An enjoyable day.

Bianca went to church with us, and I think she liked it, in spite of all the children. Three families, mothers and children of service men in Iraq, were sitting just in front us. And the program was given by the primary children. It was a fun meeting. Later we went to the other two meetings, and the last one was in a cold room, which Bianca and I didn't enjoy. At home again we had lunch and a rest, and then Bianca went to see Uncle Al. Her friend , Amanda, arrived just in time to have dinner with us. Russ and I really enjoyed both girls. Now they are doing their washing and getting ready to go to San Diego early in the morning, to the medical convention they came down here to attend. Russ and I are watching another Star Trek from the movies Race and Kaye sent us.

A nice day.

This morning I had my hair fixed as usual, and Russ bought groceries while he waited for me. We got home, and got a call from Bianca. She won't get here until late afternoon. Karen called from New Brunswick, and we were glad to hear from her they are staying in a hotel built in the 1800's and still kept up in a great condition. She was thrilled. Kaye called, and they had a good day shooting, but expected rain for tomorrow. I hope they don't get too wet. ( I talked briefly to Carla this evening, after she talked to Bianca.) I got busy and made some cookies and they were just done when Bianca got here. Her friends won't arrive until tomorrow. We went out to dinner at Mimi's, and we all enjoyed our meals. In fact we brought some home. Tonight Bianca studied and we read in the big book about Christ that Karen loaned us.

Good things to do on a cloudy day.

We have spent most of the day clearing up things around the house, because we have the girls are coming tomorrow, and Roy doesn't come until next Monday. We talked to Kaye, and she and Kyle have gone to Albany, Ore. for another shooting competition. They will be there all weekend. I hope everything works out OK. We got the pictures of our trip to Bandon on the computer today, and we enjoyed seeing it all again. I wish Karen could have been there, but she said she will be up later. Also, we watched the first two "Star Trek"episodes from the original series. They are on a long series of shows that Race and Kaye put together for us. We will have a lot of enjoyment watching them all.

A good day.

We decided early to go for a walk, and drove to Tamarack Beach again. The sun came in and out of the clouds, but it was still warm enough without a sweater or jacket. We walked almost as far as we used to, missing only about 100 yards. but it took almost an hour instead of only 1/2 hour. Someone was swimming offshore, reminded us of Uncle Al. After that we had a quick lunch and then my visiting teacher came. She stayed about an hour, and then Uncle Al came over. We told him about the swimmer, and he said it wasn't he! He doesn't even swim in the pool anymore. He said he wasn't going to see doctors anymore, when I suggested he do that . I hope he takes some care of himself. He invited us to come for lunch, along with Mac and Marge sometime next week; we are to invite Mac and Marge, and come at a time convenient for us and them.! Bianca called, and she and two friends are coming down over the weekend to see us, and go to some conference, I'm not sure what.

Church work, and we like it.

After puttering around the house and outside, we went to Boney's for green groceries, and then to Burger King for lunch. From there we went to home-teach Ona Willett. She is pleasant to talk to, and our age. She has become a good friend. On our way home we drove by Elaine Schuman's house. ( She had a lump on her leg last Sunday, and left church early, when we did.) We stopped next door to her house, and called on the cell phone, to make sure we wouldn't be coming at an awkward time. She didn't answer the phone. Just then her car backed out of the garage and drove away, with us following! We lost her in the traffic on Vista Way. Later she returned our call, and she had thought we were behind her, but then dismissed the idea. She has been to a doctor and got meds. for her leg, and was getting better. Elaine is from Thatcher, and knew Rex's family.

A surprise package.

Today we went to the Kaiser pharmacy to pick up a refill, and then we went for a walk along Tamarack Beach. It was a lovely day, the sun was out, and a few fluffy clouds in the sky. We walked all the way from one life guard station to the next. There were quite large waves, and a few surfers got short rides. We were too late to see the surf class in action, but the surfers there were good.I took off my sweater, so you can see how warm it was! Everyone we met on the path either smiled or said Hello. It was a good experience. At home the mailman brought a clever picture story book that Bianca and Brittany had put together and had printed. It's really great! I hope you all will have a chance to see it.

Water day.

Today was water- the- plants day, and they got a good soaking. Our rain never did really get here, just a little wetting of the car, not enough for plants.. We are a little disappointed with our gardener; he and his men don't seem to want to do much, except just machine- cut some off the shrubs and blow the trash off. And the automatic sprinklers aren't working, so we have to turn them on and off on each location. This evening we returned our copy of the last Harry Potter book, because it had again split down the back. We'll go look for another copy in a real bookstore, not Wal-Mart! We had dinner out, so we didn't have to cook anything. Our Home Evening was reading and listening to 2nd Corinthians. We were very pleased to hear from Logan, and get his good news!

Our one chance to help someone this week.

We went to the first meeting at Church and then came home. Juanita Jensen wasn't there, so Russ called her (He home teaches her) and she said she had a bad back ache. I offered her my back brace, and we told her we would bring it down for her to use. We did that, and she said the doctor couldn't find what was causing the back trouble, but she is to go in on Tuesday to have it x-rayed. In the meantime she will wear the back brace, and go to work. She is in her 70's and still working. she has at least one son and daughter-in-law living with her all the time. She works, she once told us, to get away, as much as to get more money. At home again, we read the Bible a while, had our dinner, and then watched "Foyle's War" on Public TV. It's about a policeman in England during the WW 2, a mystery show. We'd rather watch that than the WW2 shows on both Public TV's just now.

Not very productive today.

I had my hair done this morning, and I'm supposed to come in at 9 next week. I hope I can remember it till then. At home again, we both sat down and read our books until noon, when we had lunch. After that I tried to read the paper, but I kept falling asleep. Finally I got up and put some more clothes in the washer. Then I forgot to put them in the drier. My mind is not doing very well lately! Tonight we watched our usual Saturday Brit shows; however, I turned it off when it came to "Rose mary and Tyme." It was the first episode all over again. I forgot to make some phone calls and write some notes. I'll just have to do it after Church tomorrow. I guess I have really wasted an otherwise good day.

Lunch with a friend who is a young 90-year-old.

Today we took Ruth Schoppe to lunch at Burger King. We all had the big fish sandwich, and it was good. Afterwards we took her home again, and stayed and visited a while. When we got home we rested a while, and then we went to Home Depot and bought some plants to replace some in the patio room that had died during our hot spell. Also, I got laundry soap, since I ran out in the middle of doing the washing. By mistake I put my wool socks in the washer, but the water wasn't hot, so they didn't shrink! I'm lucky I hadn't put them in a hot wash. Karen called to tell us they were in Boston safely. They were going to visit friends tonight, and then go in a bus tour of the autumn leaves in New England and Eastern Canada. We did that trip once with our trailer, the year Brittany was born, and it was a spectacular experience.

A successful day.

Karen came over again this morning, and she brought her big illustrated Book on Christ that we wanted to read, and the copy of the last Harry Potter book. We can read them while she and Terry are on their trip to see the autumn leaves. She also brought a copy of their itinerary so we can reach them if we need to. About 12 a.m. we went to the office of the people who fitted us with the hearing aids. We both were having trouble with them. The assistant there turned them up, and one of mine didn't work. She told me it would cost $300 to send it to the maker and have it repaired. I didn't send it, but later in the day we went to a business that has connections with Kaiser, and they agreed to have it done for $125. I also had an appointment with my psychiatrist, and he said I was doing fine, and refilled my prescription. It's nice not to get upset over every little thing, as I did when I didn't have the medication. WIth peace of mind and my one hearing aid tuned up, I'm a happy traveler.

To advertise "Bandon Crossings"

My post for today was just started, when it somehow disappeared. Anyway, I had just said we loaned our "Bandon Crossings" hats to Karen and Terry; they have friends who golf and can travel and may like to come to the new course in Oregon. While Karen was here she told us about their trip to see autumn leaves in the northeast and Canada, leaving here on Friday. It should be a nice one. After she left we went shopping for a few things, and came home to rest and recoup. And I read some more in "Blood Bound". It's a good book, was on the USA best sellers list the week it came out. It has finally cooled off here, and may rain this coming weekend. The plants surely need it, and we like it, too.

Dr. visit.

This morning we drove to the Kaiser Clinic in San Marcos where I saw Dr. Smith about my hearing. She said there's nothing in my Eustachian tubes, but my hearing aids need checking. Russ had his coumaden check. We stopped in Vista on the way home to see the man who sold us the hearing aids, but the office was closed. At home we had our lunch and then rested a while, until the gardener came and made so much noise there was no more resting. I got out my medical record book to enter the last last four months, but I didn't get it done, nor Russ's. I'll try again tomorrow. I finished re-reading Patty Brigg's book, "Moon Called", and I started to re-read "Blood Bound". Then I'll be ready to read the new book when it comes out.

Back on the old routine!

It's Monday, and Roy came to clean the house, and he's growing a beard again. I wonder how long this one will last! Karen came over and brought some soup she had made, and it was very good. She also brought a new soup bowl with a lid for her Dad. She also brought tomatoes, and poached pears she had cooked. They are really good. After our lunch of the soup and pears, we went for a short grocery shopping trip and came right home. We rested again, even slept a little bit. Tonight we read the Gospel Doctrine lesson for next Sunday, and that was our home evening.

At home again.

It's Sunday, but we were tired from the trip and didn't wake up early enough for Church. We unpacked and put away the suitcases. We talked about the trip, and that way we enjoyed it again; our visit with relatives, and going out to the golf course. We certainly appreciated the invitation to come to Carla and Rex's duplex and golf course. and we enjoyed our visit with them, Brittany, and Kaye and her family. And we appreciated Karen, who drove us to and from the San Diego airport. We did watch a couple of mysteries on TV after dinner. I have trouble with British accents, but I may hear better after my trip to the ear specialist on Tuesday.

The Trip Home

We all packed up and left for home - Russ and me by plane, Kaye and family by car, and Carla by car to Eugene. All of us reached our homes safely, with Karen picking up Russ and me. All of our daughters insisted we have wheelchairs at the airports, so we really traveled quickly through all the airports to and from our house and Bandon. It was a really a wonderful visit, except that Bianca, Logan, and Karen and Danya weren't there.

Made it to Beach and Back

Today we all went back to "Bandon Crossings". Rex, Race, Stellan and Kyle took one cart and played 7 holes of golf and came back. The rest of us drove in a car with Carla to the Big new maintenance shed and the water pump. We had another Mexican lunch and then drove back to the duplex. This time we went all the way down to the beach, walked a while, and came back up. I made it without trouble. We went back to the duplex, where we had a birthday dinner for Kaye, with cake and ice cream and hot chocolate syrup. We didn't get to bed until midnight.

Bandon Crossings Golf

We all went to the golf course and drove in golf carts as far as the 7th hole and back to the pro shop. There Russ and I got hats, and Carla had Kaye pick out a present for her birthday tomorrow. We all had lunch at a Mexican place, then Carla and Brittany went back to the golf course, and the rest of us to the duplex. We walked farther down the path and steps leading to the beach, took pictures and went back. After dinner we had cake and brownies again and talked until late.

Max'n and Relax'n

We spent the day, visiting and catching up and then went on a very nice walk along the cliff over the beach. I took the first set of steps and a long hill then stopped and admired the view. This after a rousing breakfast of token cereal, chocolate brownies and chocolate cake. We returned to the townhouse. Carla went to the golf course to work with Brittany and Kyle and I stayed home while the rest went shopping. Kyle and I read our books then I had a nap. Pizza again!

Off to Bandon Crossings

Karen picked us up at 10:30am, and we drove along the ocean to the airport. She left us in charge of sky caps who pushed us through the most complete security I've ever had, and to the gate. We flew from San Diego to Portland where we had Pizza for lunch and then flew to North Bend/Coos Bay when Carla met us, breathless (we came in early and she came in late). We drove to Bandon. We had dinner and then waited for Kaye and family to arrive. We got to bed by twelve.

Last preparations for the trip.

We did our usual Monday things. Russ watered the potted plants and I did the washing. I did get my hair done, because my job wasn't good enough to last a week in Bandon. We did finish all our packing for the trip, in addition to watching our newscasts and Perry Mason on TV. There's nothing left to do, except rest up for the trip tomorrow. Karen will pick us up about 11 a.m., and the plane goes at 1:23 p.m. We should be able to get there on time.

Church as Usual

We went to Church as usual this morning. It was a Fast and Testimony meeting, and the people who spoke all gave good testimonies. I was glad to have been there. We stayed for all three meetings, and they were all good. Later we talked to all three daughters, a nephew, LaDel Harris, and Charles and Mabel. That made for a good afternoon. This evening we will watch some TV, and then get to bed a little earlier than last night.

We are waiting for Tuesday to come.

I've been looking at the size of this computer desk, and I wonder what possessed us to buy such a big one! The smaller one across the room has space for everything, and if and when we ever move, this big one will be left behind, I'm sure. But to get to other mundane things, I did my own hair-do today. The front is OK, but I'll have to sit on the last pew at church tomorrow, the back is so bad. I'll have a professional do it over on Monday. We just had a few moments of panic, Russ lost his copy of the flight plans. But it turned up in the side pocket of his suitcase. So far that's all that's in the suitcase! He says he'll pack on Monday.

In the mood for the trip.

This morning I packed my bag for the trip, leaving out the crushable things. I got them all in the leather bag, which I like better than the others. It can be easily identified in the baggage room after a flight. After lunch we went to Karen's to take a copy of our flight plans, and then to Kaiser Pharmacy in Carlsbad. Since we were in the neighborhood, we went for a short walk at Tamarack Beach. I climbed the 25 steps and came back down, just to see if I can do steps, and I could! Kaye's exercises have paid off. I have a large new purse that will hold all my medications, etc.

A mixup about photos.

We were invited to Karen's for lunch, and Al was there, too. She had fixed a colorful nice lunch with a lemon dessert, which we all enjoyed. Terry was in San Diego at the aircraft carrier where he is guide for tourists. Afterwards we thought we were to help Karen with identifying photos she had of people. Well , it turned out she thought it was photos we had, and she was to help us identify ours. So, we didn't do anything about it, just laughed and didn't go home and get photos. When we did go home, it was to fertilize plants that had wilted in the hot weather we had been having, and then I went into my closet and picked out what I will pack for the trip to Bandon. We will be gone only 5 days, so it isn't much of a problem. Our medicines are important to take, though.

A trip to the San Diego Temple.

Karen picked us up at 9 a.m. , and it took us 75 minutes to go the 28 miles to the Temple. We went to one session, and I was too tired to do more. Afterwards I saw Cheiko Rogers, Harold and Elynor's daughter in law. She said Harold has a broken hip and Elynor (now 88) is lame, quite blind, and forgetful. They are going into the "Villas de Carlsbad" retirement home. We had lunch on the way home, and got here at 2 p.m. We rested a while and after dinner watched a section of the story of WW2 on TV, on the Bridge on the River Kwai. I haven't wanted to see it, and we haven't till now. I don't want to see any more of them. We had a friend who was a prisoner who worked there, a living skeleton. Russ saw him in the Philipines after he was freed by the US, and he didn't live long after that.

New Sandals

I went shopping for shoes today. I found some Dr. Scholes' but I wasn't too happy with them. So I went to the SAS store and got a new pair of sandals. Now I'm ready for next week's trip to Bandon. It cooled off about 10 degrees today, and it was a good thing. But we still used our air conditioner; it gives me a husky voice, but its worth it. We are getting ready to go to the Temple tomorrow, and that's about all we have done, except look at a lot of TV news. It's really discouraging, but it's better than the ordinary TV. It's interesting to hear about all the development up by the North Pole. I hope, though, that we can get the global warming slowed down, and that the melting of the snow and ice doesn't really take place.

A quiet Labor Day.

I just lost my blog I was working on. Oh well, here's at least part of it. It's been 95 degrees in the shade on our front porch. We have stayed mostly inside, and didn't go anywhere to celebrate Labor Day. Roy came to clean, and I washed sheets and towels our guests used, and our usual laundry. Russ watered the plants, and then we both just rested. and watched a little TV. Brittany, Bianca and Katelyn got back to the apartment in Pomona, OK. The freeways were jammed when they came down and when they went back. Tonight we will do our scripture reading on the computer, to see if it's easier that way.

A good visit.

Karen's guests left here about 8:30 a.m. , so we went to the first session of Church. We came home after that, because Brittany, Bianca and Katelyn were to arrive about 11. They called that they were delayed, and finally got here about 1:30. We talked a while and then went out to an early dinner. Later Karen came over and we all visited until it was getting dark. Brittany stored some things in our shed, and then they took a bookcase back with them to Bianca's apartment. Brittany and Katelyn will go back to Oregon after Brittany clears out her apartment. We appreciated their visit. It really made our day.

Beginning the weekend.

Karen brought her friends over about 10 p.m. (she said they would be late), and we talked with them and Karen for a while. They have gone to bed, and so will we, as soon as we are done with the computers. We had our usual day, my hair-do, and then home, because the traffic was so heavy. It's not much fun driving anywhere with so many cars on the roads over the Labor Day weekend.. We got ready for our guests, and then after our dinner we watched TV. We were watching "Brigadoon" when they came. We turned it right off, but everyone had seen it and enjoyed the music. We expect Brittany and Bianca tomorrow.