Yeah! Jared is off to Grad School

George Fox University

His masters degree will be in Business Administration and he will start in January.
Congratulations, Jared on your acceptance!

Short but Sweet Visit with Mark & Lilly

It was great to visit with Mark and Lilly this weekend. I am so glad that they live in California and we get to see them a little more often.

The Fun of Book Fair Has Come and Gone

It is so fun to see the students eyes take in the library full of so many new and fun books. It is like magic. We sold many and it is always exciting to see the parents so involved with their children's reading.
This year our Tiger Mascot came for the students to have their picture taken. He made his debut at the "Cotton Parade" this year.
The book fair is a lot of fun but a lot of hard work. It is nice when the truck pulls away, the final money deposited and accounted for and the money for the books mailed off to Scholastic. That is what I call relief.
By next Novemeber I'll be ready to go for it again.

Squirting Pumpkins is a hit in Corcoran

For the past two years our Young Women have did Face Painting at our Branch Halloween Party and the adults have taken care of the Squirting Pumpkins. Linda Halverstadt and Doug kept the children happy with treats and squirt guns. I enjoy Halloween because the children get to pretend for a night and have treats that take care of the annual sweet tooth.

Halloween Fun!!!

Amber, Carol and Ilisa had a good time face painting at our Branch Halloween Party. The children loved it and it was a really fun evening.

Birthday Flowers

Doug surprised me with flowers on my birthday. They look so wonderful on the piano and are a welcome surprise everytime that I open the door. Thanks sweetie!

Back to the 70"s

Today we were out on Whitley Campaigning for Prop 8. It brought me back many years ago when Heather was a baby. We had her in a stroller and we pushed her around while we picketed in front of an Adult Movie Theatre in Salt Lake. Heather was a very young activist.
Prop 8 is such an essential legislation for us to have to protect future generations and our own religious and parental rights. I believe Marriage is between a man and a woman just as we have been taught from the Bible. It is the Word of God and I support it with all of my heart.

Fun at Jamison's

Forget order, for some reason my blog and I are not getting along. I post and they go away. I have worked on this for hours today and yesterday. I once had our trip in order but it is the moments of the trip that count. I hope that it stays this time.

There is always a lot of action at Heather's house. We enjoyed a lot of laughter, visiting, delicious food and entertainment. We were able to hear Elizabeth play the piano and Rachel share some of her upcoming scenes as a "Munchkin" in the High School play "Wizard of Oz". Joshua and Rebekah shared their favorite You Tube videos and they gave us some great laughs. We drank out of special Halloween Skull Cups. Jade and Tavis (Jared's children) got smothered with tons of love and attention. What a fun place to be.

Fun at Jared & Danielle's

There is nothing like being in your children homes and enjoying your grandchildren. It was cool being able to read a Book of Mormon story with Tavis and going for a walk with Jade. The time we have together are precious memories in our lives.
I really enjoyed going to church with Jared and Danielle. Later on when they tell me about things they are doing in their ward and people they are doing things with, the time there helps me to better relate.
I loved Danielle's French toast made with her homemade bread.
Thanks for the fun memories.

Ashley with her Family on her Baptism Day

Ashley looked angelic on her Baptism Day. It was a really nice Baptism. Many youth were being baptized but they made it more personal by having each ward go to the Baptism Font one at a time. Ashley and another boy were baptized. Mitchell baptized Ashley and Ashley asked Doug to confirmed her. He was very pleased. The Baptism and Confirmation were really special and a wonderful sweet spirit was there.

It was great seeing Mitchell Baptize Ashley

It is always special to see the Priesthood in action. It was special watching Mitchell Baptize Ashley and seeing Paul and Jared witness the Baptism. On our way to Oregon we stopped at a Chiroprator's office in Fresno. He has a lot of LDS patients and he asked what the occasion was that we were making such a quick trip to Portland. We explained about Ashley being baptized. He told us he was Baptized into his church when he was I think 30 days old. He thought that was way too long. We explained that in our church we wait until a child is 8 and understands the concept of right and wrong. He was pretty impressed.
When we got back he asked if she went completely under the water? I think he has been doing his homework.
It was a special day and a special event and I'm so grateful that so far we have been blessed with the opportunity to attend these special days in our Grandchildrens lives. I have always regreted missing Josh's Baptism and I hope he knows how special he is to us and how that day I vowed we would make every Baptism that we possibly can.

We had a fun surprise last weekend

We had a fun surprise, Krissy Lundeen who was one of my Beehive girls in Corcoran and a friend of Janessa's came for Ashley's Baptism. her family were a vital part of our Branch for many years. It was great to see her and be able to have time to visit and catch up on her life. Thanks Krissy for the family pictures you took for us.

Ashley Couch on her Special Baptism Day

Ashley was very excited about her baptism and she made a special necklace and braclet for this wonderful occasion. She sparkled as much as her necklace did. She was intently checking out the things she needed to write in her Baptism Book. She is our newest family to become a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thanks for inviting us. It was a special day.

Family Pictures before Ashley's Baptism

We were so happy to have as many of our family at the baptism as we could. It was great to get some pictures before Ashley's Baptism because after Janessa was going to a Ward Fall Social and the rest of us went to Michael's football game. We would have gotten a family picture of Jared's family but Tavis and Jade had just woke up and were not in the mood for picture taking. They were good sports about this picture.

Victory Michael & Paul after Game

Father and Son time.
Score 27 to 7

Michael Intently Watching the Game

After Ashley's baptism we went with Paul, Heather and their family and Danielle and their family to Michael's football game. He is #13. I had some fun video I want to post but I couldn't get it to work. Michael is very serious about football and he loves it. As we entered the field at the first of the second half he was on the top of a heap from a tackle. We were able to see him on the field for quite a few plays and we even got to see him run the ball. He has quite a cheeleading section. It was fun to watch him in action. Keep up the great work Michael!

Please Vote for Propositon 8 & Our Future Generations

Vote YES on Proposition 8
Proposition 8 is about preserving marriage.
it’s not an attack on the gay lifestyle.

Proposition 8 doesn’t take away any rights or benefits from gay or lesbian domestic partners. Under California law, “domestic partners shall have the same rights, protections and benefits” as married spouses. (Family Code ¤297.5.) There are no exceptions to this. Proposition 8 will not change this.

Proposition 8 is simple and straightforward.

Proposition 8 contains the same 14 words that were previously approved in 2000 by over 61% of California voters: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” By putting these words directly into the state Constitution, activist judges cannot strike them down as unconstitutional.

Proposition 8 protects our children.
Proposition 8 protects our children from being taught in public schools that same-sex marriage is the same as traditional marriage. In health education classes, state law requires teachers to instruct children as young as kindergarteners about marriage. (Education Code ¤51890.) If the same-sex marriage ruling is not overturned, teachers will be required to teach young children that there is no difference between gay marriage and traditional marriage.

Proposition 8 protects marriage as an essential institution of society.

Proposition 8 protects marriage and the important role of a traditional family in maintaining a stable society. While death, divorce or other circumstances often prevent the ideal, the best situation for a child is to be raised by a married mother and father. The consequences of radically changing society's concepts about marriage cannot be fully predicted at this time.

Reflections on Relief Society

Saturday evening was so uplifting. I'm so grateful that I have been able to be apart of this wonderful Relief Society Organization. It has been such a blessing in my life.
1. The friendships I have made
2. The lessons I have learned
3. The service opportunities
4. The mistakes I have made and tried to learn from
5. Wonderful examples of leadership that have served as models to help me in my church callings
6. The many skills I have learned
7. It has given me a sense of belonging
8. The service that has been given to our family
9. The example of my Mother as a Counselor in Relief Society, toting me around all over as she lovingly and willingly fulfilled her calling from the earliest age I can remember. She called me her Relief Society Baby.
10. The glass grapes, amazing clocks and quilts that were in our home growing up, all products from Homemaking Meetings.
11. New recipes
12. Sisters who I could relate with on almost every aspect of life.
13. Sisters who were dealing with concerns the same as mine.
14. Sisters who I could connect with on a spiritual high
15. Wonderful Visiting Teachers
16. Making friendships through being a Visiting Teacher
17. Humanitarian Projects
18. Super Saturday Workshops
19. Cooking Classes
20. Delicious meals that we use to take turns making. Some how the food always tasted better when someone else cooked it.
21. Enjoying Relief Society with my daughters and knowing the blessing it is in their lives.
22. Love, service, learning, spirituality and unity are all blessing I have received from Relief Society and I will always be grateful for this organization and for all the sisters through the years who have greatly touched and made an impact on my life, for good.

Our Precious Young Women

In the past week I have had several moments when I have seen that our Young Women are getting it. It is worth every minute we have spent trying.
The Young Women that I have now I have been their Achievement Day Leader and not too long after one of their Young Women Leaders. We have been on quite a journey. I am finally seeing the fruit of those years and it has been a beautiful and amazing glimpse. They are so precious. Several of them are now Seniors and they will soon be set free. I pray they continue to remember and apply what they have been taught.
They have taught me a great deal and I am grateful for the lessons they have opened my eyes too.

Congratulations Dallin!!!

Congratulations Dallin on acceptance to the University of Utah. We hope that you enjoy your experience there as much as we did when Doug was going there.

Dallin will be working towards his Entomology degree which is the scientific study of insects.