Do you know who has 10 kids and 18 1/2 grand kids?

It's our very own Darla Patterson!
Darla has been married to John (how many of the sisters in our ward are married to a man named John? At least 3 I have interviewed!) for almost 14 years. In April it will be 14 years. When they got married she had 7 children and he had 3. 10 kids! Wow that is fun! Now she is proud to be a grandma to 18 1/2. Yes, a half. There is one on the way. All but three of them live near by. When I asked Darla what her passion was she said, "My kids and my grand kids."

Darla is a customer service rep for a cable company that primarily services Sun Lakes. She loves to read. She read different types of books in spurts. For example she went from reading the Twilight series to Kingdom and the Crown. She also enjoys cooking and singing. She says she is not very good at singing but she enjoys it very much. She is practicing with the stake choir to sing in stake conference on April 26th.

Ladies Night Out

For Ladies Night Out we went to My Big Fat Greek Restaurant. It was very greek. We had a good time. There was talking and laughing and visiting and eating, of course.


We would love to see you at the next "outing!"

AZ born and raised

There aren't too many who can claim native Arizonian status. A person who is born in Arizona and has live here all their life. With Arizona being a melting pot (in more way than one with our summer heat) and more and more people coming here to enjoy the painted desert, you really don't find to many natives. Well, folks, we've got some in our very midst. Amy Reed was born in Phoenix, AZ. She has been in AZ her entire life. She met her husband Sam in Thatcher, AZ. They married 13 years ago.
Amy's 3 children also claim AZ native status. Billy is 9, Samantha is 7 and Porter is 4. Amy loves to watch Sun's games with her basketball fan, Billy. One of their favorite family activities is going to the drive in movies. They get their snacks all prepared and hop in the car and drive up. "And you get to see 2 movies, too!" Billy advised me.

Amy works at Arizona's native grocery store Basha's 2 days a week. She is the second councilor in the Primary and she loves it.

Not too long ago there was a ward conference and members of our stake were visiting our ward. During primary sharing tine the stake presidency was sitting in the back observing. The sharing time leader held up a picture of Adam and Eve. Right away, upon seeing the picture Porter yells "I don't like them!" Amy still recalls her embarrassment. But she tells this story with a laugh and a twinkle in her eye. You can tell she loves her lil' man.

Her favorite Twilight character is Alice, who's yours?

Kat (Katherine) Upperman is married to Matthew and she is a Twilight Mom of 2. Her sons are Aiden (5) and Gavin (3). She is on the Enrichment committee. I met Kat for our interview at Pecos Ranch Park in Chandler. Right off Kat greats me with a huge welcoming smile. She was wearing her cute Twilight Mom t-shirt. Her sons were off playing in the playground near the picnic tables we met at for the interview and lunch. Kat is into fitness and it really does show. She knows so much about getting healthy and into shape. And she enjoys it. She said, "If anyone wants to get into shape and lose weight, call me." We talked a bit about the different diets there are out there and what "really" works. She sure knows her stuff.

She loves fantasy books and comic books. Like I mentioned Kat is a Twilight Mom. For those who do not know what this is, I asked Kat and looked it up on the internet. "TwilightMOMS.com started out as an effort to bring adult fans of Stephenie Meyer together to discuss anything and everything about The Twilight Saga..." and then "Members began forging life long friendships with each other, meeting up with others in their area, and rekindling passion and enthusiasm through talents and interests that had gradually fallen into the background as life’s responsibilities naturally became the central focus." Kat has met other Mom's in the area after becoming a Twilight mom, herself. There are rules to being a Twilight mom. You've gotta be a mom or at least 25 years old if you are not a mom. There are other things required, too, but they are an accepting group. Kat enjoys this... um.. dare I say hobby? and spending time with the other moms. It is really great. I enjoyed learning about it and talking to her about it. It made me tempted to pick up a book. Ahh.
As our interview wound down Kat excused herself to go check on her boys. Twilight, or no twilight, this is one great mom!

Lunch Bunch / Play Group...So Fun!

 

Today's Lunch bunch/Play group was a lot of fun. Each month our ward has a day time activity for sisters to get together and visit with each other where you bring your kids and your lunch. The kid get to play together and the sisters get to visit. It is a lot of fun. I usually have to work during the day but the last 2 months I just happened to be off when the Lunch bunch/play group was schedule and I am so happy I got to attend. I have loved visiting with the other gals who have attended.

You don't have to have kids to come, either. If you just want to come to visit with the other sisters that is great! They/we (when I am lucky enough to have the day off) would love to have you come. This really is a great way to get to know more people. Be on the look out for the Lunch Bunch announcement for next month and mark your calendar and don't forget to come!

She says she moved here on a whim. I wouldn't call it a whim, exactly...

Anneliesa Alexander is married to Scott. They are happy Newlyweds who have been married for just 2 months. Anneliesa joined the church when she was 13. She grew up in Monetary Bay California. She later lived in Utah for 10 years, more on that in a minute. She went on a mission in the South. She served in Georgia. She has a degree in marriage and family. (If I were her husband I'd be a little intimidated; if there is ever an argument she has to automatically win, she has a degree in marriage!!) She currently works for an investment firm training new financial advisers. Favorite TV shows are the Office and Sports Center. Yep, Sports Center. She loves college basketball. But not just college basketball. She likes sports of any kind.

Now, back to Utah...
Anneliesa graduated from BYU. In June of 2006 she was attending a singles ward in the Mormon college town of Provo when one day her bishop pulled her aside and gave her some life changing advice. He told her to move away from Provo. Away from Utah all together. He told her she would have a better chance of finding her eternal companion if she moved away. He gave her suggestions of cities (like the pricey San Francisco or Washington D.C.) but his main point was for her to leave to have a better chance to find the man she was suppose to be with. Anneliesa away from that conversation and decided to take his advise and leave the great state of Utah. She quit her job that Friday. Packed her car on Saturday and drove on down to Arizona. When she arrived she had no job and no residence. She stayed with a friend of a friend of a friend for a 2 days which was all it took to find an apartment. She had her old missionary companion from Idaho come out on this life changing adventure with her. Here it is just a few months shy of 3 years later and the roommate has since moved back to Idaho, but Anneliesa is here with us. To stay.... for now at least! She met Scott one year after moving here which goes to show, her bishop was right!!

We are happy she stayed!! She is our ward emergency preparedness specialist. She is very excited about this calling. Be on the look out for activities helping us learn how to be more prepared!

Valiant in the Cause of Christ

That was the title of our lesson today. It was taught by Tanya. The lesson is on pages 349-357 in the book. (Lesson 30)

The Joseph Smith quote was "I am a lover of Christ." We talked about the persecution on Joseph Smith and others in October 1838. They were arrested and put in jail. Joseph was chained to the others and they were all in jail, yet he still was in good spirits, writing this to Emma, "We are prisoners in chains and under strong guards, for Christ's sake and for no other cause..." He lists who was chained with him and goes on to write, "....and thus we are all bound together in chains as well as chords of everlasting love. We are in good spirits and rejoice that we are counted worthy to be persecuted for Christ's sake."

Sisters, are you counted worthy to be persecuted for Christs sake? What do you do to stand up for Christ in your daily lives? Sister Rhees shared a recent experience at work where she did just that. She had a nurse using offence language and she asked her several times to stop. The other person made light of it and laughed, so Ethleen put her foot down and very firmly told her that she would not speak that way at this nurses station, ever. And that she would not take the Lord's name in vain in from of her again. The woman realized the seriousness of what was being said and has since been respectful of what was asked. There were other wonderful comments and things sisters do daily to remain valiant in the cause of Christ.

The lesson and the pages in the book encompass much more that I can put here in this little post. I recommend taking 10 minutes to read through the lesson. It goes on to talk about "the valiant love the cause of Christ and strive to develop Christ like qualities." and being valiantly cheerful and how the valiant strive to improve themselves in this life and how "The valiant endure faithfully to the end and will receive a crown of celestial glory."

Get your Motors Running...Head out on the Highway...

That is the plan of Jennifer Collen Johns and her husband Cordel (Cory) Johns when their kids are a bit older. They want to get on a couple of Hogs and tour the country. Motorcycles, that is. They would love to take their family on a biking adventure. Currently they have one son. His name is Rowan and he is 9 months old. Jenn and Cory have been married since August 12th 2005.

Like most of you married folks they have a story. But in the story of their lives together starts in a different spot for each of them. Cory remembers meeting his wife at an activity she isn't so sure they met at. She has a distinct impression of their first meeting. (Which was weeks after he says they met!) But, they both agree on what their first "official" date was. Jennifer was saying how she wanted to watch all 3 of the first Star Wars movies in one sitting and Cory heard this and invited her to do just that. During episode 4 (aptly titled "A New Hope") the were sitting on opposite sides of a 3 cushion couch. By the time the Empire Strikes back started there was not longer a whole cushion between them. Before Return of the Jedi they left and went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. They returned and watched the 3rd movie and knew they had someone special....

They dated for just over a year. Cory made the ring he proposed to Jenn with. (Ask her to see it.) They both make jewelry now. They were married in the temple in Bountiful Utah which is where Cory is from. Jenn comes from Logan and sure misses the seasons. They know how to dance and love it! They had danced together a few times before that first date at clubs where they showed off their swing and waltz skills.

Jenn went on a mission to Tallahassee, Florida. She is a registered nurse who is currently working as a full time mom. She is a teacher in the primary where she gets to teach the 5 & 6 year olds about the gospel.

So the blog... it's a changing

I have changed the title of the blog and the address. I am glad to see you have found it. Part of my calling is to find a way for the Sisters in our ward to feel more connected to each other and to get to know each other better. To feel more like a family, if you will. Well, this is a way I know how to help with that. I haven't see my cousins in like 5-7 years, but I read their blogs weekly and I feel like I know them now better than I have in a long time. I really feel this is a great way to help our ward family feel like a family.

So, while I say this is my blog, really it is our blog to use to get to know one another.

I want to make sure as to not offend any one. If you see a picture of you on here that you decide you don't want on here just email me at g3reliefsociety@yahoo.com and I will change it. (Or just comment on the post.) I will generally ask before posting a photo, unless it is at an activity and even then if I am the Photog (as they say in the Biz)I will ask you after I take it if it is ok to post.

When I do the recap of the RS lesson on Sunday it will be what I heard and what touched me. This blog is not an "official" church blog or website. You can find those at www.lds.org for members and www.mormon.org for non-members looking to find out more.

Thank you for reading my blog about the Sisters in my ward family. (Galveston 3rd Ward.)

Who am I, you ask? That I'll never tell. XOXO ~ Gossip Girl...

Just kidding! (that is a line from a show on the CW!)
I am Shawndel Graves. I have a son Cody and a cat Bella. I work at a Bank. Oooh lala. I moved to Arizona in October of 2007 from southern California. I decided to come here to have my baby and be closer to my sister and brothers and their families. I looooove movies. I love going to them, I love owning them, I love quoting them randomly. Half the time I don't even realize it until it is out of my mouth. I think people know a lot about me already because I am such a talker. 7 1/2 hours a day at work and then at least 2500 minutes a month on my phone. Not to mention in person. So I will end my self interview there. As with each interview I am adding my picture so you can get a face with the facts.

I look forward to getting to know each of you better. Don't be surprised when I ask if I can interview you and take your picture for the blog.