CHANGE WAS THE SLOGAN FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE

 When we think of the month of June we think of changes - some just expensive and one very scary. We'll start with the expensive ones. One Sunday, Paul went upstairs to check the temperature and found that the heating/air conditioning unit wasn't working. He called Any Hour Repair the next day and scheduled an appointment to get it fixed. When they came a few days later, they suggested we replace the whole unit. To be safe they checked the furnace downstairs and said it was in worse shape then the upstairs unit. They suggested we replace both units and told us they were running a special that if you bought an air conditioning unit they would give us the furnaces for free. That sounded good since we have had the furnace and air conditioning units for 20 years. (They are designed to only run for 15 years,) We decided to take advantage of the special and have both the furnaces and air conditioning units replaced for around $20,000. It took them most of the day but, in the end, we have heating and air conditioning that should last another 20 years. 

Part of the floor coverings they laid
so as not to ruin our floors as they installed
the furnaces.

The next change came a few days later for a mere $28,000.  It was time to replace our driveway so we had arranged for a company to do just that. They started a couple of days after we had our furnaces replaced. This meant tearing out the existing cement, leveling the area, and putting in rebar. The next step was pouring the actual driveway with new cement. The whole process took a couple of weeks. The kicker, though, was that we couldn't drive on it for another week after they finished. We had to park the car and truck in the road and walk to them any time we wanted to go somewhere. The hardest part was that my ankles and knees were still hurting and it was hard for me to walk up to the cars. There was a few times Paul picked me up in the back so I wouldn't have to struggle walking up to the street in front. The driveway looks great so the effort and money were worth it.

Tearing out the existing cement

Pouring the new driveway

Now for the scary change. It involved Gary Fuller, my brother in law. For a few days he was experiencing some stomach issues. When he finally went to the doctor, it was thought he was having an appendicitis attack. The doctor sent him over the the emergency room for a CT scan. When the results were read, they were told that he had some masses in his abdomen. He was sent down to Utah Valley hospital in an ambulance and admitted there. The next day, they did a pet scan and took a biopsy. He was feeling better so they sent him home to await the results of the scan and biopsy. He was able to spend Father's day with his whole family but then on Monday he started feeling really bad. He was listless and very pale and had blood in his stools. At the doctor's suggestion, they rushed him back to the emergency room in Provo where they gave him 2 liters of blood as his blood count was down to 7 and it should be at 14. He was admitted again but this time in ICU. The doctors discovered that the cancer in his stomach was bleeding causing the low blood count. The next day, they did an endoscopy to cauterize the bleeding sores. While he was in the ICU the results of the pet scan came back and it didn't look good for Gary. The doctors told them they better be thinking of end of life preparations as the masses were in 4 different areas - the kidney, the spine, the lungs, and the stomach. We were all devastated and couldn't imagine a life without Gary. All his children and most of his grandchildren came to the hospital so Gary could say his goodbyes to them. Then the miracle happened. The biopsy came back and their oncologist came with the good news. The masses were a B-cell Lymphoma and were treatable and even curable. It would mean 6 chemo treatments - one every 3 weeks. That was the best news we could all have hoped for. They administered the first chemo treatment in the hospital and Gary had no side effects. He is home now and is building his strength back with the help of a physical therapist. It will be a long road ahead with lots of changes in their life style until he finishes his treatment but, at least, he has hope for a future.

Another change in our family is that Julia finished her home MTC and flew to Mexico City to learn Spanish at the MTC there. She was so excited to be there and has been doing wonderfully. She leaves for her mission to Yakima, Washington in mid July. We are so proud of our three grandchildren serving mission.

One more change is that Paul is a year older - 83 or as he loves to say he's in his 84th year. We celebrated his birthday by going to a movie that he had wanted to see. The movie was entitled 'Pressure' and was about the drama leading up to invasion at Normandy on D-Day. It was a great movie. We finished our celebration by going to Chuck a Rama for a late lunch. That is not my favorite place to eat but I agreed as it was Paul's birthday. We had a good time spending the day together.

The salad is the best part of what is offered here

Jon and Mindi sold their home in Florida and are now permanently here in Utah - another change. We are grateful to have them living close to us again. They have come to Sunday dinner a couple of time since they've been back and we love it. After dinner, everyone's favorite thing to do is play wiffle baseball in the backyard. It's fun to watch the family having such a good time together. 

One of the wiffle balls that Paul found when he
was weeding the yard. Every time they play wiffle
baseball, at least one ball is lost until Paul finds it.

And last - I thought I would not be able to do any peach slush this year as all the peaches in this area were frozen. We found out from Dana that there were peaches in St. George. She was willing to bring us up 40 pounds so I did 15 bags of peach slush. That should keep us in slush for the whole year. (Note: Don and Dana bought a home in Spanish Fork as a second home. They sold their home in Washington and are now full time Utah residents. They will spend the summers in Spanish Fork and winters in St. George. It'll be great to have the close in the summer - another change for this month.)

I found this meme that I loved so I'll close with it.