We headed up to Canada on the 23rd of June and went as far as Cardston where we stayed for three days spending time with my mom and dad. It was awesome to be there and we had a great visit. You can't go to Cardston without stopping for lunch for Mongolian at Ming's Garden on Main Street. It was great to have ginger beef again. I don't know why no one in the U.S. can make ginger beef but it seems to be a foreign concept here.
We took a ride in the country and out to Grandma Olsen's old ranch. It was great to see the old house where my mom grew up and the remains of the two room farmhouse where I lived the first year of my life. Then we headed out to the Beazer Graveyard to visit my grandparents graves. It's been so, so long since I had been there, it was nice to see that it's being well kept and cared for.
Mom had a rather hard time there but she seems to be having a hard time about most things these days. Her memory is getting worse everyday. At one point she asked me who I was again and I told her my name was Dori. She said that that was interesting because she also had a daughter named Dori. I told her I know, it was me and that I was her daughter. Then she asked me if her mother knew that I was getting married. I told her she had better know because not only was I already married for almost thirty-two years, but I have four children and seven grandchildren. That seemed to throw her a little bit but she just smiled and I hugged her. It's so hard to see her regress so badly. My dad says that she thinks she's in high school again and talks about getting ready for dances and dates and what not. He is so patient and kind to her. I am so grateful to him for taking such good care of her. I know it must be extremely hard to do.
After spending three or four days in Cardston we headed to Calgary to visit with Cyndi and Kevin and their family. We got there on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning we headed for Invermere, British Columbia to spend four days at their condo there. It was so great! We took drives to see the beautiful country, went on a four-wheel ride into the deep woods and saw deer, bears, wolves, foxes, you name it. If it was natural to the area - we saw it. It was amazing.
We went down to the hot tubs every night to relax before going to bed and it was so good on my knees. I slept like a baby every night. It was hard to come back home and face the same old grind of real life again. I'm so grateful to Cyndi and Kevin for taking us under their wings and letting us use their resources to gear up to face the world again. It was a well earned vacation and spending time with them, being able to talk to them about anything was very therapeutic. I'm forever in their debt.
After we got home the doctor called and scheduled my knee replacement surgery for August 14th. I'm really excited, NOT! but it has to be done. I really wanted to have it done in July so I'd be ready to go back to school but if I had I wouldn't have been able to go back to Canada in two weeks for Grandpa Cameron's 80th birthday celebration. Adam and Brittany and Brooke and Kade and their families are going also and Amy sent for her passport just yesterday so if her's comes she and Alie will go too. Cyndi has to stay and work, and Jamon will just be starting work for his bother driving truck. I wish she could go but I understand, I just hope she isn't too upset after we are gone.
Besides my teacher re-treat and our trip to Canada I have been busy around the house as well. I got crazy one afternoon and painted the cabinet next to and over my fridge. It looked pretty good so I decided to go for it and painted another cabinet the next day. By then I was tired of it and was wishing I had never started the stupid project. I got ambitious the next day and painted another cabinet and then stayed up all night getting the rest of them done. What A Pain! I'm just glad it's finally done. I went to bed at 6:30 that morning and slept until about 11:00. Not a good night sleep to say the least and since then I've been having trouble sleeping at night. I hate getting in bad habits like that. It takes forever to get back on track again.
Andie Mae Turns One!
Last Sunday we celebrated little Andie's first birthday. She is such a gorgeous little thing. I just love her to bits. She was a real little trooper and opened presents like a pro. She is walking, rather running all over the place and she's such an itty bitty thing that it's incredible just trying to keep up with her. she is truly a sweetheart.
This Sunday is Vickie's 60th birthday surprise celebration in Utah and we all got invited so I guess Jennifer will come down here and then we'll pick up Cherri and Jeannie and drive down to surprise her. It will only be a short road trip. It's about 90 minutes down and 90 minutes back and if we stay an hour or so we should be back before supper time. Should be fun.
On Monday night I'm having a barbeque in the back yard as a sort of going away party for Rodger and Jeannie. They are going on a mission next month to Oklaholma. It's a year long mission and we'll surely miss them. Maybe we'll have to have another barbeque welcoming them home next year, who knows?
Anyway with my knee surgery next month that will about round out my summer. I guess all in all I've been able to do a lot of stuff this year, even more so than other summers. It's been a busy summer but a really fun one.
