Wonderful Day

Simple, cute cards! And I hope your day IS wonderful...wherever you are and whatever you're doing!

The Exciting Life We Lead

We love what we’re doing, and we’re very busy, but in all honesty, our routine is pretty…routine. This weekend, though, we had a little excitement.

Our washing machine broke and flooded our bathroom, the hall, and part of our bedroom. And until a repairman comes to assess the machine, it stands proudly in the middle of our walkway. I was at yoga when it happened, so Sterling got stuck with all the clean up—his workout for the day!

And because the trade winds have all but stopped, it’s extremely muggy here, so this heavy-duty fan will be lulling us to sleep for several more days while the carpet dries out! One nice thing about the fan is that it’s so loud we don’t hear the sirens during the night…a silver lining to be sure!

The 4th...a Little Late

Although it’s been a few days, I want to share a little about our 4^th!

We joined with a few other senior missionary couples, along with our mission president and his wife (and a visiting daughter and her family), for a barbeque and to watch fireworks on the deck of the USS Missouri.

We missed our usual traditions with family, but we enjoyed listening to the children around us gasp as the fireworks lit up the sky, especially the star-shaped and smiley face ones. It was a beautiful evening and a once-in-a-lifetime experience with missionary friends and family.

Special Kids

We had the opportunity to spend time with some special kids at Shriners Hospital for Children this week at a 4^th of July celebration. One of the single adults at our church works at and plans activities at Shriners, and she asked if some of us would come and help with the barbeque and play with the kids.

The event began with a wheelchair parade…each decorated with red, white, and blue crepe paper and signs. While waiting for dinner, we visited with kids from Samoa and Fiji who had been there anywhere from two months to ten months. They were delighted to find out that we’d been to Fiji! Sterling also showed them photos of me after my accident and in a wheelchair, which I think helped them feel comfortable around us.

After dinner we played cards and a couple games of pool. The kids were happy, positive, and grateful, which reminded us to count our blessings. Some of them didn’t want us to leave, so we promised to come back often. Next time we’ll bring some stamping supplies too!

Note: Although we took photos with a few of these special kids for our album, Shriners policy naturally doesn’t allow photos to be posted online.

Another Birthday Box

When you have over two-dozen family members, you give away lots of birthday boxes in a year. A grandson and a son-in-law both had birthdays recently, so here are their birthday boxes.

I can’t believe Seth is already fifteen. I remember the day he was born, and now he’s taller than his mom!

Jason has his pilot’s license and loves to fly every chance he gets, so the paper airplane attached to his box may not be as cool as the real deal, but it’s kind of fun anyway.