Monday, August 3rd, would be a day at home for me. Claude had an appointment with our Primary Care doctor, Dr. Lyon, at 9am. He would run errands after that. I curled up on the loveseat in the living room to try and figure the pattern for the edging of the afghan for Raelyn for Christmas. I needed quiet to read and crochet that. This was the perfect time. I got it figured out and sat crocheting until it was done after Claude returned home. This is a very pretty pattern.
While we were in Nashville, the Roper family was in Grand Rapids for a ice hockey tournament. Katelyn posted these pictures of the family. 1st Picture: Drew & Katelyn. 2nd Picture: Emelia, Drew, Joel, Kennedi, Katelyn and Raelyn.
Claude and I went to the shed to get things we needed for an upcoming trip. I gathered toys for the great grandmonsters and Claude got a suitcase for our use and picked up branches that fell during the storm overnight.
The rest of the day was quiet, watching more Harry Potter and enjoying a dinner of grilled cheese with macaroni and tomato soup. This is one of our very favorite meals. We could have it once each week and we would be very happy people.
Tuesday, August 4th, I had a bad night. Could not get to sleep. Stayed laying in bed for an hour and then gave up. I read the General Conference talk by Elder Stephenson that I will teach in Relief Society the end of September and made some notes on my Kindle about it. I read the introduction to the Jeff Allen book I got for Claude. Then I read the first chapter in Exodus. I am going to enjoy reading this book again. I read it years ago and really want to read it again.
I went back to bed and tried again to sleep to no avail. I finally gave up and went to Sandiland. There I finished my Blog for the previous week and took care of labeling and storing the pictures. Then I found I had a hotel stay set up for the wrong week so I corrected that. Lastly, I opened the PowerPoint for my September Relief Society lesson and updated it with my notes from my earlier reading. Then I went to bed...again. Sheesh...
This was a biscuit kind of day. We got our biscuits and Claude pulled the Jeep over so we weren't facing the sun. We rolled down the windows and enjoyed our biscuit breakfast and a nice long chat. For the record, I always have a plain biscuit with a soda. Claude has a biscuit with something on it (bacon & egg or chicken). These are some of the best talks we have. It is worth the price of the biscuit to be out of the house in the fresh air with no distractions so we can talk about whatever. As we sat there, I noted the sweet bay magnolia in front of the Jeep. I love magnolias and their wonderful fragrance. I always wanted a grandiflora magnolia. Claude knew this and surprised me with a magnolia tree in our yard in Sadieville. He really didn't know magnolias came in so many varieties. I was grateful for a magnolia tree with blossoms like the grandiflora but more petite. The wind on the hill caused the tree to slant. Claude put posts in the ground and tied it up so it would try to grown straight. Alas, it favored a leaning position. It bloomed well every year and we very much enjoyed it. The people who bought our Sadieville home have cut it down. So sad. Anyway, I digress. In front of us was a beautiful sweet bay magnolia with lots of pods and blossoms. I took a couple of pictures. Look closely and you can see brown pods with no red buds on them, pods full of red buds and blossoms. A cardinal kept trying to land in it but another bird would dive bomb the cardinal and the fly away himself. Not sure why he didn't want the cardinal or himself in the tree.
I also did the laundry and cleared some things on the DVR while Claude napped.
In the evening, we finished the Harry Potter movies.
Wednesday, August 5th, Claude cut the grass in the morning. While he was doing that, I posted the Relief Society announcement flyers for our Relief Society Activity and for Institutes Kick-off Activity. Then I left to mail Hayden's package and to go to Dollar General. I was in search of Play-doh and candy for our trip with the Roper great grandmonsters.
When I returned, my poor hubby was sitting on the patio. I brought him his glass full of ice water. He was grateful. The front yard was cut and it looked like he was taking a rest before doing the back yard. We had a big rain storm with lots of wind Monday evening. The trees in our backyard threw down lots of branches a little too big for the lawnmower to go over. Claude had pulled the garbage can around from the garage and picked up all those branches. I should have remembered and helped with that before showering, but I didn't. Ugh. Claude had spent a good deal of time with his legs bent while picking up the twigs. I do this when weeding. It is very hard on the legs and the back. As we are aging, it is not getting any easier. Claude was worn out. I assured him he could wait on the back yard until the next week. He rested and rehydrated and then set off to cut the back yard. He gave out again before he finished. I joined him on the patio with fresh water. After a bit, I got up and cut the remaining lawn. This gave Claude hope as all he had to do was put the lawnmower away and blow the grass from the front and back of the house. He finished all of that, sat inside for a while drinking more water, then he went for his nap.
I watched two very interesting documentaries about Pluto. There were some amazing photos taken close up of Pluto. I marveled at this little group of people who planned minute details of how to build this space probe so that it could function for year as it traveled to Pluto and beyond. He was set to take lots of pictures with a very high-powered camera. It had to have thrusters so they could turn it in its orbit from earth. One time they lost contact with the probe. It was the middle of the night and they called the people on the project and everyone hurried in to analyze and try to fix the problem. They were able to and cheers where heard all around. I marveled at all that happening and most of us know nothing about it. It will take 18 months for the pictures taken of Pluto to make it back to the earth. So much work. So much learned. And all this happens and we know nothing much about it. Amazing.
I spent time texting with Katelyn about our trip to Detroit.
In the evening, we went to Zaxby's for dinner and the Dairy Queen because Claude was sure he needed ice cream. It was a good outing. Then we settled in to watch the World War II documentaries narrated by Tom Hanks again.
While we were watching it, I received a text for Jenessa Dymock from church. Their family has moved to Versailles, Kentucky which is a good distance away. She has two little boys. One of them was without his clogs. He was sure he left them in the field by the church. Jenessa was wondering if I could check for them when I was out. I left the house and found them on the curb of the parking lot by the field. I took this picture and sent it to Jenessa to let her know they were found and to make plans of where to leave them.
We agreed I would put them on our patio and she would be in town on Sunday for Church and would pick them up them. We would be gone. I took this picture so she would know where to look. I felt really good to do a small kindness for Jenessa and her sons. Made me think of the hymn "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today". One little act everyday is so good for the soul.
Thursday, August 6th, we had the morning to ourselves to get ready for the trip. We packed and loaded the car. Claude had an ophthalmologist appointment. We would leave town from that appointment.
At the ophthalmologist, Claude parked the car in an end spot right against a fir tree. I asked him to roll the windows down because I wanted to spend that hour reading Exodus. As it neared the time for Claude to come out, a few sprinkles hit the car window. Not an issue. Except, those sprinkles turned into enormous drops. I needed to get to the drivers seat to put all the windows down. I couldn't open my door to run around the car and get into the drivers side because of the fir tree. The only option was to climb over the center console. I had to lift my left leg over it. Then I tried to find something to hold on to as I tried to lift my gross tonnage over the console. With my right arm not being as strong as it should be, this left my left arm to carry the burden with my right arm assisting as it could. I finally got me onto the console and then I had to lift my right leg over the console and get it under the steering wheel. The rain was coming in the windows big time now. I got the ignition touched and the windows down. Now, the inside of the car fogged up really bad. My left side was wet, the inside of the car under and around the windows was wet, I was a mess. I have napkins stored in the pockets on the car doors. I grabbed those and started to wipe things down. Then I realized the positive of all this was that I was wiping down the inside of my car. I used those wet napkins and got all the inside of the front seat and dash clean. I wiped the windows down and as the temperature inside met the temperature outside, the fog left the windows. Goodness. It wasn't long before Claude came out and found me sitting in the drivers seat. Hmmm....I explained this hilarious situation to him and we both had a chuckle. With his eyes checked as being good with cataracts beginning and the front of the inside of my car newly wiped down and clean, we were ready to drive to Dayton, Ohio.
We stayed in Dayton to bypass the awful traffic that is the bridge over the Ohio River into Ohio from Kentucky. We did really well on that front. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. After having a hair in my food in Santa Fe a couple of years ago, I was a little concerned. Very happy there were no hairs in my food this time.
We set the alarm for 8am and called it a day.
Friday, August 7th, we were on the road to Chelsea, Michigan at 9am. We were to meet Jake at noon for lunch. We did really well until we got to Ypsilanti and there was a wreck. We were detoured by Google Maps and that added to our drive time but we made it to Jake's by 12:30pm.
We had lunch at the Mexican restaurant. It is definitely one of our favorites. I have figured out I can get their ala carte order of two cheese enchiladas and and order of rice and it is the perfect amount and taste for me. We drove to Jake's bank so he could get quarters to do his laundry. We enjoyed ice cream at the ice cream shop. I got a small strawberry sundae. They filled it to overflowing with strawberry juice and I managed to continually spill it until I got that down some. I dropped some on my white capris! We dropped Jake back at his apartment before 2pm so he could get ready for work.
Off to Troy, Michigan for our next hotel. We were a little early but they cheerfully checked me in. I explained that I had another room reserved for one night and asked them to please block it as close to mine as they could. The clerk had already done that. She also assured me I could check them in as soon as the room was cleaned, even if it was early. They had a baseball team staying there and she couldn't be sure when that would be.
We left to go to Walmart. We needed to pick up some food for when the kids arrived on Saturday. We also got Claude a sandwich for dinner at the Subway inside of Walmart. Back to our hotel and unload the food.
Now for a quiet evening.
Saturday, August 8th, was a very full afternoon and evening. We slept in and then got ourselves ready for the day.
The Roper's would arrived about 1pm. We had to be at the temple at 2pm. It was 15 minutes away. We had purchased corn dogs to be heated in the microwave for them a little lunch before going to the temple. They had a 3-hour drive from Muskegon that day with the four children. There was not time for cooking corn dogs so we opened the chips and muffins and did the best we could. The kids changed into their Sunday clothes. I was able to check the Ropers room in and gave them their key for when we returned.
This was a very special day for our family. The pinnacle of our covenant making relationship with our Heavenly Father and the Savior is being sealed for time and eternity in a temple. The temple for the Roper family is the Detroit Michigan Temple. Drew was baptized a year before and it was not time to have Drew and Katelyn take out their endowments, be sealed and then to have their four children sealed to them. This was the purpose of our trip and the delight of our lives.
We arrived at the temple and the kids played on a square of grass at the Stake Center next door to the temple. Joel and Kennedi quickly found berries that fell from the tree. Oh the wonder of being a child. Drew called and located the Bennett's who would watch the children while Drew, Katelyn, Claude and me went into the temple. They would watch the kids in the Stake Center. Sis. is Kennedi's nursery leader at church. She and he hubby love these four Roper children as their own. We are so grateful for all they do for our Ropers.
This is Katelyn and Drew as they get ready to enter the Detroit Michigan Temple. 
These are pictures of the kids as they waited for the sealing dressed in their white clothing. 1st picture: Emelia, Kennedi, Joel and Raelyn. 2nd picture: Joel, Emelia, Raelyn and Kennedi.
After all was done and while we were all still dressed in white, we took a few pictures. 1st picture: Kennedi, Drew, Katelyn, Joel, Emelia, Sandi, Raelyn and Claude. 2nd picture: Kennedi, Drew, Emelia, Raelyn, Katelyn and Joel. Several members of the Muskegon Ward family drove all the way over for this special day. How grateful we are for them and their care of our Ropers. How very grateful we are the Roper family is choosing to make these covenants.
Time for McDonald's. These kids associate Claude and me with a McDonald's run. There was one just beyond the hotel. Away we went and enjoyed some fun times at McDonald's together. 1st picture: Raelyn in her new high heels. 2nd picture: Joel playing with his Happy Meal stickers. 3rd picture: Emelia playing with her Happy Meal stickers.
When we got back to the hotel, we took in the toys I had collected from our shed for the kids to play with in the evening. The Play-doh was definitely a hit. They were happy to have the dishes back with them as well. 1st picture: Joel, Raelyn, Kennedi, Emelia. 2nd picture: Raelyn. 3rd picture: Joel hiding under the covers.It was soon time for bed. We had two room with two queen beds in each room. Raelyn and Emelia stayed in one of the queen beds in our room. The rest of the Ropers headed to their room for a good nights rest. I was surprised at how well the girls went to sleep. Raelyn raised up at one point and said, "Gramma, I really need to do some stretches." She is very active and I assured her a few stretches was fine. She hopped up and did her stretches and some jumping jacks. Then she got in bed and pretty much fell to sleep. Emelia tossed and turned a bit before she finally fell asleep. Sunday, August 9th, we were all up and about by 8am. We got dressed and had breakfast together at the breakfast buffet in the hotel. I had given the kids each a couple of these stretchy worm things to play with in the car. Claude and Kennedi had a battle with them.
Time to say our good-byes. The Roper's headed to Muskegon. Claude and I went back to the room. I pulled together the toys and things. Claude got a quick nap. We checked out of the hotel at 11am.
The drive back to Chelsea was okay. It feels like the temple should be closer to Chelsea than it is but really that is not so. The temple is north of Detroit in Troy, Michigan. You have to get through or around Detroit, through or around Ann Arbor and then on to Chelsea.
We were back in Chelsea and it was 1pm. However, check-in time at the Baymont is 3pm. I went in and asked if it were possible to check-in early. Yes, for $25. I assured him I was not going to pay $25. I was told to come back after 2pm and the fee would be waived. Okay, I can do that. Claude and I spent till 2:30pm in Wendy's sipping a soda and using our Kindles. Much less expensive than $25. Goodness. I really believe a lot more positive customer relations would be built by letting a customer check in early if a room is available. They would be much more likely to stay at that hotel again or a hotel with that brand-name if this were done. That is just me but I believe it is true.
We contacted Jake and he was ready to have another visit. We picked him up and went back to the hotel to sit and visit till time for dinner. We would dine at Culver's. It was a good meal. We stopped at the grocery store for Jake to pick up some kibble for Soot, his cat. Then we had him home by 5:45pm for his 6pm Zoom meeting. We love having time with Jake. He looked good and sounded good.
We settled in for a quiet rest before our journey home the next day.
Monday, August 10th, we were on the road home by 9am. We had two stops. One in Dexter to fill the Buick with gas. There was a huge backup of traffic for construction we observed as we drove Hwy 23 north on our way up. We wanted to have a full tank of gasoline in case that backup was there again. It was not and we breezed on down the road. We also stopped in Franklin, Ohio for a break and to stretch our legs. Then on to Georgetown.
We bought KFC and took it home for dinner. Then we unloaded the car and emptied the suitcase. The rest of the evening was spent having our dinner in our recliners, watching Castle on TV and then more of the World War II with Tom Hanks.
We had a wonderful trip. So very happy we could do this trip.
