Millar Moments: HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA THOUGH IT'S HARD TO CELEBRATE A COUNTRY THAT'S BEING DESTROYED BY THE LEFT

The July 4th weekend was especially interesting this year. We got a call from Jon on Saturday, the 2nd of July, to ask if we would be able to pick up Jaron at his home and bring his up to Heber to spend the weekend. Of course, we agreed and enjoyed having him here but it was a little stressful. We love Jaron and want to do whatever we can to help him as he is going through a really tough time right now....partly because of a couple of bad decisions he's made and partly because of the environment at his Mom's home. We tried to make his stay not too boring but that added a bit of stress for us, especially when I wasn't feeling really good. We did feed him well and watched a couple of movies with him which we're sure he appreciated.

On the actual 4th of July, we went to Todd and Kailee's for dinner. Kailee's family were all there as their usual holiday plans in Melba, Idaho fell through due her parents getting COVID - Hence, Kailee's family coming to Lehi to celebrate. Todd and Kailee's backyard was a play haven for the children as they had set up a slip and slide, a couple of kiddy pools, and a bounce house with a pool at the bottom. They also have a pickle ball court, trampoline, and fire pit. The children stayed outside on the water toys while the adults played pickle ball. Even Jaron got involved in pickle ball and proved to be pretty good. Todd had smoked tri tip, ribs, and mac and cheese which were all delicious. We were so glad we could take Jaron to Lehi as he really seemed to enjoy himself. He, for sure, felt loved and well fed, again.

The pickle ball challenge

Jaron about to return the ball

Aria trying her hand at the pinata

Lincoln and Grandpa enjoying each other

Of course, the situation in our America has been a little tenuous this year. Some people were even saying we should not even celebrate America's birthday because it's such a horrible country. They are basing their claims on two rulings the Supreme court passed IE: reversing Roe V Wade and taking away power from unelected official who have been making national policies without congressional approval. These are all things that are right and good for America yet the left thinks it's the beginning of the end of democracy. We are such a mixed up country that is being destroyed by the Democrat party who are catering to the extreme left. They are trying to turn our country in to a socialistic state. Sadly, we are becoming a country who is turning away for God and our constitution.

Loved this meme as the Democrats are trying to
go after both our rights to worship as we please and to own a gun.

This meme brought us great comfort in the midst of all that is happening.

On July 5th, we helped Jaron with a few things before dropping him off at his car so he could go to work. That evening, we had a special evening with our dear friends and former neighbors, Mitch and Michelle Davies. Mitch had been in Provo helping BYU finish a film they had started but never finished. Michelle flew in to be with him for a week so we decided to get together at our home for dinner. I served Chicken Lime Tacos, chips and salsa, and some fruit. It was a hit as Mitch ate at least 5 tacos. We had such a great visit, reminiscing about times we shared before they moved out of our neighborhood. We have missed them and were glad we could spend this time together. After dinner we sat out by the water feature to enjoy Heber's beautiful evenings before coming in at dark for dessert. It was time for them to leave all too soon. A great evening.

During the weekend of July 7, in Springfield, Oregon, Charlotte's musical was performed. It was done in the form of a reader's theater so not a full blown production. They streamed it on Zoom so we watched it on Friday, the 7th. Because our internet connection at our home is not always reliable, we went to Deon and Gary's and watched it on their big screen TV. At first, we could not get the sound loud enough so Gary called his grandson, Kyle, and he came over and fix it so we could hear the music and the words wonderfully. (A tender mercy that Kyle was home and could come help us.) The musical wove together the stories of a modern day mother and two children and a pioneer family, a Dad and Mom and three children. These two families each had their own 'handcarts' to pull and the play showed how the journal of the pioneer girl helped the mother of the modern day family face her challenges. It was hard to believe that our granddaughter wrote the script and the music, a least 18 songs. She started this writing when she returned early from her mission. This, then, became her mission and all along the way she was inspired by the Lord. She testifies that this is His work as much as hers. It was an incredible performance that conveyed some powerful messages for the audience. We were so glad we could be apart of this production, if only from afar. This work of art is now going to be used in a class at BYU to get it ready for an actual on stage performance. Way to go, Charlotte.

At Deon's waiting for the show to start

The cast consisted of Charlotte, Maggie, Kasey,
and Allison from the Westover family. They all did
an amazing job with their parts and their vocals.

On the next day, we got a call from Jillian. She had been at BYU doing her FSY commitment as a counselor. She was scheduled to be in Ephriam, Utah that day but had not been notified about the bus that left BYU earlier that morning. She asked us if we could take her to Ephriam, an hour and a half drive. We agreed to pick her up a little before noon and take her. (Another tender mercy-Paul was inspired to mow most of the lawn on Friday so we were free to drive Jillian. If he hadn't done that we wouldn't have been available to drive her until later in the afternoon.)

It was an easy drive to Ephriam and we enjoyed being able to help Jillian. It took a little time to figure out where she was to check in but we were able to get her into her dorm room, take her to lunch, and to do a little shopping at Walmart. We were glad for the opportunity to get away. Going home, we took the back highways instead of the freeway and it was a beautiful drive that we hadn't taken for years.

Later in the month, we picked Jillian up at BYU again so she could stay with us during the day before her flight home to Springfield. We took her to the airport that evening and then picked her up after our temple shift on the following Friday. She stayed with us overnight before we drove her up to Ogden for her next FSY session. We're so glad we live in Heber so we can see our granddaughters whenever they are at BYU. This has been a treat to see Jillian so much this summer.

Going into her dorm in Ephriam

On Tuesday of the next week, we drove down to Lindon to watch Aria perform some songs and dances. She and her cousins had attended a Princess camp the week before and this was the culminating activity. It was even held at 'The Castle,' built as part of a wedding venue. It was an amazing building complete with turrets and spiral staircases. Before the program began, each of the girls, dressed in princess costumes, came down one of two staircases as they were introduced. Aria was Arial and even sprayed her hair red. She was so cute as she performed 4 songs and movements with the rest of the princesses. We were glad we could see her. She's come a long way since her preschool performance where she literally hid her face. Of course, she was only 4 then.

Aria and her cousins, Evelyn and Sadie

The Castle

I don't remember if I have mentioned the concerns we have had with Paul's heart. He went in for a physical in March and the doctor discovered a heart flutter. He immediately put Paul on a blood thinner and we waited a couple of weeks to get into a heart specialist, Dr. Bingham. At that appointment, the doctor said the flutter had gone into Atrial Fibrillation or A-Fib, which means the heart chambers aren't beating in sync with each other. As long as Paul is on blood thinners, this is not dangerous but we did go get an electro cardiogram to make sure there was no other issues with his heart. It showed his heart had no other problems, so we next went to an Electro-cardiologist. He told Paul he would have to be on blood thinners for the rest of his life (A very expensive medication). He also suggested a Cardio Version procedure to try and shock his heart back into sync. He put him on a medication that would help the Cardio Version work and scheduled us for that procedure the second week of July. We went to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, July 13. Once Paul was all hooked up to monitors and and IV's, the actual procedure only took about 5 minutes. Paul's heart successfully went back into sync for which we were grateful. Since then Paul has said he has much more energy, especially when mowing the lawn. We have an appointment with the doctor in August to see if his heart has remained in sync. Let's hope.

This is the only photo I took as I didn't think Paul would
appreciate a photograph of him in his hospital gown.

The day after Paul's heart procedure, Anna Winn (Katie's sister) and her family came to spend a couple of days with us. They live in Texas and came to Utah so their son, Emmett, could participate in a La Cross camp at BYU. They spent the first 5 days in a hotel in Provo so they could be close to BYU. By Thursday and the end of Emmett's camp, they were tired of hotel living so we were glad to come stay with us. They came in on Thursday evening and left Saturday morning so they really only had one full day with us. We love them and are glad whenever they come stay with us.

Zoe and Emmett playing pool

Elle sitting by the water feature

This month Paul and I were called to a new position in the ward - Ward Activity Chairs. Can't believe they would call a couple as old as we are to spearhead ward activities. We were told that because of our age and experience the bishopric felt we would make sure the activities were well planned and carried out. We were told that our activities committee would consist of the already existing activity committees in the Relief Society and Elders Quorum. We attended a ward council soon after receiving this call to get a feel for what the council and Bishopric had in mind as far as activities for the ward was concerned. As a result of that meeting, we scheduled a meeting with the two committees to plan a ward/community activity at the pond in the our development for August. The Bishop wanted to make sure this was open to the whole Crossings and Greener Hills developments as they are both in our ward boundaries. The meeting went well and we left with a plan for food, activities at the park, and advertisement. Paul and I will follow up on the assignments that were made and hopefully this will be a successful event.

Notes taken during our meeting. After I took
the notes, Paul put them onto a spreadsheet, and sent
them out to all the committee members.

A little scary moment happened toward the end of the month, Avery started fevering during the week and by the weekend her temperature reached 105.8. Todd and Kailee rushed her to the hospital in Provo. They took her right in and started working on her to get her temperature under control. After running lots of tests and taking x-rays, it was discovered that she had pneumonia in one of her lungs. She had been fevering and complaining of stomach aches for a few weeks and it finally manifested itself that weekend. The doctor said that this type of pneumonia can come on gradually like that and, in children, it's not uncommon for them to complain of stomach aches. After a few hours in the ER, Avery was asking to go home and soon was her smiling self again. We are so grateful for doctors who didn't stop till they found the problem. Several miracles happened that weekend - 1. Todd made it home from Hawaii Saturday morning despite missing his earlier airplane flight due to a luggage handling mix up. 2. Instead of going to the American Fork ER, they decided to take her to the Provo Hospital Emergency room where they had a pediatrician on duty at all hours. 3. When Todd carried Avery into the ER, there just happened to be a nurse walking by and noticed that Avery was in, what she called, 'trauma,' and rushed her past everyone else to get her back to the doctors. 4. There were four nurses and one social worker, all there immediately to help Avery. 5. The pediatrician wouldn't stop testing till he found out what was causing Avery's high fever. 6. Within a few hours, Avery was feeling better thanks to the prayer of all of us. Miracles do happen and Heavenly Father answered our prayers that night.

Avery drawing pictures of her family at the hospital
once she was feeling better, Todd sent us a video of
her drawing this picture around midnight
Saturday to assure us that Avery was okay.

This was taken next day at our home, where Aria and Avery
were as energetic as always, even doing somersaults
in our front yard in their darling matching dresses.

As had happened each week for a few weeks, Grandpa
picked a flower for each of the girls to take home. Aria
also picked some petunias for her hair. So darling.

On the last Wednesday of the month, we took a day trip with the Fullers. Paul had been raving about Huntsville, Utah ever since we took a trip up there during COVID. The Fullers had never been there so we decided to drive the hour and a half north to Huntsville. It's is a small town of less than a 1000 residents and is located on the shores of Pineview Reservoir. It's an old town where David O McKay was born and raised. We enjoyed our drive and seeing the beauties of the valley there. Eden is on the other side of the reservoir. It's a little larger town so that's where we had a delicious lunch and some ice cream, of course. We drove home by way of Ogden canyon, a beautiful 10 miles canyon that took us right into North Ogden. We love taking little day trips as there's so much to see in Utah.

Designer cows....or should we say statues of
designer cows....in the middle of a pasture.

Lunch at the Mad Moose Cafe

We laughed when Gary came out to get in the car.
He and Paul were dressed in exactly opposite outfits.

That brings us to the end of the month but I must post a couple of pictures of Lincoln who is so cute at 9 months. On the last Sunday of the month, he showed us how he could crawl....well kind of. We love the fact that Todd and Kailee bring their family up most every Sunday. We so enjoy seeing our young grandchildren each week and how that grow and change. What a treat for us.