Grammy...

I will soon be a Grammy again!  Jack and McKell are having a girl in early December!  We will have one boy and one girl!  It will be fun to see the other side of the coin!  Before Avery left on his LDS Mission, Jack and McKell told him that her name would be Avery!  Avery was quite proud, like, of course you would name her after me!  We already love her and love watching McKell's belly grow as she prepares to give birth.  What a blessing it is to be a mother and to watch our children become mom's and dad's!  They will be great parents!!!

Adriaan is growing and prospering!  He is walking everywhere, climbing couches, cleaning out drawers and containers, etc.  He is home with his mommy this year and I miss him being here 5 days a week!  I think he will always be my little buddy!  He has been amazingly healthy and is doing well even though he has CF.  Isn't is a blessing that we have the capacity to love each one that comes into our lives!  I am a blessed Grammy!

Avery has been on his LDS Mission for 2 1/2 months.  He has had up's and down's.  He has had a hard time adjusting to being on the other side of the world!  He is in a beautiful Country, Australia!  My prayer is that he will get into the Mission spirit!  Yes, a mission is hard but life is hard no matter where you live it!  I am thankful and grateful that he is serving a mission!!!  His girl friend Katelyn, got her Mission call this week.  She will be serving in Argentina.  She leaves on January 28th.  I think once she is out it will be easier for Avery to serve.

I am substituting again this year!  I enjoy substituting except when I have a exceptionally hard class!  I had one of those a few weeks ago!  They were first graders and the hardest class I have ever substituted!  Yesterday I substituted a 6th grade class and they were probably the best class I have ever had!  You never know what you are going to get when you take a job!  The note I left for the teacher said, "They were great!  They were perfect angels!"  I couldn't leave a note for the 1st grade teacher because it wouldn't have been nice!  LOL

This past 9 months or so have been rather busy!  We asked our renters of 9 years to move out.  We had the entire kitchen torn out from ceiling to floor!  The carpet throughout the entire house was removed and replaced with fresh new carpet.  The entire house was cleaned from ceiling to floor.  The entire house was painted and new lighting was added.  We cleaned up outside and planted new plants, replaced the fence added dirt and flowers! My visiting teacher and I removed all the old wallpaper and stripped the front door and refinished it!  Becky is my Guardian Angel!  We put it up for sale, got it under contract and closed on the sale all within the 30 days after we put it up for sale!  It was a blessing from my Heavenly Father who listens to my prayers and watches over me!

Once the rental house was sold, we began our home that we live in!  When we put in the new kitchen at the rental house, all my appliances were moved over there and we went without here.  Tearing out our Kitchen has been stressful and a blessing!  Going without appliances for 3 months is a difficult task!  We love our new Kitchen, the new flooring and paint!  Although we started in mid June, we still have small things that need to be done.  We started putting up pictures last week.  It is nice to see it coming back together!  It is so delightful to have a new kitchen!  We LOVE it!

Though we didn't have a kitchen in July, we sent out our youngest son Avery on his LDS Mission to Perth, Australia.  Our neighbor Marianne Morris lovingly offered us her home to host his Farewell!  They cleaned their house, moved furniture, helped us set up the food and welcomed our guests like family!  Our house was a dusty mess and I will love them forever for the gift that they gave us that day!

On September 27th we enjoyed the marriage of our oldest daughter Amanda and Michael!  It was a rainy day!  Not just rain but pounding rain!  Amanda and McKell freshened up their curls in their hair numerous times!  Even though we were indoors the rain made havoc!  Though it rained and rained, nothing could ruin that day!  Seeing them get married was a blessing and we are thankful that they love each other and are there for one another!  It was a beautiful wedding!  Her cake, dress, decorations, food, candy.....everything was wonderful!!!!

On September 28th, our son Spencer proposed to his girlfriend Lyndsay!  She is a doll!  We love her like crazy!  Spencer is a blessed man!  They are getting married on December 11, 2014.  Yes, just a couple of days after our granddaughter Avery is due to arrive!  Yes, just 2 1/2 months after Amanda's wedding!  We are so happy for them!  They are a cute couple!  They are trying to figure out where to live and how to afford it!  They are two broke college kids but are following the advice of our church leaders and moving forward with faith in our Heavenly Father!!!  Life is a blast and never boring around here!!!

I am only venting....

If you don’t appreciate people venting or complaining, this is probably not the best post for you! I was venting with Ken last night and he wasn’t sympathetic and basically didn’t want to hear it. So where do you vent when you need to? I don’t really have best friends that I talk with a lot. I have been told, I am a pleaser. That basically means that I work hard at work, to please and keep the peace with those I work with. I feel like when I am at work, I am there to make life as simple and easy as possible. I am a teachers aid. So what does that mean? It means I do whatever I can while I am there to help the teacher. I end up spending a lot of extra time, that I am not paid for to accomplish that goal, but it makes me feel needed and wanted!

You have heard the saying, “When it rains it pours!” Well, that seems to be the theme around here lately. With all the heavy rain last week, we are swimming in wet carpet. Here we have removed all the wet carpet and wet padding but there is still some worry that it may be more than that. At the rental house, the water damage was less but less cared for. The renters want us to replace all the basement carpet! I know that as the Landlord it is our responsibility. This is not the first time they have asked for new carpet. At the bottom of the stairs, they have ripped out the carpet because they could not get it clean.

The problem is that they don’t take care of what they have. The house once they leave will be in need of major cleaning and repair. I have a really hard time replacing carpet in a house where I know they will not be taking care of it!!! Yes, they have been living there for over 5 years and yes it is the original carpet but I also know that it will be garbage material within the next 5 years.

I have been living with the same carpet in this house since we moved here. One friend that looked at buying this house before us, said that she could not live one day in this house without changing out the carpet. I have been living here coming up on 14 years and the carpet in the 3 rooms that got flooded were still the original carpet. We have been doing one or two rooms at a time as we can afford them.

Now we are replacing carpet in three rooms, not cheap! The rental house needs the shingles replaced. I knew that. We got a $6,000.00 Insurance check in January to replace the roof after the terrible Centerville wind disaster. That will not cover the entire shingling job. We have been waiting for the weather to get warmer, so the shingles will seal properly. Time has run out and they need to be replaced now. On top of all of that, the renters want us to replace all the carpet in the basement! Ken told them yes! I am overwhelmed with all the financial needs right now and don’t know how to stop worrying about it or how to help! P.S. We owe $4,000.00 in taxes!

I am crying “Uncle, uncle, uncle!” Please stop the bleeding! They say things come in threes. I have had my three!

There, maybe that will help me!!!

Testimony of our missionary, Spencer!

This is Elder Hadlock’s testimony. It was written separately in the Christmas package he sent home. At the end of his testimony in a P.S. He said, “Tell Grandpa Hadlock that there is popcorn here. That reference is from when Ken’s parents were living here, and Spencer was eating a lot of popcorn, Grandpa Hadlock told him he would have to go without popcorn for two years! lol As a side note, Spencer is slowly loosing his English skills as he picks up the Spanish language more fully. I did need to rearrange some of the words to make sense. We also received pictures, trinkets for Gary and Avery, letters for all four of us and best of all his testimony!

My Christmas Testimony

I know that Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. That as we in this time of season of year, look towards His life and teachings, that we will see our God’s hand in our everyday lives. It means so much to me to know that we have a loving Heavenly Father, who gave His perfect self, that he atoned for our sins. I know the through the atonement of Christ, that we will find mercy and peace.

I love all of you very much! I want you to know this: “I know that my Redeemer lives!” I know that Joseph Smith was given the Priesthood Authority to restore His church again. I know that we have God’s authority here on the Earth today. We can all know of this same truth through reading and praying about The Book of Mormon.

Sincerely,

Elder Spencer Steele Hadlock

Missionary blessings....

Those who have missionaries serving or have served as missionaries, know missionary blessings. We received missionary blessings yesterday. Our city was hit with 8 hours of sustained winds of 100 MPH and wind gusts of up to 106 MPH. We were without power for 17 1/2 hours in 30 degree temperatures. The blessings? Very little damage! Homes around us and around our home we rent out lost shingles, fences, trees, siding...etc., etc., etc. The home we live in sustained no damage that we have been able access. Our rental home no longer has any fences. When we bought the lot, it was completely fenced. So, we have never seen it open like it is. We share fences with 5 other homes, now it is completely open. Wow, weird! The wind took down the big cherry tree in the backyard. I have fond memories of our children climbing in that tree. With the fences, we lost a 20 year old grape vine. A very large and stalky vine. We will see what grows in the spring. Except for the inconvenience of no heat or power, we walked away virtually unscathed. The homes are in tact, the neighborhood is a mess! We were blessed with physical safety!

Another recent blessing was that of a job. I have worked in the school system for the past eight years in various capacities. Last year I took on just a 3 hour a day job as a teaching assistant. Even though it was less hours than I wanted, it was consistent work. When I work as a substitute, it is hard to make plans. I never knew what would come tomorrow. With this job, I can make other plans.

At the end of last year, the Principal told me that she would not know if she could hire me back on, because of funding cuts. She said that she would get back to me in early August. When late August came around and I had not heard back from her, I started wondering what to do. A couple of days before school started I got a call. She said she could offer me 1 1/2 hours of work a day!

With that kind of offer, it seemed I would need to go back to being a substitute. The principal offered four teaching assistants 1 1/2 hr. a day. Slowly but surely the other assistants turned her down. The outcome? I was offered 5 hrs. a day, four days a week. I love the kids, I love the people I work with, I love the school and it is nice to have a guaranteed income that I can plan around. I love those missionary blessings!

Thank you to those of you who worried about us, checked in on us, offered us a place to stay, etc! It is great to be warm again! Yesterday I had a hard time staying warm. Thanks to a car, I was able to warm up occasionally in the car. There were not gas stations or fast food places open. All of the traffic lights were out which made traveling difficult. Power lines were down, especially on Main street which made travel dangerous. Flying projectiles made being outside difficult and dangerous too! I am thankful for a good nights sleep and a warm house and a wonderful family!

Ninja...

Avery has been interested in everything Ninja lately. Last night we went by my sisters house. She had an extra kicking bag. We brought it home and it is now hanging in the storage room. We should all have a kicking bag, right?

Today he mowed the lawn. He got his first paycheck last week and wants to buy a Ninja Uniform. With most of his check and money from mowing the lawn, he picked out just the one he wanted. We got it from Karate Depot.

http://www.karatedepot.com/

Day 8 of 29-Days of Giving

Today I substituted in a Special Education class.  The class has around 12 kids with special needs.  I don’t know of many other instances when I feel as close to God as when working with children who have special needs.  A woman once when talking about her Grandson with Angel’s Syndrome.  She said he was more of a devil than an angel.  I know that children with special needs are heaven bound, not question in my mind.  Here is a wonderful inspirational story!http://youtu.be/ciYk-UwqFKA

Day 6 of 29 days

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=17258130

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a member of my church, service to others is really just a part of every day life. So, as I sit and contemplate service rendered, a lot of the service I do, is stuff that is just part of my normal routine.

As my service action yesterday one of the things I did was to go visiting teaching. Visiting teaching is done once a month in our church, or more often as our sisters need us. We go as a pair of women that are matched together. Every so often our districts change so that we get the opportunity to serve with and serve other members, so that we get new opportunities. My companion and I visit three sisters.

We usually visit with them for 30-60 min. each month. Yesterday morning we were able to visit with all three in one morning. That is sometimes hard to do, to schedule around five womens schedules but we were able to do it. When we visit, we access their needs, share a short lesson on the gospel, share a testimony and end with a prayer. It is a highlight of my month. It is an opportunity to share our love of the gospel together.

We also come together at the drop of a hat it there is a need in our ward such as: a death, birth, sickness, etc. You can expect that women in the ward would drop everything to help in any desperate situations. We take in dinners, help with small children, help clean a house, provide our time to sit with you by your hospital bed, bring in groceries to your home, drive other children to lessons, etc. I have done all of these things and more but it is just something that I grew up watching my mother do, so they are just something I have always known I need to do. Both my mom and dad who are still alive were my greatest examples of service.

I still have early memories of my dad and brothers grabbing shovels early in the morning to shovel every front walk on our side and the opposite side of the street on our block, which was around 50 homes. It is just something they would do. When my mom would make cookies, we always knew 1/2 would be going to another family! I am grateful for the great examples of service that lived in my own home!!!