MAY AND THINGS ARE STARTING TO OPEN UP SLOWLY

Picture taken outside our hospital
Heroes work there, for sure.

On May 1, we received word that some Utah businesses could reopen as long as they took special precautions to protect their employees and the public. For example, restaurants had to adjust seating so patrons were at least six feet apart while eating. All workers preparing food had to wear masks and change gloves with each order. Costco started requiring that all customers wear masks while inside shopping. Costco never did close but took more precautions to protect their workers and customers. Barber and beauty shops also opened. I scheduled an appointment once my hair dresser said she would schedule patrons farther apart so only one person was in her salon at a time. She, also, said she would sanitize after each customer and that she would wear a mask. Happiness was finally having my hair cut and colored after 3 months.

Our Russian friend, Lada, sent this picture during our
 conversation via Messenger on Facebook.
She says she hates to wear face masks because people
can't see how beautiful she is. I assured her she was
beautiful even with a mask.

On May 15th, most of the state of Utah moved to a yellow phase of reopening the economy. That meant most business could reopen as well as swimming pools and sporting events as long as social distancing remained in place. The strange thing is that Wasatch county was one of the counties not allowed to move out of the orange phase. That was hard to understand as there had been only 1 death and throughout this whole ordeal only 7 people had been hospitalized. As of May 15th, there were 183 confirmed cases in Wasatch county which was far below other counties allowed to the next phase. This whole pandemic has caused us to learn patience. We really can't complain in Utah as our governor is working to reopen Utah as quickly as possible. There are governors in other states that are being terribly slow to reopen. As seen on the maps, the states that are slow are ones that voted democratically (blue) last election and have governor that are Democrates. Could it all be politically driven? By the end of May, Wasatch county was moved to the yellow phase.

The current Russia Moscow
mission president and his wife

On the first Saturday of the month, we attended a Russian Moscow mission reunion, virtually, of course. We all tuned into Zoom and met with our mission president, President and Sister Borders, as well as the current mission president in Moscow. It was fun to see so many of our dear missionary friends, though we didn't get to say much to them. The meeting was conducted by the Moscow mission president. President and Sister Borders gave some remarks and then we were able to hear from the Moscow Stake President who thanked us all for our efforts in setting the ground work for future missionary work. As of this writing, there are 50 missionaries in the Moscow mission, half from England and Australia. With the COVID 19 pandemic, missionaries were sent home for health reasons or if they only had a couple of months left on their mission. The mission president said he only had to send home 4.Those who remained were quarantined and doing all their missionary work through social media or the internet. Just the week before the lock down happened in Moscow, all the missionaries received smart phones. 

Our beloved President and Sister Borders

That little miracle has helped them contact investigators and keep in contact with members. It was reported there are still discussions happening and baptisms being scheduled. Most contacts were coming from the area books helping them find former investigators, as well as from member referrals. Even a pandemic, can't stop the Lord's work in gathering Israel. The mission president said he was also confident the announcement of the location of the Russian temple would be announced soon. Evidently there have been some laws recently passed that will make that easier. A couple of nights ago, we received word that McKinnon Hinckley of the Lake Creek 3rd ward here in Heber has been called to serve in the Russian Moscow Mission. Were so excited for him.




Also on that Saturday, Sam and Kathy Bulkeley came to spend the night with us. They were in Utah to sign the papers on the home they had purchased. They also needed to arrange with a contractor for a few changes they want made to the home. From what Sam said, they are changing the outside face of the home by adding some rock work and painting the stucco a grey green. They are also having a shop built for Sam in the side yard. They were so excited when we talked to them about it all. Kathy said it's like having a Christmas present you can't open. They are letting the former owners rent for 2 months so Sam and Kathy won't be able to move here until mid July.

Sam and Kathy arrived around lunch time on Saturday so we went to Subway and, for the first time in a long time, were able to eat at a table inside. Such a treat after only ordering a sandwich at the drive up window and taking it home to eat. Subway had just opened their dining room the day before.

Happiness is eating inside a restaurant again

In the mean time, and because they are bringing Mom to Utah with them, Sam and Kathy have been cleaning out Mom's home in Bakersfield. They had tackled the attic, storage room, and family room shelves. In doing so, they found a treasure trove of items they brought up to me. These things were in two big and old suitcases which Sam found in the attic. The suitcases were filled with pictures, newspaper clippings, a mission photo album, family history books, letters, thank you letters, and high school year books. I even found Dad's blessing and priesthood ordination certificates, as well as Mom and Dad's marriage certificate. Among the pictures was a profession photograph of Mom in her wedding dress and one of Dad just before his mission. On Sunday, I spent the day looking through and organizing all the contents. It was a delightful day as I discovered many priceless items, including a letter Dad wrote to Mom's Dad right after her passing. It was filled with Dad's testimony of the Lord's hand in taking Mom back home to Him. Dad testified of the sweetness felt even with our family's loss because of the love of the Lord. I felt so close to both Mom and Dad as I reviewed all these wonderful keepsakes. My goal will be to put all these things in some kind of a scrapbook and make copies available for all my brothers and sisters. It'll be a good project for Christmas presents.



Some exciting news for this month is that Deon and Gary put their home on the market. They have wanted to move to Heber for a long time and finally made the plunge. They changed realtors and were very impressed with her professionalism. The pictures posted online of their home were beautiful, taken both in the daylight and the twilight. They had several people come look at their home and within a week had a offer. After a couple of counters, Deon and Gary signed the papers to accept the offer. The sale of the house will close in 30 days. It's hard to believe that Deon and Gary will really be living in Utah in the not so distant future. That should be great for them as well as us.

This is the house Deon and Gary would love to buy. The day they signed
the papers to sell their home, they asked us to drive by and take a picture of  the
creek that run at the back of the property. They wanted to see how high it would
get with a typical Spring runoff. The house already has a potential buyer but it is
on a contingency.  Deon and Gary made an offer just in case the sale falls through. 
Sadly the sale didn't fall through so they need to find another place to buy.

Deon and Gary made a second trip to Heber over Memorial Day weekend. They wanted to secure a storage unit for their household goods. They are probably going to have to rent for a while until they find something they really want to buy. They are also looking into the possibility of building in the cottage area of our development. We had a meeting with Tracey, the developer, at our home while they were here so Deon and Gary could ask questions and get a better feel for when they could start to build. Deon has been a little stressed about this whole thing. Change is always hard even when it is for the best.

I decided to do an Easter/Mother's Day meal
of ham since we were unable to be together for Easter..

May, as always, brought Mother's Day. We invited Todd's and Jon's family up for Sunday dinner. We decided we could social distance for the most part and it was time to have family in our home once again. It had been 2 months since Todd and Kailee had been to Sunday dinner, a happening that used to take place every week. We celebrated Avery's birthday with a couple of presents and homemade Hostess cupcakes. Everyone stayed around into the early evening playing baseball in the backyard. It was so fun to be with family again.

Aria loved climbing on the rocks around the water feature

Avery loved the frog sculpture and was fascinated
with the water coming down the water feature.

I received some special gifts from family. Todd and Kailee brought up a flower pot with the girls hand prints on it as well as the makings for s'mores. Aria had written a card that said, 'Grandma, let's have a s'mores party.  Jon and Mindi brought up an arrangement of succulent plants which now sits on the fireplace hearth. The ward dropped off a jar of bath salts. Of course, I received telephone calls from our Oregon children. A special day, for sure.

Aria's hand written note

Another treat was when Andrea called and asked us to Zoom in with them. Her daughters wanted to share a song they had arranged and recorded for their mom, entitled 'You Put The Music in Me.' We tuned in but the sound didn't come across too well so we were told to go on Facebook and see the finished product the girls had presented to Andrea earlier that day. It was so touching. As the girls sang their parts, videos of them as little children played on the screen. Andrea said she was all out of tears after watching it. Charlotte had arranged the song into 5 parts and started the plans for this presentation months ago. Such a special tribute to our beautiful daughter.

The Tuesday after Mother's Day, Todd and Kailee and their girls came up for that S'mores Party. They arrived in the late afternoon so they could play in the hot tub and, of course, jump on the trampoline. We barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. The weather even cooperated so we could eat outside on our deck. Later in the evening, we roasted marshmallows for s'mores at the fire pit. We loved having them up to spend time with us, especially after going so long not being able to be around them.

All together in the hot tub

Todd roasting the marshmallows to
perfection for the girls.

Messy but YUMMY!!!

This is what our community did to recognize
the graduation seniors from Wasatch High

The following day we did a car parade to honor the graduating seniors in our ward. Because of COVID 19, all graduation ceremonies and parties were canceled. The graduates were told via email that they had graduated. To recognize them for their accomplishments, about 30 cars lined up in front of the Miller's home in Greener Hills. We drove past the homes of the 10 graduates, honking and waving as we passed. Hopefully they felt loved and supported.

The cast of NEMO

On Friday of that same week, we tuned into a live streaming of the Westover/Boreen production of NEMO. They had invited about 40 of us to look on as they preformed it for a small audience at the church. It was fun to watch our granddaughters and son in law perform. Charlotte did a great job directing it. The following week, we watched the final edited video of the production on You Tube. Such talented family members. A fun and productive way to spend that quarantine time.


We received word this month about a development meeting regarding metering our irrigation water. To abide by the social distancing rules, we gathered at the neighborhood park and sat 6 feet away from each other. The meters are not an option due to a new Utah law but the decision had to be made as to whether to have group or individual meters. The board wanted to get the opinion of the residents before voting on what type of meters to have put in. 
After many questions, it was decided that individual meters, though more expensive to install, would be best rather than one neighbor accusing another of using too much water. This way, if an individual home owner exceeded his allotted water that individual will be billed, not the whole group. We are just hoping we will be allotted enough water for the bigger lots in our part of the development. It will be an interesting summer having to watch our water usage. Here's hoping our lawns can stay green all summer.

The beautiful flowering crab apple trees
 surrounding our water feature.

Speaking of lawns and yards - Spring has sprung bringing with it all the beauties of blossoms and new growth. We love this time of year, except for all the work it entails getting the yard in tip top shape after winter. Paul finished laying all the soil pep and the barked areas look wonderful. Because of the pandemic, the nurseries have been extremely busy. It seems, with everyone staying at home, they have more time to work in their yards. Consequently vegetable starts and many annuals were in short supply. We looked for onion sets and seed potatoes and they are none existent. We went to buy 6 pots of flowers at Highland nursery but found they only had 4 left. We snapped them up even though they were in orange shades instead of purples and reds, as we have bought in years past. We had to find a new source of annuals this year, too. Spring Valley nursery owned by our friends, the Ropers, is selling only wholesale now. We had10 pots in our yard to fill as we added 2 more this spring. 

Paul loading the truck with keystones to
take to Jon.

More about yard work...Paul added another project this year - removing the keystone planters from the berm at the back of our yard. We put them in a few years ago and loved filling them with annuals for two wonderful color spots. With the metering of water now in our development, we were concerned that to keep the flowers alive it would increase our water bill significantly. We have always had to supplement the water from what the sprinklers put down in that area. Paul also wanted to get rid of the planters because they caused him a lot more work, having to keep them weeded and the lawn around them trimmed back. With our source of annuals now gone, the cost of the flowers was also a consideration. 

We took the 250 keystones to Jon for him and Mindi to use in their yard. They have 2 acres of land to worry about and can use the keystones easily as they begin to landscape. They were grateful. It took three trips to Highland but it also meant that we got to eat at In'n Out for dinner one night....A treat after over 3 months no being able to do so, even if we had to eat outside in the wind.

Jon unloading the last of the 250 keystones

Once the keystone were gone, the next project was to remove the several truckloads of dirt which had been inside the planter boxes. We had originally thought to take it to Jon, but soon realized it would take 4 or 5 truckloads to get it to him. Instead, Paul put out a message to his elder's quorum asking if anyone needed topsoil. He got 5 immediate responses. The first one happened to be Michael Coombs, a family to whom we minister. He needed the soil to cover an area in his yard, in preparation for his daughter's wedding in August. We were glad he could use the dirt. Paul's counselor, Joey Hyer, offered to bring his front loader tractor to help move the dirt. That was an incredible service as Paul would have had to hand shovel the dirt into the truck, drive it to the Coombs, and then unload it all by himself. The tractor and a dump trailer Joey brought made the job much easier.

Joey loading the dirt into the dump trailer.

The last part of this project was finding sod to fill in where the planters once were. We found it at Home Depot and Paul laid it on the last Saturday of the month. I planted some annuals around the rock we left in the lawn.

The asparagus stuffed
Italian chicken breast.

With the added time at home this month, I've had more of a desire to cook some different recipes. Consequently, I have pulled out a couple recipes I hadn't cooked for a long time. Venetian Apricot Chicken was a favorite. It's a copy cat recipes from an Olive Garden dish they once served. I've also tried a couple of new recipes. I had some baby back ribs in the freezer that needed to be cooked so I tried a crock pot recipe using barbecue sauce and Dr. Pepper as the sauce. They were delicious and will be the way I cook ribs from now on. I also tried an asparagus stuffed Italian chicken breast recipe and some Parmesan scalloped potatoes. Both were delicious



May 24th was Memorial Day this year. We usually were at the temple on the Friday before Memorial Day so we would drive to Pleasant Grove, buy flowers, and place them on Paul's parents graves before going home. This year, with no temples opened, we had to make a special trip on the Friday before the holiday to place flowers on the graves. We have enjoyed this tradition since we have lived here.

On memorial day, since Deon and Gary were here, we had a barbecue for their family. Kacee and Garrett and their families came over and we barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs  The younger children enjoyed playing in the hot tub after dinner. We ended the evening making S'mores out at the fire pit. It was a fun evening for all of us.

Planting the garden and the annuals was one of the last thing to be done in May. We always have to wait until the end of May and sometimes even the first of June to plant. The weather in May is totally unpredictable and this year was no exception. We had 70 degree days and then on other days the temperatures plummeted, bringing freezing temperatures at night. Strange but that's springtime in Heber. Both the annuals and the garden were planted during the week after Memorial Day. It is always a lot of work, but we sure enjoy the results. The flowers add so much beauty to our yard and the garden produce is delicious.

On the last Friday of the month,  Todd treated us to 18 holes of golf on his country club course. It was his Mother's Day/Father's Day/birthday gifts to both us. We have been trying to get a round of golf in for a month  but things always prevented us getting together. By doing it later, it became a gift for Paul's birthday and Father's Day, too. We enjoyed the course, the exercise, and the company. Our golf game isn't what it used to be but we can, at least, still swing the club and hit the ball.....most of the time.














Just a couple of finale pictures to share. Aria is getting so big. She brought up her new roller skates to show us how she can skate. She's trying really hard and practicing everyday. Also on that Sunday, Kailee trimmed Todd's corona virus beard. It was really getting bushy and out of hand.

A beautiful sunset