A week in Pictures

This has been a varied week.  I've continued to work on my financial book. Had some editorial revisions to do. They will make the book stronger, but they slow the forward progress of the writing. I am understanding more about some different areas, especially CFD (Contract for Difference) but I need to learn more about currencies and commodities.

I went twice this week to Marian's to work on my hearts for the Relief Society Retreat necklaces.  Here are the bisqued hearts.

And then the start of glazing hearts.  When I went back, I finished glazing all of them and loaded some into the kiln.

We continued to work at the house.  While the garage is somewhat cleaner than it was, with the hardiboard and much of the tile and flooring moved into the house... it still has a ways to go.

However, the inside of the house is progressing. Almost all the tile is laid and it has been grouted in the entry and bath. We needed to buy the kitchen/dining room grout and did that on Saturday.  Here is a picture of the outside of the house we have been putting so much blood, sweat and tears into.

Tom has been wearing his "old jeans" to work on the house. His goal is to be able to finish the house before he has to break out some new "old jeans." So this set has been patched a couple of times... but the holes are winning.

 Tuesday night I went to Ava for their Relief Society Birthday party. It was lovely. Sister Loveland, the mission president's wife spoke.  She talked about spiritual gifts and how we need to ask for them in our weakness.  When we pray, we should examine where we have not done well. Have we been angry or critical?  We need to look for the spiritual gift that is the antidote of this weakness and ask for that blessing. Perhaps we need to be more patient or to love more.  As we seek these spiritual gifts we can improve ourselves through the Grace of God.

Friday Tom and I drove down to Andy and Kera's. Bless their hearts, They postponed travel to let us come and stay.  It was nice to visit with them and the children. The next morning we drove on to Fort Smith to go to a baptism.  This is the baptism of one of the men Tom had met and talked to in prison. He had been waiting to be baptized for a long time.  His friend John, had introduced him to the church while they were both in prison.

 Jame's daughter Misty came to the baptism to support her dad.

 It was a great baptism. The speaker on the Holy Ghost said that we are imperfect in communicating. We don't do all that well with others, and we lack perfection as we speak to God.  Part of the Holy' Spirit's responsibility is to take our imperfect words and make them acceptable to God.  Then on Sunday, the 7th verse of "Pray is the Soul's Sincere Desire" reinforced that idea.

We went to lunch at Five Guys with James, John, their families and the missionaries. Good food and good visiting.  But we needed to head home. Miranda and family were coming to visit, and a snow storm was blowing in.

We stopped at Fayetteville to shop at Aldi's and when we came out it was sleeting. It was just above freezing and since it had been warm, the snow melted as it hit the road.  But as we got to Harrison-- about an hour from home, it started to stick on the roadsides.

 As it got dusk, the snow turned blue.

 Then, at the river, it was foggy and snowy and socked in.

The chicken coop netting on top of the fencing collected the snow like a blanket and folded it all into the coop. I think it took down part of the fence as the chickens were wandering around outside today.

 On the way to church today it was beautiful!  The roads were clear but the fields and trees were full of snow. Our poor willow was bent nearly to the ground.

I'm glad I took pictures on the way to church because by the time we got out, much of the snow was melted.

It has been nice to have Miranda, Dan and kids here.  They had friends from Broken Arrow come to church today who were vacationing in the area.  Their spring break wasn't quite as sunny as they had anticipated.  So we invited them over for dinner tonight. Someone had given Tom three loaves of bread. What on earth could we do with them?  So we decided to have lettuce tomato and bacon sandwiches... and burritos for the kids who didn't want them.  It all worked out well. Tom made brownies first for the youth who came for BYD (Bishops Youth Discussion) and then for our company.  I am blessed with a fantastic brownie maker!

It's been a good week.