A Picture of a Great Family

I didn't get this picture in the former blog, and I thought it was so cute that I wanted to put in in today. I love this family. They really try to do their best.

Our Trip to Texas and Celebrating Birthdays

It's been a long time since I wrote in this blog. So, I am trying to get back to it and hope that it will work out. If I did it every day, I would probably totally know what I am doing. But, since I do it sporadically, I can't remember how to do it. So, Billy is here and he will help me if I have problems. I don't have problems writing, but I do have problems getting the pictures in the proper order.

On February 5th, Dick and I flew to Dallas to spend some time with Scott, Shelley and their family. We really had a wonderful time. They have a great little family and they are so fun to be with. Shelley had celebrated her birthday on February 2nd, and Jordan had her birthday on February 7th, so we celebrated both their birthdays when we got there. The night we arrived, Shelley had prepared a wonderful lasagne dinner for us. We were so thankful for a good dinner.

On Friday, February 6th, Shelley and I went shopping for clothes for her birthday and found some really cute things for her. Then, she and I went shopping for Jordan and found some more cute things. All the while, Dick went with Scott to a meeting Scott had for his work. Dick was supposed to play a part of a buyer or something like that and also watch some of Scott's representatives give some presentations. Then, he was to choose which presentations were the most professionally presented. I think it was fun for Dick to see what Scott does in his business.

Friday night, Scott, Dick and I went to Andrew's soccer game. It was a little cool, but I've sat through lots colder games. Andrew is a good little soccer player. Andrew and I enjoyed playing the Wii. Of course, he beat me every time. I can honestly say that I was very stiff after I had bowled, run, and played tennis. I also spent some time with Matthew playing "Little Slugger."

Saturday was Jordan's birthday, as well as her gymnastics meet in Dallas. Scott, Dick and I went to the meet, while Shelley and Matt went to another of Andrew's soccer games. Jordan turned 14 years old. Wow! She's really growing into a beautiful young lady. She did very well at her meet, scoring first place OVERALL (4 events--floor, beam, vault, bars) in her age group. There were teams from Virginia, Las Vegas, California, Texas, etc. We we so excited to be there to see her.

After the meet, we met Shelley and Matt at a restaurant called Babe's, where we had a great chicken dinner and birthday celebration for Jordan and Shelley. As you can see people sang to her and she wore a hat and a beak. This restaurant serves family-style. You can order different chicken dishes, and then they bring bowls of corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, beans and biscuits to pass around to everyone. The waitresses sing popular songs as they walk around and do a really good job of it. Only one waitress sings at a time. It was fun! Andrew had another game to play, so he wasn't able to come, but we had Shelley's wonderful cheescake when Andrew got home.

We attended church with them on Sunday and had a nice visit during the day. On Monday, the kids went to school, and Scott and Shelley and Dick and I drove over to McKinney, which is about 20 minutes drive away. We ate lunch there and had a great time looking through a lot of little craft stores. At least, Shelley and I had fun. The guys were good sports.

When we got tot he airport on Tuesday morning the 10th, we found out that our flight was scheduled for March 10th instead of February 10th at 8:30 a.m. Come to find out, because February and March days line up exactly, when I got the reservations on-line, the computer kicked the 10th into March. So, we were able to come come on a later plane, after spending six hours in the airport. At least we got home. Flying is always an adventure for us.

On February 16th, we all went to Geri and Larry Wood's for a birthday dinner for Jenny and Milly. We had a great time. We laughed and enjoyed being with all the Woods. We sure are lucky to have such great children and great friends.

All during the month of February, Priscilla and LeRoy Thong have been staying with us. LeRoy is a student at BYU, and he had to have jaw surgery (pretty rough surgery), so his mother, Priscilla, came to help him. They have been here since February 1st trying to get him back on his feet. He had a really hard time at first, but he is doing much better. He still has to eat soft food for another four weeks. It's been hard on him. They will be leaving this weekend. So, we have been very busy visiting, partying, and hostessing.

Getting Ready for a Mission

For some reason, Dick and I are learning French. Why are we learning French? I really don't know, except that he feels strongly about learning it. So, every Wednesday night (most of the time), we have a lady come and teach us French. Dick is doing well. He is reading the Book of Mormon in French, and when we go to the temple, he listens to the French words on the earphones. It's quite interesting. A couple of weeks ago, he had his French nametag on and was listening to the session. When the session was over, he wasn't going to go through the veil and speak French. But, the officiator called for the man who spoke French and Dick didn't go up. So, the poor officiator said to another worker: "We've lost the Frenchman." We had a good laugh about that. Then this week as we attended the temple, he did the French again. Midway through the session, he was listening to something that he really did not understand and found out that he had accidentally changed the channel and that he was listening to Chinese. He seems to have a new story every time he goes. I haven't quite got the courage up to listen to the session in French. I am not nearly as much into this French as Dick is. I've learned some good things, but the problem is that I can't remember for very long. I need to work harder.

We are trying to get all our physical papers filled out. That is a pain. Everything is done online now, and they ask you a million questions about your health. If you have any problem, they want a detailed explanation of what caused it, who's treating you for this condition, what medications you are taking, etc., etc. They even want to know if you have had a ingrown toenail. It's interesting. Then, when you go to the doctor, you find out there are things that are wrong with you and you have to go to a specialist for further evaluation, which takes time because they are booked up for a couple of months in advance. Then, you have to have innoculations and records of those that you have had. You have to do a treadmill test (which I passed with flying colors, thank goodness), a tuberculosis test. The list goes on and on. We started back in November, and we still have to take care of some items. Dick had to start cholestoral medication (he's never even taken any pills before) and that has to be checked in six to eight weeks. So, we're just trying to get things taken care of.

Then, there is the issue of the house. We do have some people who are interested, so we are weighing all the issues with regards to them. Then, the house needs to be cleaned, and we need to clean out the storage room and move things around. In addition, our microwave went out on us and we needed to get a new refridgerator. Sometimes it's really a hassle to get on that mission. But, once you are there, it is a neat experience.