Another priesthood holder

We now have a second priesthood holder in the house. Andrew turned 12 on September 29th. He was interviewed by the bishop that same day. This past Sunday, he was sustained and ordained as a Deacon in the Aaronic priesthood. He will get to pass the sacrament on the 25th (this week is stake conference). I think he is a little nervous about passing the sacrament for the first time. He asked me about a week ago if they would show him how to pass. I reassured him that they would and that his dad would be right there with him to pass. Stan is the one that ordained him also.

Rachael's birthday is tomorrow. She turns 17. You can sure tell she is a teenager because we will hardly see her tomorrow. She will leave about 3:30 to go to the studio for a master dance class by the dancers from Grease. After the class, she will go pick up her cousin, Aashlie. The 2 of them are going to go to the Aikens-Bowie football game with her friend Megan. I suspect they will be home pretty late. On Saturday, we will go to Andy Tarver's Eagle court of honor. Andy is Rachael's boyfriend and also a family friend. Saturday afternoon, I am taking Rachael to the Long Center to see Grease. If we have time after the show, we will go out to dinner. I don't know when we will do her birthday dinner if we don't have time on Saturday. It will probably have to wait a week for dinner. I hope she enjoys her birthday. I can't believe she is 17. It won't be long before she is on her own. I have to admit that this thought scares the crap out of me. I just don't think I am ready for her to be on her own. She is planning on staying at home for college though, so I have a little more time at least. She has sure grown up to be a beautiful young women.

Jeremy has started having occupational therapy once a week. I was starting to have some concerns about his handwriting also. It is better than Andrew's, but it is still slow and painstaking when he writes. He also has dysgraphia. That means all 3 of my kids have now been treated for this. We also discovered why he always talks so loud. He failed a part of the evaluation. He also has central auditory processing disorder. What this means is that he can't differentiate background noises from normal speech, including his own, so it is almost like he has a hearing problem. I have noticed that he is much louder when there is competing noise going on so this explains the problem. He will have to do some therapeutic listening to over come this problem. His problem is moderate. He would probably have trouble in school though because of it. It is a good thing he is homeschooled so that this doesn't present a problem for him. Hopefully he will over come it before he goes to college. He has about 10 years to work on it, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Hess family photos

Here is my dad and step-mom, Sharon

Me, Dad and Grandma-Great

Aunt Sallie, Dad and Grandma-great

Dad and Grandma-great.

Here is my grandma. Everyone calls her grandma-great. She is actually a great-great grandma. She is 95 years old. She has had 2 major back surgeries this summer. I was really worried she wouldn't pull though considering her age. She is pretty healthy for a woman of 95, but her bones are like wet toilet paper. She is in pain all the time. She told me she wishes she knew why God kept her on earth. She must have something to do, but she wants to know what it is so she can get it done and she can pass on. I fear that this will be the last time I get to see her. I also thought that 4 years ago when we were up there for a summer vacation. She surprised me by still being around. She is an amazingly strong woman. I hope I inherited just a little bit of that strength. She still lives at home, walks with a walker, and generally takes care of herself. My aunt Sallie takes care of her a lot and helps with the things she can't do or doesn't have the energy to do. I really think I have an amazing family.

Idaho

On Sunday afternoon, my mom took me over to the Denny's in Layton to meet my step-mom, Sharon. I rode with Sharon to Malad City where she and my dad live. My dad was smoking some sausages and some ribs. Shortly after I got there, Logan, his wife, Amber and their girls Cara and Chloe came over to have dinner with us. They didn't know I was there. Chloe was even wearing her Longhorn outfit that my dad had bought her. Cara wasn't shy at all with me. I got my camera out and took a few pictures of her. After that, she kept saying "I smile" and wanting me to take her picture. She was so cute. Logan is sure going to have his hands full with her. She has such a fun personality. I probably have about 15 photos that are similar to this one, but this is the best of them. I even deleted a bunch that didn't turn out very good.

Here is a picture of Chloe. She is about 2 months old. I wish I lived closer to them and could really get to know them and really be an aunt to them. Logan is looking for a new job. Maybe it will bring him to Texas, who knows.

That evening, we went out to see my Uncle Herb. I forgot to take a picture of him while I was there even though I brought my camera. My uncle has gone back to church and he and his wife, Sherry, have gone through the temple. We talked a little bit about geneology work and temple work while I was out there. It was a different side of my uncle that I have never seen before. Growing up, he drank and smoked and never went to church. It was pretty neat to see this side of him. His home teacher came while we were there. He is a pretty neat guy.

On Monday, my dad tried to take me out to Holbrooke to see where my grandpa was born and raised. I thought Malad was tiny. Holbrooke was almost non-existent. I think I would go insane living out there. I might go insane in Malad, but as I get older, I long for the quiet life that a small town like Malad would offer. Stan would never move there though. I'm not sure I would either. It gets too cold. We may have to look into a place like that around central Texas when we retire. I do wish we lived someplace small when I taught Rachael how to drive.