Mission Accomplished

When we were in St. Louis at the end of October, we attended stake conference with Heather and her family.  Their stake president challenged everyone to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days which is the length of time it took the prophet Joseph Smith approximately to translate it from the gold plates.  He told the congregation if they started the next day after conference they would finish reading it by Valentine's Day.  He thought that since Valentine's Day is a day to show our love to others, it would be a perfect way to show our love for God.

At first I wasn't going to do it, but then I realized that even though he wasn't my stake president his challenge was still worthy of my efforts.  As soon as I got home, I began my daily scripture study.  Although it took me four months instead of three months to complete my reading of the Book of Mormon, I still feel good about my accomplishment.  I also wrote daily in a journal which I affectionately labeled "Book of Mormon Reflection Journal."  I basically summarized what I had read plus made a few comments here and there about how I felt about what I had read.  In conclusion, I want to write that I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.  I am glad we have it, and I am planning on reading it again very soon.

Spending Time With Ashton

We have been trying to help Natalie by taking Ashton on Wednesdays and returning him back home on Thursday afternoons when I go to the temple.  Steve actually does almost all of the tending, but I do get some quality time with him after school and before he falls asleep on Wednesday evenings.  Steve sometimes brings Ashton over to school while I am finishing up.  He loves to write on the white board, and he enjoys looking in my little refrigerator for water bottles.  He's quite fond of my desk and anything I might have in my drawers like pieces of hard candy.  One Wednesday after Steve and Ashton visited me at school we stopped off at Firehouse Subs for an early dinner.  With his children's meal, he got a fireman's hat which he seemed happy with.  He's full of personality and is very obedient and happy when he's with us.  Ashton always calls our house "Grandpa's House."  One morning before I left for school he got up early.  When he came down the stairs, the first thing he asked me was "Where's Grandpa?" Ashton and Grandpa are quite a good pair enjoying time at the park, the Stake Center, McDonald's, Petsmart, or hanging around the house watching a little TV.  It's cute watching them have fun together.  It's also fun to watch Ashton grow up right before our eyes.  He has a good vocabulary.  This week he was talking about his new skateboard that has a picture of a red dragon on it.  He's quite impressed with it.  He is sure his dad will shoot it with his big gun since it is so scary and probably will bite us soon.

Friday Fun with The Ellsworths

Yesterday after school we met Natalie and her family at the Lied Museum where we stayed for a few hours.  All of us had a lot of fun.  We seemed to especially enjoy the green screen where everyone took a turn trying to beat the computer at volleyball or soccer.  After the museum we headed for Cafe Rio and enjoyed a great Mexican dinner.  Natalie then suggested we go to the Bellagio to look at the atrium.  It was really pretty.  I had never seen it decorated with a "Holland" theme.  I love all flowers but I especially love tulips, so I was happy to see so many of them in all different colors.  The huge windmill was nice as were the wooden shoes and huge swan.  I have to say though that quite a few people stopped to admire the twins.  They seem to be the center of attention no matter where we go with them.  Thanks, Natalie, for suggesting we spend Friday together.  It was a great way to start the weekend after a busy work week at school.

Shopping Just Got Better in LV

Anyone who knows me understands that I enjoy shopping.  When we have traveled to visit Julie and Sheldon in Oregon, we always head for WinCo to buy crab salad and numerous jars of Northwest jam for future eating pleasures.  Also at WinCo there's Tillamook ice cream, yogurt, butter, and cheese.  Definitely some of our favorites.  A couple of weeks ago we received a flyer in our mail advertising two WinCo stores opening that weekend in the Las Vegas area.  Today we finally had a chance to drive over and purchase some of our favorites.  How sweet is that?  Unbelievably, to make things even better Linda told me a few weeks ago that she had seen a sign near Walmart on Tropicana and Ft. Apache advertising Hobby Lobby which was opening up soon.  We have done quite a bit of shopping at Hobby Lobby in recent years when we have traveled to Missouri and Oklahoma.  Today Steve and I drove over to the shopping center that Linda told me about and sure enough there the store was in all its glory.  Yes, shopping just got better in Las Vegas!