All About the Argyles

 Holy Cow it was a busy month.  A little busier than I like, to be perfectly honest.  I have to remind myself that every Fall is like this for a few months and then it slows down a bit.  We had a nice Labor Day lunch at Firehouse subs.  Brady likes the fire hats.  Not really sure why he decided to wear a mustache that day but I think it was a good look.  He FINALLY got to start cub scouts.  Here he is on his first big activity.  September means football season and spirit days.  Everyone wears their spirit wear on Fridays around these here parts.  Snapped this cute pic one Friday when Dr. Wakins, our Superintendent,  was helping out in the car line.  He is a beloved figure in our town.  My little Prosper Pirate.  Got this note from a sweet sister in my ward for a class I taught in Relief Society.  It came on a day when I kind of needed it.  She is a sweet, thoughtful perso...

11  ¶And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.   12  And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were  a lepers , which stood afar off:   13  And they lifted up  their  voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.   14  And when he saw  them,  he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the  a priests . And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.   15  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,   16  And fell down on  his  face at his feet, giving him  a thanks : and he was a Samaritan.   17  And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten  a cleansed ? but where  are  the  b nine ?   18  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. ...

Last week at Institute, Brother Shumway referred to this talk from Elder Holland.  I remember when he gave it, thinking it was a great talk but it was nice to be reminded of it.  I have been studying it since and thinking about all the many ways that I can do better at taming my tongue.  Here are some highlights as well as another talk that I love about the same topic.  In light of conference coming up, I plan to highlight several of my favorite General Conference talks in the coming weeks. Like all gifts “which cometh from above,” words are “sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit.”   2 It is with this realization of the power and sanctity of words that I wish to caution us, if caution is needed, regarding how we speak to each other and how we speak of ourselves.  Obviously James doesn’t mean our tongues are  always  iniquitous, nor that  everything  we say is “full of deadly poison.” But he clear...

This is me lately.  If I'm being honest I dread the Fall .  It is the most hectic time of year for me. You can look at the family calendar at the end of this post and understand why. Lately in a given week I: do about a dozen loads of laundry plan/cook/shop/clean 21 meals drive approximately 500 miles back and forth between cheer practice, football, tumbling, games, institute, church, and the store attend two institute classes do the reading for said institute classes almost 8 hours of carpool go to the grocery store/Costco three times clean the house approximately 6 hours coach 4 hours of cheer push through about an hour of paperwork a day toss in a visiting teaching appointment or two into the mix plan a family home evening lesson work with Tanner on finishing up his Eagle work with Brady on cub scouts work with McKinley on Personal Progress pull weeds work on my calling atleast 12 hours, on average and attend atleast two meeting...

The weekend of the annual daddy daughter dance, Brent was gone to Idaho to take Jensen to college so Tanner offered to take Reagan to the big shindig.  He even wore a handle bar mustache to get into the western theme.    They started the night off by meeting at a family's house for pictures and then everyone went to La Hacienda for dinner.  I think they enjoyed it.    And while all that was going on, Brent and Jensen were spending some time in Utah.  She was able to meet two of her favorite authors at a book signing, Julianne Donaldson and Sarah M. Eden.    And get her pic with these guys that were dressed as characters from the books.  First trip to the grocery store for her dorm.  She has a meal plan but they do not provide meals on Sunday so she had to stock up.    Here our college girl is with her roommates.  She already reports that they are getting along fabulously.   ...

This is my favorite story about charity.  It's from one of my faves, Sister Sheri Dew.  It is a great reminder of what true charity looks like.  AT AGE THIRTY TWO , I WAS CALLED TO SERVE IN THE STAKE R ELIEF SOCIETY PRESIDENCY , AND THE THREE OF US BONDED QUICKLY AS THE DEAREST OF FRIENDS . BECAUSE OF MY WORK SCHEDULE AND THE LARGE FAMILIES OF THE PRESIDENT AND OTHER COUNSELOR , WE HELD PRESIDENCY MEETINGS ON TUESDAYS AT THE UNEARTHLY HOUR OF 5:30 AM . ONE MORNING, THE PRESIDENT RAISED AN ISSUE THAT FOR SOME REASON  SET ME OFF.   I CLIMBED ON MY RAMEUMPTOM, DELIVERED A TIRADE, AND LEFT IN  A HUFF .  BUT AS I DROVE AWAY AND HEADED TOWARD WORK , MY HEART SANK .   I COULDN'T BELIEVE I'D RESPONDED TO MY FRIENDS THAT WAY, AND I WAS DESPERATE TO APOLOGIZE.   BUT I FELT AS IF I NEEDED TO DO IT IN PERSON, WHICH I DETERMINED TO DO THAT VERY NIGHT.  FINALLY EVENING CAME . I STOPPED AT HOME ...