Quotes of the Week

 I plead with us to work together for peace, for mutual respect, and for an outpouring of love for all of God's children.
--Russell M. Nelson

We are here in the ongoing task of making His love, His godliness, His mercy, and His manner ours, and to have those characterize the way we live, the way we talk, the way we think, and the way we act.
--Jeffrey R. Holland

Sometimes--in one way or another--we too can feel broken, whether due to our own actions or those of others, due to circumstances we can or cannot control. In such moments, we can place our will in His hands.
--Walter F. Gonzalez

The Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifices, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy.
David A Bednar

Wynne's 6th, Jonah's 4th and Carson's 9th Birthdays; Kidney Check-up; Glen's Root Canal

 Wynne celebrated her 6th birthday by having a unicorn-themed birthday celebration.

Newland wanted in on the FaceTime action with us.

Jonah was excited for his 4th birthday. 

He had a French toast birthday breakfast.

Time for playtime with presents!!

He was eager to show us what he got for his birthday.

The boys helped make a garbage truck birthday cake. The circle on the top is where the trash gets dumped into the truck. 

A guy came with a big machine to chew up the tree stump at the corner of our house, so that project is finished now.

I needed to have an ultrasound of my kidneys and get my blood drawn. It was a surprise to see my good friend Jamie Jensen at the Farmington University of Utah Health Clinic. 

I thought, oh no!! She's going to be nervous drawing my blood when she finds out my veins are not easy to jab. Sure enough, she tried once and didn't have success. She asked the other medical assistant to give it a try and she was able to find a cooperative vein. HURRAH!!

I was able to see my results before I went to see the doctor. The creatinine number is what has raised some concern with several doctors now. Even back in California I was referred to a nephrologist because of a high creatinine level. That doctor didn't even know why I went to see him. He found nothing to be concerned about. 

My new general physician and my cardiologist were both concerned and so I got referred to a nephrologist here. I had visited with him in a telemed appointment and he felt like I had nothing to worry about, but he ordered these tests to be done several months after that initial visit.

And now here I am looking at my numbers and noticing my creatinine levels are still high, but are going down. 

The doctor pulled up this graph of my creatinine levels and exclaimed, "Look at that beautiful line!!" He didn't seem to care at all that my line was above the green line. 

My kidney ultrasound conclusion read "unremarkable." Apparently that is a very good thing for a kidney patient. 

What really got me excited was the following chart. I had been upset to be previously diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease. From the looks of my number 63, it looks like I have moved lower down into stage 2. HURRAH!!

I really like this doctor. He's happy, optimistic and personable. 

I tried another new recipe. This time it was cube steak, and I pulled out the brussels sprouts recipe once again to go with it.

Let's face it. I'd much rather have someone else do the cooking besides me. That's why I always get excited when our good friend Jan Evans invites us over to her home for dinner. 

Jan always sets such a beautiful, festive table.

She had Mandarin Restaurant prepare the food for us. YUM!!

Even better than the food is the wonderful group of friends who surround the table: Grant and Diane Stewart,; Rick and Debi Winder; Bill and Jan Evans; Dennis and Jane Crandall; Lane and LaVona Lewis; and Bruno and Colleen Kossin.

We were able to have another night out when we went with my parents to see the play "Daddy Long Legs" at the Hale Centre Theatre. It was the first time we've been back to see a play in over a year. We did have to wear masks, but it was worth it because the play was so very delightful. 

There was only one actor and one actress. They were magnificently talented in their singing and acting. There were also three musicians who played constantly through the whole play. Great music, great singing, great acting, great entertainment!!

After the play we tried to go to Red Lobster, but there was too long of a wait. We ended up ordering take-out from Texas Roadhouse. Horror of horrors--they did not have any rolls ready and Glen did not want to wait the 15-20 minutes it would take for the rolls to be done. That was a MAJOR disappointment!!

Poor Glen has been dealing with a very bad toothache this past week. One night during one of my many wake-ups, I noticed Glen wasn't in bed. I went down to check on him and found one miserable man. 

He was able to get in to see the dentist the next day who then referred him to an endodontist for a root canal on that tooth that already had a crown. Glen was hoping the crown would be able to be saved, but that wasn't the case. 

Dr. Bronson gave Glen a prescription for an antibiotic and told him he could take Advil and Tylenol to help with the pain and inflammation.

Thankfully, the endodontist Nani worked for made room in his schedule to do the root canal on Saturday. Glen's mouth was already so sore and then keeping his mouth open for 2 1/2 hours was miserable. 

He consoled himself by eating his favorite anti-stressor treat--Popsicles. I wish I could say he is doing great now, but he is still in a lot of pain. He decided not to take the Advil and Tylenol today and by this evening, he was hurting and took some so he can sleep.

Rebecca has been experiencing some pain of her own. The pain of dealing with their basement remodeling project. It has been, and continues to be, a nightmare for them. Things are not getting done to their standards nor on their timeline and it has been more than frustrating for them.

To top it off, their washer and dryer have been moved out and she has had to come up here to do her laundry. She and Dallas came up on date night and put in a load and then went off to get something to eat.

Dallas was craving Waffle Love. They said the waffles are made out of bread dough instead of waffle/pancake batter. I would have ordered what Rebecca ordered, with cream cheese frosting.

The weather has been nice enough here for Ben's family to enjoy some outdoor play and kite flying. FUN!!

We're off tomorrow on our first vacation since Covid lockdown a year ago. We are going to Las Vegas to see Sarah's family. That will be a definite rise in temperature for us to experience.

Quotes of the Week

 Spend more time--much more time--in places where the Spirit is present. That means more time with friends who are seeking to have the Spirit with them. Spend more time on your knees in prayer, more time in the scriptures, more time in family history work, more time in the temple. I promise you that as you consistently give the Lord a generous portion of your time, He will multiply the remainder.
Russell M. Nelson

If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence then pain, sorrow, failure and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching into the premortal past and into the eternal post-death future then all happenings may be put in proper perspective.
--Spencer W. Kimball

The burdens you must carry in life are made lighter by the Savior's Atonement. The Lord has asked each of us, His disciples, to help bear one another's burdens. I give my witness that the living Christ sends the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, to those we are pledged to help Him comfort.
--Henry B. Eyring

Caleb and Natalia Wedding: Tree Gone

We were able to join in the wedding festivities of my nephew Caleb and Natalia. Mark and Michelle and their family were in town all week. We attended a groom's dinner at Michelle's brother's home which is located in Ogden not too far from Nani's home.

It has been so long since we have been together as a family and it was nice to see other loved ones again. We were sad Mom wasn't feeling too well that day and missed the festivities.

We were enjoying the lovely weather. The huge backyard and play equipment sure made it fun for the younger children.

Caleb and Natalia's wedding reception was held at a beautiful venue in Draper.

It was a chilly day as we all congregated outside for pictures followed by the ring ceremony. The bride and groom had been sealed the day before in the Jordan River Temple. Mark officiated at the ring ceremony.

I loved Natalia's beautiful bridal bouquet, the boutonnieres and corsages that all had succulents in them.

Look at these cute bridesmaids. WAIT a minute!! Only three of them are bridesmaids: Hailey, Nina and Kate. Brooke came along with us and her parents to the reception. Hailey handed Brooke her bouquet for the photo.

I loved the subtle colors in Natalia's veil. It was beautiful.

The next morning Mark's family stopped by on their way out of town for a French toast, bacon and fruit breakfast. It was so nice to have a little bit of time to visit with them before their trip came to an end.

Rebecca's and Ben's families joined us for breakfast. Then we made a day of play after Mark's family left. I got some snuggle/sleep time with Levi.

Caroline also got some baby time.

Levi is getting really close to being able to sit up on his own.

He was just the right size sitting there on the floor for Kade to show him some brotherly love.

We had a Costa Vida dinner. Funny thing was we clearly ended up one dinner short. Thankfully, it was mine. Crisis averted. Glen ordered a second time and I got to eat my meal after everyone else was all finished eating. 

Nani came over one day after her financial planning appointment in Bountiful. She and Glen love Smokin' Bones. The good thing about that restaurant is we always get enough for plenty of leftovers.

Nani has been a little self-conscious about the gigantic bruise on the left side of her face. She had some upper dental work done and the dentist surprised himself with the unnecessary bruising he had caused. She got bruised just in time for the wedding week festivities. UGH!!

The brown tree at the back corner of our house has been causing us problems. I do not know why the tree was planted so close to the house when it grows so big and tall. 

We have had to trim the tree branches that hang out too far into the yard and the ones that smash up into the house. 

The trunk and roots have gotten so big that our cement edging around the tree is now all messed up. 

Upon closer inspection, Glen noticed the tree was growing right in between the roof and the rain gutter. That's a problem!!

We decided that tree needed to come down before we get a roofer and rain gutter person working on the house. There was a truck out front that chipped up all the branches and trunk as a worker climbed up the tree and started chopping from the top down.

I watched the chainsaw-chopping process through the kitchen window. It was an exciting few minutes for me as I watched the process. Glen is always calling me Gladys as I peer out the windows looking at anything new happening on our street. 

This is the new look from our deck. The tree is gone!

But WAIT!! Upon closer inspection we could see the offending branch still stuck between the roof and the rain gutter. REALLY??!!?? That was the reason we were chopping the thing down!

Turns out it may be to our advantage as Glen has contacted our homeowners insurance company to come out and take a look at our roof and our water dripping problem. One of the guys who came out saw that tree branch, took a photo of it and will submit it to our insurance company. 

Haley posted some cute photos of her boys enjoying being outside.

Spring has sprung here in North Salt Lake. We got the tree down just in time before it really started growing leaves that would have made a much bigger mess to clean up.