Galloping Grandparents

Here we are in St. George with Rick and his family. They got a condo and treated us since thye 22nd! We saw Sound of Music and Les Miz at Tuachan and Les Miz was fantastic. It's interesting to see the same performers play different parts in the two shows. Janae had a hard time with Jean Valjean because she says he has a face just like her picture of Christ at home!!!! And I guess he kinda did!!!!

Of course our mission call came Wednesday while we were down here as we thought it would. Scott has a key to our house so we left the mail key there and on his way home from work he stopped by. So we sat here with Rick's family and Janae's sister and her family waiting and waiting and waiting---OH! So patiently---that isn't spelled right!!! FINALLY he called and the first thing he said was we had to be in the MTC on Sept 1. That's pretty soon. Then he said we were going to HIS hometown. I always thought Riverton was his home town. Then we thought St. Louis, as that's where he went on his mission. Then it hit----Boston---where he was born, where Dick was baptized. We were there from 1963-1965 while the Air Force sent him to Harvard Business School. It was a very fun time in our life!! It immediately answered lots of questions regarding how, when, what, why....but we all went out dinner.

We feel like it makes our life much simpler, to stay in the states. Scott read that our assignment would be as Welfare Services Missionaries with other assignments as the mission President feels inclined!! THAT leaves a lot of play room!!! We really don't know what all that means but I guess we'll find out. Next step is to get home tomorrow, read the paperwork, send in our acceptance and then wait for a packet from the mission.

You'll all invited to plan a trip back east. Better wait til we find out what our living situation will be before we offer a place to stay!!

We're looking forward to this next week when Rick's family will be with us all week, then Dan's family comes on Wednesday, we'll do birthday parties for Lauren, Taylor, Brianna, Steve and Kaden, go to Lagoon, go ride the Alpine slide in Park City, have Austin's baptism, go see High School Musical, at the Capitol Theater and just enjoy having every one around. Mindy and family are in Disneyland this week and will be home tomorrow. Then it's clean out the house so Steve and Catrina can move in while we're gone and get ready. So much to do but so much we don't know yet. Somehow it's not real yet!! But I guess that will change rapidly!!!

Enjoy reading ALL your blogs---tell Bear he is little to us!!!

I'm trying to get a pictures on here---don't know if I can. Anyway, any guesses as to where this call is going to be?? We'll put your name on a sticker and put it right where you guess....

FINALLY!! They released our mission papers for assignment today! How do I know??? I got a call from Dr. Doty, the Missionary Medical Advisor (and the one who kept deciding I needed all those blood draws). He was our regional rep at one time and he's a reknowned heart surgeon here in the valley. His question to me: "would you be willing to use your talents in nursing in a mission assignment??" (Ummm, did he want me to deliver babies or what??!!!). Well, of course. He replied, "good girl"!! No brother and sister stuff here!!!! Then he supposed that I would want to know what my husband would be doing. I figured he would NOT want to dabble in any blood, gore, shots, broken bones, nausea, vomiting, headaches, mental problems.....well, we would have an office assignment and I would have the additional assignment of assisting the mission medical director. Kim said she remembers that person giving the missionaries shots every couple months!!!
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Next question---can we really be ready to go Sept 1? Well, why not??? It's all of 7 weeks away. And it took me more than a week to clean out my scrapbook room. So just a week for the bedroom, another week for the kitchen, another for the upstairs, another week to have everyone here to party, another week for a trip to California and St. George....works out fine....

I did ask if it was likely we would stay stateside or go overseas. He hemmed and hawed a little and said probably stateside so I would have access to my medications. I reminded him I have this SIL, a pharmacist, that will supply my drug needs.

So, the bottom line is, we will have our call in 7-10 days. Of course on day 10 we will be in St. George with Rick's family. And we'll have to wait until July 26th when we get home for the news. So I vote for a week from now. I can take the news over the phone whilst enjoying the bantering at The Place. Surely that would be a great conversation piece......Burley, Idaho, here we come.

And we should have ourselves ready for training Sept. 1. At least that gives us a date to plan on. Stateside would surely be more convenient in a lot of ways: insurance, baptisms and blessings (I guess they let senior couples take off for a Saturday and Sunday for those things at their own expense--depends on the mission president), taking our car and unlimited luggage, a local Walmart, familiar restaurants for eating out, computer access, etc. But we wouldn't have the adventure of a foreign country. Whatever!! And probably no one would come to visit us here in the States.......

Actually, this today is probably more exciting than the actual call. We know it's happening and we have a date!! All the things running around in our minds. Of course I texted everyone to read their emails and WOW--the phone starting ringing, the emails are flying back and forth and answers to my texting piling up-----Katelynn wanted to know "who are you" when she got the text message!!

So this blog will be our journal and we'll keep it updated weekly. No pictures yet but at least I have a background!!! And rather than text, we'll blog the call!! Stay tuned....

July 6--almost the 7th

I just read everyone's blog and most of you got caught up--especially Jolynn!! Way to go Jo!!

I wish I could figure out how to add pictures and all that stuff--I guess that will come someday...but for now, we are trying to keep up with life. I had rotator cuff surgery the day after Jolynn got rid of Earl. I hate being in a sling!! Do you know how much you can NOT accomplish when you can't lift one arm??!! But the physical therapist said if I accidently lift it during the night or in the "flight or fight" response, I could tear out all the anchors that are keeping the ligaments attached to the bone and the next repair would not be nice. I've heard all kinds of bad stuff about this surgery--how it hurts, how bad the recovery is, etc. etc. Well, I haven't taken any pain pills, my range of motion is way beyond what is expected at this point and I'm dying to sleep on my left side!!! No go there!! Patience is a virtue I don't have!!

Had dinner with Jo, Bob, Judy and Al at our favorite Chuck-a Rama last week. I guess none of us are the worse for wear and it's fun to get together for a couple hours every year or so:). Next weekend we'll have girlie weekend in California with the folks. Look for pictures to come!!

Our mission papers have been in for over a month. Period. The nice little lady calls and says everything is in order--EXCEPT----my blood levels that tell how I've been controlling my diabetes over the last 3 months. Well, I could have told anyone that my non compliant nature would result in bad results. Sure enough, there is a strict number that the blood level has to be below. I started at 10.3--which is nicely high :). So two weeks later I checked it and it was 8.8---still no go. Two weeks later it was 8.3. "Keep going, sister. You're doing fine". GRRRRRRRRR. So tomorrow is another blood draw and it better be below 8 or Dick is going without me. I feel like a pin cushion checking my sugar levels every couple hours and shootin insulin like a druggie. IF it's 8 or below tomorrow, we should have a call by a week from Wednesday. I guess I'm pretty lucky because it usually takes at least 3 months to get the levels down. We'll see.

I have nothing to report for just the two of us---we spend lots of time with the family. It was great having David and family here altho it was way too short. We've been seeing Mindy's family lots--even went to the July 4th parade in Tooele!! It lasted 90 minutes--much better show than Grouse Creek, Mandy!! Brianna has graduated from high school, Lauren gave up her spot on the cheerleading squad because she would rather dance, Taylor is turning 16 and driving, Austin and Preston are having a big birthday party Saturday, we're going to St. George with Rick's family and the last week in July Rick and Dan and their families will be here so there'll be some good partying goin on!!

For now, it's sack time. Have to build up my strength for the next blood draw.......