Rockin' His Rollin'

Cheryl needed my help with Kessler for a couple of days last week. While there, he performed two new tricks for me. First, he smiled at me for the first time and tried to talk to me. That was pretty cool!

Second, after feeding and burping him, I laid him on the play mat for some tummy time. Within 15 seconds, he rolled from his tummy to his back. What??? I was so shocked by this! I didn't think a baby that young could roll. He was a day shy of 6 weeks old! I thought it was just a fluke, so I put him on his tummy again. Just like before, he rolled over to his back. He did it twice more before I had to leave for home. What a big boy he is getting to be!

I Can Do All Things Through Christ Which Strengtheneth Me

Well, I have the first week of being a member of Lancaster 2nd Branch under my belt. Our membership was read in today and we were welcomed as new members of the Branch.

Although I didn't get much out of my meetings (Gospel Doctrine & Sacrament Meeting) today, I could still feel the spirit. Listening to speakers of a language you don't understand is kind of difficult. It's a good thing that my testimony is strong and that I have a desire to serve the Lord wherever He feels I am needed, or I would be tempted to bail. I do, however, hope it gets easier as time goes on. I'm so thankful that Church is only 2 hours now, instead of 3 like it used to be!

I keep telling myself these two things: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." and "I can do hard things!" By exercising faith, keeping a positive attitude, and not giving up, I know I can be successful in this calling. Please, Lord, bless me with the gift of tongues! That is my prayer! 

No Hablo Espanol!!!

One week ago today, Alan and I met with our Stake President, Bryan Crawley, where he extended a new calling to us. Along with two other couples from the Stake, we were called to be special ministers to the members of the struggling Lancaster 2nd Branch, which is the Spanish-speaking Branch. Gulp!!! I don't speak Spanish!!! Even so, we both accepted the new calling, which will be for a period of two years. We were set apart last Sunday, August 11, 2019. 

This means, however, that we will no longer be members of the Somerset Ward...a ward we have been members of for many, many years. That makes me sad, but I am ready to serve the Lord in any way he deems necessary. If he wants us in the Spanish Branch, I am ready to take the plunge and I am ready to work with these two amazing couples: Morris & Mary Smith and Michael & Debbie Martinez.

Thank goodness Alan speaks Spanish. Most of the members of the branch speak English, but all of the meetings will be in Spanish. Therefore, if I want to get anything out of the meetings, I need to learn Spanish. I do know some, but very little. I plan to spend some time every day learning the language. They say it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks...well, we will see about that!

Trial And Error

Life is full of trials, some emotional, some physical, some financial, or any number of other possibilities. Trials are meant for us to grow. Not sure what I'm supposed to learn from my two most recent back-to-back physical trials, but maybe I will eventually figure it out.

On August 2nd, I discovered that I was having a lot of discomfort in my right jaw. Upon further inspection, I noticed that it was swollen as well. The swelling is evident in this picture.

Every time I ate, which would activate my salivary gland, my jaw would hurt like crazy. Hmmm...what could cause this? I researched these symptoms on-line and found that I could possibly have a salivary gland obstruction. I decided to go to urgent care. I'm glad I did. I did, indeed, have an infected and possibly blocked salivary gland. I was given an antibiotic and a steroid. After about 5 days, the swelling and pain was gone. What a relief!

Exactly one week later, my right thumb swelled up and was extremely sore. I could not use or even bend the thumb. I found special brace at WalMart which I have been wearing to minimize the movement of my thumb. It has helped alleviate some of the pain.

I also made an appointment at my Dr's office and saw the nurse practitioner. He suspected that I had gout in my joint. Gout is similar to arthritis and is caused by a build-up of uric acid. I was prescribed an anti-inflammatory drug (non-steroidal) and they also drew my blood to determine whether I had gout or not.

I had a follow-up appointment this morning to get the results of the blood test. As it turns out, I do not have gout. It is more likely that I have tendinitis. The pain and swelling has gone down over the past three days, but if it  persists, I need to have an x-ray and MRI on the thumb. I'm hoping to avoid more medical intervention. At this point, I'm going to just wait and see what happens. I'm hopeful that it will heal on its own.

Pics Of Little Man Kessler

Alan and I enjoyed spending about 5 days helping Cheryl and Parker with Kessler. Babies grow so fast, so it was nice to get to know Kessler while he is still very tiny!

Here is a selection of photos taken at about 2 weeks of age (or less)

The evening we left Ladera Ranch, Parker's parents joined us for dinner. We were able to take a 3-generation picture of Kessler with both sets of grandparents.

This is Bruce (Grandpa Stronk) meeting Kessler for the first time.

Old Town And The Zoo

A week after Cheryl gave birth to Kessler, Alan and I were able to take one last summer vacation to San Diego for a couple of days before going to Ladera Ranch to help Cheryl with Kessler while she recovered from her c-section.

It had been three years since we had visited San Diego. That's when we spent a couple of days there as a family prior to Cheryl's wedding on July 9th, 2016. We like San Diego. 

We were able to visit Old Town where we took a tour of The Mormon Battalion Historical Site. Although we were the only people on the tour, it was still nice and was a great reminder of our Church history at that time.

While in Old Town, Alan and I each found a home to adopt which fits us perfectly.

I adopted "Burton House"...

...and Alan adopted "Bushyhead House" because of his incontrovertible bushy head.

We ended the day by eating dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Old Town called Miguel's. I ordered the Tostada Grande, which turned out to be much bigger than I had anticipated. I think I could only finish about 1/4 of it.

The chips dipped in their special cheese sauce is to die for!

The next day, we decided to go to the zoo.

 San Diego has a very nice, but large zoo. However, it's easy to see the whole thing if you take the bus tour, which we did.

Some highlights were:

1. Watching the elephants get physical therapy and be groomed.

2. This tiger gave us quite a show before he laid down right in front of us.

3. Big crocks ready to snap!

4. Big black gorilla

 5. Big Rhinos

6. The tall giraffe's. 

The babies were so cute! 

We might never be in San Diego again, so we appreciated this trip down memory lane.