Now to November

Now to November...  but wait!  Here are a few things still from October...

I decided to start adding some of Joshua's pictures and news to the blog.  I send an email out to some of you, but the pictures don't always get attached.

Josh actually likes this dog.  But look at his shoes!

Josh is training Elder Z. from México

The baptism of José Santo!

 This is a paragraph from Josh's letter last week that I just loved, especially the Spanish part!

We had a really cool lesson with an older man named Manuel. He came to church this past Sunday (not yesterday though because I guess he was in San Salvador, but we're gonna see what happened with that haha), but it was a really awesome lesson. Short but powerful. At first it was really hard to teach him. He's really old. That's all I have to say. hahah but then a friend came that was really crazy and started talking to us. Eventually I just signaled to Elder Z. to teach Manuel and I would talk to this other guy. He just went on and on about how Jesus gave us all and then applying that to the lottery tickets that he was selling. Basically loco. But I eventually he left. So I returned to the lesson and Elder Z. was struggling to teach this man because he just wasn't focusing well. So I asked for his grand-daughter to bring a piece of paper. Then I did a drawing for him (I know, Josh drawing.. what?? haha). Not a very fancy one by any means, but it was simple. That's what I wanted. I explained how God created us and wants us to return to live with us. Then the connection of prophets, the gospel, apostasy and all that. The priesthood. So after, he looked at me and said, "entonces, usted esta diciéndome que este iglesia es el unico iglesia verdadero y todos los demas no son verdaderos." "Si, estoy diciendole eso. Es porque es el unico iglesia con este autoridad o sacerdocio." "Vaya, cuando esta el culto?" "Domingo a las 9. Mismo tiempo." "Ustedes van a traerme verdad?" "Claro que si Manuel." "Vaya esta bien." So then a little later, after talking a little bit of baptism, he said, "Mmmm, cuando puede hacer eso. Cuando puedo hacerlo? Quizas en Diciembre?" "Si Manuel, claro que si." "Mmm, quizas el 22. Puedo hacerlo el 22?" That was sooo cool. We're gonna have to work a lot more with him to help him really understand everything, but it was really powerful.

Jesse and Mary had their first choir concert for Madrigals in October.  They sang beautifully!  Because of their experience with the choir invitational at ISU, they began harder music earlier in the year than they normally do.  Mary also performed in the Show Choir to "Seize the Day".  It was so fun to watch!  She did awesome in her first Show Choir performance.

Jesse is second from the left, and Mary is third from the right (the second girl is hidden)

Here are some Halloween pictures:

We had a fun night at a trunk-or-treat with our ward.  Everyone brought cornbread and/or chili.  I brought my whole wheat cornbread recipe, and it was yummy!

OK - NOW to NOVEMBER...

On the first weekend, Grandma & Grandpa W and Jesse and I went to visit Angie and her family. 
One morning, Angie and I went to walk on the green belt.  I got to tell her all about the book I was reading, Visions of Glory, and we had a great talk.

Jesse got to spend the day with Joseph at college!  These two were so happy to see each other.  When your best friend is not with you, you miss them a lot.  :)

 
Ethan got ordained to be a Deacon while we were there.  It was so fun to be a part of that, especially because Joseph got to stand in the circle to ordain Ethan.  Congratulations, Ethan!

Angie, Ethan, Rodney

Joseph, Ethan, Jesse, Lorena

Three out of the ten of us siblings were there.  I can't even remember what the bicep curls were for.  Maybe something about how it rocks to live in Idaho!

Craig, Angie and Lorena

I LOVE to be with my brothers and sisters.  I know that not everyone can say that, but for me it is true.  Next to Bruce and my children, there's no one I'd rather talk to or be with.

Our High School football team had a great season!  Here is a celebration down on the field as they advanced in the state tournament.  Jesse and Mary are down in the middle of that crowd.









Besides celebrating on the football field, Jesse and Mary tried out and made the Honor Choir, which is made up of choir students from around 15 area high schools that audition to be in this choir.  They practice on 3 different nights, and then they get together for 2 days during the school day and practice with everybody.  Then they put on a concert after the 2nd day.  It was a beautiful concert.  Loved it!




 Jesse and Mary and choir friends are gathered around the piano singing impromptu a Madrigal Song - Requiem - before boarding the bus to go to Honor Choir.  I was there substituting for the choir teacher, so I got to capture this moment.  Jesse was playing the piano, of course.

 And finally, Jesse and Mary got to be a part of the Youth Cultural Celebration for the new Temple!

Logan, Jesse, Mary, Tori

Peter also got to attend, but mostly as a spectator.  Jesse and Mary sang in the 900+ member choir!  Jesse said, "I couldn't stop smiling!  Usually when I feel the Spirit, I feel more solemn, but there I could not stop smiling!"  It was so fun to be able to hear the youth cheer for the prophet.  Usually they have to hold it in and be reverent, but in this celebration, thy were able to clap and cheer with all their enthusiasm.  Elder William Walker said with a smile, "Now you know why we don't cheer at General Conference."

There is so much to say about the Celebration!  The choir was beautiful, and the dancers put on great numbers.  They were simple, but well done and included a lot of creativity, humor, fun and color.  While we were waiting for it to begin, they showed pictures of all the missionaries in the area that are out serving right now.  They flashed them really quickly on the screen, about three every second, but we managed to get a glimpse of Josh's picture!  That was so fun!  And then we saw Mary on the big screen three different times, on a closeup with Kimi and Brighton by her, and we saw Jesse twice.  Actually it was Libby that picked out Jesse both times! President Monson endeared himself to the crowd by his actions and playfulness.  He said that some members of the Quorums think that these celebrations aren't necessary, but he said, "I'm an advocate for these, and I have some say."  :)

Yesterday morning we had the crowning jewel - the Temple Dedication.  We got there early - at 7:50 am, so we had some time in our seats to be ready.  Wonderful talks were given by Bro. and Sister Brinkerhoff, the Temple president and his wife, Elder Christensen from the Seventy, and then Elder David A. Bednar and Pres. Monson.  Elder Bednar contrasted the ways of the world with the ways of the Temple in a masterful talk that struck me powerfully.  And then Pres. Monson in his usual storied way, taught the gospel in its real essence.  His dedicatory prayer was beautiful, and to do the Hosanna shout was wonderful!  I imagined the Savior to be in the very room, and I felt almost overwhelmed by a deep reverence and love for Him!  Mary said after the dedication, "Now I know true joy."

I am SO GRATEFUL to have a Temple again close to us.  I got to go to the Twin Falls Temple about once a month, but I am looking forward to going once a week again to this closer Temple!  I know that it is truly The House of the Lord.

New School Year

Peter & Libby at the bus stop

The 2012-13 school year has officially begun!  Peter and Libby were complete opposites about the clothes the night before.  Libby had to model every single shirt with every single skirt/pair of parts that she had, and I had to rate the outfit on a scale from 1 to 5.  Only the 4's and 5's were selected to go on to the finals, and from there she chose what outfits she would wear the first week of school.  I tried to get in some peeks on Pinterest between outfit changes.  Peter, on the other hand, figured out what he was wearing about five minutes ahead of time.  Except for the shoes.  He had those planned out way ahead of time, because they were the boots he got for his birthday!  It took all his powers of discipline to not wear the spurs with the boots.  I wouldn't put it past him to try it one of these days, when he gets comfortable at school.  I'll have to keep an eye on that...

Mary on the first day of school

Mary is in FX Show Choir this year, along with Madrigals. She also tried out for a Ballroom Dance team, and is looking forward to practicing and performing with them.  She also came out of her Freshman year with a 4.0.  Way to go Mary!

Jesse on the first day of school

Jesse is a Senior this year!  She is the only returning alto in Madrigals this year, and was elected the Section head.  Besides Madrigals, she is pouring all her extra time into maintaining her 4.0 and practicing the piano.  She will audition for the BYU Piano Performance Major in January.  Very exciting!  Her claim to fame this week was that she started her Senior year in high school as a 16 year old.

Jesse and Grandma W on Jesse's 17th birthday

But it didn't last for long, because the next day she turned 17.  I told Jesse it was almost a disappointment to have her turn 17, because now I can no longer say, "She's only 16...!.  She accomplished so much when she was 15 and 16, that I was constantly saying that when people asked how old she was.  Grandma W came over with the "art-deco" birthday cake.  I told Grandma that she was creative with a capital C!  We had a good laugh about it, but I thought it looked awesome.

Joseph and Libby at the Street Dance

I love this picture so much I could eat it for desert.  This is Joseph dancing with Libby at the Family Street Dance.  He didn't have many other people to dance with - he was an oldie - but Libby sure was glad to dance with him!  Our Street Dance was so fun, as it always is.  Our numbers were fewer, because there was a football game that night, but we had fun anyway.

Joseph on Stormy

Here's the posture Joseph has been in almost constantly for the past few weeks - riding a horse!  He and Bruce worked together to break Stormy.  This was a big accomplishment, because the first time they attempted it, Bruce got some bruised ribs and a bucking horse show to go with it.  There was some question as to whether Stormy was going to be broken at all.  But, at the insistence of Joseph, they went out and tried again.  It was wild, from what I hear, but they got a saddle on him and Joseph rode him.  They've since been on him several times, and it's working out!  My hats off to them - I would have given up a long time ago!  Yesterday, Bruce took Mary, Peter and Libby out riding, and they had a great time.

Joseph is enjoying his time here, because he is soon off to Rexburg and BYU-I!  Wow - I can't believe the time has come for him to go off to college.  I'll have to admit that it's been hard - thinking of him leaving, especially because we've been through it now, and we know what it's like!  The college part's not so hard, but knowing that the mission is coming up straight after that, well, that's a different story.  Man, we're gonna miss Joseph!

But he's so excited and happy that it's easy to be happy with him!

By the way, I have to add one more thing.  On my other blog, oilslorena.com, I wrote about Joseph getting thrown off Stormy while they were breaking him, and falling on his hip.  That happened on the day of our Street Dance.  So, when this picture was taken above, of Joseph and Libby dancing, Joseph was in real pain, holding Libby like that for that dance.  He told me later that it hurt pretty badly, but during that whole dance, even limping and all, he was a really good sport and danced and made a lot of girls feel happy.  Thank you, Joseph, for your kindness and cheerfulness, even through pain.

Ha ha - after writing that, it kind of looks like he's grimacing in the picture instead of smiling!  :)

Family Happenings

Quiz: This is a baby picture of one of our children. Any guesses which one?
Libby got a kite at a friend's birthday party, and one evening, she wanted to fly it. In my limited experience, kite flying has not been successful, so with the little dollar store kite, I didn't have much hope. But I've obviously never flown one in windy Idaho.

It went right up and Libby and I had a fun time flying this kite!Here's Josh singing with the high school Madrigals at the 100 year celebration of our town.
Later on the same day, Josh went to Prom with Mary. I've been hoping Josh would go out with Mary for a long time, because I like her so much, and this was the right time. They doubled with Jancen and McKenzie, Josh and Krissy, Sterling and Hannah, and Dallin and Jayme. For their "day date", they rode tandem bikes on the green belt. After gathering for pictures, they went to dinner at a fine Italian Restaurant, and then to the dance. I am continually grateful that Josh has consistently chosen good friends, and these are no exception.

We thoroughly enjoyed General Conference! I felt that the theme of the conference was how to teach and guide the youth. This is not surprising seeing that I'm in the throes of doing that very thing.

The next week, Joseph was asked to speak in Church. He took all these talks from General Conference and coalesced them into a wonderful talk. He said that when he wrote the talk, he felt that it was exactly what he should say.

Jesse went to a clogging competition. We didn't get to go with her because I wanted to be here for Josh's prom date, but she had a good time. I was so glad to see her when she got home!The same night as Prom, we had an Un-Prom party for Joseph and his friends that didn't go to prom. It was fun - we had teenagers in and out of the house all night long. One time I went out on the back porch and found two of them on the roof! (It's easy to access from our back deck). Needless to say, they were asked to come down. I had to smile later, though, when I overheard the girl telling her friend that when they were up there talking, she was testifying the guy about the importance of serving a mission. :)

I've been having so much fun with Young Living Essential Oils. I set up a new website this week that I'm really excited about. It's lorena.vibrantscents.com and lorena.myningxia.com. It's explains a lot why I love these essential oils. The myningxia.com website is about NingXia Red, which is a juice that is very high in nutrition and anti-oxidants. We drink it almost every day as a family, and love it.

Bruce and Peter went horseback riding almost every day last week, and Joseph joined them one day also.

The last two days have been WARM with no wind. Absolutely heavenly. Spring has sprung!

Bruce, Jesse, Mary and I are starting a Health Challenge this week. We get points for not eating refined sugar, exercising for 60 minutes, not drinking pop, eating a healthy breakfast, drinking at least 80 oz. of water, eating a handful of vegetables, and doing all these for six days a week. The challenge lasts for 7 weeks. Each participant puts in $10. Whoever has the most points at the end of the 7 weeks gets the whole pot of $$. It's community wide, and 32 people are in it so far. Jesse said earlier, "All these adults think they're going to win, but they're not because I'm going to win." Ha ha. Since there are four of us in the household, I think we are going to be pretty competitive about it! If you want more details, I can send you the blog address. I don't want to publish it here because it has the name of our town on it, and I try not to publish that in this blog.

One last word - Mary gave a wonderful talk in Church today about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. She was a really good sport too, because I knew about the talk on Tuesday, and forgot to tell her until late Saturday night. Yes, it's true - Saturday night. We got up at 6:45 this morning and worked on it together. Thankfully it was an easy topic with easy material to find. I was proud of her though, because she just got up and gave the talk and didn't say anything about who called her to speak, or when, or how she prepared it that morning. She just dove into the talk. Good job Mary!