I am still on my quest to become more patient, kind and full of charity. It is an ongoing process :)
Samuel has been at the MTC since April learning Albanian. He will be departing next week for Albania. I am pleased with him. He will be a great missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.
Katelynn has been transferred and is now serving in Springfield Virginia, she is still working hard and is enduring well. She is on the down hill side of her mission and will be returning home in a few months.
Summer is underway and each day is filled with some sort of activity or another. Joseph is in summer band, he is playing the trumpet and has entertained us with "Hot Cross Buns" and "Mary had a Little Lamb" I expect that he will be playing "When the Saints come Marching Home" by the end of the summer. :) He also hopes to keep limber by taking Karate a few times a week. He wants to be sure that he can hold his own when Samuel returns.
Charlotte will be taking some cooking classes this summer. She will be learning Italian, French and Asian Cuisine. I am hoping for a eight course meal in August. She and a friend are also undertaking an exciting project. They will be teaching children how to dance. Charlotte and Gaby will be volunteering their talents every Saturday morning in teaching 3-12 years old ballroom dance. They will have a great time and hope to have many students. So if you are interested sign up.
Esther is content in reading and listening to music this summer, though she hopes to squeeze in some shopping and money making opportunities. She is volunteering at the SCERA Shell so that the family can enjoy some free entertainment under the stars.
Mary is hoping to spend the summer playing. She will carefully avoid anything remotely associated with school, including reading in any form. She is hoping that Aunt Johanna will use her to help with her kids this summer because she loves babysitting. But she would also love coming and helping any of her family with child care.
Elisha is happy to be doing school work every day. He likes to learn new words like, microscopic organisms, illumination, universe, galaxy, and others. He plans on playing everyday and taking care of his 512 puppies. So if anyone wants a puppy you can ask him. These puppies don't eat or make a mess. They are perfect little puppies.
Paul is busy working at the bus garage. He is helping with the refurbishment of the bus seats. He enjoys it very much and works long hours so he can have a long weekend every week. He will be going to scout camp with Joseph this year. We have several reunions to attend and hopefully he will find time to take me out on a date occasionally.
I am just trying to juggle life, dishes, laundry and gardening. I start my day off with scripture study and that helps me a lot. I try to squeeze in family history and I have a goal to attend the temple 2x a week. I feel successful when I get there once. Every summer I hope to fill the hot endless afternoons reading some great classic to the kids. My goal this year is Heidi, however I haven't even cracked the book yet. I guess there are still some weeks left.
I have just finished reading a book from Glen Beck called Being George Washington. I have found it very interesting and enlightening. As I read the book I reflected on the wonderful qualities the George Washington possessed and often found myself saying "I wish I was like that." I also found that his qualities closely matched those of other great military leaders such as Gideon, Moroni, Joshua, Mormon, and others. I than realized that if I wanted to become like George Washington or any other great leader, I would really need to become like Christ, for these men all possessed the same great attributes as the Saviour. My quest to become better has lead me to an in depth study of Preach my Gospel. I have a very long way to go but I am enjoying the journey.
If anyone is seeking some guidance in their lives and wondering what to study or how to make their personal study more meaningful I would strongly invite and encourage the study of Preach my Gospel.
Well that is the end of my blog today --- TOODLES
