the baptism was awesome, really highly spiritual meeting. there was a really good attendance too. of course im sure it was only to be expected his family had been in the church a long time (grandparents etc.).
im glad youre figureing out your place in your calling. its always stressful when we dont know just what we can do and how much we should delegate and so forth. this district leader calling has been interesting in that right. ive received very little instruction on what to do but i think im figureing it out. this week i gave a training on the importance of silence in lessons, i think it went pretty well. i shared with them my conversion story and a few favorite scriptures along with long pauses to allow for silence all so i could illustrate the relationship the spirit has with silence.
this week was a pretty good week. wee found and taught a lot of new people. theres this one guy though that sticks out from the rest. his name is Chris Mills. he initially invited us back to be antagonistic and see if he could make us look stupid. he admitted this later. he was impressed before we came back that he should pray and tell God that if we came back he'd go to church and see what we had to offer. when we came back he told us that on that merit alone he'd come to church. we then moved to share with him the restoration of the gospel through joseph smith. it was a very intrigueing lesson. all of the points and principles seemed kinda scattered but i knew that was the way he needed to hear it because of how strong the spirit was the whole time. id say that this single meeting was one of the strongest times ive ever felt the spirit in my life. he was speachless. i and Elder Adaoag were following the spirit on what to do and it turned into probably one of the coolest experiences of my mission. we scheduled to meet with him the next day at the church. he was there, he had bishop with us as well. and again had an awesome experience. hes been facing incredible amounts of opposition. he lost his job, but then the Lord gave him one soon thereafter. and other things have been getting in his way. satan really wants him bad. im excited for him and what amazing things may come from him, but i worry about his path there. its gonna be hard.
well i gotta write dad at least so i better go i love ya john
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
More about Tom
Tag from Krista
5 things he Loves:
The Church
Having fun
Rugby
Having fun
Spending time with the kids
Having fun
Nature
Did I say having fun?
5 things on his To Do List:
Finish his MBA
Pick up Johnathan from his mission
Help finish our food storage shelves
Fix the MVA
Finish getting my Christmas present
5 Foods he enjoys:
Anything with curry in it.
Anything with cheese in it.
Anything with chicken in it.
Anything with sugar in it.
Just about any kind of food.
5 things you might not know about him:
He played rubgy for BYU.
He plays the harmonica.
He served a mission in Australia.
He is awesome with kids.
He still believes in Santa Claus.
5 Places he's lived:
Palo Alto, California
Gympie, Australia
Provo, Utah
Cincinnati, Ohio
Spokane, Washington
5 Quirky things about him
He says he becomes someone else when he puts on his Santa suit.
He starts lots of stuff, but has a hard time finishing. About once a month he gets into a cleaning mode and wants to clean the whole house in one day. The problem is that he goes from one thing to the next without finishing anything. I have the privilege of finishing all the projects he starts and I'm always glad when the day is over and he gets out of that mode.
When he packs to go somewhere he just throws things in. He may end up where he's going without things he needs, but he doesn't care. It drives me crazy watching him and the boys pack for Fathers and Sons outings.
He used to tell people he was a hooker...a rugby hooker, that is.
He always leaves his shaving creme on the back of the toilet.
I tag whoever wants to do it.
5 things he Loves:
The Church
Having fun
Rugby
Having fun
Spending time with the kids
Having fun
Nature
Did I say having fun?
5 things on his To Do List:
Finish his MBA
Pick up Johnathan from his mission
Help finish our food storage shelves
Fix the MVA
Finish getting my Christmas present
5 Foods he enjoys:
Anything with curry in it.
Anything with cheese in it.
Anything with chicken in it.
Anything with sugar in it.
Just about any kind of food.
5 things you might not know about him:
He played rubgy for BYU.
He plays the harmonica.
He served a mission in Australia.
He is awesome with kids.
He still believes in Santa Claus.
5 Places he's lived:
Palo Alto, California
Gympie, Australia
Provo, Utah
Cincinnati, Ohio
Spokane, Washington
5 Quirky things about him
He says he becomes someone else when he puts on his Santa suit.
He starts lots of stuff, but has a hard time finishing. About once a month he gets into a cleaning mode and wants to clean the whole house in one day. The problem is that he goes from one thing to the next without finishing anything. I have the privilege of finishing all the projects he starts and I'm always glad when the day is over and he gets out of that mode.
When he packs to go somewhere he just throws things in. He may end up where he's going without things he needs, but he doesn't care. It drives me crazy watching him and the boys pack for Fathers and Sons outings.
He used to tell people he was a hooker...a rugby hooker, that is.
He always leaves his shaving creme on the back of the toilet.
I tag whoever wants to do it.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Since I'm new at this...
I picked this up at Krista's post since she left it open for whoever. It will probably get old sometime...lol.
WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND'S NAME? Tom or Dad...I'm not big on terms of endearment.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN MARRIED? 22 years
HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? Let's see, a few dates as friends before my mission and 1 1/2 weeks after my mission.
HOW OLD IS HE? 47
WHO IS TALLER? He is.
WHO CAN SING BEST? Me.
WHO IS SMARTER? I let him think he is, but I really know...lol. Except I still can't figure out the spring forward, fall back thing, and he can tell me every time.
WHO DOES LAUNDRY? Used to be me, but over the years we've developed a system where he starts it and I finish it. Not my favorite way to do it...I'd rather start it, except he gets everything mixed up and then I find the kids' socks and t-shirts in my drawers. I don't like that even more than folding clothes.
WHO PAYS BILLS? I do. Paychecks are deposited automaticly. He adjusts the exemptions when needed on his checks. I do that on mine. If we ever have a problem and need to call to correct it...he does it. He does most the banking since he can easily walk to the bank during his break.
WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? Which side is the right side? Looking at the bed, he does. While on the bed, I do.
WHO COOKS DINNER? I do...if I can't talk the kids into doing it. They need to learn, right? Tom cooks about once a week unless he's very busy.
WHO MOWS THE LAWN? The kids...Tom is very good at delegating that one.
WHO'S THE FIRST TO ADMIT THEY ARE WRONG? Usually me.
WHO KISSED WHO FIRST? Tom kissed me first. It was my first kiss and I wasn't expecting it exactly so I was smiling (embarrassed) so he actually kissed my teeth.
WHO WEARS THE PANTS? He does, but it took a while for both of us to learn that we are a team.
I tag...Who's next? Anyone?
WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND'S NAME? Tom or Dad...I'm not big on terms of endearment.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN MARRIED? 22 years
HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? Let's see, a few dates as friends before my mission and 1 1/2 weeks after my mission.
HOW OLD IS HE? 47
WHO IS TALLER? He is.
WHO CAN SING BEST? Me.
WHO IS SMARTER? I let him think he is, but I really know...lol. Except I still can't figure out the spring forward, fall back thing, and he can tell me every time.
WHO DOES LAUNDRY? Used to be me, but over the years we've developed a system where he starts it and I finish it. Not my favorite way to do it...I'd rather start it, except he gets everything mixed up and then I find the kids' socks and t-shirts in my drawers. I don't like that even more than folding clothes.
WHO PAYS BILLS? I do. Paychecks are deposited automaticly. He adjusts the exemptions when needed on his checks. I do that on mine. If we ever have a problem and need to call to correct it...he does it. He does most the banking since he can easily walk to the bank during his break.
WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? Which side is the right side? Looking at the bed, he does. While on the bed, I do.
WHO COOKS DINNER? I do...if I can't talk the kids into doing it. They need to learn, right? Tom cooks about once a week unless he's very busy.
WHO MOWS THE LAWN? The kids...Tom is very good at delegating that one.
WHO'S THE FIRST TO ADMIT THEY ARE WRONG? Usually me.
WHO KISSED WHO FIRST? Tom kissed me first. It was my first kiss and I wasn't expecting it exactly so I was smiling (embarrassed) so he actually kissed my teeth.
WHO WEARS THE PANTS? He does, but it took a while for both of us to learn that we are a team.
I tag...Who's next? Anyone?
Friday, December 5, 2008
Seven random/weird facts about me
Tagged by Krista
1. I took piano lessons as a child for three years, but was totally miserable for several reasons. As soon as I began band in school I talked my parents out of piano lessons. Now, in my 40's, I'm taking lessons again and loving it. Thanks, Krista.
2. Besides piano, I have played 5 instruments...flute, piccalo, clarinet, bass clarinet and contra bass clarinet. The contra bass was my favorite instrument. When there wasn't a contra bass part the teacher would give me the tuba part, which I LOVED! OomPa, OomPa...
3. The clarinet was my first instrument. I began playing it in the sixth grade. Grandma Housley gave me the clarinet my aunts had played in school. It was all metal and very hard to play. I still have it.
4. I got malaria on my mission, but only missed 4 1/2 days of work.
5. I learned how to milk a cow by hand while I was in high school. My uncle loaned us a cow which we milked twice a day getting one gallon each time. There were 11 people in my family and we drank all that milk. Mom made butter out of the cream.
6. I learned to swim by watching the swimming instructors teach my children how to swim, starting when I was 37.
7. I had the part of an extra in our school play during my junior year of high school. The play was "The Robe" by Lloyd C. Douglas. I looked so young they would only let me on the stage during the opening scene. I was a little girl being dragged away from the crucifiction by her mother. My only line was, "But I want to watch longer."
I'll tag...anyone who wants to do it.
1. I took piano lessons as a child for three years, but was totally miserable for several reasons. As soon as I began band in school I talked my parents out of piano lessons. Now, in my 40's, I'm taking lessons again and loving it. Thanks, Krista.
2. Besides piano, I have played 5 instruments...flute, piccalo, clarinet, bass clarinet and contra bass clarinet. The contra bass was my favorite instrument. When there wasn't a contra bass part the teacher would give me the tuba part, which I LOVED! OomPa, OomPa...
3. The clarinet was my first instrument. I began playing it in the sixth grade. Grandma Housley gave me the clarinet my aunts had played in school. It was all metal and very hard to play. I still have it.
4. I got malaria on my mission, but only missed 4 1/2 days of work.
5. I learned how to milk a cow by hand while I was in high school. My uncle loaned us a cow which we milked twice a day getting one gallon each time. There were 11 people in my family and we drank all that milk. Mom made butter out of the cream.
6. I learned to swim by watching the swimming instructors teach my children how to swim, starting when I was 37.
7. I had the part of an extra in our school play during my junior year of high school. The play was "The Robe" by Lloyd C. Douglas. I looked so young they would only let me on the stage during the opening scene. I was a little girl being dragged away from the crucifiction by her mother. My only line was, "But I want to watch longer."
I'll tag...anyone who wants to do it.
Monday, December 1, 2008
We're back...
The trip went well. Both our families are normal, and it was fun to try remembering that as we greeted each nut in the family tree. I'm glad to be home with only my own crazy people. I love both our families, but I can only take so much before I'm glad we live 350 miles away. lol.
A few years ago I took a class through the Church Education System called "Positive Parenting." One day was spent talking about how we teach our children gratitude. The teacher said we teach gratitude by not giving our children everything they want and then they are grateful for what they get. I thought at the time it must be correct because we haven't been able to give our kids everything and they seem to be grateful. We had an eye opening experience on this trip as we watched a 16 year old receive birthday gifts with no gratitude at all. He and his siblings have always had more than our kids, but our kids are lots more grateful for what they get. We felt sorry for the parents. Things like that are never fun.
This was the first long trip with our blue van, and we were very happy with it. It was comfortable and the gas mileage was better than we've had in a very long time. We got 24 miles per gallon on the freeway. Not bad for a mini van! We got to Tremonton and debated topping off the tank or waiting until Salt Lake when "the gas prices might be even lower." When I said that Tom laughed. After all the gas prices are lower than they've been in a decade and I wanted to see if they were lower in Salt Lake...lol. We filled up in Tremonton on the way down and again on the way home. All our driving around Salt Lake and Orem was done with that one tank of gas. Very nice. And the kids loved the dvd player. We didn't choose the van because of that...just lucked out that it was in it. I wondered how many people were wondering what movie we were watching as we drove down the freeway. I wonder if they guessed "The Absent-Minded Professor" or "Follow Me, Boys" or "Twelfth Night"...
Now it's back to normal life. I'm working at 8 am all week. One of my coworkers is in Las Vegas because her neice is in the National Miss Rodeo contest. And I'm working on the Stake Nativity display this weekend and the Ward Christmas Party next week. I'm sooo glad I'm done shopping. I can't imagine planning for those two activities and shopping at the same time.
A few years ago I took a class through the Church Education System called "Positive Parenting." One day was spent talking about how we teach our children gratitude. The teacher said we teach gratitude by not giving our children everything they want and then they are grateful for what they get. I thought at the time it must be correct because we haven't been able to give our kids everything and they seem to be grateful. We had an eye opening experience on this trip as we watched a 16 year old receive birthday gifts with no gratitude at all. He and his siblings have always had more than our kids, but our kids are lots more grateful for what they get. We felt sorry for the parents. Things like that are never fun.
This was the first long trip with our blue van, and we were very happy with it. It was comfortable and the gas mileage was better than we've had in a very long time. We got 24 miles per gallon on the freeway. Not bad for a mini van! We got to Tremonton and debated topping off the tank or waiting until Salt Lake when "the gas prices might be even lower." When I said that Tom laughed. After all the gas prices are lower than they've been in a decade and I wanted to see if they were lower in Salt Lake...lol. We filled up in Tremonton on the way down and again on the way home. All our driving around Salt Lake and Orem was done with that one tank of gas. Very nice. And the kids loved the dvd player. We didn't choose the van because of that...just lucked out that it was in it. I wondered how many people were wondering what movie we were watching as we drove down the freeway. I wonder if they guessed "The Absent-Minded Professor" or "Follow Me, Boys" or "Twelfth Night"...
Now it's back to normal life. I'm working at 8 am all week. One of my coworkers is in Las Vegas because her neice is in the National Miss Rodeo contest. And I'm working on the Stake Nativity display this weekend and the Ward Christmas Party next week. I'm sooo glad I'm done shopping. I can't imagine planning for those two activities and shopping at the same time.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Where did the time go?
I won't have time to post this later since we are leaving Wednesday to visit Tom's family for Thanksgiving.
_____________________________________
Early in our marriage Tom's mom gave us a decorative plate with this written on it...
"When two fond hearts as one unite
The yoke is easy
And the burden is light"
Wednesday we will be celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary. Although I didn't think so at times the yoke really has been easy and the burden light.
Tom and I met in January 1984. It was my third year at BYU and about 1 year after he had returned from his mission. The first time I met him was at a ward dance. He was trying to get my roommate to go skiing with him, and she wasn't taking him up on it. For some reason his persistence didn't impress me. Tom and his roommate were made home teachers to two of my roommates while the other roommate and I had another set. That's when Tom won me over. I was impressed with how much he cared about my roommates and what a good home teacher he was. Soon he was coming over twice a month to home teach and 28 times to goof off.
We went on a few dates, but mostly just enjoyed doing things together as friends. Just before leaving on my mission Tom and I played a joke on a mutual friend and went to church "engaged." I had on a cheap, fake diamond and all. During that weekend Tom also kissed me for the first time...my first kiss ever.
This picture was taken at my mission farewell. It's the first one I had of Tom. He is the young man in the white shirt and light blue jeans at the far right of the photo on the stairs. 
This picture was taken the day after I returned from my mission. Tom was the only one of my friends who was able to come to my homecoming meeting. He insisted on putting his arm around me and driving me to and from the church building even though I hadn't been released yet. All the extended family wondered, "Who is that good-looking young man?" They didn't believe me when I told them he was "just a friend."
Just before we were engaged Tom and I hiked Mount Timpanogus together. He intended to ask me to marry him at the top, but we ran into a group of 4 up there, and he decided it was much too crowded to be romantic.
We got engaged 1 1/2 weeks after we started seriously dating. To this day there are a few things that set Tom apart from all others...he is the only man I dated more than three times, he is the only man I ever kissed, and he had Heavenly Father's approval.
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We were married November 26, 1986, in the Provo Temple. Here we are with our parents.
And here we are at Tom's graduation from BYU with an 18 day old Johnathan. (1988)
1992--Johnathan (4), Tom, Ann, Timothy (1)
1995--Tom, Ann, Johnathan (7), Timothy (4), James (8 months)
1996--Tom, Ann, Johnathan (8), Timothy (5), James (1), Hannah (6 months)
2000--Tom, Ann, Johnathan (12), Timothy (9), James (5), Hannah (almost 4)
2004--Ann, Hannah (8), Tom, James (9), Timothy (13), Johnathan (16)
2006--On our all time best vacation--Ann, Tom, Hannah (almost 10), James (11), Linda (my sister), Timothy (15), Johnathan (18)
2008 at the Twin Falls Temple open house--Tom, Ann, Timothy (17), James (13), Hannah (12)
..and I thought I knew what love was when we started this wild ride!
I wouldn't change a thing.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Ok, ok, ok
Maybe I spoke up too soon about a cell phone not being on the horizon yet. The phone is dead...AGAIN! Just the week before last if you were trying to call us for about 48 hours you couldn't because it was dead. Now, it's dead again. We have had the hardest time with this lately. We've had it go down at least 4 times in that number of months. You'd think they'd want to fix it right so they wouldn't have to keep coming out here. At least we have line backer. What a lifesaver!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
My new toy
Yes, I'm finally joining the digital age, and no, I didn't wait until Christmas. Tom wouldn't have bought this for me just like I won't find an electric knife under the Christmas tree. That's the one item on my Christmas list, and I know he didn't get it and won't.
I had the opportunity to do a couple sewing jobs for money. One was the potato bags I posted about on Saturday. The other was to mend a sweater for a sweet older lady. She wanted to surprise her granddaughter with her favorite sweater all mended on Christmas. Who cares that it ended up being a much bigger job that I originally thought it would be. That granddaughter is going to be so happy.
Anyway, I took my earnings and bought myself a Sony 4Gb mp3 player. It's my first. Johnathan has been using mp3 players for several years now, but the rest of us were still lugging cd players around and hoping they wouldn't skip too much. So, I decided it was time. I loaded all my Christmas music on it (280 songs), and I'm really enjoying it. I even got a set of portable speakers.
Sorry, no x-box or wii or even a cell phone on the horizon yet for the Jenson's.
I had the opportunity to do a couple sewing jobs for money. One was the potato bags I posted about on Saturday. The other was to mend a sweater for a sweet older lady. She wanted to surprise her granddaughter with her favorite sweater all mended on Christmas. Who cares that it ended up being a much bigger job that I originally thought it would be. That granddaughter is going to be so happy.
Anyway, I took my earnings and bought myself a Sony 4Gb mp3 player. It's my first. Johnathan has been using mp3 players for several years now, but the rest of us were still lugging cd players around and hoping they wouldn't skip too much. So, I decided it was time. I loaded all my Christmas music on it (280 songs), and I'm really enjoying it. I even got a set of portable speakers.
Sorry, no x-box or wii or even a cell phone on the horizon yet for the Jenson's.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Accidents
We were just sitting down for dinner when James cut his thumb on a can and needed to be taken to the ER. It was a deep cut and took 8 stitches. He can take the great big bandage off after 24 hours, but he will have it on at church...if he feels like going. So glad we have insurance!
He said it hurt and he was scared so that's why he cried, but he came home in good spirits and was thinking up titles for his next email to John. I was scared, too, and I was sick with worry as we waited for them to come back. I'm afraid I wasn't the best company for the Grubers.
He said it hurt and he was scared so that's why he cried, but he came home in good spirits and was thinking up titles for his next email to John. I was scared, too, and I was sick with worry as we waited for them to come back. I'm afraid I wasn't the best company for the Grubers.
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