Again I found out that I got the spelling wrong for where Grandpa is painting. It is the Coolidge home. He will be painting the lettering again today. That is if the weather holds out. Grandpa took some pictures of the writing that he was painting with his cell phone so I was going to use one on the blog today. But when I went to upload I couldn't get things to work. The only thing that happened when we tried was that his phone would say "charge complete. When we finally get it figured out we will upload a picture and let you see what we are talking about!

Yesterday I tried to organize and clean up my office. I spent about 5 hrs going thru all the books and organizing them. I got them all organized, but did get my office clean yet. That will have to be a project for another day!

Today I didn't go to the pool. I was not feeling well. :(

Grandpa and I were just thinking about the night I go in for my sleep study. Grandpa is supposed to drop me off at about 10:00 pm. Then it would take him an hour to drive home. So that would mean he would get to bed about a little after 11:00 pm. He would have to be there to pick me up at 6:00 am, that means that he would have have to leave to come back to get me at 5:00 am. Which means he would have to get up at about 4:30 am. Hmmm... that is not very much sleep at all for him.
I just called the sleep center to see if they knew a place where Grandpa could go to sleep. Monica at the sleep center said that there was an open bed there and that grandpa could just sleep there!

Well, I was able to get my photo ID renewed. I don't have to renew it for 10yrs! It is marked disabled. It is hard to actually accept that totally. Weird, I know I am limited in doing things, but to actually see the word, kindof feels weird.

Lisa took me to get the ID after we finished at the YMCA. I took her out to lunch to thank her. We went to a little place in Carthage, The Wright Place. It was bigger than the Hamilton resteraunt. It also a better food, but just barely. Ok, now when you go out to eat, and it says that they are going to serve peas with your meal, don't you think of firm peas? Well, with Lisa's lunch she was supposed to get peas. What came out with her meal was a bowl of canned peas. I don't think I will ever get used to the hometown resteraunts here.

I found out the the Coolage House(I found out I had spelled it wrong yesterday)is not a historical site, but used as a missionary home. That is what Grandpa is working on today. As soon as Grandpa finishes with the Coolage house, he will be going to go work on the Wilford Woodruff home.

Dad is going to be going Home Teaching tonight. One of the people he Home Teaches is in the hopital down in St Louis. He has a really bad heart. I think what he is in the hospital for now is to get someing to assist the pacemaker. He needs a new heart. He is on the list, but I am not sure how high on the list he is.

We have wind warnings out today. I wonder if these are same winds you all were experiencing?... (I wonder if they are using the same wind we are using? So, can you remember where this came from?)(thus the picture with this post)

Good morning. Is it really morning? Last night was my orientation for my sleep study. One of the things that they did was to fit me with a mask. I DON'T WANT A MASK! I just want to stick with my concentrator! We will just have to see what happens on the night of the sleep study, which is next Tuesday. Because I was so wound up and stressed because of the mask business, I couldn't sleep and so I didn't go to bed until after 2:00 am. Our alarm goes off at 4:00, Grandpa just let me sleep until I got up when he got back in our room from exercising and getting ready for work. So I think I will go back to sleep this morning for awhile. I am going to have to set an alarm so I will be ready to go to the pool. I am looking forward to working out and swimming.

Yesterday, when we left we tried something different with Buster. I was reading up on the care for "Doxie Poos". In the article it stated that this breed of dog can become so distraught with being left alone, that they can really hurt themselves. So we decided to try putting Buster in his kennel. Buster seemed to do really well. So we decided that is what we are going to do from now on.

Jacob and Tally sent a cookie that is specially made for dogs home with Grandpa to let Buster try. Buster loved it! So we will have to find them and get some for Buster.

Grandpa's hands are finally clearing up. Dr Joe gave him a higher and longer dose of prednisone, and that seems to be working! Finally! Grandpa's hands got extremely bad this winter. With the cracks and the rash. He tried everything he could and things would work for a short time and then they would stop working. He was even prescribed a smaller dose of the prednisone. This time tho with this new dose it worked!

Today Grandpa will be working on the Cooledge house. There is some writing on the sign for the house, that is up high that Grandpa needs to paint.

I just looked outside and the sun is actually shining! I sure hope you all in Utah slept thru all the winds you had. I was talking to Rachael late last night and she was telling me how bad the winds were blowing!

I am sorry about being late with my entry today. I have been totally sidetracked! Grandpa was given another Palm Pilot to exchange for the one that was just causing us alot of grief. I figured out how to download conference so that when we get some ear bud, earphones, Grandpa will be able to listen to conference while he is working. I had no idea that the little memory cards that you use for the cameras can be uses for other kinds of files besides pictures!!! So I have been downloading all the files. I also needed to copy the index page of the new May Ensign. The Bishopric uses the different talks from conference as the subjects for the talks for Sacrament meeting. The index page has all the talks and who gives them. Works really well so that I can just delete the page numbers and I have the list. Well of course I need to make changes in the spacing, and also highlight the speakers, but what is most important is that the list is there for me to copy! I also had to make some changes in our budget. I found out that we have $100 less a month than what I thought I did. Pretty sad :(

I just looked out the window and there is a crow eating out of our bird feeder! I don't see crows eating there very often

Ok, if I didn't know better, I would think there were forces trying to keep me from getting this blog done today. My phone just rang, and it was my doctor asking question about the sleep study that I am lined up to take on the 4th of May. While I was talking to him, someone came to the door. I had to finish my call with the dr, all the while the doorbell was ringing and Buster was coming unglued and barking up a storm. When I finally got Buster calmed down and opened the door, can you guess who it might be? Well if you guessed our little man Jerry who moved away, you would be right! He was in town so he stopped to ask if we had a brownie mix, and paper towels, that he could have. I told him that I had no paper towels, because the rolls were downstairs and I couldn't go downstairs to get any. I felt bad so I asked if he wanted a bag of chips and he was happy to have those.

Grandpa called this morning and told me that they were going to be having a CPR class today. The class was scheduled at 10:00am. Since that is the time I would normally be calling, he decided that he had better call and let me know that he won't be able to answer his phone until the class is over.

Tonight is the first part of my sleep study. The consultation. I thought that it was at 8:00am this morning. Last night I got a call to remind me of my appt at 8:00pm today! I was shocked and it totally messed up my schedule for the day! I thought that I was going to be able to get bunch of things done on our way home from the appt. At 8:00pm some of the places that I was planning on going will be closed. One of those places being the DMV to get my picture ID. Now I will need to come up with another idea for that!

Oh, by the way, the picture that I am using on by blog entry for today is the one that Grandpa and I used on the program for Sacrament Mtg on Sunday. I didn't hear any comments about it this week. I really love this picture! It is in the November 2009 Ensign.

Good morning everyone. I apologize for not doing a blog entry yesterday. Yesterday wasn't one of my better days, I didn't even make it to church. I still am not feeling the best, but I felt that I needed to write this morning before I went back to sleep. So I won't be going to the pool today. I am very disappointed about that.

Grandpa is going to be working in the Seventies Hall restroom. He has to paint the floor. When he gets done at the Seventies Hall, he is going to go to the Coolage house and paint up near where they just did the sign. Then he will be going to go to Wilford Woodruff, where he will paint windows on the outside. When he works on the windows on the outside, he has to use the genie, which is a hydraulic lift, with a basket to stand in, that can lift you about 45 feet in the air. He will probably be working there until the end of May!

It looks like the sun is coming out this morning. We still have a chance of rain but it is supposed to be only partly cloudy.

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring...... The rain is really coming down at the moment. We even have a tornado watch out right now!This morning we went to the preparedness fair for our stake. It was very informative, and I am glad that we went. One of the things I saw there was the twist lids that you can use on those big plastic containers that you can just twist on and off. They told us that in Utah you can just go to Walmart and buy them. But here we will have to purchase them from online. I found out a website to go to to get answers to medical questions that you might have. We got recipes to dutch oven cooking. We even tasted some chili that used beef TVP. It actually tasted pretty good. TVP has come a long way! We ate homemade bread, cookies and graham crackers. Anyway, it was all good.

After the preparedness fair we went over to Great Grandpa and Grandma Pierce's. We had lunch with them and shared some rhubarb & strawberry pie that the Nickolich's had given them and asked them to share with Grandpa and me. Brother & Sister Nickolich served a mission here, and while they were here, brother Nickolich painted with Grandpa. After their mission they bought a home here and are in the same ward as Great Grandpa and Grandma. Brother Nickolich has had back surgery and so he hasn't been able to mow his lawn so Great Grandpa Pierce has been mowing it for him. That is the reason for the pie. The Nickolich's gave it to them as a thank you for the mowing. We were grateful to be able that they would share the pie with us.

It is raining outside. I think it has been raining most of the night. It is supposed to be raining most of the day!

I am looking forward to going to the YMCA to exercise. It is nice to be able to know that I have the opportunity and the ability to do this!

Grandpa went home teaching last evening. I have started my visiting teaching, but I haven't finished the letters for the month yet. I am really far behind. I try to have the letters out closer to the 15th of the month. I am going to have to make sure I get this done today!

We are enjoying listening to the conference talks again in the mornings as we eat breakfast. We are really blessed to have the ability to be able to read, or listen to the talks whenever we like.

Grandpa is in the kitchen fixing our breakfast now. He is also cleaning out the dishwasher. I am not sure why, but I don't really enjoy cleaning out the dishwasher. I don't mind loading it, but I don't like putting the dishes away that much. So it really is sweet that Grandpa would be doing that now for me.

We are not getting much read in our book lately. About the only time we are reading is while Grandpa is exercising. If Grandpa was going to be home today, I would say that today would be an excellent day to read because of the rain, but of course he will be working so reading will have to wait.

Oooooooohhhhh...... I just knocked over my glass of water and glass of Gatorade!!!! Grandpa is cleaning it up for me. What a mess! Grandpa is such a wonderful man to clean up after my clumsiness!!!! Grandpa just came back with two new glasses one with water and one with Gatorade. I will be VERY careful not to spill these!

Yesterday was a good day. I loved the time at the YMCA! I was actually able to go 3 miles on the exercise bike! It seems strange to be able to ride a bike, but not be able to walk very well across a room. I am finding that Lupus is really very annoying!

Dad was planning on going home teaching last night but it didn't work out to go. It was really nice to have him home. Especially when I was having some of those annoying stuffs happening.

The weather here has been beautiful, tho yesterday afternoon it clouded up and started raining in the evening. Today it is supposed to be a beautiful day again, with a possibility of more rain tonight. It is nice that it will wait to rain at night so that we can have the fun, sunny days!

Grandpa is out in the kitchen fixing breakfast. I did get his "mush" done yesterday. I love the rice cooker that we got from Brian and Rangi! I had never used one before we got that one. Now I use it alot! One of the things I use it for is Grandpa's "mush". I put 3 cups of the 6 grain rolled oats, 6 cups water, a 1/3 box of raisins, a tsp salt, a tbls butter, and some honey, all in the cooker. I stir it up, turn it on, and in about 20 minutes it is done. Oh, and one of the nice things about the cooker is if you don't get right back to it after the 20 minutes it goes into the warmer mode until you get there! Okay, now back to what I was saying: After the "mush" is done I put it in a covered casserole dish and then it is ready for Grandpa to just warm up a serving in the morning in the microwave. There is probably about 4 to 6 servings. Depending on how hungry Grandpa is!

Grandpa started setting his alarm just a little bit earlier in the morning. He has decided to exercise in the mornings again. Buster can't quite figure it out. I get up and go out with him, and read from the book we are reading together, while he exercises. The first time we went out Buster had a fit. He didn't know what to think about Grandpa moving from one thing to another and was a little upset about the whole thing. This morning I didn't know if Buster was going to even come out and join us. He finally came out but decided to just sit on my lap and ignore what
Grandpa was doing. What a silly puppy!

Lincare has me all set up! Their concentrator is QUIET! They also gave me little things that look like mini pipe insulators that go over the tubing by the ears to cushion them so that it doesn't get sore there. They also put on the water bottle, and installed a devise so that the tubing won't fill with water. So it is nice.
One of the forms that they had me feel out was my budget to see where we are financially to see if we qualify to have the 10% written off that the insurance doesn't cover. I hadn't done anything with the budget for so long so I messed up the totals pretty bad, and with the headache I was having at the time, I wish that they would come back today and let me fill them out now when I am feeling much better and can think straight.

We found out that the palm pilot that Grandpa has had problems before we got it, so it was nice to know that I wasn't the one who almost kill it. It is having more problems locking up.

Me knee is having more problems. It is getting hard to walk on. I am hoping to find something to wear that will give it some support.

I am looking forward to going to the pool today. I really enjoy riding the stationary bicycle. It makes me feel good to ride the two miles. I set the timer for 15 minutes and go just over the two mile mark. I use some of the weight equipment to try and strengthen my legs and arms. After using the equipment there it feels really good to get into the water and exercise there.

Grandpa decided that he would start exercising in the mornings, so he set the alarm for a 1/2 hour earlier. We got up at 4:00am instead of 4:30. Buster is not sure what to think about Grandpa when he was exercising. Buster was growling and barking at him. We were trying to figure out what he thought. Maybe he was just upset he got woken up so early!

This morning the Conference talk that we have started out listening to is Elder Bednar's "Watching with All Perseverance". We may even get 2 talks today.

For breakfast this morning Grandpa is having cold cereal topped with canned peaches. For me Grandpa fixed me a bowl of peaches, a piece of toast, and a string cheese. I can't eat cold cereal in the mornings because it upsets my stomach.

We are now listening to Elder Holland's talk, "Place No More for the Enemy of My Soul".

Grandpa didn't quite get the Hatch house done yesterday, so he will have to finish it up today. Then he will be working on the bathroom at the Brigham Young home.

Grandpa has left for work already this morning. He didn't leave any earlier than normal, I am just getting started on the blog later than I usually do on a weekday morning.

Grandpa said that he was going to be finishing up the Hatch house today. He said that he is also going to be working on the outdoor bathroom at the Cultural Hall. They made some changes at NRI. They moved Dad's boss, Steve, up to the assistant boss of NRI. Joey, the mechanic that just fixed our car was moved up to the the boss over the maintenance crew, which was the position that Steve had. So now we are thinking that Grandpa will just be staying where he is. They did put him in a new job classification which made it possible to get a raise, which was nice. Grandpa isn't really disappointed because he really enjoys painting. Another change that they made is that Grandpa can only get personal calls during lunch, between 10:00 - 10:15 and then between 2:00 - 2:15.

Grandpa and I went in to see dr Joe yesterday. We discussed the horrible side effects of methotrexate. For Grandpa it was decided to give him a higher does of predisone for a longer period of time, to see if that would clear up his hands. For me it was decided to get me an appt with dr Osment to see what he feels about starting me on the methotrexate. Dr Joe's office is going to call to make the appt, so that I will be able to get in soon.

Jacob and Tally are going to be coming over today so that Jacob can vacuum out their car. It will be fun to have them visit!

This afternoon Lincare is coming to set me up with a concentrator. I know it is silly, because I already own one, but in order to have oxygen when I travel, I have to be renting a concentrator from them. Also they will be checking the concentrator to make sure it is working right, and bringing me all the tubing that I need. It will be a much better set up for me. Our insurance pays 90% of the cost and Lincare is going to write off the other 10%. It just doesn't make sense to me why the insurance company will go this route instead of just paying for the concentrator while I am in Utah!

As it turned out yesterday I was only able to stay for Sacrament meeting. Nanette was coming home after Sacrament meeting so I rode home with her. When Grandpa got home he told me that he and his home teaching companion was going to go down to Blessing hospital to visit, and give a blessing to a man in our Ward who was there in intensive care, and who was probably going to be sent down to St Louis today. Before Grandpa and Brother Hunt left they gave me a blessing.

Today I am going to call Dr Joe's office. I am going to see if I can get appts for both Grandpa and I today. Grandpa for his hands. His hands are very sore with cracks, and rash and dryness, and possibly infection. We need to try something different. Nothing is helping. I need to change the medication for the Lupus. I can't wait any longer I need to move up to the medication the drs have said was next, which is methotrexate. As we looked into what methotrexate can help with we found that it could possibly help Grandpa's hands too, so we are going to ask about that while we are in there.I am hoping to get an appt later in the day so that I can go to the pool this morning.

Grandpa is going to be working at the Cultural Hall today. He will be working on the spots on the ceiling, and he will also be working at the Hatch house, that is the house for the performing sister missionaries.

It is 47 degrees right now, and it is supposed to get up to 68 degrees. We have cooled down a little. Our furnace turned on last night! It probably wouldn't have if we still had our infrared heater set up and the other small heater going. It is really hard to predict how the temperatures are going to go this time of year! Whether it is going to be Spring, or Winter!

It seems that last week was Easter and General Conference. I can't believe that today is already the 18th of the month. Time goes so fast. Just a little less than 2 months and we will be there with you all! We sure love and miss you all so much. We pray each day for you in your individual challenges, and we know that the Lord will bless you!

This morning we worked on, and got the program ready for Sacrament meeting. There were alot of changes to be made. The Temple is going to be closed until the 3rd of June, and when it opens it will be for the Summer schedule. We also had announcements to add and things to change for the speakers and the music. Also we had to decide what picture to put on the front. Hopefully the picture we chose this week won't cause such a frenzy as last week. :)

Grandpa also spent some time with me trying to help me learn how to get my key to work in the screen door in the family room. It is very temperamental. I am going to be locking the door when I leave so I am hoping that I got all the tricks right to get the key to work so that I will be able to get in when I get home. Well I now have keys to the other door so I guess I could get in there, if I remember to unlock the screen door before I leave!

Grandpa is at the church now. His meetings started at 11:00am. My ride will be here about 1:15pm, (well I thought my ride was going to be here at 1:15, I think I remember her saying that she was going to be out of town this week. Now I need to find a new ride!) Our Sacrament meeting starts at 2:00pm. Well, I have a ride to church! The Evan's are going to pick me up at 1:30pm.

Wow, here it is the end of the day and I am just doing the blog. Grandpa and I were hoping to be able to go to the Temple this morning, but I wasn't doing very well, so we ended up staying home. We gave Buster a bath first thing this morning. Boy did he need it! He did really well, and now he looks and smells so much better. Grandpa vacuumed. The carpets were so bad. They hadn't been vacuumed for awhile. There was so much hair from Maggie and Buster! Besides doing the vacuuming Grandpa has been working on the wash. He also had to go get a new belt for the riding lawn mower. Yesterday when he was mowing the belt broke. Luckily the hardware store here in Hamilton had one. While Grandpa worked on the lawn mower in the garage, I read to him out of the new book we started, again. We started it awhile ago but then it has been so long since we read from it we started it again. The book is Betsy Brannon Green's "Murder by the Book".
For dinner tonight we had leftovers, but for dessert we decided to try something different. We took some frozen fruit from a bag we had in the freezer. It was a blend of strawberries, pineapple, mango and peaches. We put them on a cookie sheet, and melted some butter and poured it over the fruit. Then we mixed up with the fruit with the butter. Then we sprinkled brown sugar over the fruit. We put it in the oven and cooked it at 425 degrees for 35 minutes. We poured everything from the cookie sheet into a bowl and mixed it together. A sauce comes from the fruit, sugar and butter while it cooks. We then put it in individual serving bowls and topped it with coolwhip. It turned out really well, and it is something we will make again!

It is raining outside! I am sure glad that it waited until we got back from our trip to St Louis to pick up Great Grandpa and Grandma Pierce from the airport yesterday! We had a fun time. We read our book most of the way down and then while we waited once we got there. We have about 20 pages left. We need to hurry and get it finished because Great Grandpa and Grandma Pierce really want to read it. In fact they started the book on the way back. It was after 10:00 by the time we got back, and we were very tired.

In the mornings while we are eating our breakfast, and while I am typing up the blog on my laptop, Grandpa and I listen to a talk from Conference. It is so nice that the talks are available to us to listen to again and again anytime we want to.

Grandpa has three houses that he needs to be working on. The Hatch house, the Lucy Mack Smith house, and the Cultural Hall. It is a good thing that there are missionaries here to help get things done!

It is Friday, so I am going to the pool today. I am looking forward to using the equipment again before going in the pool.

It is supposed to rain off and on this morning but then it is going to be sunny this afternoon. But it is only going to get to about 65 degrees, when yesterday we were about 80 degrees.

I started a book that I am reading at night before I go to sleep. The book is "The Moroni Code" by Jack Lyon. I am not very far into it yet, and I am not sure I like it. I read for a little bit last night before I went to sleep. This morning I couldn't find the book. I thought that was odd, then I just opened the drawer to my nightstand and there it was. I must have really been tired!

To get to the pool we have to walk thru the exercise room with all the exercise equipment. As we were walking thru yesterday Lisa and I decided to try some of the machines. We spent about a half hour there. I even used one of the bicycle machines and bicycled 2 miles! Then we finished up with a half hour in the pool. It felt great. On the way we thought we should have a girl's day out. So we picked up Subway sandwiches and came back and watched "Brigham City". Lisa had never seen it before. She really liked the movie. I got my cinnamon hard candies and sucked on them so I could stay awake this time!

Jacob and Tally stopped by. We always enjoy it when they stop by. They brought us some rice krispie treats made with strawberry marshmallows. When they left Grandpa asked if I would ride over to the paint store in Keokuk so he could get some paint matched for work. So we got Buster and our book and headed out. The paint chip wasn't quite big enough for Sherwinn Williams to get an exact match, and then the paint chip shattered. So the paint store is going to work on it today and get back with Grandpa when they have it ready.

Today Grandpa is coming home from work early. He will be here by about 12:30 pm and then we are heading to the airport in St. Louis to pick up Great Grandpa and Grandma Pierce. We are looking for the opportunity of spending all this time together. It is about a three hour drive one way.

Today Grandpa is painting the bathroom in the Hatch house. This is not a site home but it is a home where the Young Performing Sister Missionaries will stay while they are here. Can you imagine a house big enough to house 22 Sisters? There are beds everywhere, there are three fridges and two stoves, and only 2 bathrooms, but a third bathroom is being built right now. They have two washers, and two dryers.

I got the results from the oximetry test yesterday afternoon. Well, I guess I still need oxygen at night. I will follow thru with the sleep study.

Another message that Dad had missed when his phone was turned off was that of the Sister Missionaries asking if they could come to dinner yesterday. We have told them that anytime they come to Hamilton and need dinner to just call and we will feed them. So we had the opportunity to feed the Sister Missionaries. We had Chicken, and a bunch of Veggies (zucchini, yellow squash, fresh mushrooms, little tomatoes, onion, garlic, and diced baby carrots) all cooked up in olive oil, and soy sauce and chicken broth. Then when the veggies were tender I thickened the sauce with cornstarch. We had 5 in 1/ 7 in 1 salad, and garlic toast. Oh, and I made a batch of brownies for dessert. After the meal we found out that one of the Sisters was gluten intolerant. So she couldn't have the garlic toast or the brownies. Hopefully I will remember that for next time. Grandpa helped out alot with the dinner as usual, he cut up all the veggies, and set the table and did a bunch of other things to help get the dinner on the table. As soon as Grandpa was finished eating he had to leave to go to the Young Men's activity. So that left the Sister Missionaries to finish the meal and to have the scripture message that they had prepared. We always end with a prayer before they leave. It is a great experience to feed the missionaries. So if you are ever given the chance, take it, they don't care what you have, even soup from a can is fine with them and we have done that before. I had a very beautiful experience as I was doing the advance preparation for the meal, like getting the chicken in the fridge in the sauce to marinate, and doing the 5 in 1/ 7 in 1 salad. I was really having a difficult time I wasn't feeling well and I was very light headed, and I wasn't sure I was even going to get done with this. I stopped what I was doing and had a prayer. I decided that this would be a time to ask Heavenly Father for help from my Ministering Angels to help me, and then a very wonderful thing took place I was given what I was to pray for, and it wasn't just for me completing the meal, but also for the Sister Missionaries. It was a very humbling experience. It wasn't until after dinner was over and I was talking to the Sister Missionaries that I found that they had been having a very trying day. I was taught a huge lesson. We truly need to listen to the Spirit, because we never know when the Lord will use us to help another!

Ok, here is the latest in the saga of my list. I called the dr's office and they scheduled a sleep study for May 4th. But the sleep study actually has 3 appts. The first is talking to the dr. The second is the actual sleep study and the 3rd appt is when we go back in for the results. Lincare called yesterday and said that they wanted an oximetry test done and by doing that they would be able to set up the account, but that they wanted the sleep study to determine what the settings would be and if I would need a different set-up at night. I am thinking that maybe, this oximetry test I did last night will say that I don't need oxygen and I will be able to cancel the sleep study and won't even have to worry anymore about a concentrator for our trip to Utah, or here even! Now that would be nice!

Yesterday when I tried to call Grandpa as he was leaving for work, (I always call him as he is driving away in the morning so that I can say goodbye to him. I used to go to the door and wave to him, but that doesn't work so good for me now, so I just call him on his cell phone. I know this my sound a little silly, what can I say, I really love your Grandpa and sometimes these little things like this even as silly as it may be, are important ways to say "I love you!") I couldn't get thru to Grandpa, it just went to his voicemail. Grandpa had turned his phone off because of Church yesterday. Not only did he forget to turn it back on, he had forgotten to charge it thru the night too! So when he finally turned his phone on and got my message, it was already starting to die. So we didn't get to talk yesterday. Well today his phone is all charged up and working! Yippee!

We have been having beautiful weather here, and today is going to be the same. It is predicted to get to 80 again. I hope that this means Spring is here to stay!

Yesterday was a great day! We worked on the program in the morning. We found a picture from the Ensign that we thought would be perfect. Our theme for Sacrament mtg was going to be about the Holy Ghost. The picture we chose was of the olive branch with olives on it (the olive branch, symbolizes peace, and in this instance meaning the peace the Spirit brings). With the quote under it: "When my witness did come, it wasn't huge or overwhelming, but I'll never forget it. It was sweet and personal and very peaceful." Well to us we thought it would be perfect. The brother who hands out programs asked me why I put a branch with olives on it because it is Spring, so it should have blossoms on it, because it wouldn't have fruit until the fall. I tried to explain that, it was just a picture that went so well with the theme of Sacrament mtg. Then after church two women from the ward were talking and one speaks up, "So does anyone know what the twig means?" I ask, "What twig?" She says "the twig on the program" Then it dawns on me, "the olive branch!" So then I proceded to explain the thought behind the olive branch and why we chose that picture. I never realized what a disturbance something so small could make. Hmmm.... I don't know what to say about that!

I attended all the block mtgs yesterday. After church I stayed and waited for Grandpa to finish up all his Bishopric stuffs and then we went over and visited with Jacob and Tally, oh, and Maggie for a little bit, then Grandpa gave Jacob the Father's blessing that he had asked for. Priesthood blessings are always such a beautiful thing.

When we got home we were starving, it was just after 7:00 and our home teachers were going to be there at 7:30. So what could we have to eat to just tide us over until after the Home Teachers leave? Well a string cheese snack and a pickle, and green olives for Grandpa. Anyway it was fast and easy, and fun. We had a good visit with our home teachers. They are great. We had a good dinner after they left of macho nachos. Then our day was winding down. It was a good day all in all.

Today, Grandpa is going to be working at the Gunshop to begin with. He needs to wipe up all the floors and put the furniture back. Then he plans to work on the outdoor stage they use for "Sunset on the Mississippi."

I am planning on going to the pool, and start on my list!

Good Sabbath morning everyone. Yesterday was a really fun day. We went to the sealing in the Temple, which was beautiful! After the sealing we went to a man in our wards studio. He is an artist. He does beautiful paintings. He has taken several pictures of Grandpa's head and several other men's heads here to help in a painting he is doing. I went to see the painting in it's progress. I found Grandpa right off. The portrait depicts the occasion when the prophet was in the temple and all the founding fathers of our country appeared to him and asked him to have their Temple work done. He does great work. He had some neat paintings in his gallery.

It was about lunch time then and so we were trying to decide what we wanted for lunch. We realized we were across the street from the fudge factory, (We knew we couldn't eat there) but Jacob and Tally live above the Fudge Factory, so we stood back and waved at the windows to their apt. We knew that they would probably not see us, but we just didn't want to be so close to them and not say hi. We didn't want to call because with Jacob's work schedule, we didn't want to wake him up.

We decided to go home and change our clothes. We wanted to go for a ride so that we could read our book and just be together. Because if we stayed home we would both just see things that needed to be done and then our fun day would be over. So we drove out to Carthage and went to Ziggie's to get lunch. We splurged. We ordered a medium pizza, and some chicken wings, and we even got a dessert, the chocolate, triple threat. Everything tasted great, and we loved the dessert. We had to get a box to take the leftover food in. That means I get cold pizza for breakfast!

The book we are reading right now is one written by Jack Weyland titled, "As Always Dave." We are really enjoying it and would recommend it to you to read.

I still need to get the program done for Sacrament meeting. I am feeling pretty good this morning. I am excited because that means I will get to go to church today. Who knows, maybe I will get to stay for all 3 meetings. Lupus can be a mean illness at times. But Heavenly Father blesses me so that I can be happy in spite of it!

I am having quite the challenge in getting an oxygen concentrator to use in Utah for our trip there. Lincare, the company that I need to go thru to get the concentrator recommends that I have a sleep study done. So I need to have it done before we come to Utah so that they can rent me the right unit! Well of course, I find this out on Friday evening when I can't do anything about it! I sure hope that I can get in quickly to have it done!
I have started making a list of the medical things that I need to do before the trip.

1. Get new sleep study

2. Change medication for Lupus. Dr Jamison says the one I am taking is not working

3. Have the disability form filled out so that I can renew my ID card

4. Go to Carthage DMV and turn in my disability form so I can get my new ID card

5. Go to the Social Services office in Carthage and turn in my disability form to them.

6. Make sure all my medications are up to date and I have enough to last me thru our trip to Utah.

7. Line up the concentrator/cpap for Utah, with Lincare

What a list. My suggestion is to stay healthy so you won't have to make lists like this! Silly, silly, grandma!

Today Grandpa and I are going to Nauvoo for a wedding. Jack Hallman and Liesl Trapp are getting married in the Temple. Their reception is this evening and we are planning on going to that too. We have to leave in about and hour and a half to be there for their sealing.

Right now Grandpa and I are eating breakfast and looking out the window at all the birds eating out of the bird feeder we have. It is really fun to see all the different, and colorful bird that come. There are red ones, and ones that seem almost a red/orange color. There are some that have alot of yellow in them. Mostly we get little sparrows. We have a hummingbird feeder too, but right now just the bees are coming to it. The bees have actually drank about have of the "nectar" from the feeder. (hmmmm..... if someone asks what we talked about with our kids today, I guess we would have to tell them, "The birds and the bees" - Too funny!

Here it is afternoon and I am just getting going on my blog for the day. I had a docrtor's appt this morning and it threw my whole schedule off. Grandpa and I slept in this morning. After we did wake up we read in the book we are reading for awhile. When I was cleaning my glasses this morning, I was cleaning both pairs of glasses. Anyway, when I finished cleaning them I put my regular glasses on, and forgot to put my reading glasses back in their case. A little bit later Grandpa noticed that Buster was laying on my glasses. Grandpa asked me if I had left my glasses out so that Buster could wear them! So then we couldn't resist putting them on Buster, then we had to get a picture. Buster was very patient with us thru all this.

My appt today was with the orthopedic dr. He told me an exercise to do to help strengthen my knee. He said that he could do surgery, but because my Lupus is active, he didn't want to do that. So the other option was to give the cortisone shots. He can only give 3 of those a year. I guess that means I can have one every 4 months. In July I can have another one if it gets bad again.

Grandpa had to go right back to work as soon as he dropped me off. He is finishing up the Browning Gun Shop today. He is painting the windows.

Whew, I thought I had killed Grandpa's palm pilot. Yesterday Grandpa had asked me to see if I could download the Ward list and Conference. I couldn't figure out how to do the Conference talks, but I thought I had figured out how to get the Ward list.
After I had installed the list it just locked up! A screen kept flashing that said palm powered and then that went off. I felt sick! We plugged it in thinking the battery ran out. When we checked it this morning it was still the same. I prayed to understand what to do, and I was led to a site online with the owners manual, and just led to know what to do! It is now up and running, and it has the Ward list!!

After I got home from the pool yesterday we found some mysteries that we still are not quite sure of. When I left for the pool I left the TV on in the family room with the video of Anestassia's going. When I got home the TV and the VCR was turned off! In the living room the foot rest on the recliner chair was out and one of Buster's toys was stuck in the chair and all his others were spread on the floor. Now I know how the toys got strewn all over, but the chair and the TV and VCR, that is the mystery!

Grandpa was really disappointed yesterday, because when he got home he was planning on mowing the lawn but because of the rain, it was still too wet. Hopefully today it will dry out enough to get it done.

I must really be tired this morning. I was typing away, and the next thing I know, I am waking up. Silly, silly Grandma.

We did it! We now have our tickets to come to Utah! We fly out of St Louis on the 9th of June. Grandpa will take a flight home on the 16th, and I will fly home on the 23rd. We have a car lined up for when we get there too! We are going to go down to St Louis, MO on the 8th of June and stay at the Ramada that is about 3 miles from the airport. The hotel shuttles us to and from the airport. For a small fee we can leave our car at the hotel until we get back from our trip! When I made the arrangements for the car, I found out that the car we should be getting is the same kind of car that we drive here. It was soooo scary to make these arrangements! Knowing that by pressing a few keys on the computer I can spend that much money! We even made the arrangements for Buster. Roland and Nanette's kids will be coming over 3 times a day to take care of him while we are gone. We are extremely excited to come! We can't wait to be there and be able to see each of you and to be able to give you all a hug!

We had a huge thunderstorm during the night, and like a little kid, Buster came to be in our bed. I am not sure how he finagled that. I guess Grandpa is getting soft in his old age. It is forcasted to rain off and on all day.

Grandpa will be working on the Browning Gun shop again today. He is still working on the window sills.

I am going to the pool. I need to get my body in shape for this trip!

I actually made it to the pool yesterday!! It was really nice being able to exercise again!! When we passed by the Evans' house we noticed all the vehicles were gone so we just came here. I told Lisa that I wanted her to take some of the 5 in 1 salad home with her, and she was happy to take some.

Jacob and Tally stopped by after Tally's appt with her dr. She was told that she was allowed to have Maggie again and so they took Maggie and all her things, and some 5 in 1 salad.

There were enough leftovers of everything to have for dinner, so we warmed them up for dinner and they tasted great! After dinner Grandpa went grocery shopping. Nope, we did not get our pin # yet, Grandpa just cashed a check at the bank in Nauvoo where Aunt Jacki works. It is a good feeling to have groceries in the house again.

Grandpa is now working on the Jonathan Browning Shop. Practically every window sill had something wrong with it, and the walls have cracks, and there are two metal handrails that needs painted.

I am sooooooo excited that we are coming to Utah! It is going to be wonderful to see and spend time with everyone again! I need to start getting organized.

Loved Conference! It was hard to see it end! We thought of all of you in Utah getting together for the last session of conference! It would have been great to be there!

Sunday we called some friends, Dale and Cheryl, to come eat lunch with us in between the sessions of Conference. It was really nice having them over. We had that chicken and ham dish that I make, and funeral potatoes,green beans, and a five in one salad. This time I made it differently than normal tho. I used the coolwhip, sour cream, cottage cheese, orange jello, and mandarin oranges. I wanted pink miniature marshmallows, but Grandpa couldn't find pink miniature marshmallows so he got regular sized pink marshmallows and we cut them up. We put a bag of frozen raspberries in. No pineapple because Tally can't have pineapple,(originally we were going to have Jacob and Tally over, but with Jacob's schedule, it just wouldn't work). The 5 in 1 salad turned out really good. I had to use the orange jello because I forgot to buy raspberry jello. But because of the frozen raspberries it tinted it all pink and you would have never known that there was orange jello! Hey, I still had 7 ingredients in my 5 in 1 salad!


After conference was over Grandpa needed to drive out to Carthage to take care of some Bishopric business. Just as he was going to leave a huge storm hit! It was scary. He waited until it had past and then he went out. After he left I found out that we were under our first tornado watch for the season.

We have a new neighbor across the street from us, on Broadway. He is a semi truck driver. Yesterday he came into town with a refrigerated trailer that he was hauling. I didn't know that at first, I told Grandpa that I thought it was strange that his truck kept starting up. Well his truck kept starting up all night, he didn't leave until this morning at about 5:00 am. I guess this is another sound that we are going to need to get used too. When I finally went to sleep it wasn't bad it was just different hearing the truck start up again and again.


It is Monday, and that means pool day! I am looking forward to getting back in the water again!

Grandpa is out in the kitchen putting the dishes away from the dishwasher, and getting breakfast. Maggie is still in her kennel sleeping, and Buster is sleeping on the bed beside me.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

We loved watching conference yesterday and we are really looking forward to it today!

This is a very special day. Easter Sunday. The day we remember the great love our Savior has for us. We remember Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the empty tomb after the third day, His appearance to the disciples, and His appearance to the people here on this continent. I know that Jesus Christ did take upon Him all the sin, and the hurt and pains of the world in Gethsemane. He died on the cross so that so that He could be resurrected. It is true, He lives who once was dead. I know that my Redeemer lives! He is our Savior, Lord, and King!

It started raining yesterday and it is start out that way this morning. But it is predicted to get up in the 60's today and the sun should come out soon! Already the sun is poking out!

Grandpa is having a waffle for breakfast with strawberry applesauce on top. He already brought me in my toast and a glass of gatorade so that I could take my rx's and get my pain under control. I think it is the storm, but my pain level is pretty high this morning.

Grandpa put the hummingbird feeder out. Even tho it is too early in the season for the hummingbirds, it is attracting alot of honey bees. There is a factory just down the street that works with bees and makes lots of things with the bees wax and bottles the honey.

Grandpa has a whole list of projects that he wants to get done. He wants to get the fertilizer on the grass. On Saturday Grandpa does the wash for me. He likes to do this for me because he knows how hard it is for me to do all that bending. (Grandpa does lots of things to help me out). Another project that he wants to do is to install a hose bib on the back of the house.

Oh, and about the car; it is fixed! All Joey did was reset the computer and everthing is now working normal, go figure!!!

Yesterday I worked on a project most of the day. I can't say what it is because it is for Christmas. The project is done in phases. I think it is done, and then I examine it and see if it really finished. I got to that phase, then yesterday I decided to start over again. I really do like the changes, and Grandpa likes this way much better too.


When Grandpa got off work yesterday I asked Grandpa if he would like to stop off at a place that was making sandwiches, that we heard was really good. When Grandpa got there he found out that the frozen custard shop was back and the sandwich shop was moving somewhere else and wouldn't be open for a few weeks. Our friend Helen owns the frozen custard shop. Grandpa decided to get some frozen custard while he was there, and since Jacob and Tally were at our house visiting Maggie, oh, and us, we got enough for 4. Well when Grandpa went to pay, he found that he had a problem. He didn't have the checkbook and since we still can't use our debit card we can't get cash yet. Helen said that she would just start a "tab" for us. So Grandpa brought home vanilla custard with raspberries. We had dessert before dinner.

Yesterday seemed so much like Friday to me! I don't know why, it just did. Maybe because I was wishing that Grandpa had the day off today because of Easter. But that is not the case, Grandpa has to work today and he still has lots of work to do in the Brigham Young home. The more he does the more work he finds!

Grandpa will be driving our car into NRI today. A little scary in as much as it isn't fixed yet! Joey came over and looked at the car and said it would be better if it was in his shop at NRI where he has all his tools. Joey thinks it is a sensor that is causing all the problems. He told Grandpa that as long his foot is on the gas it should stay running. So this morning Bryan, who also works at NRI, the one whom Grandpa has been riding to work with, will drive behind Grandpa to make sure he makes it to work. So at all the places that Grandpa has to stop, he will have to restart the car.

This morning since it is the first Friday of the month, they are having a breakfast for the NRI employees, and all the site Missionaries. Then they are having a lunch today also, that the wives are invited to, but I am not able to get a ride so I won't be able to go. It is at times like this that I wished I still could drive. But then that wouldn't have worked for today anyway, because I would have had to drive Great Grandpa & Grandma's Cadillac, and there is no way that I would do that!

I won't be going to the pool today because my ride had things that came up. So I will be spending the day at home with Buster and Maggie.

I didn't make it to the pool yesterday. Again things were just not normal with me. I just didn't feel good yesterday. I had a horrible pain that felt like something was tearing inside me and all of a sudden two long welts popped out. I wondered if maybe it could be shingles. Grandpa and I decided I ought to call the doctor's office. I called and the nurse said that I should come in at 4:30 to see what Teresa, Dr Joe's assistant thought. Dr Joe is having surgery on his shoulder and wasn't going to be there. The nurse told me not to go swimming so that is why I stayed home.

When I called Lisa to tell her, I told her that if she wanted to still come out, (Lisa lives just outside of Carthage which is about 12 miles away) we could still go over to use the sauna, and then she could come back to the house and we could watch a movie. She thought that would be fun so that is what we did. When we got back from using the sauna, we had cold pizza for lunch (leftover from the dinner that Jacob and Tally had bought for Grandpa and I). The movie that we decided to watch was "Along Came a Spider." It is a video that we had edited, Morgan Freeman has one of the starring roles in it. I was so embarrassed, I slept clear thru it! Lisa said that she looked over and saw me sleeping and just smiled and watched the show. Maggie laid on her lap during the movie and Buster laid on my lap. Lisa said that she liked the movie and enjoyed the day.

I have an appt to get some labs done this morning. Lisa is going to be stopping by to pick up an application for her son to work the summer at NRI about the time I need to go get the labs done so she is going to take me so Grandpa doesn't have to take the time off of work.

When I went in yesterday, nothing made sense, so we are just watching things and we decided that labs would be a good thing. Teresa said she didn't think that it was shingles, and that the symptoms that I am having have nothing to do with the welts. Well, it is just another one to chalk up to my weird body.

The wood grain work that Grandpa did yesterday went really good. He still has some more to do today. He has a door frame and some base that needs to have the grain work done. He is going to be oiling the floors and if he has time he is going to take care of a crack that is in the ceiling where it meets the wall.

Grandpa went to the car parts store and found out that he was not going to be able to replace the fuel filter himself. He talked with Joey, the mechanic at NRI and he said that he would stop by and take a look at our car.

We didn't get to go to the Temple yesterday for the Ponko family's sealing. That is sad because we really wanted to be there. I am going to make a card today to give to them.

When I talked with Rachael yesterday she said that it had been snowing all day. Here it was a beautiful sunny day, and was 77 degrees. I also talked with Great Grandma Pierce and she said that it was really cold outside. They are in Utah still. Today we are supposed to get in the 80's!