OUR TRIP TO AVON, COLORADO AND SEEING SONNIE WERE HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS MONTH

 We had been looking forward to our trip to Colorado for weeks. We booked a Wyndam Resort in Avon, Colorado which is twenty minutes from Vail, Colorado. We had never visited this part of the state so decided to take a short vacation there. We invited Deon and Gary to go with us. Our first day was spent exploring Avon which consisted of many round abouts. It seemed like every corner our GPS lady was saying, 'At the next round about take....' We laughed a lot about that. Our resort was within walking distance of a lake but we never took advantage of it except to walk to it and look. SAD!! The walk there, though, was beautiful with lots of picture taking stops.

We loved all the sculpture seen along our walk

...and the brightly painted buildings

There was even a  rock sculpture garden.... 

...and incredible flower pots along our walk

And then there was the lake

We ate lunch at a Subway and spent the rest of the afternoon in the resorts amazing indoor hot tub. It was huge and had a waterfall coming down from the ceiling. So relaxing.

The next day, we were off to explore Vail, Colorado. There are two villages - Lionhead and Vail. We explored both. 

At Lionhead village, we took the gondola to the top of the mountain. The views were amazing. They have all sorts of activities for families as well as an amphitheater for programs. We were told many wedding take place there, too. We were amazed at the number of ski runs available for the avid skier.

After the gondola ride, we caught the bus to Vail. We were told to get off at a certain stop and we would find places to eat lunch and ice cream. We never found ice cream but we did find a deli type place for a sandwich. We, then, took the bus to the stop for the Vail gondola. We followed the map but when we got to what we thought would be the gondola ride, we found it was further down the walking path...a lot further!!! In reality, if we would have just walk straight up the street we were on for lunch we would have come right to the entrance to the gondola. At the top, the views were wonderful but there was nothing to do up there except look. We didn't spend a lot of time there. 

When we got off the gondola ride, Gary and Deon were ready to get back on the bus that would take them to our car. Paul and I wanted to explore more so we split up at that point. Paul and I walked on to the Ford Park and Betty Ford's botanical garden. We were very tired when we got there but the park was beautiful and worth the walk.

It was then walking back to the bus to take us to our car. (We took over 12,000 steps that day) We found Deon and Gary relaxing in the car in the parking garage. We loved Vail and its Switzerland feel with flower pots hanging from a lot of the buildings.

That night, we celebrated Gary's 80th birthday by going to a Mexican restaurant that everyone at the resort recommended. It was the worse food we have ever tasted. Paul's enchiladas were either overcooked or had been sitting in a warming area far too long as the cheese was almost non existent. I had a taco that was not worth eating. At least Gary got his Mexican meal for the trip.

Because we had seen everything we wanted to see in Avon and Vail, Paul suggested we drive the 2 hours to Denver to visit our sister, Sonnie, who had recently been put into a memory care facility. We called her daughter, Jeannie, to arrange it. We were so glad we made the effort to do this. Sonnie was thrilled and based on her mental state, this could have been the last time that she would recognize us or know who we were. After she showed us her room and living arrangements, we took her out to lunch at Jersey Mike's. All she could say was that she loved being with us and that she wants to come stay in Utah with us for  two weeks. Any other conversation was very difficult for her. When we got back to the care facility, I walked her to her room and said good bye. She proceeded to follow me back out to the front and to our car. The receptionist had to help get her back inside.

At Jersey Mike's

We left the next day and got back to Heber just in time for a funeral, a wedding reception, and a birthday celebration.

The funeral was for the son of  ward friends, Dan and Betty Mathews. They are presently serving a mission in New Zealand. Not soon after they left for their mission, they received word that their son, Sam, had been diagnosed with stage four colin cancer.  All the prayers and fasting on his behalf kept him alive longer than expected but he died in August. The funeral was on a Saturday and then the family celebrated a wedding for their daughter the next week. Sadness and joy for this family.

The birthday celebration was for Carly. We had her request for Sunday dinner of teriyaki chicken and fried rice. Afterwards we celebrated with a cake for her. Jon and Mindy, Clark and Olivia, and Braydon were all there. 

Our next activity was attending the performance of Footloose at the Hale theater in Draper. We loved the performance. Afterwards, we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Orem. The Fullers went with us.

Shoes hanging from the ceiling of the stage

Another birthday celebration followed. On the Sunday before Todd's birthday, we had his favorite meal of pot roast followed by a Dairy Queen ice cream cake for dessert which is Todd's request for his birthday every year.

At the end of the month, on Labor day weekend, we attended the first BYU football game. Ryan, Katie, Grace, and Nathan came to Heber on Friday so they could go to the game on Saturday. We all dressed in royal blue to cheer on our team. We met Todd there before the game and visited for a while. (The Fullers and the Bulkeleys opted not to get tickets this year so we came by ourselves.) We have seats on the aisle which we thought would be great but not so. After this first game, we vowed that next year we would not do that. We were unaware of the number of people who leave during the game to get food from the concessions. It seemed like we were standing to let people out of our row constantly to say nothing about the other people going up and down the aisle right next to us. We won the game by such a large score that Paul and I left after the third quarter.

We were glad we left the game early as Andrea and Casey had come to Utah to bring their girls back to school and they were staying in our home. We got there early enough to see everyone and hold our great grandbaby, Arthur, for the first time. Such a joy. Maggie and Kacey are such good parents. 

It was great to have two of our children and 
some of our grandchildren at church with us

 Andrea will miss this little one
as Maggie and Kacey and baby Arthur have
been staying with them all summer.

We can now report that the construction of our Heber temple has begun. It had been stalled for almost 3 years due to arguments at the county council meetings followed by a lawsuit by the same people that are in opposition to it being built. They have used every argument possible and the church has answered every argument with a solution. The lawsuit was settled in favor of the temple being able to be built so can see it finally happening. We are told we won't see any above ground building for several months because of all the underground work that has to be done. All we see now is lots of dirt being moved around. We are so excited that someday in the near future there will be a temple in our Heber. 

The first day of construction

One last thing that happened this month was the lack of water coming into our water feature. We couldn't figure out why the pond had disappeared. Paul started digging up the tubing that connected the water feature to the water source. When he got almost to the end of the line, he discovered a tree root that had blocked the tubing. He cut the root back and there was water again. He connected new tubing and now we have a functioning water feature again. Hurray!!!

And then there was water!!!

Now a darling picture of Lincoln and his first day of school......

And a couple of memes.......

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.

I must post a couple of pictures of Todd and Kailee's children. They are growing up so fast.

Little Ledger

Only one meme for this month but an important one to consider:

FATHER'S DAY AND PAUL'S BIRTHDAY HIGHLIGHT THIS MONTH OF JUNE

 Each June brings Father's Day and Paul's birthday. For Father's Day, we had Todd and his family up for Sunday dinner. They brought him a couple of gift certificates to Subway. I gave Paul of lovely card with words of love written on it - or at least that's what I put in the envelope. When Paul opened the card, it wasn't the card I had given him. Kailee has slipped another card in the envelope with a pretty suggestive message on it. We all got a big laugh out of it. It was a great day for Paul as he heard from all the children which is the best part of Father's Day.

Paul's birthday was also a great day. We had planned to go to the temple then go to Golden Corral for a Lunch/dinner. Todd called and wondered if we could babysit for them so they could go to the Utah Valley home show. We agreed to do that for them so we changed out temple appointment for earlier in the morning. Afterwards, we went to Rumbi Island for a quick lunch so we could be to Todd and Kailee's by early afternoon. Carly joined us to help with Ledger. I baked cookies with Aria, Avery, and Lincoln and then played cards with them. It was a good afternoon and we were happy we could help out. It was great to be with their children, too. Todd and Kailee treated us to a pizza dinner at Pizza Lemone when they got home. The next week we went to Golden Corral, which Paul loves.

Ledger loving the one on one attention
he got from Carly

A couple of nights before Paul's birthday, he had another attack of chest pains. He took Ibuprofen and used the heating pad to try and ease the pain but nothing was helping. About 1 a.m., we decided to go the emergency room to make sure this wasn't involving his heart. We were there about 3 hours waiting for the results of blood work to come back. All the tests proved negative for heart issues so it was decided that this was from over working the chest muscles during the day. This is the second time we've ended up in the emergency room, thinking Paul was having a heart attack. Thankfully both times it wasn't.

We had a few visitors during the month of June. At the first of the month, Ryan brought Nathan up for two BYU basketball camps. The first one was a disaster. Nathan was put onto a team with a bully who said some rather rude things to Nathan and kept telling him he should be a permanent sub that never gets off the bench. That destroyed Nathan's confidence so he wouldn't got back to the camp again. (Note: Nathan has played a lot of basketball in the past but hadn't played for several weeks because of a hurt ankle that wouldn't heal. It took lots of physical therapy for it to finally heal, just in time for this camp.) Ryan had planned to work the 4 days of this camp but with Nathan not going to the camp, we all had to change our plans a bit. Ryan arranged his work so he could take Nathan to the recreation center each day to shoot some baskets. We took him to a movie one afternoon then came back to Heber where Ryan met us at the Junction for dinner. There was a two day camp, starting on Friday, which turned out much better for Nathan. It was only a three hour camp each day. We were glad he had a better experience.

On the 17th of the month, Katie, Julia, and Grace came to spend the night. They drove up so they could spend the day with Aubrey on her birthday. They bicycled up Provo canyon, went to lunch then played pickled ball before having dinner and coming up to Heber. A busy, but fun day for them. They left early the next morning but it was great to visit with them for a little while.

A couple of Sundays later, we celebrated Aubrey's birthday here in Heber. She brought Harrison and Todd and Kailee were here with their family. When asked what she wanted me to fix for dinner, she said she loved my chicken enchiladas. I couldn't see doing a Mexican meal for Sunday dinner so I made her some chicken enchiladas to take home and cook for herself. I did baked chicken which I knew she loved, too. It was homemade Hostess cupcakes for her birthday cake.  She appreciated it all.

 

This month we had a few more high school graduates. Carly finished her high school in Florida and then came to Utah so she could take a class at the University of Utah before enrolling full time in the Fall. 

Lydia graduated in Oregon. She will be going to BYU Idaho this fall for her college experience. We think she wants to be a history teacher so the will be her focus as the attends BYU Idaho.

Jaiden graduated from Bingham high school here in Utah. He plans to do some on line courses at UVU in Orem and then hopes to get a track scholarship the following year. He wants to do something in sports medicine.

Speaking of Jaiden, we went to one of his track meets this month. He was unable to run track during his senior year due to a leg injury so he is in a track club and doing meets this summer. He did pretty well at the meet we observed but he still isn't up to his speed from the track season his junior year. He said he had a couple of offers for scholarships until he got a concussion in football and injured his leg in track. Hopefully, he can work hard to regain what he has lost due to injury.

Carly met us at the meet and was able
to get Jaiden to come visit with us
after he first run.

June always means planting a garden and annuals. This we did at the first of the month. We also put an umbrella up to take the place of the two tress we had cut down in May. We needed shade for the patio area. We went to put the umbrella up but found it was lacking one of the poles. We had purchased it at Costco earlier so we headed down to Costco to see about exchanging the umbrella for one with both poles. When we got there, they only had navy blue ones and that wouldn't work with our beige chairs. We asked the man at the return desk if he could open one of the navy umbrellas and give us the pole from it. He agreed and soon brought us the missing part to our umbrella. It looks so nice in the pot where we installed it.

Since this picture was taken the flowers
in the pot have bloomed red, purple and yellow 
and looks wonderful.

We had our windows professionally cleaned this month. This prompted us to clean all the insides of the windows as well as the blinds and shutter, upstairs and down. Once that was all done, we decided to tackle to garage windows and blinds. These hadn't been done in the 18 years we've lived in this home. It was quite a job to remove the blinds, spray them off, clean the windows an and the seals then put the blinds back up. It feels good to finally have that done.

Only a couple of memes this month....

President is doing all this quite quickly.
Thank goodness common sense is back in the white house.

Loved this