Watercoloring; Lunch With Friends; Memorial Day Dinner; Summer Fun Begins

 One day Tiffany, my ministering sister, dropped off a gift for me.

Inside were paint supplies that were needed for our upcoming Relief Society evening zoom class. Lena Phillips, a very talented artist who does charcoal drawings of people, was going to be teaching us how to do a simple watercolor painting. 

I actually was not even going to participate, because I don't really have an interest in being an artist. I enjoy seeing what other people paint and draw, but it's never really been my thing.

Now I felt like I was obligated to participate, so I logged on and really enjoyed the first part of Lena's presentation where she showed us some of her drawings and then shared with us some of the reactions of people who had received her personalized artwork as gifts. 

She likes to draw people who have passed away as she knows it is very consoling to the family members who are left behind.

Then she got her supplies laid out and told us we were going to paint Jesus. WHAT?!?? The class had been advertised as we were going to be painting a landscape.

She showed us the paintings three of her children had done and said if they can do it, we can too. I drew my pencil outline as she was drawing hers. 

Then the mixing of colors to get the paint on the paper.

Lena's finished artwork.

My finished artwork. I ran out of patience to paint flowers in the foreground. It's a one-and-done deal for me. This was a great taste of painting using watercolor and I have determined it will be my last. 

I am waiting to see what artistic Brooke has to say about her grandmother's artwork attempt.

LaVona was having a birthday which called for a celebration. Her husband suggested this Mexican restaurant, which we later deemed perfect for a guy lunch; but next time we'll pick somewhere different for our girls' lunch. 

My neighbor Julie comes to town about once a month and since she was here, she was invited to join us.

(Me, Diane Stewart, Jane Crandall, LaVona Lewis, Colleen Kossin, Debi Winder and Julie Newsome Rasmussen)

My day for jury duty selection arrived. I fired up the iPad and joined the meeting at exactly 8 a.m. as per my instructions. It didn't even get started for another 45 minutes. ARGH!! They did some checking of sound with each of us, had us watch a video of what to expect if we are on the jury and another video about Covid safety.

More waiting. Then the judge came on and gave his spiel. He announced the case and then we were divided into groups. My group was #5. 

More waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. Nobody checked in with us for HOURS!!! 

The lunch hour came and went and nobody told us we could take a break for lunch. Finally, I hurried down to the kitchen to grab some snacks and hustled back up to nibble while I did more waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. 

I was so glad I had a good book to read during the waiting. We had been told to plan on approximately 3 hours for jury selection. 

After nearly 6 1/2 hours of waiting, the judge finally came on and told us the jury had been selected from the previous groups and he thanked us for our service and said we were excused from jury duty. HURRAH!!!! 

Speaking of good books, Rebecca let us read this book before she returned it to the library. She had read it to Spencer and Madison and they were in rapt attention as to how the boys were going to get rescued. It was indeed an "incredible" cave rescue as the book cover states.

Glen and I were originally going to read it together when we traveled to Omaha, but since that trip got canceled because of jury duty, we had to fit in the reading at other times. I love it when a book is so intriguing we don't ever want to put it down.

I mentioned to Glen that I would really love to get new water faucets in the main floor bathroom and in the basement bathroom. After he had so skillfully changed out the broken faucet in the laundry room, which now turns on and off with ease, I wanted that for these bathrooms.

The main floor bathroom had chemical stains on the faucet and the drain which has driven me nuts for many years. 

It was also a bit harder to turn off and on. With the children and their families all coming to town in a couple of weeks, I wanted the faucets to be easier for the small children to use.

The basement faucet was really hard to turn on and off. The new faucet is now so nice!!!! Glen did not have to replace the drain in this sink like he did in the other sink and that made him happy.

I had also mentioned to Glen that the tub in the guest bathroom on the upper level was draining really slowly. After Glen had snaked a gigantic wad of hair out of that drain, I got the trash can out from under one of the sinks and saw that it was very wet inside that cabinet.

There was water leaking from somewhere and Glen determined it was something broken on the drain. What a blessing Glen was able to get the unused drain from out of the trash so he could fix the leak. 

We considered that a double tender mercy. First, we noticed the leak before the children were here using that sink a lot which would have caused a big water mess. Second, we had the exact part needed because it hadn't been used on the basement sink.

On Memorial Day, I was chuckling when Glen walked down the driveway because he looked like he was marching in a parade with the flag unfurled behind him. What a patriotic scene!

That evening, we were invited to dinner at Rick and Debi Winder's home. Bill was in the patriotic spirit playing taps on his trumpet before we said the prayer on the food.

We loved eating our grilled chicken dinner outside on their deck and visiting together with such good friends. 

The bonus for me, personally, is whenever I am around Debi when she has her hair straightened, she reminds me so much of my Aunt Mary in her looks, in the way she stands and when she moves a certain way. It makes me happy to see her and think of my Aunt Mary who is no longer with us.

(Me, Collen Kossin, LaVona Lewis, Jan Evans, Debi Winder and Jane Crandall)

(Lane Lewis, Glen, Bruno Kossin, Dennis Crandall, Rick Winder and Bill Evans)

Bill played taps again at the end of the evening for the couple who came late. This time we talked him into taking out his trumpet mute so we could get the full trumpet tone as he played.

I was having a rough day yesterday with a new stye rearing its ugly head on my right upper inner eyelid. 

The last stye I got, two months ago, on my left upper outer eyelid has never totally gone away. There is a lump inside that eyelid that I fear will be with me forever. Then to now have another itchy, red, pussy lump on the other eye has been SO ANNOYING!!!!!!!

Despite the annoyance, I was able to whip up a new recipe. This time it was chicken piccata. I was so frustrated after hunting all through the pantry and downstairs to discover I had not bought capers as I had thought I had done in preparation for this recipe. UGH!! 

Oh well, I made it without the capers and it was delicious. Next time I will do it right. Now I'm wondering if I can even call this chicken piccata. Perhaps it is the capers that makes it piccata????

It has been so nice to see the beauty of nature as everything has been greening up in this spring time of the year and the flowers are blooming.

The sunsets are always spectacular from our viewpoint as we look down into the valley. Nature is always awe-inspiring to me.

The grandchildren are out of school now. Here is Lincoln's kindergarten graduation photo. So darling, yet I am of the opinion that cap and gown should be reserved for high school and college graduation. I believe Sarah agrees with me because she refused to pay to buy a cap and gown. 

Eli is looking very spiffy as a graduate of elementary school. He will be starting middle school in the fall.

The crafts were unleashed in the Excell household as the boys were "so bored" early on into their first day of summer vacation.

Swimming seems like the best pastime in sweltering Las Vegas!

Caroline got recognition of her end-of-school-year status with a lawn sign.

Brooke got nominated to be on the Hope Squad. It is a peer mentoring group which provides friendship, encouragement and support for students who may be struggling. Good for her!!

We were surprised to see photos of Jacob's family and part of Abe's family (Klarissa and baby didn't go) who were all together at a beach in Florida. 

I love it when cousins get the chance to be together.

Jacob's family went to Florida with their friends and Abe made the 4-hour trip to spend some time with his brother. Seems like a fun way to have a pre-family reunion before the actual family reunion begins.

Abe and Klarissa went to Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia to spend a few days vacationing for their anniversary. It looks like they did some very fun things while they were there.

Here's a look at some photos of Ben and Haley's boys.

Haley has started her own photography business--haleythomas.photography. She has some cute subjects to hone her photography skills on.

This is 8-month-old Levi. He looks like a little man wearing his blue jeans.

Looks to me like Ben and Levi are getting excited for wearing matching family reunion t-shirts. They are practicing up for it by wearing matching t-shirts from our last family gathering from 2 years ago. 

We have the new batch of matching t-shirts all ready to hand out as the children and grandchildren arrive. It is one of my favorite things about reunions and the shirts become a lasting memory of our time together.

Quotes of the Week

 The Savior loves to restore what you cannot restore; He loves to heal wounds you cannot heal; He loves to fix what has been irreparably broken; He compensates for any unfairness inflicted on you; and He loves to permanently mend even shattered hearts.
--Dale G. Renlund

We need not walk by the shores of Galilee... to walk where Jesus walked. In a very real sense, all can walk where Jesus walked when, with his words on our lips, his spirit in our hearts, and his teachings in our lives, we journey through mortality.
--Thomas S. Monson

Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion.
--David A. Bednar

Stone Mountain; New Rain Gutters; Rebecca's Basement Finished; Setting Apart For New Callings; Jury Duty

 Abe sent this photo asking the family to guess where they are. I guessed right--Stone Mountain in Georgia.

Abe had a good time walking down memory lane as he reflected back on how our family would go to Stone Mountain every year and feel so patriotic with the laser show going and the music playing and the fireworks going off at the end of the show.

And now here Abe is with his own family doing the same thing. Too fun!!

A few days ago Abe and Klarissa celebrated their anniversary. This was a sweet post of Klarissa's commemorating the event.

Another home renovation project was underway--new rain gutters were being installed. Unfortunately, the day turned rainy and the worker had to sit it out for a couple of hours which delayed the job from getting completed by a few days.

Speaking of home renovation projects... Dallas and Rebecca's basement is FINALLY finished. HURRAH!!! That took much longer than expected and gave them way too many headaches and worries before it met with their final approval.

The carpet was so cushy as we stepped on it that Glen had to spread out and see how it would feel to sleep on the carpet. Sarah's family will be sleeping there when they come to town, so he was giving it a try. 

Spencer and Madison also thought it would be fun to give the soft floor a try and had a sleepover down there. So cute. Everyone is very excited to have this project completed. 

Glen started his birthday out on Saturday by taking me to the Murray Utah Stake's Share-a-thon. He went to support the efforts of that stake to try and help people out--targeting refugees who live in the area.

It had a massive amount of furniture and clothing that people had donated to the cause. Everything there was free for the taking.

The stake Relief Society president who was in charge of the event told us about a person who asked her if there were any temple dresses. She had not seen any, but they went to look anyway. They saw one white dress that had been put out at the right moment that was the exact size the woman was looking for.

The Relief Society president considered that a huge tender mercy and was so touched by the experience she came right over to share with us what had happened. 

From there we went to the conference center for our training/luncheon/setting apart for our new callings at the prison. 

When we walked into the room and saw the tables set up with the couples' name tags, it was a flash-back to our mission president training days.

The meeting was very spiritual. Emeritus general authority Elder Don R. Clarke is the District President over all the prison branches. I was touched by the following scripture he shared as he had us insert our names in place of "Sidney and Joseph." He also changed the words "in this place" in verse 3 to "in this correctional facility."

I also felt the words to the closing hymn pierce my heart as I am nervously anticipating what the future holds for us.

We got to meet the branch president we will be working closely with. I was sad his wife could not be there. We learned of our specific assignment--the Olympus District, which is a men's unit housing the old, ill, and the prisoners who need to be protected from other prisoners.

I neglected to take a photo of the delicious meal which was chicken, pasta with cream sauce and asparagus.

It always makes my heart (or is it my stomach?) happy when a dessert is served that isn't chocolate!!

I had to laugh when we got home and the first photo that popped up on the computer was the dapper, younger version of Glen, the birthday boy. 

We really enjoyed seeing how Natalie is featured in her high school's yearbook as publishing a book. What an accomplishment for her to do while still in high school.

Because of being summoned to jury duty, we had to call off our trip to Omaha for Natalie's graduation. We were so happy Jacob sent us a link to be able to watch the graduation. It almost felt like we were there. It sure felt like we had front-row seats to the event. We were so happy to be in a temperature-controlled environment after Jacob reported it was so hot sitting out in the sun.

Sunday evening we attended a meeting that was the kickoff to get all the youth excited to attend stake youth conference. We have been asked to help with those three days which will be happening a few days after our family finishes up with our family reunion.

We have had a problem for the past 20 years--ever since we moved into this house--with the 4-way electrical switch in our house. It has been so frustrating to not have the light switches working correctly upstairs in the loft and hallway area. 

So, what did we do???? We called in a master electrician who is the best of the best!!!! Glen was his able assistant. 

It took one run to Home Depot for them to get the job completed. 

We also had another problem of our outside outlets not working. We were feeling a little bit ridiculous when Dad pointed out the ground fault outlet button on an outlet we never use in our basement that just needed to be pushed and voila--the outlets worked!!

So glad we didn't have to pay someone to tell us such a simple thing!!

Dad had done such a nice job and we were so very thankful to FINALLY get that switch problem fixed that we treated him to an Arby's lunch.

Andy and Amanda invited us to their home for a graduation celebration dinner for Rachel.

Andy grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and we ate lots of other good food as well.

Amanda had warned us a while ago that their playhouse was falling over and they were going to take it down. Sure enough, I almost cried when I saw the leaning structure that all the young children have absolutely loved playing in.

It hasn't been taken down all the way because Andy wants to preserve the roof part to put on a shed he plans to build.

I noticed the chickens and the chicken coop are no longer in their backyard either. That was always a super fun spot for the little ones to gather around as they fed the chickens.

Here's the guest of honor.

We were excited to see Cheryl's family there because we wanted to see the new baby Haisley.

She is a beautiful little baby doll! Not as much long dark hair as Charlotte had, but still quite a bit of hair for a newborn.

I had jury duty yesterday. I got on the WebEx call right at 8:00 a.m. as instructed. Things didn't even begin until after 8:30. They made sure everyone could see and hear. Around 9:00 the judge made an appearance and thanked us, told us the case, shared with us some Covid guidelines, and then we were broken off into groups. I was in group 5.

In our groups we were shown a Covid precautions video and another video showing what will happen during the court proceedings. 

Then we waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and WAITED!!!!!! 

The summons said to plan on approximately 3 hours for jury selection. It was 6 hours and 20 minutes later when the judge finally came to our group and said the jury had been selected from the previous groups and we were excused from jury duty. 

It wasn't so much the length of the wait that drove me nuts because I had a good book to read. It was the many hours of us wondering if everyone else had gone to lunch and wondering why we weren't told to take a lunch break and wondering if we had been forgotten because nobody popped in to let us know what was going on.

Oh well! At least I did my civic duty and no more of my days this week are tied up in a trial. And the bright side is I got paid $18.50 for those 6+ hours of reading a book. 

Quotes of the Week

 God... reserved spirits for this dispensation who would have the courage and determination to face the world, and all the powers of the evil one, and who would build up the Zion of our God, fearless of all consequences.
--George Q. Cannon

Our Heavenly Father wants us to recall His and His Beloved Son's goodness, for the influence such remembrance has on us. By considering Their kindness, our perspective and understanding are enlarged. By reflecting on Their compassion, we become more humble, prayerful, and steadfast.
--Dale G. Renlund

Each faith-filled step will be met with help from heaven. Guidance will come as we pray to our Heavenly Father, rely on our Savior and follow Him, and listen to the Holy Spirit. Strength will come because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Healing and forgiveness will come because of God's grace. Wisdom and patience will come by trusting in the Lord's timing for us. Protection will come by following God's living prophet.
--Randall K. Bennett