Our Labor Day Weekend and week

Labor Day Weekend
The first thing we did Saturday was go to Raelynn Johnson’s funeral. She was only 53 years old but had suffered with Multiple Sclerosis for twenty years. She was one sweet lady. All of our children knew her except maybe Richard but he may have known her too because Scott asked after Richard. She had two sons and eight grandchildren. We were glad we went.

Since my birthday was on Sunday this year, my sweet husband took me to see Lake House and then to Sizzler for dinner afterwards the day before on Saturday. The show was recommended by Michael & Tanya. I really enjoyed it. Karl had trouble keeping track of which time it was since it went between 2004 and 2006 all the time. The only part that confused me was at the end. I’m still not sure if it was later 2006 or 2008 then. She told him to wait two years so if he did then it was 2008. Anyway, I’m glad we saw it. We had the Senior Malibu Chicken there at Sizzler with a salad bar added for $1.00. They told me that since I was ordering that I could NOT share my salad bar with him. So I had the salad bar and a little of the chicken and baked potato. When I’d eaten all of the salad bar that I could then he finished it. I only took the one trip to the salad bar. We might be splitting hairs here but they did too. And Karl didn’t have ANY of it until after I’d eaten all I wanted to eat of it. Since it would have been thrown away if I’d just left it we decided it was the same difference if he finished it off.

After church Sunday we came home and ate dinner then left for Grace. Since Apple wasn’t open on Monday because of the holiday and we hadn’t been down there since Memorial Day, we decided it would be good to go and stay until Tuesday. At first Mom said that she would be going to the temple that day leaving at 7:30 am I told her that we could either leave then or lock the door as we left. She then contacted the ladies she goes with and since it didn’t make any difference to them, they decided to wait and go Wednesday instead. So we didn’t leave her place until 1:15 or so. But that’s getting ahead of myself. We arrived there after sundown. About 8:15 or so. (The sun is down before 8:00 now. The days are definitely getting shorter.) Monday morning after breakfast around 10:30 or so Karl went outside to do weeds I assumed. I had bought Ever After with Drew Barrymore at Wal-Mart for $7.50 so Mom and I started watching it. It wasn’t really too far into it that I noticed she had gone to sleep. I went on watching the movie and working on Abbie’s “I’m a Child of God” plaque. I tho’t I heard a knock on the door but wasn’t sure. After a moment I decided I’d better check it out. By the time I got to the door no one was there. But I saw a fire truck going by on the other side of the garage. I looked on the other side of the house and saw another one on the other side of the fence in the track and that the grass was black and smoldering. I tho’t, “Oh, they must be doing a controlled burn.” (Karl really laughed at that later.) I just went in and watched the movie some more. I had noticed a pickup and an ATV in front of the garage but didn’t see any people anywhere. After another 45 minutes or so Karl came in and Mom woke up. We soon learned that Karl had decided to burn a pile of weeds that he had put by the incinerator last May when we were there and to which some dead tree branches had been added by both him and Gene when he was there. He was pulling some weeds near by to add to it and noticed it creeped under the fence into the grass there. He grabbed the shovel and started digging and throwing dirt on it trying to keep it from spreading too far. He had jumped over the fence to try to contain it until he noticed the fire was on both sides of him and knew he didn’t want to be trapped with fire on both sides of him. So he jumped back over the fence and fought it on Mom’s property. Bishop Crae Williams was driving by and stopped to help him. And a young man driving a blue pickup also stopped and helped. The three of them fought it for a while. Bishop Williams asked twice if they should call the fire department. The third time he just took out his cell phone and called them. They had to come from Soda Springs. They were there until 2:30 or 3:00. They said they were having a slow day so they didn’t mind being called out. Karl said that they were very nice about it. Just suggested that he get a burning permit the next time he was planning on doing some burning so they would be aware of it. He would have had to get the burning permit by Friday. We didn’t even think of gong down until Saturday. Later on Karl took me up the hill to see just how far it had burned. It had gone up to the stubble field where Simonsons had planted some wheat and harvested it. They had leased the ground from Mom and paid her a third of the crop. The fire burned right up to the edge of the stubble and just quit. Karl said that he was standing there and watched it stop. I said, “you were blessed. Some one was watching over you.” I asked Karl about much area acre wise was burned and he said about three acres. It was all crab grass, very thick. We walked up the track the next morning and took some pictures.

Wednesday, we celebrated our 44th anniversary. Karl took me to TGI Friday’s. Karen had told us that Shani and Kylie really liked their Jack Daniels Chicken. So we ordered that. I wondered if “Jack Daniels” meant whisky because that is the only thing “Jack Daniels” I had heard of. We asked the waitress and she said she didn’t know what was in it but she really liked it too so we ordered it. After it arrived and we tasted it (the sauce reminded me of Karen’s teriyaki sauce that she put on the left-over chicken the day after our reunion last June) and really liked it we asked the waitress what was in it. She said she would find out for us. Well, low and behold, it has soy sauce, sugar and whiskey in it. (And some spices too because it was quite spicy but she didn’t tell us those) “but the alcohol cooks out” she assured us. We did like it tho’. So I guess the Jack Daniels did mean whiskey. It couldn’t have had very much tho’ because the sauce actually tasted good and whiskey smells terrible and tastes worse. I know because when I was 4 ½ I got the red measles and had a high fever for days and wouldn’t break out. Our neighbor. Mr. Westering, told Mama to give me a shot of whiskey and I’d break out. He went home and got some and I was obedient and drank it. It was the most awful tasting stuff I have ever tasted. I don’t really remember what it tastes like but I do remember that it tasted very bad and that sauce was really good so it couldn’t have had much in it.

Today was Carol Cleverly’s funeral. She died on Labor Day. She and I were visiting teaching companions for at least 12 years maybe more. We saw her first cousin come into activity together. We were her visiting teachers. It was a neat experience. Carol was a very neat and talented lady. She had ARDS---adult respiratory syndrome. That is what eventually killed her. Her lung capacity was less than 10% when she died. I guess she was literally gasping for breath. I was so glad to see her in her temple robes. She hadn’t been thro’ the temple yet for her own endowments when they were divided away from us 6-8 years ago. President Robert Fulks was the speaker. He had been her family’s home teacher for years before we were split up. (He’s now in our ward and is the 2nd counselor in the Stake Presidency.) He read some excerpts that she had written. And her daughter Michelle did too. Michelle read one that she wrote when she stubbed her big toe and really bruised her foot up because she wasn’t wearing shoes. (I can identify with that—only it was my little toe.) President Fulks read excerpts that she had written regarding her testimony of the gospel and the Savior and the plan of salvation. It was so gratifying for me to know that altho’ she hadn’t been well for a few years she had studied the gospel and gotten a stronger testimony of these things. I was very glad to find these things out. I talked to Valene Erickson afterwards and she told me that Carol and Francis hadn’t been sealed yet because Francis is still struggling with cigarettes. But it was her greatest desire to be sealed to Francis. I hope that he can find the strength to be able to quit and be sealed to her for time and all eternity. We have had quite a week.