Week of June 7 - 13, 2020

Highlights:

Spiritual

We had another typical Sunday, though this is the first Fast Sunday without ward testimonies bein audio shared. We had a quiet morning of Music and the Spoken Word, two wonderful BYU devotional talks, and our own study of the scriptures Come Follow Me, and talks from our church leaders. A few phone calls, a visit with Nathan, Jessica, and the girls (including some kite flying and playing outdoors on a rare cool June evening), and Marco Polos with the Wilkins Family ended our day. 

No temple again this week. I was able to attend a Zoom Relief Society Presentation on Thursday evening. Five sisters spoke and gave some pretty good talks. I'm thankful for the inspiration to select all these sisters because I am sure each of the 31 of us participating were strengthened by one message or another. 

I continue daily General Conference talk listening, and began my fourth time through this week. I also enjoy my Come Follow Me Book of Mormon studies as well as my studies on my own. 

I have indexed 10119 records and reviewed 50143 records so far this year. 

Family

The Wilkins Family

The Wilkins week went well, until Adam got injured on his skateboard. Allison has a good week ahead as she gets to return to working in the temple in Las Vegas. Entrance for patrons is extremely limited (I miss being in the temple so much!) but she will have the opportunity to be there and feel that amazing Spirit. I enjoyed walking with the family as they updated the week. Grace got her braces adjusted with lilac and green rubber bands. She and Josh are great runners and took me and the phone camera on a nauseating, but thankfully short jog. Adam found out on Monday that part of his 17th birthday celebration on Tuesday would include knee surgery. 

Later that evening, Allison shared:

Surgery is done and he is home. There was more damage than anticipated (large piece of femur chipped off, meniscus tear) but his amazing ortho surgeon took care of it. Recovery was rough. Really rough. He was in a lot of pain and had extreme anxiety even after multiple doses of drugs. They were about to send him to the ER because of the amount of pain he was in, but the anesthesiologist was able to administer a nerve block which made him feel much better. 😀 He is pretty exhausted so we are going to have a birthday re-do in a few days. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!

Later in the week, Allison shared pics of a new front door resident at the Wilkins

A hummingbird is minding a nest right by their front door and window.

The Ethan Rice Family

It was a busy week for this family. They added a new family member last weekend...

New to them. Their Tacoma was getting such poor gas mileage when pulling their travel trailer that they decided to try something new. 

Kaylee had an exciting visit...from the tooth fairy!

They tested out their new vehicle by traveling to Chattanooga State Park for a fun family trip. 

The Doran Rice Family

Both Doran and Amber had a great work week. They have been doing some room switching in hopes of giving Amber a quiet office to work from. Kids had a good week too. I neglected to share Kooper's birthday party attire last week. He is ready for anything.

Morgan

Morgan came by for a visit on Saturday afternoon. He borrowed the canoe for an upcoming trip. 

He is doing well. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good work week. She has been giving instructions as to what she will have to have to return to work. They will give her two weeks warning. She forced us to watch Lord of the Rings 1 and 2 for hours and hours. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Nathan and Jessica had a good week. We enjoyed a couple of visits and playing with the girls...

We played Friday night while they had a date night. We enjoyed ice cream cones and some fresh orange juice. 

Dad's Garden

I still get tomatoes every few days. I used the little cherry tomatoes to put on a salad I took when we delivered dinner to a family in our ward whose father had brain surgery last week. They are nice because it's easier for kids to pick out cherry tomatoes! I also made two batches of pesto, which put six packages in the freezer for future meals. 

Tomato count: 663

Other highlights

We celebrated Grandma's Birthday on Monday night by having her come and enjoy a meal of Mexican Cheese Casserole, Layered Bean Dip, Homemade Salsa, salad, and her favorite BlueBell ice cream.

Dad also found out on Monday during a meeting with a supplier that the next layoff will be at the end of June. We are pondering whether to volunteer this time or at the end of September. Our stock had nearly returned to pre quarantine levels, but lost quite a bit again this week. We are trying to find out about insurance.

Dad did a lot of work repairing the ductwork in our house this week. He is putting styrofoam insulation on the actual air handler too. 

We had to figure a way to replace the car battery that had died in my jeep last week. WalMart was not open in the automotive center. We tried to contact the manager and corporate. Dad ended up just returning it to customer service. 

Week of May 31 - June 6, 2020

Highlights:

Spiritual

Sunday began earlier than I like. Dad saw some news on his phone. I choose to not add that to my life before I listen to General Conference and read my scriptures, so that is what I did. I heard some wonderful talks and enjoyed Music and the Spoken Word. Dad attended a stake Sunday school presidency meeting. We had a quiet day of reading. 

No temple attendance now or in the foreseeable future. I have not even seen anything happening there. 

I continue my daily Book of Mormon reading and study in Come Follow Me and on my own. I also enjoy at least one General Conference Talk each morning. 

I have indexed 9707 records and reviewed 49082 records so far this year. 

Family

The Wilkins Family

We had a wonderful Marco Polo visit on Sunday. First, this family took a brief and wonderful family trip to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes in Kanab, Utah. They rented a vehicle and an Air BnB with an awesome jacuzzi. They had so much fun climbing up the dunes and then coming down. Poor Josh was so excited about their trip that he didn't get much sleep the night before and was exhausted but he still managed to get around on those sandy dunes. Sam actually rolled down! Everyone was covered head to foot with lovely pink sand and they had an awesome time. On their way back, they stopped at Zion National Park, drove through the amazing tunnel through the mountains, stopped in St. George for a rest and played at an all-abilities park, and headed back home. 

Mike had a productive work week but found out that his site is not converting employees to permanent at this time, so they are looking into their options. He had a good birthday on Sunday (Happy Birthday Mike!) and enjoyed Southwestern Beef Wraps for dinner. His requested French Silk Pie didn't work out the first time, so he had a sweet treat thanks to Josh and they will make another pie attempt next week. Allison was excited to learn that she would return to some work hours at the temple. She has a dear friend and co-worker that she hasn't seen in such a long time. 

Adam spent last Saturday shopping at the outlet mall with a friend, (21,000 Fitbit steps!) and got a new Nickelboard Skateboard for his birthday. Grace is doing well. On their trip, Grace and Allison, who love to hike, hoped to be able to hike a trail or two in the area, but ended up exhausted hiking in that Utah sand - two steps forward and one step back. Josh has been such a great help to Allison. He has the gift of empathy and is always the first to jump in and help out. While Allison typed, Josh mopped the floors and did the laundry! Same is still a big Pokemon fan and loves to earn time to play. Their family scripture study will include Kahoot questions that Adam and Grace are putting together. New haircuts this week too!

Friday night was not so good for Adam. Allison shared, "Poor buddy dislocated his kneecap while skateboarding... and then fell on top of it, which caused it to fracture. After several attempts, the doctors couldn't get it back into place completely because of the swelling. 😪 He is in a lot of pain but pretty goofy because of the painkillers. We will see what the ortho says on Monday. 😕 Praying he doesn't need surgery.

The Ethan Rice Family

Ethan and Cameo and the kids sure enjoyed their Florida getaway last weekend!

They had a good and busy work week. Kaylee and I visited for quite a while via FaceTime on Thursday night as she played in her room, ate dinner, and talked about everything! Wade is now potty trained...Hooray!!! They spend time during the day playing with their toys and watching shows and enjoy pool time after work. They had a good Saturday and got to take a little drive. Haircuts were also in order. 

The Doran Rice Family

There have been many protests here regarding an incident in Minnesota involving a bad police officer. This has spread to neighborhoods everywhere. Monday night, it truly came home to our family. Kooper and Kelsie were out riding bikes in their neighborhood when all of a sudden, a car with four young adult black men began chasing them and yelling threats at them. Kelsie was absolutely amazing and kept Kooper going until they safely arrived home. Amber called the police right away, and Doran arrived home from work soon after. The police arrived and were absolutely wonderful! They calmed the kids and Kooper's dream came true as he sat in the police car, ran the sirens, and used the loudspeaker! So grateful for all the good officers that protect us. 

Morgan

Morgan is doing well. He and Dad got away to cool weather and fished on Thursday night and Friday. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good work week. She was told to take more vacation days now so she is trying to decide what days she would like to sleep. Not much to do elsewhere. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Last Saturday, Nathan, Jessica, Anna, Ellie, and Emma went up to Williams with Jessica's parents and got to enjoy the cool weather and visit BearZona. They had such a wonderful time! We visited with them briefly on Sunday afternoon after they had visited Grandma Dorrie. The girls came to play for a little bit while Jessica hurried to Walmart. (with the civil unrest continuing, our area Walmart now closes at 5 pm, so there is no way for Nathan to get off work in time to get groceries). We had a fun time! 

Happy First Birthday Emma on Saturday! 

We had fun celebrating on Saturday night! My phone died, so the video didn't take, but I did get a few pictures. 

Dad's Garden

More canning this week. This should be the last batch for the year. 

Not sure why it's upside down, but it is what it is. 

Still getting a few tomatoes, lots of basil, and some key limes. 

Other highlights

The SpaceX Dragon docked with the International Space Station on Sunday morning. 

After weeks and weeks, hours and hours of laying on the ground in heat and multiple failures,and many many prayers,  Dad was able to get his jeep repaired. Jesse Springston (yes our old neighbor) was able to help dad get started, and then YouTube took him to the next step. Thank goodness for a good machinist and a lathe that still works. This was NOT an easy job, and there were many times we were just ready to have it hauled off, but the repair is good. Not perfect, but very good, and he is back driving his car. Many thanks to Ethan for continuing to answer the phone day and night when Dad had questions, and for the willingness of sons to come help. 

We were blessed and found a car to replace my failing vehicle by a couple in our ward. It took hours on Saturday to get it titled and emissions tested, but it is now ours. 

Not so highlights

The violence and protests continue this week, every single night. We have a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am and we abide by that, although I do get to jog, though I am very careful. 

Week of May 24 - 30, 2020

Highlights:

Spiritual

We had another typical Sunday. Get up, get dressed up for church. Watch Music and the Spoken Word. Watch a couple of talks on BYU tv. Have the Sacrament when Kayty gets up. Lunch. Read and study. A few calls and my favorite Weekly Wilkins Marco Polo. 

No temple again this week. Now, with the heat, this becomes very hard for Dad, as he would often spend warm evenings in the temple during the summertime. 

I continue to read the Book of Mormon daily via Come Follow Me lessons and my own reading. I also watch at least one General Conference talk each day. I love Elder Gary Stevenson's talk about building a strong foundation. He speaks about Kim White, the very wonderful lady I found on InstaGram that was such a personal inspiration in my life. "God is in the details" she would always say. 

I have indexed 9434 records and reviewed 47262 records so far this year. 

Family

The Wilkins Family

The Wilkins family is doing well. Sunday church at home is good, and they have found that taking a family walk gets all the wiggles out and helps everyone get along better.  On Monday, Allison and Mike celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary and the 19th anniversary of the Wilkins family!

 Adam and Joshua helped hang some neat outdoor lights Allison had purchased on sale a long time ago on their patio so they could enjoy a special dinner. Mike is still doing well both at work and on his studies. Allison continues her typing work and enjoys more time with the kids. She runs and walks and Grace gets to go with her. They are excited to be getting some kitchen cabinets from a remodel their bishop is doing. Adam is enjoying his summer vacation and is a great help to Allison and Mike. He and Josh are now working on drywall repairs in their room which will be so nice for their home! Grace is excited to become a Las Vegas High Wildcat next year. Josh is looking happy as ever and enjoying playing Pokemon with Sam. He is doing well and Sam is as sweet as ever. 

The Ethan Rice Family

Ethan and Cameo spent their Memorial Day camping and fishing. 

They returned home Monday so Cameo could work a holiday shift. They had a good week. We were excited to receive a FaceTime call Saturday morning from them...in Florida. They had driven all night and were six miles from the SpaceX Dragon Rocket liftoff....the first time in nine years that a manned spacecraft has left from the United States to dock with the International Space Station. 

They said it was so loud! We were so glad they took that opportunity to see!

The Doran Rice Family

Doran, Amber and the kids brought the most delicious brisket Doran had prepared on Monday, and we shared a great meal.

Doran worked all over the state throughout the week and Amber continues to work from home. Kids days are spent swimming and enjoying their new home and neighborhood. They came by on Saturday afternoon for a swim, and Doran helped Dad install the new garage door opened that we had sorely needed for many years. 

Kooper and I built with Legos, and Dad came in and helped Kelsie make stovetop cookies.

Morgan

We saw Morgan for a few minutes on Monday. He and his friend were going to a swimming party and barbecue. His work has slowed a bit but he is doing well. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good work week and sold a few more things on Poshmark. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Nathan, Jessica and the girls had a good week. They took the canoe with new life preservers out to Bartlett Lake on Monday evening and had a wonderful time swimming and canoeing. News finally came on Friday that Jessica's Covid19 test was negative. We played with the girls on Friday night while Nathan and Jessica had a little date night. 

Dad's Garden

Tomatoes are slowing down, thanks to the molten 111 degree heat we had this week. Still, we have picked 402 tomatoes and many cherry tomatoes this year. We have some tomato plants that never produced and they are being torn out. 

Basil is thriving and we hope to be getting some basil walnut pesto made and frozen in the future. 

Other highlights

I messaged my ministering sisters and heard from all of them. I include a couple of friends in that and I heard back from one. 

I was led to a phone app that keeps a pantry inventory simply by scanning bar codes. Dad feels impressed to have a two years supply, so we are slowly getting paper products little by little. It doesn't work for everything (cannery items, etc) but it is a great thing to keep on hand. I often forget things that I don't use, like ketchup. 

My sheets for the playroom beds arrived and we purchased pillows and mattress protectors at WalMart. I found a deal on bed quilts and ordered two. I had hoped for blue but never could find anything reasonable, so the brown and taupe buffalo check will have to be enhanced with pillows. Room is almost done. 

Dee made progress on the jeep on Saturday morning and got some parts installed before the heat set in. 

Not so highlights

I am sad to share the widespread rioting and looting over the tragic death of a gentleman in Minnesota at the hands of what seems to be a bad police officer. Peaceful protests are within the law. But what has apparently occurred is destruction and looting. What is truly the saddest is that most churches are not meeting. We see the result of fear and lack of righteous choices.