July 2020

COVID-19 cases going up in much of the nation.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints Utah area presidency counseled all church members to wear masks.  The Utah state governor has stated that if schools open in the fall, all students and staff should wear masks (I wonder how they are going to keep masks on the kindergarteners...)  It is amazing to listen to people complain about wearing masks.  They are complaining that it is a health hazard, which makes me wonder (with tongue in cheek) how surgeons and other medical personnel have survived so long since they were masks every day?  Many people are totally ignoring the counsel and are refusing to wear masks or wearing them incorrectly so their nose and sometimes mouth are uncovered.  Many people are refusing to social distance and acting as if there is no virus at all.  My family has chosen to follow the advice of our church leaders, so we wear masks anytime we are out of the house.  The task now is to find the most fun masks to wear.  Kim likes this cow mask:

My favorite is this Dr. Pepper Mask that Shandra got for me!

 July 1 - I got the very sad news that Lisa Burbank's daughter, Braydee, passed away from acetaminophen poisoning.  What a tragedy!  Lisa and her family have suffered many trials in the past few years and I can't even imagine how hard this will be on them.

July 4 - Roxane and all of her family invited the rest of us to join them for a game of volleyball.  Even though I am terribly out of shape, Kalel and I decided to go.  Kalel was excited to show of his culinary talents, so he made a batch of brownies to take.  By the time we got there they net was set up and ready.  Kalel and I both followed the rules and wore our masks even though it was 90 degrees!  It was so fun!  Even though I am extremely slow and can't jump at all I had a marvelous time.  Jeff and Jaxon were both very helpful to the boys who had never played before.  Everyone there played, at least for a while.  It felt great to be outside, to be with people again, and to get a little exercise.  

 After the game, everyone went back to Rox's house for dinner.  Kalel and I decided not to stay (too close for us - virus risk) so we headed home.  It was a good thing we did because all of a sudden Kalel's bowels started acting up and he was miserable!  In fact, he couldn't even wait to get home and made me pull over at the rest stop so he could use the bathroom.  While he was inside, I watched an elderly

gentleman lose his balance.  I tried to get to him before he fell, but I didn't get there in time and he fell flat on his face!  I got there in time to help him up and saw that his face was all bloody with blood streaming from his nose.  Just then a couple came over to help, I sent them for paper towels so that I could try to get the bleeding stopped.  I tried to get the man to sit down, but he refused.  Once we got the towels, I helped him put pressure to stop the bleeding and checked his mouth, eyes, and orientation.  We got his wife from their car and together we helped him walk back to the car.  His wife informed me that they were from back East and they still had several hours to get to their destination, however, when this happened they decided to stop for the night.  I was able to direct them to a hotel and give them information on the nearest hospital if he had any trouble.  I have to wonder, was it just coincidence?  Or was it more that we just happened to be at the right place and time to help this man.  Who knows, I'm just glad that I was able to provide a little service.

July 7 - Jalyn, Shantelle, and I went to Braydee's viewing.  It was small and private, by invitation only due to COVID-19.  It was so good to talk with Lisa.  She even let us give her hugs (yes, I wore a mask!) and she held on tight for a long time.  She said that she received a blessing the day before and during the blessing, she realized that no one was to blame for Braydee's death because her time on earth was complete and she was called home and that "everything is going to be okay".  I know for a fact that Lisa will be s grateful for that knowledge during the coming weeks, months, and years.  I was very interested in the words, "everything is going to be okay" because those very words came to me at the time that BJ was dying.  I feel very strongly that the phrase is an important tender mercy given to some mothers.  I believe that it means that everything is going according to God's plan, that our children will be able to join with other loved ones in a world where they will have no pain or sorrow, that they have the great privilege of being in the presence of Christ the Savior, that life will go on here on earth, that although there is heartache, there will still be many opportunities for joy and happiness.  I believe that the phrase, "everything is going to be okay" means that we have the chance to be the recipient of many blessings because of this loss, blessings of increased closeness to God, the ability to witness miracles, blessings of love and friendship from others who serve us.  My heart hurts for Lisa and her family, but I'm so grateful that she received that great reassurance.

It was marvelous to spend time catching up with Jalyn and Shantelle!   So much has happened in each of our lives since we have gotten together, but it still feels like we are best friends.  We also spent some time talking with Becky Hammons (I worked with her at the hospital) and Dr. Dibble's two daughters, Aarika and Alexis.  We shared many stories, old and new.  In spite of the circumstances, it was a wonderful evening.

July 10-11, Kalel and I were looking at some scrapbooks of when he was younger when I realized that I had not scrapped anything from 2009.  It was probably because I dove deep into school and didn't have much time. Also, it was about that time that my scrapping buddies all pretty much stopped doing much

scrapping.  Anyway, it made me sad, somehow I need to remedy that and preserve those memories.  After the kids left, I went to the computer and decided to watch all of the videos we had taken from that year.  Oh my!  I had forgotten how cute he was!  He was just at the same age his sister is now.  It was fun to see how similar they were in many ways, but also how different they were.  Kim and I watched for several hours and then the next afternoon, we watched them again with Shandra and Kalel.  Ashley stopped by and we showed her a few of Tristan also.  I enjoy memories so much!  I'm so glad that I made the decision to preserve the memories of my family!  I just wish that my girls would record more of my grandkids.

That morning we all worked hard leveling out the spot for the new deck.  Kim rented a small backhoe to do the big job and then we finished by hand. I knew that my body was going to rebel later because I am so out of shape, and I was right!  But it did feel good to work hard for a while.  I am so anxious for the deck to get finished.  Little Miss had a fabulous time shoveling her were own "shovella" and riding in the wheelbarrow.  I'm so excited!  We are making progress!

We spent the afternoon watching the grandkids play in the little blow-up pool.  Jody gave us a pop-up house that just fit the swimming pool - it made the pool nice and shady.

She is such a nut!  She loves to do things with her eyes closed.  She walks around (as we all panic hoping she doesn't run into something and get hurt), she rides her "risee" (horsey) with her eyes closed, and swings with her eyes closed.  She also squishes into any box or container that could possibly hold her!

July 10 Mitch Parrish just posted an EP album on all of the public sites.  He wrote and sang all of the songs.  They are absolutely marvelous!  He has a gorgeous voice and the songs are all calm and soothing.  I downloaded the album and have listened to it several times. 

July 14, Pyper received her mission call to Toronto, Canada.  We were able to watch her open it on Facebook live.  She is so excited!  She will do her training at home instead of going to the Missionary Training Center.  Right now the borders are not open, so she will probably start her mission at someplace stateside.  She will find out closer to the time she leaves (October).  

July 16, My co-worker, Amber, tested positive for COVID.  Weirdly enough her first symptoms were sores on her toes.  They are calling it "Covid Toes".

This is an image of the internet-not Amber's actual toes

She said that she was pretty sick, mostly body aches, extreme fatigue, and diminished taste and smell.  It is getting scary when people I am closely associated with are contracting the disease.  Amber said most of her family and extended family contracted the disease, but fortunately, no one had to be hospitalized.

July 18 - Little Miss Birthday

July 19 - Church for the first time in 4 months!  It was wonderful to attend Sacrament Meeting again, although it was certainly different!  We were there in two sessions as only half of the congregation could attend at the same time.  Everyone was required to wear masks and a third of the pews were taped off so that we could socially distance.  Kim and I were assigned usher duty for the first time back.  We helped people find seats and supplied masks and hand sanitizer.  I have really missed going to church and being surrounded by the people in the ward I love and to join together in worship.  We only get to go once a month, but I'll take it!

Congratulations Mitch & Jess Parrish on the birth of their little baby, Nolan!  Needless to say, Grandma and Grandpa are overjoyed!

July 23 - We had a Zoom meeting with the local missionaries.  I guess since they can't openly track or have meetings with potential investigators of the Church they are meeting with members for short gospel discussions.  Kim and I enjoyed the discussion as well as getting to know the missionaries.  I imagine serving a mission during the pandemic is difficult.

July 24 - Pioneer day, we spent the day working on the deck.  All of the sudden in the afternoon I was plagued with a major anxiety attack! It pretty much came out of nowhere, and it was awful!  My emotions took a nose dive into extreme depression and my heart started beating so hard I was afraid I might have a heart attack - and honestly I may have welcomed the attack to stop the deep depression I was in!  Luckily, my sweet family helped me calm and Kalel made me brownies.  I just hate it when I feel like that!  The feelings of despair and self-loathing become all-encompassing and overwhelming.  I'm so glad that I don't have them often.   One good thing about the day is that Kalel decided his new hobby is learning to cook.  He spent the evening pouring over recipes to make.  

July 25 - Kalel and Tristan spent the day at the Braeggers.  While they were there they made pretzels from scratch.  I think they look great!  This new hobby of Kalel's is going to be great!

While the boys were baking, Shandra and I went shopping for a new car for her.  She puts so many miles driving back and forth to work that she wanted something that got better mileage.  She ended up with this adorable little Chevy Cruze that will be perfect for her.  She is going to keep her Kia for winter driving, a good idea in my opinion.

July 30 - Kim and I attended the viewing for Harper Johnson's father, Leon.  We got to know Leon well while working with Harper at Swiss Days years ago.  It was a very interesting setup.  The viewing as well a the funeral the next day was held in his apple orchard behind Johnson's home.  It was perfect.  However, I was amazed at the lack of people wearing masks.  Actually, Kim and I were the ONLY people wearing masks.  

Fun Memes for this month: