8.8.26 Dudds. Food. Home. Liver. Alaska.

Retired/Missionary Life. Sunday.

HAPPY SABBATH!!! Here! Have a Jesus Picture! He LOVES YOU!! And if you're wondering why He, the most perfect person ever to live on the Earth, needed to be baptized and how He was, let me know! I have some friends that would love to teach you about it!

First! We are safe from the fires. We moved out of Spokane in 2020 and live about 25 miles South. We are not directly impacted by the fires, just a touch smokey out. Many people are though. Stay safe and prayers for all.

We woke up in Renton with the goal of getting home by nightfall. First, we dressed up in our best church duds and found a congregation to visit and worship with. Then, back at the AirBnb, we packed up and hit the road. (Frivvy and Gussy were ecstatic when we told them we were going back home. They travel very well, but always love being home more.)

Not much happened on the trip home. Other than a nasty back up at Vantage. (Construction....) And seeing tons of cool sites. And hitting thick and eerie smoke at about Ritzville. And we did make it home before nightfall.

Great trip! Great family!

etired/Missionary Life. Monday.

We ran out of food. AGAIN!

So, we planned out our week, made up menus, prepared a shopping list, then drove to Rockford and had lunch (and played some Book of Mormon Rummy) at Harvest Moon. Then on to Plummer where we bought the groceries, drove back home, unloaded and put them away.

I also spent some time on the family books, reconciling myriad of medical bills, dealing with the insurance company for my truck, and emailing with Housing Stewards.

In the evening, I watched a pre-recorded football game. Miami vs Louisville. And then we attended a mission-wide Zoom meeting where we were counseled and taught and testified to.

I included a picture of the fire area. Complete devastation. So sad.

Retired/Missionary Life. Wednesday.

We stayed home all day and did things around the house. We need a day like that every once in a while. Even the dogs enjoyed the home day.

Scratched off my project list: mow the lawn, spray thistle, change out mask and filter on new CPAP, hang the new US flag, adjust the times on the flag lights, do up the books, pay bills, reconcile medical bills, book an RV campground in Rochester, Minnesota.

The Elders came for dinner. We fed them steak. They fed us a huge dose of the Spirit of God.

And they both like dogs.....

Tried to catch up on my reading and studying in the evening. Not very successful. Maybe tomorrow.........one can put stuff like that off when you are retired.

Retired/Missionary Life. Thursday.

WEEKLY KEEP HANNA ALIVE DAY!!

The alarm went off at 5:15am!!! Torture, especially for old people! But someone had an 8am appointment at the clinic in CDA. Ugh. I napped and read a bit while Hanna got an ultrasound of her head.

We did the McDrive thru for breakfast. Yum!! (McMuffin for me. Oatmeal for Hanna, in case you are curious...)

Then to the Cancer Clinic in Post Falls (after topping off with cheap Idaho gas...) where Hanna gave blood so they could test it to make sure she was healthy enough for her infusion (she was, always is...) and then the infusion itself. I put on my headphones and read while waiting for her.

Cancer Doctors have a sense of humor. See the picture.

They were fast, so we got out early. Skipped our lame sack lunches and went to The Chalet instead. We love that place because we are usually the youngest ones there. Toasted Cheese Sandwich for me, Liver and onions for Hanna. (I know, right??)

Then she went to her speech therapy while I sat in the truck and read and napped some more. Are you keeping track? That's 4 appointments in one day! (And I got caught up on my studies and even did tomorrow's studies too.)

Cool picture of the harvest and the smokey sunset. Enjoy! (cough! cough!)

Retired/Missionary Life. Friday.

Last Friday we drove to Republic to inspect a missionary apartment.

The prior Friday we were at Lake Roosevelt for the family reunion.

The Friday before that, we drove to Moscow to inspect missionary apartments.

And the Friday before that, we were in Libby Montana and Bonner Ferry to inspect missionary apartments there.

So, it felt good to just stay home today, Friday.

Stuff I knocked off my list: drained, cleaned and refilled the hot tub. Dusted the house top to bottom, eliminated two different yellowjacket nests (hopefully...), booked several campgrounds for our RV trip to Mayo Clinic coming up, and worked on Hanna's Mom's Estate's tax return.

And, because we live like we are going to continue to live and thus we do, (is that kinda like our motto??) I booked a cruise for next August to Alaska. Something to look forward to.

In the evening, we had time to watch an episode of Heartland. Sappy but somewhat entertaining family and horse show.

The boys wrestled, napped, wrestled, napped, and then wrestled some more.

Retired/Missionary Life. Saturday.

OLD FOLKS GO TO BREAKFAST DAY!! WOO HOO!

We took the backroads to The Harvester. Hanna snapped a lot of pictures of the farming excitement.

In the afternoon, we drove into a smoky Spokane and worshipped in the temple. And then continued on to Elk where Del and Ella provided us a nice dinner and good conversation.

We didn't stay long because of the Malden fire, west of where we live, and our neighbors saying embers were blowing into our town. But once home, the winds had died down and we didn't see any embers.

Gotta love this time of year!