Week of July 18-24, 2021

Highlights:

Spiritual

We had a wonderful Sabbath Day. Dad spoke with the High Councilman in another ward and I attended our ward and taught my primary class. 

I attended an endowment session at the Temple on Tuesday morning.  While there were a few changes, it was absolutely wonderful to be there, to leave the world outside and to do work for someone in our family. First of five sisters has her endowment ordinance complete. 

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. I completed the Book of Mormon and started reading it again. 

I have indexed 10,472 records and reviewed 71,472 records so far this year.

Family

The Wilkins Family

The Wilkins Family had a good week last week. Allison is on her last few days of work during the temple shut down. This time ducts were replaced and artwork was repaired. She also did per part for kindness by saving a gecko's life. Adam enjoyed camp, though he misplaced his phonebut then found it after he came home. and then worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Grace had such a wonderful time at Camp Whispering Pines. The trip to camp was full of talking and fun. They stopped at Navajo Lake in Utah and ate sack lunches and did some exploring. Their exploring included the location of an amazing frog. She did have a PTSD grasshopper experience. Camp included exploring a sand cave,  a mini zip line, and making new and old friends. Grace attempted crepe making on the second day of camp but ended up making yummy French toast. They were helping fix up the camp as they stayed there, so their service project for them included clearing a hiking path and making things more usable for future campers. Fun games included capture the flag with water balloons and a scavenger hunt which Grace won and was awarded a hoodie. Grace did a wonderful devotional with a cute bubble handout. So creative and a great message to start the day. There were some great fireside programs with singing and performances and karaoke. They also enjoyed some cold rain and even hail. Camp ended up getting quite flooded. They stopped at a great park in St. George on the way home. Josh was a great cook at Camp and made chocolate for the pancake breakfast. Poor Josh...lots of rain and then an upset tummy sent him sleeping in the laundry room so he could be near the restroom. The leaders weren't very kind to him and wouldn't let him eat the morning after. Ugh! Sam enjoyed his days as an only child and had lots of adventures. He went to Discovery Children's Museum on Monday with some discount coupons. On Tuesday Mike took Sam to a theater to see some classic kid movies and popcorn. They went to the library. Sam wanted to eat panini so they made some at home. Sam also got to split a Jack in the Box Milkshake with Dad. On Wednesday, he went to another movie with Mike, and then they went to play at a park, though it was brutally hot. He went to the mall and got some Sees Suckers. He also went to a splash pad with Mike. Thursday, a video game was planned but the camp group came back a little early. The family is doing well and they are getting enjoying these last weeks of Summer. 

The Ethan Rice Family

Ethan headed out to Allentown Pennsylvania on Monday. Cameo and the kids had a good week and were so glad for Ethan to return on Friday night. Last weekend, they harvested their garden tomatoes and made salsa. 

The Doran Rice Family

Doran and Amber are busy working. They both got raises and Amber finished her initial 90 days with the new owner and she got a promotion. Doran's work always involves the brutal heat, but Amber's has had no A/C at work so hers is nearly as brutal. Kelsie finalized the high school she will attend, though it was not her first choice. They headed out camping on Friday with some friends. 

Morgan

Morgan is enjoying his new job and spent some time fishing on his time off. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good work week and enjoyed following Cubs baseball games and the Pro Hockey draft. He is finally getting rid of stuff in her room that accumulated during the weeks of working from home. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Nathan, Jessica and the girls are doing well. Jessica's mom returned from weeks in Kansas and brought Great Grandma Jody with her. There were playdates, parks, a family birthday party for Grampa Bob, and lots of fun! The girls came here Saturday evening while Nathan and Jessica had a quick date and then Nathan helped finished our huge tree trim 

Dad's Garden

We got the whole old garden torn up and hauled out to the Quarterly pick up pile. Basil is looking wonderful after all the rain!!

Family History
Sharynn sent me these from the slides of Mom's they were looking at.

Other highlights

This week WE HAD RAIN! Glorious rain! A morning monsoon with surprise thunder and lightning, and then three days of rain. One twenty-four-hour period rain total exceeded all the rain we had in 2020. 

I had a root canal that went well, but the aches of shots etc lasted all week. Ibuprofin is my friend this week. 

Christmas in July included watching The Santa Clause 2 and 3. 

Week of July 11-17, 2021

Highlights:

Spiritual

Sunday was good and we were able to give Alice a ride to church again, this time we picked her up at the stake president's house. Sacrament Meeting was good. Primary was a bit of a challenge since the teacher I teach with didn't show up...and she was supposed to teach. Another sister came in to help me and we made it. I was also set apart for my calling. 

I was able to attend the temple on Tuesday morning and perform initiatory ordinances this week. That was the last ordinance I was able to perform in March of 2020 as well. It was so very special to be there on my regular Tuesday like before. I was so blessed to even see the same sister that would always greet me with the biggest smile. I hugged her and thanked her for her smile and told her that her smile kept me going through the last year. What a great blessing it is to be able to be back in the temple. 

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. I completed the Book of Mormon and started reading it again. 

I have indexed 9930  records and reviewed 69,882 records so far this year.

Family

The Wilkins Family

As we Marco Polo'd on Sunday evening, Sam was enjoying a yummy smore. Mike had made shrimp and veggie kabobs for dinner, and then left some coals so the kids could make the first smores of Summer. Sam loved the shrimp! They had a pretty good July 4th. The neighborhood fireworks show was not as fantastic as last year but very good. Mike interviewed at a staffing agency. Allison is working more since it's temple shut down. They are hoping to paint their bathrooms this next week. 

Adam continues working and likes it. His friend Michael gets to go with them to camp too. Grace is so excited to go to Camp on Monday! She is all ready to go. She also got some exciting news. On July 29 she will be attending a Madrigal Retreat at school. She will also be going with her best friend Katelyn to St. George on August 4-6. She has had to make some schedule changes for school. Josh's soccer coach moved to another soccer league, since this one was having honesty issues. He is all signed up in the new league and can't wait to start playing again after camp. Josh and Adam love Ghost Pepper Potato Chips and he is all stocked up ready for camp. Sam got burned last week while doing some firework experimenting. He ended up getting some blisters. He is looking forward to his week as an only child and has a list of wonderful things to do with Mom and Dad. 

The Ethan Rice Family

Ethan spent another Monday through Friday in Pennsylvania. Cameo is busy preparing to put on a baby shower for a friend. Kaylee spent the week with her friend Madeline and attended a fun soccer camp. 

Wade had a fun evening chasing fireflies in the back yard. 

The Doran Rice Family

Doran and Amber had another busy work week. They are keeping up. Kelsie had a good week at Girls Camp. They even got to go to Camp LoMia! Kooper stayed here on Friday. We watched movies, he swam, played with playdough, built Legos and talked a lot with Papa about rock collecting. 

Morgan

Morgan started a new job this week and is doing well. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good work week this week. She had lots of overtime too. She spent some of the money to go see the Chicago Cubs play the Diamondbacks. Dad and I dropped her off downtown and had arranged a pick up spot, but then discovered when we came that part of town and streets all around were closed off. We ended up waiting for her to walk to us. While we waited, there was a pretty amazing fireworks show from there. It was amazing with all the downtown buildings echoing the loud noise and reflections from the glass. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Another fun and busy week for Nathan, Jessica, and the girls. Nathan now has a bike and rides to and from work every day. He spent a lot of time getting the garden tilled and prepared for Winter gardening and got many varieties of pumpkins planted. They attended a fun swimming party on Saturday and spent Saturday evening fishing at Bartlett Lake. 

Dad's Garden

Nathan shared some pumpkin plants and Dad got them planted in the pepper garden. Citrus so far is doing well and we hope no roof rats alter that. 

Other highlights

Rain. A typical monsoon has been happening with dust storms and evening rain! The morning jogs are humid but the cooler air is so nice. 

Dad installed new weather stripping around the front door. It keeps the heat out and is so much easier to latch. 

Dad also volunteered to help at the grocery food distribution and we paid for lots of grapes that I washed and stemmed and they are now out turning into raisins on our courtyard patio.

Christmas in July included completing the painting of my ornaments, and watching the movies Elf, The Santa Clause 1, and The Grinch. I also cleaned to Christmas Music on Saturday. 

Not so highlights

I had a great dental checkup UNTIL he looked at X-rays and saw infection developing around a root. Though I have no pain, I didn't want to wait until we might not have dental insurance and made the appointment with the endodontist for next week. 

Week of July 4 - 10, 2021

Highlights:

Spiritual

We enjoyed a lovely Fast and Testimony Meeting on Sunday. A young man in our ward soon leaving on a mission was able to receive his endowment the day before. It was wonderful to share three generations testifying of the temple blessings. Many others then shared their feelings about the temple. Primary was so small in number that our class met with another class. 

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. I completed the Book of Mormon and started reading it again. 

I have indexed 9243 records and reviewed 68828 records so far this year

Family

The Wilkins Family

I received a wonderful birthday song from Gracie and a lovely gift from Allison in the mail this week. 

They are busy and doing well. 

The Ethan Rice Family

I was greeted early Sunday with a Happy Birthday from Ethan. They were visiting Savannah Georgia and he sent some pictures from a baseball game they attended the night before. They enjoyed watching the Savannah Bananas play. Its a group of non-professionals who love baseball and meet together to play. Tickets were $18.00 and included plenty of food. The players were available afterward for autographs. They had such a fun time. 

They had a wonderful trip and Ethan spent another week in Pennsylvania. 

The Doran Rice Family

Doran, Amber, Kelsie and Kooper are doing well. Kelsie got some new school clothes...

Morgan

Morgan is doing well. He will begin a new job next week. He and Cassie went on a couple of fishing adventures this week. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good week, working both on-site and at home. She got some overtime hours on Saturday. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Nathan and Jessica and the girls had a good week. They spent time at parks and water parks, a stay cation at a hotel, and then the girls spent 24 hours with me while they had 24 hours to sleep and eat out. They are planting pumpkins this week.

Other highlights

Sunday started with many birthday texts, which was so nice. 

I got the washing machine filter cleaned and the a/c filters changed. 

I attended a job interview for the position of teacher's assistant at a local charter school. I just was doing it for benefits so Dad can retire, but they offer no benefits and keep the hours low so none are available. With that plus the low pay rate, I declined. 

Dad worked at Market on the Move twice this week. Nice to volunteer in the community. 

Dad made a response on Facebook to his cousin about printing his personal journal. Apparently, the censors at Facebook did not like that and removed his post. So, kids, they must know that dad's boring narrative of daily dealings and weather highs and lows must really conceal something juicy. 

Week of June 27 - July 3, 2021

Highlights:

Spiritual

Temple reopened on Monday and Dad was able to get an appointment to perform initiatory ordinances on Tuesday and we performed sealing ordinances on Wednesday.  

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. I began the fourth time through the talks. 

I have indexed 8902 records and reviewed 66955 records so far this year.

Family

The Wilkins Family

Mike and Allison are well. The car is fixed! Just a ten-dollar broken wire but all is well and it is working. Adam continues to enjoy working this week. He had a work party and invited his friend Michael to come. They then went to Raising Kane's and he spent the night at Michael's house. He was also able to receive his Patriarchal Blessing. Grace had a fun church activity, bleach tie-dying shirts. She is readying for camp. She is enjoying reading Harry Potter and is on Book 7. She is also enjoying weaving chokers for each of the houses of Hogwarts. Josh was supported to get a filling and sealants, but his gag reflex is so strong that he will need anesthesia. Josh purchased a tablet with the money he earns from Adam doing his chores. Sam finished up at the dentist and his teeth look great. He works every week, watering plants and he has been saving up the money he earns. 

The Ethan Rice Family

Ethan spent the week in Pennsylvania again, returning home on Thursday and then setting out on Friday for a fun holiday weekend with friends. They are doing well. 

The Doran Rice Family

Doran and Amber had another busy work week but are doing well. Kelsie is still deciding which high school to attend. Many ups and downs but transportation will be probably the most important factor. We enjoyed a good visit on Saturday. 

Morgan

Morgan visited this week. He is doing well and doing some drywall work for a client. 

Kayty

Kayty returned to work on-site this week. She did well and is adjusting to having to dress up. She seems to like being back. 

1 major save this week. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Nathan and Jessica and the girls are doing well. Ellie struggled a bit with a fever this week but all are well and are looking forward to fun vacation activities next week. 

Dad's Garden

Citrus on trees is plentiful. However, dad found roof rat evidence so we have ordered "special food" to rid our hard of them. 

Other highlights

Weather took a more normal Summer turn this week and we even had rain during one night and a pretty good rain and dust storm on Saturday night. 

Embroidery work on new baby stocking continues. 

Christmas in July began quietly. I will probably start ornaments in a couple of weeks. 

Dad's car troubles continue and we are beginning to seriously look for a replacement to his vehicle. Nathan was going to come and help take off the gas tank to get to the fuel pump but that looked like a massive long job on YouTube...and we would be down to one vehicle for a long time. 

I so enjoyed Happy Birthday visits on Saturday from Doran, Amber, Kelsie and Kooper, and from Nathan, Jessica, Anna, Ellie and Emma.