End of February

Wow, February feels like eons ago!  We seem to find things to do, and enjoyed skiing a few times in February.  Cal made some soup, (I think).

And he made biscuits.  He loves Uncle Darrell's biscuits and enjoyed making them at home.

Elden met up with his friend Kaden for a little bit at the slopes near our house.

Love night skiing!

A random snack I like...rice cake with peanut butter and cinnamon!

The Young Women presidency had a lovely evening for the young women who had ministering routes and their companions.  The younger young women served all of us dinner.  I gave a little message along with Beth, the Young Women president. The decorations were so fun!

It was fun getting this in the mail from my nephew James and niece Maggie.  I had fun sending my nieces and nephews Valentine's.

I went up to my mom's in February and Lois and Stacie met me there.  I did a couple things with my mom beforehand and then we all had lunch and visited together.  It was a lovely afternoon.

Sometimes when I visit Lee's office it's fun to try on glasses.

Daniel, Amy, Rachel and Anthon came up one Saturday for eye exams.  Lee took Cal and Anthon on a fun bike ride.

That morning had been the memorial for our friend Gael Scott, in our ward.  I had been involved in a two funerals already, with a third sister passing away in our ward but the family had that funeral in West Virginia. But Gael was the fourth sister to pass away while I was Relief Society president.  I loved chatting with her.  We took her to a Navy concert a few months back.  Just two days before she died we did an email exchange because I wanted to visit her.  She sent me and email and sent me a video of a children's choir singing. I Can Only Imagine.  It was kind of surreal thinking about that after she passed that she had sent me that song.  Gael died quickly, shocking all of us.  I heard there were some troubles with a will for her husband who passed away over a year ago, and that possibly Gael hadn't gotten one either.  My daily advice: GET A WILL!!!


Lee and I watched an awesome series done by Dr. Rob Ferrell about connecting with young adults.  It was amazing.  Really, every adult should watch this!

I went to a meeting or a training and heard this song--loved the lyrics about finding your own path and then returning home.

We sent off our passports and they FINALLY returned!!!

When Elden and Cal clean Lee's office for some odd reason they like to bring home the fake lenses from the frames.  Sometimes they'll bring a whole box home...

A rep from a company came and brought food for the office. There were TONS of leftovers which we enjoyed at home for several days!

Well, all of my kids except Elden are taller than me!  And have longer legs as well!

We enjoyed going to our friend's 90th birthday party.  Wow, 90!  So cool.  He and his daughter live near us and we have loved getting to know them. 

Clark participated in a day-long band clinic at JMU.  We headed out that evening to see their concert.  Cal was overjoyed when he saw this Nesquik machine.  We decided to head back again soon when he had money so he could use it. 

Clark with some buddies at the JMU Band-o-Rama.

Valentine's Getaway

We hope you had a fun Valentine's Day!  I like doing little things for the kids.  Lee took some extra time and wrote thoughtful notes to each child.  Lee and I took off that morning and headed to the Nashville Temple.


We had a great session at the temple followed by lunch at Chipotle.  Lee bought us tickets for a birthday present to the Money & Marriage event in Franklin, TN that Rachel Cruze and Les Parrott hosted. This was the big weekend to redeem the birthday present!  We stayed at the Hampton Inn for a great price.  The hotel was practically brand new and so nice!  Our friend Melanie met up with our kids that evening and spent the night with them, leaving Saturday afternoon.

I thought this cabinet was clever in hiding the mini-fridge and some wire baskets.




We were some of the first people at the event! Loved our seats.

You get a workbook at their events, which is fun.

They even gave out free cupcakes!

It was fun listening to Rachel and Les speak.  Les is hilarious as well.

The next morning we worked out, got ready for the day, grabbed some breakfast that we didn't eat buy saved for lunch and checked out.  We then went to Ramsey Solutions. Lee also got tickets for a live filming of the Rachel Cruze show.  We found out Friday night that they would serve breakfast at Ramsey Solutions before the show.  It was fun seeing the new building. They have a full service cafeteria there.  I wonder if the employees get to eat for free or?  

I got to walk through part of the building and see where people worked.  This big office has a glass wall so you can look into it.  It's where some of the Ramsey personalities work.  Sounds like Rachel and Christy Wright work there.

Before the show we got some food and walked around a little bit, but noticed that people were starting to line up for seats for the show.  We stood in line and started taking turns.  During the taping we weren't allowed to have water, food or chew gum. We also practiced clapping for 15 seconds.  Rachel had to redo things a couple of times.  She told a story about a dolphin and had to re-tell it a second time.  Soon there after she had to restart again and she basically said, "Do I have to tell the story about the dolphin again?  Please don't make me tell the dolphin story again, it's giving me anxiety."  It was kind of funny, though I'm sure not fun restarting multiple times!  And she did not have to re-tell it a third time.  I hope she got a nice bonus check for coming in on a Saturday!  The episode will air in May.  I'm looking forward to seeing it!

They asked some people if they would tell their story about getting out of debt.  I wanted to, but we ended up walking around some more, and then went home.  Oh and the day before I threw away my retainer at a gas station unknowingly.  Boo hoo!!!

We enjoyed walking through the display about Dave and Sharon's life together. The rise, the fall and the rise.

Their bankruptcy paper.

I love that he says this quote at the end of each of his radio shows.

We met Rachel for about 6 seconds.  It was still fun.

We drove back to Virginia, arriving home about 9:00pm.  Thankfully no car troubles!  It was a great but uneventful drive home.  Thanks for the awesome present Lee!