Some of our missionaries continue to stay in contact with us. Alex Durfee, Kylie Baugh and Kami Skolmoski stopped by for a visit. We enjoy hearing how they are doing and what is going on in their lives.
My Aunt Lucille invited us over to their new home for dessert one evening.
They also invited Don and Barbara Kopenhefer to join us. The Kopenhefers were one of our senior couples and after they got home from their mission, they bought a new home right across the street from Larry and Lucille and are now the best of friends. How fun!!
As we admired their home, Larry was anxious to show Glen his favorite home decor, which Glen really enjoyed as well.
Group photo in the Wilkensons' home before we walked across the street to see the Kopenhefers' home.
Their home is exactly the same, except for a different color scheme and flip flopped. We really liked the lay-out of these houses. One level is sure sounding more appealing the older we get.
On a beautiful summer day, we attended the Payson Temple.
It is a temple that has a lot of detail, both inside and out.
Two more of our missionaries have fallen in love with each other and were married there that day.
We joined Jared Hickman and his new bride Sabrina Thomas Hickman for an outdoor wedding luncheon after the temple.
It was fun for us to sit at the table where the group of former missionaries from our mission were gathered. We love to see what good, lasting friendships are formed from missionary associations. All these people served with us.
Now let's move to a less fun topic...colonoscopies. We saw this billboard on the way to Carol's funeral and thought it appropriate since Glen had to change his colonoscopy from funeral day to the next week.
It was the last meal Glen could eat before he went on the liquid/laxative diet the next day and so he was fueling himself to his liking.
The next day it was Gatorade and laxatives. Somehow it does not seem healthy or wise to down 4 laxative pills and an ENTIRE bottle of Miralax--a 14-day supply--all in one evening!!!! Then he got all comfy so he could head down to the basement and wait for the "magic" to happen.
Meanwhile, Ben got his report back from the gastro doctor saying his polyp type removed from his colon was benign hyperplastic. He is supposed to have his next colonoscopy in 5 years.
Glen survived the night and was ready for his procedures (plural). This guy not only has a green dot for a colonoscopy, but also a yellow dot for an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy in case you were wondering).
Basically it means he was getting an upper and lower scope. Lucky guy!
And the results of his scopes were he had two 5 mm polyps in his colon, 2 small polyps and 2 small ulcers in his stomach. He was told to report back for a colonoscopy in 5 years.
In keeping with his after-colonoscopy tradition, we stopped at Arby's on the way home for his lunch.
It had been 10 years since my last colonoscopy, so I decided to join in the family fun.
My prep included going off my blood thinner medication and supplementing for 3 days with 5 shots of Lovenox in my stomach along with all the other fun colon cleanse stuff. I guess this photo is reminding me we went to the temple before I got busy with my cleansing.
I survived the cleanse and reported for duty the next morning. I told the doctor he better not find anything in my colon because all the colon issues are from Glen's side of the family.
Alas! There were some small polyps lurking inside me as well. So now the kids don't just have their dad to blame for all their polyps and for their need to have colonoscopies every 3 to 5 years.
In staying true to tradition once again, Glen was craving Arby's after the colonoscopy. It didn't matter that it was MY colonoscopy this time and not his.
I opted out of Arby's and ate a waffle when we got home.
Jacob and Abe both got in on the colonoscopy fun as well.
Abe, who provided no photos of his experience, had a big 10 mm polyp. He reported, "Tied for first (with Sarah) with biggest polyp." It's a good thing he finally succumbed to having his first colonoscopy done well before the recommended age of 50. He gets to have a repeat in 3 years.
Jacob was the one and only family member who was completely clean. He doesn't have to go back for 10 years. As he reported to the family his results, he wrote, "Basically, I'm a perfect physical specimen."
We had a lot of home improvement projects going on since we got home. I was so happy when the flat mirror was removed from the main floor bathroom, patches and painting was done, and a framed mirror was hung in its place.
We traded in our queen mattress for an adjustable king-size bed. Now I don't have to prop myself up all through the night on a bunch of pillows. I can just raise the head of my side of the bed a little and voila!! It's so much more comfortable this way.
I was happy to find curtains to match the new bedspread.
Other home improvements were going on as well. These furniture touch-up markers that Sarah let me "borrow" have now become mine because I used them so much, loved them so much and refused to give them back.
I was going through the entire house spending hours doing touch up on all the wood furniture I could see. It turned a scratched rocking chair, a chipped table and a dinged up dresser (among all the other wood furniture) into good-as-new furniture once again. I was so thrilled I could hardly contain my satisfaction at my efforts.
I scrubbed the upholstery on the kitchen stools and set them out on the deck to dry. Glen and I continue to admire the upgraded deck we had installed right before we left on our mission.
We never really got the chance to use it or enjoy it. We were thrilled Sarah's little boys didn't have to worry about getting slivers from the old deck. This one is nice and smooth and doesn't need upkeep. We love it!!
Glen had planned to come home from our mission and go right back to work at G&K. They told him a job would be waiting for him and he was happy to think about having that option. But, shortly after we arrived in California, Glen received the sad news that G&K had been sold to its competitor Cintas. That meant no chance of a job for him upon our return.
He got busy applying for various jobs and felt like he would like to work for the Church. He was able to secure a job there in the Welfare and Self Reliance Department. He is a manager over 47 stakes. His area is Taylorsville, Holladay, Cottonwood and Murray.
He looked so handsome as he was leaving for his first day of work. It was right when we were seeing posts of school children leaving home to head off to their first day of school.
I couldn't resist posting a photo of Glen leaving home to head off to his first day of work.
Off he went in our new car. He had decided we were only going to buy one car and wait to see what kind of a job he got and see if the job provided him with a car. When he got this job, we started talking about getting another car until...
...we got the surprising news that the Church was providing him with a car. We were so happy when we learned it is an all-wheel drive so it will be better driving in the snow than a regular car. Sarah dubbed it "The Golden Nugget."
Glen learned he would be working from home and going out on appointments some during the days and others on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and sometimes he would have appointments on Sundays. It all depends upon when the stake presidents are willing to meet with him.
He was given two computer monitors, a laptop and a keyboard to add to his personal laptop, my laptop and my computer monitor and keyboard. So much electronic stuff for one office. Something had to be done to solve our problem of how to arrange the office to accommodate everything and both of us.
We went shopping to try and find office furniture for two desks that would work in this room. I was looking online for furniture. We were just not coming up with anything that would work for us. It was at the point where an office designer was going to call and schedule an appointment to come out for a consultation with us when I got a divinely inspired idea.
I asked Glen if it would be possible to remove the center desk part of the U-shaped desk and attach the short end to the other part of the desk and turn it into an L-shaped desk. Glen said he would have to cut a piece out of the desk and get some brackets to hold the desk together, but he was sure he could do it.
We moved the bookshelf by the window over by the closet and moved the file cabinet and printer to the other side of the room to even out the desk after Glen completed his handiwork.
With very minimal expense, we were able to turn the office into a great working space for both of us. It looks so much better in there now with all the monitors lined up along the far wall. It actually feels a lot more spacious in there now. We love it!!
It was lovely to see the beautiful sunsets over the ocean in California, but we have had lots of reminders of how beautiful the sunsets are here in Utah as well.
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