Quotes of the Week

As we contemplate the decisions we make in our lives each day--whether to make this choice or that choice--if we choose Christ, we will have made the correct choice.
--Thomas S. Monson

Though a man should say but a few words, and his sentences and words be ever so ungrammatical, if he speaks by the power of the Holy Ghost, he will do good.
--Brigham Young

You were taught in the spirit world to prepare you for anything and everything you would encounter during this latter part of these latter days. That teaching endures with you.
--Russell M. Nelson

Eli's Birthday; Missionary Reunion Zoom Call; Elevating His Foot; Flight to Florida

Eli had a birthday. He is now 10 years old. We had a FaceTime visit with him. Cute boy!! He requested  pot stickers for his birthday dinner and Oreo ice cream pie for his birthday cake. I think it's always fun to learn of each child's birthday menu. 

While I was out walking one morning, I must say I laughed out loud as I passed by two different yards. I appreciate people's humor about the mandatory mask-wearing we should all be doing when we are out amongst the people. 

I opted out of attending a birthday brunch for one of our friends. LaVona was the birthday girl and Diane was hosting the get together. 

Right as Glen and I were figuring out what he wanted for lunch (he chose pepperoni, potato chips and pickles--YUCK!!!!), the doorbell rang.

There stood Diane with this beautiful plate of food. How timely! How kind!! How thoughtful!!! How delicious!!!! 

Glen and I have such differing likes of what we prefer to eat. A bonus for me with this plate of food is I saved half of it to eat the next day. YUM!!!

The Black Lives Matter protests keep happening, along with rioting and looting. If only we could all be more like Mr. Rogers.

The leaders of the Church have given the okay for church buildings to open up once again for shortened sacrament meetings with smaller groups of people in attendance. In the meantime, we continue to have our home sacrament meeting as usual.

We really enjoy listening to Music and the Spoken Word right before we begin our meeting. It has been nice to use the Hymns app so we can sing hymns during our meeting. Glen has figured out how he can kneel and pass the sacrament with the big cast on his leg. 

We study Come Follow Me during our meeting and enjoy watching any videos suggested in the lesson. It is very spiritual and very fulfilling for us. I continue to be thankful for the way we had been faithfully doing Come Follow Me every week to prepare us for this time when public church meetings have been suspended. 

Sunday evening we had a Missionary Reunion Zoom Meeting. Our missionary from Bolivia requested we do it and others agreed. We weren't able to have a reunion in April due to COVID-19, so this request seemed reasonable.

There were 70 participants, which included some missionaries doubled up together at the same location--namely the missionaries who have married each other and the missionaries who are roommates. So we felt like there were probably 85 people in attendance.

We felt like it went pretty well, although it was sad we couldn't really visit with them. I couldn't even see everyone who was on the call. We gave our messages and kept the meeting to 45 minutes and felt good about that. 

I was so mad when it was over that I hadn't thought to take a photo. Then later I noticed one of the sisters posted this message on Instagram and so now I have a picture reminder of that event.

It got downright windy, stormy and cold for a few days. I switched from air conditioning to having the furnace running. So strange in the month of June. The grass and plants sure look nice after the rain. 

Here's the man of the house, taking a little break from sitting at his desk, with his casted leg thrown up on the back of the couch trying to get some relief from the pain. 

He keeps telling me how painful the long incisions are on the top of his foot and around his ankle. I think he got traumatized by seeing them when the doctor removed the bandages.

I am loving his work look--especially when he wears the bright blue sweat pants. The tie he picked out this particular day matched the pants exactly. He even got a compliment on his tie when he had a Zoom meeting with his boss. I had him reassure me his pants were not visible during the call.

The weather had warmed up once again and I was able to talk Glen into taking a break out on the front bench so he could enjoy being outdoors for a few minutes. He's been quite the house hermit these past 3 weeks.

Dad and Mom were in Bountiful one day and stopped by for a masked visit. It will be nice when we can do away with the face coverings and enjoy each other's smiles once again.

I asked if they were going to stop at Nielsen's Frozen Custard on the way home. They answered in the affirmative. With all the flavors available, I do not understand why they both like maraschino cherry concrete so much. 

It all has to do with their childhoods. Their mothers fed them maraschino cherry flavored stuff. I thanked Mom for not passing that tradition on to us. 

With Lagoon opened up now, Rebecca's family decided to give it a try. They don't want their season passes to go unused.

Just crossing our fingers they don't get any of the deadly coronavirus germs from their amusement park visits. 

Rebecca probably has more concerns about whatever germs she picked up from the gate that got closed on her heel causing lots of bleeding, needing first aid assistance, filling out accident forms and getting a tetanus shot (at my persistent insistence!!). 

Despite Rebecca's misfortune at Lagoon, Madison had a much better time there.

Ben, Haley and Kade came over tonight for dinner. 

The after-dinner entertainment was watching Ben mow the lawn and watching Kade go up and down the stairs.

Let's check in with Abe and see what he and his family are up to lately. He and Klarissa posed in front of the doors where they had their engagement photos taken. My how the times have changed.

What a cute little mask-wearing baby.

It probably didn't take Magnus long to shed his mask once their family was aboard an airplane flying them away from San Francisco. Looks like now is the perfect time to take a flight when you get the whole plane to yourself.

Flight destination: Florida! 

What fun the three little ones will have this summer spending time with their grandparents and playing in the ocean.

Quotes of the Week

Take the long view. What is the effect on our future of the decisions we make in the present?
--Dallin H. Oaks

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes; the soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake!
--How Firm A Foundation

Being all in can be so hard and it can hurt sometimes. It hurts when you give your whole heart to something and it doesn't go the way you thought...But when you look back on your life, the greatest moments will be the moments you went all in.
--Lee Anne Pope

Protesting Turns to Rioting and Looting; Brooke is a Teenager!

I haven't been out walking in the cemetery since way before our mission. The days following Memorial Day felt like a great time to walk around and see the decorations on the graves. 

Some of the headstones are very unique--like this home plate. 

Not quite sure what the flat boulder is doing there. No writing appears anywhere on it. 

The section where the babies are buried is always a tender sight.

Rebecca has continued to sew sacks and sacks and sacks of masks. She has now completed 1,000 masks. Will she stop there...???

San Franciscans are now required to wear masks as soon as they step outside. Who are these masked adventurers???

As much as we appreciate the loan of our friend's scooter, I decided a second, lighter scooter would be helpful. We keep the big, heavy scooter upstairs in our room and use this new one for the main floor and for going on outings. 

I should say going on an outing because Glen has only gone on one outing. More about that later.

We had our traditional Sunday photo session and I noticed it looks like Glen doesn't have a left leg, so we did "take two" of the picture.

Sarah shared Lincoln's request for the day, "I need to wear a bow tie so I can look like a president." 

I asked what president he has seen wearing a bow tie. Herein lies the answer.

We have been sickened by all the rioting going on in various big cities. 

It started out as a protest for Black Lives Matter after the death of a black man by a white police officer.

Things quickly escalated out of control and the protesting turned into rioting. 

Buildings and cars were on fire, stores were being looted, police officers were being abused by rocks, bottles and bricks being thrown at them. It was mayhem and scary to watch.

Our hearts were so saddened when we learned rioting was going on in our very own city--Salt Lake City. We got this notice on our phones informing us of a curfew in place for the evening hours. 

It feels like we are still in the thick of figuring out the COVID-19 pandemic and now throw rioting and looting into the mix and it just seems like way too much! 

Ben's family came up on Monday to take a turn mowing our lawn. We were so appreciative of the help!! 

I did some weeding while Ben mowed and while Haley chased after Kade.

Glen happily showed Kade his new scooter and took him for a ride on it.

One trip around the house with Kade and Glen was exhausted.

Kade moved from the scooter to the piano. He is great at playing the keys with his two pointer fingers.

Several days this week I walked in a neighborhood overlooking the Eagle Ridge Swim and Tennis Club.

Yesterday was Glen's post-op appointment. When I made his appointment, I was told they didn't really want me there if Glen could get himself there unassisted. 

This was Glen's one and only outing thus far. He got himself down our stairs to the car wearing his peg-leg. The scooter was in the back of the car for him when we got to the doctor's building. He tried out how he could do driving and he did great. It was at that point I wondered why I had even gone with him at all.

He got out of the car and hopped to the back of the car where he pulled out the scooter. Then he was off on his way into the building--very independent I might add.

Since the cemetery was just a few blocks from the doctor's office, I decided to walk around there while waiting for Glen.

The doctor took off the splint cast and removed all the bloody bandaging. Glen said he was very impressed with how large the incisions are on the top of his foot and around the outer side of his ankle. A smaller incision is on his inner heel where the bone graft came from. 

Here's where I (and I am sure anyone reading this) wish I had been able to go to the appointment with him. I asked if Glen took a photo of his nasty-looking foot and he said he didn't even think about it. WHAT??!!??

Rest assured, if I had been there, I would have totally thought about taking a photo so I could share it with everyone!!

I will just have to be content capturing a photo of his bruised toes with his toenail-less big toe coming out of his new hard cast. That's probably gross enough for most people anyway.

It was Brooke's birthday that day, so we decided to have a Texas Roadhouse-style celebration. YEE HAW!! 

Glen had Brooke pretend his scooter was a saddle and she sat on it while we sang Happy Birthday to her. YEE HAW!!!

Brooke is very pleased she is now a teenager.