SPRING & NO MORE TAXES! HOORAY!

Looking thru my new sparse Lilac tree

I have been a lazy blogger. I'm hoping to end that. After all, this is as good as my journaling gets. I AM delighted that tax time is over (mostly) for this year, although sometimes I miss it. I do enjoy doing taxes, I just miss being able to do other things that I love... cooking, yard work, visiting, traveling, etc. I also miss the extra income it provides...alas!

I am THRILLED that spring is here. We've been experiencing rain this past week and I love it. My yard is getting to be so beautiful. My fairly new lilac bush is looking great, the tulips have all popped up and are ready to bloom, and rose bushes are all ready to bloom. I'll be planting flowers around my tree any day now. Ahhh...all the things I love....filling my days with happiness.

I finally sold my couch that's been sitting covered on the front porch for 3 months, so I finally have decent access again. Poor tax customers had to wind their way into my home to bring and pick up taxes. It gave me more to invest in silver, since I don't think the dollar will be worth much soon. A worthwhile investment.

The old rheumatoid arthritis that's had it's way with me for the last 4 months is (hopefully) on it's way out. I have been able to do more and move more in the last few days (regardless of the weather, which plays havoc with it). That is such an upper for me. Not being able to get around well has been the pitts. Life is looking good. Now, if I can get back to water-aerobics. I'm anxious for changes and renewal.

My Review of Roku 2 XD Streaming Player

Originally submitted at Roku

Features the highest-quality HD streaming available.

Roku 2 XD Streaming Player

Wish I'd have known about this before!

By Pete from North Salt Lake, UT on 2/11/2012

 

5out of 5

Pros: Easy to use, Especially for senior cit

Cons: Need current local news

Describe Yourself: Easy for senior's use

I hate tv ads. NO MORE ADS!! Love everything about it. Lots to choose from. Roku, where have you been all my life?

(legalese)

MY AMAZING DAUGHTER-IN-LAW!

Laura with their 5th grandchild, Brigham, just born 9/1/10

My amazing daughter-in-law, Laura Spencer Kilpack, is presently on her 4th jaunt to Peru. Her (and Bill's) son Dallin served his mission there in 2006-07, so her first trip there was with Bill to pick up Dallin from his mission and tour some. Second trip back (2008) was with Dallin to attend the sealing of a convert family in the Lima temple, and to aid Dallin in his proposal to another Peruvian missionary, Grisel Medrano from Bolivia. They had met briefly while serving in the same mission. Dallin was released 12/07, and upon Grisel's release later in 08, she e-mailed Dallin to congratulate him on his marriage (he'd had a girl waiting for 2 years). Dallin thanked her but said he wasn't married, it hadn't worked out. Thus began their 'internet courtship'. A couple of trips later to Bolivia, Dallin brought his bride-to-be to Utah and they were sealed in the SL Temple May, 2009. They now have Rebekah, 16 months, and a baby due later this year.


But back to Laura. She literally fell in love with the Peruvian families she met, and has corresponded with them the past few years. She has learned Spanish and is now reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish. She traveled to Peru alone two years ago, taking much needed money, food, clothing and other supplies to help the poor families there. It has become a priority in her life to help these people as she communicates with them each day and learns of their hardships and needs. She left last Thursday, alone, with two huge suitcases full of supplies for them; over 200 pairs of glasses, solar flashlights, etc. for preparedness, clothing, material for sewing clothes, many sewing supplies, used cell phones (to call them on at no cost to them), and many other items. She had quite an experience on her trip down, where the Peruvian authorities at the airport ransacked her bags and confiscated the cell phones. They are hungry for US dollars so said she could keep them for $100. When she said she didn't have that much cash they lowered it to $70. She refused to pay them so they took all but 2 of the phones. She was hopping mad.

Her letter from earlier today is very inspiring:

Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:02:58 -0700
I am in an internet cafe and only have 15 minutes (it's on timer) to try to write something.
The first family I visited after getting off the plane, was a family who takes in sister missionaries to stay there and eat there while in that area. A sister missionary from Taylorsville had just recently arrived in Peru. She came out to greet me and after giving her a hug, which is the Peruvian custom, I asked her how she was doing. Right then her eyes filled with tears and she said the culture, food, language, cockroaches and everything was so different and hard that she had thought many times about going home and not finishing her mission. We talked a lot together and I told her that my son had said, "Mom, if I did not know the church was true, I'd come home right now". But in the end it was so hard for him to leave. We talked a lot more, and she told me, "It is no coincidence that you are here in the same home that I am in, after just getting out of the MTC. The Lord works in mysterious ways." She said it was a great comfort for her to see someone from her country. She is right.... it was not a coincidence.


My escort/companion during my first few days here is a non-member. I had some very special experiences with her that I will tell you about later today, or tonight.
It is hard to type on a Spanish keyboard where the keys are in different places... especially hard when I am being timed. Grrr...
Everything has been wonderful!! I have not felt nervous or scared at all. My friends have been so good and extra protective of me. They are too good to me. Take care, I love you all, Laura

I can't wait to read her next letter, due tonight. Tune in for the next episode from this AMAZING lady!

Sister's Trip and Tender Mercies

The crevice where they created the "Hole-in-the-Rock" prior to Lake Powell.

Mert, Judy, and I all read "The Undaunted" by Gerald Lund. If you haven't read it, it's similar to "The Work and the Glory", in that fictional characters are woven into the actual families and church history. This book tells how pioneer families were called in 1879 by Brigham Young to find a shorter route to the "Four Corners" area, where some pioneers were already settled, and stranded, after having traveled a very circuitous route to get there. They were having a hard time with the Indians. You can learn about "The Undaunted" here.

We left Salt Lake Friday morning, with Monticello, Utah as our destination that night. We attended the Monticello Temple Saturday morning and it was such a beautiful experience for the three of us. After lunch, we traveled on to Bluff, UT, our destination, (where the pioneers settled after their journey). We visited many historical sites that afternoon. What a quaint, spiritual little town with awesome scenery. It is bounded by the San Juan River on one side and breath-taking sandstone hills with monuments on the other. It was like a walk back in time. We spent time at the Visitor's Center where we watched a movie about the trek which showed an excellent depiction of the pioneer's ascent down "Hole-in-the-Rock", which steeply descended for a mile to the Colorado River, where they then had to be ferried across. There is a lovely replica of the old Bluff Fort, also. We ended our day with a moonlight swim and aerobics in the pool at Recapture Inn.

Sunday morning we attended the Blanding Branch meeting at the little Bluff Chapel, and what a touching experience it was. We even sang "I Am a Child of God" in Navajo. After a delicious lunch, we headed for home, so grateful for the many 'tender mercies" that were shown us on this trip, and for the fun time we had together.

(As soon as Judy gets them to me I'll post more pictures.)

My Favorite Month of the Year (is almost here)!

Just one week till my very favorite month of the year is here. I've always been a "September Child". The month starts with my birthday, then gets better as it goes on. The beginning of FALL, my favorite season of the year. I love everything about fall (except raking and bagging all the leaves that fall from my huge tree in the front yard, but then the Smith grandkids always come and have a blast cleaning them up. My little front yard gets about a foot deep with leaves before the tree is through shedding.

Life is finally starting to look better now for a change. Next sad thing is Kelly's chemo, which should start fairly soon. But I'm grateful that the surgery went as well as it did and she is recovering so nicely. I'm glad I was able to spend nearly two weeks there with her. She is a fighter!

I spent the night at the Smith's last night with the 3 kids while Mitch and Cindy enjoyed a night alone in Park City. Kylee and beau Cory, who both work for Verizon, came by and brought me a new phone (the Droid Incredible 2). My 4th new phone in about 2 weeks. I started having problems with my Samsung Droid Fascinate so Verizon sent a replacement, which didn't work, then accidentally sent another replacement. Last night we boxed up 3 phones to send back to Verizon. Now I'm having to change the Incredible 2. I may just go with something entirely different. In the meantime, I'm sure learning a lot about my cell phone. Pretty neat little gadgets. Thank goodness these two work for Verizon 'cause they're doing a lot of work for me to get me the best phone, then I get all this free training from them. I'm loving it.

Bad Things Come in Three's.....or Four's....or...!!

After 2 1/2 months I thought I'd update my blog. I haven't wanted to because every day when I log on to read others, I get to see my favorite picture of Don and I. (plus, I haven't felt like blogging) For nearly two months I've been sickly, one way or another. I haven't been right in bed so I've still done some things (like go to Paul's graduation in St George, and the family reunion at Zion), but I haven't felt good all the while. I went to Instacare about 5 weeks ago and got an antibiotic which I took for 11 days. It stifled the intense coughing somewhat, but not completely. While I was struggling with that bout of what felt and acted like bronchitis, my water heater started leaking. My son Bob tried to fix it but couldn't so I called a plumber in my ward. He did a few things, told me I needed a new water heater, then charged me $155. Had get one, almost $350 and Bob and friend installed for me. Thanks, Bob!

Because the cough didn't completely go away and I couldn't shake the constant tiredness and lethargy, and I was getting a swelling in my left ankle and foot every day, I went back to Instacare. The doc who saw me was very worried that I might have a blood clot in my lung which would explain the symptoms. She sent me to Lakeview Hospital Emergency for tests. I spent the next couple hours there getting an ultrasound on my leg, and chest x-rays. Diagnosis: no clot, but pneumonia. Finally, an excuse for how I was feeling, ugh. More antibiotics but stronger this time. In the meantime, the electric recliner that I sleep in decided to break which depressed me, and at the same time, my fridge began defrosting (over a period of 3-4 days). Between all of this, I went into a depression, probably the worst I've had in 25 years. I didn't want to open my blinds, answer the phone or door...you get the picture? I am NOT good at calling people and saying "I need help". I just have this mentality that I can handle it. ha ha
On the second day of my depression, Bill, Laura and Tawni came (Sunday night, July 3rd). I was emotional and a mess. Thank goodness Bill took matters into his hands and with the help of his sons-in-law, gave me a blessing. Probably the best one I've ever had in my life, and boy, did I NEED IT! It really helped. Bill also fixed my recliner, a temporary fix until I can get the right bolt, but it's working. Cindy had also tried to fix it but it only lasted one night. Robby and my bishop each took several bags of stuff home out of my freezer to keep it from going bad. I finally got the fridge fixed yesterday. It had a broken defroster thingy and my bill was $150. To me, my fridge is still brand new... only 5 years old and a nice big side by side, barely used with only me using it. I even purchased an extended warranty with it, but it expired two weeks before the needed repair. (Murphy's Law...you know) Now every day I keep waiting for my energy to come back, to no avail. I walk to the bathroom and I'm tired, try to fix a little dinner and I'm tired. I'm really ready for it to end.

The positive things about being sick are: 1) not being terribly ill and out of it, but still able to function somewhat, work computer, watch tv, etc.; 2) wonderful friends and family who come to your aid: visiting teacher brought dinner and called every day; Cindy and kids came and cleaned and I got foot and hand massages from kids, Bill and Laura regular visits and blessing, Tawni good foot massage; Robby/Kaycee/Bishop help with storing frozen food; Luke, Ashlie & kids brought dinner and a much needed kid fix. Today I even worked for almost 6 hours. My first day in my car for quite awhile, to pick up work, then thank goodness I work sitting at my computer ...just get backaches. Going back to doc for follow check tomorrow, so hope things are better.
Ciao

The Passing of My Lifetime Sweetheart!

> > (Click to enlarge pictures)

> Our family, July 1997. (All but Tay & Kade were born.

Don and I met as kids of 12 and 14 while playing in the neighborhood. We lived 1/2 block apart. We spent a lot of time as teens having fun get-togethers, singing, and listening to our jukebox. We fell in love when I was 17 and he was 19 and married soon after. We had 5 children together but our marriage ended in divorce over some difficult problems. Even though we were divorced, we remained friends the rest of our lives. We spent many hours together traveling, staying at our family cabin, with children and grandchildren, and at every family party or get-together. We truly enjoyed each other's company and spent hours talking on the phone as well. Don developed emphysema about 15 years ago and his health had declined steadily since then. fter retiring, he lived at the cabin for appx. 5 years, with his sister for 6, and with Bob, Cindy and Bill (twice) over the years. I brought him home to live with me January 24th, and he lived here for 5 weeks, until we found a small place for him 1/4 block away. I was able to spend a lot of time with him and taking care of him, being so close by. All of the grandchildren and kids would bring him dinner 3-4 times a week and spend time with him also. He knew he was loved. He passed Thursday April 21st at 5:58 p.m.

His funeral service was held Wednesday, April 27th at my (our) ward. It was such a beautiful service and I'm so proud of our children for their beautiful tributes and music to him. Also to our grandchildren for being so kind, supportive and loving to him. I am grateful that he is with loved ones and out of the pain and misery he was in while trying to breathe. Love you, Don.
To read his obituary, click here
> > Our 5 kids at the cemetery in Spring City, UT

> > At viewing, Roger, me Clayton, lifetime friends (x-bro's-in-law)

Kid With A New Toy!!

Well, I'm finally better and back to feeling great! Yahoo! Now, I'm really excited about my new toy. My 21 months are FINALLY up and I was eligible for a new phone (discounted) from Verizon!! Yippee!! Been waiting and waiting 'cuz I needed my scriptures on my phone, so I got a Samsung Fascinate, and wow!!, is it ever fun! Instead of taking me 10 minutes to send a simple text, it now takes about 10 seconds. And the internet!! My scriptures!! Google!! GPA!! Facebook!! You name it and it does it. And I'm paying LESS because my nephew, Corey, (my part-time job boss) put me on their family plan. What more could I ask for? It will take ages for me to find out all I can do on this phone, but for now I'm just really excited for Church tomorrow with scriptures/hymns/bible dict/all on my little cell. And for oldies who can't see as well, like me, you just spread your fingers over the text and make the print as large as you want. Going thru my contacts takes 2 seconds where I used to have to press about 6-8 times to get where I wanted to be. And, they downloaded all my contacts off my old phone. Everything is SO simple. Thank goodness for new technology. I'm just glad I've lived long enough to enjoy it!! Can you tell I'm excited??? To see this wonderful new toy go here. I'm RoCkIn'

Holy Cow!!! When Am I Gonna Get Some Relief?

I started getting sick on Sunday in the middle of my church block of meetings. I felt like I hadn't slept for days and just needed to lie down. I left after 2 meetings and came home. Since then it has slowly gotten worse each day, until today I just want to scream...ENOUGH! I have to blow my nose every two minutes and have used 2 boxes of tissue in 4 days, and I sneeze every little while and sometimes 5 or 6 times at once. I have tissues in every room in my house since I can't get 2-feet from the box. Mercy! When I get sick, I can always depend on it lasting appx. 24 hours, then it's gone. This is because I keep my immune system built up so I don't get normal sicknesses. But I cheated and didn't keep up my normal rituals with antioxidants, then ate a bunch of chocolate... way more than I should have. Now I'm really paying for it. You'd think I'd know better after all these years. But even being this sick, my work hasn't slowed any. I've managed to do several taxes this week AND work appx 5 hours a day on my other job (computer input). I just have to lay my head down on my desk when I get really tired, and rest for a bit, then start again. My entire head is congested and I'm praying it stays in my head and doesn't move into my lungs. There is one good thing about being sick. I don't have to go take care of Grandpa Don, run his errands, cook for him, etc. Where his illness is Emphysema and COPD, he cannot be around anyone with cold/flu symptoms because if he gets it, it will kill him, his lungs are so bad. He'll get pneumonia. Okay, enough of my depressing news. Better posts coming, I hope!

Beautiful Ending to a Yucky Day! AND Halle's Basketball Playoffs

> > > > Adorable Daughtry, age 2 (click to enlarge pics)

My day today started out bad then continued to get worse (Don & taxes). So, what a beautiful ending, to be brought a lovely lasagna dinner by April, Jake & Daughtry. It was such a thrill cuz I don't get to see enough of them and see Daughtry through these cute growing stages right now. He is a precious little guy with an adorable personality. We had a really good visit and watched Daughtry entertain us with his antics. It was a laugh-a-minute!! Thanks April & Jake. You guys literally "made my day"! What a treat, and the dinner was great too! (I'm eating that huge cookie as I type!)
> > > > April, Jake, Daughtry

> > > > His shy look.



HALLE'S BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS AT CLEARFIELD HIGH

> > > > Go Halle, #15. Going out to drub Central Davis


Halle's school, South Davis Junior High, was in the final four teams for the basketball championship, I think Davis County. The game was terribly exciting and they won! So now they're in the final playoff for 1st place tomorrow at Northridge High in Layton. Can't wait. Taxes will have to wait...again...cuz it's too exciting to miss. Halle, #15 in the picture below, is a dynamo player and made some good 3 pointers and great plays. Wish I could have gotten a front shot but they were just too fast for my slow camera and I spoiled most of the shots. Kaden took the other two pictures for me. He's such a pro, ha ha.

> > > > Cindy, Mitch (being silly) and Taylor

> > > > Marc and Alyssa