Bumps in the Road

 I thought in posting about our CA/CO trip, I would cover the "bumps in the road" that we incurred, in one post then I can do other posts about the "good stuff". lol😂 We planned to fly out to Santa Barbara on Wed. June 1, in the evening. Our flight was slightly delayed leaving SAT. When we got to Phoenix, we grabbed some refrigerator sandwiches and were standing at the gate, thinking that we only had a few minutes to spare. Instead we waited about an hour and a half before they canceled the flight. There were storms in DFW causing delays and cancelations. They finally let us know that we didn't have a pilot. All of a sudden there was a whole plane full of people trying to get another flight. It took us probably another hour, at least to come up with a new plan. Needless to say... Ron was not a happy camper.😒😠 We ended up taking an uber to a motel, spending the night in Phoenix. We got up really early the next morning to catch an 8:30 am flight to John Wayne airport, in south LA. (One of my photos here is an empty airport at 6:30 am in the morning. Luckily that airport is smaller and easier to manage for checking in, security and such.) Then we rented a car and drove from there to Santa Barbara. All Ron could stay about our drive through LA, was "that was fun". I could tell that he was stressed- traffic was horrible. I was just glad that they got us on an early morning flight and got us that close to Santa Barbara. We arrived about 2:00 pm. Nathan's graduation was at 5:00pm. 

Our second bump in the road happened as we were flying from Santa Barbara to Denver. Unlike the John Wayne airport, the Denver airport is huge, with a pretty good "hike" to get bags and get to the rental cars. I could tell then that Ron was "lagging". By the time we got the bags, got the rental car, and got the motel, I could tell that he was sick with a fever. He said that he actually started feeling kind of sick the day before. Long story short, he had Covid. We had to cancel our dinner plans for Wednesday evening with Corders. And we canceled our dinner plans with Thompsons, Muellers, and Downings for Thursday evening. He had to spend all week quarantining in the motel room. I have always thought that if he got Covid, "I would be toast"- haha. And this was especially bad for both of us to be in the same room together all week. I managed to stay negative, until I got home. But in traveling home, I must have been contagious, because Ashley probably got it from me. (At least our flight home was uneventful 😉)

Our third bump in the road was back at home. Gracie refused to come out of our bedroom. We had been wondering all along what she would do with strangers staying in the house. Finally, the litter box, her food and water all needed to be moved to Ron's bathroom. That's where she spent our entire vacation time- lol 😼🙀 Crazy cat. I'm sure that Kitty spent most of the time in the garage... but she is used to that. The people staying in our house called her "Pumpkin"- haha.

Letting Things Roll Off

 No matter what the weather is and no matter whether I am inside or outside... I always wear a raincoat! That means that I am good at "letting things roll off"- lol 😎 Ever since Ron had his stroke three years ago, he has some little brain glitches. Mostly memory issues, but sometimes frustration and confusion. Last week, a couple of times was particularly difficult. He had several items that he was working through that were frustrating him. The three main ones were our tax filing at the accountant, his Wells Fargo business account, and trying to transfer money to our Discover saving account. After dealing with those three issues with minor success, he decided to work on his business account. Instead of calling the bank and talking to someone or calling and setting up an appointment, he decided to just show up there. The bottom line was that they needed some more information about his business. (I guess items that he didn't want to try to find) He lashed out at me, saying, "Don't even think about moving again... it's not going to happen." WOW 😒😕 But since I was wearing my raincoat, I let it roll off and I just walked away 😉. Some times I feel like there is a switch inside him that just gets "flipped" every now and then. I am getting better, when we are discussing something, at recognizing when he is "getting close" to that flip. I will also just stop the conversation and walk away. (that flip is usually a comment to me about a disagreement between us. Most of the time, he claims that I am the one who is confused- lol) I am realizing that I think I am learning a great deal about what it like for Heavenly Father to deal with each of us and preserve our free agency, maintain our dignity, persuade with love, and have patience. I can only make a couple of suggestions to Ron about what I think, then I have to drop it and let him think or come to his own conclusion. I never ask him more than three times to do something. At that point, I either hope he sees my point of view or I just have to leave it alone. I saw a great quote yesterday, that I need to remember. It said, "Ask for angels to help you." I need to remember that when my patience is running out and when I feel like there is nothing more that "I" can do. I am standing in a pretty deep puddle of things rolling off, these days- haha 😬 It might be time to add some rubber boots to my raincoat.

My Dad

 Here is the picture that Gary shared on Facebook, with this comment- 

Happy Father's Day Dad in Red Feather heaven.

Makes me super sad to think about all that my Dad has missed in our lives and family. But I am not sad about all of the "worldly" stuff that he has missed. Many things going on that would have caused stress for him and many things going on that he would oppose. I ran across a song recently that always makes me think of my Dad. It is called "Scars in Heaven". The title sounds different than what you might think.

I also added a couple of my other favorite photos. Dad, MaryAnn, and me at the church in Red Feather. And the group photo from Dad's funeral service- 2012.

Fathers Day Letter

 I did not write this... but I think it is great.

Dear Dads, We Need You

Rebecca Wright June 17, 2022  

Dear Fathers,

You are so needed. We honor you this upcoming Father’s Day because we know the task set before you is not easy. We know there are often places you would rather be, interests you would rather pursue, and time you might rather spend elsewhere, but home—with your children—is where your impact is needed most.

We Need Your Strength.

We need fathers who are persistent in the cause of truth. We need you to live with integrity—for your actions to match your words. We need you to be fair and honest in your dealings. We need you to return what was borrowed and replace what was broken.  We need you to get the corners and edges, hoe to the end of the row, and finish what you started.

We need to see you work. You may go to a place of employment, but we also need to see it at home. We need to see that you take responsibility for yourself and your family. We need to see you wash the dishes, clean the toilets, mow the lawn, sweep the floor, fold the laundry, and rake the leaves. We need you to demonstrate the fulfillment that comes from taking responsibility for what is yours and not leaving others to do your work.

We need to see fathers who preside. This will never mean leading through fear. We need your long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, and love unfeigned (D&C 121:41). We need your gentle correction. It will give your children security to know that when they wander, you will find them and lovingly invite them back to the path.

We Need Your Faith.

Fathers, we need to know that the gospel is applicable. That while we may speak of the Golden Rule or the Good Samaritan, you will actually demonstrate what it means to be your brother’s keeper. We need you to pay an honest tithe, visit and tend to your ministering families, and kneel in family prayer. We need to catch you reading your scriptures and watching General Conference. We want to hear times you shared the gospel with others. We want you to teach us what you’ve learned and how the Spirit spoke to you.

We know you won’t be perfect. We need to hear you apologize and own your mistakes. We will love you for being humble and trying again.

We Need Your Joy.

Fathers, life is heavy sometimes. We need to see you still taking some joy in it. We need to see your silly side. We need you to play ball, to stop and check out the cool bug in the yard, to make root beer floats. We need you to help us find the balance between work and fun. We need fathers who will have tea parties and build epic train tracks. We need you to stay up until the teenagers are home and take joy in their safe, innocent fun. We need your jokes, even if they’re dorky. We need fathers who will have a laugh with us, not take themselves too seriously, and who will remember to have “much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured” (Gordon B. Hinckley).

We Need Your Love.

We need a hug when our hearts are broken. We need you to be a safe place to land when the world knocks us down. We need your wisdom and advice through our tough decisions. We need to know you’re rooting for us.

We need to see that your love is unselfish. We need to see you honor women and mothers—your mother and the mother of your children. The way you treat women will be reflected in your daughter’s understanding of her worth and your son’s understanding of his role. It has been said that “Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate.” This is what we need, Dads. Someone who will be the hero his children look to as a life-long example.

The task is great. It’s no small thing to put yourself aside and become who your family needs you to be. To all your fathers who aren’t there yet, there is still time. We will most likely still love you, even honor you, but we need more.

And to all you fathers who are trying, stumbling, and trying again—we see you. We honor you. We thank you. In the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever.”

And so are we.

Happy Father’s Day.

Happy Fathers Day

I am putting this post in here now and then I will go back and cover the events of the first 3 weeks of June. 

Our family has been very blessed with 6 righteous Fathers. They love their families and they love the Lord. You can always find them faithfully serving others, working hard, and playing with their children. We love them for their sacrifices and their courage. They are great examples and strength to each other.

I sent Ron off to church today to teach primary without me. He got Covid traveling from California to Colorado. He got to spend our Colorado week stuck in a motel room. He is past his 10 days of quarantine and tested negative yesterday. I got Covid traveling from Colorado to home. I got to the spend our first week back home in quarantine. I am probably negative again, but my 10 days are up next week. I need to go downstairs and figure out some kind of PIE for Ron. 😉😘

Cat And Dog

 The only interesting thing to take pictures of around here is the cat- lol. Kind of like the dog at the Pete house- haha. Or maybe my pile of "stuffies". 😂

Baby Birds

 The very last event in May, was some baby birds on our back porch. Some birds had built a nest there last year and had eggs in it, but Gracie jumped up to it, broke the edge and pulled an egg out. The birds left and never came back. This year the nest was repaired, laid eggs, and three baby birds hatched. These pictures are from the day that the babies learned how to fly from the nest to the fan and over by the door of the porch. Needless to say... Gracie and Ron were very busy watching that whole process. 😉