To All Of You Basketball Coaches!

I know it's soccer season and football season, but it's never too early to start thinking about basketball too!

My blog is usually used as a place to record the goings on in my life. That usually means pictures of my grandchildren! But I am very involved in the stake Relief Society presidency, so today you're going to get something related to that. Recently (I don't know any of the details) a young women from our stake showed up at the temple on her wedding day with a very immodest(strapless) wedding gown and she and her mother insisted that she be allowed to wear it as it was "her special day." Obviously she needed to be covered up inside the temple, but I understand she wore the dress outside for pictures. Anyway, it prompted our temple matron to contact our stake Relief Society president and ask her to address temple wedding dress standards and other modesty standards more thoroughly in our stake. In reviewing some articles I came across this interesting analogy related to a basketball game. I hope it will help the young mothers and fathers I love to be more diligent during these busy and patience-trying early years!

"Standards bless our homes. Children should be introduced to those standards while they are young. Teaching children has been likened to a basketball game. For the first eight minutes, the home team (that's us) can make all the points they wish without opposition. A smart coach (the parents) would instruct the team (that's our children) to stand as close as possible to the basket, making as many baskets as fast as possible before the eight-minute bell rang. The home team (that's us) would be so far ahead when the opposition stepped into the game that even if our team made some mistakes, we would still win the game of life. We have that opportunity, because Satan cannot tempt our children until they are eight. Let's hope we don't waste those years searching for the ball."

Carol Hillam "Yea, They Had Been Taught By Their Mothers"
BYU Women's Conference 2000

Grandma's Birthday Party!

Enjoy some images of my birthday party last night!

Thanks! (Looking Upward)

I got the best present I could ever have asked for:

It's August; it's hot; it was even very humid on the 22nd and will be hot on the 24th!

But my birthday was perfect weather from beginning to end!

The windows were open all day with a cool breeze blowing in. No A/C needed; no hot car to get in and out of; no afternoon doldrums when it's too hot to do anything.

What a nice gift! I felt good all day!

Thanks to my favorite weatherMan!!

More Fun With Lists!

I see these in magazines and newspapers so I decided to make up my own:

FACTS AND FIGURES

August 17, 1972

Most important day of my life

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36

Number of years Dan has worked for the League and that we have lived in the greater Sacramento area

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32, 850

Number of diapers changed on our six children

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September 5, 1978

Day our first child started kindergarten

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April 25, 2008

Day our last child graduated from college

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78

Number of Back to School Nights attended

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9

Number of Pinewood Derby cars raced

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18

Number of New Beginnings programs attended

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15

Number of years I have served in Relief Society callings (Young Women's: 8 years; Primary: 5 years; Others such as Seminary, Sunday School etc.: 9 years--yes, I've been keeping a list!)

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18

Number of years Dan has served in a bishopric or stake presidency

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France, Dominican Republic, Romania,

Bulgaria, Portugal, Korea

Countries where our children served missions

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#85

Favorite family campsite at Calaveras Big Trees

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$2, 462.59

Money that passed through the Rainbow Bank

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Oakland, Logan, Seattle, Portland, Washington D.C.

Temples in which our children were married

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18

Number of children ages 10 and under that refer to us as Grandma and Grandpa

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11 trips

Times in 2009 we visited family in another state

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444

Number of months we have been married

**********************************

13, 505

Number of days we have been married

*********************************

Eternity

Amount of time we get to spend with each other!

It's Show Time!

August in Kansas can be very HOT and HUMID! Here is the view off of Heidi and Charles' deck one evening. It was 97 degrees and almost that high of humidity with those clouds.

What to do with three busy girls?

Have shows!

I was treated to all sorts of "shows" by Courtney, Elizabeth and Sarah!

There were dancing/gymnastic shows:

(Elizabeth is wearing her soccer shirt--I bet she'll come up with a Soccer Show!)

Preparing for the Art Show:

The Art Show:




Skating Shows:

Scooter Shows:

Bike Riding Shows:

And one evening an Everything Show!

with an official photographer:

One day we had a Zoo Show using all of their stuffed animals but the official photographer didn't take the camera to that show. And of course there were swimming shows as captured in the previous post.
These girls can make a show out of shopping at Target!

Or playing with cousins!

Or even eating dinner!

But I think the best show of all was our grand finale: The Glow Show! The girls did a show that literally lasted for hours using some glow sticks that could be formed into various size circles.
I had to use the flash so you could see the girls, but it was pitch black for the show. It was so much fun for everyone, that Grandma is already planning a huge Glow Show for the next family reunion!

Bathing Beauties!

The McClellan girls love to swim!

So an important part of their house hunting included finding a home that had a community pool nearby. They love being within walking distance of these pools reserved for people living in their housing development.

Underwater Courtney!

Bubbly Elizabeth!

Splashing Sarah!

They liked playing Motorboat" and then ending up in the pool!

Courtney liked flipping over as she jumped in making a big splash! (Her Mom and I worried about her not jumping out far enough and hitting her head on the side!)

But she made it every time!

Grandma's A Sucker!

While I was in Utah visiting Josh's family, we went school shopping and passed the candy aisle in Target. The kids saw some Ring Pops and they got pretty excited: Oh, I love those! I wish we could get one! Those are so fun! How could I resist four kids working on one Grandma?

Sophie's Choice Day!

Sophie was blessed on Sunday, August 2nd!

Here she is on her Blessing Eve:

They told me she had just started to smile, so when she was all ready for Church on Sunday, we had a photo session trying to get her to smile. She's adorable!

Let's put the drool bib on and see if that works. Hooray!


It was a very special day with many from Andrea's family there and myself, Vovo and Lorne from Josh's family.


I know little Sophie will bring lots of joy to her family; she's one of Heavenly Father's choicest!