As the title of this blog suggests, this month we have seen miracles. The first miracle was the protecting of former President Trump from an assassination attempt. He was at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He had been on stage for only about 5 minute, talking about the economy, when he turned to point out a chart being posted on the screen to his right. At that exact moment, a bullet whizzed past his head, grazing his right ear. The secret service immediately ran up on stage to cover him and get him off the stage. The shooter was killed by a secret service sharp shooter before Trump was led off the stage. If Trump had not turned his head at that exact moment, the bullet would have penetrated the back of his skull, probably killing him. He was led off stage to the waiting bullet proof car but not before President Trump would raise his arm and yell 'fight, fight, fight.' The crowd of over 10,000 went wild. We were all grateful that he was not hurt severely. We know this was a miracle from God. Even President Trump has acknowledged that God had a hand in preserving his life. He is our only hope to save America from the extreme left's agenda. Maybe this is God saying He is with those of us who believe in the constitution and the founding father's ideals for this great country. Our country is on the brink of losing all it stands for. Our very freedoms are at risk.
The second miracle this month involved Paul. For two years now he has had some pain in his stomach, especially after he would eat dinner. He had gone to the doctor a couple of time and was told it was probably irritable bowel syndrome. On the 23rd of this month, the pain was constant all day. We called the doctor but he couldn't work us is so we decided to wait and see if the pain subsided. It did so we did not go to urgent care that afternoon. The next morning after breakfast, the pain returned. We immediately got in the car and went to Urgent Care. After hearing the symptoms, they sent us to the ER for a CAT scan. After the scan, the doctor came in and said, 'I have bad news and good news.' Not the thing one wants to hear. The bad news was that Paul has a mass in his abdomen. The good news it that it is a carcinoid tumor. This kind of tumor is very slow growing and is not life threatening. The doctor said this it the type of cancer one dies with, not die from. He set us up with an oncologist which we will see next month. The miracle is that if Paul had not had that severe bout with pain, we would not have ever gone to the ER for the scan and would have let this tumor grow and become more invasive. Paul has had only a little pain since the visit to the doctor. We think the Lord was prompting us to get into the doctor so this tumor could be discovered. We are praying that it can be removed easily and that will cure the stomach pain.
Other happenings in this month include a couple of funerals - my cousin and a dear friend's husband. My cousin, Judy Richards Jones, was the oldest of the Richard cousins. She had been in lots of pain for years so the family was at peace with her passing. We attended her funeral along with Deon and Gary, Sam and Kathy, Kathy and Kurt, and Ed and Debbie. Ed and Debbie drove down from Idaho just to be there. The funeral was a beautiful tribute to Judy. She was amazing woman. After the funeral, we all went to Freddy's for lunch before returning to our homes.
The second funeral was for Ken Lovell. He and and his wife, Susie, were in our ward for years. I served in two presidencies with Susie. Ken was called to be a mission president in Chili, then the MTC president in Spain. While we were in Russia, our young adults who left on missions went the the MTC in Spain. We would let President Lovell know they were coming. He was later called at temple president in Spain. About a year after he became the temple president, he was diagnosed with ALS, a totally debilitating disease. He came home and was soon in a wheelchair, having lost much of his mobility. His death was a relief from this horrible sickness. His funeral was a fitting tribute to a great man. He will be missed by many.
Paul has been working on a committee from his Pleasant Grove High School graduating class. They are planning a get together for the classmates at Jim's restaurant in August. It was decided that it would be good to try and get everyone together before the 65th reunion as many classmates are passing away. Paul had been so diligent calling those whom he was assigned to contact. We have taken many trips to the other side of the mountain to find people. The final meeting of the committee was held this month at the Pleasant Grove city park. While Paul was in his meeting, Jan Holiday met me there so we could visit. That was a perk for me.
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| Paul at the park waiting for this committee to arrive |
Before the meeting, we drove by Paul's old home in Pleasant Grove. What used to be a small, one car garage, red brick home is now a very big home. Over the last year we have been watching the change take place. It is now done and the people have moved in. It is lovely.
We were invited to a house warming for James and Victoria who moved into the home at the end of our block. We had never been to a house warming so I had to do some research as to what would be expected. I found that a small gift would be appropriate and that the whole affair could last up to 4 hours. There were many of our neighbors there and it was great to visit with them as well as to welcome James and Victoria into our neighborhood. (We had taken them cookies when they first moved in so we had met them earlier.) Because it was a new home, we all were expected to take off our shoes. I cannot go barefoot for very long before my feet start to really hurt so after about an hour, we decided to thank our host and leave. We left before dinner was served so we went to Costa Vida for dinner instead.
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| A small gift for our new neighbors |
The 2024 Olympics started in Paris, France this month. We watched the opening ceremonies to see the barges sailing down the Seine with the athletes from different countries on them. It was a very interesting opening ceremony with different entertainment being performed at venues along the river. We were not impressed with the entertainment that was spotlighted by the media. One scene depicted Christ's Last Supper being performed by drag queens. It was disgusting to see this sacred event being portrayed in such a vile and mocking manner. There has been much outrage to this. Consequently, we have not watched one minute of the Olympic competitions.
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| Toward the end of the opening ceremony, they put on an incredible lights show on the Eiffel Tower |
Todd and his girls did watch the Olympic gymnastic competitions, though. Both Aria and Avery are big into gymnastics. Aria practices 3 days a week for 4 hours each day and loves every minute of her time in the gym. She is getting very good based on what she has shown us in our backyard and on our trampoline. Avery is not as committed as Aria but does love learning new tricks. We visited them at their home and watched both girls perform on the balance beam in their living room.
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| Aria went to gymnastic camp at BYU and was given this BYU leotard |
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| Of course, they had to buy one for Avery too. |
Now for the last bit of news of the month. After the disastrous debate performance by President Biden last month, the party decided to oust him from running for another terms. Instead of him, the democrats have put his vice president, Kamala Harris, in to run for the top office of the land. This is so not the way of our democracy. She had received no votes in the primary elections, yet she had been installed as the candidate for the presidency. She has no qualifications and is farther left then Joe Biden. Our country will be totally lost if she is elected. She'll be another puppet for whoever has been pulling the strings during Biden's term in office.
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| This is a sad but probably true statement. The left will do anything to win this election. |
July always bring a celebration of our nations birth. This meme hit too close to home when I saw it.
It's a pretty scary times for our country. We pray everyday that God will bless our country so we can preserve our freedoms and elect the person who can save it - President Donald Trump. He said a powerful thing since the assassination attempt on his life. He said that this country needs a savior. He also said that he was not the savior but, as he pointed upward, the true Savior is Jesus Christ.
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| Loved this display of patriotism displayed in our neighborhood |
