Well, it has been 2 weeks since I updated this. First off, birthdays we had in July: Casey (Ashley’s husband) 7/11; Jackson turned 13 on 7/13; Brooklyn turned 7 on 7/14; Dylan turned 8 on 7/21; and Nathan turned 13 on 7/23.
With Dylan turning 8, we headed to Texas for his baptism. We flew to Dallas on Thursday, 7/24, leaving here at 4:10 pm and arriving at I think it was 11:30 pm. Melissa picked us up at the airport, we briefly looked at the house (our first time there) and went to bed at about 1 am. At 7 the next morning, we had some quiet visitors in our bedroom— Natalie came in to see us and Sophie. They both got hugs, then they left. We got up about an hour later. We looked all around their beautiful new home, went swimming with the three kids in their pool, then got out and got ready again. Melissa had some last minute shopping to do for the weekend, so I went with her. She decided to treat me to my first pedicure, so we we went and got that done, then the shopping, then back home. Tim’s dad, Brad, and step-brother, Tanton, had flown in the night we did too, but stayed in a hotel near the airport. Then on Friday morning, those 3 guys had headed to the temple together. So, when they were back, that was when Melissa and I headed out. We hung out together that afternoon, then Kori, Brent, Brendan, Christian, Colton, and Logan arrived later that afternoon. Brendan was the first one out of their car, and when he came up to me I could see he had grown! He was now taller than me. It had been over a year since we had seen Kori’s family, and just about a year since we had seen Melissa’s family. Everybody had grown—some more noticeably than others. It was so good to see them all and hug them all!
We had swimming that evening again. Well, we basically swam in all the free time! Saturday, the baptism was at 1. I ended up giving the talk on the Holy Ghost. Someone from Melissa’s ward was supposed to do it (the bishop likes ward members, not family, to speak at the baptism’s), but was going to be out of town after all, so on Tuesday, the Bishop asked if a grandparent could speak instead. She asked me, and luckily I have talks saved on the computer. I have spoken at many a baptism! When the baptism was over, we came home and started our pool party! Oh, I forgot to mention, Friday night Tim’s mom, Kim, flew in and was staying at a hotel sort of nearby. So both Tim’s parent’s were at the baptism, and his step-brother, and on Melissa’s side, we were there and Kori’s family. For the pool party, Melissa had rented a snow cone machine, because that is what Dylan wanted. It was a hot day, and the snow cones were a great hit! We had hamburgers cooked on the grill, and other side dishes to go with it. It was a fun afternoon, with almost everyone swimming at some point or other during the day. On Sunday morning, very early, Brad and Tanton flew back to Utah. They were heading to Lake Powell for a vacation with friends. The rest of us went to church. Sophie wasn’t feeling very well, so Kim took her back to the house after Sacrament meeting. They were thinking it was her sinuses. But, now I am wondering if she had a little cold….as I came down with one shortly after getting home. We went to Primary to hear Natalie give a scripture, then headed to Sunday School class. The teacher of the class was Brother Wilks—Sister Nancy Wilks’ son!! What a small world, huh! Also, at the baptism we had learned of a young man from their ward who just got his mission call, Elder Felt, and guess where he is heading??? Yep, California San Jose Mission!! So, Gary had a chance to visit with him, and I had a chance to visit with his mom. Crazy!!
Later on Sunday afternoon, Kori’s family headed back to The Woodlands (Houston area). We were heading out early Monday morning. Sunday night, Tim gave me an injection in my thumb that has been hurting me for months. It seems to be doing lots better! Nice to have a doctor in the family! Of course, if we had been home, I would have gone to see our family doctor about it. But, out here, it is just hard to try to find a doctor who uses our insurance, whose first language is English (so we can understand them), and who will take a new—-well, temporary—patient. We just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of finding one, so I just decided to tough it out. So, thanks to Tim, he was able to help me out. Hopefully, that is all it will take, and I won’t have pain there any more. We got up at 5 am central time to get ready to fly back to San Jose, left the house at 6 (Tim took us to the airport), and arrived in San Jose at 9:15 am. It was a direct flight this time, so that helped! After finally getting out of the airport, as we drove right past our apartment, we decided to quickly drop our luggage off, and Gary could change out of his suit into just slacks and white shirt and tie, then we headed to the office. By the end of the day, we were both beat! But, we needed some groceries, so we quickly got some Monday evening, then headed to bed.
That week that we flew out to Texas had been Zone Conferences for the mission. We hadn’t thought of that as we planned this trip, only that we knew were avoiding transfer week. So, Gary missed the Zone Conference on Friday, and I missed that one day of work. The weekend went by fast, but when we got back to the office, it seemed like a long time since we had been there……how does that happen?? We got caught up, and have had a steady week of work this week. I have been struggling with a scratchy throat this week, and a stuffy nose and sneezing. Yesterday was a long day. Gary had to close an apartment in Watsonville, an hour south of here, but the manager couldn’t do the walk-through until 8 pm. So, we left after work, headed down there, ate dinner, then went to the apartment. After the walk-through, we headed back home, arriving back at the office by 9:30, dropping off the mission truck and getting into our car to head home. We slept in this morning….8 am. (I know, it still seems crazy to me that that is sleeping in!! But we normally get up around 6 now). We have been taking it slow today, cleaning and laundry, just some odds and ends shopping, and relaxing. And catching up on this journal.
Oh, I forgot to mention! I spoke to Sister Morgan Bradshaw yesterday. She is hoping to come back to San Jose in a couple of weeks for a baptism of a family she worked with. We are excited to see her again! She is the one that Gary always called his PTO president…..it started because when we first met her, she reminded us of Colleen Erickson, who had been PTO president at Mt. View when Gary was principal there. She just went home in July, and lives in Beaver, Utah. She will be attending BYU-I, so when we get home, we will be able to see her more.
Yesterday, we had some sad news: Shelley’s cat, Oreo, who is 18 years old, has been struggling the last couple of weeks, not eating or drinking, losing weight and just going downhill. Like he has just given up and was ready to go. So, after having him on fluids a week ago trying to help him, and then having him go down hill again this week, Shelley decided it was probably time to let him go. She said it was like he was just giving up. So they made the decision to put him down. What a sad day! Shelley has had that cat since she was 11 years old. Her kids have always had him, their whole lives. So now he is in heaven with Phoebe (Melissa’s cat) and our faithful dog Trampy. I truly believe that our beloved pets will be there to greet us when we arrive in heaven someday. They were always so loving to us, as faithful pets are. Melissa wrote this on Shelley’s Facebook page: “Owning a pet is the best thing about being human. No other animal provides food and shelter for another species just for the pleasure of it’s company.” So true! Pets become part of the family, are loved, and will be missed. We will always remember Oreo with much fondness, and he will be missed.
Well, I guess that this lengthy journal entry needs to come to a close. I have some missionary pants I need to get shortened. A couple of weeks ago I had some to lengthen. We seniors help the young missionaries where we can. [update: spent the rest of the evening putting pics on the computer so I could add them to the blog]
Remember, the church is true!! We are so grateful for it in our lives, and grateful for our family and friends, both here and at home. This mission is quickly passing. We will hit our 1 year mark in a couple of weeks. Wow! We are grateful to those we hear from…..we love hearing of the missionary experiences of our fellow Arimo senior missionary couples. Keep up the good work, Evan and Trudy Fullmer, and Dale and Ivalue Hatch! Each of us are having totally different mission experiences, but they all are important in the hastening of the work.
Okay, I am really done talking now!! See you later!
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