We attended our first Family Home Evening group last Monday at Harker’s home. They are the grandparents of one of our nursery children. We enjoyed talking about the Come Follow Me lesson and later shared refreshments. One of the couples, the Walkers, have their mission papers in process and are waiting to hear where their next assignment will be. I am so excited for them.

Our days are spent sorting and organizing. Erik discovered that the trim on our chimney chase has rotted away because of water dumping onto the cement board trim. Now, he is on the hunt for new trim to replace it with.

We have two printers and both seemed to be dead in the water. My approach to everything is to have a chat with the Lord about stuff that I need help with. So, after praying and what I call, laying on of hands, I got the Epson Ecotank printer running again. If any of you know, if those printers aren’t used regularly, the print head clogs up and needs some work. Well, this printer has been sitting idle for 14 months! With prayer and effort, that printer is working. Then, Erik was struggling with his printer. I ordered more ink cartridges and he was installing them. Trouble came knocking and he gave up in frustration. I knew that it was going to be a job for me, hahaha!

Thursday was a very busy day that ended strangely but well. Erik had our new over-the-range microwave being delivered, we also were waiting on another delivery and thus the day began with Erik dismantling the old microwave. My darling man, lowered all the cabinets in the kitchen when we built this place because as you know, I am vertically challenged. That meant that the microwave was closer to the stovetop than we would have liked. The plastic housing on the door of the microwave started breaking down because of the heat from the stove. Plus I couldn’t use my steam juicer on the stove because there wasn’t enough room. I ended up using the side burner on the barbeque to use my juicer and my can cooker. After 15 years, it was time to replace it. He found a slim model that gave more space between the microwave and the stove. He also needs to redo the tiles of the backsplash. Thankfully, Erik bought extra tiles and edging, so we are good to go. I say that like it’s a team effort, but the reality is that Erik will do the tiling job.

We also had a computer technician come to our house with Erik’s fixed laptop and to have him take a look at mine. I am typing this blog on a loaner laptop while mine is getting a spa treatment. Jason the computer guy, was also trying to help Erik, the house was a disaster with the vacuum hose out while Erik is cleaning up all the dust and wood shavings as the job progressed. At long last the microwave was installed, Erik had his laptop up and running and mine was packed away for it’s cleaning.

After having supper, we headed to Red Deer to give our mission report to the High Council for the Red Deer Stake. I messed up the dates and we were a week early. Dressed up with no place to go, because anywhere I would want to go was closed, so we drove home. It was a lovely evening and as we drove we saw storm clouds rolling around but what a day! We will go back to report this week.

Erik decided to do something that he said he would never do and that is: install air conditioning in our home. It turns out that we really enjoyed the air conditioning in New York. On Friday, the installers came and we had a day of our home getting an uplift of cool air. As the warmer weather comes, I will really enjoy sleeping in a cool bedroom. The past couple of nights, I have woken in the middle of the night and found the air way too warm.

My UV resistant flowers arrived from Amazon and I was looking forward to a nice day to get them installed in our front planters. I discovered this type of flower while we were living in Calgary. Our front planters received zero rain and full sun. I ordered some and loved that it looked pretty and required no effort besides arranging them. Our home is navy blue so I ordered flowers in pinks and purples. The packages also came with greenery.

Sunday was our day to speak in sacrament meeting. I was so grateful for those who came to listen to our talks and to those who joined in on Zoom. The opening song was, “This Little Light of Mine” and that made me think of letting my light shine where ever I go. It’s not good when the tears start and you haven’t even started your talk. Dan Nabrotzky sang an opening number and then I spoke. There was an intermediate hymn and then Erik spoke. We were glad that another task was completed. From sacrament meeting, I headed to nursery and Erik was whisked away to Elder’s Quorum to participate in “Pies for Guys”. The Relief Society made savory and sweet pies for all the men. I was fortunate to have a few Young Women come into nursery to help me.

After church, Erik and I were set apart for our Primary calling. Then we headed home with Rocky, Teresa and Annalisa Martin. We had some lunch (well, us girls did because the boys had already eaten) and then went for a walk down to the lake and through the campground. It was so wonderful to catch up with the Martins and see how grown up that Annalisa is.

We looked at some of the trees on our property and have decided that it is probably time to remove a couple or three of them. The biggest spruce tree is now leaning towards the house and we can see that the roots are changing. It’s time to do something before disaster happens. I would like to plant a more appropriate tree on the south side of the yard.

I’ve been thinking about what to prepare, food wise, for Erik this week. I saw a really interesting recipe that has a whole pineapple with pork ribs wrapped around the peeled pineapple. Then after the seasoning, the whole business is placed on a smoker for a few hours. I will let you know how that goes. Last week, I used a lot of zucchini to make muffins and one loaf. I was reminded of making zucchini loaf and then once cool, slicing and freeze drying them. They turn out like biscotti and are delicious!

Sometimes, we may feel like we aren’t doing enough but then I am reminded about not running faster and farther that you exhaust yourself. Everyday there are chores and things to do that may seem onerous but when you have God as your partner, life goes much smoother. We are pleasantly surprised by the way things turn out when you least expect. About 6 weeks ago, I was feeling sad for a moment because the acreage that I thought would be perfect for us was sold. I quickly thought, “Oh well, God has another plan for us.” A few days later, I was thinking about it again, and the Lord told me, “Oh, I have something far better for you!” I look forward to that but in the meantime I will continue to give myself to God and wait upon His instructions.