PART 2 OF AUGUST 11TH POST

I mentioned yesterday in the post that Lake Josepheus near the Scout Bradley campground, is pretty. Here are pictures of that lake. It's at the end of the road, about 17-18 miles off of the main road. It has a few picnic tables and even a restroom there. That was a very unexpected area for those items. The lake is not one for motors, but a very pleasant spot to enjoy the beauty that Heavenly Father created. Someone was fishing when we got there. I don't know if they had any luck.

Our Primary Presidency was basically in charge of the Ward

Pioneer Celebration. It was the Primary Activity Day, but we

included the whole ward. We had a booth where everyone dressed up for family pictures. The secretary of the Presidency is pregnant. Since we are responsible of young children, 2 of of pretended to be holding a baby in the Presidency picture. In the picture of the other couple and us, I was a little disappointed with the outcome. Just a second before the gal took the picture, someone said don't smile because we were holding the frying pans. I quit smiling. I realize that no one else heard the instructions. It would have been better if all were "on board" with the same instructions.

Other things that we did for the Pioneer Celebration: Homemade butter-shaking baby food jars until finished, Hand cranked homemade ice cream, Water melon seed spitting contest, A game of team work -walking on long boards together as a team. It looked kind of hard. There was of course the stick pull game that Joseph Smith always did.

These are cousins in our Primary doing the walking team game. I didn't get a great picture of them in action. Some of the participants had 3 or 4 team members walking the game at the same time. That looked difficult.

Well, things are or not much different with Rick. He's always depressed, sleeps much of the time. That's his way of "checking out" of life. He continues to go to his counselor and doctor. One piece of possible good news for Rick: A few weeks ago, I noticed on our Caller ID that the L.D.S. Church Missions had called. I wondered then what that was about. Well this last Sunday, the Bishop called Rick into his office. The people that are running the L.D.S. Employment office in our area are actually called on a mission to do this. They are from our ward. They want Rick to help them. The Bishop said that it would be about 10 hours a week. It is an official mission. The Bishop has to send in the papers to the church headquarters and wait for the official call to come. We're not sure exactly what he will be doing. However, I'm excited about this. It will give him purpose to get out of bed or to get up and do something. Maybe, he won't feel so hopeless and useless. I can't convince him to make the effort. This will force him to make the effort.

I'm still trying to learn the Spanish Initiatory at the Temple. The Anointing part is the hard part. I just can't figure out how to say a few of the words. However, I almost have the hard part memorized. I just have one more phrase on this section. The rest will be fairly easy. (When I got so busy with moving Mom, my priorities got rearranged. My heart wasn't into learning it as much as it was a little earlier.) I've gone as a patron in the Spanish Booth more than once. I really like that, because it helps me to hear the words being pronounced. The Shift Coordinator that works on the Spanish Shift says that after I finish work, I can work on her shift 0occasionally in the Spanish Initiatory Booth. That means I would only work the one hour. That would be fun!

A few weeks before the maintenance time of the Temple in June, I subbed on my shift as the Initiatory Coordinator. That is what I was trained to do in the Boise Temple. Officially in July, I started being the Initiatory Coordinator-trading off every other month. I really like that, but I miss officiating in Initiatory because that is where I get my "Spiritual Shot in the Arm" for the week. I glad that I get to trade off.

I will be going back to work for the harvest season any day now. I know not until after Friday, but it could be any day after that. That will mean working 6 days a week, 10-12 hours a day,
the seventh day of the week I'm at the Temple. I should finish work sometime in October. Life will be very busy for awhile. I'm grateful that this year, we started later than some years. I needed the extra time to get everything in order with mom and getting her Medicaid going. I still haven't figured out what to do with everything that is in our kitchen, but it's starting to appear that it's getting closer to being done.
This Saturday if I'm not working, the Relief Society is going rafting near Hagerman and Bliss. I've done it with Grant once. It's not a real exciting float-part of it is fun. I'm hoping to get to go. Other years when the Relief Society goes, I'm always working. It was scheduled for last Thursday evening, but got postponed due to a funeral in the ward.

Well, don't expect to hear from me for awhile. Life is busy.

A GENERAL CATCH UP OF LIFE FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS.

Just in today's paper, I noticed that the 99 year old lady that I talked about in the last post died at the age of 100 on the 8th of August. She accomplished what she needed to do here on earth.

Well, since my Birthday back in April, life has been very busy. That is when it was decided that Mom/Grandma would move into a Nursing Home. Rick & I (mostly me) spent many hours, and hard labor emptying out her house and getting it ready to sell. The Relief Society presidency and one friend helped clean the house. Without the help of the one friend, I don't know how I would have accomplished all that was needed to do. I must also give credit to Heather and Stephanie. They spent 3 days cleaning the house while we were camping. For the record, the closing date is supposed to be on Rick's birthday-the 21st. We are supposed to be getting what the realtor listed it for. I know that Heavenly Father had a "hand" in that.

In fact, I know that He has had a "hand" in helping with many things this summer. Just yesterday, Grant called and said that he finally got word that he will also get paid to take care of Terry. For awhile, it looked like Grant would only get paid for taking care of Jerry. That would not have been enough money for them to get by. I'm not sure when that money will start-hopefully September. Thanks Heavenly Father for always watching over us in life's trials.

Mom is adjusting to living at the care center. She's one of the most popular residents there. Everyone acts like they really like her. She is getting stronger. Two times ago when I was there, I actually saw her stand up by herself. Granted, she didn't get up very fast or very gracefully, but she stood up. Then, she just stood there for 3-4 minutes, occasionally petting her dog on the table but not really holding onto anything. The therapist was standing beside her, in case she needed help. The therapist kind of had to help her set back down. (Mom is now using an electric wheelchair. That makes life seem more normal.) After Mom had a chance to rest, she stood back up 2 more times. These times, the therapist had to help her a little more than the first time and more the last time also. It brought tears to my eyes to see her doing that good.Besides all the moving stuff going on, June is always the month that Heather's kids play baseball. Heather was the assistant coach for "Bekha" and Jacob's team. Tyler is old enough that he is on his own separate team. He has potential to be very good. He was named the most valuable player many times thru out the season. A new one for each game. He got 3 home runs in one of the tournament games. He is a pretty good picture. I honestly believe I like him playing at first base best. Several times either when he was pitching or on first place, he was responsible for a double play. Way to go Tyler ! ! !

I'm going to post a few pictures.

Jacob playing ball.
He doesn't have the attention span that is really needed for this game yet. But, he enjoys life.

"Bekha" batting and coming home. Looking mighty excited that she came home safe. (Heather in the background in the Capri's.)

Tyler getting ready to "whop" it. Usually when he hit his home runs, "BONKA" wasn't able to be there. Tyler tries so hard to make 'BONKA" proud of him.

One of the many great pitches. Tyler pitched several "stike outs".

We went camping during June for almost one week. We hadn't been camping for almost 4 years. We almost had forgotten how. The last time, we went, I decided that we needed an easier trailer for us to get on. During the time that we hadn't been camping, Rick had remodeled our trailer. It was much easier to load and unload the bikes. We also now have 4-wheelers now instead of motorcycles. The older you get, the more you have to find easier ways of life. Rick did take his motorcycle with the intention of him riding that an "Mady" and I driving the 4-wheelers. While we were traveling, his motorcycle tipped over and got oil where it wasn't supposed to be. The engine seized up and he couldn't use it. So, "Mady" ended up being Rick's (BONKA) driver. She hadn't really driven much at all before this trip. She drove over 50 miles in one day and she did great. Another day, she drove around 40 miles. She got my new 4-wheeler (not really new, but newer for us) instead of using Rick's. Mine is easier to shift gears and also is 4-wheel drive. Rick's is only 2-wheel drive. The steering on the 4-wheel drive is easier. So, I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to drive mine and see how I liked it. We had just gotten it a few weeks before we went.

We went up to Beaver Creek campground by the Scout camp-Scout Bradley near Stanley. We drove up the main road quite a ways to Josepheus Lake. We thought we had been there before. I guess not, because this was worth the drive. This was much prettier than anything we had remembered. It was sort of 2 lakes really one, but divided with a man made bridge of sorts. "Mady" and I walked across the bridge to the other side. Rick stayed by the 4-wheelers and took our pictures.

"Mady" and me walking across

the so-called bridge. There were some fallen logs laid across the water with a man made railing of smaller logs sort of nailed up.

I wanted to post a few more pictures, but it got late. Maybe I'll post a few more tomorrow -or not- that goes with this post.

THE REST OF THE STORY TO THE LAST POST:

I subbed at the Temple Saturday evening. The attendant to the 99 year old lady that I talked about last time, was working that night. She was sharing the story with some of us.

This 99 year old lady had been moved into an nursing home (finally). She even stopped breathing at one time and saw the "light" as people often say. She felt a warm hand touch her shoulder. She never saw anyone, but heard: "You need to go back. You're not ready to be here yet. You still have unfinished work on the earth." That is when the lady realized that she should be baptized and be sealed to her sons and husband.

THE REST OF THIS POST IS A LATE POST-UPDATE:

This is the Mother's Day card from Rick. It really sounded more like it came from our kids, but it was nice anyhow. That's why I added the words: "and wife".

Heather & Stephanie took me out to lunch for Mother's Day. Since they took their real mother out to lunch on Mother's Day. It was the next Saturday that we had our time together. Heather called me the night before and said to meet them at a place in Buhl at 11:00 a.m. I was a little confused about where she was talking about. The reason: It wasn't there. It had been changed into a mini-mart, then a day-care center, and now it's a place that sells used cars. She decided that we better go to a different place. We ended up going to the Pizza Planet and video shop. They have really good sandwiches. We ended up ordering personal pizzas and cheese sticks. My goodness, this place always gives lots of food. We figured personal pizzas would be about 4 inches around. No! This was about 8 inches across. All of us took food home. Oh, I forgot to mention that "Bekha" (Heather's) and "Kenna" (Stephanie's) were with them also. (The girls' names are not their correct names.) We had a pleasant afternoon.

This is the Mother's Day card from the girls. I'm truly blessed to have two daughters that love me.

I'm grateful to have them and their children in my life.

Guess what ! This Last Friday, Rick finally got a hair cut! He looks so much better. However, neither one of us thinks this gal does as good cutting his hair as does the guy that is also in this shop. (Please, no comments about Rick getting his hair cut. Sometimes, he reads the e-mail before I get to it and some of you are automatically connected to our e-mail.)

Well, I need to get busy. I'm still doing stuff to prepare to move mom (Grandma) into the nursing home on Wednesday. Her new address will be:

Helen Bodily

% Twin Falls Care Center

674 Eastland Drive

Twin Falls, Idaho 83301

The twins will be living with Grant:

1392 Ammon Pocatello, Idaho 83201

Grant's new phone no. is: 208-209-5395

P.S. I tried many times to get the printing by the pictures. No matter how many times I tred to rearrange the page - pictures to go with the correct printing - the computer or site still put them on the page they wanted. Sorry about that.

A GREAT "HAPPENING" AT THE TEMPLE.

I subbed at the temple yesterday. There was a neat experience for one family. Thankfully, I was assigned to be a patron in this particular session. A woman that is 99 years old, got her Endowment. (She was just baptized 2 months ago. The church gave her special permission to waive the one year waiting time to go the temple.) It was neat watching her family ooh and ah over her. She had 2 escorts-one setting on each side of her wheelchair. As we were going from the Endowment room 1 into Endowment room 2, I saw my mentor from the Boise Temple. I realized she was related to this 99 year old lady. I believe her husband is the son of the 99 year old lady and is a Bishop. After the endowment, the 99 year old lady was sealed to her son and also to her deceased son.
Even though I wasn't related to her, I was just about in tears watching the event happen.

I'm continuing to learn more of the Spanish Initiatory ordinance words. Tuesday when I was subbing, I realized that I could figure out what certain words mean. Since Spanish is not a literal translation of English, this new knowledge is helping me to learn more. (This is the "proper language" instead of the "street lingo".)

UPDATE ON MOM (GRANDMA):
We are planning on putting her in the Twin Falls Care Center on the 3rd of June. Grant will be moving the twins home with him. The things that are supposed to be given away, will be at my house. I can't save everything.

MY 53rd BIRTHDAY - - A LATE POST

I really thought this was a cute card from Rick. It's a compliment to me and he doesn't give many. Having him be thoughtful enough to make this compliment is a good thing.

I subbed at the Temple on my birthday at 4:00 a.m. This is about the 3rd time that I've subbed this shift. It seems like I have a lot of "free" time on this shift. So, I've decided that I should put this "free" time to good use. I've been trying to memorize some of the ordinance work in Spanish. (I'm familiar with some Spanish-how to pronounce many words. Thru the years of working with Spanish people, I've learned to sort of read some Spanish. I can usually read the "jist" of whatever I'm reading. I still cannot understand them when they speak-just a few words and small phrases.) Back to my Birthday. We had a sister come into Initiatory that was Spanish. I told her that I had been trying to learn the Spanish ordinances. I asked her if she minded if I practiced with her-telling her that part of it would be in Spanish and the rest in English. She said that would be OK. I only got the opportunity to do it once and only in one booth, but I did good. I'm sure that I didn't sound as good as someone that normally speaks Spanish. The great thing is that she understood me! ! ! That was the best birthday present that I could have given myself.

Since then, I have learned the New Name Ordinance, the Initiatory Clothing Ordinance and part of the Confirming of the Initiatory Ordinance in Spanish. It's hard to practice this because we're not supposed to practice the ordinance work out loud or write it down. It's all memorized. When I practice in my head, I feel like I'm getting better. I feel the spirit. One of the brothers that is a sealer in the Temple on my regular shift, speaks Spanish also. He is helping me with the pronunciation. I also intend on going to the Wednesday and Saturday evening sessions for Spanish Initiatory, so that i can actually hear how the words sound. I have some Spanish workbooks and tapes. I have sort of used them before. A friend gave me a new workbook (almost like one I already had). I am really studying them now. This is something that I want to do very much. I was able to teach myself to play the piano without lessons. Therefore, I know that I can do this also. Maybe, I won't be great, but at least enough that someday I will be able to do the ordinance work efficiently in Spanish.

I spent the afternoon visiting with Grandma Bodily (mom). The twins weren't home most of the time that I was there. I didn't have to do any bills that day for Mom. It was just a pleasant day visiting with her.

LIFE

Sometimes I get so frustrated with Rick's mom. She tells Rick how good his long hair looks. I'm all of the time asking him to cut his hair. (He usually gets 2-3 hair cuts a year.) Just about the time I get him convinced that it's time to cut his hair, she speaks up. Then, I have to spend the next few weeks to months talking Rick into it again. Of course, he doesn't want to make his mother upset, so she always wins. The only time in our life that he got regular hair cuts was while he was serving in the Boise Temple. HOWEVER, IS ATTITUDE IS MUCH BETTER LATELY! BOTH OF US ARE TRULY GRATEFUL FOR THE IMPROVEMENT!
Our Primary just had an activity day on Saturday. My President wanted the kids to learn that work can be fun. We volunteered to clean the church. We fashioned the day after the CBS T.V. show - The Amazing Race. We didn't have a lot of kids or parents come (because of Conference and also Stake Conference causing times that they weren't at church to be reminded.) Even though the numbers weren't great, it was a successful event. The kids enjoyed it and so did the parents. We plan on doing it again next year.
I have overscheduled myself this week at the Temple. It's just by accident, but I'm serving 5 shifts this week. Thankfully, one of the shifts is on my regular day so I only have to go 4 times. That day, I just work a double shift. I often do that. In fact, I claim Friday evening (and Thursday day) as my "regular" shifts also. I only have one real regular shift. That's Friday day. Most of the workers at the Temple are assigned 2 regular shifts. I'm not because of my work at Green Giant/Seneca Foods during the harvest season.
Some "interesting" things going on with the twins and Mom. I wish Mom would agree to going in a Nursing Home. She would have better care. She refuses, because of what will happen to the twins when she's gone. Jerry has a girlfriend. She's a niece of my first fiance'-Earl Casper. She is also a client in the same schooling-training that both Terry & Jerry are in. In fact, she has the same "tech" person over her that the twins have. Most everyone is hoping the situation will die down soon. The twins car died. They still owe on it for another 1 1/2 years. They bought an old clunker for another car. Terry still has his job, but quit a few weeks ago because people were making fun of him. Thankfully, his job coach and his "tech" made things better. His health isn't good again. Last summer, he was in the hospital for intestinal problems that could have killed him. He's again having some of the same problems-throwing up blood. I worry about him keeping his job because of this happening so soon after he quit. Time will tell.
Heather just gave Stephanie more hours to work at the cafe that Heather is the main waitress at. That has caused a few ill feelings with the cook and Heather. That's because the waitress that now has less hours is the wife of the cook. Stephanie is enjoying the extra hours and needs the money.
That's pretty much what's going on right now. Rick is still hooked on Sturgeon fishing. He goes at least once a week-sometimes twice.
No new pictures (of anything) today.
I need to get to work on my next Sharing Time for primary.

TAX DAY SNOW

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Danielle !

Today is tax day-15th of April. We don't have typical weather for this time of year. I'm posting a picture to prove to you. Hopefully, the date on the actual picture shows up.

UPDATE

Today was Grandpa Allen's Birthday. (Grandpa Allen is my mom's dad.) I always remember that because sometimes it was on Easter. We visited them one year on his birthday-on Easter. All of us, and the McEntire cousins went hiking up on "Grandpa's hill". (It wasn't really his hill, but we thought it was.) Grant, & Morgan were on top of the cave that the rest of us were in. I was just walking out of the cave as they kicked a rock. It hit the top of my head and I started bleeding. I still have a scar. We were still in our Easter clothes. I'm sure that didn't go over very well with Grandma and Mom.

We went to Stephanie's house Saturday evening to celebrate Kari, Arianna, and "Mady's" birthdays. Kari turned 16 on Easter-12th, Arianna will be 15 on the 28th of April and "Mady" turned 11 on the 7th of April. Kari said she had a dinner date.

Arianna & "Mady" Rodriguez & Kari Otto

Madyson Rodriguez

Kari Otto & Arianna Rodriquez

Rick & I went over to Grandma Bodilys for lunch/dinner after church on Easter. She acted like she really enjoyed having someone other than the twins to talk to. She misses dad especially on Holidays. I'm glad we could be there for her and the twins.

LATE POST FOR EASTER

A friend e-mailed this to me. I thought you might enjoy it. It's about 4 and 1/2 minutes long. It's Elder Jeffery R. Holland speaking. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc

ANOTHER UPDATE ON RICK.

Rick is doing much better. We have a different medication combined with one of the old ones. That and also information from a counselor seem to be helping. (The information from the counselor isn't new, but he thinks it is. She told him how to talk himself out of a situation. I've been saying the same stuff forever.)
He continues to go fishing each week with his brother.He's been actually walking a little bit every day. He's worked on my 4-wheeler. (In the winter, he gave up on it-while it was tore apart.) He has the"want to" now. We've had a few things go wrong. Before when that happened, he would fell overwhelmed and fall apart. Now, he just talked himself out of the situations. He's come close to having a few episodes, but didn't. HOORAY ! !