My Blog, because I really need to keep a journal!

As you can see, I did not do so well at keeping up with my blog.  Today is June 3, 2014.  It has almost been a year since my last post.  

I got my haircut today.  Sister Jones asked if she could cut my hair.  I was just going to schedule to have my hair cut so I was really excited that she would offer.  Now that I am down most of the time when I need my hair cut, I give Robert Saint a call and he comes to my house.  He does a really good job, and it is wonderful that he is so willing to come to my house. I just hate to cut into his family time, since he comes after his salon is closed for the day.  
Sister Jones did a great job.  What a tender mercy to come my way.

Josh & Brenda a their children have been here with us for about a year now.  It is working out really well.  What a blessing. Darrell and I truly needed some help.  We love having them here.  Let's see...... only two more and we will have all our kids and their families here  :)

Happy 4th of July!  I love America.  I love living in a land with the freedoms we have!

Grandpa's surgery went really well.  He has an ache left in his leg and his neck hurts, but it is nothing like the pain he had before surgery!  It has been very hard for him not to do things especially with all the things that has needed to be done.  We have been so blessed during his recovery time with so many acts of service.  We have had lunch and dinners, our yard has been taken care of, many phone calls to see how we are doing and many prayers have been offered in Grandpa's behalf.

Josh & Brenda, Daylan, Breanna and Caitlynn arrived Monday evening!  It is great having them here.  All their furniture has found a place. The day before the move something fell on Josh's foot.  He was given a great tender mercy.  He didn't have much problem's with it until after they got here.  By last evening though he could not bend or even stand on it!  How blessed they were that they got here before that happened!

Grandpa and I's lives are changing quite a bit!  Our house is not quiet anymore!  We love it!

Sunday instead of going to our church meetings Grandpa and I went to the Nauvoo 1st Ward's meetings.  Sabrina had called and asked if we would come so we could hear her sing in Sacrament Meeting with the Primary for Father's Day.  After the meeting started, the meeting was turned over to the Stake President to take care of some business.  President Church released the Bishopric and announced the new Bishopric.  The new Bishop is Casey Cluff, who is Grandpa's boss at Nauvoo Facilities.  His first counselor is Matt Jones.  Matt and Cami really wanted us to be there for Matt being sustained and ordained to the Bishopric, and it worked great when Sabrina wanted to call and invite us to hear her sing.  It was so wonderful to be there.  What a powerful Spirit was felt in that room!
I need to mention, we met with our Home Teachers before the Sacrament Meeting started so that they could give Grandpa and I Priesthood blessings.  They were very beautiful blessings, which gave us a lot of comfort for things to come.

Monday Tally called and said that she and Jacob wanted to bring over brownies, and get Chinese food from First Wok.  Matt and Cami showed up with their kids and so we got enough food for everyone.  We found out that the brownies and the Chinese food was a gift for Grandpa and I from Jason and Rachael.  So they paid for our food, Jacob and Tally's.  We paid for Matt and Cami's family.  It  was so much fun being all together.  We had fun up until the time Buster got startled and snapped at Sydney and bit her.  He didn't draw blood, but it was hard enough to hurt!  I felt so bad.

Yesterday Grandpa and I went down to Quincy Medical Group for his pre-op.  We actually got to meet Dr. Reynolds.  He seems like a really nice man.  He has performed over 4000 of these surgeries.  He also said that this particular surgery that he is doing on Grandpa is is favorite to do.  It gave us a lot of comfort to hear this.  After Grandpa finished up with his labs we decided to go out for lunch.  We went to Tiramisu. For the first part of our meal we had the whole restaurant to ourselves.  It reminded me of the movies when a couple are going out for a romantic meal and the man reserves the restaurant just for them.  During our meal the restaurant began to fill up, so the illusion quickly vanished.  We had a great meal and really enjoyed being out together.  After lunch we ran a few errands and decided to get a soft pretzel from Sam's Club.  We both really enjoy them.  After we got home we started planning how we are going to move things around in the house to be able to incorporate all of Josh and Brenda's things.  Grandpa moved the piano into the front foyer area.  It fit great.  After moving the piano we realized the the sheers in the living room were filthy, so Grandpa put them in the was.  We both wondered if they would actually come out in one piece.  We were very happy when they came out of the dryer all clean and looking like new.  When I was on the computer I noticed that BYU's Vocal Point was in town, so we decided to go.  We had to be in Nauvoo by about 6:00 so we could be there to get a good seat at the outdoor theater.  We decided to go to the whole evenings entertainment which started with the Nauvoo Brass Band, then came Sunset by the Mississippi, and ended with Vocal Point.  The evening was very entertaining.  We both came home exhausted but we were glad we went.  What a wonderful day!
For the picture with this entry I decided to put a picture of Dr Reynolds.

It has almost been a whole year since I have been to the blog. I have decided to make some changes and start doing better. You may see that I have now changed the title of my blog. Maybe this new title will help me write more often. I just celebrated my 53rd birthday yesterday! I am now over a half century old! That seems really odd to think about! I used to think 53 was quite old, but I have changed my mind. Last year I was so spoiled when all the kids and grandkids came to celebrate my birthday with me. This year I decided I was just not going to think about having a birthday, because I knew it would be easier since we all wouldn't be together this year. You know it, I was wrong in my thinking because even though not everyone was able to be here in person, I still had a wonderful birthday. The phone calls were all GREAT! Jacob and Tally, and even Maggie came for lunch on Sunday.really had a fun time together. On Monday afternoon my Visiting Teachers stopped in to bring some soup and some goodies and a card. Later that afternoon when Grandpa came home from work he asked if I would enjoy going out to the family room to watch a movie. I thought that sounded like fun. I had just gotten myself settled in the recliner when I noticed a familiar car pull in our driveway, Matt and Cami and their kids came and brought in dinner and a birthday cake and surprised me. Grandpa knew all about it and had been planning it with them. So yes this year I was spoiled too, just in a different way. Oh, yes, I can't forget the many birthday wishes on Facebook. One more birthday wish I just have to mention is; on Sunday my whole Bishopric came to my house with a card and a balloon and sang Happy Birthday to me! Ok, I have one more thing I need to tell you about that happened for my birthday and then I will be through. Grandpa tried to tease me the morning of my birthday. Normally he gives me a card first thing when I wake up. This year he didn't give me one. When I opened up my lunchbox at lunchtime there it was! Silly Grandpa! I sure love him! The picture I chose to put with this entry is one of the ones that was posted on Facebook. Lisa Miller used to come and play Wii Bowling with me before she moved, so this picture made me smile!

Friday night Grandpa and I went to see the pageant. Matt Jones, and Dorthy (a sister in our ward whom Grandpa home teaches), came with us to see the pageant. It was as great as ever. Grandpa was very concerned about me getting a sunburn, so he set up two umbrellas to cover me. One umbrella covered my legs and the other the rest of me. It was quite the sight. It did keep the sun off though! Saturday afternoon the day we all were dreading came. The day when the girls Jacob and Tally have been fostering had to leave. Jacob and Tally have done such a wonderful job giving a foundation of love and the Gospel to the girls. What a special service fostering is. To give love and care as though they are your children, also knowing that at any time they can be whisked away leaving a whole in your heart. Our love and prayers go out to Jacob and Tally. I woke up not feeling very well. I am hoping to be able to get things together so that I can go to Sacrament Meeting. Attending Sacrament Meeting means a lot to me. I love to be able to go and feel the Spirit there. To see the light and goodness of the members. It truly gives me joy and strength! I am so grateful to be able to partake of the Sacrament so I can renew my covenants with the Lord. I am grateful for the messages of truth that are given from which I can gain insights for my own life. I am grateful to be able to see friends and feel of their love. I am disappointed when I have to miss out on this. This week Matt and Karen celebrate their 10 year anniversary. Grandpa and I are also celebrating an anniversary. This year is our 34th year anniversary. I have an appt with the Ophthalmologist in Quincy on Thursday morning. Since Grandpa and I are going to be in Quincy then we decided to wait until then to celebrate. Grandpa is going to take the day off work and after my appt we will take the rest of the day to enjoy together.

I sure love Sunday. It just seems like everything is fresh and new and full of light. I love going to Church. Partaking of the Sacrament makes everything fresh and new. Each week we are renewed and covenant to be as our Savior Jesus Christ. I love being among the members. I love feeling of their spirits, and of their light. We had to get our car fixed. Grandpa was hearing a sound that was not normal. He took it into a place we have been to before. They checked the car out and proceeded to tell Grandpa that there was some big things that needed done and that it would cost us almost $2000 to take care of these issues. Well that was definitely not what we wanted to hear! The car repair place also said it wasn't very safe to drive the car until these things were taken care of. We are very thankful to Great Grandpa and Grandma Pierce in allowing us to borrow their truck during the time our car was out of commission. Well back to the cost of repairs; We were not wanting to put that much into the repairs. Grandpa and I made our problem a matter of prayer. We prayed for direction and help in hearing promptings. As Grandpa was talking to Roland he was told of the name of a mechanic in Carthage who did good work and was fair in his pricing. Grandpa brought our car in and had him evaluate it. Mr Steinhour looked at it and said that he could do the job for about $200. Grandpa had him do the job. The car is running well, and Grandpa is pleased with the job Mr Steinhour has done. We are both really grateful for the answer to our prayers. Tomorrow we will be having someone coming to stay with us for awhile. His name is Matt. Matt has a wife and 3 children, or his wife is about to have their 3rd child any day now. Matt is going to start working at the Nauvoo Temple. His family isn't able to come right now. Their home hasn't sold yet. Matt needs to be here to start his new job, and to find a house for his family when they come. July is typically a busy month for Grandpa. It is time for the Nauvoo Pageant. Grandpa volunteers at the concessions trailer. He helps 2 days a week cooking up the food, and helping with the cleanup. Grandpa's schedule for a normal week in July is: Monday get up at 4:00am. Make lunches. Make breakfast. Have scripture time as we eat breakfast. Grandpa starts work at 7:00am. (During the week, Grandpa's morning schedule is pretty much the same) Each day at work they start with a thought and prayer! Grandpa does plumbing jobs all day. He ends work at about 3:30pm. Then when Grandpa comes home he does what needs to be done around here and he fixes dinner. Tuesday after work Grandpa goes straight to the concessions trailer instead of coming home. He will get home about 9:30 - 10:30pm, give or take a half hour or so. Wednesday after work Grandpa will come home and take care of things around the home and get dinner. Every other Wednesday he has High Priest Group meetings. Also in the evenings Grandpa does things for the High Priests and he does indexing. Thursday he goes to work and does the concessions. Friday is date night, except for the 3rd Friday of the month, that is Ward Temple night. Though I can't usually go, both Grandpa and I feel it is very important to have Grandpa go. Grandpa serves every other Saturday in the Temple. He serves from 6:00am to 1:30pm. Saturday afternoon Grandpa gets all the stuff that needs to be done around the house and all the extra projects that can't be done during the week. Saturday evenings he prints up the program. Sunday mornings we listen to the BYU station, and fold the programs. Grandpa gets us breakfast. Some Sunday mornings he does Home Teaching, some Sundays he has meetings with the Bishopric. This year our Sacrament Meeting doesn't begin until 2:00pm. Sunday evening Grandpa fixes us dinner and he makes calls for the High Priest group. So that is Grandpa's week. Maybe that is why I a so tired. I am being tired for him :)

What a wonderful Surprise Birthday, and Vacation! Grandpa and I had so much fun! It was really sad when everyone left for home. We are so grateful for all the great memories, and all the pictures! Spending the week with the family made us realize just how blessed we are to be a family. Each one of our family is so special and has an important role in our family. Each member is full of talents, and are using them to do good. As you may know that one of my favorite scriptures is Third John 4. "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." My joy is full!