Hi

It's been a busy few days, or maybe week. We had our Circuit Assembly last weekend, which of course was great! Lots of reminders. It's always amazing to Brian and I how the information is not new, but depending on where you are currently in life, it can hit you in a new way, or make sense to you in a way you never appreciated it before. Anyhow, it was great, and we had beautiful weather, and little wind. Wind usually makes it uncomfortable to be outside at our assembly hall, but it was perfect this time. We walked around during the lunch break outside both days and the kids found treasures, like frogs and giant moths, and seeing a huge jack rabbit from afar running across a field.

Sunday on the way home we swung into the Jelly Belly Factory for some Extreme Sports Beans. Hard to find these anywhere else, most stores carry regular ones that don't have caffeine.

We did a 18 miler on Monday, which felt great after 2 days of sitting. The weather was still great, although both Brian and I ended up a bit redder than we would have liked. I oiled up w/some Hawaiian Tropic before we got started....I don't recommend doing this! For one, it seemed to heat me up quicker, I felt the sun cooking me by mile 3. Secondly, bugs stick to the oil. There was a lot of water getting dumped on me as instead of in me trying to get the oil off. That's what I get for being so desperate for my tan that I usually would have had 2 months ago!

I had the #2 talk last night on why is Jesus called the Lord of the Sabbath. My new talk strategy is to work it up 2 weeks in advance and then just keep putting the info in over and over and over....then pray like crazy for help to 'call to mind' the info. I know if I put it in there, Jehovah will help with the words to get it back out in a coherent fashion. Also, I kept remembering something Grandpa Al told me when I was pretty young (under 10) about being nervous before giving a talk. It was along the lines of if you're that nervous, you're probably to focuses on yourself, how you look and sound....and not the information. So I tried to focus not on how limp my hair was, the huge pimple on my face, or that my skirt felt too tight on my waist a probably looked bloated, and instead prayed to stay focused on getting the information out coherently and the way Jehovah had in mind when he put that talk on the talk schedule for the year. And, that as counsel point #42 states - "my talk was informative to my audience". All went well.

One talk down, and on to the next. Brian and I will spend this evening helping Emma work up her first talk. It's on Jehovah's view of idols, and the 3 scriptures given as her source info are out of the King James. We are taking a tag team approach, I will help with the setting, typing and printing....Brian and Em will come up with the actual talk. Sounds good to me : )

We also gained a new family member last night. As of now, we are calling it Al. Al is an alligator Lizard. Auntie Jill's papa has been hunting for an Alligator Lizard for Em for near 2 years now. They live in his wood pile and he sees them often, but they are fast. Well, he snagged one on a cold day when it wasn't moving fast. He's probably 4 inches long? After school today we will head to Target to get a larger container to begin building his habitat. The kids, and Brian, had fun last night at 10 pm running around the yard catching bugs for Al. We weren't sure when or what he ate last. Once we get his new home set up, I'll post some pictures.

My sis in law and her family are on their way down from WA. Looking forward to seeing them tomorrow evening and through the weekend. Speaking of weekend, the big day is finally upon us! See Jane 13.1 is this Saturday! Again, I have to say I am so proud of all the ladies who took the leap and registered for this run. That is the hardest part in a lot of ways. Your going to come out and have a great time! It might hurt, you will be tired, but you will finish, and have fun in the process. Run safe this week, no injuries! Don't get sunburned between now and then. Have a great week. I am looking forward to seeing your smiley faces bright and early Saturday morning!

Lastly, I wanted to mention my friend Nancy up in Wa. I mentioned her in this post. Tomorrow she has her chemo treatment that marks her "half way done" with chemo point. There was no doubt from the beginning of all this that she would handle it with amazing strength, and she has. She has been extremely open and honest, posting about her journey along the way. She has shared with us all those little details you may wonder about if you've ever known someone going through this process. From dr's appts, insurance issues, what the chemo room looks like, how it feels going in, what getting her port was like, wig shopping, the day she realized she was loosing her hair, the morning she realized it was the day she would start wearing her wig to work, how she feels in the days/week after chemo....she has been brave enough and finds the strength to share it all with us. I am thinking about her as she marks her half way point in the chemo process, hoping she will be able to celebrate in some small way, even if its with a wheat thin : ) As always, Nancy, you are in my thoughts and prayers. Much love.