Monday, the perfect day to start the week off right with a few words for the old blog.

Interesting weekend. Friday night started out wonderfully. I mentioned going to the video store to pick a few movies to watch for the weekend. Sue naturally wanted to come along and then so did Thomas and Christopher. Soon Amy and Richard were coming too. When I told Robert we were all going to the video store he jumped up and said he wanted to come too. So the whole family piled into the car to head to the video store. We quickly decided that Chinese food for dinner was in order too. So, first we went to the Chinese restaurant to place our order and then off to the video store. After we all made a few selections, we headed back to the restaurant to pick up our order and home to eat it and watch movies. Now, for the most part this is just a typical thing to do on a Friday night, but for me it was special. We had not planned on getting Chinese food nor taking the whole family to the video store; it just happened. I like that, since it means that we really like each other as a family and enjoy family time, even the kids. As everyone gets older I often wonder when friends, dating, work and just plain life will begin to pull the family in different directions, as it should. Right now, though we all still like being together and for me, that brings great joy and satisfaction.

Saturday, Sue and I went over to the church for leadership training. It was a satellite broadcast that was shown several times during the day. We chose to go early so as to not interfere with our evening. The rest of the Branch leadership chose to go to the late broadcast. I guess we created some hard feelings when we chose to go over on our own time and not with them. In other meetings I tried to suggest an earlier time to no avail. That, and the events on Sunday have placed us in the rebel category with the leadership I'm afraid.

Also on Saturday, Sister Linder, one of the CES missionaries, fell and broke her ankle. We checked with the Hales and then ran over to the hospital to see if we could help. I really hate situations like that as I never know what to do. Mostly I just figure that we are in the way and that what they need we can't give. We offered a few words of encouragement, I assisted in a blessing and then we left. About all we can do...I hope.

Sunday, Some Sunday's leave me feeling good and others leave me feeling bad. Yesterday was a bad Sunday. It all started in Branch Presidents meeting. I simply do not like the leadership changes President Hales is suggesting. I don't feel they are entirely right but also feel I need to be supportive. Luckily no firm decisions were made and I will have some time to gently suggest something different. The real trouble began right before sacrament meeting. Richard and Jon Treetop were filling the water trays and President Hales told them to fill the water cups separated from the trays so as to not get water in the tray part. I told the story to the boys how I had purposely put water in the bottom of the try so that the deacon who was passing would have to deal with a sloshing tray. We laughed about it and then Jon decided to do it with one of the trays. Both Richard and I saw him do it and did nothing to stop it. I thought it would be funny. Jon Strang was the one who ended up with the try and while it was funny to watch, he handled it just fine. After the meeting I joked to Jon Strang about the tray and he set out to seek revenge on those who participated in the joke. By the time Priesthood rolled around Jon Strang and Danny Snow had determined not only to milk the situation for all it was worth but get others in trouble too. Danny and Jon achieved their purpose and sucked me into the fray as well. It all came to a head when President Hales came into class and lectured all on the importance of keeping the sacrament sacred. He did what was technically the correct thing to do, but it came across as a huge victory for Danny and Jon and in my opinion reinforced the bad behavior that is typical for Jon and Danny and further divided the group. The whole experience left me with a great deal of bad feelings. These feelings stuck with me the rest of the day and are still with me. I just need to let it go.