Flowers, Flowers, and more Flowers

 Every year we have plants/flowers that die in our yard. It is time consuming and expensive to always be replacing them, so we decided to "plant" fake flowers in most of our outdoor pots in order to bring a little more color into our yard.

We started with the two pots at the base of the stairs leading from our kitchen into the back yard.

Here is a close-up of one of the pots.

We then moved a pot that was in the back yard near our vegetable garden to the front sidewalk and filled it with the same type of flowers used at the base of the stairs.

I believe this looks great in the new location.

We then got pansies to "plant" in the two large pots next to the cement bench on our small front patio.

This was a large project, but we are thrilled with the result. These new flowers definitely fulfill our desire to bring color to our yard. I just hope that the silk flowers and plastic stems hold up under hot summer weather. They are supposedly UV resistant, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that they will last for years to come.  Hoping for the best!

Crop Experiment Yields Results

 I am the first person to admit that I'm not a gardener. My dad was a great gardener and grew much of what our family ate during the year. I should have paid more attention to my dad's methods growing up, but I was uninterested in learning the art of gardening, I guess.

When we moved into our home in Riverton, it came with some very nice garden boxes. I considered this my opportunity to try my hand at gardening. Some produce has worked out well, while others not so much. Our best successes have been with tomatoes, zucchini, and strawberries. We have had loads of tomatoes and zucchini to use and share with others this year. I have made a ton of zucchini bread this summer.

Some gardening failures have been corn, carrots, peas, lettuce, cantaloupe, watermelon, and string beans. We did get some use from them, but not a great success. This last Spring, I decided that I wanted to see what it would be like to harvest potatoes, so I quartered a red potato that I had that had a few roots growing from it, planted the pieces into the garden box, made sure it got water and fertilizer, and waited to see what happened. I read that potatoes are ready to harvest when the leaves on the plant start to turn brown. Seeing brown leaves this week, I decided to just yank a plant out of the garden to see if there were any potatoes and a couple came into view. I was impressed! My idea to bury (plant) the potato pieces worked well.

Yesterday, I pulled up the rest of the roots and this is the result. We harvested way more potatoes than I ever anticipated just from four small pieces.

Last night, I made garlic mashed potatoes for dinner with them just to test the flavor.

They turned out delicious and went well with a garden salad and some baby back ribs that I purchased at Peterson's Grocery Store.

We have plenty of potatoes for us to eat and extra to share with others.

Speaking of gardening, in the scriptures we read that we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). That scripture is in reference to the law of the harvest or the law of consequences. Just as planting seeds in the ground produces a harvest of the same kind, our actions -- good or bad-- produce corresponding results. If someone sows kindness, faith, and obedience to God, the "harvest" will yield blessings, peace, and spiritual growth. If someone sows selfishness, sin, or neglect, the results will eventually be sorrow, loss, or regret.

I'm so glad that I have been given the chance to try gardening here in Utah, along with harvesting fruit from our fruit trees. It has brought me a lot of joy. It is much easier to be successful here than the Lancaster desert where we used to live. The law of the harvest is in full swing here.

Number Ten On The Way

 Three days ago, Cheryl dropped Kessler off at school and then she, Wesley, and Lainey came over to spend the morning with us. It was so much fun to have them in our home. They are such a joy to have around. Of course, we wish Kessler could have visited us also. He just started 1st grade. 

While the girls were having fun in the hot tub, Parker joined us in the back yard so we could enjoy some donuts together. 

These were very special donuts  for two reasons. 

1 - they were delicious donuts.

2 - they were used to make a big announcement.

Wait...what did that sign on the lid say again?????

Unbeknownst to us, their whole visit was to share the good news that they have baby #4 on the way! So cool, and such a surprise. I was so shocked by the surprise that I didn't even take any pictures of Cheryl & Parker together. Cheryl is already in the 2nd trimester, so hopefully this pregnancy will go by quickly.

We are thrilled that our 10th grandbaby is on the way. Cheryl has felt for a while (even before Lainey was born) that another boy was waiting to join their family. That would be so cool if this is a little boy, but if its a girl, that's totally fine, too. They are going to wait until the birth to find out what gender it is. Cheryl is 42 years old, so the clock is ticking. This will be their last child.

A Thespian In The Family? or The News About Newsies

 When I was in Arizona a couple of weeks ago visiting family there, Jared told me that his High School was going to be putting on a production of "Newsies" in November and that he was planning to try out for one of the adult parts. Jared in a musical??? Nobody in our family has ever expressed interest in performing on a stage. 

Some of my siblings growing up participated in musicals, Kent was in "Carousel"; Janice was in "My Fair Lady", "Bye-Bye Birdie", and "The Sound of Music"; Gayle was in "Brigadoon" and a Japanese musical, but I don't know the title; Phil was in "West Side Story."

Last week, Jared tried out for the part of Joseph Pulitzer, the owner of the newspaper. During my visit there, I heard Jared practicing the song he would be singing for the audition, and a little bit of the speaking part. I have to tell you, I thought he did really well. I was impressed. He's never performed in front of an audience that I know of, (except for Karaoke) so I wondered how he'd do in his audition. Would he be a nervous wreck, or cool and calm? Evidently, he wasn't nervous at all.

There were a couple of male teachers who tried out for the part of Joseph Pulitzer. However, Jared, evidently, had more of a stage presence than the other teacher who had a great voice but not as great of stage presence, so Jared got the part. Jared did well with the singing and the acting. Who would have thought???

He announced that he got the part by sending the family members this photo:

We are all thrilled that Jared got the part and that he will make history in our family by being the first person to perform in a musical on stage.

Jared told me that he's not nervous about performing, which is good. He's only worried about all of the hours it will take for rehearsals, which will pull him away from home and being able to help Catherine with Benjamin. I know Catherine is happy for Jared, but I know she also depends on him to give her a break from Benjamin once he gets home from work. I know it will all work out in the long run.

I believe many members of the family are planning to go to Arizona in November to watch Jared perform. There are four performances. Should be a lot of fun.

Surviving The Heatwave - Visiting My Arizona Grandchildren

I decided to make a trip to Arizona last Thursday to not only get reacquainted with my three Arizona grandchildren, but to also babysit Benjamin for Jared and Catherine so they could go out and celebrate their first anniversary on August 9th. Unfortunately, I picked a very hot time to go. It was 116 degrees the day I arrived and stayed very hot every day I was there. I believe a new record was set on August 7th, my first day there.

The last time I held Benjamin, he was only a week old. He's now five months old and is growing and changing so quickly.

One of my favorite things to do is rock a baby to sleep and feed a hungry baby. The mother instinct inside me hasn't left yet.

Success!

On Friday night, Jared, Catherine, Benjamin, and I went out to eat at the Queen Creek Olive Mill.

It's a quaint little place where they process their own olive oils. We decided to order a pizza and some brochette to share. I was able to experience some tastes that I've never had before.

It was a lot of fun to spend the night out together.

The next day, I picked Milo and Clara up from their mother's home and took them to see a movie called "The Bad Guys 2". It was at the Majestic Theater in Gilbert. It was a cool experience because we were able to order food from our theater seats and they had waiters bring the food right to our seats. Expensive, but fun! Afterwards, we went to Menchie's for some frozen yoghurt. It was delicious, and it was fun to sit and chat with Milo & Clara.  They started a new year of school a couple of weeks ago and I found out that Clara is in the orchestra and is learning to play the violin. She's also going to start cheerleading again. Milo is now in Jr. High and still plays the trombone. Even though the outside temperature was about 111 degrees that day, Milo wore a hoodie (even inside the hot car). Crazy! I couldn't talk him into taking it off. I found out from both Kyle & Emily that I guess it's a "thing" for kids that age to wear hoodies even during the summer. I can't figure out why, but I guess they do it for some reason.

On Saturday, it was Jared & Catherine's 1st anniversary. Catherine surprised Jared by decorating their bed with balloons and pictures of their lives together. Very cute idea, and Jared was very surprised. Jared bought Catherine some flowers, but I forgot to take a picture of them. Sweet gesture.

I enjoyed being able to stay with Jared, Catherine, and Benjamin for a few days. They are happily married and love being new parents. Unfortunately, Kyle was out of town the whole time I was there, so I didn't get to see him. Maybe next time. 

Dripping Rock

(This is the only picture I took at the Burton Reunion!)

After attending the annual Burton reunion last Saturday, some members of our family decided to stop to see a place close to where I grew up called "Dripping Rock." Back when I was a kid, the general population didn't really know about it. It wasn't a "thing", but our family and neighbors sure knew about it and we visited it frequently during the summer. Back then, we had to access it by entering at the bridge going over the river and walk up the river to where it's located. Now, however, they have a paved parking lot and a paved path to allow visitors easier access to it.

The trail leading to "Dripping Rock" is only about a 1 mile walk round trip. Even though it's short, I opted to ride my mobility scooter. Wesley rode on my lap and Parker carried Lainey on his back. Both girls loved their rides. Everyone else had to walk.

Alan and I didn't get into the water, but the rest of them did. It was a hot day, so they said that the water felt good.

The place is called "Dripping Rock" because water drips into the river from the side of the hill and it looks like it is coming from rock.

As kids, Jane and I would go to dripping rock and pretend that fairies were living there. We felt like we were in a magical fairyland. We absolutely loved it there.

I had two kids on my lap on the way back to the car. I could hardly see where I was going. 

This was Alan's first time to see the magical place I frequented as a child. I'm pretty sure we will make it back there again soon.

Back to Back to Back Biking Accidents

Last Monday, July 28th, my brother, Neal, was involved in a trail e-bike accident.  I spoke with him on the phone today to see how he was doing and to find out how the accident occurred. I found out that this was really his 3rd accident in recent weeks. Neal had surgery a few months ago to remove his knee after it became septic with bacteria and he has not been able yet to have the surgery to implant a new knee on his left leg. He just has a plastic piece inserted in there. He can barely bend that knee. However, he decided to see if he could ride his bike even with a bad knee and tried it out in his back yard. It didn't go so well and he fell and broke four ribs on his right side. A few weeks later, he was in his boat and caught a fish, but in trying to land the fish, he tripped over an ice chest and landed on those same broken ribs and re-broke them. He never did go to the Emergency Room for those. Then, last week while biking down a trail called Cow's Tummy, he had an accident when he was about 4/5 of the way down the trail. On that trail, the curves were reinforced with berms. While going around one curve, and not going too fast, instead of curving, his bike went straight up a berm and flipped Neal onto his left side. He laid there for a while in pain and knew he had to get back onto his bike even though his elbow was bleeding quite a bit. Fortunately, he wasn't riding the trail alone that day. A friend, Kathy, that he sometimes fishes with was there, too, but she was quite a ways ahead of him. When she looked back and couldn't see him coming, she waited for a while and not seeing him, decided to go looking for him. By that time, Neal had gotten back onto his bike and started heading down the trail. He saw her coming after him, but yelled at her to move out of the way because he said he couldn't stop. They both arrived at the parking lot where Kathy, a retired physician, checked him out. Neal felt his clavicle and could feel the bones moving so he knew it was broken. Kathy took him to the hospital to get checked out and Lynda met him there. It turns out that he broke more than his clavicle. He also broke seven ribs on his left side. Neal refused to stay in the hospital. Evidently, he is slowly recovering from his injuries, but is in a lot of pain.

The next day, on Tuesday, my brother-in-law, Scott, was riding his e-bike somewhere in Bountiful on pavement. Unfortunately, the road had recently been resurfaced and as Scott was trying to make a right-hand turn, his bike slid out from under him on some loose gravel and he went down hard. Someone saw Scott's accident and went to help. He called Gayle so she went and picked Scott up and took him to the Emergency Room at the Hospital in Bountiful. It turns out that Scott broke seven ribs on his right side (both front and back). He also broke his collarbone in many places, his shoulder blade, and the acromion (on the shoulder blade). The acromion plays a crucial role in shoulder movement. Fortunately, no surgery was needed to repair any of the broken bones. The orthopedic surgeon thinks that Scott will heal without surgical intervention, so that's good. Scott needed to stay in the hospital for a couple of nights, but is now at home trying to recover from his injuries.

I think it's crazy that both Neal & Scott had similar accidents just one day apart. Because of these two accidents, Neither Neal (and Lynda) or Gayle (and Scott) could attend our annual Burton Reunion held last Saturday (August 2nd). Gayle and Phil were in charge so she felt bad about not being able to attend, but Scott needed her to be close to help him with his needs.

Both patients have a long healing road ahead of them. We are all hoping that they can heal quickly and get their lives back to normal again.

REMIND ME TO NEVER GET ON A BIKE! 

********************

UPDATE: (August 5, 2025)

My siblings and I received a text from Ann this morning letting us know that yesterday while on vacation in Vail Colorado, Kent and Matt were just starting out on a bike path and it had a sharp turn and Kent lost his balance and tipped over, resulting in a broken right hip.  Unfortunately, this is his second time to fall off his bike and break a hip. It was his left hip last time. Fortunately, for him yesterday, there were a couple of construction workers right there at the accident site with a hydraulic truck. They lowered the tailgate so Kent could get up and sit on it until the ambulance arrived. Tender mercy, for sure.

Kent is scheduled for surgery today to replace the broken hip. Looks like the hex on our family continues to bring bad luck. Three bike accidents in just one week. Unreal!

I have issued a family decree that no family members over the age of 60 are allowed to get on a bicycle ever again. Enough is enough! 💔 I, somehow, don't think it will be obeyed, though. It's so hard to hold these men back from biking since they love it so much, but there comes a time when you need to weigh the enjoyment vs. the risk.

[Here's a crazy coincidence for you - Kent broke his left hip on his mother-in-law's birthday 7 or 8 years ago and now he broke his right hip on her birthday again -- August 4th! What are the chances of that happening? Ann said "If I didn't know how much my mother loved Kent, I'd wonder if she was up to something!"] (Ann's mother is deceased)