All About the Argyles

I surprised Brent for his birthday with tickets to indoor skydiving and a trip to a local wake board park with Brent's favorite companion these days, Brady boy.  Needless to say they had a blast.  The only way it could have been better is if our oldest (missionary) boy could have been here to join in the fun.  They loved every minute of it and couldn't decide which adventure they liked most. To celebrate this man that I love I will celebrate his 48th birthday with 48 words that describe him. Patriarch* Priesthood Holder* Peacemaker* Friend* Husband* Soulmate* Quesadilla Maker *Automobile Mechanic* Mr Fix It* Scriptorian * Confidante* Example* Basketball Lover* Golf Enthusiast* Racquetball Champion* Kind Hearted* Dedicated Provider* Compassionate* Thoughtful* Eagle Scout* Grill Guru *Hard Worker* Counselor* Supporter* Talk Radio Loving* Morning Person* Sacrificing* Never Complaining Long Suffering* Teacher* Father We love you! Happy Birthday! ...

Cheer has kept this gal pretty busy this summer.  It started midway through the summer with media day.  They had to have pictures made for the football programs and various other media outlets.  This one was my favorite individual shot of Kiki.  They had practice for several hours each day in preparation for camp and then they were off....  (riding on the bus with her roomie and some other cute gals.)  The freshman squad  With her big sis on varsity.  We got lots of updates while she was gone through social media. At the end of the week McKinley was nominated for All American Cheerleader.  That is a huge honor as a freshman.  It was a great, fun, memorable week.

This morning, I would like to greet and speak not only to the members of the Church but also to those not of our faith who may be participating in the radio or television audience. Thank you for joining with us on this beautiful fall morning. Life in every era has had its troubles. Surely the Dark Ages were appropriately named, and not one of us is anxious to be transported back even to those later years of, say, the Hundred Years’ War or the Black Plague. No, we’re quite happy to have been born in a century of unprecedented material blessings and abundant living; yet in community after community, in small nations and large, we see individuals and families facing heightened anxiety and fear. It would seem that discouragement, depression, and despair are our contemporary “Black Plague.” Ours is, as Jesus said it would be, a time of distress with perplexity (see  Luke 21:25 ). We know that some of the world’s most painful suffering is done in silence, in the sorrow of a lonely...

Russell M. Nelson was called as the new president of the Quorum of the twelve apostles today.  This came following the passing of President Boyd. K. Packer.  I really love Elder Nelson and had the opportunity to speak with him at a Stake Conference one time.  I felt of his goodness when I shook his hand and recognized the authority with which he spoke when he shared his thoughts.  I remember being impressed that he spoke for the better part of an hour without any notes.  From the vantage point I had sitting behind him on the stand, I could see that he was orating straight from his heart and by inspiration.  Today in BOM365, a talk of his called, "Sweet Power of Prayer" was referenced and I really loved one of the stories he shared in that talk about an experience he had with prayer once. Elder Nelson is also Dr. Nelson.   (He was a well respected heart surgeon before he gave up his career to be an apostle.)   Many of us have had exper...

We headed down to Austin and then San Antonio to pick McKinley up from EFY and decided to spend a few days seeing the sights and making a mini-vacation out of it.  Reagan was happy that we started our road trip off with a breakfast stop at Cracker Barrel.  She like the mini-bottles of syrup.  We enjoyed Kayaking in Austin.  I wish I had gotten a picture of us actually IN the kayaks but I had tucked my phone away to keep it from getting wet.  this was after we returned.    We toured the Capitol in Austin.  Reagan wanted a picture in front of the "Reagan building".  I just have to say, the Texas state Capitol is absolutely beautiful.  My iphone doesn't do it justice.  Then we were off to San Antonio.  First stop was Fiesta Texas.  Reagan grabbed a turkey leg for lunch.  Had fun at the water park there as well.  Toured the Alamo.  An...

Great article  here . Enjoy.  :O)

Recently, our Stake President asked each of the families in our stake to re-evaluate our Sabbath day observance.  His comments stem from this talk here.   Immediately, I started thinking how I could encourage my family (and of course, myself) to clean up our Sabbath day observance.  We don't shop or swim or play sports on Sunday.  Our kids aren't involved in teams that practice or play on Sunday.  So for the most part, I thought we were doing pretty well.  But as I pondered this one Sunday, I realized how much time we sleep and watch tv and it made me think there was definitely room for improvement.  So instead of thinking of all the things we COULDN'T do, I have been trying to focus more on some of the appropriate things we COULD do. This is our Sunday so far: 6:30am: Got up and showered, started getting ready for church. (No breakfast, Fast Sunday) Watched a Women's Conference talk from Julie B. Beck while we got ready. Church 8:40 - 12...