Sunday, July 10, 2016

July Rain

It is July 10th and it is raining outside!  We awoke to thunder, lightning and lots and lots of rain.  Wow.  It took me in; I could not resist stepping outside several times to take in the sights and smells of rain in the middle of summer.  The temperature is only 50 degrees as I write!  What a wonderful, wet intrusion into an otherwise dry, hot summer.

The wet view outside our front door this morning.



It has been a lovely week.  My Oakland Temple buddy, Nikki Larsen, and her daughter, Heather, spent the week with us.  Heather is a disabled, special needs woman with an innocent, loving heart.  They come each summer so Heather can attend a horseback riding camp.  She loves it and it gives Nikki and I a chance to spend some friendship time together.  Nikki has raised 5 children, three of them with severe handicaps.  Only Heather remains of her three special needs children.  Just about her entire adult life has been taken up with care-giving.  She does a wonderful job of it and is a lovely, bright, productive woman.  I so admire her!

Nikki and Heather


We spent a lovely July 4th with the Greens, again.  Nikki and Heather came along as we enjoyed BBQ and nice company.  Layne and I presented a patriotic slideshow for the gathering.  I'm so grateful to be an American Mormon Woman.  I can't imagine greater blessings than what these two conditions have provided.  Surely this mortal life offers nothing to equal it.  I believe the United States of America to be the greatest nation the world has ever seen.  I also believe that we are losing much that has made us great.  I watch with alarm the many changes that are quickly transforming our nation into a restrictive, immoral, godless society.  Yet there are millions of really good people here.  I hope there are enough of them to win the help and blessings of God in saving our freedoms and 
traditions.

Layne and I have been married for 50 years as of June 11, 2016.  Our celebration was small but we plan to celebrate all year!  I talked Layne into having our portraits done and we will soon have a collection of poses to mark this special time.  Here's our favorite of the poses.



Gerald and family were due to arrive here on Friday.  They didn't make it.  An extreme tornado warning for Taiwan led to the cancellation of all flights in and out of Taiwan.  The storm turned out to be underwhelming.  Their new arrival time is this coming Wednesday.  This time I hope they make it.  In the meantime, grandson Vincent arrived on Friday, along with Audrey, who came to visit her new and first grandchild, in Blackfoot.  Vincent came to spend some time with Seth and Miles.  Miles is due to arrive today with his dad, Chris.  We were hoping that Miles, Vincent and Seth, all born in the same year, would be able to spend this coming week together before the rest of the family arrives for our yearly reunion next week.  I'm sad that Seth won't be here until Wednesday.  But things happen for a reason and I suppose there will be some good that comes out of it.  I'll be looking for it.

Audrey and I drove to Blackfoot yesterday to visit grandson Chase, his wife Morgan and, especially, their new little baby boy. He was born on July 5th.  He was breech, which now means that Morgan had to have a "C" section.  She looked pretty tired.  But Hunter, their new little son, looked wonderful.  He is a lovely little boy, bright and healthy.  We held him, stared at him and took lots of pictures for several hours before we had to begin our journey back home.  It is a four hour drive to Blackfoot from here.  So we spent 8 hours on the road and about 3 hours visiting.  It was a bit grueling, but Audrey and I visited all along our journeys and that made it much more pleasant.  Still, by the time we arrived back home, we were both beat.  

It is so fun to be with family.  Audrey is a great conversationalist and Vincent is a handsome, pure-hearted boy.  And now comes my very important announcement:  I AM A GREAT-GRANDMOTHER as of July 5, 2016.  Introducing,

HUNTER CLIFFORD ADAMS-HART




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