Owen

Owen is spending his second summer in Navajo working at the church.  He had a group from Kansas who came to the reservation to help re-shingle part of the church roof.  Owen was right there helping and it sounds like he enjoyed learning to use a nail gun!  So far he has been involved in a retreat for male members of the congregation and is also doing the Vacation Bible School as part of his duties.  It sounds like he is having a good time.

On the roof honing his skills!

Sunset in Navajo

Lincoln

I'm sorry I kind of dropped the ball.  Lincoln came home on Friday and is recovering.  I think we've all realized here that poor Lincoln has been struggling with not feeling well for quite some time and he is so much better now.  Thanks for all of your prayers on his behalf!

What's With the Trees!

I got this picture today from our North Dakota Duncans.  Apparently during a storm half of their pine tree fell!  Aunt Becky said, "Thankfully it fell away from everyone's houses."
  I'm glad no one was hurt but I have to admit I think we may have something weird going on!  The Whitney's tree in their back yard just withered up and died and they are getting ready to deal with the stump.  Then the California Duncans took on a monumental task of removing a tree that was "uprooting" their sidewalk (my joke!) and now another tree story.  I think the Utah Duncans may want to spend a little time checking out how their trees are holding up!

My Life!

I recently took Grandpa to Hobby Lobby for some new material for my next quilt.  He wasn't having his best day so I will preface that with the story and tell you before hand that it was my own fault!  I knew exactly what I  needed so we went right to the material, picked up the bolts and went to the cutting table.  A very sweet girl in her 20's came to help us.  Out of the blue Grandpa says,  "That person is a Dork!"  Trying to lessen the shock I looked around and said, I don't see anyone like that.  She chuckled and I then apologized explaining our situation.  She said, "It's okay.  You are such a cute couple, how long have you been married?'  I said it would be 48 years next week.  Another lady waiting said, "Oh's that wonderful!"  Grandpa's response was, "NO, it was AWFUL!"   As I often say, "we don't die from embarrassment--we just wish we could!"  You should be so proud of me because I didn't leave him in the parking lot!

Surgery!

This was while they were still trying to find
out what the problem was.

The big news for the Whitney's this week is Lincoln.  He has been sick for quite a while and Aunt Amy had taken him to the doctor.  They did a test but didn't have anything conclusive.  On Monday night he came home from work saying that the pain had moved from his stomach to his side so she took him to Urgent Care and they sent him right to the hospital.  After numerous tests they ruled out appendicitis but said that his gall bladder was enlarged and the enzymes in his liver were elevated.  Yesterday they took his gall bladder out.  The doctor said that it was pretty bad and had some scarring on it which indicated that he had been having problems for a while.  The plan was to bring him home this morning but he is nauseous so they are keeping him in the hospital until this evening.  Hopefully he will be better.  If not I will give everyone an update. 

This was just before he went into surgery

Quilt Show!

Here's pictures of the quilts I have finished since I started machine quilting.  I am pretty pleased with most of them!

Abby's Girls Camp 2019

Having girls camp is always fun.  Having your sister be the assistant camp director is great.  Having your mom come is the cherry on top of a wonderful camp experience.  So glad Abby enjoyed such an amazing experience.  Jane and Ruth are next and then Ava is heading to camp in July.  Lucky girls!

Quote

I loved this because I live it every day!

You can miss someone who died,

You can miss someone who moved away,

but the worst is when you miss someone

you see every day.

We Had a PAW-TY!

Thank you Aunt Amy for letting the party be at our house!  I had forgotten how much fun a three year old is on their birthday!  Graham said he wanted a doggy party and a big ball for his birthday and I think he wasn't disappointed.  I had fun making a doggy cake and was pleased how it turned out.  Thank you Pinterest for all the ideas!

Success!

Perry cutting the tree down

Uncle Andy with branch from under the
sidewalk

Removing a tree and tree stump and branches underneath the sidewalk has been an all consuming project at the California Duncan's.  Last night Uncle Andy completed the project and was very happy to check that off of his to do list!  He had some good helpers!

Caleb helping with the stump!

Happy Birthday G-son!

Graham

is

3 years old

today!

A Favorite Thing

If any of you remember from our mission I collected interesting names to share from the documents we were preserving.  I still love that and yesterday while doing my indexing I came upon two names that I just loved.  Usually I do first names but this time both of the names were surnames.  The first I came across was a man named Ernest Goodfriend.  The other man's last name was Goodenough.  Can you believe it!  I loved both names and hope you do too!

Will's Scouting Adventure

 Caleb wasn't the only cousin who got to have a scout activity!  Will was able to go to his first Scout camp.  Uncle Bill said he had a great time.

Happy Father's Day!

Andy

I have been blessed in my life with four wonderful men that I can call sons.  My grandchildren have been blessed because they can call them dad.  What joy each of you have given me by your love and commitment to your family.  I couldn't have asked for any better examples of selfless service.

Ben

Christian

Bill

Cub Scout Day Camp

I am so glad that before the scouting program ends for us that Caleb was able to be a part of it.  He attended his first Cub Scout Day Camp and from the pictures I'd say he had a great time!  Thank you all for sending me pictures for the blog so all of us can see what is happening with each family. 

My Gardener

 I love my gardener.  He has done such a great job keeping our yard looking nice.  In spite of the heat he just kept working until everything was done.  Even better it was done well. 

I'd also like to congratulate him on his new job.  He just got hired to work at a mortgage company full time for the summer and then part time when school starts again.  He had to get some new work clothes and starts his new job on Monday morning at 9 a.m. 

Speechless!

Some background to something that happened at dinner tonight.  Last night I heard Grandpa on the monitor at about 10:15 and so I got up to make sure he was okay.  I turned the hall light on and opened the door.  He was tangled up in the bed rail and was pretty frustrated trying to get out of bed.  I went over and untangled him.  Put the bed rail down and helped him to the bathroom.  I then got him back to bed, covered him and raised the bed rail.  I then decided to go to bed so I went back into the other part of the house to turn off lights and the air conditioner before going to bed.  When I got back in the room he was again trying to get out of bed.  I got him settled back in, climbed in bed as well and he again started to get up.  You can probably see where this is going.  I told him to lay down and go back to sleep but he wasn't having any of it.  I got up, lowered the rail and he went out into the family room.  I followed him out and realized that he wasn't going back to bed, so I turned the TV on, got him settled on the couch and began working on a quilt I'm doing.  At 2:00 a.m. I had finally had enough and told him we were going to bed.  He slept until 5 a.m. and then I helped him use the bathroom and then we both went back to bed until 9 a.m. this morning.

Now back to my story.  After I got our dinner ready tonight I sat him down at the table and then I said a prayer for us to bless the food.  I also asked in the prayer that we would have a "re-spite" from the challenges of the night before.  As soon as I made the error in pronunciation He loudly said, "res-spit!"  I stood corrected and amazed at what goes on in his mind some times.  I hope that we sleep well tonight, in spite of the error of my ways!

Quilting Lesson #5

Good news--this is my final lesson!  Watch out for the pins!  I have learned so much about how to machine quilt and I am proud of say that each quilt I have done since I began this project has gotten better.  I still have a lot to learn about picking colors but overall I have been pretty proud of how they are turning out.  The first thing I started doing after reading tips and tutorials was to use lots of pins!  That has good and bad results.  The good is that the quilt stays in place so it doesn't pucker when you sew and the end result is a really nice smooth looking quilt.  The disadvantage is that I am continually getting stuck with pins and it hurts!  Here is my lesson for each of you sweet grandchildren.  When you encounter trials in your life those are like the pins in my quilts.  There is a purpose for them and when they stick you, how you react to them can make a significant difference in your life.  I try to be very careful as I begin to sew the quilt so I don't get stuck but haven't managed to avoid it yet.  But you know what, it makes me more careful and aware of what I'm doing.  Those challenges each of you will encounter are the pins that will help you be safer, stronger, more focused, and wiser.  They are important and a life without any will stunt the growth you each must have to become all that you can be.  So watch out for pins but be grateful they are in your life so you can be your best! 

Lunch With Ruth

In the Whitney's summer program the kids can earn points for tasks completed and then they have a list of activities they can choose to do.  One of them is to have lunch with Grandma.  Ruth chose that as her reward which is more my reward than hers!  Grandpa stayed with Aunt Amy, and Ruth and I enjoyed a sweet lunch at Cafe Rio.  I love Aunt Amy's summer program!  Sorry for the blurry picture.  If someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong I'd appreciate it.  It's my cell phone camera.

I Don't Do Tired!

I found out something during the night that I'm not proud of.  When I am tired I have a hard time being patient with your grandpa!  Because of his falls I have purchased an adult bed rail that keeps him in bed unless I come around and let the side down.  It has been great because I hear him starting to get up and then I can tell him to wait and I come around and let the side down so he can get out safely.  It worked really good on Monday night but unfortunately last night it posed some problems for me and for him.  It started at midnight after I'd been asleep about an hour.  I heard him stir and then he started to sit up.  I asked him if he had to use the bathroom and he was confused and started to try to get out of bed.  I came around, let the bed rail down and helped him get up and into the bathroom.  No problem!  I got him back into bed, put the bed rail up and climbed back into bed.  After a while of finding the most comfortable position I finally fell back asleep.  About an hour later I heard him trying to get up again.  Again I got up and took him into the bathroom where he stood for a while and then headed back to bed.  After about 20 minutes I again fell back to sleep for about 20 minutes.  This time I was not feeling much charity to sweet Grandpa and when I got to the side of the bed he was trying to climb over the railing.  I admit it wasn't pretty as I firmly told him to get back on the bed.  Unfortunately, he was so disoriented that he wasn't complying and I think I literally picked him up and pushed him back onto the bed.  I can't believe it--I was the Incredible Hulk.  Albeit a very ashamed super hero because I wasn't feeling much charity towards Grandpa's needs.  This routine (without the appearance of the Hulk) happened about three more times and I finally gave up, put the rail down, and prayed that he wouldn't fall out of bed.  The spirit was willing--but the flesh was weak.  The night ended very quickly as I struggled to wake up this morning after a significant loss of sleep for both of us.  Some people become cranky when they don't eat.  They call them "hangry!"  I'm not sure what a cranky tired person is called but I hope that tonight is a little better for both of us.  I found out I definitely don't do tired!

Yum?

I have always known that no matter where Perry or Ellis served their mission eating unusual foods would not be a problem for either of them!  Good job, mom and dad!  He said of his Moose Stew that it was "pretty good."

Quilting Lesson #4

I want each of my quilts to have piece of me on them.  When I was hand quilting, the whole quilt was my handiwork, but I realized when I started machine quilting that I missed that feeling of accomplishment because the machine did all the work.  Of course much goes into getting a quilt put together and then sewing it and binding it but it wasn't the same for me.  I had an idea that on each of the baby quilts that I did I would do a little hand quilting of something that related to the particular quilt.  When I did the dog quilt I hand quilted a dog bone and on another some hearts.  Yesterday I finished my eighth quilt and I hand quilted pink flowers to go along with the pattern of the quilt material I used.  In thinking of each of you my grandchildren I want to encourage you to put your personal mark on your life.  Leave a little bit of you in each thing you do.  Let your personal integrity tell those who know you that your word is your bond.  Let them see your fruits and know that they are good.  Show them what a passion for living a good life can be like.  I have so much confidence in each of you.  Get up, get busy, and be wonderful!  You've got this!

Paris France

Happy Birthday G-son!

Brigham

is

17 Years Old

today!

Another Fall

Unfortunately Grandpa fell out of bed again this morning at 4:30.  This time I didn't see him have a seizure and seemed aware of everything the whole time.  I tried to get him up but he wasn't able to help so I put a pillow under his head and left him there while I got a wet cloth to cool him off.  In about 15 minutes he wanted to get up and eventually he was able to help me get him on his feet.  After going to the bathroom he went back to bed and went to sleep until after 7:00. While watching him for awhile and wondering what I could do to keep this from happening I had the impression that I needed to get an adult bed rail.  When I got up I found one and it will be here on Monday.  Pray that he doesn't fall until it comes.  Last night when he fell he knocked everything off of the nightstand and pulled the curtains and curtain rod down.  I got the curtains rehung and when dad began to complain that he hurt I looked him over and realized that he had a big bruise on his hip and saw that he had injured his ribs.  I worried that he may have broken his rib so I decided I'd better take him to the hospital just to be safe.  After x-rays of his hip and ribs and lungs he was cleared to go.  They said he just had a bad contusion and he could take Tylenol for it.  He is fine now and is enjoying Bill and Bev and Penny who came for a visit today. 

Awards for Caleb and Ava

Today Ava had her promotion ceremony and yesterday Caleb had an awards assembly.  They have been real troopers since they changed schools and had an extra week or two of school.  Ava is now in Junior High and Caleb will be in third grade.  We are proud of both of you!

Academic Achievement Award

6th Grade Promotion

Ava's Teacher

A Job Well Done