To create this Blog entry, I went through my calendar and recorded the days of the week. Then I filled in the things I knew that happened on that day. It's funny how full a week can seem when you look back at it in black and white. That said, even on our busiest days, we are enjoying a more relaxed feel in this new home. Here is our week in review.
Monday, August 2nd, Claude opted to drive when I took Papa out for his car ride. We had a nice drive in a northerly direction on Hwy 229, then easterly on Hwy 22, then a southerly direction on Hwy 25. We stopped at Beans in Dry Ridge for Claude to check out their homemade breads. He bought himself a nice loaf of sour dough bread and he brought back to the car donuts for all of us to enjoy. As we drove south on Hwy 25, I suggested to Claude we might drive out and see if the new owners for our Sadieville home had arrived yet. Clearly they had not. The lawn had been mowed but that was done when the grass was high judging by the dried grass in the driveway. I must say, it was simply sad to see this home we loved and labored over for nearly 17 years standing idle. I felt like I should jump out of the car and weed the flower beds just to show it a little love. Hope those owners make their way here soon.
Hayden alerted us to the Lord of the Rings television series. I love that he loves this thing that Claude and I love. Generations apart in age. But we love this series of movies. Now they are making and plan to premiere the television series of Lord of the Rings in September 2022. Not sure how it will be but we will sure need to see if we can watch this.
Tuesday, August 3rd, I can find no record of us doing anything. Yet, I am sure Claude and I did things on this day. I know we started our morning with a walk in our neighborhood. Other than that, we must have done things in our home.
Wednesday, August 4th, Claude had his stitches removed from his cheek. He looks to me like he may have a scar but that wound still needs time to continue healing completely before I am sure of that. He does have a scar on his neck where they did that surgery. Fortunately, both places are healing well.
Hayden sent us a picture asking when we were coming over for waffle fries. I did ask Hayden if that plate was his plate. He responded that it was. Then I had to know if he ate all of that. He assured me he did. This tells me that these things must be very good. Hayden eats till he is full. He never over eats. So, when I see that our young man ate all of this, I am very sure this is a keeper of a recipe.
In 2020 we drove to Utah in July for Julie's funeral. While we visited with Claude's family, Bonnie, Claude's mother, brought out a very, very, very old photo album. She said it was Gramma Millie's photo album. Who I Gramma Millie. Claude's father is Evan. Evan's father is Earlo. Earlo's father is Lars Christen Christensen. His wife was Millie. Okay. Lars was called Heenon. I know, no where near his name. Claude remembers that there was a fighter that came to that area in Utah of great renown with the name Heenon. Since Lars was a fighter as well, folks started calling him Heenon for fun. It stuck. He became known as Heenon. Millie's real full name was Mary Emelia Jorgensen Christensen. She went by Millie. Our third great grandmonster is named after Millie. Her name is Emelia Maebelle. Earlo's wife was Ruby May. My mother was Virgina Mae. Bonnie, Claude's mother, was Bonnie Belle. Our Emelia is named after her great (me) great (Bonnie) great (Ruby) great (Millie) grandmother. Her middle name is a combination of the May and Mae's in Ruby and Virginia and the Belle in Bonnie. Whew!! Such a load for a tiny person to bear. She does it well!!
My goal was to get all the pictures in that album scanned. Label the ones I could. Then when Bonnie visits us in a couple of weeks, have her go through the pictures and help me label the others. What a fun journey I was going on scanning all the pictures in the album. They are glued in and are not all straight. I opted to scan them with the page straight in the scanner and not worry too much if they were at a bit of an angle. Some of them had handwritten labels on the picture. I scanned that in the picture. Wanted to keep that handwriting. As I scanned on Wednesday, I posted some on our family Facebook page for the kids to see right away. When I am all finished with labeling them with Bonnie, I will get full copies to each of the families in our family. On Wednesday, I posted these pictures. They are all treasures to me!
This first picture is Earlo Christian Christensen and Evan Cleon Christensen, father and son. The second picture is Evan on a horse.
This is a picture I debated on posting in the Blog. If you look closely, you can see a little boy in the sage brush. I posted the picture on our family Facebook page with this caption, "Look carefully. Can you guess who the little boy is taking a whiz?" Our middle child, Andie, guessed that it was her dad, Claude Christensen. I assured her it was her awesome dad. Claude's response, "Photoshopped..." To which I replied, "Own it Claude, own it!"
This is a picture of my handsome hubby when he was a very cute little boy. The picture following is the family at the ranch. Top row: Bonnie (Claude's mother), Marilyn (Claude's aunt and Evan's sister) Ruby holding Tami (Ruby is Claude's grandmother and Tami is his sister). Front row is Bonnie and Evan's oldest children, Joann and Claude (my hubby).
Almost out of the picture on the left is Evan standing by his wife, Bonnie. Then you have Gramma Millie, sometimes called Mother Millie. She always looks so regal in the pictures. In the car are Ruby with Claude. Next standing outside the car is Earlo with Joann in front of him. Then Marilyn is holding Tami.
Mother Millie is in this picture and it is labeled as her 80th birthday. Looking very refined. The picture below that is a generation picture. Evan standing by his grandmother, Millie, with Earl, her son on the right. In front of Earl is Joann's head peeking in the picture. That would be four generations.
Claude father raised cattle and had a dry farm raising wheat. All of this was at the ranch on the other side of the mountain. Claude parents lived in a community called Thatcher when we were married. But when Claude was little, they lived over that mountain in Faust Valley where the ranch is located. For a time, they tried their hand at raising turkeys. This picture is Claude hold a turkey.
This is Bonnie and Evan in the earlier years of their marriage.
I also sent the kids on Wednesday this picture of the feed lot at the ranch. On the left side of the picture is the shed. At the far end of that is a building that is the granary. Today, the granary is the only building standing of all that is in this picture. When Claude and I were living in Denver, we bought a little house with a basement. The shed at the ranch was falling down. Every time we visited Utah, we would take some of the lumber from the old shed home with us. We used it to panel the basement walls in our family room. The hill behind the granary goes over to a gravel pit. Each Easter, the kids would take their Easter eggs and climb the hill behind the granary. Then they would roll those eggs down that hill toward the granary. I loved seeing the feed lot as it was when Claude was a child.
The final picture for Wednesday was the picture of Earl and Ruby with their girls. Evan was their oldest child and is not in this picture. The two daughters are Koa Lou and Marilyn. I don't think I ever saw a family picture before scanning these pictures. Earl was deceased when Claude and I married. It was nice to find this picture of them together.
I now remember what I was doing on Tuesday. I had an album of pictures from when Claude and I were active in Goldwing Road Riders Association (GWRRA). I thought I had scanned copies of all of these pictures but did not want to dispose of the album until I was sure. As it turns out, I did not have even 3/4's of these pictures. So I was feverishly scanning these pictures so that was complete and I could move on to Gramma Millie's pictures. I knew I did something Tuesday...
Thursday, August 5th, was the only morning we did not take a walk. This was because we had an appointment in Frankfort, Kentucky. With the move, our driver's license needed to have our correct address. Claude got us an appointment and we went to Frankfort to take care of that chore. Our pictures were taken and we both look like criminals. The new licenses should be here in a couple of weeks. We treated ourselves to lunch at Staxx BBQ. We each refilled our sodas as we left the restaurant.
My chore in the afternoon was to visit Papa in his actual room at the nursing home. Finally, I was allowed to be back in there. The last time I was in that room was March 5, 2020. During this time I have written Papa a letter almost every day. I have taken him a bag with something new to read twice each week. In addition to birthday's and Christmas, I knew he had piles of papers and books that needed to be sorted through. I also knew I needed to inventory his clothing situation and make sure it was in good shape as well as his toiletries. The nursing home has always done Papa's laundry. I was sure his name in black marker would have faded or be non-existent by now. I gathered bags to bring things home with me. When I left the house, I picked up my big metal cup into which I had poured my Mountain Dew soda from Staxx's. I thought I was all ready. As I neared the nursing home, I took a big swig of my soda. To my surprise and distaste, I found I picked up Claude's big metal cup which he had filled with his Diet Coke from Staxx's. Ugh!!
When I got into Papa's room, he looked up and was so surprised to see me in his room. That hasn't been allowed for so very long. I gave him my Kindle with the Free Flow game and got him well distracted so I could get rid of trash and order things in the room. Kim, one of the housekeepers heard me talking to Papa and came in to say hi. She was so happy to see me back at the nursing home. You develop friendships with the people who work there. I told her what I was going to do in cleaning and she gave me an extra garbage bag!! I managed to get that room emptied of trash, clothes sorted and re-labeled. It looked so much better when I left. It felt good to have that done.
For my birthday, the Marx family gave me a hobbit door and windows to start my Fairy Garden in our back yard. This day, Claude and I got them nailed to the tree. They are really cute. I posted a picture on Facebook asking what we should do next to complete this Fairy Garden. I was happy to get so many great ideas.
Friday, August 6th, my day started with a walk with Claude in our neighborhood. Then I had a Primary Presidency Meeting at 10am. It was a very productive meeting. We focused on plans for the children's Sacrament Meeting Presentation.
In the afternoon, I picked up Papa at the nursing home and brought him to our home. He and I sat on the patio. Claude was taking a nap. I got Papa a root beer. As he drank that, we talked about his family history and things he keeps trying to remember and keep in order. He was having some confusion and mixing up some things from Church history. I pulled out my Kindle and found the Church website. I located the Church History pictures. Under each picture is the description of what took place at that site. I gave this to Papa and he was over joyed to get it all straight again and to see the pictures. At one point in his life, he has visited all these sites. After a while, he looked at me and handed me the Kindle. I took it and asked Papa is he was getting tired. Would he like to go back to the nursing home to take a nap. He said he would. I found this strange but happy he would tell me. I took my Kindle and our beverages into the house. When I came back our in a few seconds to get Papa's walker over to him, he had passed completely out. His head was resting on his chest and he was absolutely and totally unresponsive. I called out to him, I shook him, I patted his head and hands. There was absolutely no reaction. I really thought he might have passed away. He was drooling. I wiped his face. Then I went to get Claude. Claude was awake and out at the mailbox. I told him to come quickly. Papa was still unresponsive when we got to him. I called the nursing home and talked with Ronnie. I explained that Papa was not all right and I might need to call an ambulance to get him back. She said she would get a nurse to the door. While talking with Ronnie, Papa began to mumble a bit. Nothing at all coherent, just noises really. I explained to Ronnie he appeared to be coming around. We agreed I would call her when we were on our way to the nursing home so a nurse would be right there. It took a bit but Papa did begin to try to say words. I asked him if he could squeeze my hand with his left hand. He did that. I asked him to squeeze my hand with his right hand. He did that. He then kept saying, "I am so weak." When he started reaching for the sides of his chair, I asked him if he thought he could pull himself up to walk with the walker. With Claude and I at his sides, he was able to get up and we helped him to the car. Claude drove to the nursing home. I called Ronnie and told her we were on our way. By the time we got to the nursing home, Papa could walk okay with his walker. Renee, the nurse, checked him over and called me back to let me know his vitals were now good. Would that I had his blood pressure at that point. I assured her he had something to drink and eat while at my home. What a moment in time.
As I reflected on it, I told Claude, I am well prepared for Papa to die. I really wasn't upset as I worked with Papa and he was so unresponsive, at the thought that he may have passed. I even told Claude that would be a good way to die. Just sit there and fall asleep. I am grateful I get this time with Papa. Never know how much longer I will have this time. So I will cherish the moments we have until Heavenly Father calls him home.
Once we were sure Papa was okay and sleeping at the nursing home, Claude and I went to Florence, Kentucky to watch a baseball game. The Florence Ya'lls play there. They used to be called the Florence Freedom, which I think is a much better name. For some reason they had to change that name and they chose the Florence Ya'lls. You see, there is a big round water tower in Florence over the Florence Mall. Originally this water tower had Florence Mall painted on its side. For some reason that was not acceptable. The Mayor said they should simply paint over the "M" and make the water tower read "Florence Ya'll". Which they did. All the people in this area are familiar this this water tower. Evidently, when the Florence Freedom had to change their name, they picked the Ya'll because of that water tower.
It was a lovely evening. We ate good ball park food. Watched a good game. And, as an added treat, they had their Friday Fireworks at the ballpark. This was a really good fireworks show. Totally enjoyed this end to our Friday.
Saturday, August 7th, we decided to have a biscuit at Bojangles and then go to Moss Park for our walk. Imagine our surprise to see the Georgetown Parks and Recreation setting up for Float the Elkhorn. The Elkhorn Creek flows beside this park. This event, people bring their floaties and get in the creek and float downstream to the dam. I took some pictures of them setting up. When we got to the string of pink swans to mark the end before the dam, there was a guy there asking me if I wanted to get in that water. I assured him I would be very happy enjoying that water through my camera lens. We also appreciated the homeless man who has set up camp at the park. He has been there all week in the same spot. He keeps a very tidy spot.
My goal this day was to finish scanning Gramma Millie's photo album. I hunkered down in my sewing room for the duration. Claude went outside to cut down and dig up the roots of all those little trees popping up in our yard. It seems we have honey locusts in our back yard. Three of them. While that name sound so pleasing to the ear, the tree is a beast. There are thorns on the limbs. They are not nice at all. As Claude worked on the side of the house where my sewing room is, I could hear him talking to someone. I tried to stay focused on my project and could not see them outside of the window. It was our next door neighbor, Catherine. This is the first neighbor we have actually talked with. We have waved but not talked yet. Catherine is a nice widow with Parkinson's. She had received Claude's notice about his voting registration in her mail. She would come over later to leave it with us and we had a nice chat. I got to meet her and we exchanged contact information.
I would send on our family Facebook page three pictures to the kids as I finished Gramma Millie's album. This first was this great portrait of Earl and Ruby Christensen, Claude's grandparents.
Sunday, August 8th, our big news is Claude has a new calling. It is one he has never had before. He will be sustained next Sunday as the Ward Music Chairman. Claude spent time this afternoon reading the handbook to get some understanding of what he will be doing.
Our son, Jake, flew to Pennsylvania this afternoon. The company he works for has been sold to another company. Jake has been asked to fly back to their headquarters for two weeks. They want to test his writing skills with their marketing department. So Jake is on a grand adventure. Can't wait to hear how it goes.
Well, there you have it. Another week in our lives for the books. Good things. Hard things. Fun things. All of those things that make like interesting and fun. A good week in anybody's books.
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