August 25, 2020

 My knee concerns are slowly improving. My doctor had me take another blood test this week which showed normal white cell levels and no infection present. She also had me see an orthopaedic specialist yesterday, Doctor Boyer. He had an X-ray taken of my knee which indicated my knee is in good shape and the bursitis healing. He thinks the lancing done previously on my knee has contributed to more swelling and bruising and that I am healing from that procedure as well as the bursitis and infection.

We made it a point this week to complete the addition to our privacy barrier which we had originally built on our covered deck. The neighbours are close and we use our deck almost daily in good weather so we decided more privacy would be a benefit to us and the neighbours. Tom cut the 2x2’s that he had bought with Paul and Cindy and I painted them out in the backyard. I helped Tom screw them up and it looks very nice. I spray painted an outdoor sun/moon ornament that hangs on the finished project.

I have listened to seven audio books while my knee has been healing. That has been one of my keep busy projects. I also taught the Relief Society lesson this week for our ward. The lesson was on the new “Proclamation of the Restoration”. I enjoyed preparing for it and I love to teach but the main thing that concerns me with the zoom teaching is the technology. I had a few things that I wanted to share with the class and with the help of Tom, Paul, Sam, the Neisners and pray everything worked out well. I am now going on short walks with Tom each day and I love it. We also ventured out to do some clothes shopping this week and with the way you shop these days with covid concerns it is an adventure.

David Leavitt called Tom and I to be joint music chair people for the ward on Saturday and it was announced on Sunday. With covid things are a little different. The ward wants special musical numbers for our zoom sacrament meetings but we are unable to have any singing by individuals or choirs. They also want us to organize the Christmas program and music - again probably without singing. This will all take some thought and ingenuity.

Cindy did an overnight hike with some friends up at Manning Park this weekend and Liza ran a 32 km three mountain peak trail race up at Big White. Liza won for the women and beat most of the men.  The girls were both happy and both are more adventurous than their mother.

We have had rain storms and sunny days this week and we have needed both the rain and the sun.

Privacy Wall Update On Deck

August 18, 2020

 I have been asked to teach the Relief Society lesson this coming Sunday on the Proclamation of the Restoration and I have been preparing for that zoom meeting. I love to teach but I have never taught by zoom before and I still need to have at least one grandchild show me how to bring things up on the screen as part of the lesson. I think I will need a dress rehearsal to make sure things are working properly.

I have been doing some short walks with Tom in the mornings before he goes on his longer walks. I feel like I need to keep moving and keep my strength up and my blood flowing. The knee concern is still there and gradually, very gradually improving. I have a phone appointment with the doctor this afternoon. I have been cooking, doing a little yard work and cleaning as well as reading. I read David Butler’s book “Almighty” and Michael Wilcox’s book “What Seek Ye?” this week. Both were very good.We went to the plant nursery to buy a couple of new plants and Cindy and Paul took Tom for some lumber at Home Depot and he and I have been cutting 2x2 pieces to add to our “privacy” divider on our back deck. I will stain the pieces and Tom will screw them up. We got Tom’s hair cut this week and I coloured mine. We are looking better.

It has been very, very hot this week and on some days almost impossible to be outside. Our children have all had warm weather too. Trevor had surgery on his other elbow last week and hopefully that will be the last for awhile. We appreciate our children and their phone calls and FaceTime calls. Staying in touch with them means a great deal to us.

We are excited that the Vancouver Temple is moving to a stage two opening this month. Our neighbour Jean has been waiting for the opportunity to go thru the Temple for the first time as has our grandson Max. His girlfriend Jacqui needs to go through too but she is in Australia near Sydney and they are not open yet for endowments.

We continue to pray for the alleviation of the affects of the virus on the world and on our Temples and missions.  We would still like to complete our mission.

View From The Deck

August 11, 2020

This was a happy day for me. With the covid virus Tom has been doing his best to cut my hair and for a skilled dentist he has done very well, however,  I have been longing for a haircut from Karl my long time hair dresser on the North Shore. I had let my hair grow longer than usual and today we finally made the anticipated trip to Karl’s salon. I have no words. When people used to tell me they loved my haircut and wantEd one like it I always felt like saying, “Well, you need my hair, my head and my Karl” and my Karl is the real key. Feeling good!

Liza and Cindy’s families were in Shuswap camping this week with many of the Burgess family members. Sayde celebrated her 9th birthday while they were together.  Cindy and Paul left their two oldest boys Max and Ross home to work so we had them over for dinner together on Friday and Max came for church with us and again later for dinner on Sunday. Ross had gone camping with his fiancé’s family by then. Sarah picked Ross up from our house Friday evening and we were able to see her engagement ring and a picture of the wedding dress she has already purchased. Max’s Jacqui is shopping for dresses online as she cannot get to the necessary stores in Australia at this time.

Our daughter Larissa in Montana went camping with her family on the weekend too and they celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary. They are growing a successful vegetable garden. Our son Trevor and wife his Tammie in Tennessee are preparing their daughter Jadyn for her first year of college at BYU Idaho and their son Zachary to play hockey for the Boise Steelheads. The start of Zach’s season is still up in the air as covid has thrown a curve into professional sports. Trevor’s youngest, Treyvn is already back at school zooming. His oldest, Justin, was named Vice President of his PT grad school. Everyone is busy.

My bursa concerns are somewhat better but it is not a quick heal and sometimes just when I feel we are making progress things seem to slide back. My pain at night is less, I am helping more with cooking, cleaning and things around the house. The pain has certainly decreased so we are hopeful and prayerful. I am getting more books read than usual and have really added to my online cookbook recipes. 

We are excited and somewhat surprised that the London Temple is moving to stage two reopening. The Vancouver Temple is still at stage one. We are pleased though that the Vancouver Temple is moving forward with an exterior fence around the Temple grounds. We were not sure if this was going to happen or not and we are so happy to see it going up. Tom checks on it when he goes for walks without me. I am anxious to be with him again on every adventure.

Karl “Cut”

My Happy Cut

August 4, 2020

We celebrated Tom’s birthday last Thursday, July 30th and Zachary’s birthday on Sunday, August 2nd. Our celebrations are mainly just online these days but Cindy brought us over some healthy desserts for Tom. I felt badly on his birthday as I am still a lame duck and was unable to do much to make it a special day for him.

I went to the doctor’s office last Wednesday for her to examine my knee in person. She just looked at it as she entered the room and said it needed to be lanced. I already realized that and even when she told me it was going to be painful, I was eager to have it done. It has improved somewhat but is still swollen and  a little red and warm. I am able to bend it now but it still feels tight and it definitely does not have full mobility. She took a sample of the fluids and put me on another round of antibiotics. I think the infection has improved but I think the bursa is still inflamed and will take some time to settle.

Tom goes on walks alone and is still doing much of the work around the house but I am trying to do more. I have been entering recipes on my recipe app and now have 111 entered. I think I have all my essentials there now. The app proved to be very helpful on our mission for our meals but should even be more beneficial now. I have listened to Emily Belle Freeman’s book on “Grace”and enjoyed that. I am ready to get going on some other books now.

Cindy and Liza’s families left yesterday for Shuswap Lake with the Burgess family. Liza wanted Cindy’s family to be with them this year. Her sister is a good support for her. The weather is warm and they should all have a good time. The two youngest boys went with Cindy and Paul and Max and Ross are home working and planning weddings.

Mary and Laurel Harvey brought me over a hand held massage device to stimulate my blood flow. They are so kind. Marilyn Rolfson called to see how I was doing and the Elders had a Zoom meeting with us last night. We discussed the “Restoration Proclamation”. We appreciate everyone’s contact and kindness. The Elders have challenged us to write our testimonies in some copies of the Book of Mormon that they might be able to hand out to individuals and they offered to pray for our neighbour Gene who is struggling with cancer.

At this point I am looking for small improvements with my leg and trying look for and appreciate my many blessings. Slowing down with covid is one thing and this knee concern is just an additional braking mode for me to learn from.

Burgess Family

Hardy Family

July 28, 2020

It has been an interesting and difficult week. Last Monday evening my left knee began to suddenly swell and become very painful as we were getting ready for bed. I had a terrible night and the days and nights have not changed much since then. I have been on the phone with the doctor who first diagnosed it as gout but after seeing a picture of it and reading the results of blood tests she had me take, changed the diagnosis to an infected bursa on the knee cap. I have been on antibiotics and painkillers and been thru lots of ice packs. Fortunately I have usually gotten some sleep each night. After talking to me today the doctor booked an in office visit for tomorrow. I think she will get a better understanding after seeing it. We are praying and Paul is coming tonight to help Tom give me a blessing. Tom has taken over everything this week, the cooking, shopping, cleaning and laundry. He is so good and I feel badly as I sit with my leg up. The weather is hot and the yard needs tending so he has been working at those chores on his own too.

I have taken this time to listen to Sheri Dew’s book on the life President Nelson. It was excellent. He is such a remarkable man and there is much we do not know about him. Certainly a man prepared for our time. We also had a carpenter come to add some millwork to two of our walls and repair some baseboard damage in a few other areas. We have scheduled a painter as well to seal and paint the areas but they cannot come until August. Both these trades people worked on our home when we built originally and know the home and needs well. It will look good when all is done. This is what happens when you have time to think about and come up with ideas for your home during covid isolation.

Our big news this week is that our grandson Ross proposed to his girlfriend Sarah yesterday while they were boating with her father and stepmom and his family and her Mom were watching on the beach without Sarah knowing others were observing. It was a surprise for Sarah who is difficult to surprise and the ring did not fall into the lake which we were concerned about. Ross’s older brother Max was engaged three weeks ago to his Australian girlfriend Jacqui but neither of these marriages are going to occur too quickly due to current circumstances and schooling. Our daughter Cindy’s life is changing rather quickly. Her two younger boys are still in high school so we should have a pause in that family for a little while.

I am eager to see the doctor and hopefully next week will find a few solutions for my situation.

Ross and Sarah

July 21, 2020

As I was getting ready for bed last night my left knee suddenly became very painful and swollen. I have no idea what is happening and I am debating calling the doctor today as the pain and swelling both continue. I did not have a very good sleep to say the least even though I was tired and excited to get to bed. It was a normal day yesterday with our walk, cleaning the house and bit of watering in the yard. Justin has been doing his best to advise me as a PT today and Tom went to London Drugs to get some tensor wraps but they are too painful to wear. I am mainly icing the knee and taking pain killers. I did some bush trimming while standing. It is hard for me to do nothing.

Maureen Fairburne has been in the hospital with shingles, sciatica and pseudo gout - all in and on the same leg - so we made bran muffins, soup and salad and took it to her on Thursday as she is home now.  We gave some muffins to Gene and Marie next door. He is suffering with cancer. We gave more muffins to Cindy and her family and we have been enjoying the rest. 

We had the young man who did the mill work in our house originally come and evaluate the house for some baseboard repair and some accent molding on two other walls. He will come back next week to do his part and we have the painter scheduled to come in August. He too is the original painter who did our house. With more time at home I tend to come up with projects. Poor Tom.

We continue work on family history. Tom had another meeting with George Hara yesterday and we have been taking pictures of Grandpa Tanner’s material so some of it can be posted on Family Search and made accessible to other family members. Tom inherited two boxes of Grandpa Tanner’s pictures, talks, etc. when Ruth died. We sorted it awhile ago and we are now trying pass along pictures that might interest the rest of the family. Like the prophet Mormon, we cannot publish but a hundredth part if even that. We have been trying to add pictures to our parents, grandparents and other’s memory portions of their Family Search sites. We have never had the time before to do these things. We are asking our children to add their own  family portrait pictures and memories.

We enjoy our FaceTimes with all our children and Justin and JayLynn even FaceTimed us on Sunday and that was a treat. Jadyn has scheduled her classes at BYU Idaho and is still planning on going to Rexburg to start in the fall. Zachary does not need to be in Boise for hockey now until the fall and he plans on driving out with Jadyn and their mother Tammie. Tammie will get them settled and fly back.

I am waiting now to have  telephone appointment with the doctor so we will see where this knee concern takes me from here. I hope not into too much adventure. Talked to her and she has me starting treatment for gout.

Justin and JayLynn

July 14, 2020

We are still celebrating family birthdays on our “extended clan” messaging site and it was our oldest grandson Justin’s 24th birthday yesterday. He is in Provo just starting on his “in class” portion of his first year of  PT graduate school. He has been doing online classes the last few months.

 

The virus is making a resurgence and the number of people coming down with it is on the rise once more. I think summer, celebrations, protests for “black rights” and people just relaxing their vigilance are some of the reasons for it. Young people especially are getting tired of restrictions and the number young people getting the disease has increased significantly. There is still so much we do not know about this modern day plague including the lasting affects it may have on the body. Researchers are scrambling and we just pray, wear masks and social distance.

Lincoln Harvey and his grandchildren stopped by this week to bring us some blueberries and jam from Krause Farms where Lincoln is working. Lincoln is so sweet and kind and stops to say hello at our door every once in awhile. I phoned Mary the next day to thank her for sending the goodies over with them. Cindy arrived the next day with blueberries we had ordered as well as produce from Stella Watt’s greenhouse garden and knitted scarves sent by Ina Christensen that she had made. Everyone is so kind to us and we are grateful recipients of the results of their covid activities.

George Hara had helped me last week with family history and Marilyn and Cordell helped me this week and with their assistance along with that of Rod Smith’s in Victoria helping Joanne, we are getting a few things that were out of line corrected. We are working on my fathers’s Davidson line and I have also been adding memory pictures to some of our family members’ Family Search sites. So much to do even when we have more time available.

Tom was asked to play the piano for the baptism of Carol Jones on Sunday. She is about our age and she and her husband, who attended the baptism, have a daughter who has joined the church and lives in Utah. It was a Zoom baptism and only those who had parts do and had been invited attended and we all wore masks and social distanced. They had asked older couples like us to perform the talks, music etc. I think to connect Carol to members her own  age. We just listened to the music and as we have been asked not to sing. It was nice to see people again and to be in a church again after months of being away. It was the first time we had seen theses couples since we left on our mission in January.

Cindy, Paul and their two youngest boys have left on a camping trip to the Sunshine Coast this week. They were excited to have a break and the weather is lovely so hopefully they will have an enjoyable time. The older two boys had to stay home for work. Zachary is preparing to move to Boise to train and play with the Steelheads in August although I am not certain when the hockey teams will be allowed to play again. It has been nice for him to be home with our son Trevor’s family in Nashville during this time. We are waiting to see if BYU Idaho will be online come fall for our granddaughter Jadyn and all of our college age children are waiting on announcements from their schools. Liza’s family is always busy and Larissa is busy with her little ones and concerned about more people coming into their small tourist town of Whitefish Montana again.

We were thrilled to hear that the London Temple will be doing a stage one opening soon for sealings of preciously endowed couples. That is good news but still a far cry from their need for us to be there. The Temple will have to be fully running before they call us back again and the virus under control. We look forward to and pray for that day. Until then we wait upon the Lord and know He knows all and has a plan.

Trevor and Tammie at Jadyn’s Grad

Jack and Sam on Sunshine Coast

Jadyn’s Nolensville High School Grad - Zach, Trey and Jadyn