12.20.25 Hawthorne Berries. Friendly Family Contest. Violins and Candles and Ice Cream

 Retired/Missionary Life. Sunday.

HAPPY SABBATH!! Here! Have a Jesus Picture!

We were up early enough to catch a great sunrise. Then off to the races. Branch Council Meeting where we discussed the needs of members of our congregation with the leadership of the branch (aka congregation). Sacrament Meeting. Men's Meeting. Missionary Correlation Meeting. Lunch was then consumed in the truck in the church parking lot....yummy sandwiches....while the boys watched closely. (While doing lunch, I took the boys for a "go out". There were small red berries everywhere in the parking lot and Gussy wolfed down a bunch of them before I caught him and got him to stop. Poisonous? Harmful to dogs? Hanna soon had it pulled up on Google. Hawthorne berries. Not harmful. But shouldn't eat too much or he could vomit or something. Sigh............ He never did though.) We had two lessons set up for the afternoon, but both fell through.

We then trekked to Elk to visit with Del and Ella and have dinner with them. They are doing well. She has her new bookkeeping business up and running. And he is busy couriering packages all across Northern Spokane. Their cat still is the queen.

Got back home in time to do some reading and studying. Full, busy day. Pero, asi es...

Retired/Missionary Life. Monday.

Happy Revlimid Day!! This is the day we are grounded to the house waiting for the FedEx Dude to show up with Hanna's expensive and deadly (especially to cancer) Chemotherapy pills, that MUST be signed for. FedEx Dude showed up in the morning, so there was no worry this time around.

But this is a happy day! Not only because more cancer cells are about to be slaughtered without mercy, but because we get a lot done around the house.

- Study and reading gig.

- Took the boys for their walk (after the rain stopped...)

- Prepared a lesson for use tomorrow.

- Booked a Carribean Cruise for January of 2027 with some of my siblings. (Grok helped pick the deal and the room. We're looking forward to it.)

- Planned out our crazy busy week, created delicious menus, made up a detailed shopping list, typed it into the Safeway App, pushed Submit and watched money literally leave my bank account.

After all that excitement, we went into town, picked up the groceries, and attended a Senior Missionary Pot Luck Family Home Evening Christmas Party. They brought in several great performers that presented a Christmas concert to us. Very nice! And we ate tons. There were like 26 Senior Missionaries there. We make a great army!

Got home just in time for the Mission-wide Family Home Evening Zoom Meeting. And first thing in the morning, we'll go to District Council with the missionaries. Three meetings literally in a row!! Blessings, right?

Pictures:

- FedEx Dude delivering even though it was raining like crazy and wind blowing like crazy too.

- Another Reindeer at the Highlands. Seriously. It IS one.

- Missed this picture last night. Frivvy hiding behind Del so he is protected from the large teeth of Molly the Chiuaua. (Goldens generally are not known for their bravery...)

- One of the many treats we ate at tonight's party. Buckeyes! They're kinda like Reese's, but better.

Retired/Missionary Life. Wednesday.

Jesus did not come last night, but it felt like He might there for a while. WHAT A STORM!!! And our family had a contest to see who had the most wind damage. See results below.

After a breakfast of Taco Omelettes, Hanna baked a ton of goodies and I did the family books up. In the evening, we met up with the Spanish Missionaries that we serve with and we went out caroling to some of the members of our congregation. And giving them plates of cookies. Great experience!

Now for that contest...

- Greg and Hanna: Our garbage can blew over and we had several Christmas Lights and decorations get blown down.

- Justin has been awake since 3am this morning; the storm was so noisy. No reportable damage, but there were two big trucks that got blown over just down the highway from Pullman.

- Del and Ella have not had power since last night. Brrrrrrr........ And several burned up trees came down, one blocking their driveway. Plus Del's FedEx Plane was delayed and he couldn't start his courier route until late and so had a real late arrival back home and Ella had to deal with the lack of heat by herself. (Trust me, she can handle it.)

- Dominick's place sustained a mudslide closing his driveway, plus a bunch of trees came down, one barely missing their home.

- And we included Maria since she lives just South of Seattle where the flooding is. She said they have not been impacted and she's just hanging out with her foster puppy.

So who won? Who had the most wind damage? I vote us! That garbage can is heavy and it was tough for an old guy like me to go out in the 70 mph wind to retrieve it. Do I get a trophy??

Retired/Missionary Life. Thursday.

Hey, another exciting Medical Day!! Woo Hoo for being OLD!

First appointment, the Prosthetic place to have Hanna's leg braces repaired. I remained in the truck with the boys while she went in. I don't know who was the most bored, me or Gussy. At least I had a book to read.

Then to Red Robin for lunch. And yes, we played Rummy with our Book of Mormon playing cards. The waitress saw our name badges and asked what sort of business meeting we were attending. Third time in a row that restaurant staff has asked that question. "Oh no...we're MISSIONARIES!....."

Next up was the Cancer Clinic. (Notice the cool picture of Hanna dancing in front of the sign at the clinic. Who dances at a Cancer Clinic? Someone who is alive still and glad to be!)

It snowed while we were in there. The road home was fairly treachorous, but the truck handled the slushy, icy snow very well.

At home, we watched a prerecorded football game. "Brawl of the Wild" Rival Game between Montana State and Montana. Great game! Great rivalry! They rematch Saturday in the National Playoff Semifinals. (Note here that I am NOT a Seahawk fan.....so that game did not interest me. Although I do like Puka Nakua.)

I had both dogs begging for popcorn this time during the game. Yes, I shared. Even with Hanna.

Finally, why did I buy nine bottles of Sugar Free Cocktail Sauce? Because I'm old. And can't read. Or operate a computer properly. I love Cocktail Sauce, but needed to find one that didn't make my blood sugar sky rocket. Found one on Amazon. It was delicious. So, to save the Amazon Delivery Dude some trips, I ordered three bottles more. At least I thought I did. What I actually ordered were three sets of three bottles each. Good thing I like the stuff....

Retired/Missionary Life. Friday.

Yessss!!! Old people go to breakfast day!! One of my favorite days because I don't have to cook! We went to Harvest Moon in Rockford for some omelettes. And a few games of Book of Mormon Playing Cards Rummy, which I all won.

We walked at the Rockford Cemetery. Beautiful day out, but a bit cold, especially when the wind blew.

Spent the morning reading and studying. I worked on the family books and some tax planning in the afternoon. (I refuse to have to pay taxes....plan to keep the taxable income below the filing amount.)

Hamburger (Old People) Steak for dinner.

And then we had our annual Christmas Date. We attended a "strings" Christmas Concert by Candlelight. Held at Riverside Place which used to be the Masonic Temple. Great venue! Incredible performance by four concert violinists. Beautiful Christmas Hymns. This is the location where Hanna and I went on our first date 14 years ago, so it had some special meaning to be in the building again.

The Christmas Celebration extended to getting ice cream, never a bad idea.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Retired/Missionary Life. Saturday.

Today we ran to town again. 7th time in 7 days. Before the mission, we tried to keep it to once a week (excluding church). Even before we retired, we kept it to 3 times a week by working from home one day a week and only working 4 days. But, it's all for a good cause, right?

We spent most of the day studying, getting caught up on stuff around the house, topping off the hot tub (water level went down fast during the wind storms.....does it evaporate quicker in the wind??), relighting the fireplace pilot light that the wind blew out, stuff like that.

Then we ran into town to worship at the temple. Great night there as a daughter in a family we are working with worshipped in the temple for the very first time.

Ribs Buffet at Longhorn after that. Yum!!!!! The only thing wrong with a buffet is there is no wait time for service and thus no Rummy.

Here have a picture of the boys. This was taken just after their walk. They always become accessorized floor rugs after their walks...