Millar Moments: FAMILY AT THE FIRST AND THE END OF THE MONTH MAKES FOR SOME GREAT MEMORIES

Jon and Mindi flew in from Florida at the first of the month and spent almost 10 days with us. They were here to find a home to rent or buy as they are planning on moving back to Utah in August. We will be so excited to have them here rather than being so far away. The company Jon is with has closed down its Orlando office and have plans, to move things out west when the company begins to make better profits. Hence, the employees are all working remotely, including Jon. Because Jon's responsibility does not require him to be in the office regularly, there is no need for him to remain in Florida as he can live most anyplace he desires. With both Mindi's family, as well as Jon's, being here in Utah, it is the logical place for them to settle. They were out every day, except Sunday, looking for places to rent and finally found a nice home in the Lehi/Highland area on the last day of their time here. We were praying for them to find a place and are now praying that they can sell their home in Florida soon so they have no ties left there. They were here over the 4th of July holiday. They spent most of the 4th on the other side of the mountain with friends but did come back to Heber for dinner that night.

One of the mornings, Mindi took this picture of
Jon and Dad talking. Pretty sweet.

Jon and Mindi were here, along with Mindi's kids, for Sunday dinner. Braydon even joined us which was great. Jon was able to go golfing with Braydon on his last day in Utah which was fun for both of them.

After dinner, Jon and Braydon played a few games
of Connect Four. Loved the laughter we
heard during their stay.

As everyone left, Carly imitated Todd's kids
who always wave to us from the sun roof of
their car as they leave.

At the end of the month, Ryan brought Grace and Nathan to Provo for some BYU camps - Grace in tennis and Nathan in soccer. Because of the schedules of the camps each day, Ryan opted to stay in Provo at a home he rented close to BYU. After dropping the kids off at their camps, he could return to the home and work, being closer to pick them up at the different ending times of each camp. He brought Grace and Nathan up on Thursday for dinner and then we met him in Provo for dinner on Friday. It is always fun to be with family.

A quick dinner at Freddy's is always a treat

For my birthday, Paul gave me two Hale Theater performances of my choice. We decided to buy tickets for the August performance of Footloose with the Fullers. Because it had been years since we saw the movie of Footloose, Paul order the DVD of it from Amazon. We invited Deon and Gary over for dinner and then to watched the movie. It was a fun evening and prepped us for seeing the stage production at the end of August.

A really sad and horrific thing happened this month in Texas. There was a flood caused by a major downpour. The flash flooding took place in the early morning hours and washed away a Christian girl's camp. Many of the young children were lost in the ensuing torrents as well as other campers in this more remote part of Texas. The shock of this event was felt across the whole of the United States with many prayers being uttered for the families of those who lost children. I loved this beautiful picture which helped ease the pain of this event.

An all month long yard project took place, with Paul moving hundreds of rocks from the side of our driveway to replace them with plants and soil pep. He has been wanting to do this for a long time and it finally happened this month. I didn't want it to be done as I loved the river rock look but as he started feeling better and stronger from his surgery, he needed a project to keep him busy. The final results looks good and when the ground covers planted in the rock bank start to cascade down the front of the rocks, it will look beautiful. That area will be easier for Paul to take care of and won't drive him crazy as it did with the rocks. You see, he couldn't stand the fact that bark and leaves had fallen between the rocks. He is such a perfectionist that he wanted the rocks gone so he could keep the area pristine. (Note: No one but Paul ever noticed the bits of bark and leaves in the rocks.)

The rocks removed one by one

The end product

We attended the viewing of the wife of the dear friend this month. Steve O'Hara, the person we call with any landscaping concerns, lost his wife to early onset dementia and congestive heart failure. She was only in her late fifties. Steve had been taking care of her for a couple of years as the disease progressed to the point of her not being able to do much on her own. He was such a devoted husband and will miss her terribly. We were glad we could go to the viewing. A memorial will be held later.

At the end of the month, we got a call from Fay McGuire who said his Lodi apples were ready for picking. We went over to his home and picked two boxes of apples. They make the best applesauce and only come on every two years. We are always happy when these are ready for processing, even though it's a lot of work. So worth it, though, when enjoy the wonderful applesauce for a few months. I was able to get 30 pints from the apples so we should have this kind of applesauce for the next year.

Fay with Paul

Our annuals have never looked as good as they do this year. I had to take these pictures of the planted color spots in our yard to send them to Glen and Kim Overton. The geraniums in the middle were given to us by them as a gift for having them to dinner.