts at 7 a.m. Page and Lacey leave for Idaho tomorrow. I'm just on hold until Wednesday night when USC plays Texas in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship. The Rose Parade will be fun to watch tomorrow. Is this how fun life gets after 40?