Week of July 23 - July 29, 2023

Spiritual

We had a great Sacrament Meeting. Three of our youth shared their FSY experiences. A missionary returned from serving two years in Orem Utah. All four shared very personal experiences of growth and learning. So it wasn't just a speaker that changed them. It was what the learned about themselves as they personally studied the scriptures, as they sat in class, as they shared a missionary discussion. 

Dad was able to attend the temple this week. 

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. 

I have indexed 11,664 records and reviewed 18,356 records so far this year.

Family

The Wilkins Family

The Wilkins Family had a busy week. Allison is back teaching, or rather, being lectured with other teachers by staff and principal. She had a Meet the Teacher night on Thursday. Sam is doing well and looking forward to another great school year. After suffering trying to cook in a very hot house, Mike got a microwave oven for the family to cook in. 

The Ethan Rice Family

I spoke quite a few times with Kaylee and Wade this week. Their schedule changed as they are preparing to return to school. Kaylee has been texting her cousins and friends. Days include swimming and video games. All are well. 

Some more pics from the cousins visit

And this week, Kaylee's old friend, Madeleine, came for a visit. 

The Doran Rice Family

Amber spent another week working in Vegas. Doran spent his last week working at his old job before starting a new one next week. The kids are well.

Morgan

Morgan and Cassie continue helping a friend clean up after a death. They took a very hot trip to the dump this week. In between cleaning, Morgan works a temp job here and there. They hope to sell most of their puppies by the end of this weekend. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good week at work. 

One major save this week. 

The Nathan Rice Family

The girls share a lot now that Annie has some personal texting time. The officially began home school this week. Annie is loving second grade and Ellie enjoys first grade. They shared with me all they have learned about butterflies. On Fun Family Friday, they tried to go to the local library, but it was closed. They did have a fun day. 

Dad's Garden

Picked some basil but the weather is making our citrus trees struggle. I did finally hear some cicadas this week so hopefully a cooling storm or two will come. 

 

Other highlights

Our air conditioner is struggling and we are looking at having to purchase a new system, an $11,000 cost. We can last a few months so it's not so hot when it has to be replaced. 

Week of July 16 - July 22, 2023

Spiritual

We enjoyed a wonderful missionary farewell for a dear young man in our ward who will be serving in the Philippines. He is ready to go. Primary went well and we had a good Sunday. 

Dad was able to attend the temple this week. 

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. 

I have indexed 11,534 records and reviewed 18,167 records so far this year. There are fewer and fewer records available to index so I try to do ten a day, if available. 

Family

The Wilkins Family

Allison has been preparing for the upcoming year by copying and copying and then this week she laminated and laminated. Josh is cutting things apart...for Jack Taco payment. Sounds like a good deal to me. 

The Ethan Rice Family

It has been fun group face-timing a few times this week with Kaylee, Wade, and Annie. Kaylee is such a good help and demonstrates how she cooks her lunch. She also shared some books she is reading. Wade has also popped on and shared some of his special cars. 

The Doran Rice Family

Amber traveled to Vegas for work again this week. Doran has interviewed for and been hired at a new job with Amber's firm. He has greater opportunity for advancement in this situation and he is looking forward to starting in two weeks. 

Morgan

Morgan and Cassie stopped by on Sunday. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good week, though the a/c went out at work on Tuesday so she worked from home Wednesday. She had Friday off and got some extra things done. 

The Nathan Rice Family

The girls called on Monday and shared the new clothes Kaylee had shared with them. Emma especially loved her witch costume. They had a good trip home from Georgia and even stopped at a beach. Annie now can text and she shared that homeschool has been in the prestart phase this week and will begin next week in full. Annie and Ellie are so excited. They had a fun family adventure on Friday. They so enjoy Nathan's four-day work week. 

Dad's Garden

The heat has been above normal this year. The basil is struggling at this point. I did get some harvested for pesto. We did lose our beloved hen, Gilly, on Sunday. Red Robin still has no tolerance at all for the young hens but they are peacefully coexisting under separate shrubbery. 

 

Other highlights

Made six batches of pesto which meant 15 meals of pesto frozen for future use. 

Christmas In July

I completed all 60 ornaments this week. They are sealed, drilled, strung, labeled, and wrapped. I also selected the ornaments for next year and printed up the patterns. 

Christmas Movies this week included The Santa Clause 2 and 3. 

Week of July 9 - July 15, 2023

Spiritual

We had a wonderful sacrament meeting. A young couple moved into the ward, living with their parents while working on Master's Degrees and she is pregnant with twin boys, and they spoke. We also heard from one of our youth about his experience at FSY. Sunday was quiet and we studied and prepared for the week ahead. 

Dad was able to attend the temple this week. 

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. 

I have indexed 11,461 records and reviewed 18,004 records so far this year.

Family

The Wilkins Family

The Wilkins Family is doing well. Allison continues working on her Math class for her grad school program, plus this week she returns to Spaulding School for four hours a day. Mike is doing great. Adam is ready to start a cool job at the movie theater. Grace participated in the library reading program and earned tickets to a basketball game, so while Allison studied, Mike took the kids to the game. 

They had a great time! Allison has all her classroom supplies ready to move in for the new year, which begins very soon. 

The Ethan Rice Family

Ethan, Cameo, Kaylee, and Wade continue to enjoy fishing on the weekends. They have special visitors coming this weekend!!! From Arkansas. I was lucky enough to receive several Facetime calls as the girls couldn't sleep and were getting ready for their day. Seeing them all together and having such a great time was so fun. 

The Doran Rice Family

Amber traveled to Las Vegas again this week and Kelsie spent time with her ward friends at Girls Camp. Doran and Kooper enjoyed so guy time. On Saturday, Kooper tried out playing soccer with a friend. 

Morgan

Morgan and Cassie are back in Phoenix and the molten heat as they help one of Cassie's dear friends who lost her boyfriend to electrocution. Morgan and Cassie are helping with the kids and cleaning up and selling items. They will help with the rent and share the home. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good work week. She also changed when she takes her insulin, which has been such a game-changer! 

The Nathan Rice Family

Happy Birthday, Jessica on Sunday! The girls Facetimed during the week. They were so excited about their upcoming trip to see their cousins in Georgia. They showed me their travel pillows and blankets and were jumping for joy to be able to go on a family trip. Annie kept texting me and Facetiming on Kaylee's phone. She loved being with her cousins. Kaylee braided Ellie's hair. 

Dad's Garden

The garden is barely surviving the summer heat. 

 

Other highlights

A small memorial service was held on Monday morning at the cemetery for Uncle Loyd McFarland. Dad dedicated the grave. All, including grandma, Susan, Curtis, Jennie, and dad's cousins Bob McFarland and Dale McFarland shared a few memories and then his urn was buried in the grave of Grampa Ethan. Since it was near my dad's grave, I walked down to see it. We all returned to Grandma's house for sandwiches and as the reminiscing continued, I slipped out and went home. Dad spent four more hours there. He most likely will never see these cousins again and so they took advantage of the time together. 

We are doing our best to plan for the future financially. I took a class on Medicare on Tuesday afternoon. When Dad retires, he will be on Medicare but I had no idea it still costs money every month. We will also have to find insurance for me for the two years till I can be on Medicare. Just another expense to plan for. 

Christmas In July

I watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer as I sat at my desk and painted ornaments. Almost 40 are complete. On Saturday, we endured the heat watching The Santa Clause 1. 

Week of July 2 - July 8, 2023

Spiritual

We enjoyed another wonderful Sunday at church. Our fast and testimony meeting was full of testimonies of love of God and Country. Our bishop shared a story of his grandfather's military service in World War 2 and many others shared their experiences. 

Dad was able to attend the temple on Friday evening. 

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. I completed my sixth time through General Conference and began again. I also completed the Book of Mormon and began again. 

I have indexed 11,248 records and reviewed 17,189 records so far this year.

Family

The Wilkins Family

School has started again for Allison, or I should say Masters Degree school. She is taking a math class and seems to be enjoying it. In a couple of weeks, she will take another Spaulding course and then her teaching begins again. Mike is doing well and continues to look for more full-time work. Adam got a job at a theater and is looking forward to working in the cool. Grace has been busy working on planning fun things for Girl's Camp. Joshua plays video games with friends and works in the yard for Jack Taco pay. Sam is as happy as even and shared a lovely pic of the moon rising as he walked with Mom and Grace. 

The Ethan Rice Family

Ethan, Cameo, Kaylee and Wade so enjoyed watching fireworks on their boat. They were assisted in getting to a good spot by some very kind people and they even shared their yummy shrimp, brats, steak with them. The fireworks show was spectacular and they enjoyed their boating weekend. They called me from their pool in the backyard to wish me a Happy Birthday. 

The Doran Rice Family

Doran and Amber have had a good week. After they visited on my birthday, the had a ward chili cookoff and dinner to attend. Amber will be working in Vegas the next couple of weeks. The kids are doing well and enjoying their summer. 

Morgan

Due to an unexpected death of a friend, Morgan and Cassie will be leaving cool Flagstaff to come to Phoenix and move in with the widow and her kids to help with rent. 

Kayty

Kayty had a good week at work. 

One major and one minor save. She is making some dosage timing changes. We are hoping this improves her situation. She went into seizure so fast this week that I didn't catch the signs of low, and I check her every ten minutes. She ended up on her bedroom floor and I got her on my lap to give her the soda she needed. She banged her head pretty good in the fall but is healing quickly. 

The Nathan Rice Family

The girls shared birthday greetings and an adorable gnome and pumpkins birthday gift. They had a very awesome campout and loved swimming and watching fireworks with their friends. They are very happy in their new community!!

Dad's Garden

Dad repaired the raised bed garden covers this week. We continue to harvest basil. The oregano is surviving the hot summer. 

 

Other highlights

Dad is getting so much done in the yard before work each day. He has finally gotten the mustard algae out of our pool, reconstructed the raised bed garden cover, repaired the lawnmower, blown porches and all the yard leaves, plus hiking. He still needs to repair a bike tire.

My birthday was wonderful as always. Dad took me to Hobby Lobby to see the Fall decorations, which I totally loved. I received Marco Polos from Allison, Grace, Josh and Sam, plus a bonus Marco Polo with Josh and Grace singing Happy Birthday to me. I Facetimed with Ethan, Cameo and the kids, and Anna, Ellie, Emma, and Eve,  plus got early texts on my birthday from Ethan, Cameo and Kaylee, got a birthday visit and gift from Doran, Amber, Kelsie and Kooper, and received texts from Morgan and from Jessica. I also received texts from Scott, Sharynn, friends Alice, Yvonne, Marena, and our neighbors vacationing in Rome, and a call from Mom and Elizabeth, her caregiver. It was hot outside but our a/c made it great. Kayty shared a few fireworks she purchased in the front yard before we headed to bed. 

Christmas In July

Christmas In July began this week. I am working on completing stockings since many will have to be mailed this year. I got my work table all paper covered, selected paint, sealed all ornaments with gesso and am working on tracing all the designs on. We watched the movie Elf on Saturday. 

Week of June 25 - July 1, 2023

Spiritual

We had High Counsel and Stake speakers this Sunday and, surprisingly, their talks were excellent. Primary was good, though my co-teacher taught next week's lesson. The kids got the atonement this week and will get the crucifixion next week. 

Dad was able to attend the temple this week on Friday afternoon. 

My daily morning foundation of General Conference talk(s), prayer, scripture study and Come Follow Me study continues each day. 

I have indexed 10,837 records and reviewed 16,221 records so far this year.

Family

The Wilkins Family

Allison shared:

More summer fun. Swimming. Celebrating Adam's 20th. Fostering a kitten for a few days. Ice cream and more ice cream. Making homemade pretzels. Splash pads. More pickleball. Late night runs. And a date with my fave redhead.

The Ethan Rice Family

Another great fishing weekend for this family. They are loving their boat and fishing. 

The Doran Rice Family

Doran spent a few days with the Young Men in his ward on a campout. He took his camping trailer and slept in comfort. He had a very good time.

Morgan

No news from Morgan this week. 

Kayty

Kayty enjoyed her work week and had a short day on Friday. 

One major low this week. 

The Nathan Rice Family

Jessica shared some cute pics of the girls this week:

Eve

Annalee

Ellie

Ellie, Emma, Annie and Eve

Emma, Ellie and Anna

Dad's Garden

Just basil and heat this week. 

 

Other highlights

Dad spent some time on Monday helping Grandma. He took the trailer and helped haul all of Loyds remaining belongings from the care center. 

Our quarterly pick up pile got picked up, or rather scraped up. They left a terrible mess and dug into the ground. They really did a poor job this time. 

I finally figured out my nailer and got some nails put in the baseboards of last year and got half caulked. Quite a victory for me.