JULY - A MONTH OF MIRACLES

 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.

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.

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.

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. 

Aria went to gymnastic camp at BYU
and was given this BYU leotard

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.

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.

Loved this display of patriotism displayed in our neighborhood

TRAVEL TO CANADA TOPS LIST OF JUNE ACTIVITIES

We traveled to Banff, Canada this month. We were gone 12 days and traveled over 3000 miles. Luckily, we were able to rent a larger car so we didn't have wear and tear on our car plus it was a van so there was plenty of room for all our things. We took Deon and Gary with us. They had never been to Banff so we were excited for them to see the beauties of this area. We had traveled there year ago with our young family and my Mom and Dad so this was a repeat trip for us but so worth it.

Our large rented van. So comfortable to travel those long distances.

The first leg of our trip took us to McCall, Idaho. We had also been here for a family reunion years ago so knew this area. We stayed at the World Mark which was just minutes from the lake there. After checking in, we fixed dinner then drove around the lake. It was beautiful even though a lot of the roads were dirt. We ended up at the park area by the lake where we found ice cream, of course. 

The next day was a relaxing day driving up to a ski lodge, finding a place to have lunch, shopping and, of course, more ice cream.

A new place for ice cream, Ice Cream Alley, where
the ice cream scoops were huge and delicious.

The next day, Sunday, was Father's Day. I have been waiting for this day to come for about three weeks at which time Todd told me of the Father's Day/birthday gift the family was giving Paul.  Before we left for church, we ate breakfast, packed up the car, and then sat down in the living room for Paul to open his presents. The first thing he opened was a BYU polo shirt and a BYU insulated cup. Then I handed him an envelope. It contained a mock ticket for two on the BYU cruise scheduled for April of next year. Paul was blown away. We had talked about going on that cruise but decided we could put the money it would cost to better use. Todd booked this for the family and also booked a stateroom, connected to ours, for himself. We think Jon will be joining us, too. It will be such a fun cruise, even though we have been to the ports in Mexico. There will be no alcohol or gambling or smoking and the entertainment will be uplifting, of BYU standards. This is a once in a life time opportunity. 

The next leg of our trip was to Coeur d'lene, Idaho. We had been there, too, for a family reunion several years ago. It was a good stopping point before making it to Banff. We stayed at the World Mark which was right on Coeur d'lene lake in Harrison. Since we were there last, the city had sold off all the beach area to private parties so there was no access to the lake for a picnic or swimming. We walked down to the the lake when we first got there but that was the last time we were at the lake near our resort.

Our view of the lake

The following day we headed around the lake to Coeur d'lene. We bought tickets to go on a lake cruise before finding the home that Deon and Gary had bought when they lived here many years ago. They lived in Hayden in a sub division the was close to the highway 95, heading north. It took a while but we found their exact home. It was in pretty good shape considering it was over 40 year ago that they had it built.

It was then on to our lake cruise. We had taken this several times when we lived here, but Deon and Gary had not so it was a first for them. The weather was a little iffy and it rained part of the time but we were inside near a window so the weather didn't bother us. The cruise lasted about an hour and a half and took us around the bigger part of the lake. We even passed our World Mark condo where we were staying, There were some huge home built right on the lake to which you could only access via the lake. 

An old home once owned by Bing Crosby where the
'Rat Pack' frequently stayed

One of the many large homes along the lake

Home built on a rock?

The floating green at the Coeur d'lene golf resort

Tubs Hill which Paul and I and our family
hiked around when we lived here.

A sea plane landing after taking passengers 
to see the lake from up above.

After our cruise, we decided to drive into Spokane Valley to see our old homes and go to dinner at a Mexican restaurant we used the frequent. Our first home looked horrible as the yard was not taken care of at all. Our second home had faired better.  It had been painted a beige and the yard looked good. Dinner at the restaurant was every bit as good as we remembered. A hit with Gary as he is a avid Mexican food lover.

The next day, we packed up the car and headed to our final destination, the World Mark in Canmore, Canada - about 20 miles east of Banff. The drive was long but beautiful, especially once we neared the Canadian Rockies and caught our first glimpse of the turquoise waters in the streams and lakes.

Our first look at the beautiful blue water

Our Worldmark condo

The view out the slider of our condo.

On our first full day in Canada, we drove into Banff and walked the downtown area. The main street has been blocked off to car traffic so there were many outdoor restaurants and tourist trap shops. We drove back to Canmore and spent the rest of the afternoon at the hot tub, enjoying the soothing water and the views of the mountains.

Looking back down the main street in Banff

The beautiful views

On Paul's birthday, the 20th, we drove 2 1/2 hours to the Columbia Icefields to take a ride up onto the glacier. It was a beautiful drive and the icefield experience was great. First, we boarded a bus to take us up to the Ice Explorer that then took us out onto the the glacier. The ride in the Ice Explorer was up a steep incline then slowly down onto the ice. We walked around for a time before getting back into the Ice Explorer which then took us to the buses. From there the bus took us to the glass skywalk built several hundred feet above the canyon floor.  Quite a dizzying experience but fun.

On our drive to the ice fields,
this reflection lake took our breath away for its beauty

At the visitor's center before we boarded the bus

The Columbia glacier is in the background

The Columbia Icefield glacier has receded 
and is expected to be gone in the not too distant future.

Some more beauty seen on our return trip

Paul's birthday dinner back at the condo -
roasted chicken, rice, stir fry vegetables and watermelon.

Blowing out fake flames on the candles in the
cake Paul selected.

The next day, we traveled to Banff to catch the Roam bus to take us to Lake Louise. For $5 per person each way, we could be driven the 45 minutes to the lake. We were told that parking was a real problem and very expensive so we opted to take the bus. We dropped Deon and Gary off at the bus stop so they could get in line and we drove to park the car in a free parking area. We then walked the 6 or so blocks back to the bus stop. We were glad we got there when we did because it is a first come first serve as to who gets on the bus. We think we got the last four seats. Everyone else had to stand. The drive was non eventful but the Lake was gorgeous, as beautiful as we remembered it from years ago. The blue water was breathtaking. We were a little disappointed that the Chateau was closed to the public. No one but me wanted to walk the trail around the lake, hence, we were back at the bus stop within 45 minutes of when we were dropped off. Lake Louise is a must see but unless you are going on one of the many hikes in that area or want to canoe around the lake, there isn't much to do or see. We got back to the condo in time for lunch of nachos and fruit. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing there.

Lake Louise

On Saturday, we decided to drive to Calgary. It was about an hour's drive east of Canmore. The beautiful mountains gave way to flat plains. Calgary was a city very spread out but very clean. We drove to the Calgary temple and walked around before finding an Olive Garden for lunch. It was delicious. It was, then, onto Costco where we found some already cooked ribs for our Sunday dinner. We drove downtown to see where the Calgary stampede takes place. In the distance, we saw the Calgary tower, similar to the Seattle space needle. 

The beautiful Calgary temple

The Calgary Stampede arena

Calgary's answer to Seattle's space needle

We found a church to go to in Banff on Sunday. It was a very unique looking building and houses the Banff branch. We were told that without the tourist that attend during the busy seasons, the branch of about 25 active members. The area for this branch includes Banff, Lake Louise and Canmore. The speakers and prayers are assigned by the stake and those assigned travel from Calgary each Sunday. It was a great meeting and the tourists filled the chapel. We were glad we took the time to attend. 

After church, we drove downtown to find where we could pick up the Banff gondola for the next day. The gondola was pretty expensive for an 8 minute ride to the top and back and found we couldn't schedule a time to go until mid afternoon the next day. Since we aren't hikers to take advantage of the many trails up at the top, we felt it wasn't worth it. We decided to leave a day early. This was good for Deon and Gary as they were leaving for California on Thursday and this would give them a day to get ready. The rest of Sunday was spent washing clothes and packing and eating our delicious ribs from Costco for dinner.

Our trip home took two days. We stopped in Helena, Montana to spend the night. The drive was beautiful through the mountains of Montana following the Missouri River. We were glad when we finally made it home to find all was well.....except for our burnt lawn. The temperatures while we were gone reached 97 degrees and, not being home to monitor the water situation, the lawn looked pretty bad. It'll take all summer to get it back to being as green as we like it but the trip was worth it.

Another happening of the month was our dinner to Ruth Chris. Todd and Kailee had given us a gift certificate for dinner there and we wanted to take advantage of it before we left on our trip. The meal was wonderful but very expensive. We went early so we could get the three course meal deal and we still had to add another $80 to Todd's $150 gift certificate. Because it was close to Paul's birthday they brought him a special dessert - key lime pie.

One other thing we did was pick Jillian up at the airport so she could attend her training as an FSY counselor. She spent three days at UVU and then we picked her up and took her back to the airport where she flew out to start her 3 weeks as a counselor in California. On our way to the airport, we drove to Charlotte's condo in Lehi to show Jillian just how far Bingham High School was from there. She will be doing her student teaching at Bingham and needed to find a place to live for the 6 months she'll be there. We thought Lehi would be a great place for her as it would be close to Charlotte. By driving Redwood Road, we made it to the high school in about 20 minutes. Since our time with Jillian, it has been decided that she will buy Charlotte's contract for her condo and Charlotte will find another place to live as she wants to live with her friend, Isabella.

On our way home, we drove to Jaron's gravesite.
We hadn't seen it since the stone had been placed.

A pretty sad thing that happened at the end of the month was a debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. President Biden had accepted Trump's challenge to debate but had set some pretty stringent conditions - no audience, run by CNN host's, mikes turned off when the speakers time was up to speak. Trump accepted and won the debate handily. Biden was exposed as being old and unable to complete a full thought. He often just stared out with his mouth agape - all signs of dementia. The news media has been covering up for him for years saying that videos of him making many blunders were cheap fakes. Now it is evident that he is not cognizant enough to be president of the United States of America. Many democrats are calling for him to pull out of the race. It should be an interesting few weeks to see what happens.

The New York justice system convicted Trump of 34 felony
counts for a bookkeeping error made years ago. These
charges will never hold up in the Supreme court but the
democrats want to be able to label Trump as a felon 
in their campaign against him.

Now for the month's memes: