Happy Birthday to Me!

Dean and Margaret Hooks will enter the MTC in Provo (for a short stay) on August 11 in preparation for their 6th mission, so decided – or so they told me – to throw themselves a little farewell party on the evening of Friday, July 11 at the Vintage Clubhouse.  I had every reason to think this was a legitimate invitation … but when I walked in at 7:30 I was greeted by a HUGE “surprise” and a rousing rendition of the Happy Birthday song!  As it turns out, the party was a celebration of the 41^st anniversary of my 29^th birthday! 

Kelly and Gary did most of the organizing, but Stacy, Rick, Danielle, Kendi, Whitney, Michael and Lilly and Larry were all there to lend a hand and sing loudly!  Besides family members, there were many friends we have known for years as well as lots of members of the Bloomington 7^th Ward and a handful of members of the St. George Rotary Club.  The food was tasty and plentiful and the company was delightful.  And, I was TOTALLY surprised!!!

Michael and Lilly had to leave early on Saturday and Stacy and her family had plans for the day, so the rest of us jumped in our cars and drove to Cedar City for the July Jamboree, including an amazing car show – which Larry particularly enjoyed.  It was HOT in Cedar City but nowhere close to the 110+ degree summer day in St. George.  Larry was shocked by the heat and was certain his friends back in Seattle would dispute his claim of triple digits so he documented it with a picture

We spent Saturday evening sorting Mother’s jewelry and getting it ready for an estate sale.  Sounds boring, but it was actually a fun time together.

Sunday was quiet and, in Larry’s opinion, boring … but we got in a few laughs and I enjoyed his company.

It was a lovely weekend and a better-than-I-expected birthday.  Thanks to everyone who helped make it a special celebration.  I love you!

Increase in Utility Costs Results in Rioting

The Church in Linden, Guyana is still, very much in its infancy.  Priesthood leaders are almost non-existent, so missionaries do much of the work necessary to keep the organization up and functioning.  Weather plays a big part in church attendance.  When its raining, the members who normally would walk to church remain at home, not being able to afford the cost of cab fare.  In these circumstances, attendance at Sacrament meeting might be only about 10-15 people! 

However, unlike other small branches in 3^rd world countries, the Church in Linden had a nice building … until Guyana Power and Light suddenly announced a huge increase in the cost of their utility to the very poor people throughout the country.  The result was several days of rioting – and inexplicably burning down buildings here, there and everywhere – in protest, including the building housing the Linden Branch of the Church, which we attended numerous times in our 14 months in Guyana.

4th is Week of Fun and Family

The first week of July 2014 began with a surprise visit with Whitney which included pleasant, animated conversation about her new job as inventory controller with Subway, as well as about puppies and kittens.  We enjoyed seeing her - although we didn't get a picture - even if it was just for a couple of hours.  Soon after, Tylre, Jaeson and 13-month-old Guillermo (nicknamed "Memo") came to town.  We would have loved to have them stay over with us, but we got to spend a couple of hours catching up.  Allysa, Daxton and Bentley joined us the next morning, and after a breakfast of Grandpa's waffles (which Memo really liked) we moved the party to the St. George Town Square.  The water park was surprisingly busy at 11 a.m. since the temperature on this July day was already well over 100 degrees.

On Independence Day, we had breakfast in the park with our next door neighbors.  Later in the day we barbecued hamburgers with Stacy, Taisley and Danielle (fireman Rick had to work) then saw "Earth to Echo" - an obvious Disney re-make of "ET" before joining thousands of residents at the park of the traditional fireworks show (during which Rick was called out twice!)

It was a week of fun, food, film, fireworks ... and family.  It doesn't get much better than this!