"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31 as quoted in Elder Cook's Conference Talk)
And I really liked the following words from the same talk: "Remember, it is never too late to make the Savior's Atonement the foundation of our faith and lives."
Monday, November 19, 2012
Today was a fun day; Elo and Lenore Hansen, from Roseburg, had to be up here for a medical appointment and came to visit us at the office when they were through. I was her visiting teacher before we left on our mission:). We all went out for lunch at the Mexican restuarant across the street and had a wonderful time visiting, then had to wish them a fond goodbye with a promise to stay in touch. Backing up: I should say here that we had a great time Saturday evening with Brother and Sister Read, who came up to have dinner with us; we went to the Olive Garden and had a great time “catching up” on ward and family stuff. I’m hoping to get down to the Christmas program at the beginning of December and see old friends!
Back to Monday, after our lunch with the Hansens we managed another couple of hours of work at the office before we had to leave for my (final) doctor’s appointment to check on my foot: good news: My doctor said, “Good job of healing!” There are a few little left over discomforts, but I am pretty much normal again...Yea!!!
More good news: I have been doing my exercises again...yea! AND more good news... Dad, after looking at ellipticals for several months now, finally bought a small Schwinn one. I began using it today; it is perfect and I am going to work at building back up to 30 minutes a day on it, which is where I was at at the gym in Roseburg before my heart surgery. Long road back! Working on it again has been so completely confirming as to it being the perfect form of exercise for me; I did not encourage or applaud the purchase, but now do:).
Tuesday was noteworthy because, after leaving the office (later than we had planned) we went to a bell choir practice - something neither of us has ever done! Actually, we found out the “bells” were actually chimes and had a wonderful time learning how to play them with others as we practiced for a stake Christmas musical to be held on December 16th. If we actually do a good enough job (and we are supposed to be able to!) we will get to play for sacrament meeting that day as well! We actually did a pretty good job and it was a lot of fun:).
Wednesday - LOTS of work at the office so that we could leave early. My goal was to leave at 2 p.m., but it ended up being a little after 3. Dad picked up our mail from the post office this morning so that we could get all the forwarding done and drop it all off as we left the office. That worked well. Came home and made up the sweet potatoes and two pies to take up to Charlotte’s tomorrow... looking forward to seeing and spending time with them.
Friday - We made it up to Charlotte’s about 12:45 having left home just a little before 8, so that was good. Their friend Candice was not here; she had gone to have Thanksgiving with family members, so there was just the four of us to share the delicious meal. Charlotte gets gold stars for a MOST delicious ham! Super full afterwards we just kind of sat around & watched some videos that Christi had recommended and Better Off Ted...and then played Rummikub - kind a strange spelling but we had fun. Getting up late this morning was wonderful; I made Scottish oatmeal for breakfast and Seth added bacon - it was a good breakfast:). We have just enjoyed spending time with each other for the rest of the day...eating pie and playing Apples to Apples. Candice came back to gather up her things...she has been staying here for a while but is moving to another home this weekend. We had a delicious dinner and are going to watch the movie Brave tonight...and maybe eat more pie:). Have enjoyed talking to Christine, Jim, Emily, & Mary...hoping to maybe connect with Sara and Steve tomorrow:).
Friday - We made it up to Charlotte’s about 12:45 having left home just a little before 8, so that was good. Their friend Candice was not here; she had gone to have Thanksgiving with family members, so there was just the four of us to share the delicious meal. Charlotte gets gold stars for a MOST delicious ham! Super full afterwards we just kind of sat around & watched some videos that Christi had recommended and Better Off Ted...and then played Rummikub - kind a strange spelling but we had fun. Getting up late this morning was wonderful; I made Scottish oatmeal for breakfast and Seth added bacon - it was a good breakfast:). We have just enjoyed spending time with each other for the rest of the day...eating pie and playing Apples to Apples. Candice came back to gather up her things...she has been staying here for a while but is moving to another home this weekend. We had a delicious dinner and are going to watch the movie Brave tonight...and maybe eat more pie:). Have enjoyed talking to Christine, Jim, Emily, & Mary...hoping to maybe connect with Sara and Steve tomorrow:).
OK...here are some pictures of Charlotte, Seth and Kuda:) First one is in front of the cozy fire where we watched TV; Second is Seth - same comfy place:). Third is upstairs, Charlotte practicing for choir on Sunday; Fourth is Kuda, downstairs, resigned to us watching TV instead of her:)
Last is me, giving Kuda some love - upstairs.
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| That's our Girl:) |
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| And her guy:)! (Looking Good Seth!) |
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| Cuda - the Cool Dog! |
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| Practicing...so nice to hear once again one of my children making music! |
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| Now this is Comfy! |
Jim, Taylor and DJ did the 5K Turkey Trot yesterday morning and sent us pictures so we enjoyed seeing the T-shirts everyone was wearing with Taylor’s design on them. We are thrilled that Jim was able to complete the course in 1 hour 12 minutes! Way to go Oliphants!!!
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| Taylor & DJ...Cool Kids, Cool Shirts! |
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| Way to go, DJ and Dad! |
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| Wow! Great Design Taylor!!! |
Friday Dinner was Oven Herbed Chicken (Delicious! Charlotte is becoming quite a cook!) and afterwards watched the movie Brave near the cozy fire in the wood stove insert in the basement. Very comfy:)
Saturday - up late (so nice), good breakfast, fun visiting...Charlotte & Lyrica,Candice’s niece, made pumpkin cookies which we all sampled:). Then we went with Charlotte and Seth to help get their Christmas tree. Wish we’d taken a picture; it was beautiful. No, it is IS beautiful:)! We were trying to leave around 12:30, but decided to take some time to eat some of those leftovers and finally left close to 2. The rain has pretty much abated making the drive back to Eugene pretty smooth. Have to make a quick stop at the grocery store before we go to our apartment.
It was so wonderful to be able to see and hug family members:)! With some encouragement from Mom, Mary is coming to visit us December 7-10th; it will be wonderful to see her and then we can look forward to Christmas with Emily and Adam. Now, to figure out a way to see all the rest of the family...not exactly sure how I am going to do that one, but will definitely be thinking about it:).
It was so wonderful to be able to see and hug family members:)! With some encouragement from Mom, Mary is coming to visit us December 7-10th; it will be wonderful to see her and then we can look forward to Christmas with Emily and Adam. Now, to figure out a way to see all the rest of the family...not exactly sure how I am going to do that one, but will definitely be thinking about it:).
OK...called Charlotte and asked her to e-mail me a picture of the tree; she sent that and a picture of their house...apparently they spent some time after we left putting up Christmas lights:)! So - here’s sharing pictures:
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| The Tree! With its first present and first ornament! |
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| Looks like the beginnings of a winter wonderland! |
Heard from Christine today about their success with their family learning how to butcher a rooster. He ended up weighing 5 pounds, is now in the freezer and is to be roasted tomorrow for dinner. That is an experience we never gave our kids... but if we are ever really starving and happen to have chickens around, we know where to go for advice:)! Good job Bullingers:)! They didn't send pictures...so I can't put them here:( Maybe next time?
I just realized I never called Steve or Sara...will try tomorrow.
Putting this all on the blog this morning (Sunday)...Look at me, I'm still learning! Now I can put captions on my pictures!!! I wonder what I will discover next......???
Love to all, Mom & Grandma:)!
Love to all, Mom & Grandma:)!
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