Summer has arrived!

Congratulations to Ben on his perseverance and patience in finally getting his septic tank installed!!

Monday AM I went running. Then showered and got the last couple of items completed on the rent house so we could meet with two different realtors later in the morning. One came prepared with some comps for the area; she had evidently scoped out the house in the previous days and had a good knowledge of the area and quoted a price range lower than we had hoped for.  The second realtor has been rated number one in the area for the last couple of years and brought his assistant with him. They addressed a variety of issues, such as potential market (investor or first time buyer), concerns about home inspections, loans, and other items we had not considered. We liked his approach and marketing strategy, but our sense of loyalty to a good friend pulled us his way. We hope to have paper work signed tomorrow and have the house on the market. Sandy had a chiro appointment later in the day.  Since she has not felt up to driving lately, I am now "driving for Sandy' full time.

Tuesday was the birthday of one of our sister missionaries; another ward member invited us to join him for lunch to celebrate and we had a delightfully low key meal at the local Italian Restaurant. How does anyone ever eat all the food they serve? We brought home enough for two more meals!

Wednesday I went running again. Then took truck to the mechanic for a new ignition key and then Sandy to the chiro in the afternoon. She is doing well enough that she does not need to return unless she feels the need to.

Thursday AM Sandy had an appointment with Clifford. I brought her home at 10 am so she could change before driving to Jonathan's for the night. We made the required stop at Harry and David's for medicinal chocolate and then at Andy's Frozen Custard for the mandatory hot fudge sundae. We spent a quiet evening with the MO Foxes, although Jonathan was with the scouts on their high adventure camp.  Aaron was also at the camp.  Charlotte and Matthew were visiting for the week so we got to visit with them as well.

The purpose for this trip was obviously to visit family, but also to have a shorter drive to the theater in Springfield that was showing "The Other Side of Heaven, Part 2".  So Friday mid morning, Kristy and Isabelle drove their car to Springfield and we met them at the theater to view the film. Some dramatic anxiety inducing scenes with a powerful message about forgiveness, service and love of the Savior. Worth Watching!!! And since we were in Springfield, and there was an Andy's nearby, we had to stop for another hot fudge sundae before we headed home. We made a quick stop in Harrison at Aldi's to stock up on staples and were home by 630 pm. It was an early night to bed.

I was up early Saturday morning to be at the local college to run the Red, White and Blue 5 k sponsored by the Mountain Home police department. I was nervous about running since sickness kept me from training for four weeks and I only had 12 days of practice to prepare. It was a hot and humid morning that greeted us. I started off faster than anticipated and slowed throughout the race, but still did better than anticipated. And I did not die!  It was my slowest time ever (maybe I am aging), but was under 35 minutes (by one second). Unfortunately they lump all those over 60 age into one group; I was 4th, so no metal for me this year. But I suspect I was the oldest one there. Maybe if I ran faster... I came home, ate, weed whipped the yard, showered and then took a two hour nap!

That evening we had stake conference at the stake center. I baked chocolate chip cookies to give to my traditional families and we took three members from our ward to enjoy the evening session. As always great messages from the mission and temple presidents. The best part was a panel with recent converts and fellowshipping couples talking about why they were interested in attending church, join, and continue to do stay active. Great missionary moments were shared. It was a late night.

Today we attended the Sunday session of stake conference that was broadcast into our local building. Again we had talks on conversion, ministering and loving the way the Savior loves.

Some photos:
First of the interior of the house we hope to sell:

We had one hen sitting on eight fertilized eggs and they all hatched Wednesday.

Don't know where this guy came from, but he showed up Thursday morning in the chicken coop:

Charlotte with Sandy.

Good times in Arkansas!

Another busy week for the Foxes, at least from my perspective. It was a bit of a challenge for me to juggle working at the rent house, keeping the home front fires going and getting Sandy to her various appointments. With her back troubling her, she opted not to drive this week.

Monday the van had a date with the oil change doctor. 6.4 quarts of oil! It is more convenient and easier to let the mechanic change the oil since it now requires special tools (and a lift helps too). Then off to the rent house to install the floor in the laundry room.  Difficult to work around the water heater when you don't drain and move it. Then home to get Sandy to her chiropractor appointment in the afternoon.

Tuesday I was able to spend most of the day at the rent house.  Painted and installed quarter round in the kitchen and laundry room. Was also able to paint the floor in two of the bedrooms. I tried to match the color of paint with the current one since Lowe's no longer has that color.  I thought "Death by Chocolate' was a good match! And it was. I was able to get Sandy to the Relief Society activity that night. They were doing an Escape Room, and since the priesthood may have a similar activity, Sandy can't tell me about it.

Wednesday was interesting; between an 1145 doctor's followup appointment and a 3 pm chiropractor appointment, I was running back and forth from working at the house then back to pickup Sandy. I did get the rest of the floor painted and the porch painted.  We had invited the sister missionaries to dinner and I was able to get dinner prepared on time.  One of the sisters wanted a fudge making experience, so following an enchilada dinner we made fudge. While I sent a good portion home with them, I am still enjoying it.

Thursday I started mowing our yard while still cool; then took Sandy to her weekly appointment with Clifford; then to a disabled church member to mow his yard and then back to our house to complete mowing it before picking up Sandy.

Friday I left the house at 430 am to get to the church for our monthly trip to the temple.  Actually had 14  people who wanted to attend,and needed two vehicles. We managed to get some amazing work completed while there.  Part way through, a thunderstorm blew through with a lot of thunder, which was audible in the temple. We left in the rain and only proceeded 20 miles before we ran into some serious traffic. We never did see the original accident that tied traffic up, we just knew it took us three hours to go what normally takes 90 minutes. Did not get home until 10 pm.

Saturday was up to help a couple unload a U-Haul truck into their newly purchased home. Fortunately there were plenty of hands and we were done by 9 am. So I came home took a short break and was back at the rent house to complete the last minute items now that the floor was dry. Besides, we have two realtors coming on Monday morning to offer their opinions on pricing and such.

Monday was the first time in a month that I went running. There is a 5 K the last Saturday of the month that I have run several times in the past and am hopeful I will be able to do so again this year. I was able to run again Wednesday morning and then on Thursday and Saturday evenings.  Nothing impressive, but at least I can still run. Not sure about next Saturday; will have to see how next week goes.

Today we had great talks (again) in sacrament meeting. The stake young women's camp director didn't really talk about girl's camp; rather she shared some experiences about her first son who exhibited a strong will at an early age. She was prompted to spend one on one time with him reading from the Book of Mormon. Changed his perspective, and hers as well, and the challenges diminished considerable. The next three were young women who addressed girl's camp.

Local rainfall:  over three inches in the last 36 hours for a monthly total of 7.8. We have had 39 inches so far this year. Just in case anyone was interested!

This next week promises to continue to be exciting. Realtors on Monday, going to Jonathan's Thursday so we can view "The Other Side of Heaven" Part II at a Springfield theater on Friday and then Stake Conference next weekend.

A fun week!

 Happy Fathers Day!  I would like to pay special tribute to my sons and sons-in-law for assuming their sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.

It was a beautiful week with lovely weather the entire time.  Following the adage that it is easier to maintain a weed free garden than to retake it, I spent time each morning removing all those pesky unwanted volunteers.  We have enjoyed snap peas and fresh lettuce so far.

I spent time at the rent house each day this week.  Finally got the interior painted; pressure washed the exterior; hired a friend to paint all the exterior trim and the front; and on Friday I installed a floating floor in the kitchen. I am hopeful that work on this house will be completed by week's end.

We had a week of loud laughter and the sound of little feet up and down the stairs.  Miranda and her four arrived Tuesday afternoon (they brought pizza for dinner).  And then Deborah with five of hers (Sarah was at girl's camp) arrived Wednesday.  Miranda prepared yummy lumpia for dinner Wednesday.  Thursday evening I had invited the sister missionaries for dinner, so we had hamburgers and hot dogs.

Some of the grand children had expressed an interest in earning money; the challenge was to find things for young ones to perform successfully. The chicken coop had gone several weeks without being mowed; it was interesting to watch Ethan trying to push the mower in the tall grass.  He had the desire, but it was almost more than he could do. So I helped him some. But they were very helpful in getting several chores done, and even more important, inspired me to work off a couple of items on my to do list as well.  It was a win win situation. And it was great to see how well the cousins worked together in accomplishing a common goal.

The highlight was on Friday afternoon.  A dead tree had fallen; with the prospect of a bonfire, I had plenty of help cleaning up the debris and putting it on the burn pile. Then after dinner, the coals were ready for roasting of smores and the day ended on a most yummy and happy moment.

Since both families were leaving Saturday, the girls planned a Father's Day meal for Friday; Deborah  fixed Bourbon Street Chicken and Miranda baked a rhubarb pie. Miranda made some peppermint patties and peanut clusters (some of which have been consumed during the typing of this blog).

And then by 1 pm Saturday, it was suddenly very very quiet. We do enjoy and appreciate family visits. Sandy did learn a painful lesson this week:  do not pick up 25 pound grand children:  she hurt her back and has been to the chiropractor twice already. Friday she connected with her primary care physician (actually it was a nurse practitioner) who prescribed a steroid, non steroid, and something else.  Unfortunately, these caused some nausea with upset stomach. A check with the family pharmacist (thank you Robert) confirmed that she needed to cease taking the steroid if she wanted to overcome the nausea. She was better today, but did not trust her stomach to attend church (that was a good decision). It's tough for her to keep adding problems to her life-- abdominal issues, then back pain, then nausea and not being able to keep anything down.... Despite her set backs, Sandy continues to amaze me with her positive attitude and perseverance.

Sad news of the week: my computer screen died and a new one was ordered but won't arrive until Monday. (It was interesting how the grand kids clammored to play on the computer, but once it was dead, there were no complaints and they happily played board games or played outside.) One of our chickens died and worst of all, our long haired calico cat, Athena, died.  Not sure what was the cause of her death, but it was clear she had been dead for a couple of days when I finally found her.

We hope next week will bring better news. On the plus side, we had excellent speakers in Sacrament meeting with one young man leaving on his mission early July.  It has been impressive to see him mature. We had a good Sunday school lesson on the Atonement of the Savior. It helped remind me of the importance of taking the sacrament to always remember the great and eternal sacrifice of the Savior.

Garden Reclamation Week

I determined that after four weeks of total disregard for the garden, that this was the week to reclaim the wheat from the tares. Monday I started at 630, spending about 45 minutes on my hands and knees (easier on the back) digging out weeds. Not bad for a guy who could barely get out of bed the week before. Then I came in and got breakfast for the two of us, showered, and took a nap! We both had an appointment with our attorney concerning a trust Sandy is contemplating. Then I was off to the rent house to paint the interior. That evening we had empty nestors; I baked a cake for that event since we weren't sure if Sandy would be up to this activity. Fortunately she was and we had a good time visiting and having a short lesson.

Tuesday, I was back in the garden by 630 and worked an hour.  It is cooler at that time and the sun is not high enough to shine on the garden; good time to be out there. But the chickens are noisy! They keep up an almost continuous stream of cackling and whatever other sounds chickens make. When I headed off to work at the rent house, Sandy headed off to the oncologist for her immunotherapy appointment. The doctor is scheduling a CT scan before he does another infusion. Hopefully that will transpire in the next 10 days and will give us an idea of what the cancer has been doing these past 5 months.

Wednesday was a repeat of the week; in the garden by 630, work for an hour, breakfast, clean up, short nap and then back to the rent house. This particular house was built in the 50-60's time frame, when the dams were being built. It has a solid concrete foundation; the interior walls are genuine lathe and plaster (try putting a nail in the wall). It originally had two bedrooms, about 9 x 9 foot. The living room is 12 x 20 foot and the kitchen 12 x 16 foot. You can see where the emphasis was back in those days. The 2 car carport had been converted to a decent sized bedroom and we upgraded by adding a laundry room when we first purchased it in 2004. And it only has one small bathroom. But it has character.

Thursday...yes back to the garden for weed therapy. But I was able to complete the wall painting in the rent house. Next is the trim.

Friday more early morning garden weeding (see the title of this post). I am 90% complete; but then I get to start over again next week. We have enjoyed lettuce and snap peas so far. When I woke up, the clocks were flashing, indicating a disruption in power (why I like wall clocks!). I checked on line news and discovered that a substation 3 miles from us had some type of malfunction or lightening strike and the entire station burned to the ground! The electric coop official said in his 30 years experience, this was the first time he had heard of this happening.  The fire initially plunged a majority of Mountain Home into darkness; we probably only lost power for a couple of minutes since we live near another substation. But 1100 customers were without power for an unknown period of time. I went out to check on some of my ministering families to see how they were doing without power. Evidently there were some members who purchased generators back in the 2009 ice storm that did not bother to run them periodically to ensure they were operable. One brother was busy repairing several of those overlooked generators. One member has a friend near the damaged substation; when he looked outside and saw the flames his first thought was, It's the Second Coming!

We had a date with the Drakes to go to the St Louis Temple and they picked us up at 3 pm; we stopped in Rolla for a Mexican dinner and arrived at our hotel by 830 pm.We were up and at the temple by 830 am Saturday and enjoyed a wonderfully spiritually time there until we left about 1230 pm. It is always a joy to serve in the temple and soak up the wonderful spirit that is there.We also brought home Saul, a young man from our ward that is headed to the Mexican MTC in three weeks. He spent the past week as a volunteer in the temple. What a great experience for him prior to serving a mission. We stopped at Olive Garden on the way out of town, then had a DQ milkshake in Cabool and got home by 7 pm.  Sandy held up well for the entire trip. We did have a dying chicken when we arrived and I had to take care of her. But we do have one hen that insists on nesting; so we obtained some fertilized eggs for her to sit on.

Today in Sacrament meeting we heard from our stake patriarch and his wife. Some powerful spiritual thoughts were shared on revaluation and feeling the Holy Spirit.