Random Sampler

Wow! I am not posting until Thursday! That explains my free time! I have been really busy lately with the ending of one calling, the beginning of a new one and then stuff around the house, visiting teaching and the lawn!
A lot has happened since the last post...let's start with last Thursday. I had my last assignment as Activity Day Leader. We had the girls' Recognition Night. It was a lot of work (3 hours at least of cutting blankets to tie) but they sure turned out really cute. The girls and their families had a lot of fun making them. I will miss those cute girls, but good thing I will still get to see them at church!

Activity Day Girls and the cute blankets we made! Back: Lindsay, Abby, Izzy, me, Kourtnie, Brittanie (the last two are identical twins and I always have to guess their names....), Brittanie (she is one of the other leaders). Front: Katie, Paige, Kaitlynn, Lexie and Lexie's friend.

We got ourselves a Wheel Barrow! Saturday it was outside work day. We let the inside of our house take a weekend off (literally both the outside and the inside of the house needed cleaning, but we chose to work outside this week...you can only do so much!) You may be asking yourself why there is a little boy munchkin in the wheel barrow too. Our good friends the Braithwaites came up for a sealing (Daniel served his mission in Boise) and we watched cute little Jacob (he is just under two months older than Tori). They both had a blast outside especially when Jason gave them rides in the wheel barrow!

Our job: pick up all of the willow branches, mow the lawn, pull out the Forget-Me-Nots (I think the last owners thought they were a good filler, but they spread like weeds and literally were all over our flower beds! We still have some work to do and I was on them for 3 hours!!!), mowing, and spraying weeds! That is not even half of what we have to do outside, but it is a start!

Aren't they both so cute? Ready, set, GO!
Then Monday rolls around...I am out all morning visiting teaching and when I get home I get a call from my sister explaining that my mom has had a mini stroke! I think that my mom is a magnet for health problems, but we now know why...Tuesday she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis also known as MS. The doctors believe that she has had the disease for 8-10 years and has been treated for the symptoms and never diagnosed for this long! I immediately went to wikipedia to look it up (click on the link above and it will take you there), and sure enough the symptoms describe my mom's suffering over the years! This mini stroke was the key to unlocking the mystery and I think that my mom will be better treated now. It is genetic (20% or 1 in 5 members of the same immediate gene pool may have it) and it has no cure. With MS you are treated for the symptoms (sore muscles, bad nerves, depression...etc.) but it has to do with a deterioration of the myelin sheaths in your brain. All in all I feel really at peace regarding this diagnosis. I really hope that the doctors can work together and help my mom with a good "cocktail" of medicine that will help with what she has been suffering with over the years! The stoke did cause some mild damage: her handwriting is "horrible" as my mom describes it, one of her legs is a little limp and she drags it a little, and her speech is a little slurred. She is doing well and the Spirit is comforting her and she is being really brave!I love you mom! and I wish that I could be with you! If only money grew on trees!
But life must go on. I went to a YM/YW combined activity last night. It was an Etiquette Dinner. It took a lot of preparation, but it turned out great and I think the kids had a blast! Who wouldn't like an activity with a whole dinner and dessert! I LOVE the ladies that I work with. Oh and I was asked to be the Camp Director's Assistant!

Here is a cute picture of Brooke. she is so fun! Tori is having a lot more fun with her too! It is cute to see them play (when Tori doesn't hit her in the process...where did she learn that?!). Oh and week 1 on Weight Watchers: lost 2 pounds... if I had an elliptical machine it would be way more! One day!