Father's Day 2019

Two weeks before Father's Day I had an impression to get Claude an electric toothbrush for Father's Day. I search the ones in Walmart and picked the one I thought was best. I put it on the charge card with the other groceries and things I purchased that day. Then I made the mistake of giving Claude the receipt. Well, that is not a mistake, I always give him the receipts for items charged so he can match them with the bill. I just hoped this time he wouldn't look at the items purchased. But, alas, he did. "What is this charge for?" he asked? My reply, "It was supposed to be your gift for Father's Day." He was happy with the idea so he got his gift a mite earlier than Father's Day. However, on the Saturday before Father's Day I did go to the Kroger grocery store after visiting Papa and purchase Claude a rack of the barbecued ribs he so loves. I told him he also had to include that as part of his Father's Day.

On Father's Day he opened the package Nissa mailed to him. It contained a jar of really neat salsa and a pair of socks. Claude posed for me to take a picture of him to send her as a thank you. Claude was happy!

Andie was in Europe so Claude received this picture a day or so late. He and Andie share a love of a good tomato and enjoy trying all types of tomatoes. Andie assured her dad she was doing that in Europe with this picture to prove the bounty of color and kinds available to her to try. Claude was happy!

Jake called in the evening and they had a very nice father/son chat. Claude was happy!

Katelyn sent us this picture of Raelyn. She is now three years old and that puts her in Primary with the other Sunbeams. This was her first Father's Day to get to sing to the dads. This is always a highlight in any congregation of our Church on Father's Day. Katelyn had practiced with her at home and she was anxious and ready. She made sure her dad, Drew, came to Church with her to hear her sing. When it was time for the kids to perform, this little nugget marched right up front by herself and got her a spot in front. Drew was very happy with her and the performance. 

Katelyn posted pictures to say happy Father's Day to Drew. Such a sweet little family.

And there we have Father's Day 2019 celebrated and enjoyed by many.

Unique to Our Family...Maybe??

Claude stayed in Utah for a week. I was only there Friday night thru Sunday afternoon. On Tuesday, June 4th, I received this picture from Claude. It is of the cemetery at which we purchased our burial plots. Claude and his mother were discussing funeral arrangements and things of that nature. This is the diagram she drew of the plots owned by members of the family and how we would be laid to rest. 

In case there was any question whatsoever...we will fit in our plots. Right there, side-by-side, till the resurrection. Yup. That is Sandi and Claude giving the grave plots a try out to the amusement of the remainder of our family. This picture was taken May 28, 2011. 

On June 5th I received a link from Jake to an NPR story about turtles and dogs. It seems in Iowa they have trained dogs to sniff out rare turtles in the wild. The dogs gently pick the turtle up with their teeth and bring them to the people tracking them. I love turtles. So Jake sent this to me because of that love of turtles. I thanked him for remembering me and sending me this very neat news story. His reply, "Those dogs better be careful putting their mouths so close to wild turtles." This was a very tongue-in-cheek comment. You see, when our Jake was beginning kindergarten we had a pet turtle. It was a wild box turtle I found crossing a street. I picked it up and put it in the back seat of my car and took it home. The kids befriended this little turtle, named it Toby, made a two room home for it out of cardboard boxes, changed the sign on the fence to our backyard from "Beware of Dogs" to "Beware of Turtle". Toby was a big thing for a brief while at our home. Jake would get up every morning and run water from the bathroom tap over his shell to give him a bath. Then Jake would kiss the turtle. The morning of his very first school picture, I heard a blood curdling "Ma!!" I ran to the bathroom to find Toby hanging from Jake's lip. Apparently it was time for Toby to hibernate and he was trying to get that message across to this family that loved him so much. That afternoon Jake let Toby go back into the wild. Here is my little kindergartner with his Toby kiss on his upper lip. Go ahead, laugh, it is quite funny.

June 6th I got my annual mammogram. All is well for another year. 

Also on June 6th I heard a news story about a leopard in Kruger National Park killing a 2 year old. Ugh! Our big trip this year is to Kruger National Park. Hmmmm...

Friday, June 7th, Claude returned from Utah very late in the evening. Yeah!! (Can you feel the rhythm of ups and downs in these paragraphs?)

Saturday and Sunday, June 8th and 9th was the Lexington Kentucky North Stake Conference. This year we had Elder Steven R. Bangerter of the Seventy attending. He held us in captive attention at the Saturday evening session with stories of serving with Pres. Russell M. Nelson and what he, Elder Bangerter, does as a Seventy. In addition Saturday night Bro. Russell spoke. He had a lovely southern accent. He mentioned he was from Louisiana. My ears perked up and I wanted to find him after and ask where he was from in Louisiana. But, I missed him. 

Sunday morning Elder Bangerter spoke again. One phrase really stuck with me. He said it was something his father taught him that had great meaning to him. The thought was "guard the private times of your lives". He explained that true honesty occurs in the private times of our lives. I love that phrase and it gives me pause to appreciate and guard the private times in my life.

Brother Russell and his wife were in attendance Sunday as well. After the meeting, I made my way to them and extended my hand to shake Elder Russell's hand. I told him I was also from Louisiana and asked where in Louisiana he was from. He said it was a small town that I probably didn't even know, Many, Louisiana. I assured him that was in my stake when I was a child and our stake president was from there. His name was Pres. Belial. He knew this man. He indicated he also knew Shreveport. At that point his wife finished talking with someone and turned to see who was talking about Shreveport. I told her my parents were Vernon and Virginia Lawrence. She had this happy and surprised look on her face. I told her I was Sandi Christensen now. She said, "I am Suzanne Clements!" One my heavens, someone from my childhood who lives in LaGrange. It was fun catching up just a bit before Claude and I had to go and facilitate a class. This is one tiny little world and one never knows who one might run into.

Saturday the 8th I also received a message from Jake to me and his father. He stated he wanted to be given credit for the Christensen dermatology award this year. He had been to his dermatologist and had two pre-cancerous spots removed from his face. He does hold the record for our family so far this year. 

Our youngest grandmonster has wanted to see Hamilton ever since she heard of the play. Her parents surprised her with tickets and on June 10th Andie took Bailey to see Hamilton. Our Bailey was over-the-moon to say the least. 

Claude and I went to the Louisville Temple on June 11th. Now that I am not facilitating the Women's Shelter class on Tuesday evenings, we can return to Tuesday evening as our temple attendance night. This time there was a man with very bad hearing in our session. The temple has a projection they can do with subtext so it can be read if you can't hear. This is really a treat for me as I learn much better with hearing and seeing. Very nice session. 

Thursday, June 13th, I met up with an old friend and we had breakfast together. She was a student in an Institute class I taught. She left the church but we have stayed friends on Facebook. My life is so wrapped up in a daily visit with Papa that I often bypass meeting out with others. When I was looking for a Sadieville t-shirt for us to take to Sadie, our niece, when we were in Utah, I happened to notice a wooden refrigerator magnet with an arrow stitched through the block of wood. I just felt like it needed to be purchased and given to Justice. I bought it and got in contact with Justice. The result was our having breakfast together. The server came to our table and told us our food was getting cold, we better stop talking so much and eat. We all laughed. It was great seeing Justice again. She is a wonderful person and I count myself blessed to be her friend.

Yesterday, Friday, I took Papa out of the nursing home to go to the church while I practiced the organ. He enjoyed it so much. I played for about an hour. By then the arthritis in my hands was giving me fits. I went from the organ to the seats in the congregation and asked Papa if he wanted to go get a chocolate shake or listen to more music. This man who loves chocolate and anything sugary declined the shake in favor of more music. I said a silent prayer for Heavenly Father to help these old hands play a little longer. We made it from Hymn #1 through to Hymn #85. Papa would follow along while I played. He didn't sing this time but he loved the music so much.

Papa is really getting stir crazy in the nursing home. He used to listen to the television with the headsets. Now he can't work them. He used to read a lot. Now his eyes get tired and sore and he has to quit reading. This severely limits what he has to fill his time. We have given him books with pictures instead of lots of words. That is easier on his eyes. He has photo albums and two books with his geneology in them. But he is still just bored to tears. So, for my visit today, I took him to get a soda and then sit in the car with the windows down and play his game on my old Kindle. Then I went to the grocery store and he sat in the car and played his game while I got some barbecued ribs for Claude. He was extremely happy to be out for a bit. Now we have rain for the next week. We'll see how we do with that!

Friday night was our turn to clean the church. We had a crew of three families. Claude and I are the team leaders. All done in one hour. Yeah us!! And...it appeared all the kids had jobs they enjoyed doing. That is a plus.

Such is Sadieville...

Wednesday, June 5th, the wind was blowing strongly. The sky was blackening rapidly. My phone was buzzing with weather alerts and warning about severe weather and lightening with a few miles from our home. In short, it was growing nasty outside and you were to take cover and listen for updates. I heard something outside and peeked out from the breakfast room window to see this. I grabbed my cell phone and popped out on the upper deck to take this very quick picture as the drops started to fall. Our neighbor was digging trenches again on his property amidst all that chaos of elements. I could not believe it. 

When we moved into our home, I came across two clay pots that were painted white on the outside. They captured my interest and I pondered over what in the world I could do with the clay pots. Then the idea came into this brain of mine, plaster of paris and silk flowers. Then I could always have a splash of color by the front door. I started finding flowers for each season and making two pots of these to go inside my two white clay pots. Well, we have lived here for almost 15 years. The sun and wind have taken a toll on my silk flowers. Time to replace some of them. I did the spring flower mix. Now it was time for Memorial Day and the patriotic colors to come out to play. I made these new bouquets in red, white and blue for anytime I use patriotic decorations. I really like them.

Weeded two times this past week. Wednesday morning, June 12th, I pulled back the weeds and grass and found these lovelies. I thought they were wild strawberries. A friend tells me they might be snake berries. I never heard of snakeberries. I inquired of my friend the difference between a wild strawberry and a snakeberry. She educated me that one of the differences is the location of the seeds. The wild strawberry has the seeds in the dimples. The snakeberry's seeds protrude out. Snakeberries are rough, dry and bitter to the taste. You may eat them but it is not recommended as some people have an allergic reaction. I did not eat these. Thought they were better left to the critters that roam our hill. 

Claude came out after the dew dried a bit on the grass. We have had so much rain and the soil is wet even when the grass on top is dry. Also there is a lot of clay in our soil so it just gets really, really slippery. This is not a good thing on the tractor given the steep incline on our hill. Once he felt it was safe, he ventured out on his tractor to mow. Mind you, we had rain the week we left for Utah and he was not able to mow. We have had rain the entire time since he got back so that made two weeks with no mowing. The grass really needed to be mowed. More rain was forecast for the evening so he was out and about on the tractor. He caught me trying to get a picture of him from my weeding location. He waved and I got that picture. What I missed was him waving with both hands as the tractor came rolling on down the hill. Wacky, wacky fellow.

Claude has diligently worked this week on stripping the stain off the lower deck. That is finished now and we have to wait for two dry days in a row before he can apply the new stain. The forecast is for showers off and on all week long. Ugh!! 

That Roper Family...

Living far from family used to be much harder than it is today. With Facebook and Messaging and eMail right at my fingertips, I am able to receive lots of updates and pictures about family. These are some of the Roper Family antics.

On June 1st Katelyn posted these fun pictures of Raelyn with her BFF. He had a ball game that day that they went to watch. Katelyn said Raelyn was on the sidelines yelling, "Go Elliott, Go Elliot!!" They are just cute together. 

June 2nd found the Ropers at Daddy Ice. Drew plays hockey. The family go with him and totally enjoy this time. Emelia is in the first picture learning about Daddy Ice. Raelyn and Drew are in the second picture. Raelyn is a definite fan of ice hockey. I am personally very happy his uniform is purple!!

June 6th Raelyn got dressed in her purple t-shirt we gave her. The kid loves purple just like me. She has a Sandi gene in there somewhere for sure. She asked Katelyn to send GMa (great Ma since I am the great grandmother) a picture of her in her pretty purple shirt.  

Upon receiving the picture, I paused and sent Raelyn a picture of me in the purple t-shirt I was wearing that day. 

Katelyn then sent me a picture of Emelia covered in pink. Alas, I do not own pink right now. 

Since I couldn't reciprocate with a GMa in pink picture, I requested that Raelyn please give Emelia a kiss from me. 

That is the joy of pictures getting across the miles so very quickly. I remember having to wait till you finished a roll of film to get it developed. Then make copies. Then mail it snail mail to whomever. Very time consuming. I really like this instant stuff a lot more.

Yesterday, June 14th, Katelyn posted this picture of Raelyn. Our little one is now 3 years old and growing up very quickly. She is very camera friendly. 

Other than Emelia having two little holes in her heart and not gaining weight fast enough and have a funny squeek sound coming from her that is not right, Raelyn possibly needing speech therapy, Katelyn maybe needing her gall bladder removed and Drew having a shoulder injury from Daddy Ice, this family is doing great!!

A Little Time For Papa...

Rain is in the forecast for the rest of the next week. Today was a perfectly beautiful day. What do we do between rainstorms? We take Papa for a drive. Where to go? Where to go? In my head I had us driving around Cave Run Lake. Then I had a little revelation. Yep, that's what is was an inspired revelation!

I sent Andie a text asking if she and/or the Mini's were home today. She replied 'ish'. Oh My! I called and explained that I was going to take Papa out for a drive. I was wondering if the Mini's and/or she would like to go to Dairy Queen and get ice cream. She was actually grateful I called. School let out for all of them Friday for the summer. Andie teaches first grade and needed to finish cleaning out her room. However, she was procrastinating. My call was her inspiration to get things done. She would take the Mini's to her school and they could help with some things. Then they would all go to get ice cream with Papa and I. Then I could take the Mini's home and she could finish cleaning out her room. It was a plan.

I drove Papa over Hwy 460 from Georgetown to Frankfort. There we drove 60 to Shelbyville and then 53 to LaGrange. I called Andie and they came out of the school. Andie felt she needed to stay and finish. I assured her I would get the Mini's home after we had a quick ice cream stop.

The kids had eaten lunch so they only needed ice cream. They helped me walk Papa into Dairy Queen without his walker, me on one side and one of the kids on the other side with the other child opening doors for us. We got Papa seated and we placed our order. 

The kids talked with Papa as best they could with his deafness and poor memory. He was happy with the attention. Before we left Dairy Queen, we got this great picture of the kids with Papa. I just love their expressions. 

We dropped the kids off at their home and then I had to hurry back to Georgetown. Didn't get Papa back until 4:30pm. He was so thankful for this fun outing. It is easy to feel like one carries the burden of Papa alone. I love times like this when I feel the support of my family with his care. This was a good outing for him and for me.