Week of August 9 - 15, 2020

Highlights:

Spiritual

Sunday was good, and very typical. Group Two of our ward members attended Sacrament Meeting at church. There were six families in attendance and they said it was wonderful to be back. I almost went and sat in the parking lot, just to see people I have not seen since March. We watched Music and the Spoken Word and a great BYU Education Week talk on responsibility. We partook of the Sacrament in the living room when Kayty woke up, as usual. We also participated in a Zoom online meeting with our ward for a Sunday School meeting on Come Follow Me and how families are doing. It was, again, just wonderful to see people I had not seen since March: Grant Call, the Baxleys, the Andersons. Not many participated but it was great. Nathan and Jessica came for a visit later in the afternoon.

No temple again this week due to it being closed. We did complete our temple recommend interviews online and they will be dropped off at our house next Sunday. 

I continue to listen to a General Conference talk each day, to read the Book of Mormon as I study the Come Follow Me lessons, and read the August Ensign Magazine. 

I have indexed 13,159 records and reviewed 67251 records so far this year. 

Family

The Wilkins Family

The Wilkins family is busy as ever. Final preparations were made for school with the kids selecting something to help out at home school. Adam selected some electronic notebook thing that sounded amazing. I will have to get a pic of it to get a better understanding. It certainly is not a spiral notebook by any means. Adam went to the outlet mall on Tuesday to get Vans shoes that were on sale there. He has some great classes selected for his senior year in high school. He continues physical therapy on Monday and Wednesday. Grace had a good week and attended a sleep over with some friends. They enjoyed shopping at Target and eating cake for lunch. She was also able to babysit (so Mom and Dad could enjoy a date night). Joshua is doing well and had some bloodwork done last week to determine the cause of his continuing pain. Allison's friend gave Josh a bike that her son had grown out of. It took a few repairs but now works great and Josh is thrilled. Sam made some neat masks with Adam and made a paper mache pinata. Here are some pics for Josh and Sam's first days of school.

And even on homeschool, the traditional first day of school cookies were a hit!

Work is good for both Mike and Allison as they continue to prepare to sell the house and look for another job. Lots of organizing and cleaning out this week. Mike continues his studies along with working. The family participated in serving a ward member that needed yard work done. They enjoyed Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday. 

The Ethan Rice Family

Ethan, Cameo, Kaylee and Wade are well. Ethan continues his college classes and hope to finish Managerial Accounting this week. Kaylee is readying for school at home to begin soon. 

The Doran Rice Family

Here are a few pics from the awesome campout last weekend. 

Lots of driving all over the state this week for Doran with work. Their weekend was spent cleaning the garage and getting ready for the week ahead. 

Morgan

No news from Morgan this week. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good work week. She did follow her favorite hockey team games but they didn't do so well. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Nathan returned to working on site this week. I played with the girls here Monday while Jessica got some grocery shopping done. We had fun playing house and with the toys. They had a good week as they adjust to Nathan working at his work site.  They visited on Saturday evening for a bit of play and even went outdoors to swing on the swings for a few moments. 

Dad's Garden

Basil is still plentiful and I spent hours picking basil and making pesto on Thursday.

We continue to try to keep plants alive in this extending heat. We also cleaned up a few more dead plants and the yard. 

Other highlights

I have not written much about this continuing pandemic situation. It just seems to bring me down and my faith and hope need to stay intact. Numbers of infection are falling. Everything is out of whack, though. Grocery stores have gone from shortages of toilet paper, paper towels and hand sanitizer to shelves packed with sanitizer and discounted prices now. School supplies pack shelves as kids are not returning to school and therefore do not need things. Shopping is not fun at all. You can barely breathe as you have to wear a face mask. There are directional stickers on the floor telling you which way to travel on each aisle. It is so tiring that I just hate to even go. The supply chain must be going crazy. 

Nativity Project completed on Wednesday. They are just finishing drying before I wrap them all up. 

Thursday marked Day 37 of days 110 degrees or above this year. Hottest summer ever and a record that will not hit a total for at least another week. Yes, 110+ for as far as next Thursday, then a couple days under 110 and then back up. We have had no rain at our house since March. 

I spoke with Nano a few times this week. She is healthy physically but her Alzheimer's Disease continues to take its toll.