Happy Birthday!

 Monday Miranda and Rebecca and their children went to the lake to canoe. I picked up four canoes from the garage and we rendezvoused at Panther Bay. The rivers and lake were at high levels, but they canoed across the lake (about a mile) and back safely. A good time was had by all. I was able to order a piece of glass for my pantry door while they were enjoying themselves. I also brought the canoes home and pressured washed them before returning them.

I was able to pick up the oak pantry door and am now waiting for Nathan to pick the door and glass up and make the two into one. It will still be a couple of weeks before the glass lady can etch the glass, but at least the door will be hung soon. And the counter top guy called; he had an opening on Friday 30 July to install the counter tops; was I available? No, I won't be, unfortunately. I will be on my way to Utah then. So, they will have to wait until 18 August as originally planned.

I spent three mornings trimming a long fence line that was being overtaken by brush. 60-90 minutes in the heat and humidity were about all I could tolerate, but the work is done and the fence line looks much better.

Thursday, Rebecca and Marian drove to Little Rock to fly out to Utah. They met Dan there and then drove his car to Rexburg to get Marian situated before school starts on Monday. Dan flew out Friday to LR, picked up Rebecca's car and drove here that evening.

Friday I drove to the St Louis Temple; I had invited ward members to join me and two sisters joined me. We were able to check into the hotel and get to the temple before 3 pm to start ordinances. My temple responsibilities did not start until 5 pm, so I had time to get some of my work done before then. I had an opportunity to visit with the temple president and his wife; they will be released next month and in January will serve a mission in Kenya Nairobi. It was good to share some of our experiences from our mission there.

Saturday, after breakfast, we headed back to the temple for on hour and then drove home. 

Church today was good. I presented the lesson in Elder's Quorum where we discussed Elder Rasband's talk about miracles and that they have not ceased. Then there was a short meeting of seminary students and parents. We will start on Wednesday 18 Aug at 630 am, in person. Had an opportunity to minister to one of my families in the afternoon. Our ward is aging and many have health issues. Some people feel the need to hang on to the bitter end when other options are available.  But their choice places greater care giver responsibilities on others who may themselves be struggling with issues. Hope my kids will know when to tell me to shut up and sit down (figuratively speaking).

Quietly celebrated my birthday this week. Did you know that if you switch the last two digits of my birth year, you have my age?

Its Pie Celebration Time!~

 Monday started off quieter since Rebecca and her girls went to visit Kera Sunday evening. I worked on more kitchen upgrades, those lesser important things that still need doing. I managed to get baseboard and one door trimmed; need the pantry door before I can finish that job. I ordered an oak door, which the cabinet maker will trim to accommodate the glass insert which the glass lady in Springdale will make, once she recovers from a recent motorcycle incident. I got part of the pasture bush hogged in the cool of the evening (cool is a relative term). Nathan also came and attached the last of the kitchen cabinet doors. He had installed a turn table in the corner cabinet, but it was not designed for what we wanted. So we went out to the barn where all the old cabinets are stored and removed the old one and replaced it. It is much more user friendly. The only real item left for the kitchen remodel is the installation of the countertops, which won't happen until mid August.

Tuesday I had planned to drive the 90 minutes to Menard's to purchase exterior vinyl siding to cover the new kitchen. They are the only place that carries what my house is sided with, and I can purchase it by the piece. I had a few minutes before I wanted to leave and remembered the girls saying the downstairs bath sink backed up. Simple fix; just put a pan under the p-trap, loosen the nuts, remove the p-trap, clean it out and replace. Unfortunately, the water softener did it's purging about the time I removed the p-trap (the water from that action runs into the drain line for the sink) and instead of a small bowl of water leaking out, the flood gates were opened and the water kept coming. Reattaching the p-trap should have been simple, except I discovered the reason for slow drainage:  there was a butter knife in the trap which made it a little difficult getting it reattached. There may have been some water overflowing onto the bathroom rug, requiring it to be washed; there might also have been water that seeped into the adjoining water heater closet requiring immediate attention. The water was contained, the rug was washed, the p-trap properly cleanout out and the knife thrown out. It had to have been there for a couple of years since I replaced that faucet about two years ago and installed the sink stopper.

I did manage to get to Menard's and get my siding. Rebecca returned late evening with two cute bunnies that Callie had purchased from her aunt. They are now temporarily housed in the old chicken coop.

Wednesday I spent part of the day (that means I worked for a while until it got too hot, came in and rested, then went back out) installing siding. The new kitchen is about 8 feet by 12 feet and I needed to side three sides. I had enough old siding to do the one side that marries up to a wall with the older siding so the color would match. While the color is the same, 20 years of weathering has lightened the original. So I installed the new siding on the two sides that no one will pay much attention to. And that is when I learned that my math skills need refining. When purchasing siding on Tuesday, I computed cutting 12 foot pieces in half would give me two 8 foot pieces. Hence, I am short two pieces. Miranda arrived with her four in the afternoon.

I finished the siding on Thursday and completed bush hogging the west pasture. I also spent some time cleaning up around the exterior of the house and got help from some grand kids in loading into the truck four months worth of building material trash that had been accumulating around the grounds.

Friday I was off to the transfer station to dump my load of trash. While there, the skies opened up with a tremendous downpour. I was inside a huge metal building and the sound of the falling rain was thunderous. There was more organizing needed before family started to arrive later in the day. Jonathan plus four and Andy plus two were coming off a multi day canoe trip and came directly to our house after pulling out of the river and Miranda's Dan also joined us. We had 19 to feed and house for the night. All the canoers required showers and somehow, we had sufficient hot water!

Saturday was the traditional Pie Celebration Day for which Rebecca started baking pies a couple of weeks ago. Her final pie came out of the oven just as the event started at 2 pm.  Kera came with Charlotte and her Dad; Deborah and her entire family also drove over, so by my count we had 28 family members here for the event. The kids took over, rearranging the furniture to open the kitchen for pies and the dining/living room for visiting. With help from Miranda, she and Rebecca made 26 pies and four more were donated by attendees. As in the past, we let the grands have one slice at the beginning and then banished them from the kitchen until the event was near the end; then they could come and eat as much pie as they wanted. Here is a list of pies:

From my perspective, this was our best pie celebration yet; more pies and more people. When the dust settled, we had  two whole pies plus varying amounts of three others left over. People came and stayed to visit. It was a fun time and the grands had fun playing/interacting with one another.  The children put the furniture back and the house was back to order shortly after the festivities. It was an early to bed night for me.

We had two good youth speakers this morning followed by our high council speaker. Interesting quote:  "Sometimes I win, sometimes I learn". This evening, the daughters made lumpia (yum, yum) for dinner and it was followed with a delicious chocolate cake to celebrate (early) my birthday.

Hope you have many winning and learning experiences this week!

12 July 2021

 Last Sunday evening Kera arrived with Charlotte and Elder Fox - he had been set apart earlier that afternoon in Little Rock by his Stake President and was going to attend 'at home' MTC here in Mountain Home for a week.

Monday Kera helped me finished installing the vinyl planking in the kitchen. It was still early in the day, but I did not want to push things so we stopped there. It was great to have additional help putting planking under the fridge and stove. And Kera knows how to do flooring! Later that evening she headed home, leaving the two children behind.

Tuesday I had a follow up appointment with the urologist in Rogers. I drove over there, arriving just in time for my appointment and saw the PA; she was also involved with my surgery so she was familiar with me. It was a good visit and she exclaimed that I was above average in recuperating. Only a few days earlier I had downsized Depend size from maximum to light and that impressed her. She also explained that those occasional uncomfortable internal rumblings will continue for a few more weeks. I do find that I am able to do more and feel more 'normal' as time goes on. Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped for the usual hot fudge sundae before returning home. There was a stop at Aldis for additional food before arriving home in time for dinner. Rebecca continues to cook excellent dinners that are well received.

Wednesday we went to breakfast and in the afternoon went to visit a good friend that had invited us over to go swimming at their pool. The girls had a wonderful time playing while the adults talked. I left early to come home to cut and install quarter round in part of the kitchen. This is one time when I measure multiple times before cutting; these cuts need to be exact. I need Nathan to bring me the stained baseboard so that can be installed prior to the remaining quarter round. But the kitchen is beginning to look more like a kitchen. We are still trying to find the best place for things; what should go where. I don't lack for storage space; the challenge is there are more items than space in those highly favorable places.

Thursday was a big family day. Isabelle was slated to fly into Kansas City in the afternoon from UT for her endowment session at the temple. Several family members had coordinated to support her; Rebeca's children had offered to babysit as needed. Our plan was to leave Thursday before 9am, check out a couple of thrift stores in Branson, check into a motel 90 minutes south of the temple, drive to the airport to pickup Isabelle, join other family members for dinner, attend the temple and then drive back to the motel. We were half way to KC when we got the text that said Isabelle's flight out Dallas was cancelled. But we were committed and continued on our way. Rebecca and I dropped off 5 girls at the motel, bought them Subway sandwiches for dinner, and drove to IKEA since we had time. Deborah was able to link up with Miranda and drive to the temple. IKEA did not have the specific items I had hoped to find, but we both found some useful things we didn't think we could live without. We enjoyed their Swedish meatballs 

and then drove to the temple to meet up with the other two girls. We enjoyed a great session, 

did the traditional stop at Andy's and Rebecca and I drove back to the motel. You might wonder why we chose a motel 90 minutes away, instead of in KC. The original plan was to go to Silver Dollar City on Friday, and we didn't want to drive to far in the morning.

We got to the motel to find all the girls sleeping soundly. We were up and on the way about 7 am the next morning. Two hours later I missed the turnoff to the park. It seems the highway that was previously designated as '465' is now '76 East'. We were able to link up with Dan Mc who drove three MO Fox children plus Elias English (he is staying there for a few weeks) while Miranda drove her 4 children and we had 5 more children. We spent over 8 hours at the park; ate funnel cakes, 

cinnamon rolls, kettle corn; there may have been a time when the parents thought one of their children was missing, when he was perfectly happy enjoying a ride by himself. A good time was had by all. We got home about 9; I was impressed that 5 teenagers and two adults could all shower and still have hot water!

Isabelle was able to reschedule her session at the temple for 1030 on Friday, while we were off playing. Hopefully, she knows she is loved!

Saturday was a recovery day, that didn't include much recovery. I mowed the yard and helped my neighbor with some issues. Rebecca made more pies. 11 Pies are ready for Saturday's Pie Celebration. We found out today that a ward member passed away this past Friday and her memorial service will be held 20 miles south of here about the same time, so we plan to modify our times to accommodate anyone wanting to attend the service.

Charlotte helped me make blueberry muffins using Adam's recipe. Our bushes have a lot of ripe blueberries this year. Had three members of a family speak in church today, all on the subject of obedience. The two youth stressed that while obedience often lead to affliction in the scriptures, there was always a happy ending. The same should apply to us.

Rebecca is off this afternoon taking Charlotte and Elder Fox back home. Elder Fox flies out to the Provo MTC Wednesday morning. Callie is intent on buying some rabbits from her cousins and will return here with them. They will reside in the old chicken coop until the drive to Utah for Katie's wedding and then to CA to their new home.

Happy 4th of July!

 This week much thought and effort went into organizing the kitchen. Where is the best place to put dishes, or pots and pans? What is the most efficient use of cabinets, cupboards and drawers? Currently blue tape signifies the contents of most cupboards and drawers so we know where things are hiding. Placement of some items seem intuitive, but others are a challenge. Callie and Rebecca have been most helpful in moving things back into the kitchen and providing some semblance of organized chaos. They had to wait until Friday when Nathan arrived with a new lazy susan for the corner cabinet to move a couple of food boxes out of the living room, which by the way is now 90% empty of kitchen stuff! Trying to find shelf and drawer organizers has been interesting. Finding a bin or shelf that fits the specific size that will hold the required item is not always possible, so sometimes second best will do until enough thrift stores have been visited to find that correct item.

I spent a few hours spread over a couple of days patching the hole in my closet wall which was required to run power to the new kitchen circuits. Was even able to match the paint. During this development, my clothes were scattered in two different rooms. Now they are back where they belong.

We had a light rain Thursday evening, but that did not deter Callie from mowing as much of the yard as she could. She finished up the next morning - after running three miles with her mom and sister (who then ran another 3-5 miles). And the past two nights have been delightful with temperatures in the low 60s.

The great news of the week was that the flooring store called to say I could come and pickup my flooring. On Monday I had brought him a drawing to compute the needed amount but then didn't hear anything. I stopped by twice and learned why the silence. He is overwhelmed with work. One big project is a new assisted living facility that has been consuming his time. Another reason for the delay was because my order was in the back corner of his storeroom on the bottom. I stopped by Thursday afternoon to pick up my order; I ended up buying more than needed because he gave me a greater discount (already had a 10% military one) since it was the last of that pattern. So did I really save any money by purchasing more at a lower price than if I had only bought what I needed at a greater price?

Now that I finally had flooring, I had a lot of inertia to overcome. Actually, I was stalling since I wanted this project to be done properly and it needs to look good. It was 10 Friday morning before I started and then it took me an hour to get the first 5 pieces cut and in place. As the first row goes, so goes the rest of the floor. After two partial days of installing 12" x 24" vinyl planking, my knees are revolting, so I am glad to take the Sabbath off. I offered the younger grands to come inspect often, looking for tiles that did not set tightly, paying them $1 for each crack they found. It has been successful in that they found a couple of places that did not seat tightly. By Saturday evening, about 2/3s of the floor is done.

Saturday morning I took Deborah's family (who had arrived Friday afternoon) back to the house that had the downed tree in it that we had partially cleaned up a week ago with Rebecca's family. There was a smaller load of limbs to load which the family did quickly. I on the other hand was not successful in cutting the remaining 20 feet of the trunk. The chain saw had issues. So we cleaned up and stopped by the donut place to reward our efforts. I returned later to finish cutting and loading the trunk.  About 2 pm, we started the bon fire; there was sufficient limbs, branches and such to form three piles; as the first one burned down, I used the tractor to push the next pile in until it was all consumed. But there was sufficient coals for the grands to roast marshmallows for s'mores after dinner. There was still some smoke this morning.

Testimony meeting today was great.  Lots of faith shared thoughts about the founding of this country and on our Savior, Jesus Christ. One 27 year old young lady shared how she had grown up in this ward, moved away, left the church and then came back to the church because this is the only place she felt the love of the Savior.